towerofanimus | discoveries?

Entry tags:

discoveries?

Characters: Aqua, Roxas, and hopefully the other girls of 1-07? Also open.
Setting: Room 1-07 (Aqua, AU!Feferi, Vietnam, Vriska) or Floor Three, the old library
Format: Starting prose, but I'll match. <3
Summary: Spells, socializing, and stumbling across something quite unfortunate.
Warnings: (Temporary) character death in the library, and magic talky mumbo jumbo. Will add if anything else comes up.

Room 1-07

"Fire," whispered the young mage. A tiny inferno flickered to life above the palm of her hand, the magic tickling the tips of her fingers. Aqua gave a reserved smile at the sight of the spell coming to life, but she made sure not to lose control over the flow of magical energy going into the flame. She was sitting on her bed, after all, and it really wouldn't do to set fire to the place that she had to sleep.

Spellbooks laid open around her, open to the very basics of casting. She normally used Stormfall as the final outlet for her spells -- it was rare that she did them with her bare hands. It was about time to get to working on that -- she couldn't always rely on her Keyblade, after all.

Floor Three

Aqua ignored the new library for a number of reasons -- the first and foremost being that she had yet to actually check out the old one (and the second being that the new library was just creepy). She hoped, perhaps, to find some books on magic; her own collection was fairly comprehensive in regards to ordinary basic and advanced spellcasting, but there were so many corners of the practice that she had yet to explore.

And maybe, if she was really lucky, she'd find some books about whatever this awful place was that she was staying at. Aqua wasn't expecting too much, but there was a tiny flicker of hope there. She was still an optimist, deep down.

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The east "corner" of the library- tucked in between the cookbooks and romance novels -still has the same peculiar overturned shelf acting as a makeshift tent. However, the blanket had slumped at an odd angle, and despite a dictionary's best efforts, was slipping away and gradually giving view to its insides.

Of course, he'd picked that specific corner because it was very unlikely that anyone would go near it, so suffice to say he had been undisturbed by others for some time. Which was probably not such a good thing, in retrospect.

It took Aqua quite a while before she reached the east side of the library, as she was very thorough in her search of any books that may have proved useful to her cause. When she finally rounded the final bookcase, though, the peculiar structure set up in the corner caught her eye.

After taking a glance around to see that no one else could see, Aqua cautiously approached the little fort. "Hello?" she tried, her voice kept at a moderately low level just in case there were others in the library. "Is someone in there?"

Inside was a very deceased blonde, curled up and stiff, with a couple popsicle sticks and wrappers littered about. At most, he might have been alive that morning, given the melted ice cream.

At least he finally got some rest.

When no response came, Aqua narrowed her eyes, calling her Keyblade to her hand. It materialized in clusters of light. She reached out with it, hooking the blanket on the prongs and pulling the cover the rest of the way off.

Nothing attacked her, but what she found was almost as alarming as any enemy would have been. "Roxas?" she prompted, eyes wide. When there was no response, she dismissed Stormfall and then knelt in front of the tent. The master doubled over so that she could reach inside and gently agitate his shoulder. The shaking produced no response.

Aqua felt a minor surge of panic begin to coil in her gut, and her hand moved from his shoulder to rest two fingers against the pulse point of his neck.

He wasn't just asleep.

She probably kept her hand on him longer than was strictly necessary, hoping beyond hope that his heart would start beating again. Her eyes stung a little and her throat felt tight, but no tears answered the call that her body posed.

It took her a while before she found enough composure to gingerly move the shelf away from Roxas so that he was uncovered. What was she supposed to do? There weren't exactly funerary services in this place, considering.

Aqua stood by Roxas' unmoving body for what felt like hours until she finally bent to retrieve the discarded blanket. One knee touched to the floor as she spread the blanket over the blond. With the utmost gentleness, she cozied up the cover around him as if tucking him in, leaving just enough room for his head to peek out.

Following that, she looked at his lifeless face, the sting in her throat moving to her chest. A lock of hair was brushed softly away from his face preceding her straightening up again.

With that, she made her way to the staircase, fully intent on meditating with her thoughts for a while before she told Ven about what she found.

"Aqua?"

She might not get her chance to go very far, because apparently Ven had been coming up the stairs to..whatever his destination was, and was stopped on the stairway when he saw the blunette in the library.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He asked. She seemed like she had had somewhere to go, but then when did he ever care about keeping people from their appointments for a chat.

