001 | ❝And I'm not proud...❞

[acceptedoblivion]

Characters: Riku Replica and you
Setting: Dorm Room 2-14 and that floor, Floor Thirty, Forty-Six, and Twenty-Five
Format: Either
Summary: Just arrived in the tower and is already kind of tempting fate/death.
Warnings: Possible violence if provoked, lack-of-anger-management, existential crises....

Dorm 2-14
[It wasn't the first time he woke up in an almost completely white place... though, being the one in white certainly was. What was-- Why was he even feeling anything? After all, he was fake; done; staring at the fake sky and someone else's memories of Twilight Town. He shouldn't even be breathing right now, and yet he could feel his chest rise up and down. This... This wasn't supposed to be. He shouldn't even exist, not even with a fake life. So why-?

"Your World has been destroyed."

Tch... Good riddance. But, what about--

"I saved you."

I don't need saving; you should have saved them--

"Let's all be happy here."

The only way they could have ticked him off more was if there was a smiley face next to it. Seriously, why would anyone save a fake like him? He wasn't worth it; not even worth remembering. After all, why would they? The only people who knew he even existed mostly died in that place anyway, and judging by this note they're likely...

Nope; he could at least sense one of them close by, if not in the same vicinity. He did not plan to stay around long enough to find out, either. Letter burnt, he grabbed something from the chest and--]

...Tch. If that's true, then they could have kept the heat on.

[Seriously, "rescuers"... Could have at least thought of that. Did not need to make it a little cooler than Vexen's lab. ...Wait, how did he remember that? Ugh, it's giving him a headache. Any of his dorm mates are welcome to bug him in his agitated state, or to realize all he has is one change of clothes and what looks like a card that has a picture of a small world on it...]

Floor Forty-Six
[Well, his luck stats suck royally if how he ended up falling through the disappearing staircase is any indication. Luckily he pointedly ignored the sudden glowing thing. Not so luckily, almost turning back for it when he got close to the stairs was likely not the best idea... Oops. At least he stopped himself? Maybe? Either way, he may or may not be panting for breath at the landing. Thank...Light...

No he totally wasn't freaked out ten seconds ago that is totally a lie (what's being freaked out?). Nothing even touched him, so... What even, self?]

Floor Thirty
[So in pursuit of something to burn for a fire, he may have ended up on this floor. Not that he really minds; in fact, the dark fires he's throwing around seem to be keeping him a little warmer than just the...dark...suit??? thing he's wearing (seriously why does this kid have a buttskirtcape he didn't arrive in that). At the very least, it's serving as some kind of 'anger management.' Though will you just leave him be, or try to convince him to get back to the stairs before he ends up dead? Not like he cares either way...]

Floor Twenty-Five
[Well, he found some wood at last. Don't mind him, just huddled around a purple fire. It's totally normal, nothing out of the ordinary to see here.]

Comments

Floor Thirty

[lethechained]

[Even considering the risks involved, the art gallery was a place Naminé liked to visit. Never having had much opportunity to look at the art of others before coming to the Tower, she'd appreciated the chance when it was first offered and continues to be grateful for it. That's what she was doing before the idea popped into her head that perhaps it would be nice to pay a visit to the forest on the thirty-second floor. That is another of the handful of floors she could take an interest in, it's true, but there's also something tugging at the back of her mind - a feeling, maybe, should 'feeling' be an applicable word for her in any sense - that it would be a trip worth making. She learned a long time ago to pay attention to those 'feelings.']

[And so she climbs several floors without incident, that inkling growing, becoming more and more clear as she ascends. It's strange - it feels as though there's a familiar presence nearby, it's just--]

[She finds, distractingly, that she senses dark power, her brow knitting as she recognizes it. Her pace starts to slow, but-- it's not far, no more so than the next floor. A jolt runs through her; she knows exactly what said 'next floor' holds. Perhaps she is too kind, too merciful, but the next thing she knows, she's hurrying up the stairs, eyes already wide. When she reaches the top, glances around, and sees first the fires, then the person creating them, it feels as though her body has turned to ice. Is that--?]

['It is', her not!heart responds, without hesitation. But before she can even finish processing that, she realizes, quite suddenly, that he is off of the stairs oh Kingdom Hearts he's going to get murdered.]

[She steps automatically to the edge of the stairs, only stopping at the last moment when she remembers herself, but how long that will stay her remains to be seen. In lieu of making some attempt to haul his newbie behind back to the safety of the stairs,]

Riku--!

[It's sudden and distressed, and maybe it's not quite the right name, but it will have to do for now.]

[acceptedoblivion]

[Hey, you can cry and feel guilty for past actions. That was enough to tell a few that she did have 'feelings' that were at least more real than his. But that was for another time, wasn't it.

