Dark Cloud 2 Fanfic
Chapter 5: Her and HerBy The Several
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Monica wakes up the next morning, and finds that Max wasn't there anymore.
"He must've gone out," she says to herself. "Well, no point in staying in this huge house by myself!" She gets dressed up, runs out the door, and walks around town.
The sun was hardly in the sky. It was still the early morning. Monica walks up to the bakery store and buys some fresh bread to eat as she walks along. She considers taking notice of the town and its inhabitants, of how happy they're living. How opposite it was before in the future.
"Hmmm… I wish I could stay here…" she says to herself again. She doesn't realize though, that she was walking in the direction of the pond near the Zelmite Mines. She stops, and sees the person she wasn't expecting to see at this time. Claire.
Claire was on a bench facing the pond. Birds surround her person, as she feeds them seeds and berries of the sort. Monica walks towards her quietly, in a slow motion until she was directly behind the bench she was sitting on.
Although behind, she could see her face in profile as she turns her head to feed more birds. Wow, she IS beautiful… Monica thought. Such a kind, caring person… Similar to Max's personality. No wonder he likes her…
Claire turns around from her bench, seeing the surprised look from Monica's face.
"You… must be Monica," said Claire in a voice that could soothe even the angels.
Monica gulped. "Yeah… That's me."
"Sit down beside me. Max has told me a lot about you," says Claire as she gestures her hand, offering Monica a seat beside her.
Monica reluctantly sits down. They were silent for a while, when Claire breaks the ice.
"I… take it you don't like seeing me," she says as she looks at Monica with a kind face.
"W-What are you talking about?" said Monica as she shakes her head. It was not the conversation she had expected.
Clair sighs, and puts her hands on her lap. She rests her head, closes her eyes, and then looks directly at Monica's own. She looks deeply in them, her bright eyes. Monica breaks from the stare, not knowing what any of what was happening means.
Claire looks at the bright sky. "I know you like Max. It's…. in your eyes."
"What are you talking about?" Monica replied. "I thought YOU liked him!"
"I do," Claire softly said. "But so do you. The mere mention of his name brings redness to your cheeks. He… must be special to you."
Monica blushed. It was too obviously true to deny. "B…But Max likes you, not me."
"No," Claire interrupted, her face to the ground. "Whenever he's with me, he sees someone else… Someone… dear to him. Someone he's been looking for all this time."
"I liked him," Claire continued as she looked up, smiling, but with tears rolling down her eyes. "…But I guess someone beat me to him."
Monica was silent. She couldn't look at Claire directly, fearing she had offended her. "Don't worry," surprisingly continued Claire. "I'm not angry. I'm… just glad Max had finally found someone he really cares for."
Monica was about to reply. When suddenly, a dark cloud covered the morning sky. The feeling the cloud brought was oddly familiar and fatiguing. Its movement was bizarre, and it seemed to be heading towards the vicinity of the mines…
Monica got up. "Sorry, Claire," she said as she readied her sword. "But I have something to check out." She runs towards the direction of the mines, when suddenly she hears Claire from behind her.
"Monica," Claire said, with a serious tone in her voice.
Monica looks back. They were silent for a moment. Claire then smiled at her, "I've been with Max since we were little," she said. "And he's a very kind person."
Monica smiled too. "Yeah….. I know."
She then continues to run towards the direction of the Zelmite Mines….
To be continued…