towerofanimus | [.001]

Entry tags:

[ou] naminé

[.001]

Characters: Naminé

Setting: Twelfth floor

Format: Starting this way, matching responders.

Summary: A new arrival discovers the twelfth floor. This is not exactly good for her world view.

Warnings: Angst, low self-esteem, tl;dr. In summary; those stairs are blocked by an outwardly calm but internally angsting teenage girl.

Naminé had read the letters, of course. It had seemed prudent, considering that there appeared to be no one around to explain why she had woken up in a bed rather than… well, she hadn’t known what to expect when she went back to Kairi, for all her attempts to be optimistic, but this hadn’t even been on the metaphorical list. At the very least, shouldn’t there have been fewer beds? Sora was the one who always had guests in his heart, after all, not Kairi.

The letters had proved informative, as they were no doubt meant to be, but….

Try though she might, it was just impossible to wrap her head around the idea that the worlds she knew no longer existed. If the Heartless had tried to destroy them and failed, then how could something nameless and faceless succeed? It was an utterly stupid notion, of course, but something in her just couldn’t quite let go of it… until now.

Her feet had prompted her to take the nearest exit, to try to find her way back to something she recognized or make sense of this world. It wasn’t the first time she’d woken up in a strange place, and so she had found herself calm, but understandably apprehensive. It hadn’t ended well, last time. Her search had yielded no fruit up until the point where she stepped down onto the twelfth floor of the tower.

Vertigo and a lurch in her stomach were instant, forcing her to a stop right in the middle of the stairs. Once her mind had managed to convince her body that she wasn’t going to fall, she began to take in her surroundings – and, more specifically, what was going on in them. She ended up feeling sick all over again.

All of those worlds, destroyed as easily as one snuffs out a candle.

Seeing it was much more powerful than hearing it. Watching this destruction, endless and absolute, tore aside her disbelief and replaced it with much, much heavier understanding. Everything that she’d ever worked for, everyone she’d ever known, met, or – impossible for her to admit to herself – cared for was gone.

Her knees went weak, but did not buckle; they, too, seemed to be in shock. Her face was ashen, her arms limp at her sides, her expression still frozen in place. The prickling at her eyes went unnoticed in favor of the tumult in her mind.

She’d been able to handle the idea of herself no longer existing as a separate entity (after all, she would be whole, wouldn’t she?) but the idea that Sora and Roxas, that Riku, that Kairi, Donald, Goofy, the King, everyone else were no longer— she couldn’t even think the word. She was no stranger to death and the threat of it, but still, still--

Why her?

Why her, of all people? Of all Nobodies? What right did she have to be spared? What purpose did she have, beyond finishing the duty to Sora that her failures had put upon her and then going to make Kairi whole? What was Naminé supposed to do? All that time she’d had the answers, or at least answers that she could make herself believe, but now… she was really and truly nothing, without purpose or tie.

Still, she did not break down. She didn’t know how to. She didn’t have the right to. Her body stayed motionless like the shell it was as she tried so hard to figure out whether she wanted to scream, or weep, or laugh, or if she really didn’t want anything at all. In the end, it probably didn’t matter what she did. The only thing that did was that one question, the one that someone else always answered for her.

What now?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I think you have to eat oatmeal first for some reason...it tastes like cardboard." His optimistic attitude towards the food aside, he was happy to release her hand once she was standing properly, lest things get awkward. He didn't know her- er, currently? After all. Man this was strange.

It took him a moment to try and count the floors, ending up unsuccessful. "When I first arrived, I think there were only ten. But now there's...fifteen...? Fourteen? And we're not very far down." A deep sigh. And he'd just walked up all those stairs not that long ago. "I think there's an elevator, but we're not allowed to use it. I'm tempted to just try and skateboard down the steps one of these days." Its Roxas "Tony Hawk", he could totally grind down the entire tower, somehow.

