Suggesting: Sayori playing FFVII blind and her reactions to Red XIII meeting his dad, Aerith's death and Cloud giving Sephiroth the Black Materia
“Oh? You want me to play this game? ‘Final Fantasy’? Is that ‘seven’? Whoa, will I be okay with starting with the seventh one??”
“Oh, they’re all separate stories? You’re sure? Well, okay...! I guess I have my weekend free, so why not~?”
After many hours playing through and grinding a little out of Midgar, Sayori soon finds herself in Cosmo Canyon. She has been slowly, but surely coming to like these characters over time.
Cloud’s a little dorky and snarky, Barret’s a big tough guy with a heart of gold, Tifa’s a strong lady with a bit soft heart, Aerith’s a cutie and absolutely feral for a lady, Red XIII is a cool lion that speaks lots of wisdom, Yuffie is a little brash but she’s pretty cool for a ninja, Cait Sith is a funky plush dude with gimmicks, Cid is an old man who likes to be a step behind one purpose to observe better and Vincent is a gun-toting vampire! I mean, that’s such an amazing set of characters and she’s been enjoying her time doing little sidequests and trying them all out. So far, she can’t decide if Cloud or Cait Sith is her favorite.
Anyway, we were at Cosmo Canyon! Red XIII seems to have a pretty big connection with this place, as it goes on. Little bits and bites here and there for a curious lady who likes to explore every nook and cranny.
And then, the moment of truth. At first, she doesn’t seem to pick up on what’s going on. She’s watching the scene play out before her, little picks in the music starting to pluck on her heartstrings. Before she knows it, her bottom lip and chin are quivering as her shirt starts to get wet from tears just flowing down her face. She didn’t think something from an old and mostly minigame-filled game was gonna get her so bad!
After time to recover from that and maybe a long nap, Sayori has gotten further in the game and is wondering how so much game can be on the first disc! There must be a thing where they can go back, maybe after acquiring a big boat or something? She’s unsure, but she’ll keep going!
For now, they’re zeroing in on how to get something fight Meteor! This’ll be a piece of cake, this is what she did the extra grinding for! She’s going in, fully prepared even if she has no idea what’s to come.
And after a short time, it happens. The moment. Sayori gasps and audibly screams as the cutscene plays out, watching something happen that she had no idea could happen. A game can literally run through your heart, much like the Masamune did to poor Aerith. She’s shocked into silence until the cutscene finishes, needing to collect herself again after a short time of staring at the screen. That actually just happened...
Sayori sits uneasily as she finishes through the end of the disc, trying to still come to terms with losing a whole party member. Especially one so important in the grand scheme of things in the game. She has to go cry and sleep some more before starting Disc 2.
A bit later in Disc 2, Sayori is still grinding the party and trying to continue with the story, even after getting through the tough mountain pass and getting turned around a lot. She does her best to keep her chin up as the story progresses, even as she starts piecing things together that the characters either don’t notice are outright ignoring as they’re brought up and to the front to be addressed.
She’s soon seeing her favorite boy start to be forced through some sort of mental manipulation into handing over Meteor, screaming along with the party members and Cloud’s inner voice to not hand it over! She is so very much invested in this game now and she’d getting swept up in the story too.
Another long and powerful cutscene plays out and before she knows it, she’s playing as Tifa and finding out that Cloud disappeared from the face of the earth. Once she has a chance to, this is finally her point she must stop for the weekend even. That last part, with Cloud being manipulated and messed with like that hit really close to home for her.
She does her best to try and sleep that night, but finds it difficult when an old recurring nightmare rears its ugly head with an added effect from the game’s story. She tries her best to scream herself awake and just wait until day to sleep, but she can’t help it now.
“Mmmmnnn...what a game...”
Another flash of her past and she breaks down crying again, having to curl up into a ball under her bed, hugging her cow plush as tight as possible.
Sayori’s finally passed out from sheer exhaustion hours later, but that doesn’t stop her nightmares from bubbling back up again.
Emerald eyes, long hair, a long sword. An angel? No, a demon. Truly a monster! And worst of all, it’s both parts her best friend and this video game’s villain. She didn’t want to think or experience this again, let alone from a fun little video game.
But there stands her nightmare in her bedroom, looming over her in her dreams. Unblinking, ominous otherworldly powers, a silhouette and presence like no other.