just keep swimming; or "dude, where's my city?!"

[imitated]

Characters: florian & anyone ever
Setting: floor four, floor ten, flour thirteen.
Format: either is fine, though i'm partial to action brackets.
Summary: florian's finally arrived in the tower, and what fun is one if you're not wandering around it?
Warnings: other than my inability to keep my tenses straight, nothing as of now!



[ Floor Four; of glass and clouds ]

[ Florian has only just left his room, finally leaving after spending too long panicking over the paralysis, attempting to puzzle out how exactly it was possible for Daath to be gone (and concluding that someone must have made a mistake, because Daath was just there, how could it be gone?), and finally discovering his own clothing in the trunk.

So he's changed out of the uncomfortable white suit and back into the faded brown mumu....thing, and set out to wander around and find someone to tell him what's going on.

Which is how he's found his way to the fourth floor, marveling at the clouds through the clear glass walls. Others might grow bored with seeing the same thing for so long, but Florian doesn't seem to, and can be found sitting against the glass and watching the clouds for quite a while. ]


[ Flour Ten; of fish and magic water ]

[ A short while later, Florian's found himself in the aquarium room, and is no less awed than he was with the room made of glass. The easily distracted are apparently easily amused as well, and he seems to be having fun bothering the friendlier fish by chasing them through the water with his hands. ]


[ Floor Thirteen; of cathedrals ]

[ Fact: If you're an Ion replica you will, at some point, end up in a cathedral.

Florian is no exception, and though he doesn't attend the gatherings in Daath, he knows enough to stay quiet despite the emptiness as he slowly makes a round about the place. ]

Comments

floor ten~

[melodyoftheabyss]

[ Tear happened to pass this floor on her excursion and it seemed like a rather serene place. During her exploration, she'd seen various things. Some of which she was dealing with and others were rather ominous. There was a floor that kept collapsing under her feet. It seemed relieving to be on a floor with something calming to the eyes than falling floors or noisy cathedrals.

She caught sight of green hair since it stood out in the brightly blue tinted room. The tanks of fish and water were being teased by a specific child that appeared almost like Ion but she remembered who he was. That was Florian. It was a surprise to even see another person. She had been trying to locate her friends for a while since she got her. ]

Florian?

[imitated]

[ The voice takes him off guard, and he spins around quickly, hand sending the fish scattering as it moves. ]

--Tear! I knew someone had to be here!

Floor 13!

[forhislegacy]

[Most people who were connected with Ion in any way found their way to the cathedral eventually. Anise is no exception, either, and though she doesn't hear Florian when he enters - this cathedral's acoustics were awful - she does catch movement out of the corner of her eye, and she sits up a little further in her pew to turn and look. It wasn't strange that she wasn't immediately visible, being as short as she was.

What is strange - to her - is seeing Florian. She's grown used to seeing Ion - both her Ion and the original Ion - in the Fon Master's regalia that Florian's much more simple clothing comes as a surprise. Then her jaw drops when she realizes it's not just the clothing that's different. She knows Ion well enough to recognize him anywhere; Florian isn't Ion.

...she still hasn't told Ion about Florian. This had the potential to get very complicated, very quickly.

But she can't leave him to wander on her own, so she gets to her feet and jogs in his direction.] Florian!

[melodyoftheabyss]

[ She offers him a small smile as the boy greets her. ]

Yes, did you just wake up here as well, Florian? I suppose that's a good way to think.

[ Tear believed that as well and was rather relieved in finding someone. ]

Are you alright?

4

[flamingjustice]

[Jenna passes Florian on her way to the cafeteria for a bite to eat and thinks nothing of it. She passes him again on her way back up and it makes her stop. It doesn't even look like he moved from his spot at all.

She pauses a couple of seconds to look at the clouds before addressing him.]

Do you see anything interesting out there?

Flour Ten

[justabignobody]

[It's a Jason month, and for all that the glamor failure had revealed, Riku still prefers to catch some fish during that time rather than to live on nutrition bars. The Aquarium floor is still his favorite hunting ground by far - there aren't many that know their fish well enough to consider it safe and have the ability to fish barehanded in water bubbles, and Riku isn't above taking advantage of that.

He is just securing his catch of the day in the makeshift bag he's re-functioned his vest into, when he notices the kid playing with some fishes not far from him.]

You better watch out. Not all of the fish here are friendly.

Floor 13, of course.

[fragileprophet]

[It's becoming force of habit now to step into the Cathedral every time he passes it. And, really, this has worked out pretty well for him so far. It seemed as if most of his friends from Auldrant gravitated there, as well. He had run into Tear just days before, so Ion couldn't help but feel even more compelled to check.

Ion's eyes lock onto the other individual in the Cathedral immediately. And it's...disorienting, seeing oneself without seeing oneself--because it was him, he could tell even from looking at the back of the green-haired boy's head...and yet it wasn't him. There was something different about the way he looked around.

Even without the negative influence the Tower has had on him, Ion didn't look at things that way: with such wide-eyed wonder and enthusiasm. But now he's curious, too. Curious and somehow a bit nervous. He steps closer, and carefully pieces back together his usual smile, before clearing his throat and calling out to the (he's assuming, though knowing the strange method in which the Tower grabs people, can't be quite sure) other replica.]

