add yet another dazed and confused girl to the mix

[humility]

Characters: Aqua! and whoever you deign to throw at her!
Setting: Floors 99, Cafeteria, and anywhere you like!
Format: whichever!
Summary: oh look it's another newbie LET'S GET HER
Warnings: no warnings for now; will edit as needed



[she might have kept sleeping, but Aqua is being reluctantly pulled to consciousness because something feels...off. different. wrong also springs to mind, but that's a relative thing, really. it was wrong for her to be stuck where she was, but ten years being stuck has a funny way of making you adapt and accept.

when she opens her eyes, the starkness of the room is almost blinding, in a way - not to mention REALLY STARTLING.

a room.

and a bed. she's in a bed.

when did that happen.

something's heavy on her throat when she turns her head to look around; she reaches up and feels the collar, and is understandably startled. there are, unfortunately, no mirrors to investigate.

so she gets out of bed. all of Aqua's movements are slow, deliberate, and quiet. she looks around for any sign of life...or, almost preferably, any answers.]



[wow. a whole garden.

getting there with the step teleportation wasn't that alarming, but a whole garden after the bare minimalism of the dorms is, a bit.

Aqua walks around slowly, staring in wonder at each and every plant and touching every one in turn, confirming for herself the reality of them. living things are a wonder to her after such a long time.]



[oh, this is more...immediately familiar. the gentle glow of the crystals is similar enough to the Realm of Darkness, anyway.

it's beautiful, if quietly unsettling. she can't quite put her finger on why until she tries looking into the crystals to see their colors, and just gets a dull headache from the endless fractals.

she may squat down to touch one of the small pools of water, before settling herself as comfortably as possible next to it in order to take another moment to take in what's going on.

this place is crazy. first a garden, now a crystal cave.]



[...okay, this place is nuts.

Aqua stares in awe and confusion at the intricate ball pits, with trampolines and pipes and all sorts of crazy fun.

unfortunately, she's not much in a fun mood, but that doesn't mean the existence of the place isn't fascinating on some weird level. she steps into the first pit carefully, just looking around and peering through the mesh to pits above and below.]



(basically, feel free to choose any floor! one a little safer where conversation is possible, or a more dangerous one you potentially warn her to leave - she's very very warily poking her head into each floor for a second or two at least until she gets tired and just rides the elevator to the cafeteria, so - go for it!

she will also be mostly travelling by the stairs until she goes to the cafeteria.)



[well. it probably only makes sense that after ten years, she'd be hungry.

so. hungry.

thankfully, it's not hard to find the cafeteria. after one look at the layout, Aqua runs over to the NPCs running the place, doling out food, begging them for answers - and getting nothing. frustrated, she takes the oatmeal she's been given and gives up, moving to sit down alone at one of the tables.

...eating is weird. as hungry as she is, she keeps holding a full spoon in her hand and staring at it like she doesn't know what to do, before eating it.]

Comments

Cafeteria

[earthshards]

[And lo and behold, as Aqua eats the bland newcomer oatmeal, someone is being a surprisingly sneaky, sneaky person and approaching from behind with his own meal.

The fact that Aqua is eating the oatmeal says it all - this isn't one of the old Aquas, returning to the tower. It's someone new to the tower entirely.

Another reality lost.

When he speaks up, he knows he's going to be surprising her. He doesn't look the same (even though she does - how hasn't she aged at all?), and isn't dressed anywhere near the same... but he hopes he feels relatively the same, though that's a far-off hope.] Once you finish that, I can get you something a little more palatable, if you like.

[humility]

[honestly, she probably tastes more in this stuff than most anyone else, just from a long lack of use for her tastebuds.

...nothing to be done about the texture, though.

the whole place is weird and there's a part of her that's still unsettled, even if the people have been nice enough, the few she's met so far. so she's ready with a smile for the stranger--

but he's not a stranger.

all it takes is a moment: Aqua stands up so suddenly that she violently bumps into the table, knocking it a few inches; the bowl of oatmeal almost tips over but manages to stay upright, but not without some spilling.

she stares, wide-eyed. he's older, with longer hair and a strange coat, but.]


Terra?

[earthshards]

[The surprise... hurts more than he thought it would. Twice now, he's seen that look - the one that says she hasn't seen him as himself in over a decade. Once, he'd shared that same expression.

