the evening shift.

[grandsummon]

Characters Yuna & OPEN
Where the Hospital in Aqures Ixen
When Post Magitek event.
Summary Yuna is working her first few shifts in the hospital -- taking care of the crystalized folks therein, as well as anyone that wanders in with injuries from a hard night's questing!
Warning Possible mention of injuries.



The halls were quiet for the start of her shift, and even quieter in some of the rooms. The crystal stasis epidemic was even more intimidating in person, and the recently arrived patients were, admittedly, Yuna's first experience seeing it up close. The victims truly seemed as though they were frozen in time, their perfect likeness ready to spring back to life -- if only they could escape their gem-encrusted prisons.

She frowned, feeling the forehead of a girl with pigtails, unable to sense any warmth from beyond the crystal's surface. With a sigh, she retracted her arm and shook her head, turning to leave the room and on to check on the next. Although she was grateful that there were no patients needing immediate care... she had to admit hearing another living breathing person would have been welcome.

When Momolumi burst through the door with an assortment of letters from Mognet, she smiled, greeting him with his pick of sweets that could be found on the central desk -- and settled in to read what news he had brought.

Comments

[promiseofnewyevon]

Baralai had not visited this place since he arrived. With the recent events that happened in the Magitek facility, he came to realize that in order to learn about a place was to also learn about what ailed it most. He heard about the crystalization process but had never seen one until now.

He made a simple meal of soup and some bread he purchased from a local baker. He hadn't felt confident enough to make the soup himself but instead paid the baker's wife to make some. He made the tea himself, something that he was used to doing.

His footfalls echoed through the quiet halls, Lora floated closely behind. "Do you think they'll wake up, kupo?"

Baralai fell silent for a moment or two. "I...I don't know. I'll do what I can, and I'm sure that Lady Yuna is doing the same." He turned into the hall as he looked from room to room for Yuna.

He found her in one of the rooms that was dedicated to those trapped in crystal stasis. Slowly, he stepped in with the parcel cradled in his arms. His voice was soft, "Lady Yuna?"

[grandsummon]

Yuna spun on her heel at the sound of a voice. She had spent so long in the silence the sound of another had startled her a little, but as she recognized who was at the door, she calmed. "Praetor Baralai," she greeted, bowing slightly in the process.

"I hadn't been expecting anyone to stop by today..." her voice trailed slightly, realizing that most people likely didn't care to see those sick, injured or crystalized... "But it's nice to see someone," she smiled, straightening again, then turning once more to the victims in the room. "It's -- quite strange, isn't it?"

[promiseofnewyevon]

"I apologize for startling you." Baralai made sure that he gave reverence to the "resting". He didn't want to disrespect the sleeping ones while he slowly walked in with his head lowered to show his humble nature.

"Even the departed should be respected." Which was a task he did often when he had the time between his duties to the people of Spira and his research of Spira's past.

She was right. It was strange to see people trapped in crystal. It wasn't like Spira at all. People died and their memories became the pyreflies. It was strange to see something tangible, to see the faces of the departed as they were when they were present.

"Do you think they can hear us?" He hoped the answer was yes.

[grandsummon]

"I'd like to think that," she confessed, looking down at the motionless faces of the crystals. "I don't -- believe they're dead, at least." Drawing parallels between these victims and the souls of the fayth had been on her mind since seeing them. Lifeless, yet housing life -- and with no way to communicate.

Yuna sighed, and clasped her hands together. "There's still just so much we don't know." That always seemed to be the case, didn't it...

[promiseofnewyevon]

"Hm." He nodded and slowly sat on a nearby bench. While it wasn't the most comfortable, it was a place where he could see what was going on even though the tenants were quiet.

"You know, I believe that if they don't hear the words you're saying, you're still leaving an impression that you're there. I hope that they'll remember your kindness when they wake up." It was the least logical thing he had ever said but the weight through the optimism, he hoped, would help her just a bit.

It was faith that drove his decisions and the logic came from his scholar job class. It went against all that he stood for but to think that he might have been the one she was seeing as a crystal was a bit unnerving. He refrained from telling her what would have happened if he had touched that crystal.

[grandsummon]

It was hard to repress the blush that she felt rush to her cheeks. Yuna just bowed her head in an extended nod, accepting his kind words for what they were. Baralai, even though a member of the Yevon clergy, seemed to embody the righteous qualities she had hoped the Maesters had at one point. He seemed like a good, kind soul, and truly, she found herself believing that Yevon perhaps could have benefited from young men and women similar to him.

