Chapter 17
Neither of them spoke on the way back to her house. Sherry didn't blame Noel for his quiet, either. She had given him a lot to think about. Even if he had already declared that he would help, she was sure his mind had to be full of what would happen to him. She really hoped that the visions she had of him in different clothing and unfamiliar surroundings meant that he would be born into a brighter future and would retain no memory of all this pain. She hoped she could do the same for all of them. She knew that it was probable that at least Caius and Genesis would remember coming to Earth and all that entailed, but even so, that would arm them against making everyone else's life miserable. Or at least she hoped so. Her focus was still unclear to her, but she had a feeling she was on the right track.
When they pulled up, Noel helped her carry everything in. It didn't escape anyone's attention that Noel was far more somber than he had been when they left. None of them liked the implications, but no one said anything to Sherry. As soon as she put everything away, she got started on a meal. It was already late morning, so she decided to forgo breakfast foods and opted for lunch instead.
All the way through to clean-up, there was very little talking outside of the things necessary to organize everything. She was surprised when Cloud and Zack offered to clean in her stead since she was providing the meal. She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to let someone else wash dishes. That was her least favorite chore.
While they finished that, Sherry went into the living room. She found both Caius and Sephiroth were talking again, and, to her amusement, Genesis had one of her fantasy novels and seemed to be absorbed. She looked around but didn't see Noel. Caius noticed her looking and spoke up. "He went outside as soon as he was finished eating."
Her brows furrowed down, but she gave him a nod. She started to head out to look for him, but she stopped before she reached the door. She was probably the last person he wanted to see at the moment. Instead, she turned back to Caius. "Would you mind trying to teach me to use magic? I don't know how long this will take, but I would rather have a basic understanding of what might happen instead of having it surprise me."
At her request, the others all turned to her with interest. Especially Genesis. She realized that seeing magic without materia would probably fascinate them as well, so she ignored them while she waited for a response.
Caius must have noted their curiosity as well since he simply stood and gestured toward the door. "I noticed an isolated clearing nearby that would work."
She gave him a nod. She knew where he was talking about and agreed that it was a good location. She didn't have neighbors that were too close, but going to where there was no chance of being seen was a good idea. She followed him out, and the others trailed after them. They hadn't quite made it when a thought occurred to her, and she turned to the men behind her. "I apologize. I had planned on speaking with you all today."
Genesis only made a shooing motion for her to continue. "And I am certain you will speak with a couple of us at least, but with the enormity of what we are potentially about to witness, it can wait."
She tried to clamp down on a laugh, but it came out anyway with a choking sound. When he gave her a dirty look for it, she just grinned. "You do realize that it is commonplace for Caius and Noel, right? That is why I asked him to show me."
His glare had only slightly lessened as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her to follow Caius. His voice still sounded excited. "Be that as it may, it is extraordinary to us, and I am interested in seeing the differences."
She laughed again as she allowed him to push her to follow Caius. When they reached the clearing, the Guardian motioned her to join him. He gave the others a blank look before he turned to her. "I do not know if you can produce controlled results right away, but you should be able to feel the magic. If you were attacked, it would most likely manifest on a subconscious level to help you defend yourself. For that reason, it is good that I show you, even if it will only be a few days."
He pointed to the ground before he sat. She quickly followed suit. Once they were both seated, he started again. "Each person has a unique mix of skills. If a l'cie has the time to gain experience, they can find that they will eventually gain access to most skills, even if their secondary skills will never be as strong as their primary. The key is finding what your innate skills are."
She nodded. Everything he had said so far sounded familiar. Her problem was that she didn't know how to find out what hers was. She didn't have to ask as he started again at her nod. "For you to do that, first you must find the power. I will walk you through several scenarios. You must imagine you are in them and concentrate on what you believe the best solution would be. I will use my own strengths to help guide you to yours."
She tilted her head a little and gave him a curious look. "Is this how it's always taught?" In the games, they had just known how to use their powers, and she knew it wasn't depicted in the game, so she wasn't certain how they had learned so quickly. Although, she could remember them being shocked the first time one of them manifested something. Maybe the scenarios were supposed to simulate that.
