No telling which way the wind will blow

[attheclocktower]

Characters: Xion and Izanami, Xion and Roxas, Xion and ALL YOU PEOPLE (Strings characters welcome!), and Xion and Strings!Aqua
Setting: Floor 48, Floor 1, Various floors listed in-post, and finally Floor 62.
Format: Whichever you like
Summary: CONSERVING SPACE so several posts in one! (a) Xion finds out that a Roxas has left the Tower. The problem is the graveyard doesn't really specify which one. Cue identity mixups and associated breakdowns, and then (b) moments of mixed feelings but mostly relief when those mixups are cleared up. (c)Later, Xion still doesn't know what to do about all you String-ers but Tower life goes on she guesses. (d) AND finally, Xion copes with learning there's a timeline where she survives by talking with the person from Strings who knows her AU!self best.
Warnings: Probably some angst, particularly in the first and last scenario, but I'll add here if anything comes up.

=======================

[She'd gotten the notice a couple weeks ago about her new job, keeping and tending to the graves. It... it wasn't an entirely new concept for her. The frequency of her visits had decreased when Roxas had arrived, but she'd still come every once in a while, and with the announcement of her new job, she just had to pick up her schedule again.

She barely notices the whispers in her ears anymore, though she still has to watch out for lights in the corners of her eyes. But overall, her job is a quiet one, sad maybe, but not nearly as dangerous as some of the other floors in the Tower. She moves among the graves silently, brushing off any dirt or debris, watering flowers she'd gotten with a rusty watering can she'd found on the island floor with the farmland.

She's just reaching the outer edges when steps in front of a new grave, one that wasn't there the last time she was here. She's halfway through cleaning it when she looks down and realizes she recognizes the name, and it's like a wall slams down. Her knees give way, the can falls out of nerveless fingers to hit the ground. He'd barely been here a month. And... now he was gone? Again? He'd remembered her this time, they could have started to fix things up again... but now...

No... No.

Her vision blurs and she leans forward, fighting back the sob threatening to rise up in her throat.]

=======================

[She's doing better than she was, but between her best friend disappearing and the current... status of the food, Xion is finding herself without too much apetite. Thus, she picks at her burger half-heartedly. She knows she needs to eat but... she just can't really bring herself to right now.

She hopes Roxas is okay at least. She... doesn't like to think what it must be like for him now. Back home. Since that's where they went, didn't they? Only "home" for them was all destroyed...

She's mostly preoccupied with her meal, not really looking out around her. She'll... she'll do better tomorrow. When things aren't as fresh, right?]

=======================

[Xion can be found going about her daily not-quite-routine. She takes her meals on the first floor, trying not to get sick on the sheer amount of sugary sweetness in every bite (she was honestly beginning to prefer Jason's nutritional bars over this).

From there, she usually goes training on Floor 39, running laps and practicing the hand-to-hand that Reno's taught her (though she won't mind a sparring partner, practice was always easier when you had someone to go up against). And after that... well it varies from day to day. Frequently she goes to Floor 48, tidying gravestones and caring for any offerings, and leaving a shell at the graves of many of her friends who have come and gone.

At other times, she can be found on one of the lounge floors, reading a book or working on sewing one of a few sweaters or scarves or hats. With all these new people in the Tower... many were probably feeling the cold, in addition to the ones already here.

And finally she can be found on Floor 10 or 62, picking up shells and placing them in her pockets, sometimes even sitting down and resting for a moment, feeling slightly peaceful, if only for the moment]

=======================

[It's a very strange feeling when your preconceptions about the future are all turned on their head. For the longest time she'd believed that there was no hope for her future. That really, if she wanted to continue to live, the Tower was where she'd needed to be. Only now... that wasn't true. There was a her - another her - for whom, like Fey, things had gone differently. But for the her in Hinoto-Ri... they'd worked out. She'd survived.

Could she do it too? There was still time back home... two months of it. Sora had told her to find another way to wake him up. Was... was there actually a chance she could do what he'd told her to?

Did any of it matter now while their worlds were destroyed? If it didn't, then why did she feel like her world had been turned upside down at this revelation?

She's sitting on the new beach floor, arms wrapped around her knees and chin resting on them. The waves were calming at least... even if some of the feeling probably wasn't all her own.]

Comments

CAFETERIA OPENS HEY LESSGO

[bloodyashes]

[Oh, it's her again. Asch debates for a moment before stepping towards Xion; he's got to stop avoiding people eventually, and from the look on her face, Xion would appreciate some normal foods about now.]

If you'd like, I could make you something that isn't so sweet.

[Cooking for replicas, all he seems to do these days.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion glances up in surprise, both at being approached and the offer itself.]

Okay.

[There's definitely a grateful note in her voice]

[bloodyashes]

It's no problem.

