In you and I...

[attheclocktower]

Characters: Xion and everyone!
Setting: Room 1-01 > Dormitory Hallways > Floor 20
Format: Whatever you like!
Summary: Xion's Arrival, plus worrying, plus minor exploring, plus falling back on something familiar
Warnings: Nothing yet, will edit if necessary

[Not being able to move when she'd woken up had been a little scary, but not nearly as terrifying as the letters she'd found just after. The worlds, all of them, gone? They couldn't be... they couldn't! And yet, when she tried to open a darkness corridor to one of them, nothing happened.

She gets dressed from the clothes in her trunk, puts the hood of her black coat up, and after that, she heads out into the dormitory hallways, where she finds one of the network terminals. She may have been able to gain access to files she wasn't supposed to back in the World That Never Was, but it doesn't take much poking around on the device though to come to the conclusion that there's not much more information on what happened on the terminals here.

What was she going to do? What happened to Roxas and Axel, or even Riku? Was this somehow her fault?

At that point, she begins descending the stairs to the floors below, looking around briefly on each floor before continuing.

On floor 20, though, she stops. It's open to the air for the first time. It reminds her a little of the Clock Tower, though it was impossible to mistake the cold, overcast skies for warm, bright Twilight Town. Still, it's familiar, memories that are her own, and right now that familiarity is a comfort. She walks out to the edge and sits, legs hanging over as she stares out. Not that there's much to see.]

Comments

[savedbyasong]

Shion saw the girl on floor twenty and approached her, he had not seen her before but there were lots of people he hadn't met yet. "Hello," he approached her with a smile.]

Forgot to mention she has her hood up, my bad orz

[attheclocktower]

Xion jumpe a little in surprise at the greeting, turning around to face the newcomer. She wasn't the only one here, she knew that - if only by the three other beds in her room. But she was so used to hiding, sticking to the shadows, that it was... somewhat new and unfamiliar for her.

"Hello," she replied, after a brief hesitation.

[savedbyasong]

Shion smiled again, "Are you alright?" He got a little closer to her, before sitting down as well dangling his legs off the tower, they were a long way up but all he could see was fog, like this tower was the only thing here that held living beings. That those in this tower were the only people alive here.

[attheclocktower]

The fog seemed to just stretch on forever, until it met the sky, which - being overcast - was just as grey as the fog was. So much that they seemed to be looking out at one big wall of grey.

She looked down at her knees. This person was being friendly, so it felt rude to just say nothing... "I... I don't know."

[savedbyasong]

Shion leant towards her, worried. "Have you just woken up?"

[justabignobody]

[Riku is on his way down to the cafeteria, when he senses that familiar smell that tugs on half forgotten memories and makes him think 'Oh, it's her!', except that he can't quite recall the name.

Flashes of memories hit his mind when he enters that floor, memories that had started to hide themselves in the abyss of his heart and now return to the surface, and then he sees her sitting at the edge (and that's right, her and Axel and Roxas must have done this often in Twilight Town) and then he think he finally remembers her name.]

...Xion?

[attheclocktower]

[At the sound of his voice, Xion's head jerks up. She knows that voice. She twists around to see, to be sure. It was hard to mistake the silver hair, and the blindfold over his eyes.]

Riku!

[Relief courses through her. She's still upset about what all had just happened, but she'd been terrified she was here alone, without anyone she'd known or trusted there. If Riku was here, though... he had to know what was going on, right?]

[justabignobody]

[At hearing the sound of her voice the rest of those almost lost memories settles back into place and a small, sad smile flickers over his face, because he is glad to see her again, especially since he hadn't thought he ever would.]

You just arrived, huh? Welcome to the Tower, I guess.

[attheclocktower]

[She nods quietly, looking down and out. The welcome is appreciated, but she can't help but feel a little hollow about it. The letters she'd read, the reason they were here...]

Riku... The worlds... they can't really be gone, can they?

[There's a pleading note in her voice. It can't be true, can it? There has to be some kind of mistake or trick...]

Floor 20

[forceless]

[The open-air floors were always one of this favorites, even if he couldn't fly around in there. And even if the air still wasn't quite right, it was nice at least to not appear to be inside. Mind over matter and all that stuff?

Of course there was the problem that there wasn't much to look at. So it seems that by now, Ven's fallen asleep on his own spot near the edge, arms folded behind his head as he snoozed.]

Floor 20

[attheclocktower]

[At some point in her musing she glances around, maybe to see if there's anything else out here, any patch that disrupted the monotony, when she spots...]

Roxas?!

[She's up from her spot and over next to him in a flash. She stares down at him, confused. There's something a little different - he's not wearing his Organization cloak, and... well, on his back with his hands behind his head wasn't a position she'd ever expected to find Roxas in. He didn't seem hurt or anything, and the position seemed more relaxed than anything, but...]

Roxas? Are you okay?

[forceless]

[At first he just kept on dozing, but eventually at the second urging, Ven starts to open his eyes. He yawned, and stared dumbly at...whoever it was for a minute. Did she say something about Roxas?]

Huh...? What?

[And sitting up while trying to be less sleepy.] Uh, I'm fine? Are you looking for Roxas?

[attheclocktower]

[She couldn't help but be taken aback by what he was saying.]

You're not... but... you look just like him...

[She sat back a little, surprised and a little upset, until the rest of what he'd said hits her. Her head shot up again.]

