Antics of a Mother [Cloud]

[Alice]

A library was eventually found. There, she had learned about the Distortion Fog, something quite dangerous yet not much is known about it. However, it sounded quite like something she shouldn't mess with and knowing avoidance is of upmost priority was information well needed. Then she found the answer she was looking for.

The Distortion, the place where the Calamity laid, the same one the witch had wanted in replacement of her son's revival. Her eyes softened when she allowed her mind to slip somewhat, thinking about on those happy days where she was outside with her son, him speaking nonsense to her while they were enjoying a warm day in the sun...

However, what confused her is the power of the Distortion; how in the world was she going to bypass that? would she need...help? She couldn't afford to get more people involved; she was already a cursed soul, damned forever...she didn't need to drag anyone else with her. There needed to be a way...There is always a way.

The final thing she researched on was the being itself. Besides it's existence being confirmed, nothing else is really known about it, but judging by the research notes she was reading on, all three items seemed connected somehow. She found nothing that seemed to link them together, however.

Alice slid the final book back in it's place on the shelf as she looked at it. It seemed like she wouldn't be able to see her son anytime soon. However, she would be able to, if she kept hope. Alice walked outside the library, shielding her eyes from the glaring sun. Such a nice warm day...like one she spent with her sun.

She felt her heart soften just a little, but hardened it again because she knew if she showed weakness, something would slip up, someone would die, and it would be her fault. The cursed one...her. Alice gingerly touched the tattoo on her arm as her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed at the thought of it.

'To figure out how to get to the Distortion. That's my first priority.' She thought to herself, while unknown to her, she seemed slightly troubled and concerned, a rarity on her part.

[Deleted]

This place was so strange and Cloud couldn’t help but take in his surroundings. He didn’t have a clue on how he even got here. The city was actually pretty large, and at least it was nice and warm out. Cloud continued to look around at the vast city he had found himself in. He was still thinking about that strange interviewer and why he asked so many questions, it was all just so awkward. The blonde man shook the thoughts of his head.

“The first thing I need to do is find out answers.” He thought to himself as he looked around to see if he could find something...anything, that would help him get some answers. Cloud was getting a bit irritated by how many people there were in his area and the fact that they all just happened to be exactly where he was. This city was large, so why couldn’t they spread out some? Then Cloud noticed a building labeled 'Library of Bhujerba'. “Maybe these people are also looking for answers.” Cloud assumed, which made him a little less irritated at the mass of people in his vicinity. He started to lightly push his way through the crowd toward the direction of the library. As he was walking to the library he was abruptly bumped into. Turning, Cloud looked to see who the impatient person was, assuming they were since they bumped into him so hard, but he just heard the person say “Watch it!” before disappearing into the crowd.

The mercenary hoped that the majority of the people who lived here weren’t like the one he had just encountered because if they were, then Cloud would really start to hate this place and he just got here, so to speak. Upon actually getting to the entrance of the library Cloud noticed a female standing only a short distance away. From the looks of it she was looking at her tattoo, but something was different about her. She didn’t really look like the rest of the people Mr. Strife had been seeing around, so maybe she had some answers to what was going on. Now, Cloud wasn’t one to start a conversation, for the most part, but he didn’t mind occasionally. Approaching the female, one word rolled off his lips.

“Hey.”

[Alice]

The hair at the back of her neck stood up a bit as she felt someone was watching her. Ever since she had killed her husband, she developed a sort of sixth sense. After all, she was cursed...and she did kill someone. She was overly cautious at all times. When her eyes looked up, she saw a man approaching her.

There was...something about him. He wasn't sure what but it threatened something in her. Some emotion wanted to be freed, but she wouldn't allow it. She only stared blankly at the man approaching her. Alice usually was good at turning people away, completely ignoring them, or walking away but she...couldn't find it in her to walk away.

And then she was forced into conversation, somewhat. He wasn't a very social person, which was in her favor. Her eyes softened just a tad bit at his voice. However, she didn't know if she could trust him; no, she shouldn't even been interacting with him. But...well, she was in a dilemma.

She didn't want to socialize at all, and yet, she wanted to stay. She decided on the middle ground; pretending that she couldn't speak. She knew people assumed she was mute and she could use it to her advantage. She tilted her head slightly, indicating she heard him and acknowledged his words, and possibly even 'said' 'Hey' back to him.

Then it hit her; she reminded him of her son. Not in personality and not even her face, but he...reminded her of what she had thought of him when he grew up. His father was a warrior, and she thought he'd follow his footsteps and be a handsome young man with the ability to fight. Strong, but slim...

