Relearning

Chapter 6: One Hell of a L'Cie

Pain.

That was all he felt. Ace gritted his teeth as he slowly came too. He was lying on his side, curled slightly. His vision was completely blurry as he tried to figure out what in the world happened to him. All he saw was a mass of blue and white. It took him a while until his sight finally cleared. He groaned as he tried to sit up, his muscles screaming at the movements. There was an iron taste in his mouth, making him wonder if he bit the inside of his lip or something. Worried, he touched his cheek and pressed against it lightly. He didn't feel any flaring pain in his skin, which made him wonder just where the blood was coming from.

Then he coughed. His throat burned with each wet cough he spluttered, spiting out bits of blood that came with it. Fortunately, his little fit didn't last long. Once he was able to breathe, he uncurled himself from his position on the floor and attempted to get up once more.

He was forced to take a breather once he managed to sit up without falling over. Everything just... hurt: the soreness in his throat, the fiery pain in his chest, the pins and needles that laced his skin, the plain ache that accompanied his every move... He didn't know how in the world he was still alive in the first place!

Lifting his head up, he finally took in his surroundings, gaping at the sight. He was surrounded by crystalized waves with bits and chunks of metal jutting out of different places. He bit the back of his bottom lip as he pushed himself off the ground and stood shakily.

There was no one around him, making him wonder what happened to the others. Was Hope and the others alright? He didn't recall seeing Vanille amongst the others while they were branded by Anima...

He perked up when he suddenly remembered a burning sensation on his forearm, right before the elbow. Immediately, Ace lifted up his right arm and frowned. There, in a easily noticeable grayish-black color, was the brand of a l'Cie covered in his blood. He didn't feel the urge to sigh as he dropped his arm back down in defeat.

What in the world was going on? He never expected that huge thing to start talking to him... Wait, did Anima treat the others the same way he was treated? Or was Ace really segregated from the group?

Ace shook his head, backing his thoughts back a little more. Anima... Ignoring the fact of the Fal'Cie actually talking to him, where in the world did Ace know its name? Was it a connection to any of the lost memories he had...? And what did Anima mean "Welcome Home"?!

...And that dream... He was pretty damn sure that a portion of that was a memory. It felt too real to be a figment of his imagination. Ace was about to store it in his head to assure himself it wasn't just a dream, but he was already forgetting chunks of it. Who...who was that? Machina...

For some odd reason that name was bothering more than he thought.

He groaned, starting to feel the heavy weight of the stress that accompanied his self-questioning. Sighing, he painstakingly stood, bitting back the whimpers. He took one stumbling step after another, feeling only a bit of his strength return as he kept moving. After a few minutes, Ace was able to move with only flashes of pain jolting him if he stumbled. He had absolutely no idea where to go. He was pretty sure that he was somewhere near the vestige, seeing how it was stuck in the vast crystal seas from a distance.

Exhaustion was starting to weigh upon Ace, but he fought it. He knew for a fact that it was dangerous to stay in one place for so long. Dying now meant never finding out the answers to his questions!

Then he saw it.

A glimpse of some thing moving behind the crystalized waves. Ace blinked, letting it register in his head for a moment, before making his way over there.