towerofanimus | (no subject)

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Characters: [AU] Ventus and YOU
Setting: Various, see cut-text
Format: Action
Summary: Ventus finally stops being a hermit.
Warnings: Will update as needed, but mentions of death.

[Room 2-20]
[He'd all but fled the room on the morning of the 9th and hadn't returned since. He'd only returned now because he missed sleeping in a bed, or that's what he told himself when passed out into a dreamless sleep. A real bed, his bed. He'd sleep for 8 hours, exhausted and needing it, badly. When the young man woke, it was with jolt; Ventus disoriented and confused for all of three seconds before it sunk in.] Ahh

[He shook his head. It didn’t matter what they thought. It didn't matter if they’d seen what he'd done, seen what had happened after it. He’d done what the tower had wanted; he’d killed, given into life over morals. It'd been too easy, to forget about the fact that Shion had been an innocent, to think of only his life... Of course he felt guilt over what was done. Would he take it back? No. In those circumstances, it had been kill or be killed. He’d wanted to live as much as possible - and he’d do anything to survive.

Even if they abandoned him, hated him, wanted nothing to do with him, it was... ok. He didn't need friends, or anyone. They'd just let him down in the end. They always did.

A shake of his head and Ventus stood and headed his trunk. He needed clean clothes to change into after the shower.

Of course, on opening the trunk, his hands brushed against something new. Wooden, bluinter than a rock and small but in a shape that Ventus knew very, very well now. He didn’t have to see to know what it was. The X-blade. He jerked back like it was a hot iron and scrambled way from the trunk and what was in it.] NO!

[Floor Eight]
[After finally finding his 'gift' from the tower and reacting to that, Ventus had bolted to the maze on the eighth floor. He wasn’t really aiming to solve it, simply wonder around, lost in his thoughts - in his memories.

X-Blade. Torture weapon. Thing that had cut him open. Thing that he never ever wanted to have as a model.

He hated the thing, disliked it, feared it and now he had a mini-one in his possession.] Damn it...

[Lost in thoughts as he was, it was unlikely that Ventus would pick up on anyone near him unless he literally walked into them.]

Floor Twenty-Five
[After getting lost a few hours in the maze, Ventus had retreated up here. While normally he'd be sparing with himself, now he just wanted to sit. Sit and think and do nothing. The last few hours had...somewhat helped, but not much. Ventus was still very, very much hide away from everyone, though he knew in a place like this, it was impossible.

So, he opted for the places that he knew were the more peaceful parts. Less chance of bumping into anyone he knew - to anyone he'd faced in the labyrinth. He won't shy away from anyone talking to him, though.

He might even engage anyone here if it is someone that he's familiar with, too. ]

[Floor one]
[Unlike most of those in the tower, Ventus doesn't seem that fussed about eating nutrition bars at all. It's not that he had no idea what he's eating - he does, after a fashion- it's simply as to him, food is food and he's not a fussy eater.

So, anyone around here will find Ventus happily chewing on a bar, another to the side. ]

[Everywhere else]
[Throughout the day, one might see Ventus wondering the various floors of the tower. He's not hard to miss, given that he wears a blindfold, and doesn't seem to have that much trouble navigating the place.

Pick a spot in the tower and chances are, Ventus will be there, probably lost in thought, but he's not going to say no to company. Though being mistaken for his younger self will get him frowning and something of a resentful look there. Yea, he doesn't really know what to think about the other Ventus. Other than he's lucky.

He might even be seeking some company out, just a little, too.]

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The noise woke Taiki, a blessing since he was trapped in another nightmare, citizens of Tai surrounding him, horribly injured, their wounds gruesome and bloody. Accusing him, telling him it was his fault that they were suffering so.

He woke up, face tear stained, shaking. Normal for the past month. He blinked though at seeing Ventus, he had been looking for him. But hadn't been able to find him at all. He hurried over, "Ventus..." Why had he cried out? A bad dream as well?

"..Taiki." Ventus looked up, swallowing. "Hi."

No, not a bad dream. Or, not bad enough to make him cry out. Rather, it - or a small scale model - lay in his open trunk, inconspicuously placed at the top of everything.

"Uh.. I-Is.." A swallow then he pointed at his trunk while his voice dropped. "Is it really..."

