[.o1o] A Long Day

[lethechained]

Characters: Naminé [OU] and OPEN.
Format: Either.
Summary: Today seems to be a day of discoveries.
Warnings: Memories/consideration of past abuse/kidnapping etc.


[Floor 100]

[It's bittersweet, seeing Destiny Islands 'in person' for the first time. It isn't a memory, this time, but it's not real, either. Standing in what passes for sand on the small island with the bent tree looking out over the water, she cannot help but frown. She'd wanted to see this place for such a long time, but... not like this.]


[Floor 80]

[Blinking in the bright lights, Naminé is at first quite disoriented by this floor. It's very bright and colorful and perhaps in any other place she'd be thrilled by that, except this is the Tower, after all, and thus she is immediately on her guard. But that diminishes slowly over time as she lingers, having a long look around with more than a little interest. It's only her caution that keeps her from straying too close to anyone, including the clowns, but one can't always keep an eye on everyone, now can they?]


[Floor 78]

[The newly opened package hits the ground, the contents bouncing out and landing with a clatter. Naminé looks down at it for only a moment before reflexively stooping to put the tiny bird cage back in its place, her fingers leaving it as quickly as possible and then pushing the package back against the doors of the boxes nearest the floor, a hand moving to press over her mouth. She'd been startled enough to have received a package so suddenly in the first place. She'd just had to open it, hadn't she? Perhaps holding it so delicately, caution still present, had been what made her lose her grip of it in her surprise at the contents. Either way, now she frowns down at it, hesitating as though she's uncertain what to do with this development - because she is.]


[Floor 51]

[There's a blonde young lady leaning over one of the sewing machines, peering at it curiously. She inspects it thoroughly, at first only by sight but slowly moving on to messing with the buttons and, after a while, the pedal - which seems to startle her at first, but she soldiers through it. It's obvious that she hasn't the faintest idea how to use such a thing, but she seems to have taken an interest in it nevertheless.]

Comments

[terreifying]

[She gives Namine a puzzled look, before hopping up some more stairs.]

[lethechained]

[Not gonna say anything about hoping that never happens to her. Who knows who might catch wind? Anyway, Naminé proceeds normally up the stairs after her, seeming to drift into her thoughts for a moment.]

[terreifying]

[Of course, Rei reaches the floor first. She hops out onto the grass, waiting for Namine.]

[lethechained]

[Of course - though Naminé isn't TOO far behind. She steps out onto that grass herself, casting a long look around.]

[terreifying]

[She skips up to one of the mushroom rings and crouches to look over them.]

Hey, look! The other meadow floor doesn't have these!

[lethechained]

...! No, it doesn't...! [But she's not certain whether that's a bad thing or not. She trails after Rei, eyeing both the rings and the other girl.] Are you sure you should get so close to them--?

[nottheonly]

Hm...

[She backs away, putting a bit of a distance between herself and her mushrooms. Then, she extends one of her arms until it's only a white tentacle. She gently pokes a mushroom with that tentacle.]

See, it's...

[And then she can't speak anymore. She can't move. She can't even feel the pulsations in her core. No matter how she tries to change her shape to escape this, she can't.]

[What she doesn't know is that her body has been turned to crystal.]

[lethechained]

[Naminé's careful to stay out of Rei's way as she backs up. Though the oddness of the way Rei chooses to inspect the mushroom is startling on its own, it's nothing in comparison to what happens to her when she actually touches it.]

Rei--!

[Eyes wide, the girl starts to stop closer, stops, falters-- goodness, what can she even do? Rei's been turned into crystal for Kingdom Hearts' sake--]

Rei, can you hear me--?

[nottheonly]

[Rei wants to wince. The volume of Namine's voice sends vibrations over her body. It's like being rolled over a bed of swords. Unfortunately, she's paralyzed and unable to answer.]

[lethechained]

[Naminé can't tell just by looking if Rei is even still alive anymore, and the blonde is too afraid of what might happen - to Rei or to herself - if she were to touch the other girl to do so. Biting her lip slightly, Naminé considers her options, then...]