Naminé happened to be coming the opposite direction down the stairs (the elevator was easier, sure, but she had working legs and, after all, the exercise was good for her). The familiar voice stopped her in her tracks, and she was quick to look to see which of the two possible candidates it belonged to. Ven, it appeared, and... was that who she thought it was with him? She blinked; she'd known Aqua was here, but she'd yet to meet her. Now seemed as good a time as any, despite the growing feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn't quite right. She'd waved the thought off several times already today, blaming it on her continuing process of adjustment to living in the tower. Uncertain exactly how to approach the situation, she settled for the greeting of, "Ven," accompanied by an almost apologetic smile.

Aqua barely registered Ven's voice at first, testament enough to how shaken she was despite not appearing so. It was only after some considerably delayed brain processes did Aqua realize that she was being addressed by something that wasn't a figment of her imagination.

She turned to face Ven, breath catching briefly when the similarities between him and Roxas struck her again. "Ven," she replied distantly, managing something that kind of looked like a smile.

It didn't last once her eyes were cast back in the direction she had just come from. She didn't want to have to tell him now. She needed time to think. But, he needed to know.

"Roxas is..." The statement trailed off oddly, as she was unsure how to phrase exactly what it was that she wanted to tell Ven without hitting him too hard with the knowledge. A brief reprieve seemed to come in the form of an unfamiliar girl.

Aqua turned her head to look at the petite blonde. Ventus was spared an inquisitive glance, but Aqua wasn't really surprised. Ven was good at making friends, and he'd probably been out and about the tower more than she had. Her attentions returned to the new girl, and despite the weight on her mind and heart, she managed a polite smile. "You know Ven?"

The way Aqua said his name, Ven grew a bit more concerned. He tilted his head to the side and was about to ask what was the matter, before he noticed Naminé descending on the staircase he was currently occupying. He dropped the subject momentarily, grinning when he noticed the other blonde. "Hey Naminé!"

"Oh, right!" He looked back at Aqua for a moment, "Aqua, this is my friend, Naminé. I met her around the tower." He'd, just tell her about the fact that Naminé knew a bunch of stuff they didn't later. That could wait, right? "Naminé, this is my friend Aqua, the one I was telling you about," He added, now looking back at Naminé.

Ven was pretty happy with himself when he finished introductions (now two of his friends could meet each other after all!), so when Aqua brought up Roxas, he looked back at her with a side glance, still smiling a bit. "What about Roxas?"

Her smile got a little more open when she was greeted back, and she descended the last few steps to stop on the even floor. She turned her eyes toward Aqua as Ven introduced them. It was strange, finally seeing her in person, and she couldn't help studying her just a bit. Ven's omission of certain things did not, however, go unnoticed. Still, she managed a smile for Aqua and a nod. "It's nice to meet you, Aqua." Fortunately she had the presence of mind not to include a 'finally' in there.

She was immediately distracted by the mention of Roxas, which caused her to glance at Ven, then look back to Aqua, expression growing more curious and just ever so slightly apprehensive, that feeling that something was off coming to mind immediately.

Aqua looked between Ven and Naminé with distraction. It's not that she wasn't happy to meet one of Ventus' friends, but...she wasn't exactly in the right mindset for it. If she noticed Naminé's observance of her, she didn't say anything. "It's nice to meet you, too," returned the mage, adding as an afterthought, "I hope Ven didn't tell you any bad things about me." It was intended as a joke, but there was understandably not much life to it.

She almost thought she'd gotten away with not having to talk about Roxas for the time being, but then Ven had to bring it up again. The small smile vanished, and she looked away from both her fellow apprentice and his new friend, focusing her gaze somewhere just off of the floor.

"...I found Roxas' body," she finally said, voice somber.

"Aw come on Aqua, you know I wouldn't say anything bad about you!" Ven offered, chuckling a little and folding his arms behind his head. It wasn't that he didn't notice her listlessness, more that he wanted to try and cheer her up. Her and Naminé seemed so down!

When Aqua spoke again however, he lowered his arms and looked...well, considerably less pleased with himself. He looked at Naminé as if to check to her reaction, before looking back at Aqua again and speaking carefully, his brow furrowing a bit. "You...found his body? What do you mean?"

Naminé's reaction was... good, considering. She made no noise, but her skin went ashen immediately, her eyes wide and disbelieving for only an instant before her expression became something between shame and surprise. She'd known something was wrong-- she hadn't seen him in so long-- why hadn't she gone to look for him? Why? She already knew what Aqua meant, but still, she looked at Ven when he asked and back at Aqua, hoping her assumption was incorrect.