To be honest, he doesn't care if he dies or not. Did it matter? Did it really matter if he does die or not, for some fake like him? He'd chosen to remember the lies because it was all he had left, he had nothing left if that was right and like hell would he trust or take Riku's word for it without sensing them for himself. Then again, he didn't quite buy the note either. In short, he doesn't know what to believe. Only that he's here and there's little he can do about it.

Also that the stairs seem to like depositing him on dangerous floors. He was beginning to miss the familiarity of white halls and pale blue tiles... Even if it meant being with them, at least she was--

He freezes for a brief moment when he picks up that familiar scent. And lucky timing it was, just missing one claw because the monster it belonged to was aiming for where he was going, not directly at him.

'But I will... protect Naminé.'

She really was... here? It wasn't a lie? His senses weren't lying, either? Though, that name really does still get on his nerves.]

Naminé--?!

[What are you doing best friend don't you dare step off those because of his stupidity and not being careful (why do you have to be careful on STAIRS anyway aren't those things you run up and down?).

He doesn't spare the glance back, instead deciding to use the darkness to his advantage and cover more ground while only attacking to keep them off of him.

Self-preservation, what was that? He was just trying to keep it clear with a Dark Maelstrom so he could at least get closer.]

[lethechained]

[Try telling that to her, but yes, that's definitely something for another time.]

[He'd best be careful about mentioning that, too, because it would earn him more than a little distress from her side of things, and much more sadness in addition to that that would almost surely be internalized. At least in being confused about the sudden change, he is not alone; that's an experience she, like so many in the Tower, has also had.]

[She leans forward slightly, though her feet shift only to accommodate the change in posture rather than to actually step off of the stairs, almost as if she's physically kept there, even though that is not the case. Sucking in a gasp as the monsters go after him as she was afraid they would, for a moment she freezes, a familiar helpless feeling filling her. But then, quite suddenly, she is reminded of some of the new things she's learned in the Tower, things that aren't quite reflex, things that fell by the wayside when she saw him again and was reminded so vividly and forcefully of another time, when she didn't know those things.]

[Now... now she can actually do something to help. And so he may find himself being aided by Stop spells, as frequently and prudently as she can manage, and, should something manage to actually come close to reaching him, Reflect.]

Over here--!

[Not that he can't figure out where to go on his own, but encouragement couldn't hurt, right--]

[acceptedoblivion]

[Maybe one day when he stops being suicidal reckless. Because today is likely not that day. Also when does he ever talk about his own problems aside from during that one breakdown no one talks about.

He noticed those two new spells (when had she learned those? maybe he'd ask her later when he wasn't, you know, preoccupied), but glad that she wasn't stepping off of the steps. No way would he be able to handle that if she got hurt because of his bad luck.

So when he does get right to the edge of the floor where she's calling him--

ow. Yeah, that was a Darkball to the back. Serves him right for getting distracted, but at least he landed next to her on the stairs? He is just going to be glad they seem to back off once he dids. Speaking of:]

Do they... always do that?

[Meaning stairs dropping them onto dangerous floors because seriously. This was the second time in a day. Wondering why his friend (heh...) is older than she was when he last remembered could wait. Let everything else catch up to him, first.]

[lethechained]

[Though she's leaning forward slightly as she watches him come closer, concern all over her expression, she's mostly silent the whole way, save when he gets hit, which gets a tiny noise out of her, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Except he seems to be okay, and so she breathes out a sigh, some (but not all of) the tension draining out of her.]

[She casts a quick glance around to make sure nothing has followed him - they've never come onto the stairs before, but that doesn't mean that will never change, especially not in a place like this - then turns her eyes down to him. She cannot help studying him a moment or two; it's so... strange, seeing him again, and not just because he looks like Riku as he was when he was younger.]

It depends on the floor.

[Hopefully he doesn't mind being further considered.]

... For now, anyway. You never know in this Tower.

[acceptedoblivion]

[At least nothing followed him this time, either. Straightening himself up and dusting himself off, he decides to finally get a good look at his friend. Only to both hear the answer and see the look she's giving him.]

Well, that inspires confidence.

[He rolls his eyes. Naminé, he's fine. Really. Still, part of him wants to know. She seems older, more skilled. How long had it been since he-?

... Why was he having a hard time with words when he'd been resolved to die.]

[lethechained]

[She's already been getting a good look and continues to, eyes searching him even as she offers an apologetic smile.]

I wish I had better news for you.

[But it'd all be lies, in this situation. Ugly truths seem to be her specialty. Him rolling his own eyes doesn't seem to deter hers.]