Walk to seek the answers I can't find

[notamisfit]

Who: Naoto Shirogane and OPEN
What: Trying to work out just exactly where she is
Where: The streets of Promenade
When: Day
Warnings: Nothing of note

Comments

[daienkai]

Ever since he'd dreamt his first ship up over the course of a couple of weeks, Ace went out to sea fairly often, able to make longer trips than when he'd just had his skiff to rely on. Still damp from wading in to tie the ship up to the moorings, he hoisted a bag over his shoulder full of little things that he took to trade at the market. He never traded for much really but he liked it in the absence of any sort of currency, a little reminder of home.

Shirtless as usual, his mask, bells jingling as he walked, hat hanging around his neck, held in place by the tie, the bull's head pendant resting just beneath the beaded necklace he was wearing.

After catching the broadcast from a few days ago, he jogged to catch up with whoever it was, tapping them on the shoulder.

"You should stick the mask on before any guards who might be out catch you. They're probably all still on edge just now."

[notamisfit]

Even having spoken to Paru, Naoto hadn't quite been able to bring herself to wear her mask. Yes, it was the law of the land and it wasn't that she wanted to rebel. But it seemed so pointless and childish to her.

She looked up sharply at the figure tapping her on the shoulder, immediately tense. Even though nothing he said was news to her, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. "Is that a threat?"

[daienkai]

Taking a step back, Ace gave a friendly smile, holding one hand out in apology as he hoisted his bag further up his shoulder again and then he pushed his own mask out of the way for a moment.

"Not from me and probably not from anyone you're going to meet on the street unless you keep going around with it on. But this place has guards and they'll probably want to enforce the rules."

Or so he would assume. He knew how Marines worked and that if someone had done something wrong they were all desperate to prove that they weren't like that so it wouldn't surprise him if they were a bit more of a noticeable presence after the video. They might be looking to prove that they could be trusted, that they weren't traitors.

[notamisfit]

She frowned a little at his words. "If the guards wish to correct my behaviour I will not stop them. Perhaps in gaining their attention I might be able to talk to someone who knows just a little more about where we are."

She stared down at her mask, fidgeting with the ribbon a little as she considered what she'd just said. It wasn't as though taking risks was something alien to her; then again, at least last time she'd been relatively certain of the outcome. This time there would be no guarantee that she could be saved.

[daienkai]

"If you get punished for not wearing your mask, I've heard it's pretty extreme. I wasn't around at the time but someone I know now had it happen to him." This possibly wasn't a good first conversation to have with anyone but whoever this was needed to know and Ace wouldn't feel right if he didn't explain it to her and let her take advantage of what he knew about the city. "If the guards get you, there's a chance you'll be taken to the Unnatural. You really don't want to go there."

He put his own mask back where it was meant to be, ruffling his hair when it tangled in the string as he did his best not to think about the Unnatural, somewhere that sounded even worse than Impel Deep even though he'd never thought such a thing would be possible.

"I'm Ace," he said by way of introduction, bowing deeply, "Portgas D. Ace."

[notamisfit]

Most might have allowed what they were hearing to scare them into compliance; if anything, Naoto was simply becoming more intrigued. "Might I ask what this punishment entailed? I'm curious to learn what is felt to be appropriate retribution for breaking a rule of such little consequence." Of course, it was hardly inconsequential but as rules went, Naoto saw this one as rather pointless.

Her curiosity became further piqued at the mention of the Unnatural. "Is that so? Perhaps you wouldn't mind expanding a little on that statement. We can retire elsewhere if such discussion is not suitable out here in the open." Not that trusting someone she'd only just met was a wise move but then he had tried to help her rather than leaving her for the guards so she supposed she could consider that to be in his favour.

She bowed her head a little at the introduction. "Portgas D. Ace...I thank you for your assistance. My name is Naoto Shirogane."

[daienkai]

"You'd probably need to ask Ichigo even if I have no idea how willing he'd be to talk about it but I think he was beaten. It looked that way to the people that saw it." He was frowning; Ichigo might not be a close friend yet but he was one of Lior's knights and that meant that he was nakama and people didn't get away with hurting Ace's nakama. "I think it's the whim of the Queen - she's kinder than the World Nobles from where I'm from but that doesn't mean that she doesn't want her will imposed. The king is the same only it's at night and losing your voice isn't something you get any measure of control over."

There had never been much that anyone had come to break up or even reprimand them for over the PORTALs so he shrugged. "We can talk about the Unnatural here but I should say that I haven't been there myself, I only know about it form other people."

