towerofanimus | (no subject)

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Characters: Master Xehanort and open to anyone
Setting: Floor 29, either inside the maze or out (specify where in your reply please!)
Format: Starting prose, but will match whatever (HE JUST LIKES TO HEAR HIMSELF TALK)
Summary: Xehanort likes things that exercise his mind HEY THERE'S A NEW MAZE TIME TO SHOW IT WHO'S BOSS.
Warnings: LMAO IT'S XEHANORT. I'm so sorry forever. Also, your standard disclaimer applies.

The emergence of new floors was fascinating in its own way, and Xehanort had decided to waste no time in exploring what he could. The twenty-seventh floor had been exciting in its own right, something else to occupy his time outside of his research and explorations. However, stepping onto the twenty-ninth floor he was quite surprised to see another picturesque floor. He had never been one for horticulture - cultivating living things in such a fashion was more Eraqus' style. Still, he was able to appreciate the variety and arrangement of the flowers, but even more so was the specific borders of the hedges...

Now this was right up his alley. He was no stranger to hedge mazes, as some worlds used them quite extensively. He did enjoy the ever-changing labyrinths on the eighth floor, but the change of scenery would pleasant... and if there was a maze, there was an end, and what laid in wait at that end he needed to know. A grin cut across his face as he cleared his mind for the moment, preparing to count his steps, to become the master of this maze just as he was the master of everything else he set himself to.

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Xion was slowly getting back into the swing of things after all that had happened. The new floors were a great distraction, in that regard. Especially when she stumbled on floor 29 and simply... stared.

It was almost as if someone had plucked out a bit of Wonderland and placed it here in the Tower. The nostalgia alone made her step off the stairs and into the hedge maze to explore. She half expected to see rose bushes or card soldiers when she turned around corners, and out of habit she slipped into something a little more stealthy, her movements light, peeking around the corners in front of her before turning.

It was a maze though, with many paths an intersections where one might not notice someone else appearing until it's too late. Not that Xion has seen anyone yet, a stark difference from the place the maze reminded her of...

There's a familiar feeling as he follows a path that doubles back a bit - light, someone he's spoken with before... the young man who looked like Ventus but was called Xion. He'd been rather skittish, so Xehanort isn't quite sure another encounter so soon would be appropriate, but...

Well, if their paths cross in the maze, then there's little avoiding it. Truth be told, he would like to speak with the boy again...

((Also, for amusement's sake, if it's okay he'll probably see her in her proper form if for some reason her hood's down? I think you said he'd be able to. if not, that's fine and I don't mind him still thinking that XD))

The odd mix of familiarity and silence was enough that - when she found herself stepping out into a four-way crossroads, she came to a halt and pushed her hood back.

She should have been mentally mapping the maze. She'd been trying but without a ~~mini-map~~ general picture of where the maze started and ended and how it was shaped, it was difficult. Still... at least it was quiet. She couldn't see or hear anybody nearby. After a moment's hesitation, she brushed back her hood, letting it drape across her back.

Mazes made things hard to find, but it also made it hard for someone to be found. And that was something she wanted, on some level. A safe place to hide from others if she needed to, though really no place in the Tower was safe, and there was always the risk of getting permanently lost in a maze. She should probably keep going, or else getting stuck here...

She took a few steps forward, before a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye made her freeze and turn.

"Wh-who's there?"

Maybe it was overreacting, to immediately go on the defensive, but given what had happened in the past few weeks, she wasn't about to take any chances that this was Vanitas or something to that effect.

((Sounds good to me! Though even with her hood up he'd still probably hear/see a hooded girl, I think... idk it's not an issue now |D))

Upon hearing Xion's voice he frowned for a moment. Something didn't sound right. It felt like Xion, but the voice was... different. Female? It was not something he would have overlooked on their initial meeting. Was it a trick of the tower, or perhaps the sound harmonics of the maze? He was certain he was not mistaken, one couldn't simply forge the tides of the heart after all. He stepped forward, holding himself in a non-threatening position. He was rather hoping to prevent the boy from fleeing by assumimg a rather defenseless posture, perhaps one typical of an elderly man his age.