There's a part of him that wishes she weren't here - that she wouldn't have to live through the things that the Tower, Jason, and Ruana threw at them. But the other half of him...

He nods briefly, and tries to keep a smile on his face. There's a smile on his face that doesn't look at all faked, and with the rest of his expression added to that...

As much as part of him wishes she weren't here, he's far too glad that she is.] Hey. Mind if I join you?

[He can't just stand here with a tray of food all day, you know.]

[humility]

[spluttering, Aqua feels her face grow hot and her eyes sting as something painful builds in her chest. she's frustrated, and angry, and it's all a jumble to the point that she can't identify everything--]

You-- That's all you have to say? After all this time...?!

[she smacks him, hard, squarely on the chest with the side of her small fist. it's not until she chokes that she realizes she's crying.

distantly, she's surprised at herself. Aqua, usually so calm and quiet, getting so emotional in a matter of seconds. on some level, she's embarrassed at her loss of control, but it's just too much to hold in.

even so. her best friend is real and solid and here under her small hand, and obviously has endured the same ten years as her. and as infuriating as that greeting was, it's also just so...Terra.

she's been standing there, frozen, for these few minutes as she works through her feelings about this unexpected reunion. if he's been watching her face, maybe it won't seem so sudden and alarming when, despite continued tears, she starts laughing. not a "haha this is hilarious" laugh, but a laugh that's as much emotional release as it is relief and a kind of painful joy.

she can't speak. what else can she do? except, still laughing, hug him.]

[earthshards]

[... well. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but getting smacked wasn't it. In spite of himself, the amusement at this turn of events starts to bubble up inside him.

The first hint of it is just an amused glint in his eye. Then the laughing starts; quiet at first, but as she starts to laugh, his own gets more pronounced.

But when she moves to hug him, he only barely manages to move the food tray out of the way in time.

Barely.

So, here he is, awkwardly holding his tray above his head with his first friend's arms around him.] Ah... I'm glad to see you too, but... could you...?

[Wait until he at least puts his food down? They're already fortunate that it didn't become a mess on their clothes.]

[firstnothing]

[What a touching scene. Old friends, battered and beaten but not broken, together again after countless days of pain and darkness. They shared an unbreakable bond, after all.

Nothing could sunder it. At best, only delay it a while.

Surely, if even here they could find their way back to each-other, then all is well. All must be well.

Save the seething, oppressive weight of darkness.

... Not Terra's. His had a different tang to it these days, didn't consume and overwhelm quite the same way as this did. There is no light to temper the stifling presence, no mitigating force at all to shield, to obscure, to make it less wholly unpleasant to those who can sense both the presence of dark and light. Close scrutiny would reveal nuances all its own -- but who would ever take the time?

Xemnas had come for dinner, honestly. Which might explain the plate he'd acquired, carefully balanced atop a glass of water. He'd simply used a corridor of darkness to get there, and intended to leave similarly, but there was Terra and his friend, and their reunion. The young woman seemed familiar, and why she seemed familiar sent him scrambling blankly through his own memories to try to find the reason.

Pain knifes through his mind, corkscrewing behind one eye and settling painfully on one side in a steady jagged reminder to leave it alone. The glass and plate are set down in one fluid motion, and the Superior turns, hood pulled into place smoothly as another portal erupts into being, neatly obscuring his features as he leaves behind mealtime and the cafeteria in what seems to be an unhurried stride.

He'd have questions, when his head wasn't ringing like a spine-covered bell.

As soon as the apeture closes again, the heavy awfulness of darkness vanishes as well.]

[humility]

[she wants to say "no" like a petulant child because she's a little swept up in the moment, but then...

it's like a shiver up her spine; a whisper that creeps and chills. she lets go, but it's not because Terra asked.

she stares at the source of the feeling of darkness, because that face is so familiar. she's transfixed, a mix of curiosity and dread as she watches him go almost as quickly as he came.]


Who--

[earthshards]

[As he feels Aqua shiver in response to the sudden wave of darkness, he tenses up, knowing who the source is without even having to turn and look.

When she lets go, he slowly lowers his arms and turns to look in the direction of that darkness, a rather unreadable expression on his face.

When the retreating figure escapes via Corridor of Darkness, he lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.] That... was Xemnas. You'll... probably see him around sooner or later.