There didn't seem to be more to say on the subject, and so she shifted the conversation. "Is... that food you've brought with you? It smells delicious."

[promiseofnewyevon]

He perked up visibly just then and shifted to the side a bit to place the parcel he brought with him and placed it on his lap. "I did. I couldn't make it myself so I had a bit of help but I hope it will do you well."

From within the parcel, he took out the bowl of soup that was carefully prepared while he took great care not to jostle the package too much.

"I hope you enjoy it. The baker's wife was kind enough to make it. She also sends her prayers that those trapped in crystal will be well. Like us, the people are just as concerned. They fear that the stasis may befall them." He said as he handed the bowl to Yuna. "I'm currently doing all I can to research for a cure. It's been...arduous."

[verteidiger]

Ever since the first announcement, Snow had been avoiding the hospital. He didn't want to see the crystals; he wasn't ready to accept the possibility of what could be waiting for them at the end of this journey. Now that Lightning was here, though, and now that both Fang and Vanille had fallen into stasis, he couldn't justify staying away any longer.

The sight of so many of them in one place was staggering. It'd been bad enough just seeing Serah like this back in the day, but a whole room full of them was unreal. There was something about them that just made him unbearably sad -- something that went beyond a memory of simpler times and a life long lost. He'd felt the same way being around Serah's crystal. It was something colder than death, and there was nothing he could do to help them.

Surely enough, he found Fang and Vanille among the crowd without much searching. What he hadn't expected, though, was to find Yuna tending them.

"Be careful with that one," he said as he approached, nodding to the crystal Yuna had just touched. "The one next to her might reach through the crystal to try to get at you if you hurt her."

It was said around a sad smile. If anyone could break through crystal stasis, Fang could, especially if Vanille's life was at stake. Unfortunately, all things considered, Snow didn't anticipate seeing either of them up and about any time soon.

[grandsummon]

"Ah!" the sudden approach of another startled her, causing Yuna to jump slightly as she turned to find the source of the voice. "Snow!" she recognized the young man, and smiled in doing so. It had been awhile since she had seen him... right at the time they had first arrived, wasn't it?

As his words registered, she looked back over her shoulder to the women behind, frozen, lifeless in their crystal prisons. Her gaze fell back to Snow again, and her head tilted to the side. But what he said made her wonder... "Do you -- know them?"

[verteidiger]

"Yep," he said around a tight smile. He wondered if it was obvious how hard he was training, and just how badly it showed.

Nodding towards Vanille's crystal, he explained, "That one's Vanille. And the scary-looking one next to her is Fang. Don't let her fool you, though. For as tough as she is, she's one of the kindest people I've ever met, with a heart of gold.

"... Of course, she'd probably hit me if she heard me say that, but hey, no one's perfect."

It was strange, talking about Fang as though she wasn't right there in the room with them. For his own part, Snow hadn't been crystallized very long, but he remembered Serah saying that she could see and hear the world around her at least a little bit while she was in stasis. When Fang woke up — and she was going to wake up, damn it — she'd just as likely hit him anyway.

Seeing them as crystals again hurt so damn much, though. This wasn't fair. They'd already put in their time and then some. In an attempt to busy his thoughts elsewhere, Snow looked back towards Yuna and quickly tacked on:

"I didn't know you helped out here."

[grandsummon]

As he spoke of those sleeping, Yuna turned to them, following their shapes with her eyes as she listened. She couldn't imagine what he could have felt, standing there with them in such a state. What would she have felt if it had been her loved ones? But his tone seemed lighter as he recounted things about them, which caused a sad smile to cross over Yuna's lips by the time he finished.

It sounded like they had all been good friends.

"Ah..." she started, clasping her hands in front of her, "I've only just started really. It seemed like... the best place for a white mage to help, you know?"

And once more she turned back to the crystals. "I bet that... they'd be happy to know you visited." How much should she speak about the topic, knowing it was likely unsettling? "I -- met a young girl earlier. She said that she'd seen this sort of thing before..."

[enduringflower]

Her foot steps where soft as she slowly made her way towards the heroes trapped within the crystal. Part of her knew that it couldn't be the same as what had occurred on Grand Pulse but she had to make sure. When she first spotted the crystal shapes she paused. Fang and Vanille caught her eye bringing back the memory of visions from home.

Yeul's steps slowed as she walked up to Fang, her small hand moving to rest over the surface of the crystal. "This is different." Her words were soft as she curiously inspected the crystal shapes.