Aqua still didn't meet Ven's eyes -- she wasn't sure exactly what Naminé's silence meant, but she wasn't going to ask. It wasn't her place. "...he wasn't asleep," she went on regretfully, reluctant to bluntly speak of the matter of death. "I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry."

"...."

It was obvious he made the conclusion at some point, as Ven's face slowly moved towards a mixture of shock and sadness. He looked down at the ground a bit, trying to think. It couldn't have been Eiji again, could it?! No... she said she found the body, so he hadn't been shattered, right...? Unless Eiji had some other powers..

"But why, what happened?" He said when he finally looked up. He seemed to be keeping his calm at least, though it was obvious he was in not a little bit of distress. This was the second time after all! "Did he get attacked by someone?"

Ven saved her the trouble of asking, so she kept silent, watching Aqua carefully for her answer. Naminé's expression changed only to grow more pained as she waited and her mind reeled until she managed to reign it in; it didn't pay to assume without that answer.

Aqua finally found herself able to look at Ven when he posed the question. "...I'm not sure," she confessed quietly. She had to think for a few seconds after her claim. "I found him in a little fort," she elaborated with a motion of her arm, "down that way."

A thought struck her. "...it actually looked like he had been asleep. He had ice cream wrappers around him, too. It seemed like he had been staying in that thing for a little while."

"Ice cream wrappers...?" Well that was a bit, baffling. He knew Roxas liked ice cream, maybe he had just brought a bunch with him...still, you'd think he'd at least clean up or something. He wasn't really sure if Roxas was the tidy type or not.

Still frowning, Ven zipped off towards the direction Aqua had indicated and down the line of books to check on the fort and the body inside. Maybe he'd be able to find some sort evidence?

~~next time on CSI: Animus~~

~~Did someone call for an obvious suspect?~~

While Eiji wasn't quite the reading type, the library was one of the more peaceful areas of the tower - and it had the computers, which he was on his way to show Ankh when he spotted the group of kids doing something. He didn't see Ven since his head was shoved in the fort, so Eiji makes a small detour. "Hey, everything okay over here...?"

Ankh had already been eying the computers with intrigue when they entered, a popsicle in one hand. Though when Eiji got side-tracked by something, he made a slight 'tch' sound in annoyance before following ~~the magical hobo~~ him on the detour.

"What're you doing?" He asked, coming up to the rest of those assembled and biting the top off his popsicles.

It was... a better answer than confirmation that someone had been trying to hurt him. True, she was already aware that it had happened before, but if there wasn't any proof that it was that this time....

Ven zipping off surprised her out of her thoughts, and after only a brief hesitation, she hurried after him. She wasn't nearly as fast, but she did manage to keep close enough to reach the same place. Even once she was there, she left the investigation to Ven, at least for the moment, too distressed to feel comfortable getting closer just yet. Even what she could see from where she was made her feel ill. The interruption of two newcomers was jarring, and when she turned to look at them, she only regarded them silently, rather than answering.

Aqua waited for Naminé to move before she did, unwilling to leave the quiet girl alone. She wasn't sure what her connection to Roxas was, but she obviously knew him, and considering her reaction, they were probably close.

Her attention was drawn to the two inquisitive men, and considering that Ven was busy and Naminé still seemed to be shell-shocked, she took it upon herself to answer. "...we found one of our friends," she replied coolly, in the level voice of a soldier bringing news of a fallen comrade.

Ven had dropped to his knees, and was attempting to shake Roxas awake by the shoulder (as if that would do any good), but just kept looking more and more downcast as he went. He looked around the...body, and didn't find much besides the wrappers... He was far from a medic, granted, but nothing seemed to be outright wrong....

A few more minutes of searching and he sighed. He...Roxas'd just come back again, right? He had come back the last time without any real explanation. Still, it didn't help him feel much better. Though maybe because Aqua and Naminé were around, he was able to not freak out. Ven got up and looked at Naminé with dejection, before trudging back to Aqua.

Of course what he hadn't expected as to see two new people here. One of them he didn't recognize, but the other he wasn't exactly happy to see, given the panic that was now on his face. "--You! What are you doing here?!"

~~A criminal always returns to the scene of the crime~~

"I'm curious, Ankh," Eiji answered as he approached. Aqua's solemn tone brought a feeling of dread to his stomach, and he looked to Namine, then to --Ventus. "I-I'm showing a friend of mine the computers here--" and hey, there's Roxas on the ground.

Eiji feels his blood run cold at the sight of the boy again - he'd wanted to find him again, to apologize for what happened - but with the boy avoiding him like he had been, seeing him again under these circumstances was a lot more jarring than he had expected.