Hello. The stained glass windows are quite pretty, aren't they?

[Deceptive and maybe a bit unsettling...but pretty.]

[imitated]

[ What starts as surprise when he turns immediately becomes delight when Florian sees her. He waits for her to reach him, beaming. Obviously if both Anise and Tear are here, there's no way Daath can be gone. ] I didn't know you were in here too, Anise!

[imitated]

[ It still takes him a few secons to fully turn his attention away from the view. It's not changing at all, but he can't seem to stop watching it. ]

It's really pretty! We must be up really high!

[imitated]

[ He pulls his hand back out, peering over at Riku. ] Not friendly? They seem nice. [ As nice as fish can when they swim away and then come back every time. ] Can fish be not nice?

1/2

[imitated]

[ The thing is, Florian knows he's a replica.

If he hadn't before Daath, it was impossible not to when he got there, with everyone saying it over and over. 'The Fon Master's replica' was probably the one thing he heard the most in his first days there.

It hadn't bothered him, because Anise and her parents had made sure he knew that he was not Ion, replica or not. He was Florian, his own person with his own name. The people of Daath simply couldn't see that right now, but one day they would.

It's one thing to know, and another to have the evidence standing right in front of you.

For a moment, he feels the same disorientation Ion does. ]

[imitated]

[ But Florian --or perhaps the replicas in general, by necessity-- is nothing if not adaptive. ]

Mm! They are!

I came in 'cause I heard someone talking but it's empty.

[imitated]

I did! I couldn't move and it was really scary, and then there was this weird note, and someone took my clothes but I found them-- [ And then he stops, both to breath and examine himself. ]

I think I am!

[melodyoftheabyss]

Yes, I'm aware. I have experienced the same symptoms Florian. It's alright now, I'll take you back once I've figured out our situation.

[ She replied approaching him. She knows it must be a bit scary for Florian to be here. She's learned that his innocent nature was quite different from the Fon Master she knew, even if he looked like Ion, he was not. Tear wasn't sure how she was going to take him back but it was better to assume they could get out than not. She didn't want to believe that there was no way of getting out of here. There must be a way. It was still difficult to believe that their world was destroyed still. ]

I'm glad you are alright, Florian. Did you venture here on your own? Is Anise not with you?

[imitated]

I was looking around and trying to find someone! [ But he...got distracted ahaha oops. ] --Is Anise here? I haven't seen her. Is she okay?

[melodyoftheabyss]

I see.

[ Tear was just glad that she found another person from home safe and sound. The letter became more of a decoration now that she had seen a few more people. ]

I've briefly ran into Anise. She seemed rather frantic but yes, she's fine.

[ Tear had ventured further after her conversation with a few people from home. She was surprised to find Florian, however, so she assumed he just came here as well. ]

Floor Ten

[lightofhumanity]

[chaos occasionally came to this floor to watch the fish as they swam through their glassless tanks. They might have been an illusion, but they were a calming illusion, and chaos could have used some rest.

However, when he saw and sensed a person there, bothering the fish, he smiled at them before speaking.]

Be careful. If you bother them too much, they may decide to nip at your hands.

[justabignobody]

[He pulls up the bag to support it with one shoulder, before taking a step in Florian's direction.]

Those are all wild fish, not pets. Some are poisonous, some are carnivorous and some react aggressively, if they feel disturbed or attacked. You are lucky, those- [He nods at the group the kid had been playing with.] -aren't among them, but in this place it's better to assume that animals aren't friendly unless you know it belongs to someone.

[And even then, it depended on the owner.]

[forhislegacy]

[She comes to his side and immediately manages a bright smile.] Of course I'm here! I'm gonna protect you, so where else would I be?

[It's a relief that he doesn't seem to be harmed. The more cynical part of Anise wonders how long that will last - there's her Ion, and Florian, and their original, and even she might not be able to keep up with all of them (though the original doesn't seem to really want her help). But she has to at least try to keep them safe as much as she can.]

1/2

[imitated]

I'm glad she's safe. You too, Tear!

[imitated]

But that weird letter-- it said Daath is gone. It can't be gone, right?

[imitated]

Right! [ of course anise would be here, duh. ] Tear is here too, did you know? I saw her earlier!

[fragileprophet]

[Well, as perturbed as he may be, Ion is going to try his hardest not to act fazed when the other boy across from him seems so easily accepting of their mirrored faces.]

It is a bit strange, isn't it? [Strange and creepy. Especially creepy.] But as far as I know, there's never actually anyone in here, not including residents like you or I. [His smile becomes gentle, if a bit concerned.] Nonetheless, you should probably be careful not to find yourself alone too often around here.

[Not that Ion was, at all, one to talk.]

[imitated]

Carni-what? [ Though Florian prides himself on how quickly he's learned things in Daath, that's definitely never something he's heard before.

He keeps his hand out of the water now, turning back to stare at the fish curiously. ] I didn't know fish could be dangerous. All they do is swim around.

[imitated]

I won't be alone! I found Anise and Tear! [ Both, coincidentally, in this very cathedral. Abyss people and church, man. ] I also met people in these rooms. Like, one that had fish, and another you could see clouds everywhere!