Final Fantasy VII and all related names and characters are property of Square.
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Displacement ~ by Amariƫ
~part five~
"the blind leading the blind"
"So, you can start by telling me your name."
The silver-haired man hesitated, and Alice got the distinct impression that he was trying to recall exactly what his name was.
"...Simon, I think." Not nearly an impressive enough name, she thought. Doesn't really suit him. But who can account for taste? I might make a strange choice for my own name too.
The newly christened Simon began to nervously arrange the cookies into neat concentric circles on the plate. Alice looked at him strangely, and he stopped. "Shall I begin now?" he asked.
"Go ahead."
"First you should know that the police are looking for me." He paused, but Alice didn't look at all surprised. "They want to question me in connection to the death of Iris Gainsborough." Now she started, but he went on. "Apparently they suspect I'm the religious maniac who killed those six people last Thursday."
"And are you?"
"I don't know. I've been having bouts of memory loss lately, and they correspond to the times the killer was spotted -- putting up posters, shouting mantras in the streets, and all that -- and of course killing people. The thing is that nobody who saw him can remember what he looked like. If they could, it'd be pretty obvious" -- he gestured to the ponytail -- "whether or not it was me."
"And what does this have to do with me?" asked Alice, who was now feeling a tad uncomfortable.
"A friend of mine who works at city hall has been keeping me informed. He said you were an old friend of his and that you'd be able to help me remember what happened in the periods of time I've lost. His name is Vincent -- Vincent Valentine."
Alice looked at him blankly. "I don't know any such person! And I have no idea how I could help you, in fact, I have amnesia myself --" A thought occurred to her. Before Simon, who was looking rather crushed, could say anything, she yelled, "Wait there a moment!" and jumped up and opened the closet. She rummaged around in its depths, causing several small avalanches of tightly-packed stuff, and pulled out a battered shoebox. "Tina left this last time she came! No, wait... that was a dream, wasn't it? Oh well."
She pulled out a group photo and handed it to Simon. "Is he in there?"
"Yes, that's him, the one in the red cape. But you said you didn't know him?"
"I don't remember these pictures either. I have amnesia up until about six months ago -- I've lost all the rest of my life."
"Well," he said, "we have a very interesting problem here, don't we?"
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author's notes: Here's chapter five... I can't change my settings because of server problems or something... so I will take the opportunity to rant... WHO THE HELL ADDED A "3" TO THE END OF MY NAME? AARGH!!! They better get the site working soon... because I'll be REALLY annoyed if I have to keep this "3".