There, but he was having trouble finishing the question - despite his throat spasms starting to become less common - given how his voice shook.

Taiki looked down at the thing he had pointed at, the thing that had made Ventus cry out... he blinked at Ventus. "Erm... it's a weapon..." He didn't touch it, couldn't touch it and didn't want to even if he could have. "It's small... and there's keys, four of them, crossed over each other... sorry... like your weapon... but more keys..."

Ventus just went white and shook his head in denial. No no no.

This wasn't - this couldn't be happening. "N-Not mine. H-His.."

Vanitas's weapon, or one of them, anyway. Unbidden, his left hand moved to his stomach then dropped. No, he wouldn't think about that. "It - shouldn't be there. "

Because it was his - it was Vanitas's. As far as he knew, anyway, as finding out the truth was one can of worms that would need to be opened carefully.

His? His kings did he mean? All he knew about Ventus' king was that he was cruel and the reason Ventus was so scared and had nightmares. "Oh..." He saw the note attached, "Sorry... There's a note..." He reached down very carefully so not to touch the weapon and picked up the paper.

"Th... thank you for participating in our experiment. Detailed results will be forthcoming."

Ventus wouldn't have cared if Taiki touched it at all. "This isn't thanks. Giving me that... thing... It was used to --" Ventus shook his head, running a hand though his hair as he tried, and failed, to get his breathing back under control. He knew that he was on the verge of panic and he didn't want to flip his shit. Not here. "Close it. I don't --- no-one needs to -- I don't want that thing seen. I'll hide it under everything later."

Or try and burn it, one of the two. If Ventus realised that he was giving one of his opinions on the situation, it was hard to tell, but given that he wasn't shrinking back or trying to retract it...

It wasn't so much that Taiki thought Ventus would mind but that it looked so much like a weapon, for all Taiki knew it was a weapon, and he couldn't touch weapons. He blinked again worried but closed the trunk as instructed. "Sorry..." He wasn't sure why he was apologising, it wasn't him who had given Ventus this Weapon.

"It's alright." Ventus offered another shaky smile, swallowing a little as a fist formed in an effort to keep his emotions under control. It helped somewhat, but his edginess was still there as memories lurked just out of sight; Did Taiki know about the labyrinth and what followed? He couldn't be sure, but Ventus hoped not. Not that he was going to ask. That was one topic that he wouldn't bring up unless prompted.

"Thanks. I... I didn't mean to startle you. I don't understand. I shouldn't --."

A pained expression made it's way onto his face, and Ventus' hand drifted to his belly before clenching around the cloths. "This is wrong."

Taiki hadn't seen most of it, he had continued sponsoring to the end to help his friends, he had also seen some of the punishments mostly by accident, but never for more than a few seconds.

"It...it's okay..." He was a little nervous around Ventus, because he had seen him kill... But he was still upset and still Taiki's friend... even if he had slipped off the path of good for a small time.

"It's alright... It is wrong... they shouldn't have done that to you..."

"...But they did. It wasn't that bad." Ventus literally could not help be flippant about it. On some level, he knew it'd been bad - how could being expected to kill not be bad? - but on another level it simply wasn't. It didn't match up with the pain and abuse and terror at the hands of his Vanitas. Well, most of it....

"I've been through worse."

He gave what he hoped was a smile to Taiki. Been through worse here, or at home? Both answers would be correct in a manner of speaking.

Taiki looked at him sadly he still did not know very much about him at all but what he did know made him feel sad and angry. He didn't know what to say, because what was there to say?

He just stood there sadly, ready to listen if Ventus wanted to talk.

Which is a problem as Ventus isn't going to willingly talk about what he went through. Not now, not ever. Instead, it's easier to shove everything away, to fight until he can't any more. It's weird. Strange. Even in Hollow Bastion, he'd never had such a luxury. Either was either fighting, waiting in a single room, though that had never been for more than three hours, or dragged around with Vanitas.

Here in Animus, there was none of that. If he wanted fight, he needed to find the monsters. It's both good and bad. Good because he's slowly, slowly coming to grips with things and starting to make friends. Bad, because he no longer has that constant. At least he'd latched onto his roommates for a sanity teeter, as fragile as it was.

Ventus shifted then looked away, incorrectly taking the silence as disapproval. It more than likely wasn't, he knew, but... old habits died hard. "S-Sorry."