Ankh rolled his eyes and barely gave Aqua and Naminé a second glance. Some broad with weird hair and a timid kid, big whoop. He seemed perfectly content to just stand there and eat his popsicle until Eiji was done, until he noticed the tone of voice and the cut-off sentence. He looked curiously at Eiji's expression, then turned his attention to Ven and Roxas.

It took him another moment, but eventually he put two-and-two together. "Oooh, these are the kids," and he stepped forward, gesturing with his popsicle, "that you attacked last time you went berserk huh, Eiji?" He gave a half-laugh before returning to his normal disinterest. "Oops."

Ven's reaction alerted her to the fact that something was wrong-- well, more wrong than it had been a moment ago. She sucked in a breath, her eyes darting toward him and then to the two men. One of them seemed to be having a bad reaction to their presence, which did nothing to alleviate her suspicion. The other man seemed unphased, but what he said--

Her eyes narrowed suddenly, her mouth settling into a grim line instead of the frown that had been there before. So this was the Eiji she'd heard about. And so close to where Roxas was found, too.

Aqua watched what felt like a train wreck in slow motion, and her brain put the pieces together faster than she could consciously make sense of them all.

"So when Roxas mentioned being frozen..." Aqua started, staving off the edge of hostility that tried to creep into her voice. Her gaze was settled on Eiji, and her eyes were narrowed only slightly -- wariness yet, but not full-fledged evidence of her suspicion. "That was you?"

"Y-Yeah, that's...that's him." Ven said, slowly losing his nerve. He didn't know who Eiji's friend was, but that wasn't much of concern to him. It was kind of ridiculous to assume it was him but.... He couldn't shake the fact that this guy scared him.

"S-Something happened to Roxas.... But we don't know what.." Definitely not subconsciously edging closer to Aqua and Naminé, why would you think that.

"Ankh!" Been a while since Eiji had to use that irked schoolmarm tone with the Greeed. The way Ankh had brought it up so bluntly caused Eiji's hand to grip the fabric of his shirt out of reflex, before turning back toward the others.

"That..." Eiji swallowed - he couldn't bring himself to look at them, so instead he stared at the floor as he spoke. "That was me, yes, and I've been trying to apologize for weeks now, but I haven't been able to get to where I can talk to you two, and the other boy... It... It was all a horrible accident."

Edited 2011-09-26 03:25 (UTC)

Ankh jerked his head back at Eiji at the other's outrage, and simply gave him a smirk and a quirk of his head before looking back at his popsicle and taking a bite. He certainly seemed to feel better.

And that was apparently the only contribution to the conversation he was going to make.

An... accident? That made her brow knit slightly. It could have been the truth or it could have been a lie; she was quite familiar with liars. Too familiar to take such a thing for the truth right away, anyway, although it did make her glance toward Ven, then Aqua to see what they made of it. Ven was the only one who knew him, after all, so he was probably the only one who would know how likely it was that this might actually be the truth or if it was just an excuse.

The young knight was quiet as she absorbed Eiji's explanation. Slowly, she glanced between him and Roxas' unmoving body beneath the blanket. The man's rude sidekick -- "Ankh", apparently -- aside, he seemed genuinely apologetic. Ven was clearly terrified, but Aqua couldn't blame him; she had thought back to Xehanort's Blizzard spell the second she had heard about what happened to Roxas.

She looked to the younger apprentice and reached out to him, setting a hand gently against one of his shoulder blades in a gesture of comfort.

Again her attentions were drawn back to Eiji. She was silent, but she wasn't looking at him so harshly anymore. Rather, she was almost expectant. She couldn't speak on Ven's behalf, of course; but, if this took a turn for the worse, she was not going to idly stand by.

Ven had been busying himself staring at the ground; he was listening yes, but he wasn't...well, he wasn't entirely sure how to feel. He only looked back up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up with a start-- he calmed down considerably when he realized it was Aqua.

He was frowning when he saw her look, and cast his glance back at the ground. "Uh.... we've been avoiding the room." Whooops?

After another minute or so, he finally lifted his head to look at Eiji, though there was still an evident frown on his face. "I-It won't happen again, right? It's OK then... B-But what happened to Roxas?"

Eiji couldn't help a wince as his suspicions were confirmed. "Ah... That's understandable." It hurt, but it's understandable.

"It... May, or may not, I'm unsure. I've been told that I was able to get control over that power back home, but it's still possible to lose control..." Eiji swallowed, then sighed. "I'll do what I can to try and get control so it doesn't happen again. I don't want to hurt anyone, or... Let what happened happen again."