She made no effort to stop him from letting go, and once her hand was free again, it and its twin clasped each other loosely. "Cardboard?" She seemed to be considering this, and not in a particularly disgusted way. ~~She's probably had worse.~~ "...What does cardboard taste like?" Like cardboard, Naminé.

Naminé tilted her head, brow knitting slightly. "They're still adding to it?" Funny, she didn't see or hear any construction. That's a lot of floors, but Castle Oblivion was pretty big, itself. Of course, she hadn't exactly been allowed to roam freely, so the descent ahead of her would no doubt result in achy legs and general discomfort, but she was not about to complain. "Won't you hurt yourself?" It wasn't that she doubted his skills, really! It was just that that was a looooot of stairs ~~to kill him self on~~. "...And then you'd have to go back up again, anyway."

"...good question." Come to think, has he ever had cardboard? Huh. He was just used to saying that. Best not to dwell on silly things like that, especially since neither of them apparently had the luxury of chewing on a box.

"It sort of just...happened. Like, this floor wasn't here at all during the blackout." Not that he was around during that either, but. Rox cringed as he began walking, walking slow enough to keep at conversation pace. "But when I woke up again, there were a bunch of new ones. Nobody I've talked to knows what's going on."

H-have some faith in his mad skillz, Nams! "...probably." Or, he was well aware that skateboarding down fourteenish flights of steps was a bad idea. "Maybe we can just get in the elevator somehow...these weird people get on and off them sometimes."

She actually seemed to be seriously considering this question. Clearly it was a very good one. "...Really bad, probably." K-kind of a given, Naminé.

"Hm...." Naminé was quick to follow and careful to make sure that she didn't stray... or trip, which was a serious danger with this many stairs. "Maybe someone's using magic." It made the most sense. She hadn't heard of any magic going quite that far, but that didn't mean it didn't exist. There were some powerful magicians out there, after all. --Wait. "...Blackout?"

She does, she does! That doesn't mean she can't worry about his wellbeing, especially when he's considering stupidteenageboy stunts. :C She decided to forgo voicing her discomfort with the idea of doing something that they weren't allowed to do, because despite her occasional rebellions she was well aware it was usually a good idea to keep one's captors happy enough that they didn't feel the immediate need to eviscerate you, she's also not comfortable with shooting down his idea when it's still likely to be an idle musing. "What weird people?"

"...I'd hope it'd taste bad." How many times had he stepped on a piece of a box? What if it had been secretly delicious all this time?!

"It could be. There's a lot of people with weird powers here, so I think anything is possible." He sounded a bit deadpan, but that surely had nothing to do with the whole being frozen thing. No way.

"Yeah, there was a blackout. I didn't see or hear the specifics, I was out skateboarding when it happened. And I was...out of it when it got resolved. You'd have to ask someone else." Roxas was totally not avoiding that talk, either. He is a bastion of being upfront about his feelings.

It took him a moment to try and word how to describe the other people in the tower. "I think they work here- their collars are usually red or blank-" At that thought, he realized he hadn't looked at hers at all, and felt suddenly very awkward about looking. "-and they don't act human. More like...machines."

~~And we're walking, and we're walking...!~~

And he'd have been committing the horrible sin of sullying its wonderful taste all that time. "It's made of... paper, isn't it? Something like that?"

Naminé went very silent at the mention of weird powers. He'd asked for ignorance, so he'd have it-- and, to be honest, she wasn't so sure she'd have wanted him to know, even if he hadn't. After all, other people knowing what she could do had only caused unimaginable trouble. Now that she was in a new place, maybe it would have been best to keep such things to herself. Still... she couldn't help her curiosity. "...Are they bad powers?" Not that such a thing necessarily existed. She quickly decided to rephrase it as, "I mean, do they use them to... hurt people?"

"Out of it?" That... did not sound comforting. You get back here and start reliving your traumatic experiences, Roxas.