Alice's jaw tightened at the thought. She thought she had gotten rid of those memories...but it seems that they were waiting to exact revenge on her. Alice turned her head away from him slightly, knowing full well that her reactions wouldn't go unnoticed, and tried to hide them. the last thing she needed was being worried upon or pitied on.

[Deleted]

Cloud watched the girls reaction to him approaching her. She didn’t say anything in return but she tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment that Cloud had indeed initiated a conversation. Maybe she couldn’t talk or maybe she didn’t understand what the blonde man had said to her, any of those could be perfect reasons for her not to say anything at all. That’s when he noticed her turn her head away from him. Cloud didn’t get a bad vibe from her body language but then again he wasn’t even sure what he got from her reactions.

The Ex-SOLDIER stood there in a mild confused state, rubbing the back of his head. He wasn’t sure how he should handle this situation. Cloud wasn’t the most social person one could meet and because of that it was pretty rare for him to try and continue a conversation once it had been started, especially if he was the one who had started it. There were only two options in this particular predicament. One, Cloud would just give the girl a slight nod and go on his own way into the library or two, Cloud would actually try to get the female to talk; if she was capable.

If one knew Cloud then it was pretty obvious which option he was going to take. With that being said, Cloud tilted his head in a slight nod and began to walk toward the library. After all, he would probably get more answers in the library then trying to talk to someone who didn’t even speak. He approached the doors of the library and pushed them open. Cloud was immediately surprised on how great the inside of this building was and the fact the everything was so organized. Perhaps the girl he encountered outside had a change of mind and would come in the library and assist the blonde man on finding answers, but if not then well, at least he tried.

Cloud walked around the isles of the library trying to just spot out a book that would explain all the crazy events that were happening. There were so many books in each isle that he didn’t even know where to began. He saw titles of books labeled, 'Chocobos: Eating Habits', 'Gil: Get Rich Instantly', and another one that was titled, 'Phoenix Down: How They Work'. Cloud shook his head, none of these books would give him any answers that he was searching for, but he would keep looking.

[Alice]

His reaction to her was interesting; for once, she wasn't bothered. She wasn't ignored either; the man left her to continue his apparent search. After all, there was only one reason to search in a library; the pursuit of knowledge. Alice could feel a small wave of curiosity, but a bigger wave into wanting to help the man.

However she had her own problems to worry about. Despite that, she could not turn her head away from the library, which she had no knowledge of doing so in the first place. Alice knew she shouldn't, she when her heart was tugging at her reigns, she desperately searched for a compromise within herself.

'If I help him, he may...find something else useful than I didn't.' But why did she assume they were looking in the same area? Mother's intuition? Alice smiled softly at herself, shocking herself from her own emotions, despite no one being able to see it. She decided it was a good enough reason to get involved, and she re-entered the library.

Alice went for the isle that she had found her books, and found him not there. had he gotten lost? ...Why was she searching for him like a lost son? For her quest, of course...at least that's what she told her logical brain, whom was screaming at her to leave the man to his book findings. Her heart knew better, however.

After searching a few rows, she stopped, just to see the man searching through books. By his reaction to the shelves, they were not the books he was looking for. Alice opened her mouth to speak, but paused. She didn't need to break her lies...lies that she crafted without words. And yet...she could not lie to him.

'He isn't my son. And yet...' "...5 rows to the left." Her voice was soft and held a neutral tone, but not puppet-like, as one might expect. Alice turned herself away, not waiting for a reaction from the other, going towards the said row that she had mentioned. Why was she helping him...

She needed this...for her.

[Deleted]

Cloud continued to rummage throughout various bookshelves in search for any title of a book that didn’t seem to match everyday life. It was hopeless however because he had no slight idea of what to even look for. Sighing, Cloud began to give up on his search when all of a sudden he heard someone speak.

"...5 rows to the left," the soft voice traveled throughout the air and then entered the blonde man's ear drums. At first Cloud thought someone had been talking to him telepathically but then when he realized the direction the voice had came from, he knew it was a person standing near him. The Ex-SOLDIER looked over his shoulder and saw the female that he tried to conversate with only moments ago outside turning around and heading in a different direction.

Cloud followed her because, well, she probably had found something. Any answers right now would be very satisfying for Cloud, even if they were small. He followed her exactly as her words stated, five rows to the left. Upon reaching the isle she pulled out three books from the shelf and laid them on a nearby table. The mercenary walked over to the table, looked at the girl, and then down to the books.

“Thank you.” Cloud thanked the female for finding these books and began to read the book on the farthest left titled, 'The Distortion'. He flipped past the first couple of pages only because they didn’t offer much information. As he continued to flip and read, one page caught his attention. Cloud read the information that was on the page:

THE DISTORTION
The "calamity" at the center of the forming world is christened this. Up close, it takes on the appearance of a massive tear in space-time, from which pours an endless amount of mist. Unusual phenomena such as auroras and nausea in observers have been reported nearby - the space-time rend has a possibility to serve as a portal, if a method of warding off reality-warping fog is ever found. The distortion appears to be expanding, but not rapidly.