Of course it was mostly just for show. The darkness he wore beneath his skin kept him far more spry than he would have been naturally.

"Simply Xehanort. I did not mean to startle you," he said simply, then is words trailed away. The person before him was not Xion, but a young lady... and for a brief moment, he was caught off guard.

Xion froze as Xehanort revealed himself. A large part of her did want to bolt, but not because of being startled. The warnings Riku had given her a few days before were still fairly fresh on her mind. She isn't sure she's ready or able to handle another encounter with him already, if she ever would be.

With the maze and her darkness corridors, she could probably do it too...

Something about the way his words trailed off made her pause, both curious and confused. A few seconds later, her eyes widen and her hand reaches up to check her shoulder - her hood was down. She wished it was up right now, given whom Xehanort had seen the last time they'd met...

The only thing going through his mind at that moment was Is this the true face of Xion? It had to be. Whatever had caused him to see Ven was dispersed. It was almost disappointing in a way to have found the answer he'd been looking forward to trying to ascertain.

There was always the why of such a thing, though... it still bore looking into. That thought was vaguely mollifying.

Instead he manages a rather pleasant smile, bowing his head slightly in greeting. "You lady," he murmurs quietly. "I apologize. I did not mean to gape."

At his words, Xion sucked her breath in with a slight gasp. She. He called her she. So... either he'd learned about her, or... or he could see her. Her, not Ven.

The hand that had been checking for her hood drifts up to her face, a part of her wondering if she'd feel anything different even if he was actually still seeing Ven's face.

"You can..." She trailed off, realizing that maybe it wasn't the best idea to admit that she knew he could see someone different. It was hard - Namine had asked her not to talk about Sora having Ven's memories, and something like this could very well lead to just that. The damage may already have been done, but maybe she could pass it off as something else, if he were to ask. Or maybe he wouldn't comment at all.

"...It's okay," she finished, sort of lamely.

His eyes catch her movement, processing it. She's surprised that he recognized her as female. He wishes to know more about this, dearly, but now is not the time. Perhaps another moment when they can be more comfortable with each other, such discussion can take place.

It would be far more satisfying to simply rip the answers from her with words or magic, but he was trying to give the impression of kindness and repentance. Appearances, after all...

"I am grateful to be able to bear witness to you in truth, Xion. Thank you for such a kind gesture."

Xion shifted uncomfortably. He was saying that... almost as if she had control over it. As if she was letting him see her own face.

"But... I-I'm not..." She clamped her mouth shut again, for similar reasons to when she'd trailed off earlier, but the message was still probably fairly clear.

I'm not in control of this. I don't know how you're able to see me at all. She knew why he could see her as Ven at all, and perhaps how some other people were able to look at her and see others (at least she had guesses), but how and why she changed? She didn't know. And she certainly couldn't control it, outside of keeping her hood up so people couldn't see her face at all.

His expression doesn't betray how pleased he is. She's given him a bit of information already just through her responses, something that's made the situation more curious. A property of hers, one she has no control over, that causes her to appear as another... the factors behind it were tempting, far too tempting. What changed, then? His suspicion of this other "Ventus"? That was the only thing he could think of.

"It's no matter, Xion. If this is who you are, I am pleased to know you."

Xion hesitated. She knew what Riku had told her, she trusted him and his judgement when he said Xehanort was someone to be avoided, and yet... He wasn't doing anything that would line him up with Xemnas, in her mind.

Then again, she'd only seen Xemnas some two or three times, one of which she couldn't even really remember.

In the end, she nodded once, cautiously. "It is... I think." If Xehanort was seeing who she thought he was. Since... people sometimes saw someone else, then her, right? They didn't see someone different, then someone else, then her... right?

He favoured her with a soft smile, one he probably used during Ventus' training. "Never doubt, especially not yourself. This is who you are; there is no reason to be uncertain in that fact. If you cannot have confidence in you, then it is impossible to have confidence in others. A talented young lady such as yourself should never be plagued by such things."

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I meant to tag this ages ago I am so sorry... orz

it's all right :3

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I am so sorry this took so long

it's okay no worries