001: {radical and radiant}

[hellrulesheaven]

Who: The Emperor (hellrulesheaven) and YOU!
When: Mon July 5th...leeeeet's say sunset?
Where: The Rift (neutral territory)
What: Empy wakes up! ...He's not thrilled about being in The Rift, as well he shouldn't be. Come! Meet him! Annoy or be annoyed by him!
Type: Either is fine but I'm starting it in logform. Reply in your preferred taggy form.
Notes/Warnings:

Comments

[zerosuitjill]

Excepting (usually) when she was in the Edge, any unexpected movement these days only served to make Jill tense. Unsure just what to expect here, conscious of the clones that wandered the territories, and overall possessing quick reflexes that had been necessary for survival long before she'd landed here, she didn't hesitate to err on the side of safety by pressing her palm against her holstered Beretta every time something unfamiliar caught her eye--now was no exception.

She stopped the moment she noticed the stranger--humanoid but unfamiliar; she didn't recognize him from any of the video feeds, either--but was sure to keep the rest of her poise unthreatening. If the clones were truly all done up the same way, he wasn't one: there was no single color marking him from head to toe.

"...Hey," she called. Being neutral territory, there was a chance this one was on Cosmos, but that possibility was no more of a deterrent than his appearance.

[hellrulesheaven]

He hadn't been wandering the castle in the air long when someone else arrived--and to his embarrassment, he didn't notice until she called to him. Mateus turned his head sharply...and immediately relaxed. It was a human--a plain, apparently unmagical human, and therefore of no threat to him...or so he thought, at least.

Mateus reversed course (he didn't walk. Heavens, no, only on special occasions; levitation was the way to go) and floated over closer--not too close, but so that he could keep a better eye on her. "What is this place." He didn't ask, but said--and in the natural tone of one who expects to be obeyed, no matter what.

[zerosuitjill]

Oddly enough, the levitation didn't bother Jill for more than a second--after meeting Kefka, especially, it wasn't something to wonder at--but the tone he used was familiar, and bugged her in the way it reminded her of an old face. Still, she didn't let that show.

"This area in particular is called the Rift," she replied, indicating the area around them with a glance. "...But if you're asking, I'm guessing you just arrived--and without knowing how," she added, aiming for some sympathy in terms of circumstances.

[hellrulesheaven]

She appeared to be as unperturbed by he as he was by her--which bothered him not. Asides from the horns, and perhaps the pallor of his skin, he did look perfectly human at the moment.

"The Rift," the Emperor echoed, in a falling intonation, trying to remember where he had heard of a such a place before--then returning his gaze to her as she spoke. She had...sympathy for him. Well, wasn't that misplaced? Part of Mateus bristled at the thought, at the idea of anything approaching pity for him...but he pushed it aside. Perhaps once she had served her purpose and led him back. Until then, he could lie.

"I awoke here only recently," the Emperor said evenly. "How did you know." Again, he did not ask, per se, but this time there was a tone of suspicion in his voice--squandering her good intentions to appease his ego would not be wise now, but neither should she be perfectly comfortable, either.

[bound_skyward]

Kain was compelled to explore, although he didn't know what good it would do him. But ever since that incident when he'd met Terra, he was curious if other connections existed to his world.

So now he'd come to the Rift, and was looking around cautiously. It wasn't long before he noticed someone else... someone he'd not yet seen at either the first mass gathering or the more recent one. "...No one is amused about the situation," he remarked dryly.

how about some tasty mistaken identity?

[hellrulesheaven]

Today was a bad day for the Emperor. That dream, most important of all waking up in this...place, with no way to Arubboth, and now mere humans consistently surprising him.

He turned at the voice, face imperious, ready to bring down heaven's wrath upon this foolish human--and stopped, channelling all willpower into looking effortlessly aloof and unconfused. Because this foolish human was a man in very familiar dark dragoon's armor.

"Ricard," the Emperor said, in a slightly questioning tone. Was this Arubboth? What was happening?

yay! XD and the confusion will be great on Kain's side too

[bound_skyward]

Kain was prepared to defend himself if this turned into a conflict. But a look of shock overcame his visible features at that name. It couldn't be... Did this stranger know his father somehow?

"No, you're mistaken." Not sure what to make of this yet, Kain hesitated and added, "...Do you mean Ricard Highwind?"

ilyour continuity gags, Squeenix

[hellrulesheaven]

After a moment to study him, Mateus shook his head slightly. This...was not Ricard. What of his face that could be seen was too young, much too young--this man had to be at least ten years his junior. Nor was the voice right, and peeking out from under the helmet was a clear headful of long blond hair.