He then looked up and straight ahead. “The Distortion...” he began to think to himself, “maybe that is how I ended up here.” He continued, not even paying any attention to the female who had helped him find the books. He shook his head clearing his thoughts and then closed the book. Cloud then grabbed the book in the middle and looked at the title, 'Distortional Fog'. Flipping to the first page, Cloud's attention was caught by the length of the information that was on the page:

DISTORTIONAL FOG
Also called "mist" or "Fog" (not to be confused with "Mist" of Ivalice origin), little to nothing is known about the substance save that it appears to be the gas form of a previously-undiscovered element. The element is called Calamium, for lack of a proper name. The gas form of the element is potentially dangerous for a living organism to inhale in large amounts, notably causing illness with a particular emphasis on memory loss and alteration in addition to mental confusion; it is generally advised that one avoid the denser particle clouds, even with an air clarity mask. It has also demonstrated ill effects on inanimate objects, such as causing structural anomalies within rigid substances. Distortional fog density is linked to a heightened population of monsters, mutations, and appearance of heterochthonous organisms. The data recorded is believed to be defective, as the hypotheses drawn from the evidence are impossible. Conclusion: Avoid at all costs.

This entry didn’t really catch Cloud off guard like the first book, but only because he was use to monsters and the like. Perhaps he could find some of this Fog and see what kind of creatures it creates, as that could lead to some more answers. He closed that book, setting it on top of the first book that he read. Only one book remained and Cloud was actually pretty eager to open it and see what sort of information it would reveal. The blue eyed man grabbed it and looked at the title, 'Undefined Bioforms'. Now Cloud already knew what this book would contain just by the name. He flipped to the first page and just like he thought, it was about monsters:

IDENTIFIED BIOFORMS
Sifting through myths and legends of the newly combined worlds, we have been able to form some estimates of monster types located in the vicinity. We hope to one day be able to confirm the existence of and categorize the unidentified and unconfirmed bioforms in our databanks. Research missions have been released to investigate these monsters for the best way to subdue or avoid them.

“Missions huh?” he said to himself as he was sparked with interest. Cloud was always the adventurous type and liked action, so if these missions provided just that then he was going to find out where he could start some of them. He then closed the book, stood up, and looked at the female.

“The names Cloud.” he spoke to her. The least he could do was thank her and introduce himself so that he wasn’t a total stranger anymore. Although he liked to be a stranger more often than not because it just meant he didn’t have to talk as much, and that was always a good thing for him. “I'm going to continue my search else where, good luck with your search and thank you,” he concluded and with that being said he turned and walked away, leaving her without the opportunity to even reply.

-exit thread-

[Alice]

When she arrived at the bookshelf, she did look over her shoulder to see if he heard her. It wasn't that she was worried that he wouldn't have shown up it was...a habit. When her son started to walk, he would wander all over the place and whens he told him to come to her, she always looked to see if he was truly following...

She heard his footsteps and immediately started to pick the books from the shelf. one of them she picked out, on accident, was called Identified Bioforms. Interesting; she hadn't seen this book before. Maybe it would be useful. She had gathered the books by the time Cloud came. He thanked her, which made her nod slightly in return.

They went to a table where she placed the books down and allowed him to read. She sat down on one of the chairs, watching him read. She was looking for any possible sign that he found anything she hadn't. The first two books seemed uneventful, having gone through similar emotions herself.

It was the last book that seemed to interest him the most. It made her curious, even lean slightly to see what the pages said, or attempted to, mostly because she didn't want to intrude on his personal space. He introduced himself and, for once, Alice found it easy to respond. "Alice." She said softly.

He stated he was going to continue his search elsewhere and, without warning, upped and left. Alice gave no chase; she let him go, feeling satisfied and content, for once. She then turned her eyes to the book he had just finished reading, picking it up herself and reading it. How intriguing that he was interested in missions...

'Oh Alice! What a wonderful idea! I know you don't like to fight, but just what if one of those monsters know something about how to get the Calamity? Monsters aren't all stupid...or maybe the places you go to will help in more discovery!' Alice closed the book, staring down at it. 'Oh Alice...don't you want to see your son back to life? Surely he's still worth the lives of monsters...'

God dammit. She didn't want to use her powers. Alice stared at her tattoo absent mindedly and stood up and left the books on the table. Disconnected from her, the sorceress from the other side could only smirk. 'I wonder how she'll DIE...what an interesting subject she is. She amuses me so...'

-exit thread, thread closed-