The mention of the collars had her reaching up to brush hers lightly. It was unsettling, but in light of all of the significantly more interesting goings on, she'd nearly forgotten about it. "...What does purple mean?" Way to give him an out, Naminé. "Or... is it violet?" Not that that mattered much. Leave it to an artist. "And what do you mean, like machines? Do they... not have feelings?" ~~Because if so then that would kind of nix the 'Nobodies have purple collars' theory that was starting to form.~~

~~And walking and walking and walking and ouch stairs, why there so many of you. :C~~

"I think it's made like paper..." He'd heard something like that from Olette, but heck if he was paying attention at the time. She'd just been rambling about homework anyway.

The question of bad powers and his being out of it finally collided in to one topic he really hadn't wanted to get on. "People here...when they die, they come back apparently. One of the others attacked me...but I came back." He hadn't even realized he was worrying his bracelet as he said that, dropping his hands and shrugging. "I-I haven't seen him since. But I know he's still around."

The change in topic was suddenly more than welcome, even if Roxas didn't have much to contribute. "Nobody knows what the collars mean, that I'm aware of. And yeah, I guess like they're emotionless. They don't talk, or do anything but work. I haven't been close enough to one to touch it."

~~So when are they going to install an escalator?~~

"I think they're connected to the power!"

When Roxas and Naminé arrived on the tenth floor, they'd find an eavsedropper shouting at them from... above. A certain blonde was floating in the air, half of his body sticking out of the wall of water, lying on his stomach on top of his Keyblade Glider and his entire body soaked.

"I saw a bunch of them lying around during the blackout."

"...Then it's probably not very good." Her slightly wrinkled nose and otherwise mildly displeased expression made it look like she was speaking from personal experience... because believe it or not, she'd tried it before. Oh, the silly things people with no memories try. ~~Sure, never listen to the responsible one.~~

That admission made her turn her head towards him quickly, her expression surprised and a little concerned. Fortunately, she did not trip. "You died?" Definitely not something she was expecting, but even though he didn't say it outright it wasn't hard to gather from the other things he was saying she'd worked it out quickly enough. His dancing around the subject was probably a sign that he didn't want to talk about it, but that didn't occur to her until after she'd already blurted it out. 'Died' sounded like the wrong word, anyway; 'were killed' was probably better. The surprise eased out of her face and was replaced by something apologetic. Her voice had only been a little louder than usual in the first exclamation, and at the next words, it was gentler, more for his benefit than any lack of confusion on her part. "...Why? Why did he--...?"

"...." The frown that settled on her face was small but firmly entrenched. She hadn't meant to fall silent so suddenly, but that was what she did, the fingertips of one hand curling around the edge of the collar. Maybe... they really were Nobodies. But... even Nobodies seemed to have more to them than that. Their will, or at least the will of their Somebody was what had created them, after all. Unless--

~~Probably the day after they get out.~~

The interruption made Naminé look over towards Roxas, but the second sentence told her immediately that he wasn't the one talking. She glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice. When she spotted it, she couldn't help but stare. Why you hanging out in giant walls of water, Roxas faceclone guy named Ven who's actually Roxas' faceoriginal?

He had naively, really hoped that Naminé wouldn't ask about the death thing, but once she exclaimed like that, he couldn't hold his tongue. "My room mate, Eiji...he seemed off from day one, but Ven, Ienzo and I were sitting at a bonfire during the blackout-" Man, he wasn't explaining that. "-and Eiji kept hearing voices. I went to try and keep an eye on him, and he turned in to this armored monster and blew ice at us. If I moved away, then Ienzo would have died too, but...turns out he did anyway." So yeah. He got frozen, then smashed, while trying and failing to protect a small child. "I didn't wake up until the power was back on. And I haven't seen Eiji since." The name was practically spit, and he rubbed his eye. Man, this was just reminding him of how sleepy he was. Sleeping in the library wasn't exactly comfortable.

He was in the process of dropping his hand when he heard Ven, looking up with a brow raised and sighing. "You look like you're having fun."

Seriously. It was like they took a reasonably normal child, split their serious and derp in to different bodies, then released them unto the cosmos.