He shook his head, and his answer both made sense and made her wish they didn't have an audience. "No, this method is usually reserved for children, if any are unlucky enough to be made l'cie. Most adults on Pulse either know a l'cie or have at the very least seen one, so they already have a basis for understanding. Since you are not from Pulse, I thought it would be best to use this approach first. If you pick it up quickly, then we can move on."
She understood his reasoning and agreed with him, so she tried not to let the fact that it was a method for children get to her. She closed her eyes at his prompting and listened as he explained the first situation. "You have accompanied a team of hunters to the Steppes. When you reach them, you find that a pack of gorgonopsids is waiting to ambush you all. While there is little chance anyone will die, there are some injured initially. What is your first instinct?"
Surprisingly, Sherry was able to visualize what he described reasonably well. She used images of the men around her for the hunting group. When she tried to picture their reactions, her answer didn't take long. "I would check the wounded first and see if I could help. Once I was done with that, I would try to ice the pack until they could be brought down by the others."
There was silence for several moments, and she almost opened her eyes. Luckily, Caius spoke before she could. "Good. You have the instincts of a healer and a ravager. We will start there."
She was surprised at the impressed note in his voice, but she didn't have long to contemplate it as she suddenly felt a warmth wash over her. "Now start from the beginning, and I will talk you through this. You have approached the first hunter, and they have a gashed arm from the surprise attack. You lay your hand on them and let your warmth flow into the wound to close it."
She continued to picture what he was saying, with Zack being the one that was injured since he would have definitely been the one in front. As she imagined what he described, the warmth that she felt seemed to pick up slightly, and she could feel it start to build in her wrist before it suddenly shot to her fingertips. The feeling was unlike anything she had ever experienced, and her eyes snapped open. When they did, she was looking into the surprised face of Caius. Apparently, he hadn't been expecting it either. Luckily for them both, it had been a cure.
She looked down at her own fingers to find a slight blue glow fading as she watched. While she was watching that, Caius stood and held out his hand to help her up. He was shaking his head as she finally looked to him with a grin. "That was so cool! I'm glad it was a cure. I would hate to have accidentally hurt you. Did you pull that out of me?"
He gave her a bemused look at her excitement and shook his head. "You were able to produce the spell without my aide. I was not expecting it to happen so quickly. Since you seemed to have a better grasp than I anticipated, we can set up targets. One of your primary skillsets certainly is that of a medic. The others will follow closely."
At that point, Genesis stepped forward. Sherry wasn't shocked to see the interested glint in his eye. "I would be happy to stand in as a sparring partner. If you are concerned about injuries, I will not attack, and I can cast reflect, so nothing reaches me."
She couldn't stop the incredulous look she gave him. "I think I need to learn a little more before we talk about sparring. Besides, there is no way in hell I would cast at myself like that unless it was a cure."
At her words, they all stared at her in disbelief. Finally, she shook her head. "Surely you had considered the fact that even if I had you cast reflect on me, that I can't reflect a reflected spell. Unless I cast it at myself, of course." At that point, she gave him a grin. "That might be worth trying."
Her eyes widened slightly, and she took a step back at the gleam in Genesis' eyes when she told him that. She was concerned that he might actually take her up on her teasing offer, but they were distracted when Zack interrupted. "But how can you know that? I still can barely keep it straight. If magic doesn't exist here, how is that possible?"
Before she could even try to formulate an answer, Caius spoke up. "Likely the same way she knew that ice is a gorgonopsid's elemental weakness." He gave her a hard look. "You are far more familiar with magic than you let on. From both our worlds from the sounds of it. Why is that?"
She didn't back down under the weight of his look. She put one hand on her hip and gestured at them all with the other. "I have already told you I am familiar with both worlds due to the stories. Obviously, magic would be part of that."
Genesis narrowed his eyes at her claim. "You say that, however, I looked through your library and didn't find anything that had to do with anyone here."
The look she gave him was disbelieving. "First, I doubt you went through them all. There are several hundred books in there. Secondly, the stories are not written. They are told through a different medium, but they are stories just the same."