towerofanimus | Cold winds blow

Entry tags:

Cold winds blow

Characters: Xion and whoever runs into her
Setting: Room 1-01, Floor 4, Mailroom
Format: Either or!
Summary: EVENT FALLOUT
Warnings: None right now

Room 1-01

[Any unconsciousness she experiences after she's pulled through the mirror is thankfully absolute - there's no nightmares, no dreams, no everythings, no empty black that she's fully conscious in. Just nothing. And when she wakes up, feels the fabric of her pillow beneath her cheek, the blanket draped over her,she knows she's back. No sleep paralysis either, which means she hasn't died. They were done.

Still, these sensations are dwarfed by the aftereffects of what she experienced. The feeling of being stretched and nearly snapped, of the whirling multitude of vague impressions and memories of what she saw, especially those flashes of insight that pass by, branding themselves into her new consciousness with painful intensity.

She rolls onto her side, curling up even as her hands snake up to tangle in her hair. Trying to reign herself in. To make some sense of what happened and somehow deal with it. And to stop her head from hurting and feeling like it's a bout to shatter into pieces.

She doesn't move for a long time.]

=======================

Floor 4

[Somewhere in the lounge floor, there's a chair that looks like it was very recently sat in - very recently. There's also a small pile of clothes nearby, and even a pile of a mostly-completed sweater lying on the ground, as if suddenly dropped. More noticeable still is the very panicked Dusk that might try to get your character's attention, pointing at the spot. What could have happened?

Should anyone approach the spot, or try to attack the Dusk (it does bear a strong resemblance to non-friendly Tower Dusks), suddenly the seat that was vacated will not be, and there will be a very started Xion sitting there once more, eyes wide and afraid.]

What-

=======================

Mailroom

[Whatever Xion was writing, she's done now, holding several letters in her hands as she stares up at all the different mailboxes. The expression on her face is unsure, and she keeps half-pulling out a letter before pushing it back in, as if she can't decide whether she wants to send them or not.

It's bothering her a lot, whatever's going on.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Xion?

[Reno's knocking at the door, checking in to see if she was there once again. Her room was close to his own, making it easy to peek in from time to time.

He didn't hold much hope that she was awake yet, but he kept trying.]

[She hears the knock, the voice. Her eyes crack open. She can't see him - he's outside the room, right? That's why he's knocking.]

Dad?

[Her voice is quiet, but should still be audible through the door itself.

[Going inside, worried even more by the fact she called him 'Dad' more than anything, he moves to sit on the edge of her bed.]

Y'know, I was startin' to get worried you wouldn't wake up.

[He's wearing goggles; they look handmade.]

[She doesn't stop him as he sits down. Instead she reaches a hand out - the one she'd been lying on - for his. She feels so tired still, she isn't inclined to move too much just yet.]

How long?

[How long was she out? How long were they gone?]

You went in Wednesday.

[He takes her hand in both his.]

It's Saturday.

...four days?

[She isn't sure what to make of that. It'd been so hard to tell the passage of time.]

Guess... I'm glad it wasn't longer.

[She closes her eyes again, bringing her forehead down to rest against his hands holding hers]

Yeah.

[Slowly, he lets her hands go and rests one on her head, brushing her hair from her forehead with his thumb.]

Y'know, I was worried.

[Xion's expression tightens briefly. There's the picture in her head, that one brief flash of clarity where she saw the two of them on that beach.]

I'm sorry.

Xion?

[He keeps stroking her hair, brushing all the stray strands out of the way from her cheeks and tucks it behind her ear.]

What is it, kiddo?

[Xion doesn't answer immediately. Slowly, she opens her eyes, though she doesn't look at Reno directly.]

Wasn't... that bad, m-mostly. We were hooked up to the machine and fell asleep. After that... it was just nightmares, for the longest time. [And nightmares in Animus might be like the Heartless back home. Not pleasant, but part of a generally accepted fact of her life]

After a while though, everyone... we fell into this... I don't know what to call it. It was like... nothing. Nothing at all. There was no light, or floor, or anything. Just all of us. And we all felt this pull towards somewhere, so we followed it, because we didn't know what else to do.

When we got there, there was a mirror. We all touched it and...

[She closes her eyes.]

I saw... [She stops for a moment, struggling for words] everything.

Everything?

[He's pretty sure she means that in a specific sense, but he's just trying to figure out what she's saying.]

What do ya mean everything?

I...

[Words fail her again.]

It's like... back home. I saw everything. Everything that could have been, that could be if... if I went back. The good and bad... all at the same time.

I don't... remember most of it. It's too much to remember, but... I remember some parts.

[There's tears leaking out of her eyes, and she doesn't even realize it. Both the best that she saw and the worst that she saw were cruel in their own way.]

My head hurts.