If Ven had heard anything about their conversation about Roxas dying, he sure was good at ignoring it. But you know he's not that good at acting, so he must have really not heard it. Rushing water was loud.

In spite of (or maybe because of) Roxas sighing and Naminé staring, Ven of course had to grin. Because he really was having a blast. "I am! Have you seen all of the creatures that are in here?!" Junior Biologist he ain't.

He hopped up to stand on his Glider (his bottom half even more soaked than his upper half) and directed it to fly down and hover a foot or so away from the other two blondes; he was at least considerate enough to not get too close and get them wet. "What're you two up to? Did you come to see the fish too?"

~~Hilariously that's not that far off from Ven's backstory.~~

That explanation did nothing to alleviate the frown, and, predictably, only strengthened it. Ienzo being involved was definitely not helpful, either; the fact that he was around Roxas at all was worrying enough, and that he had managed to be part of the reason Roxas was killed was twice as much so, even if he'd gotten himself hurt, too. Worse, this Eiji person had gone to far as to perpetrate that violence in the first place. What could have possibly been the reason or intentions behind that? She only wished she'd come here early enough to find out, or maybe put a stop to it. The frown was slowly edging towards a glare, but the interruption put a stop to any further questioning she might have attempted.

Perhaps it was for the best. It was much less troubling to turn her attention for Ven for the moment. The mention of 'creatures' had her glancing at the wall of water from whence he'd come, only to discover that there were far more that she'd expected, all kinds of things she'd never gottent the chance to see, in person or otherwise. It wasn't quite enough to take her mind off of what she'd just found out, but it did fill her with an unfamiliar longing to have a closer look. Still, she stayed where she was, ripping her eyes away from the sundry lifeforms and placing them instead on their new companion. Since Roxas seemed the most acquainted with Ven, she turned to look at him, apparently expecting him to answer the question.

Luckily- or, unluckily -Roxas missed the near-glare completely, and assumed the subject had been dropped. Might have been more wishful thinking, but he still didn't know what to think of Naminé.

"Should you really be swimming in that, Ven? They probably have it filled with piranha." Roxas had good reason to be wary of everything after croaking, especially when it came to the guy he was sharing a face with.

Only after Ven had come down did Roxas really realize he was using the glider thing. Not that he was lazy, but...a glance to the stairs, the wet glider, the stairs, Nams, then the glider again...

"Actually, we were heading down to the cafeteria to get food. Can we hitch a ride?" He shook his thumb off to the side, mock-hitchhiking with the barest of a smile.

"Piranha?" Hm. He had never thought about it. He looked thoughtful, but didn't seem all to bothered by the prospect. "Well, even if there are, I'm fine!" Cue grin. You'd think he'd be more cautious than that, but apparently not.

Ven let out a small laugh in amusement at the request. "Sure!" He zoomed away from the pair for a moment, and with a quick burst of an Aeroga spell, dried himself and his glider off to the best of his abilities.

He hopped closer to the nose of the glider and directed it to swoop back next to Naminé and Roxas, lowering it until it settled on the ground with a 'clank.' "All aboard!"

Piranha? She tilted her head slightly as she tried to recall exactly what that was. The memory took a moment to retrieve, but when once it was recalled, it made her stand up straight again. Man-eating fish? ...She gave the water another look, only this time it was a little more wary. Ven didn't seemed phased... but, then, not a lot did phase him. When the girl turned back to her companions, she saw Roxas' glances and followed them, curious until he made his request, which had her blinking. Ven seemed game for it, but... as she looked over toward the glider, she couldn't help wondering if it could really hold all three of them, and even if it could if it should.

But the plan had already been made, and who was she to disagree? She moved closer to the glider a bit more slowly than necessary, looking down at it as she did as if expecting it to jump up and bite her. When she could put it off no longer, she gingerly placed one foot on it, and then the other. ...Okay, then, what in the world was she going to hold on to? She wasn't so sure she could balance. ~~Darn these pro skateboard/skyboard derps.~~

Wow...he couldn't blame her, but Nams sure looked pretty uncertain standing on the glider.

