Eula "Mooncaller" Darnus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meteorsurvivor) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
starwardbestrewn2023-03-29 03:50 pm
meteorsurvivor) wrote in starwardbestrewn2023-03-29 03:50 pm
don't you know?
There's a woman seated at Elmyra's table who wasn't here before. For a moment, seeing her out of the corner of your eye, something in you freezes up - a tall figure with pale hair, like something out of a haunted memory. But after a momentary twinge that snags you by the throat, the reality corrects itself in the vision. She's too pale to be Sephiroth, hair an outright white instead of silver and a splash of color in the form of tinted goggles holding back her bangs.
In her arms is Marlene. The girl looks as tiny in the strange woman's arms as she does in Barret's - though not for long, because the child rips herself free with a cry of "DADDY!" and barrels into her father's waiting grasp. The woman sighs in a way that seems pleased, a faint twist of a smile obvious due to the black lipstick against her pale skin.
When her eyes cast over the group of you, that half-memory steps over your grave again, something that would be a shiver up your spine if you weren't so damn tired. Her eyes are almost as pale as her hair, the white iris somehow luminous, like the full moon you can mostly remember from your hometown. If this is how most people feel meeting the glowing eyes of a SOLDIER, it's no wonder that most people in the slums won't look you in the face.
She stands and crosses the room to where you and Elmyra are standing to talk. You'd thought Barret was tall - he's still big, but the woman has a couple inches on him, you think, except that instead of Barret's bulk, she's all long limbs.
"So, you're the new friend Aerith ran off to Wall Market with." There's something almost sharp about her accent, though her voice is deep and smooth for a woman's.
"Yeah," you say. "I guess that's me."
The woman looks at you for a long moment, and then nods, maybe as much to herself as to you. "Don't blame yourselves," she says. "Aerith knew that the Turks would eventually catch her in a position where she couldn't say no. She's been avoiding them for years."
That doesn't make it any easier, really, but Elmyra sighs and says, "Eula, why don't you show Marlene and her father upstairs? I'm sure they could use some privacy."
"And a nap, if my previous experience with children at that age is anything to go by," the woman, Eula, agrees. She turns towards Barret, who is already standing, Marlene's arms wrapped around his neck and her legs tucked into the elbow of his gun arm.
When he stands, Barret takes a moment to blink - you'd judged correctly, and Eula has three or so inches on him, standing. "Not used to looking up at anybody," he says.
"I do hear that on occasion," Eula replies dryly, which makes Barret laugh, the kind of laugh where it's covering up exhaustion underneath. "Watch your head on the stairs."
"Got it," Barret says. "Thanks."
When they duck (literally) out of the sight up the stairs, you glance back at Elmyra with raised eyebrows. Aerith's mother says quietly, "Aerith found her sitting out in the gardens one day, a few weeks ago. There's clearly something strange about her, but she took it upon herself to protect Aerith and this place - and she's good at it, so I can't complain."
"It's not hard to be intimidating when you're that tall," Tifa says - probably speaking from experience, given how much she hangs out with Barret.
"It's not just that," Elmyra says. "She was in some kind of military force before coming here. She refuses to talk about her past, but... I was a soldier's wife, once. I can tell."
Tifa glances at you, just barely, before nodding. "I understand," she says.
"Can she fight?" you ask. Elmyra makes an expression that you think is displeased, so you add, "We're getting Aerith out of there. And we'll take any help we can get."
"Good," comes that voice from the stairs. Eula has her head dipped as she comes back down, ducking under overhang of the stairs. "Then I don't have to try and convince you."
You watch the way she moves more carefully, now. Even in the low ceiling'd house - most buildings in the slums have pretty low ceilings - there's something straight and almost stiff about their bearing, now that you look for it. Proud, even. It reminds you of -
(white feathers. your forehead, against the cold metal of a sword.)
- it reminds you of someone.
"Glad to have you," Tifa says, while you reorient yourself. "You already met Barret - I'm Tifa, and this is Cloud."
"A pleasure," Eula says. She extends her hand, and Tifa takes it, the two of them in nearly matching, worn gloves.
