001 || Open

[flared]

Characters: Axel and YOU
Setting: Room 1-18, Dormitories
Format: I'm doing prose, but whatever you do, I'll match~
Summary: After waking up with a ridiculous outfit on, a tee'd off Axel teleports around for some exploring. Not with a ridiculous outfit on, though. That would be silly.
Warnings: Nada for now


Please don't hold back on me, Axel. Promise.

He awoke with a start and for what felt like forever stared at the ceiling, unable to move or say a word. Last he remembered, he was at Twilight Town and last he remembered Xion had been with him. Not one of their usual meetings, mind, and not one he would have chosen out of his own volition. So where had that gone? Their voices, the fire burning at his fingertips-- All of that hadn't been a dream, had it? Thinking it, Axel finally shifted on his bed and swung his legs over the edge to sit up. This wasn't Twilight Town, this wasn't Never Was or any other World he could think of, that was for sure.

Deciding it would be best to investigate, Axel stood and approached the chest at the foot of his bed. His Organization coat, some regenerative potions... and some letters out of all things. Head tilted, he picked up the first one then ripped it open to read. Well. That certainly hadn't been the most pleasant letter he'd ever received and he didn't even believe it. Still. The smallest bit of unease started to settle in his gut upon thinking about the possibility of his World being truly destroyed. If that was the case, which one would it be? And why?

But more importantly... what about his friends?

With a sharp scoff, Axel pocketed the letter along with a couple of potions before he stood to head for the door and out into the hallway, footsteps quick and body tense. Regardless of some crummy letter or what had really happened to their World, regardless of how things had turned out between the three of them in the end... he wanted to find Roxas and Xion.

He wanted to be at ease.

((OOC: Feel free to notice/bump into one hotheaded redhead tromping through the tower!))

Comments

[tohko_amano]

Tohko wandered down the halls, with a notebook and pen in hand. Instead of reading or eating something, she was writing something. It was the first time she had written something outside of school, and while it was a rather personal paper, she was enjoying it. It brought back a lot of good memories.

She was enjoying it so much, that she failed to notice a guy with spiky red hair walking by, and accidentally bumped into him. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you alright?" She asked, closing the book and looking up at the guy.

[justabignobody]

Well, Riku for his part is lunching in the Cafeteria (there is a decent, eatable selection for once; after ten months in this place he knows better than to disregard that), head lifting in alert when he senses someone quite familiar approaching. It takes him a moment to recognize it - its been a while since Axel had left the tower. ...Xion would happy about this, at least.

Riku himself isn't entirely sure how to feel, given... circumstances.

He keeps his eyes on the door as he finishes his plate; there is really no need to rush himself after all. It's not like either of them would be going anywhere anytime soon.

[attheclocktower]

[Things... still were stressful, still hadn't quite calmed down... They never really seemed to in the Tower. It was always degrees of calm, really. And while this period should have been one of its calmest moments, with Roxas gone How could he really be gone... and Shion's friend arriving and everything else it didn't really feel so.

She's making her way up to her room to grab something when she spots the red out of the corner of her eye. Red hair tends to make her double-take anymore. It was unusual to see Reno up h-

Oh... he was back again. Xion's... not sure how to feel. He was here so briefly last time. Still, there's a curl of hope as she stares at him, waiting to see if he'll notice her, If he'll remember, a hand curling into a fist over where her heart would be.]

[midgarhorizon]

Nope, Reno never really came up to the First Dorm unless it was for the explicit purpose of using the elevator down to the Cafeteria, which he only took with reluctance for the speed of getting down there. Elevators. They were his bane in life.

While waiting for it to open, he took a look around at the first floor, mostly out of boredom.

Ah, that guy. That can't be...

"Axel?"

[flared]

Axel noticed the girl up ahead of him, but a little too late, so, yup, they would be bumping into each other. Appearing thoroughly distracted for a moment, he stared down at her, not saying a word, but eventually he took a bit of a step back to put some distance between them. She was a girl with dark hair, but certainly not Xion.

"Uh... yeah." Bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck, he glanced around them, once again distracted. "Are... you?"

[flared]

And who should happen upon the cafeteria but Axel, stepping out of a Corridor of Darkness then promptly shutting it behind him with a casual wave of his hand. He's looking about, both eying his surroundings and trying to find something or someone familiar, and when he happens upon a familiar face he pauses in his search.