One day, he'll stop worrying so much and start to be more of himself than what's already starting to poke out.

"N...No... do...don't be sorry..." Taiki understood that at least, he was similar believing himself to be annoying, figuring that people were angry at him because he couldn't do things right.

"I... sorry..." He looked down, feeling more useless than ever. "You... you don't have to be scared... I wont hurt you..."

His voice is almost pleading, "I can't hurt you..."

[The maze was something Jay could honestly enjoy, even with the circumstances surrounding his arrival here. Exploration and puzzles of this nature were his favorite hobby, and he was thus far speeding through the walls without much difficulty.

However, when he saw a figure down the way from him, he slowed his steps and approached more carefully, barely making a sound as he made his approach. His tone was friendly enough, but...]

You don't seem to be enjoying yourself.

Ah! [Ventus jumped at least a foot in the air at the voice and whirled around.] J-Just thinking.

[Who was this? How long had they been here? Ventus gave a headtilt while he tried to get his heartrate and breathing under control. While yes, this was a maze in the tower, it was still far, far to easy to flash back to the Labyrinth.

At least he managed to keep from summoning his keybalde.]

[Jay circled the blonde analytically, with the quick assumption that the blindfold was not just for show. It was only when he stopped that the bells on his clothes jingled.]

Thinking while doing a manual task doesn't seem very wise.

[A pause, and he almost chuckled.]

Though I am impressed anyone in your condition could navigate this place. I suppose they abducted all sorts.

[Frankly- this was one of the most fortuitous meetings Jay had been part of. Someone who couldn't see his face couldn't identify him- it was only natural that his grin widened.]

[Or so Jay would think. Ventus was adept at identifying others by voice, along with other sounds. As it was, he was memorizing the voice now. While he might not get a name, it wouldn't really matter.] ...Maybe. But it helps me think.

[...Ah. Another who thought him blind, then? Under the blindfold, his eyes narrowed, but then he shrugged. Let them think what they wanted. It mattered not.] I manage as best I can. It's not that hard.

[He just had a mental map of the place, along with keeping his ears sharp of others around him.]

[As far as he cared, anyway- he'd always had a bit of an ego when it came to such matters.]

That's what I like to hear~

[He tilted his head, smile growing wider.]

Sensory deprivation can be a boon or a problem, it all depends on how determined you are. For you to be here...

[His bells jingled again, and nodded.]

Let's just say it's a good sign that everyone here isn't hopeless.

_{[The scent of turned dirt, and of some flower that Ventus wouldn't have caught in any other place in the meadow - and the sound of someone fussing around with what's likely both of those things.

Kohaku's carried a few pocketfuls of seeds and the flowers that came in her trunk up to this floor - the flowers, to scatter a few of the multitude she'd gotten of them before they aged to a cloying mess. The seeds.. well, to grow, of course. She'd already let these soak, and this place was delightfully overgrown enough for the plant to be innocuous to anyone stumbling upon it.

She's certainly not expecting (or looking out for) company.]}

[It's the sounds the got him, and Ventus slowly made his way over to the area, carefully, given he had no idea what the other was doing.] Ummm..

[He'll just stand and listen, head tilted to the right, curious expression on his face. It's not sparing.... But dirt --

A vague memory rose in his mind, hazy and like something out of a dream...or from years ago, when he was younger-] ....There's farmland further up the tower if you want to grow things.

[Gardening. He'd done that once, maybe. When he was younger, back...

He shook his head, shooing the memory away. It didn't matter, that time had been a lie.]

_{[She stops, abruptly, when company makes themselves known - caught. Kohaku doesn't look up, busy debating over how bad this could be. He hadn't sounded hostile, just confused over her choice in location.]}

Ah, my mistake. ..it might be too late to relocate now.

_{[She doesn't sound all that regretful over the mistake, though.]}

.... I see. You've planted them then. [There's not accusation in the tone, only passiveness - acceptance of what she says is true.] I'm sure they look wonderful, though.

I'll try not to trod on them when I train. [No mention of keeping an eye out of them, or anything like that. It's almost like he assumes that what she's planting is either food, or flowers, and given this is the meadow and he's felt the flowers around a few times...

She's, as far as he knows, planting flowers..]

