Edge Of The Worlds

Chapter 9

You don't even see the impact. You're thrown into the wall with incredible force. Your bones break and reform as your meet the ground. You try to scream, but you can't find the breath. You hope you're dead. You can't feel anything. You don't know if you're dead or alive. You don't know if this is the afterlife or waiting room of some alien machine.

You think about your friends. The ones you lost, Cid, Tifa, Riddler, Ruby... The ones you made, Yvette, Hazel, Jane... You close your eyes in pain, and wait for the end.

You keep waiting, but it never comes. After minutes, hours, days, weeks... Nothing happens. You open your eyes to find that you're still alive, and still trapped in the escape pod. The fire continues to rage around you, slowly cooked you until you can take no more. You struggle to get free, but you're slowly cooked in a escape pod in the middle of the intense heat.

You feel something hit the pod, and break through. Out of the pod, you see a man. He's tall, easily six foot. He's dressed in heavy combat armor with a sword strapped to his side.

The man wears a pair of sunglasses, he looks familiar to you, but your head hurts so much and you can't remember anything, you can barely even think.

"Kid... I'm coming for you," the man says, as he grabs your arm and yanks you free of the pod.

You scream as you feel your skin burn, but the man just holds you in a firm grip and pulls you free. You're out in the open air, but painfully exposed to the intense heat of the firestorm. You're cooked, you're burned, you're terrified and you can't do anything. You can't run or fight or even scream.

"Kid, you're really putting up a fight there. I like that. It means you don't want to go to sleep just yet."

The heat is so intense you feel like your skin is melting, your bones are crackling and your mind is about to give up the battle to stay awake. All you can do is close your eyes and pray for death to release you from this hell.

"I've gotta say, I thought I'd never find you."

You don't hear the screams of the people on board the airship, you don't hear the explosions or the flames. You stop fighting to stay awake, and let sleep take you into oblivion.

You wake up in a place filled with bright light. Standing beside you is Ruby, she holds your hand. You take a look around and see that you're in a huge room. There's a large golden portal in the middle of it, behind which you can see more golden rungs leading down.

 "Ruby... Am I... Dead..?"

"No, you're not dead," Ruby says, reassuringly.

You sit up, and groggily look around.

The bright light has faded, as well as Ruby. You wake up in a dark hospital room covered in bandages. You can't seem to remember anything that happened, just the searing flames against your skin. The smell of the burning airship is all you can smell.

You go to try and sit up, but a sharp pain shoots through your body.

A man walks into the room. You recognize him as the same man who brought you out of the fire. You assume he was the one who brought you here, but you can't be sure.

"Hey, take it easy there," he says.

"Where am I?" you ask.

"You're in the hospital. You got burnt pretty badly. You'll have scars."

"Scars? I don't remember..."

"You don't remember anything?"

"Just... Waking up."

The man sighs, before pulling out a small cigar and lighting it.

The man tells you that his name is Riddler, and that your name is Cloud. He tells you that you used to work together, and that you were friends. He had been trying to find you for a while, but you still can't remember anything. He says he'll leave you to rest, and leaves the room.

You try to go back to sleep, and hope that you can get some more answers tomorrow.

You wake up in the morning, and find that you can't move. You're covered in bandages, having suffered second degree burns all over your body, including your face and arms. You can't move, can't speak and have no strength.

A woman walks into the room, a nurse you presume. She puts on a mask and clears her throat, before speaking.

"Oh, you're awake. There's no time for pleasantries. You need to heal quickly. Do you feel any pain?"

You try to speak, but find that you can't. You finally succeed in making some tears come out of your eyes.

"I feel nothing," you struggle to say.

"Good. That means the drugs have worn off. Now, I'm going to need you to tell me if you still feel any pain."

"Yes," you reply, as any pain you might be feeling fades away.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, I still feel pain."

"Perfect. You'll be needing these drugs again in two weeks. I'm going to give you something now to make you feel a little easier, but not so much that you'll be able to sleep. You'll be able to rest, but not fully healed for another two weeks. Got it?"

"Got it. So can I go now?"

"Yes, you can go. And while your body should heal itself over the next couple of weeks, don't push it. You'll get sleepy if you over exert yourself. Let the doctor or nurse know if you start feeling nauseous or feel weak. Otherwise, good luck and we'll see you in two weeks.

You use a wheelchair and push yourself into the hall. Outside Riddler is waiting for you.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better. I was beginning to think you'd gone soft from not doing anything for so long."

"What's going on? Who are you? Where is this?"

Riddler chuckles, and pats your shoulder.

"Nothing to worry about, kid. No need to go going crazy."

"I have a lot of questions! You said you'd give me answers!"

Riddler begins speaking to you. He mentions that you have lost your memory, and wonders if there's any way he can help you recover it, but Riddler talks about how hard that would be. He says he's sure you though remembered some things...

"Remembering things is no easy feat, but if you think there's something that might help, just ask. I'll try to do what I can. Oh, and call me Riddler. Everyone else does. Well, everyone you know at least.

A month passes and you have begun to remember some things. You and Riddler used to work on a team together. You remember your friends. You remember this city, where you grew up. You don't remember much before that though. Riddler says he's sure you have some memories buried in your brain that will come back to you.

"Do you know if Yvette, Jane, or Hazel survived..? "

Riddler looks down and doesn't answer. He begins shuffling his feet and chewing on his lip, as though thinking about the question. You can't tell if he knows, or he's just unwilling to tell you.

"Come on, out with it! Do you know something, or do you simply not want to answer?"

Riddler begins to bite his nails, in a very uncharacteristic way. After a moment, he answers.

"I don't know, and I'm not going to make things harder for you than they have to be. You'll find out when you get there, I guarantee it."

"Riddler, I'm your only hope of getting my memory back. You can't just brush off my questions like that!"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more. I'm sorry."

Riddler walks away, leaving you alone. You curse at his incompetence, and walk over to the window. You see a hospital sidewalk outside, and feel a sense of dread. You don't want to go through this again.