[His tone is... very neutral. Too neutral - like he's trying to keep his emotions in check, and thus keep himself from saying or doing something he'll regret later.

The fact that it's working is something of note.]

[humility]

[welp. she doesn't like it. any of it. the feel of the stranger, the way he can use darkness, and his face...

she can tell Terra's hiding something, but...she won't push it.

they have time to talk, now.

and then, with a small hiccup, she remembers that she had been crying, and doing it all over Terra, and she starts wiping at her wet face with one hand and brushing off the wet from Terra's clothes with the other, laughing again]

Oh-- [ppfft] How embarrassing-- [gigglesnort]

[earthshards]

[He's rather glad that she's started laughing and that the tension from Xemnas's quick retreat was now dissipating. And with laughter being as infectious as it is, even in small does, Terra can't help but find himself laughing quietly as well.] It could be worse - I could be wearing my lunch.

[Light help you, Aqua, he's teasing. That was such a narrow miss - but the sandwich is intact, and not a mess on his coat or the floor. Or on her.]

[humility]

There are worse things than being covered in food.

[she huffs at him in mock indignance, folding her arms to finish the effect. it doesn't last long; the smile that had been creeping in despite her farce is now fading.]

...If what I hear is true, there's a lot worse in this Tower.

[sigh.]

I can't say we have very good luck to end up here, after everything.

[earthshards]

Can't argue with that. [He can think of several things that are far worse, though that's mostly courtesy of living in the tower for a little over a year.

His expression grows somber - not totally unusual for him, and he nods briefly.] There is; the monsters that roam the floors at night are the least of what this place can throw at us.

[Sighing right along with her.] Not really. But being here almost beats being alone.

[Or trapped in your own head for a decade. He'll actually take this place over that - as horrible as life here is, he's experiencing it.]

[humility]

[oh.

she stares at him, watchful and worried.]

...Were you alone? All that time?

[earthshards]

[... another thing he has to answer a little carefully.] While I was here? No - there are a few others from our collective set of worlds. I'm even teaching a couple of them.

[But he knows that's not what she meant at all. Another sigh escapes him, and he can really only nod.] Ten years is a long time to be stuck in a property dispute.

[Well, if that's what he's going to call it.]

[humility]

That's how long it took you to...

[how should she put it... 'win'? 'break free'?

she doesn't even know how much she could ask about that time - how much he'd even be willing to tell her, or how much she'd actually want to know. but the curiosity is slightly maddening.]

How did you...find your way out?

[earthshards]

... yeah. [There's silence between the two, before Terra makes his way around to the other side of the table and takes a seat, placing his tray down.

He really doesn't want to be standing while he figures out just what to say.

He sighs, and finally breaks the silence.] For a long time, I could barely hold on. Xehanort's darkness was... stifling. Just facing my own was hard enough; battling his was tiring.

[He's pretty sure their food has gotten cold by now, but he finds himself not really caring.] ... I wasn't able to do much more than hang on, until I found Ven.

[humility]

[Aqua visibly balks.] You found him? [and follows suit, sitting opposite but hardly paying attention to the action]

How? I sealed him-- I sealed our whole world away.

[earthshards]

[What else can he do, but nod? And try to ignore what else she had just said.

Sealed him, and their world away? How? Why?

He'd have to ask later. Definitely. But staying on the subject of Ven sounds a little better. Especially since she did ask how he had found Ven.] I... guess you could say I let myself get lost.

[That's not enough of an explanation, so he'll try to elaborate.] I wasn't trying to find him - I was looking for the room he was in. To do that, I...

[... oh. This is where he's running into problems. How does he say 'followed the echo of the bond' when he didn't have a heart to feel it with? Only an odd pull where his heart should have been when he followed it?

How does he tell her that for a decade, he didn't have a heart?

He sighs.] I just... felt like I was being pulled towards him, I guess. It's hard to describe.

[He knows she'll be able to tell he's hiding something, just as he knows that he'll have a hard time telling her.] I was able to remember, after that. Not everything... but it was enough to give me hope again.

[... ugh. That still sounds confusing. And depressing.]

[humility]

[he's being too vague. but it's early days. she'll let it go, for now.]

I wish...

[she stops herself. wishing is pointless. things are how they are. she looks down and sighs, as if expelling that whole train of thought with a frustrated breath.]

I'm glad you found each other. [then she looks uncomfortable, but-] Was he...still sleeping?