Standing a few feet away, he doesn't say anything and simply watches Riku out of the corner of his eyes, but then after a sigh he decides to speak up.

"Yo." His voice is clipped as he addresses the other. Circumstances back home have made him a little bitter towards this one. "Look who it is."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko closed her notebook and nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. I should really stop doing that. It's an overused trope.." She sighed. "By the way, I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl. Who are you?"

[flared]

[He's not walking fast, but he's certainly not going at a pace which seems relaxed. That's what happens when you're in major sympathetic mode and suddenly get pulled through time and space to whatever this World is. He hadn't been dreaming, had he? This wasn't some sort of trick DiZ set up, was it?

The more he thinks about it, the more of a headache he gets. Regardless, Axel walks on, turns corners and even opens up Corridors when he's hit a dead end, but-

Suddenly he senses someone and his eyes go wide when he comes to a halt in the middle of the hallway. Because out of the corner of his eyes he sees her and immediately he knows what he has to do. He has to go back to what they were doing before, fight her, beat her, and drag her back to the Organization just as he did once before, come hell or high water. Sure, that's what he knows he has to do, but that doesn't mean he wants to.

Conflicted, he briefly tightens his fingers into fists then glances around them to make sure no one else is around. If they end up fighting, if they end up yelling and arguing-

His voice comes out tense, guarded, though there's that undeniable layer of uncertainty behind it. Because... it's her. He shouldn't have to do this.]

... Xion.

[flared]

Any form of transportation other than Portals were the bane of his existence, really. At least since he became a Nobody, because, really, who wouldn't have wanted to teleport places? It sure cut time in half. Not to mention it kept baddies out of the way, at least for a while.

So a Corridor it was. Axel simply opened one up as he headed out his door and shortly after appeared not too far from the elevators where Reno stood. Banishing the Portal with a dismissive wave, he turned to start making his way along the opposite hallway before suddenly he heard his name and paused to glance over his shoulder.

... Ok. This was weird.

Brow raised, Axel turned halfway back around to stare at Reno, completely and utterly perplexed. He might have been ok with just the outfit and the hair color, but this guy happened to sound like him, too. So, yeah. What?

"Do I know you?"

[flared]

Axel lowered his hand and turned back to look at her again. No one he knew from his World, so maybe he really was in a different place. Maybe she would at least have some answers.

"Axel," he replied. No, he wouldn't be giving her his catchphrase right now. He just had to assume she'd remember it. "Any idea where this place is?"

[tohko_amano]

Tohko replied with a "Nice to meet you, Axel." before sighing. "Sadly, I don't. The Admin's around here are pretty tight-lipped about those sorts of things. I can tell you that this a huge Tower." Huh. So this was another newcomer. There seemed to be quite a lot of them nowadays. Since Tohko herself had come in at about this time last month, she guessed that new people were always dragged in during the start of every month.

"However, since you're new, I can tell you what I know about this Tower, if you want."

[attheclocktower]

[She sucks her breath in. He said her name. He knows who she is. There's a tight feeling in her chest... she doesn't know what to feel. But he's here and he remembers her this time and there's so much contained in that idea. Was he the one who was here a few months ago? Or was he a new one, who did remember somehow? Neither of the previous two had when they'd first come...]

Axel? You... you remember me?

[Part of her wants to laugh or cry or maybe hug him but at the same time a part of her is finally registering that something's wrong. Something in his voice or expression or something.]

[flared]

Axel didn't appear disappointed with that answer. If anything, it shed a little bit of light on this place. Whatever these 'Admins' were must have had control of this tower. And that meant there had to be other people here, too. Arms crossed over his chest, he figured he could spare a moment to listen to what she had to say before he continued walking and searching. Might as well save himself a bit of time.

"Sure. Figure I might as well."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko nodded. "Alright. First, death here is not permanent. If you die, you will just wake up in you bed the next day. However, if you die too many times, you will get punished, so be careful.

Second, if you are going to eat anything from the cafeteria, eat the oatmeal first. I know it's disgusting, but if you eat anything else before eating it, you will vomit. However, you can add things to the oatmeal to improve the taste.