"You're worrying too much," Ankh finally chimed in after a period of silence, twirling his popsicle a little. Well if he was going to have to listen to this stuff he might as well get his two cents in.

"If the kid's lying here, he obviously came back. Death probably doesn't work the same way in this place. He'll probably be back in no time."

Well, judging by what Ven said, he believed Eiji, at least conditionally. Unfortunately, it didn't look like that condition would be met; Eiji definitely didn't seem confident in his ability to avoid similar incidents in the future. The mention of not wanting to hurt anyone gave her a brief twinge of sympathy, but she knew it was unwise to let that feeling grow.

His friend (acquaintance's?) assertion was a small comfort, especially since he was so flippant about it. Involuntarily, her eyes drifted towards Roxas - or at least, his coporeal form, a frown tugging at her lips again. Finally, she spoke up, "It's true that people come back, here, but... that doesn't explain what happened to make him-- like this."

She was quiet while Ven and Eiji reconciled (in a way), instead glancing to Ankh when he spoke. Her eyes narrowed -- was this what Ven and Roxas had been unwilling to talk about when the subject came up? If he could come back, then...

...that was weird. A form of relief, but also very, very uncomfortable. She didn't want to think about it (perhaps because she was as good as a ghost, herself -- people lost to the darkness weren't supposed to come back, generally.)

So, in lieu of that disturbing train of thought, Aqua began to focus on Roxas. "...it seems like it happened while he was sleeping. And if he's been avoiding the room, then...he must have been sleeping in the fort."

Which was nice to know, but that didn't explain how. "Has anyone else been found this way?" The question was general, voiced to the group. Of course, she meant dead in their sleep -- but that was too blunt a way of putting it for her tastes.

Roxas had come back before-- after being completely shattered at that. He hadn't seen Ienzo in awhile, but..he must've been back too, right? So Roxas would come back? It only made him feel a little better; he'd feel better once he saw his lookalike walking around again.

Of course he was also busy scared of the fact that Eiji going berserk could happen again. He knew he was being stupid, but he just couldn't help it. "J-Just... try your best, I guess." Hey the ground was suddenly really interesting again. "I-I can try and help if you need...!"

"...Uh...I haven't seen anyone else found like that... But maybe other people have...?"

Eiji huffs a bit. "Be a bit more considerate, Ankh..."

The hobo folded his arms, looking oddly deep in thought for once. "Perhaps he got exhausted from not sleeping properly? I know after the...previous encounter, I stayed away from people if I could manage it, and by the time the power came back on, I was pretty miserable - surprised I made it all the way back to the dorm floors..."

"Why bother?" Ankh asked, rolling his eyes a bit at Eiji.

"So the idiot just dropped dead out of exhaustion?" He sneered. This seems highly improbable, unless all humans were really that squishy and dumb. He made his disapproval obvious with a tick of his tongue. "He'd fall asleep if nothing was stopping him. It probably has something to do with this stupid tower."

Naminé had intended to answer she'd never seen or heard anything about something like this happening before, but what Ankh said instantly snapped her out of that train of thought. Idiot? How dare he--?! She found herself offended on Roxas' behalf, and even more so than she might otherwise have been because of the circumstances. It was an awful thing to say, especially about someone he'd (as far as she knew) never met and who was not around to defend himself. For a moment she only barely managed to keep her tongue in check, but her self-control quickly gathered itself again. She'd learned to keep her mouth shut a long time ago, and yet... it was much harder to hear someone else being insulted than it was to take an insult herself.

Even once she'd sufficiently composed herself, there was a very slight edge to her voice. "Or someone in the tower." It wasn't actually an accusation, just a statement of a possibility. Finally her thoughts came full circle back to what she'd originally meant to say. "I haven't heard of anything like this, either, but with everything that's already happened here, it would make sense if it was the tower's fault." As much as it made her uncomfortable to agree with someone who was just insulting Roxas.

Aqua's eyes remained on each respective speaker as they voiced their thoughts, eyes only showing a marginal mote of narrowing at Ankh's disrespect. Though, he did raise a point that Aqua was more than willing to believe: the tower.

"If he came back because of the tower..." Her hand raised unconsciously to gingerly brush the indigo collar around her neck as she stole another glance to Roxas' prone form. She didn't elaborate on why she assumed that it was the tower's doing; people didn't just come back. It seemed just as reasonable to credit the place for his resurrection as it was to credit it for his death. "...then this place could easily do this to him too."

Her eyebrows knit together in thought. It wasn't voiced, but the question that statement posed was apparent nonetheless: but why?

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discoveries?

[Floor Three]

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