Well, they will! Right now they're just seeds, but they're fast growers, so - _{[She finally looks up at him mid-sentence, and pauses. Not with a gasp or any exhibition of surprise, just a brief beat as Kohaku takes in the black blindfold.

As easily as she'd trailed off before, Kohaku manages to pick back up, talking while she busies herself with the very last of the work.]}

That's good of you. I've just got them in this spot, so it won't be too much to, _{[Another, shorter pause,]} Ah, look out for.

Understood. [Ventus nodded, mentally retracing his steps then adding this spot to his mental map of the floor. It would be easy enough to avoid, or so he hoped.

If he heard the pauses, Ventus gave no indication of it.] It won't be that hard to avoid if they're all in one place.

It'll be a while before they're old enough to want to start spreading. I'll warn you if they do, though.

_{[It's nice when people are cooperative!]}

Ah, could you do me a little favor, though? Please don't tell anyone that there's a girl growing flowers out here. I'd feel so silly if people knew I'd missed the floor where you're actually supposed to grow things...

[It's more like doormat, for Ventus, anyway. He cocks his head a little at the request, then nods. While he doesn't really see how it could be silly, he won't tell anyone.

Mostly as he wouldn't have a reason, nor would he volunteer the information. And it's not like he talks much about what goes on around the tower.] Alright. I won't tell anyone, miss.

[What harm could the flowers bring? ~~If only you knew Ventus.If only you knew.~~]

_{[Doormats, dolls, cooperation, compliance - they're rather blurred lines with some people, aren't they?]}

_Eeexcellent. Ah. I mean, thank you!

_{[Back to work, with a low, happy hum. Because I'm a nerd, it's to the specific tune of Kagome, Kagome, which was surprisingly difficult to find a recording of that wasn't a vocaloid.]}

At least someone is happy about the nutrition bars. Minami liked her food and after the week of hell in the labyrinth? She didn't want to touch the damn things and had been surviving primarily on oatmeal.

She might actually be sick of oatmeal once this month is through.

But as she got her food she saw Ventus and made a point of stepping more heavily than usual as she approached him.

"Hey! It's Minami! Mind if I sit here?"

"Oh uh.. I don't mind." Ventus gives her a small smile along with his nod before taking another bit of the bar. It wasn't so much as he was happy, as he literally has no preferences to the food. Food was food. It all ended up fuelling the body as it was.

Ok, so it could taste like rotten cheese and he'd still eat it. Wouldn't be happy but he'd eat it. By the same token, no one show him icecream. He'd be eating that for the rest of his stay. ~~He has ten years to make up for, ok.~~

"Awesome. It's been a while since we hung out!" she says as she sits across from him, making a bit of a racket while doing so. Not all of it was intentional, she was on the tired side so she might have put her tray on the table harder than she meant to.

"How have you been?"

RE: Ice cream. HE WOULD HAVE TO FIGHT HER FOR THE ICE CREAM!

"Well enough, thank you." His smile says otherwise though. There's no question back, just a headtilt and a small hum. It's more thoughtful than anything, but he is curious as to how she's been.

He's still not asking questions, yet, but... he's starting to show more curiosity at least. Sorta.

[ It's purely out of boredom that Ganondorf was wandering this floor. All the pieces were set for his plan, but now its completion depended on the speed of other people, and as expected it was taking them weeks. Whatever. That's when he was lost in his thoughts that he spotted Ventus-

The boy he had met on his first day. And he was still wearing his blindfold in spite of his best advises. Bah. And by the look of it, the boy wasn't at his best. He shook his head while looking at the boy, no progress. ]

[He hadn't been at his best for a while, though he was slowly trying to pull himself together. It was sort of working, but not enough that one who didn't know him could see any progress.

He wasn't so lost in thought as to miss the sound of steps; It was harder to tell, given this was the meadow, but it was there. He couldn't tell who it was though; either someone new, or someone he'd interacted with only a few times.

Ventus simply cocked his head to the side with a thoughtful humm as he worked on pulling up one of his masks; the one that lied and said he was ok.]

[ Put on all the masks you want Ventus, the lord of lies and hypocrisy will see through it. Maybe He just sighs and shakes his head. At least his voice was easily recognizable. ]

You're still wearing that blindfold.