[He's got to cook for himself anyway, so...

There's a swirl of cloak and tabard as he heads off for the kitchen, not really checking to see if she follows or not.]

[attheclocktower]

[There's a moment where she pauses, hesitating, then she pushes her plate away and follows him to the kitchen. She used to watch Reno cooking sometimes. Besides, it was better than sitting around and poking at her own meal which she clearly wasn't going to eat anyway.

So... yeah have a bitty replica watching you cook, Asch.]

floor 62

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer too is scooping up the shells on this strange floor. He just happens to reach out for the same shell as Xion at this moment.]

Uh...sorry.

Re: floor 62

[attheclocktower]

[Xion withdraws her own hand rather quickly, looking abashed.]

No... I-I'm sorry, I should have been paying more attention.

[And really she should have, with how dangerous the tower can be...]

Re: floor 62

[puppy_lancer]

[He pulls back as well.]

Nah, not your fault. Besides, that shell would look prettier in your hands than it would mine.

[He should have been paying attention, but the floor had lulled him into complacency.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion's face colors slightly. She's clearly not used to being spoken to as such.]

O-okay.

[There's an unspoken "if you say so" as she reaches forward once more and plucks the shell out of the sand. Her sheepish look fades to one of puzzlement]

You like shells too?

Floor 48

[fools_journey]

[ The visiting Minato without a collar winds up on this floor eventually, and here he stops for a while. He doesn't mean to linger here, exactly, but as strange and unsettling as some of the floors he's come across are, somehow this one chills him the most. He doesn't like graveyards as a rule - he has been to them too many times - and he doesn't want to be here, but the sheer number of gravestones stretching out surprises him, especially in light of what he's learned about the residents here not really... dying, exactly. Not permanently, anyway.

And for better or worse, curiosity over-takes him, and Minato winds up walking through a little ways, wondering whose graves they are -- but that's when he sees a name he recognizes as someone who also showed up in Hinoto-Ri briefly. Minami Arisato...

He clenches his fists in his pockets, as it sinks in that she - or a version of her, at least - spent time in this awful place. He wonders, looking out at the graves, just how many people have been here?

Lost in thought, he doesn't notice that he's standing a bit in the way of a sort of familiar (or well, another version of her is familiar, anyway) girl, on her way to tend to some of the graves... ]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion does notice him, though. She's already spotted the lack of collar, meaning he's from Hinoto-Ri. She has to admit, she didn't think this would be a floor that a lot of people would visit. But... there were a lot of names... a lot of people... was he familiar with them too?

It didn't seem so far-fetched. If there was a Kairi or Namine from Hinoto-Ri, then it's more than probable the opposite was true (was true, in fact, from the perspective of someone from that city). Actually she thought she'd seen someone who looked like him at least a few times throughout the past year in the Tower, too, so...

As her cleaning draws her closer, she glances over]

Were... they someone you knew?

[fools_journey]

[ He starts a bit at the sound of the voice and turns to see -- someone kind of familiar. He opens his mouth to greet her only to pause when he sees the collar. Not the Xion he knows, then. He shrugs a little and looks back at the grave. ]

Something like that...

[ He paused a moment before voicing a question that's been on his mind since he came here. ]

Are... the people whose names are on the graves... are they actually buried here?

[attheclocktower]

[She shakes her head.]

I don't... think so. I think I heard, back when this floor first appeared, some people tried digging some up, but they were all empty.

[She pauses, glancing around the graves, particularly in the direction of a few whose names are very familiar to her too. ]

There's one for every person who's left the Tower. Even if there's been more than one of us.

Let's get this party of two started, shall we?

[destinedwaters]

[For the most part since her arrival, Aqua had been staying close to her two apprentices and a few friends that had been dragged along on this mission. When she wasn't with them though, she always kept Eudora out to scan for enemies they'd be running into a floor or so ahead or communicating with the other groups. That's what they'd decided on from the beginning.

Yet when they reached the beach 'floor', she could sense someone already there. Someone who felt like one of her other students, even though slightly different. So she briefly excused herself with the promise of being back soon and not leaving this floor without them. It didn't take long to find the girl, either.]

...Hey. [Might as well make herself known, right?] This seat taken?

[Because either way, someone looks like they could use some company.]

Yes, let's! *^*

[attheclocktower]

[Xion looks up and around in surprise. Her eyes are dry - she hasn't been crying at least. It would've been a stupid thing to cry about anyway; finding out that a her survived - that she could maybe survive - was good news, not bad! And yet... she still feels upset. A mess of emotions is still roiling in her chest, the storm quieted but not calmed by the scenery before her.

Still, when she catches sight of who it is, she starts a little, mouth parting slightly. It's still strange seeing people she knew among the visitors from that other city.

At last she swallows.]

Aqua?