Third, as far as I know, three people run this Tower: Dax, who is a pretty humane and nice guy, Jason, who loves to torture and experiment on people, and finally, Ruana, who is worse than Jason. There may be more, but those are the ones I know about so far. They are tight-lipped and they will lie to you, so take everything they say, with the exception of Dax, with a grain of salt.

Fourth, monsters lurk the Tower at night. If you don't know how to fight, you had better ask someone to teach you."

Tohko thought for a moment. "I think that covers everything."

[midgarhorizon]

Aah, dammit. His hopes died before they even began, really. Not that he wasn't really surprised. People had a habit of disappearing and then coming back with no memory.

Just meant another universe had died.

Axel had good reason to be perplexed though. After months of living in the Tower and not having the proper styling products, Reno's hair was overgrown and hanging loose. He looked like less-spiky twin.

"Yes and no. Another you was here before. I got to know him and Xion kinda well. Nice to meet ya again."

Did someone say 'bump into Axel'?

[earthshards]

[There's a guy in an Organization coat walking down the hall with a book on metalworking in his hands. He's barely paying attention to where he is going, more interested in the subject matter at hand.

Collision imminent in three, two, one--]

[flared]

[She looks surprised by this and not in the way he might have expected. Her question catches him off guard and he faces her fully, a confused look on his face.]

What are you talking about? Of course I-

[But that doesn't matter. Axel shakes his head.]

I need to take you back.

[How, he doesn't know. But maybe he can teleport out of here with her, even if that means a little roughness. Axel just has to keep telling himself he has a reputation to keep here. Just needs to remember he has a job to do...]

[attheclocktower]

[For a moment she stares, perplexed. Back, back whe- oh... If... if he'd just gotten here...

There's a small part that deflates a little. Clearly he didn't remember being in the Tower, if he thought they could get back... At the same time though, that meant... he really did remember her. Back home too. Was he from before she'd gone back to Sora?

Regardless, that... still leaves things to be addressed.]

Axel, we... we can't. You got the notes, right? When you woke up?

[The ones that everyone got, that explained what'd happened.]

We can't go back to our worlds. I've already tried.

[flared]

Well, that's a lovely place to start: death, which means this place is potentially dangerous. He listened closely to her, one hand brought up to his lip to cover them for a moment as he concentrated. Some of this sounded so botched... but it would have been best if he didn't take any of it for granted anyway. Even that bit about the oatmeal. Gross.

"Is there any way out?" Somehow he doubted there would be.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed. "Not that I'm aware of. Trust me, I would love to get back home, but there are no doors leading out, and anything that does lead outside will just kill you, as it's too high to get on the ground and live. The Admins probably do know a way to get back, but as I said, they're pretty tight-lipped."

[flared]

The whole messy look was just fine and dandy by Axel's standards. Weird, but, hey, it wasn't his hair, right? So he didn't have to worry about it. ... Unless someone happened to mistake them for the same person. Then it might pose a slight problem.

Considering his words, Axel tilted his head a bit. Another... him? What did that even mean?

He would have asked about it had Xion not been mentioned. Immediately his attitude became more serious. "Xion is here?"

Watch where you're going, you dunce. B|

[flared]

[Thankfully Axel isn't too distracted to notice the guy walking towards him... but he does notice a little too late. So, yup, there's a collision up in here, ladies and gentlemen.]

[midgarhorizon]

Making a slight face, he tilted his head. That wasn't quite the reaction he had been expecting.

"Yeah. She's been here for months. Poor kid's really missed you."

[flared]

[Axel briefly glanced over at his pocket where he kept the notes he'd received. Yeah, he'd gotten them, but he hadn't really been in the right mind at the time to believe them.]

You tried? Are you sure?

[Axel isn't the type to be flustered. He's not the type to overreact, either. But in the slightest of ways perhaps he is, glancing around at the walls as if searching for a way to escape nearby. Just minutes ago he was confronting her in that town, ready to fight, and now he's expected to stay put? He shakes his head again.]

How's that possible, though?

You watch where you're going, he's reading here!

[earthshards]

[Oh, ow-- damn it, this keeps happening to him. The book doesn't fall to the ground this time, thankfully, but the impact does force him to take a few steps backwards and steady himself.] Sorry about that--

[It's only after he actually looks up does he see who he's just run into, and he pauses mid-sentence. ... This is potentially awkward.] I should watch where I'm going.

[Or start using Corridors more often to get to places.]