[ He had told you to go for sunglasses, Ventus. That's both disappointment and annoyment in his voice, because he had felt potential in this boy. ]

.... I-- [Ventus paused at the voice - ah crap. He wasn't sure what to make of the disappointment and annoyance though, but he knew better than to say sorry. The last time he'd spoken with this person, he'd been rebuked for saying sorry.] ...Yes. It's better this way.

[Still, Ventus will reach up to touch the 'fabric'. Better, that was debate-able. Practical, no. Though, he made no move to get it off. ] ....Far, far better.

[There is a waver in his voice. The last time it was off... He took a deep breath, if only to try and stave off those memories. ]

Edited 2012-05-24 10:10 (UTC)

[ Better. Ganondorf's voice grows deeper. ]

Better? You're only refusing to face your fears and you comfort yourself with those words.

[ He's got whatsoever no idea of Ventus' alignment back in his homeworld, good or evil, light or darkness. He's not even sure he really cares. But being himself pretty much an evil incarnate, he knew one could not be successful if they were to abandon light altogether and go the easy way of darkness only. They were meant to fail for the entirety of their lives. He tested it first-hand after all. ]

It's a waste. Waste of the most useful of our senses. Waste of potential.

[Technically, Ventus was pure light and should reflect that. Practically, well, that was a whole other can of worms. But, suffice to say, Ventus was, for now, still on the side of darkness and who remain there for a long time yet.] The light --

[It didn't take much to trigger the onslaught of memory - just Ventus's own words, but given the conversation... It wouldn't have taken much longer to get some sort of reaction. It was of painful, too bright lights flashing down at him, invading his vision in bursts, even when he'd screwed his eyes up. Of the pain they caused, of how much his eyes had hurt and throbbed. Unbidden, the sounds and smells from it rushed back too, along with the feeling that his ears were bleeding -- , Ventus shook his head before ramming a palm against one eye.

As if that make the visions, sounds and smells leave his memory. Instead, all it did was bring more pain. Not that he cared. Anything to make it stop; to drive away the memory of how helpless he'd been against it.

It was obvious he had trauma, or at least horrible experiences with the blindfold off, more so given how he was shaking; His breath was now coming in spurts and shallower than normal. His free hand dug into the grass until his knuckles were white.] Light only hurts. My eyes hurt if this comes off. You don't.. [Another grimace, along with a swallow, ventus fighting to find his words and not be lost in a sea of memories, not all of them from what he'd been through in the tower.] -- understand how much it hurts, how blinding it is.

How horrible it is to see when there is only pain. [Or so he believed. Though the punishment had not done him any favours in that regard, only strengthened his desire to keep the blindfold on.]

[ ... You've got to be kidding him. He figured the boy had made no progress, but that's even worse. He regressed. The tower managed to totally break what little hope he had left. Pathetic. ]

Enough!

[ That's Ganondorf's angry and strong voice. He grabbed Ventus' shoulder, shook him quite violently and forced him to stand straight- Before letting him go. He has to make all the efforts in the world not to punch Ventus right now. Not only would it have helped the boy; but it would have been a wonderful stress-reliever for himself.

Now have a free psychologist boy. ]

Get a hold of yourself! The only reason Light is blinding you is because you make whatsoever no effort to adjust your eyes to light! Your eyes will never get used to Light if you keep using excuses to avoid doing efforts.

You have to expose yourself to light gradually otherwise you're lost, both mentally and physically!

[ Here, that's said. Now though, if Ventus isn't gonna make any efforts... ]

Pain is part of everyday's life. If you can't help yourself, ask our hosts to expel you from the tower and rid us of your uselessness.

[ Because Ganondorf never tolerated weakness is any of its forms. And he's never been good at speaking with people. ]

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._. Venau why you wordy?

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Are you ok with this thread possibly going into triggery things re ven's labyrinth punishment?

Yep thats fine

Awesome! I'll warn if it gets to that point.

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Floor Eight

Re: Floor Eight

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Floor 25

Re: Floor 25

sorry for the inbox spam, i keep messing up font sizes..

XD It's ok!

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Floor 1

Re: Floor 1

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Floor 25

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Are you ok with this thread possibly going into triggery things re ven's labyrinth punishment?

Sure, no problem with me!

<3 Awesome. /trigger warning for this tag.

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