He's here?

[lethechained]

[Naminé's been on edge recently. Receiving that teddy bear and the accompanying note left her unsettled and restless. It's a sure sign of something to come, but all that she can do now is wait. Patience is one thing and being able to relax while waiting for something inevitable and likely terrible is entirely another. She's been caught between wanting to hide out in her room and feeling stir-crazy in that room, and finally she's made her way down to the 20th floor for the purposes of getting some fresh air and, hopefully, clearing her head.]

[As she moves down the stairs onto the 20th floor, though, something feels off. At first, she figures that maybe it's the sudden change in air from going outside, or perhaps she's just too on edge, but when she glances out over the floor to be sure, she spots a black coat that she recognizes instantly. It brings her to an immediate halt on the stairs with a sharp intake of breath.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion lifts her head slightly. She was lost in thought, so she might have imagined it, but... was someone there? She turns her head to look around, only to freeze when she spots someone on the stairs.

She's not close enough to see the newcomer's face clearly, but from what she can see, they don't look like anybody she knows. And yet if that gasp was anything to go by... She fidgets for a moment, before calling out quietly.]

Hello?

[lethechained]

[A... girl's voice? Now that is even more peculiar. Looking the other girl over, Naminé realizes that there's something startlingly familiar about her. So familiar, in fact, that it tugs at something in her mind and she finds herself placing a curled hand to her own chest. There's something decidedly not right about this, and it doesn't seem like the tower's doing. For some reason, she feels as though she should know this girl, but it's almost like there's something blocking the memories.]

... Hello. [Naminé's wary, and it shows, but this isn't something she can let pass by without investigation.]

[attheclocktower]

[It's a girl, someone close to her age. She... doesn't know what to make of it. She never exactly got to talk to that many people, besides Roxas and Axel and Riku.

Not to mention whoever this is, they're wary of her, and she's not sure why. How does she do this...?]

Who... who are you?

[requital]

[Xion's presence is a peculiar, downright special thing that demands Zexion's attention the second he picks up on it. Her supervision is no longer his concern, but she's the closest connection to the Organization in the Tower as far as he's aware, and he should ensure that everything is kept in line, including the information he possesses.

By now, he's more than used to tracking her and so does it again with ease. She leads him to the 20th floor, where he stops upon seeing her hooded figure. If only to be certain, he chooses to use the obsolete rank.]

Number XIV.

[attheclocktower]

[She stiffens at the sound of her rank. Not name, rank. What's more... she barely recognizes the voice saying it. She turns, and stares. She'd only been brought to the World that Never Was a few scant days before the team had left for Castle Oblivion. The names and faces of the people that had left - save Axel - were hazy and indistinct, as her memory had been so poor back then.

But she did not recognize this person. Yet they wore the coat, and knew her rank. They had to be a member of the Organization, one of the team that'd gone to Castle Oblivion. But they were gone, destroyed. She knew that much, remembered how upset Roxas had been, thinking that Axel might be gone, before he'd fallen asleep...

She doesn't remember who this was, but there's a very uneasy coil in the pit of her stomach.]

How-

[requital]

[How. Along with "why," one of the most troublesome questions to appear in the head of what's meant to be a puppet.

But it's a convenient opening in this case, one that he'll take as he watches back with a neutral expression, totally unperturbed in contrast. Neither does he move, firmly situated a couple yards behind Xion, creating a more impersonal atmosphere by sheer distance.]

Yes?

[attheclocktower]

[How was he here? That had been what she'd meant to ask.

Xion's mouth tightens a little. She doesn't know what to say or do. She doesn't even remember, isn't sure who this- except no. Now that she thought about it... that one time, at Destiny Islands, where she'd got caught up in that snarl of... something, and Riku'd saved her. Now that she can see this him more closely... it was the same Nobody who'd confronted Riku, though she'd only seen briefly, before the pain in her head had made everything blur.

She has no idea what to say or do or how to react. But the impersonal way he treats her, calling her by rank instead of name, the distance... almost as if... almost as if she was just a puppet. She's reminded uncomfortably of Saix. All this on top of the scattered picture she'd had from that time on the beach...

She looks down.]

N-nothing.

[childhero]

[There is a person sitting on the edge of the floor all by themselves. Maybe they're sitting there because they want to be alone, but... Something tells Link that he should come over and talk to them. Maybe there's just something sad in the person's outline against the sky. Whatever it is, he isn't going to ignore it.

He's careful to make his footsteps quiet enough not to be jarring but loud enough to let the person know he's coming as he walks across the floor to where they're sitting. Once he's close enough, he says, simply,] Hello. Are you all right?

[attheclocktower]

[Xion can't help but tense a little in surprise at the sound of another person's approach, before glancing behind her to see who it is. Not so much that she didn't hear him, but the usual surprise at someone approaching her.

At the question, she looks down, unsure of how to answer. It should be obvious that she's not okay, from the way she's sitting, curled up a little, and staring at her clasped hands in her lap.

Instead, she ducks her head further.]

I... I'm fine.

[Only she doesn't sound sure.]

[childhero]

[Link watches her, head tilted a little.]

Is it okay if I sit with you?

[attheclocktower]

[She stares up in surprise, considering for a moment, before turning back to the gray horizon and nodding quietly. She may not be the greatest company right now, but she won't mind.]