"Oooh, you've got a strong grip," Tifa says before letting go. You don't make any move to imitate her, and Eula seems to catch onto that and accept it before it gets awkward.
Instead, you turn back to Elmyra, and say, "You said Aerith has been avoiding the Turks for a long time?" which gets the ball rolling on that information.
In her arms is Marlene. The girl looks as tiny in the strange woman's arms as she does in Barret's - though not for long, because the child rips herself free with a cry of "DADDY!" and barrels into her father's waiting grasp. The woman sighs in a way that seems pleased, a faint twist of a smile obvious due to the black lipstick against her pale skin.
When her eyes cast over the group of you, that half-memory steps over your grave again, something that would be a shiver up your spine if you weren't so damn tired. Her eyes are almost as pale as her hair, the white iris somehow luminous, like the full moon you can mostly remember from your hometown. If this is how most people feel meeting the glowing eyes of a SOLDIER, it's no wonder that most people in the slums won't look you in the face.
She stands and crosses the room to where you and Elmyra are standing to talk. You'd thought Barret was tall - he's still big, but the woman has a couple inches on him, you think, except that instead of Barret's bulk, she's all long limbs.
"So, you're the new friend Aerith ran off to Wall Market with." There's something almost sharp about her accent, though her voice is deep and smooth for a woman's.
"Yeah," you say. "I guess that's me."
The woman looks at you for a long moment, and then nods, maybe as much to herself as to you. "Don't blame yourselves," she says. "Aerith knew that the Turks would eventually catch her in a position where she couldn't say no. She's been avoiding them for years."
That doesn't make it any easier, really, but Elmyra sighs and says, "Eula, why don't you show Marlene and her father upstairs? I'm sure they could use some privacy."
"And a nap, if my previous experience with children at that age is anything to go by," the woman, Eula, agrees. She turns towards Barret, who is already standing, Marlene's arms wrapped around his neck and her legs tucked into the elbow of his gun arm.
When he stands, Barret takes a moment to blink - you'd judged correctly, and Eula has three or so inches on him, standing. "Not used to looking up at anybody," he says.
"I do hear that on occasion," Eula replies dryly, which makes Barret laugh, the kind of laugh where it's covering up exhaustion underneath. "Watch your head on the stairs."
"Got it," Barret says. "Thanks."
When they duck (literally) out of the sight up the stairs, you glance back at Elmyra with raised eyebrows. Aerith's mother says quietly, "Aerith found her sitting out in the gardens one day, a few weeks ago. There's clearly something strange about her, but she took it upon herself to protect Aerith and this place - and she's good at it, so I can't complain."
"It's not hard to be intimidating when you're that tall," Tifa says - probably speaking from experience, given how much she hangs out with Barret.
"It's not just that," Elmyra says. "She was in some kind of military force before coming here. She refuses to talk about her past, but... I was a soldier's wife, once. I can tell."
Tifa glances at you, just barely, before nodding. "I understand," she says.
"Can she fight?" you ask. Elmyra makes an expression that you think is displeased, so you add, "We're getting Aerith out of there. And we'll take any help we can get."
"Good," comes that voice from the stairs. Eula has her head dipped as she comes back down, ducking under overhang of the stairs. "Then I don't have to try and convince you."
You watch the way she moves more carefully, now. Even in the low ceiling'd house - most buildings in the slums have pretty low ceilings - there's something straight and almost stiff about their bearing, now that you look for it. Proud, even. It reminds you of -
(white feathers. your forehead, against the cold metal of a sword.)
- it reminds you of someone.
"Glad to have you," Tifa says, while you reorient yourself. "You already met Barret - I'm Tifa, and this is Cloud."
"A pleasure," Eula says. She extends her hand, and Tifa takes it, the two of them in nearly matching, worn gloves.
"Oooh, you've got a strong grip," Tifa says before letting go. You don't make any move to imitate her, and Eula seems to catch onto that and accept it before it gets awkward.
Instead, you turn back to Elmyra, and say, "You said Aerith has been avoiding the Turks for a long time?" which gets the ball rolling on that information.