"Here." Roxas had stepped on the glider a lot more readily, standing behind Naminé and reaching around her, picking her hands up and placing them on Ven's shoulders. "If he does anything reckless, just hit him." The laugh in his voice was pretty obvious, and he let go of her hands, making sure his own balance was in check. This thing was a lot more awkward and wily than his skateboard.

"Ready for take-off!" And a thumbs-up to Ven, for good measure.

"Hey!" Ven objected at Roxas' suggestion, but given the laugh that followed and the grin he wore it was obvious he was both joking and entertained.

"Don't worry, it's smoother than you think!" He said, hoping to calm Naminé's fears. Once everyone as on the Glider and Roxas' hands safely on his shoulders, the glider lifted into the air and hovered off the ground.

"Hold on tight and keep your legs and arms inside the Glider at all times!" And with that, Ven directed the glider forward and they flew off towards and down the stairwell.

~~Pchoooooooo~~

Naminé started to twist to look at Roxas as he stepped onto the glider, but went still when he grabbed her hands and allowed them to be moved without resistance. She turned to follow them, blinked at their new position, then made sure her grip was secure, careful not to hold too hard. She meant to thank him, but the comment interrupted that thought and she gave a tiny laugh, nodding. "Right. You can count on me."

Ven's attempt to comfort her was appreciated, but her automatic response was only to nod, even though she belatedly realized he probably couldn't see it. When the glider started to move she found herself tensing. It was tremendously unsettling for her, since she'd never really had the opportunity to do anything that might prepare her for this. It was a conscious effort not to automatically dig her nails into Ven's shoulders, but it was an effort in which she was successful, and after a few seconds of terror, the experience began to seem considerably less uncomfortable ~~although her stomach still wasn't sure exactly what to think~~.

Roxas seemed to enjoy the glider- it wasn't nearly as fun as his skateboard, but it did go a lot faster! -but was also more than aware of Naminé's discomfort.

"You can sit down if you're-" He lurched to the side a bit, nearly tumbling off, but simply laughed about it. "-if you're unsteady~"

...for Nams' sake, hopefully they'd get down to the cafeteria soon. Or they'd be stopping at the infirmary on the way.

~~Woooo spiral spiral down the stairs I mean~~ When Naminé tensed, Ven slowed the glider down a bit (all this glowing slower than natural was really starting to feel counter-intuitive), but it didn't make much of a difference given the pilot was a speed demon.

Luckily, before anybody fell off or threw up (or so he hoped), the glider coasted into the bottom floor and into the dining hall, hovering in the air for a minute as it stopped before settling on the floor with another 'clank.'

"Last stop, first floor Cafeteria! That'll be 500 munny each~"

~~URGH--~~ Sitting down did not seem like an appealing idea, even after the lurch nearly gave her a not-heart attack, because even if she was getting used to this, the key word was 'getting'. They hadn't fallen off yet, anyway. She shook her head, but otherwise did not trust herself to respond, especially not without the contents of her stomach taking an unhealthy amount of interest in the outside world. Instead, she tightened her handhold just slightly. The slower speed was appreciated, but even when they stopped, her grip did not relax.

The landing was also welcome, although it did take her a second to let go. When she did, she was much quicker about getting off the board than she was about getting on. Her legs felt like jelly and she suddenly wasn't so hungry anymore, but oddly enough... she didn't feel too bad. If anything, she was lightheaded in a good way. ...She was kind of considering holding onto a tabletop for a minute, though. --Wait, 500 munny? She twisted to look at Ven and immediately regretted it. Oh man, her head.

Roxas just punched Ven lightly in the shoulder when he got off, smiling at the munny thing but not even dignifying it with a response. He took off pretty quick, leaving Ven to tend to the more airsick passenger. A few moments later, he returned with a tray, spoon, and bowl of oatmeal.