[It's been so long since she's seen you here...]

[destinedwaters]

[Xion won't see anything except a coat sleeve when looking around, because Aqua is being a tease as usual and resting her hands on her knees, looking down at her. From where, you ask? Why, right behind her of course!

Okay, so Xion may not be lying down, but looming over her should was never a bad thing--honest! And she's even smiling faintly as she does look up. She even nods.]

Mm. It's me. Or, at least a 'me'.

[that's right; it's her. Though judging by the collar, it isn't the Xion Aqua knows. Either one of them, really. Doesn't stop her from worrying, though.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion isn't used to Aqua worrying about her all that much really. She'd... trained a bit, with the first one, of course. She'd seen the second in passing but... beyond that, and that one first time they'd spoken in person...

As it is, once Xion realizes and tilts her head back, she quickly scoots to the side almost instinctively, looking up and over her shoulder instead.]

You're from that city. H-Hinoto-Ri.

[There's... a bit of a question hidden in her voice. Why did Aqua come here? Is it because she knew the 'her' that she'd heard was in the other place?]

Oh man I couldn't chose. But a spar between these two would be adorable!

[savedbyasong]

[Shion paused in his lap running when he saw Xion and jogged across, his mind was full of trying to work out what was going on. He was still scared to know that not even the administrators knew why these new people were here.

Too much uncertainty made Shion jumpy but he was attempting to keep calm.] Hey Xion!

Yessss *^*

[attheclocktower]

[Xion looked up with a smile.]

Hey Shion. You training too?

[Two children raised by the same parent trained by the same mentor, they were.]

[savedbyasong]

[He nodded with a smile] I am!

Floor 48

[neverbeamemory]

[Humans might feel, at least just a little more, if they were stood to bear witness to their fathers' grave. Sephiroth has no such feelings for Hojo however. He's suspected for a while that the Professor was no longer in the Tower as he couldn't sense him there anymore, but in case somehow his senses had been dampened Sephiroth had sought him out on this floor. Physical proof, of a sort.

Not that any floor in this wretched place could be weighted against truth. He knows there is no body under the ground here and these graves serve a grotesque but symbolic purpose only, but even so he just stands like a statue with his arms folded and a blank expression but for the glare Sephiroth is delivering into the headstone as if willing it to reveal some profound thought to him. Such as if the Planet remained as dead as when the Professor had reported it when he returned last time, what would be waiting for him if he ever returned there? would he even exist at all? Was letting go of Gaia and moving on in this new realm the most logical thing to do, or was that their Host's intention? Sephiroth detests not having anything definite to put his mind to.

That's when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Instantly Sephiroth turned his head in that direction to regard Xion, placing what looked like a shell at the base of a headstone nearby. Humans and their sentiments, how pointless. How expected.]

"You know they aren't there." [Out of irritation more than anything else, he can't resist but to comment in her direction.]

Floor 48

[attheclocktower]

[She glances over, a little surprised and confused at the irritation]

I know they aren't.

[They were home. Whatever was left of home, at least. And nothing she did here would have the slightest impact on that. But it was her way of keeping them in her heart, making sure that she didn't forget. And perhaps there was some foolish part of her that hoped that during these times, they'd know she was thinking about them and missing them, just as she had back when Roxas was asleep.

Still, there's a sort of unspoken, even defensive question in her eyes as she regards him warily. 'Why do you care?']

Floor 48

[neverbeamemory]

[He'll just shake his head at her response, just a little. But then Sephiroth can't remember having ever felt compelled to mourn for anyone, indeed he's never even allowed himself to know anyone well enough. There is only one for whom his feelings had ever gotten that close-]

Seems pretty pointless.

[He saw that look as well, with it's question. He offered a slight shrug in response and then turned and walked towards Xion, needing to get past her to get back to the stairwell.]

FINALLY

[dualkeys]

[ Roxas sees Xion as he's getting his first meal of the day. oatmeal... this stuff, Roxas finds, is kind of gross. he understands that he *has* to eat it, but honestly?

he could go without it.

what's really bothering him is the fact that Xion seems really down. sad. that's not good and it won't do at all. so it's no surprise that he sets his bowl down and sits right next to her. ]

Everything okay?

Yaaay! 8D

[attheclocktower]

[She's surprised enough that someone's sitting next to her, and half turns to glance over when she hears his voice. At that moment she whips around to face him fully, eyes wide and face a little white, as if she'd seen a ghost.

Then she flings her arms around him tightly.]

You're still here.

['I thought you'd left again.']

[dualkeys]

[ he's going to repeat his question... but then he has a sudden growth attached to him. not that it's a bad thing, to have a Xion shaped tumor. hugs are a-okay when it comes to friends...

but what she says is just confusing, even as he hugs him back. ]

...Well yeah I am. Why did you think I was gone?