towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: Riku [AU3], OPEN
Setting: Room 1-14, hallways, various rooms throughout the tower (your pick), and finally the graveyard (floor 48)
Format: Action please.
Summary: Riku wakes up to discover his little 'prize' from the event. Later, he stumbles upon an unfortunate new room and makes an unpleasant discovery.
Warnings: FEELINGS. Also, the graveyard room and all its implications.

Room 1-14;

[How many times had he died now? Two, three times?

At this rate, he'd lost track. But after spending weeks collecting candy and running around in a tacky suit, returning to his good, old self and familiar clothes came as a relief. Getting a rude awakening from a technicolor dragon? ...Not so much.

Those passing room 1-14 may hear an abrupt scream coming from the room. Should their curiosity get the best of them, they'll find Riku pinned to his bed by the big, goofy Spirit.

Riku eyes the strange creature, half tempted to call for his Keyblade, but the dragon, for whatever reason, just blinks at him and nudges him with its head. Oh yeah, it's at least six or seven feet long, with a clubbed tail. If it weren't so bright, it'd probably pass as one of the monsters easily.

But, once the initial shock wears off, Riku groans and pushes the dragon to the side, eying a note one the floor.

"Awww, too bad. But you tried hard and did a lot of work anyway, so here's a consolation prize!
♥Ruana

...It figures.]

Hallway and throughout the tower;

[It seems that no matter where Riku goes, that dragon scurries close behind, stopping once or twice to scratch itself like an oversized cat. Occasionally, Riku tries to zip ahead of it and get some time alone, but it doesn't take long for the dragon to screech and zip right after him.

The aquarium, the cafeteria... No matter where he turns, that oversized lizard's hot on his trail. Care to point and laugh? Mistake it for a vicious monster? The sky's the limit!]

Graveyard;

[Later on, however, the silly dragon shenanigans come to a grinding halt. After convincing his new pet to hang back in the room for a bit, Riku's managed to do a little exploring on his own, to clear the air.

What he didn't expect to find was a spooky graveyard lined with stones bearing familiar names.

Wincing, he creeps deeper into the room, skimming stone after stone.

Some names appear completely foreign to him. He passes them with a raised eyebrow and a shrug, pressing on. Some, on the other hand, stick out a fair bit more. Vanitas, for one. Is this some kind of trick from the admins?

But the names keep piling up. Eraqus, Aqua, Roxas... another Roxas, and it only gets worse from there. The name "Donald Duck" sends him stumbling back, rubbing at his eyes. But the name remains.

It has to be a trick. Since when was Donald even in the tower? Maybe... maybe Jason decided to toy with people. Throw in some familiar names, and--

In the corner of his eye, he catches another familiar name. Twice. At that moment, he freezes. With deep breaths, he turns, a lump forming in his throat.

Kairi...

Twice, just like with Roxas. Riku falls down to his knees.]

No! This... it can't be--

[But when was the last time he saw either Kairi? Or Aqua, Eraqus... any of them?

It had to be a trick. But... what if it wasn't?

No matter how hard he tries, he can't look away. His eyes remain fixed on the stones, his body petrified with fear.]

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Kairi... everyone else. They can't be dead.

[He winces. Do pardon his sharp tone.]

All these stones... they're people who aren't around anymore.

[But they couldn't have died, right? How could they?]

[ Apparently his tone doesn't bother her, since the same blank expression remains on her face even now. She glances back at the stone before turning back to the boy instead. ]

.. You don't know if this are their graves, right..? Just ones with their name.

I hope it's just that.

[Sigh. It wouldn't be the first time the tower's screwed with his head.]

But even then, grave stones for people who've left the tower... Even if it turns out to be a trick or a joke, they're still rubbing it in everyone's faces.

I guess that's just the way they are like. They've hurt a lot of people before, right..? [ She mostly thinks about the time with the pods as she says that, really. ]

Maybe they're trying to hurt people with this too.

Probably. It could just be another experiment-- to see if it breaks us.