[... Though she may not have any real wish to use her powers... it may be the only way to even figure what's going on with Rei. She's not even sure if Rei has met any of the people she'd need to in order for Naminé to be able to effect any change, but... she can at least see if Rei's heart is still present - or try to, anyway. And so she does, carefully reaching out with her magic.]

[nottheonly]

[If her powers could only feel biological hearts, then Rei would have none. But if she was feeling for a soul, a mind, then Rei's mind is certainly active. Her soul is also far from human, if such a different could be felt.]

[lethechained]

[Her search is indeed for a metaphysical 'heart', and find it she does. Naminé's not quite sure whether or not that's a good thing; will this wear off, or will Rei be trapped like this until-- well, it's not a nice thing to think about. Naminé can indeed tell the difference, although it does not come as the surprise it might have if she hadn't already spent some time with the other girl. As it is, it doesn't much change Naminé's opinion of her.]

[The girl hesitates, thinking over the options at hand again, then,] I've been trying to learn new-- techniques. [Or magic, rather.] I don't know if any of them will help, but-- I'm going to try. ... Whatever happens, I'm sorry. [She's just not sure if there's anything that can be done or if what can be done will cause more problems than it fixes, but - still keeping her distance as much as possible, she sets about casting what few status-ailment relieving spells she can think of and actually manage to complete. Those are ones she's never had much opportunity to practice, and so they are obviously the work of a novice, but... she can't bring herself to just leave Rei there without at least trying.]

[nottheonly]

[Of course, given that Rei had been turned into crystal with faerie magics, it takes a couple of spells to start returning patches of her to normal.]

...Hey.

[It's the first thing she says when her jaw and tongue return to flesh.]

[lethechained]

--!

[The progress is slow, but any of it is decidedly welcome. She only takes the time to memorize which spell it was that seemed to make the breakthrough before,]

Rei...! Are you okay--?

[-- Oh, she... probably shouldn't get distracted. There's still a lot more to do, and so she sets about doing it. At least now she's getting more experience with those spells and can be more efficient with them.]

[nottheonly]

[Rei is going to remain completely still until she can get her feet moving again. Then she hobbles even further away from the ring of mushrooms.]

I think I'm fine.

[Other than bits on her body be made out of crystal.]

[lethechained]

[Naminé is only delay by a bit; she's quick to follow after the other girl, only holding off on further magic until Rei stops again.]

Does it hurt?

[terreifying]

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<small?[she>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

<small?[She gives Namine a strained smile.]</small>

Only a little. I'm sure it'll stop soon.

[lethechained]

....

[The girl studies that smile for a few moments before offering a weak one of her own in return, more for Rei's sake than her own.]

... Right. I'll... keep working.

[Because there's still a ways to go, even if she is making faster progress now.]

[terreifying]

Please don't get tired out. I can always go find someone else to help.

[She tries to flex the arm that changed into the tentacle.]

And that just then was your magic, right? Cool!

[lethechained]

No, I-- I'll be fine. I could use the practice.

Well-- yes and no. This is the sort of magic that many people in my worlds and probably lots of others can learn. [Thank heavens for esuna and the like. ... But wouldn't that imply there was another sort of magic? She doesn't dwell on it.] I'm... glad you don't mind.

[terreifying]

[She slowly shakes her head.]

Why would I mind whether or not you can use magic? You're still the same Namine I met earlier. In fact, I'm really grateful. You're the reason I'm not crystal right now.

[lethechained]

[She falters, eyes lowering, then raising again, accompanied by a smile.]

Thank you. I--... it's complicated. But... if it's not too much trouble? Could you-- please not mention this to anyone else? At least - not the part about the magic.

[terreifying]

Don't worry. My lips are zipped.

[She makes a zipping motion.]

[lethechained]

[Her smile is warm.]

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

[It seems like she's most of the way done with the crystal, as well.]

[terreifying]

[Rei moves her arms and legs and does a full-body shimmy. She never knew how good it felt to move.]

No problem!