it's hard to believe [OPEN]

[terranullius]

Who: Terra and whoever wants to meet him
When: current, evening
Where: the Plaza
Style: I'll start with prose, but I'll follow whichever. But beware the tl;dr.
Status: open

It was strange....

There wasn't necessarily anything more peculiar about this world than the ones Terra had visited before. Of course there were new people, a new culture, and a new order to things. But it was like that at first in any of the unfamiliar places outside of the Land of Departure. It all took a brief period of adjustment. Before very recently, to say that Terra hadn't gotten out much would be an understatement.

...but what was strange were the things that marked this world as unique from Terra's other travels. He hadn't come of his own free will. He was given literature describing the place right from the start. He hadn't encountered any monsters so far, so he didn't seem to have a purpose here. And, worse, it didn't sound like he was able to leave. Of all the problems that the Keyblade wielder could foresee, being locked in a place without the ability escape was not one of them.

And he'd tried. When he first arrived, oh, how hard he tried. More than anything, he had to get back to where he'd come from. How else could he start to set things right again? Terra had been trapped in that place, too. However, unlike this underwater city, it had been a prison of his own making, fighting for his heart... his body... everything. It was a fight that was too important for him to so suddenly pulled away.

Terra's expression was thoughtful, but he didn't betray his inner conflict. Every breath he took with his own lungs and every step he took with his own feet without the crushing presence of Xehanort reminded him of why he couldn't stay here. But what choice did he have? Surely there was something he needed to accomplish before he could leave, but what?

And then there was the cold that went straight into his bones. That's what gave Terra a moment of doubt, thinking maybe he wasn't back to normal at all. What was all this?

He wandered, looking around and trying to figure out what to do with himself. It was thus that he found himself in the center of the city, lost in his own thoughts and trying not to shiver visibly.

Comments

[croceamors]

The day was ending, and Saix found himself feeling more productive than he had in ages. Really it was good fortune, for once, that someone in charge had made herself known. He'd spoken to someone who had been here for a while operating the Welcome Booth, had gone through all he could on the conversations the nurse had with other people, and written it all down. It had been a relief to do any kind of work again. Saix couldn't really feel satisfied- for one thing, that 'feeling' business, and for another, there was clearly so much more work to do.

But he felt at least a little settled, and Saix had learned to make do with what he had when he really needed to.

He also felt extraordinarily dizzy and strangely warm while simultaneously being freezing. Such things happened when you refused to make any kind of contact with other people even when it would benefit your own health.

Saix gave a stubborn shake of his head as if that would do anything for him. New Moon was looking up at him with the kind of worry dogs seemed to get when their masters were pained, and kept close to his side, to help balance him. He'd just go home and sleep, wait for the curse to pass over. They were only supposed to last a week, weren't they? As he made his way through the streets, Saix did his best to simply stay focused, when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

It brought out an instant reaction in him, body tensing and fingers giving a sharp twitch and curl as if to summon Lunatic to his hands. When he got a proper look at the figure which had got his attention, however, Saix couldn't quite articulate why he'd reacted in such a manner even on a subconscious level. The man across the street was a complete stranger. Even with sickness infecting his mind, he could say quite certainly that he had never met him in his life, or Isa's.

It was strange. Saix didn't like it.

When the world stopped being so blurry for a moment, he decided to speak up. "Difficulties?"

[terranullius]

As he wandered around, Terra hadn't been paying any particular attention to the other people around him. He decided to forgo his usual method of asking the residents of this world directly until he could make more sense of what the brochure was telling him and worrying about what situation he was leaving behind to be stuck in this place.... It wasn't until he felt an odd tugging in his heart that he looked up, wondering what it was trying to tell him.

Terra's gaze fell on a blue-haired man in a black coat who was walking unsteadily with an animal at his side. Instantly, he could feel the touch of darkness on him, but when he really looked at him, Terra couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. It didn't truly matter because, as always, Terra would choose to give this man the benefit of a doubt regardless of whatever darkness weighed on his heart. There was still something that nagged at his mind, but he brushed it away. However, due to 'recent' occurrences, it did put Terra slightly on edge.

When he was spoken to, Terra closed the distance between then so he didn't have to rudely shout a conversation across the street.

"Not really. I just got here and was trying to get my bearings." Perhaps a bit forward, but Terra reached out to put a hand on the blue-haired man's shoulder in a supporting gesture. Up close, he looked in even a worst state than he'd thought at first. "Are you okay?"

[croceamors]

It certainly was forward, and in normal conditions he would put a stop to it before it could happen. Saix didn't appreciate physical contact- perhaps because for so many years, the only kind he could expect was either mocking or violent. Still, his confusion and curiosity had left his guard down, and his fever slowed his reactions just slightly. So the most he did was give the hand a suspicious glare, his body tensing up as if gearing for a fight even though his mind knew that it was unlikely one would occur.

"I'm fine," he answered in quiet stubbornness, even if the heat that seemed to transfer from the touch appeared to ease the cold threatening his health. The dizzying sensation in his head made him squeeze his eyes shut for a moment until it passed. "It's simply a side effect of being in this place."

[terranullius]

Terra took the hint from the body language and moved his hand back even before the words were out. Battle reflexes were something he understood, and it was the last thing he wanted to cause a complete stranger to be wary of him. He just wanted to check on him because he looked unstable... and he was really cold to the touch. Terra was cold himself, but he'd only just arrived. If the cold got worse the longer a person was in this place, that could escalate into something really dangerous.

When the blue-haired man squeezed his eyes shut, Terra did grow a bit worried for him. He glanced around and then down to the dog. "I'm new here, so I don't know how these side effects work, but you don't look so good. Is there anything I can do to help?"

[croceamors]

In all honesty, there was something very obvious that could help both of them. Saix simply didn't care for it. Still... This was getting to be a bit too much for him. It would be foolish to find himself collapsing from illness with such an easy way to avoid it. Besides, there was something strange about this man. Saix wouldn't rest until he figured it out.

"If you insist, I imagine you could escort me to my house." The dog seemed to perk up at this idea, tail wagging slowly as it looked up at Terra. "There was a brochure explaining the events of this place."

[terranullius]

Terra won't risk touching Saix again since the man clearly didn't care for it. But Terra had offered to help, and he nodded resolutely when he was allowed the opportunity to do even just this much. Terra didn't like to see people be left alone to fend for themselves who were clearly in some kind of distress. Not when there was something, even something small, that he might be able to do to help.

There was something in Saix's manner that made Terra think the other man wasn't used to receiving help of any kind. Terra himself was like that sometimes, but at least tried to be a little more gracious about it.

"I'm afraid I must insist, but you'll have to lead us there."

Terra held a hand open by his side, inviting the dog to come nearer and investigate the newcomer if he wanted. The dog looked worried, and it warmed Terra's heart to see that the man had such a friend (figuratively, because he was still freezing despite the brief flush of warmth from the shoulder touch).

"I saw the brochure. Is this what is meant by a 'curse'?"

[coolerthansora]

Things are Awkward at home right now, and as much as Roxas would like to be cuddled up watching the sunset with Axel, it's easier to be out. There isn't much purpose in it except to clear his head. As innocuous as they seem at first, these curses just keep making things a little worse. Or maybe it's his own fault, somehow.

He tugs his coat a little closer and considers putting the hood up, as if that'll help ward off the chill that's rising in his bones. Maybe he should go to Sora's... just to warm up, not to talk this time. Not about Axel anyway.

Preoccupied with his own thoughts, he doesn't notice the familiar figure as he walks past. After all, it isn't that familiar when they only met the once, more than a year ago.

[terranullius]

Even lost in his own thoughts as he was, there was a nudge in Terra's heart that told him to look up at exactly this moment, just in time to see-- "Ven?" His voice was hesitant at first. It... couldn't be. Could it? He didn't know Ventus' fate beyond what Xehanort had told him and what he chose to believe in his heart. But this? This place? He turned to catch back up a few steps and actually called to him, "Ven!" before realizing he might be mistaken.

Something didn't feel quite right. He couldn't feel the strong pure light of Ven's heart, but when Terra looked at the boy's face, all he saw was that of his dear friend. While the coat made him look more unfamiliar, the resemblance was still throwing him off. "Sorry, I..." He's not sure how to follow up the beginning of that sentence.

[coolerthansora]

Roxas turns at the voice; he thinks he knows it, although it's been quite a long time since anyone's mistaken him for Ventus. Not since the beginning, when the other boy was actually around. Catching sight of Terra, some recognition does cross his face, though certainly not to the extent one would expect from a best friend.

"I'm not Ven," he says first off, giving Terra a faint, apologetic smile. It has to suck to be in a strange place and think you see a friend, only to find out it isn't them at all. "I don't think he's here, either, but he was a while ago."

He hesitates, and then adds, "I'm Roxas."

[terranullius]

Not Ven... but the physical resemblance was uncanny. Even his voice sounded the same.... But if the boy said he was not Ventus, then it must be true. "Roxas," he repeated, trying to commit it to memory so he does not make the mistake again. "Sorry. You look so much like him."

Terra tried not to let his disappointment be visible, but he was unsure if his face still gave him away. It must have been too much to hope for to lose Ven during the battle in the Keyblade Graveyard only to find him here. Terra would just have to keep looking. However, "--he was here?" Terra had missed seeing Ven in this world, but he had survived. "How long ago?" His hand absently felt his pocket and the Wayfinder concealed there.

[coolerthansora]

"Um... Almost a year ago." Roxas isn't sure what Terra means to do with that information, so he goes on, "Time's kind of funny here. If you ever go back home, it'll be exactly when you left, liked nothing happened."

He doesn't know what's going on in Terra's case, but usually hearing that is a relief to people who are worried about what's happening back home without them.

[terranullius]

"A year ago...." So Ven could be absolutely anywhere by now. A person could travel anyplace in that time... and anything could have happened to him. Just thinking about that caused Terra some distress, but he wasn't going to burden Roxas with his worry over his missing friend. If Terra's current location was out of his hands (again), there was no point in doing anything other than dealing with the situation at hand.

He gave Roxas a nod of recognition. Time had been flowing in a funny way while he was trapped with Xehanort. That it flowed strangely here was not a huge surprise to him. The reoccurring worry was that too much time had passed while Terra had been (and continued to be) trapped.

"I'm sorry to ask you this but... if you knew him, how was he?" Terra's still trying to figure out how Roxas and Ven look so, so very similar.

[idkmybfftheking]

Strange just about sums The Vatheon Experience up.

Between the unusual curses -- which, admittedly, hadn't struck Riku as anything more than kind of aggravating -- the fact that the lives of practically everyone he knows had become immersed in some kind of perpetual romantic crisis he wanted little to nothing to do with, and the fact that once again he was stuck with no way off this water-locked world...

Yeah, strange really summed it up.

Riku has fared better than a lot of other people as far as the present curse goes; when your best friends are Kairi and Sora, who are both affectionate, open-hearted people, he can't so much as shiver without ending up with someone stuck to him like a barnacle.

Still, that aside, he's running the streets of the city in another attempt to stay warm and because he needs to perform that weekly errand of giving a large coral a high-five.

Okay, not really, but making a big deal out of touching an overgrown coral formation seems pretty silly. Terra's tall, he strikes an impressive (and vaguely familiar, but in two very different ways) figure, but at first Riku entirely misses him on his jog towards the plaza.

[terranullius]

There were a few things that simultaneously pulled Terra from him own thoughts, and all of those things pointed his eyes directly to the silver-haired boy as he passed. Terra felt the imprint of darkness before he saw it (he recognized that feeling as he knew it in himself), and what he saw... he looked like... Riku. There really was no mistaking him even though he looked about 10 years too old, but... how could that be possible? That was still a fresh memory for Terra, a young boy who wanted to fight for his friends, for what was most important. A boy who raced his friend to be ship captain as they sailed for home, and who dreamed of something bigger than the ocean.... But now he was here in this strange world, all grown up. Had so much time really passed since he'd met the boy on the beach? What had happened in the worlds while Terra was locked away in his own body?

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts together again coherently before he decided to catch up to him. Terra hurried so he wouldn't lose Riku, wherever he was going, but didn't yet call out to him. He would wait until Riku stopped or slowed, and then approach.

[runbysmiles]

Sora had been sitting in the plaza with his home made "FREE HUGS!" sign beside him. Sola wasn't here today, or maybe he'd show up later, but true to his duty for the week here he was. He knew there were plenty of people in Vatheon who either didn't have someone or maybe they just hadn't realized what they'd need to do in order to keep warm yet and Sora was here to fix it!

He felt useful even if he was getting something out of it too. He was warm for the moment.

Of the people Sora expected to see that day, Terra had not been one of them. He had glanced over and instantly he recognized that silhouette.

"Terra!" Sora was up and running towards the older boy. He dodged around so he could get a good hug in from the front and moved to wrap his arms around Terra.

"You're back!"

[terranullius]

The last thing that Terra had been expecting was to hear his name called out in such friendly recognition by an unfamiliar voice. He determined the source mere moments before he was hugged by someone who he knew he should recognize but couldn't immediately place. It was more than just a passing recognition (although the hair looked vaguely familiar). There was something deeper and more profound that made Terra think he knew this boy... but he just didn't know it to articulate it.

It was the 'You're back' that really made him wonder what large puzzle piece he was missing, but the warmth from the hug made it a little easier to put his thoughts together. It chased away the weariness that was bone-deep with the settling cold. Was it the boy's light? Or something else? Maybe something about a curse?

"You're," it suddenly occurred to him, "Riku's friend. Sora, right?"

[runbysmiles]

"Of course I'm Sora!" Sora didn't even think that the question might be because this Terra didn't actually know him.

He looked up at Terra, enjoying the warmth, and not really wanting to pull away just yet.

It clicked about then as he was grinning and looking up at Terra that maybe, just maybe this version didn't remember him.

"You...you remember me don't you? I mean, from the last time you were here?"

[terranullius]

The warmth from the hug wasn't unwelcome, but Sora's words were causing Terra no small amount of confusion. The last he'd seen Sora was on the island with the heart-shaped fruit, and even then, they hadn't spoken directly. Terra wasn't going to push Sora away since the boy was so happy to see him, but he wondered where all this affection was coming from.

"I..." The was no way around admitting it. "I don't remembered being here before." This world was strange enough that Terra felt that he would remember it. A lot had gone on in his life since the Mark of Mastery exam, but nothing that had caused a gap in Terra's memory. ...Nothing that he could recall anyway... Hmmm.

[runbysmiles]

"It's okay." The smile was still on Sora's face, and even that small revelation didn't bother Sora. He'd gone through too many of his friends leaving and forgetting they were ever here to have it phase him anymore.

"Not everyone remembers this world when they come back. I didn't and I've been her a few times, at least that's what they tell me.

"Riku's been here several times too, and Kairi."

Though there were probably other names Terra would be more interested in. "Aqua and Ventus were here for a little too, but they both were sent back."

[terranullius]

That was some comfort to know that not everyone remembered being in this world, but it was also unsettling to have forgotten something like being in a place and meeting people... and then encountering them all over again while one person remembered and another one didn't. Terra regretted that he didn't remember whatever it was that Sora remembered, but there might still be time to make new memories. Ones he'd try not to let himself forget again, if he could help it. If they'd become friends (as the warm hug suggested), Terra didn't want to let Sora down again by losing that memory. He seemed like a good kid.

Riku's name he knew well, but Terra had never met Kairi. He was about to ask after Riku when Sora continued.... Those names caught his attention and distracted him from whatever thoughts had been previously in his head.

"Sent back? To where? To when? Do you know?"

[destinyembrace]

Warm for now, thanks to her friends, Kairi was taking the opportunity to head out and run some errands. Riku and Sora took care of themselves well enough, but they didn't seem to understand how to properly stock a kitchen.

Boys would be boys.

She smiled to herself, shaking her head as she entered the plaza, the city's center. From there, she could make her way to any number of shops.

Something in her heart fluttered. Barely a whisper, but it was enough to stop her in her tracks. A warning? Or perhaps something was here that she should see. She learned by now not to ignore what her heart says. So she looked around, trying to determine just what had echoed through her.

Darkness. Rather like Riku's. There, but not overwhelming. And that's when her eyes fell on Terra, the young man looking rather lost. She had never seen him before, but something compelled her to go up to him.

"Are you okay?"

[terranullius]

As she approached, Terra thought there was something familiar about her. They'd never met, but he could recognize a heart of pure light when he saw one. Something about that light gave him a flicker of hope, silly as that may sound. It was so rare, but it was so crucial... and it was something he'd sworn to help protect (in the long list of things he must accomplish) in order to undo some of the hurt he'd caused by his actions.

Terra offered her a polite bow in the way that he'd seen Master Eraqus greet visitors. The question was a simple one, but he found it a little difficult to truthfully answer. "I think so. I just arrived here, and I'm getting to know the area." Terra couldn't suppress a small shiver, however.

[destinyembrace]

The shiver hadn't gone unnoticed, and Kairi was left to wonder if he had dried off properly when coming here. Her expression remains concerned, even after his assertion that he was fine.

"So you're new here. Did you get a brochure? And a towel? You must be cold."

[terranullius]

That was true. Terra hadn't really dried off properly after arriving and soaked to his skin. After a period of shock, he'd gone wandering and by now was mostly dry. However, the cold was unreal. He was trying not to look as uncomfortable as he felt, especially not in front of someone he felt an instinctual need to protect.

He nods in response. Under normal circumstances, Terra had been instructed not to talk about being from another world, but the brochure had told him this was the usual circumstances for most of the inhabitants of this place, so there was no point in hiding it. "Yes, I've just arrived here. I read the brochure, but there seems a lot that I still need to learn about this world." Like this cold. It was getting worse as he stood there, but it didn't seem to be because he'd stopped walking. It felt like a slow moving Blizzard spell.

[destinyembrace]

"This place can be pretty weird, but it's not all bad." With a tilt of her head, she eyes up how tense he is. Was he feeling that awkward around her? Or was he that cold? The first one would take time, but the second one she could do something about. She raises her finger for him to wait a moment before she heads off for the nearest towel stand. With a flash of her tattoo, she takes a towel and heads back towards Terra.

"Here. This should help."