[Even then, it's tame compared to the labyrinth.]

[ now she slowly walks over to him - without saying a word at first - and then reaches out to softly poke him. ]

.. You don't seem broken. [ since he's solid! sorry, she takes things way too literally.. ]

[...Wow, that was a spectacular case of taking things literally.]

It's a figure of speech.

[ At that she draws her hand back quickly, as if she's burned herself, and just stares at him. ]

So it's a different kind of broken..?

Sort of.

[He slumps. Maybe hew as a little too harsh.]

It's more like an emotional state. Broken means that you've been through so much stress, so much pain that it just leaves you scarred.

Then it's something that's easy to solve, I think. [ Because she does understand pain - both physically and mentally, although the latter moreso, but especially thanks to this place she also knows what can cure it. ]

As long as you have other people around, I don't think the stress could ever get too much..

True. I've got plenty of people to drag me out of the dumps, but...

[Mm. Maybe it's selfish. No, it probably is.]

The people that matter the most... they're not here, and that's one thing I just can't seem to let go.

The people that matter the most..? [ Apparently she doesn't seem to find it selfish. Or even if she does, she's not judging it, since the only apparent emotion here is curiosity at best. ]

Like who? Your girlfriend?

[ Of course Urotsuki would think in terms of love. ]

[...Ouch.

Riku cringes at that remark. If only that were the case. But, no. In spite of any feelings of his, he never did do much about them.

All the more reason to fret if the worlds are gone. Missed opportunities. Promises without closure.

Still, he recovers swiftly enough and manages a nod.]

Close enough, but I'm thinking mostly about my friends. The ones from my universe, anyway.

Edited 2012-11-29 05:37 (UTC)

[ The swiftness of it makes her miss the fact she might have hurt him by saying that entirely, instead she just stares. Then there's a tiny nod - friends is something she can understand. They're supposed to be important. ]

Can't you find new people that matter here? .. I think that's what a lot of people do.

Well, I have. It's just not the same, that's all.

[And it doesn't help that he's surrounded by familiar people-- familiar, but just different enough to give him a feeling of isolation.]

Doesn't help that this place is a living nightmare, either.

.. I don't think it's that much of a nightmare.

[ It doesn't help that the term is something that means a lot to Urotsuki, huh. Dreams, nightmares, it's all way too close to her. ]

Sure, there are sad moments, and.. scary moments too, but.. I'm glad I came here, in the end.

Wish I could say the same, but I'd take a world full of Heartless over labyrinths where we're forced to kill each other and 'games' that involve candy collection or death.

[How could anyone like a place so twisted? It's outside his realm of understanding.]

[ For a few moments she lightly frowns to herself as if she's thinking about something but can't figure it out, but then she finally seems to and her expression immediately relaxes as she looks back at him. ]

Haven't you ever had a nightmare..?

Of course I have, and this place makes any nightmares I had before look tame.

[He never had nightmares about dead bodies and stomping on Kairi's heart, among other grotesque imagery, anyway.]

Can't you imagine it then..? This place is a little like that. [ She intertwines her fingers behind her back as she talks. ]

Nightmares can be scary or bad, but if there's at least one friend or friendly person with you in that dream, it can be less scary.. the same counts for here.

Less scary, sure, but it's still not the kind of place I enjoy. Doubt that's ever gonna change, honestly.

[He appreciates the people he's met, the friends he's made, but there's no redeeming this world. No replacing the worlds he left behind.]

Not that my resentment's gonna get me out of here to begin with.

Where do you want to go back to, then? Do you think it's a lie too that our worlds got destroyed?

[ She herself believes it - more or less - but she's heard differently from plenty of people by now. ]

Of course I think it's a lie. I wouldn't trust those admins as far as I can throw 'em.

[Not when they do twisted experiments or play twisted 'games' with the tower residents.]

[ There's another pause. And then she takes it literally as usually. ]

You'd throw them around? Is that some sort of sport?

...It's another figure of speech.

[Though throwing them out a window or something would satisfy him. Or at least Jason.]