[Maybe not a physical pain exactly, but something very much like it]

Edited 2014-02-03 04:44 (UTC)

Shh, don't talk anymore. Go back to sleep, sweets.

[A hand reaches up to grab his. This is important. She doesn't want to just... go to sleep. Try to erase it, or forget it or... anything. Sleeping won't fix this.

Then again she doesn't know what will]

I saw... futures from here too, I think.

[Nothing that would help them fix anything, but futures she knew couldn't happen without the Tower]

I saw us. We were at a beach... I think it was on your world.

[On Gaia.]

[Reno froze, staring at her for a long moment.]

On my world? Didn't know that was possible...

[Xion smiles, it's a shaky thing, but real.]

It was some kind of... resort town? [She says it like she isn't quite sure what the word means]

We were both there. There were lots of other people too, but... they didn't really pay attention to us. We were just part of the crowd. I think... I was older then too.

[There's a slow realization dawning in the back of her mind. If he doesn't realize it himself in a moment, she'll point it out to him]

Resort town?

[There's only one he'd regularly visit, past present or future.]

Costa del Sol? Got a big port downtown?

Yes.

[Her hand tightens around his briefly in happy realization. There was enough of the memory of the place there that him naming it had been enough for her to recognize it]

That was its name. I remember now.

[She pauses for a moment, then lets go of his hand and starts to try to push herself upright.]

Xion?

[He could argue that he'd mentioned it a few times in the report book, but she seems so certain.]

What're you doing? Stay still.

Reno... Dad.

[Her eyes are sparkling with more happiness and hope than she's maybe had in a while. Hope she wants to share, because she knows how much he needs it.]

We can fix this. The only way I could go with you to your world is if we fix this. I don't know how but we can. It's possible.

[They weren't too late. She believed that.]

[His breath stopped for a moment, thinking about what she's saying.]

So... it's not a dream? Couldn't they be alternates of us or something?

[He's not daring to hope, not just yet. He wants to know how sure she is before he does.

Hope is a dangerous thing, and he's gone without it for so long... he didn't quite trust it.]

You sure it was us?

Yes.

[Her smile is real and getting bigger.]

The things I saw... they were only things I could have been a part of. Maybe... maybe it was an alternate - some of the others were - but one I could be in... or could have been in... if that makes sense?

[She frowns a little thoughtfully, because the semantics of it were confusing.]

But still, it was us. I'm sure.

I believe you, kiddo, I get what you're sayin'. It's like me and Rusty... we're from the same reality, except his split off before mine.

[Then he pauses a moment to let that sink in, eyes lowering as he thinks it over.]

So... we live? There's a way out of the Tower, huh? And to fix all the worlds...

Yeah, exactly.

[She's relieved he understood, because she isn't sure how else she could have explained it. The myriad universes are so much more complex now, and yet she understands timelines more than she ever did.]

We can live. I think... it's not something just... guaranteed no matter what we do. But there is a way for it to happen. Lots of ways, I think. But we just have to find them.

[Now that her vaguely energizing burst of inspiration has passed, she sags a little, listing against him. She's still smiling though.]

[Taking a deep breath, he lets the information settle, give him hope. Hope is a precious thing. Even if they wound up never making it, he has the courage now to try. Because he knows for sure there are ways.]

Thank you, Xion.

[Xion closes her eyes. She's happy, really, truly happy. She doesn't say anything aloud, but she reaches her arms to wrap around him in a hug. The meaning is clear enough.

You're welcome.]

[He holds her for a few moments, rubbing her back gently.]

D'ya need anything, Xion?

[Xion keeps her eyes closed a little longer, and in those few brief moments, the glamour vanishes.

And what Reno sees might concern him. The light of her soul is not the bright blazing core it was before she went down to the lower levels. It still glows steadily, but very dimly, almost out entirely.

By the time Xion opens her eyes, it's gone.]

Hm?

[Reno barely stifles a gasp at seeing it- seeing her so dim. The glitches have happened before enough times, he's gotten used to them.

But what he sees shocks him to his core.]

D-... do ya want me to bring you food or anything?

[He's trying hard to act like nothing happened, like he hadn't seen something that terrifying.]

Well...

[Thankfully she's tired enough to not be paying as close attention. Normally she's more observant. She brings a hand up to rub at her eyes instead.]

It's... It's February now, isn't it? [She makes a bit of a face] What did Ruana give us this time?

[Hopefully not more candy embedded in everything]

[His tone is... disturbed and disgusted.]

I can bring you something from our stocks. I've been hunting again.

[She doesn't even have to ask.]

That bad, huh?

[Not surprised, given... Ruana.]

I wouldn't go down there for dinner.

[Yeah that is definitely disgust there.]

Don't worry, I got something in mind to do with the kitchen. If I know Asch, he'll probably bring ya stuff too, if you asked.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cold winds blow

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject