001 | voice

[hearthotel]

[it does take a little while and the receiving of a shiny new rune from a pompous snowman before he figures out how his bracelet functions, and even that is kind of stretching it. still, he has an important question to ask, and as far as he knows, he's somehow managed to pop into a world he's already familiar with. this can't be a new world; he

Comments

[betweenpaths]

[Do you hear that sound Sora?

It is the sound of Riku's palm meeting his forehead.]

...Seriously, Sora? Santa?

[hearthotel]

[well, yes, of course Santa! his logic is not unfounded if he were back home; there are no new pathways that he knows of that he's personally unlocked. can't get to new worlds without the aforementioned, so this must be a world he's been to already! right? right!]

[but that's entirely unimportant. there's a brief silence before Sora tentatively speaks-- it's a desperately hopeful tone, one that's been clinging on the edge of optimism for a while now.]

Riku?

[betweenpaths]

[That wasn't quite the reaction he was looking for. Sure he had been looking for Sora, missing him and worrying about his well being. But there was something in that tone that just caught him.

Was this... maybe it was something like what he was experiencing with Aqua and Terra? The gods seemed able to bring people from different times. Maybe he knew more than Sora did right now.

His tone is less jovial this time, and a little more somber.]

You sound like you've just heard a ghost. [Le sigh.] Yeah, it's me.

1/3

[hearthotel]

[Riku... Sora can't believe it. after all this time-- he'd been right here all along--]

[Voice]

[lethechained]

[She knows that voice.]

[She met Vanitas earlier and she does briefly wonder if her ears are fooling her, but no-- she knows the difference all too well. Simultaneously she wants to and doesn't want to believe that she's heard right, because it would be wonderful to see Sora again, but she doesn't wish this confinement on him, especially not when he was about to finally get home. Either way, she's already moving to start a post of her own and it's entirely too late to stop now. ...Not even when she realizes she doesn't know what to say, other than,]

Hello, Sora.

[Voice]

[hearthotel]

[she might recognize his voice, but Sora can't exactly say the same about hers. that won't stop him from greeting Naminé cheerfully-- he'll remember her in a minute! right?]

Hello!

[Voice] -> [Video]

[lethechained]

[Fat chance. She'd rather hoped he'd at least remember meeting her when she showed up to go back to Kairi, but he didn't say her name. That's not an indication that he doesn't remember, necessarily, but it does make her wonder. --Oh, silly her, she was using audio, not video. She reaches up to change that, eyeing the screen as the camera starts recording. Her smile is already ready and waiting when it does, and she laces her fingers together once she's finished turning the video feed on.]

[She opens her mouth to ask if he remembers her, but hesitates, and instead asks,] Why are you looking for Santa? [She has a bit of an idea by now, though.]

[Video]

[hearthotel]

[unfortunately, nothing in his expression indicates that he recognizes her-- in fact, he looks curious as he watches her more than anything.]

Well... I thought maybe I was in Christmas Town, so I figured if I found Santa, he'd be able to help me out.

video

[stayinghere]

Have you tried asking one of the Servants? ...I don't think I've heard the name "Santa" as one of the patrons here.

video

[hearthotel]

He's gotta be around here somewhere; he runs the place! But I could look for some of his workers, too-- have you seen any elves around?

[stayinghere]

[...obviously confused face]

...Elves? What are those?

[hearthotel]

They're Santa's helpers! They pack up his sleigh with presents and help make toys-- stuff like that.

[video]

[holmes_fanatic]

... Santa's workshop?

[video]

[hearthotel]

Yeah. You know the way there?

[video]

[holmes_fanatic]

Wrong belief set.

[video]

[hearthotel]

Wait, this isn't Christmas Town, then?

[persistantsong]

Eh? Santa's workshop is here?!

[hearthotel]

I'm... pretty sure it is! This is Christmas Town, right?

[persistantsong]

No, this isn't Christmas Town, though it kind of looks really christmasy doesn't it?

[hearthotel]

[Sora's starting to slowly catch on, though he's still inwardly boggling the logistics of how one arrives on what seems to be a new world without actually opening a pathway to a new world.]

Yeah, it does! The snowman I met really isn't much in the spirit of Christmas, though.