"Here. This is all they'll let you have at first." He set it down on the table, by where Naminé was getting her bearings. "You might feel less dizzy if you eat something."

And underhanded, he threw the other cafeteria spoil he'd obtained- a coconut? -to Ven. "This'll cover the payment, right?"

Ven laughed at the light punch and held up his hands in a fake defensive against the assault. Naminé's twisted look elicited even more of a laugh. "Just kidding!"

He stepped one foot off of his glider and held his hands out to catch Naminé if she got airsick enough to fall over. "Sorry, it takes some getting used to," he apologized quickly. At least he hadn't taken her in space!

While Roxas was gone, Ven held his hand out to the glider so with a flourish of light it flew back into his hand and turned back into his Keyblade, dismissing that with another burst of light. His hands were free enough when Roxas returned to make an attempt to catch the coconut, juggling it a bit before it was safely in his hands and he grinned once more. "It'll have to do!"

Oh, right, just a joke. She'd probably have realized it sooner if she hadn't been so distracted. More slowly this time, she straightened herself out. She managed to stay upright without assistance, although she was grateful for the consideration. The girl turned fully to face him and offered Ven a weak smile as both thanks and encouragement. "N--" Ugh. "No, it wasn't your fault." She almost shook her head but thought better of it. She was beginning to feel better, but that was still not a good idea. "Sorry for being so much trouble." Taking a deep breath and letting out seemed to help. "But you got us here anyway, so... thanks, Ven."

Upon Roxas' return, she shifted to look his way and caught sight of the oatmeal. It didn't look particularly appealing, but she didn't much care. It wasn't as if she had a choice, anyway. "Maybe." She certainly hoped it would, anyway, because the alternative was not exactly preferable. "Thank you, Roxas." Perhaps just a little more slowly than would normally necessary, she stepped over to the table and took a seat.

He nodded at Naminé's thanks, sitting down opposite her at the table. After a moment of relaxing, he leaned his elbows and forehead down, sighing.

"...they still don't have ice cream." This was still a pretty big concern, apparently. "Maybe we should just put in a request for it."

He stretched his legs under the table, giving a groan. "...actually, maybe not. I'll just get back in the habit of eating it every day."

[.001]

<o/ <o> \o> oh geez what am i doing

Dancing most epicly? \o> <o> <o/

<o> <o/ <o> \o> <o> untz untz untz subject rave

\o\ <o| |o> /o/ \o/ \o\

/o/ |o7 \o/ <o\

\o\ 7o7 /o/ ^o^ \o\ ^o^ /o/ 7o7 /o/ 7o7 /o/

\o/ ^o7 /o/ \o| <o^

STOP. HAMMER TIME. —o—

/STOPS. HAMMER TIME.

/o/ NOT EVEN HAMMERTIME CAN STOP ME <o7 \o^

THAT'S IT. DANCE-OFF. o>< o|< o<<

OOOOOOOH

...YOUR MOVES, I CAN'T HOPE TO BEAT THEM D';

THEN YOU HAVE JUST BEEN SERVED. B]

Owned. :O

I have shamed my ancestors. B[

Repent. Repeeeennnntttt

Nobody can fight the hammeeeeer D:

...for the longest time I thought that was a THIRTEEN

The hammer is all knowing and all powerful. And always Thirteen.

Does that mean Roxas IS the hammer?

That's his superhero identity, sssshhhh

I bet Nams designed his costume

Oh, you know she did

"Nams, why does my costume have a skirt...? :'|"

"Who cares, it has a cape! :'D"

"All the cool kids in this fandom wear skirts...! :C"

"I AM TOO ANGSTY TO BE A COOLKID BCCC"

"BUT YOU HAVE SO MANY ZIPPERS o : "

"BUT ANGST CAN BE COOL TOO according to the fangirls D:"

Re: "BUT ANGST CAN BE COOL TOO according to the fangirls D:"

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