"You are not Ricard," the Emperor said, almost at the same time that this dragoon said he was mistaken--and then, Mateus tilted his head, closing his eyes in memory... "Yes, his name was Highwind." He opened his eyes and looked the other man over again. The resemblance was striking.

[oblitus_clavis]

If it were possible for someone who supposedly had no feelings to feel indignant then Xion was feeling it. She had gotten over her curious 'oh look, an new world' faze and moved into 'how dare they drag me into this, I want nothing to do with it and it's not part of my mission' mode. Add that to wondering whether Roxas and Axel would start to worry and what Saix would say when she finally did make her way back and well....none of it was cheering her up any. The sun was setting.

I wonder if the sun is setting in Twilight Town too right now. she thought. Roxas and Axel would be having ice cream.

She didn't know what to say to the person she came upon at first. Mostly because he looked so androgynous, but upon closer inspection she decided he was male. Well, at least the tatters in her cloak had mended themselves after her scrape with Kefka. She wouldn't look too strange.

"You're....not a god too, are you?" she asked; she was not too fondly remembering her encounter with the self-proclaimed god of magic.

[hellrulesheaven]

This time he actually noticed the person--the girl's--presence before she spoke. He hovered in place, allowing her to approach and looking her over...she seemed to be nothing more than a slip of a human girl, but looks did sometimes deceive.

Then she spoke, and the Emperor was silent for a while.

"That is a good question," the Emperor said, thinking it over. Was he a god? Had he been asked yesterday, he would have answered yes before she had finished the question. But here--here he was, conqueror of heaven, and yet somehow beholden to the whims of gods he hadn't even known had existed. It was...humbling, and he utterly despised that feeling. He was at once confident in some degree of godhood--and yet, until he knew more, claiming himself as such would leave him open to a severe loss of face. And yet, claiming himself as something lesser...even the thought of it hurt. So, yes. It was a good question.

[oblitus_clavis]

She cocked her head slightly. "You don't know?"

If he didn't know who he was, they had a least that in common. She had a name of course, but that was just something that people called you. Your past was supposed to make you into who you were and technically she didn't remember hers.

"My name is Xion." she volunteered. "Do you have a name? If you don't, I can help you think of one."

She added the last part generously. A name might not me much, but it was something to anchor you into some kind of existence. Everyone on the Organization got a name before they could receive any other training.

[hellrulesheaven]

Mateus almost smiled. So, she really was little more--intellectually, at least--than a little girl. How precious, how charming, how potentially useful. Was she with Chaos or Cosmos? Perhaps he could lead that information--and anything else she might know--out of her.

"I do have a name," he said, choosing to ignore the issue of whether or not he knew what he was (it wasn't a question he liked thinking about now), "but I do not give it out freely." This was true, and besides, he was so much his title he might not even realize someone speaking his birth name spoke to him. "I am called the Emperor."

[oblitus_clavis]

Oddly enough, while he was saying that, she was picturing the first time Xemnas had given her her name. He had given all of them their 'second names.' She never knew what her original was. And she still was being tested for her seat and her title, though Xemnas had assured her not to worry about it. Axel had said the same thing.

"If the name you have is only your made up name would it matter?" she asked, inwardly hoping not.

Though the way Axel threw around his name, she doubted he ever worried about anyone having power over him.

[hellrulesheaven]

Only a made-up name? He gave her an interested look before responding. "Not as much," he said at last, "as a real name. But there is still power in it, as there is power in you knowing to call me Emperor and myself knowing to call you Xion." For that had to be why she had asked--"Xion" wasn't her true name. What was it, then--did she herself even know?

[oblitus_clavis]

"It's the first time I've heard of anything like this." she admitted. "People are kind of relaxed about saying their names where I'm from, though we have such things as titles too."

She peered up at the Emperor curiously. "So does being an emperor mean you have a kingdom? Or is it just a title that means something else?"

[hellrulesheaven]

He nodded along with what she had to say, though all he said was "And this is where you are from?"

The Emperor did nothing to stop her peering, though a hint of a smile crossed his face at her childish innocence--or perhaps at the contemplation of the meaning of Empire and the power it bestowed on its leader. "Where I am from, I ruled all there was to rule. So I am called the Emperor."