[notamisfit]

"I see." Naoto made a mental note to track down this Ichigo at some point. "I suppose imposing such nonsensical laws is a good means of keeping your victims in line, if there is so little they can do. Perhaps that is why..." She trailed off, letting the thought complete itself in her mind.

She nodded at Ace's comment. "Even that is more information than I currently possess. At this time, I would be grateful for anything you could provide which could serve as some use as I try to determine what exactly is going on here."

[daienkai]

"I don't think they view us as victims," he rubbed the back of his neck, a small frown on his face beneath the mask, "I think they genuinely believe that we belong here and that everything else has just been a dream and that one day we'll remember that this is our real home. It's why we can dream up what we want more or less, why there's no currency and why we get brought back if we die." Unless they died in their own world because Ace knew there wasn't any coming back for him, not now not ever. If he left Promenade, he would be so very dead, the black mirror a sure sign of it

[notamisfit]

Naoto frowned at his explanation. "Regardless of how they view us, they are attempting to manipulate us into believing what they tell us even as we know what they say is untrue. That they are so accommodating suggests to me that on some level they know this too

[daienkai]

If Ace was a different sort of pirate, he might have said something different, trying to play Devil's Advocate but that wasn't the kind of guy he was at all so he remained silent. He didn't have many theories about this world anymore, not since he'd arrived back in May with a hole through him, bleeding onto the sand, going back to his room to find a blackened mirror waiting for him.

"You get your abilities back when you leave and like I said, I think a week is the longest anyone has gone without a sense so...it's not too bad. It's nice to have another chance because you don't get that in the real world, only in dreams." He nodded at that. "A lot of us have been here since January and this was the first real thing we learnt about what goes on in that place."

[notamisfit]

Naoto nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. Compared to permanent death, she could understand how temporary inconvence would present itself as the better option to some. Even so, she could not shake that suspicion over why the rulers of this place would be so desperate to keep people here that even death would not provide an escape.

His final statement drew more of a reaction from her. "I see. Might I ask as to what attempts at procuring information have been made in that time?"

[daienkai]

"There were offers to sign up for the guards, I think some people took the chance to do it - maybe they thought they'd get a better deal." His hand went to his pocket as he spoke and he drew out his PORTAL - shaped rather like a snail with buttons on the curve of its shell and a screen on one side - pressing at the buttons until the video of Noah's exploits came up, revealing the door with the voice behind it.

"That's what we know. It sounds to me like the voice we heard before we believed we'd been here for ten years. The guards must have some sort of procedure for betrayal because the woman in the video was punished for what she did."

[notamisfit]

Naoto watched curiously as Ace fiddled with the snail-shaped object, a little surprised when she realised it was some sort of recording device. She watched closely, taking in as much information as she could. As it finished, she turned her attention back to Ace.

"If it's appropriate, I would be grateful if I could acquire a copy of that. The one who recorded this should not have her efforts go to waste."

Then, as what he said sank in, "What do you mean, you believed you'd been here for ten years?"

[daienkai]

"If I can't get you one, I can get hold of someone and ask them to send you a copy. Probably something everyone should see, just so they know what's going on." He found it hard still to watch the video without worries - Noah was a friend and he was too closely reminded of his little brother infiltrating a dangerous place.

He rubbed his head then and managed a smile as he thought back to it. "Not everyone felt that though. But there was a broadcast but I don't think anyone remembered about it until much later on. People believed they'd been here for ten years; some had gone home, some were married. I had a job and I'd adopted a kid and everything and then just...one day everything was back to normal and we had to pick up all the pieces. Some of us forgot where we were from altogether or we were having strange dreams about our real lives because we thought we were always from here." He paused and dropped his head, voice quiet, more grim. "I forgot that I'd died."

[notamisfit]

"Thank you. Your efforts are appreciated." Of course, Naoto had no idea of the personal connection he held to the one who had recorded the video nor did it even cross her mind that he might - to her this was information, nothing more.

She listened carefully as Ace explained the ten year forward event, feeling even more certain now that she had to escape and help others to escape before any more captives could be broken in such a manner. "That would perhaps suggest either that time is not fixed here in the same way as we would expect, or that there is some form of mind control at work. Potentially, both."

She was so lost in thought that she almost missed his final comment; when it registered, her eyes widened. "Died? Do you mean here in Promenade? I thought you had yet to see the inside of the Unnatural." Because it couldn't possibly be the alternative. That was just too ridiculous to contemplate.