[grandsummon]

Yeul had moved almost too quietly for Yuna to notice -- but the sound of a voice echoing through the silent halls was enough to draw her near. She didn't immediately say anything, standing in the doorway and observing the young girl as she approached two victims of the stasis. It seemed... almost like she might have been familiar with the situation, the way that she spoke about it.

Clearing her throat softly so as not to startle the girl, Yuna stepped into the room. "Hello," she greeted, following with a soft smile.

[enduringflower]

Her hand retracted at the sound of her steps, falling to her sides. Her gaze was steady as she watched Yuna approach. "Hello." Yeul felt like she had been doing wrong but the expression didn't show on her face.

"Do you know what happened to them?" She understood the crystal stasis that occurred on pulse but part of her knew this wasn't that. It was something she didn't understand and she wanted too.

[grandsummon]

Hands clasped in front of her, Yuna approached, stopping next to the girl and looking down at the solidified forms of the girls in the room. "No, I don't." Her tone was gentle, but there was a sadness to it. "I've never... seen anything like this before. But," she continued, "I do believe they're still alive... somehow."

She dedicated a small silence to the possibility that maybe that wasn't true, but no good came from being completely pessimistic about it, either. Those that had turned to crystal were, at the very least -- physically still in one piece.

[enduringflower]

"They are alive." Yeul has seen the future, before being brought to this place and they both have a path on Pulse. It would stand to reason that they couldn't die here. It had to be something else but Yeul didn't know what it could be.

"Crystal Stasis can hold a persons form but it does not mean they are dead." Her words were soft while her tone sounded factual.

[grandsummon]

That confirmed it. Yuna's lips pressed together -- "You've seen this before, haven't you." her frown remained as she considered what the girl said. She may have looked young, but something about the way she spoke belied a wisdom beyond her years.

"Is -- there anything we can do to help them?"

[enduringflower]

"I have seen this before but I do not know. This isn't like my world." Even for the young seeress, it was a comfort to see them alive. She needed their efforts just as much as she needed Sarah and Noel.

"We do not want the crystal to shatter." It might seem obvious but that was the only way Yeul could foresee them not coming back.

[shinrasfinest]

He hadn't come to the hospital specifically to see the crystallized Heroes, that's a fact.

But there was one thing that Sephiroth imagined he would never get used to and that was the associated aches and pains that his strict training regime awarded him even days after the last strenuous round of exercise he put himself through. It was one of the many things that he worried about: he wasn't getting over it, it wasn't fixing itself and until they managed to get enough people together to go for the tests that Jessie had suggested there would be no explanation. Indeed even after then, there might not be any explanation either.

It didn't make any sense, when considered within the parameters of a dream.

Sephiroth stood over the crystallized body of Shelke, drawing eyes over her face as if the smooth surface of the crystal might hold some expression he could interpret. In the meantime he was winding a thick bandage around his left hand with his right, occasionally bending the fingers into a fist to make sure he wasn't losing any movement capability. Wielding his sword had never caused the dull ache across his hand that he felt now, nor the occasional spike of pain that shot up the outside of his forearm either - another thing to have to consider for the future.

Spencer sat on the foot of the bed Shelke was laid out on, only looking up to Sephiroth at all when he occasionally grunted at losing some of the tension in wrapping his hand up. The small, bespectacled moogle knew better than to offer help to his Hero.

[grandsummon]

It was another moogle that came across the pair, first. Flying lazily through the halls, Momolumi actually completed something of a loop-de-loop at the door as he noticed Sephiroth inside. "Oh!" he chirped, straightening himself and re-positioning upright to address them. "Hello!" his arm reached upwards to extend into a wave.

"Are you here to visit, kupo? Lots of people have been coming lately, I think it's nice because -- " and on and on he would have went... had he not finally taken note of the bandage in the man's hand. "Oh, hey! Are you hurt? Do you need help, kupo? I bet that would be easier if Yuna helped. Just stay right here! I'll go-popo get her!"

Momolumi didn't leave much time for any protest, or more likely he would have ignored it anyway, as he zipped out the door and around the corner.

It was several moments later that footsteps could be heard steadily approaching down the hall, until the brunette finally poked her head in. "Hello," she greeted, hurrying into the room with a tray lined with bandages and sterile water. "Momolumi told me that -- " her voice trailed as she turned, coming face to face with...!

[shinrasfinest]

Spencer perked up his tiny ears at the sound of another moogle from the doorway and with a bounce to his red pom-pom, he pushed the glasses up his nose a little and jumped into the air as well. He waved back at Momolumi in that friendly way that he greeted any other moogle. Yet hovering at Sephiroth's shoulder height the quieter mog only looked from Monolumi to Sephiroth as the other moogle went on.

Sephiroth had paused mid-wrap and step-turned in the direction of the newcomer as well. He'd lost the tension again and that irritated him but found it quite impossible to be angry as a result. He tightened his grip on the bandage and setting his jaw folded fingers down onto the bandage to hold it in place. He had been quite ready to calmly answer back at Momolumi, that he didn't need the help but thank you very much- but he was gone in the next moment. Leaving Sephiroth to look expectantly at his own moogle, but Spencer only shrugged.

It couldn't hurt so much, to let this Yuna at least help him wrap his sprained hand up, right? It was certainly awkward trying to do it himself and Spencer probably was too small to really have the firm grip needed. There would be someone coming now, regardless.

As the small brunette stepped into the room he drew his gaze from the crystal-body of Shelke to Yuna, almost frowning at the way that her voice trailed off. Indeed, despite the fact he was wearing a light grey t-shirt instead of how Yuna might have expected him to be dressed- Sephiroth was distinctive enough. Not that he knew Yuna at all, and as a result wasn't sure why she would trail off like that.

"Yuna. Right?"

Momolumi had said her name, after all.

[grandsummon]

Her eyes widened as she looked him over, turning a little too quickly and knocking her tray, but catching it just in time before it slid off the ledge. "Ah...! Yes!" Yuna tried to recover quickly, remembering that Cloud wasn't as she remembered, either. In fact, neither were any of the others...

Drawing in a breath to calm herself from the startle, she approached the man carefully. "Um. Is -- there anything I can help you with? Are you hurt?"

ooc: and a little retcon as people aren't in beds when they are crystals- sorry!

[shinrasfinest]

Sephiroth flinched towards the tray as well as it almost went sliding off the edge. If she hadn't caught it, he would have done but it turned out she had it well in hand. Probably for the best in hindsight as even the tension caused a fresh cramp to grow in his forearm. He managed to keep the closed hand around the half-wrapped bandage though as he stood back up straighter.

"It's nothing, really." He glanced to Spencer as if to warn the moogle not to butt in, he didn't though and landed close to where Shelke's crystal met the floor, turning his pale pink head upwards at the statue of a girl. With a light sigh, Sephiroth thought better of so abruptly dismissing the help and raised his half-wrapped left hand and arm up towards Yuna.

"It's a touch of a strain, I think." Though really Sephiroth hadn't much of a clue. He'd never gotten such problems from the over use of his sword, ever.

no problem at all! o7 also please forgive my wrong journal faux pas... lol

[grandsummon]

A strain? From what, mowing down warriors of Cosmos with his ungodly sword? No, that wasn't fair -- and Yuna knew it, as she stood assessing the situation, and biting down softly on her lower lip. "Let me see," she offered, palms extended as she stopped close to him, her heart starting to beat a little faster.

Perhaps this Sephiroth was really quite different -- it might even be in his true nature to be kind. What did she really know of him, anyway, aside from the times he'd tried to kill her friends... Their memories in the war were hard to be trusted -- he might have had no idea about any of that. And as a white mage... wasn't it her duty to heal indiscriminately anyway?

"Does... it hurt when you bend it at all? How are you finding the range of motion?"

[shinrasfinest]

How about from mowing down all the Mechs that they battled in the Magitek facility, not to mention the monster hunting Sephiroth does on the side for the gils to keep both himself and Yuffie fed? Perhaps that would be fairer. After all, this Sephiroth knows nothing of the war that Yuna comes from even if he does still wield said ungodly sword.

Sephiroth paused while looking over Yuna's offering-gesture but eventually complied. He extended the half-wrapped up left hand towards her and bit some on the inside of his bottom lip as he forced the fingers to open. He had only been holding the wrap closed for a short while but already it took a great deal of effort to open them. He flicked one of the bangs back out of his eyes some and looked over the hand as if he might be able to tell what was wrong with it just by looking- damn that uncomfortable throbbing right across his palm though! Right where the handle to his sword usually sat.

"It's uncomfortable just to rest it like that." He wouldn't admit that it did hurt a lot more than all that, after all. Even as they watched, the fingers seemed to want to curl back up on their own. "Motion is difficult and I keep losing grip-"

He wasn't going to mention the sharp pain that ran the outside of his forearm as well, but he figured Yuna would likely find that out shortly - he wasn't stopping her from touching, at all.