(Untitled)

[endtome]

Who: Ventus and you!
What: A confused gander about the city, upon arrival.
Where: Twilight Town
When: Midday
Warnings: Worries and clones.

Ventus is lost...and slightly troubled by the going's on around him, the information he's been given, what he's seen and the holes that still remain. His whole life, a dream?

No, that wasn't quite right. He was stuck

Comments

[hellofashow]

Axel spends a lot of his time just wandering the streets of Twilight Town. Admiring the red sunset, chatting it up with the moogles that lived there, investigating all the nooks and crannies... and eventually settling down for ice cream, with or without (but preferably with) his buddies. Today, he was alone, dressed in an outfit eerily similar to what Lea wore, though more grown up. An orange shirt, his scarf, some black jeans and sneakers. His coat is slung over his shoulder and his other hand is holding ice cream. He's not wearing his mask, but it's on his head.

Then he spots a very familiar head of spiky blond hair, and he stops, then calls out. "Roxas! I thought you couldn't come today!"

[endtome]

Ventus turns, startled at the obnoxious call. At first he doesn't even think its for him, but then, Axel is looking right at him. He's been fiddling with his own mask all day, and the thing is horribly askew.

"I think you've got the wrong guy." A small smile of apology; who's Roxas, anyway?

And why is this guy so familiar. It's just...that hair. It takes a few moments for the name and the face to come to him, though the impression left before was quite vivid. He'd laugh in relief at seeing him here, if not for how different he is.

"Lea, right? I memorized it." He places his hands on his hips, tilting his head in an amused manner. Open and friendly and just too bright in nature to fully reflect Roxas back. "How come I remember yours, but you can forget mine?"

[hellofashow]

"Wrong guy? Look, man, I don't know if they've been messing with your memories again, or what, but there's only one kid in the whole world with hair that silly."

Wait a second. There was something... wrong, here. Nobodies are blessed with an innate sixth sense, perhaps to make up for their lack of hearts. This person looks like Roxas; they could be twins. But he feels completely different. He's not empty. This boy is whole, and full of light. And he knows his old name. Those green eyes narrow to suspicious and confused slits, and Axel stops a yard or so away.

"Lea? ... No one's called me that in a really long time," he looks down and away, scouring through those old memories. He barely remembered a blond boy that had come to Radiant Garden some ten years ago, and sparred with him. He'd never seen the guy again. His name, it started with a "V". "Sorry. It's been a while and you look just like another friend of mine," he gestures at Ven, "Give me a clue."

[endtome]

"My hair isn't silly!" His hair isn't silly! Ven holds a hand up to the mess of blond locks almost protectively, although Axel gives way more than enough ammo to jab right back. "Try saying that in a mirror."

The confusing thing is that Lea...stops. Looks suspicious, and then startled. Like he really wasn't expecting Ventus to be the one he was talking to. He seemed so much more world weary now, like Aqua had when he'd last seen her.

"You forgot my name? Thanks a lot, Lea." A few months and- no. Maybe... maybe it had been longer. Lea looked all grown up, which meant- "A clue... it starts with a 'V'!"

[dualstance]

He hadn't planned on going to the clocktower today since there had been something else he needed to do, but somehow managed to finish it quick enough to hopefully meet up with Axel there. Using a corridor would have been the quickest, but Roxas enjoyed riding his skateboard more than the instantaneous transportation that the corridor provided. Plus, it's a constant reminder of the memories, no matter how fabricated, that he has.

There's no way he was going to let them go.

Seeing the head of bright red hair, he rides up to his friend, a smile on his face. "Hey Axel, I--"

And he stops to a complete halt at seeing the other person with the other Nobody. Someone who looks just like him. What is going on? He tenses up, not knowing who this person is, copying his image and he's seconds away from getting his Keyblades out.

"Who are you?"

[hellofashow]

"My hair is awesome." And that was that.

Axel just shakes his head, putting his hands on his hips. "I remembered THAT much! And... don't call me Lea. I haven't been Lea in years. My name is Axel now. And you're... you're..." He puts his hand to his head.

And suddenly, there it is.

"Ven! It's Ven, isn't it."

The sound of the skateboard catches his ears and he turns. Oh great. Now he was seeing double. But this one was using the name he was more accustomed to. He also sees Roxas getting a little worked up, so he turns and waves at him.

"Roxas! Relax. He's Ven. I think that's his name. It's been a while since I saw him." He looks between the pair of them, now more confused than ever. He could not account for the fact that they looked completely alike. He scratches his head and then, tentatively, sniffs his ice cream.

Didn't smell spiked... so this was real?

".... Ok I have no idea what the hell is going on here."

[endtome]

Ventus is stopped mid-laugh by an angry, confused voice, one that's eerily familiar. Familiar in that it's his own, and the source is himself.

Or what looks to be himself, standing there in foreign clothes with a skateboard, looking half ready to bolt or at least charge in and beat him down with his fists. Ventus' expression in comparison is one of simple shock, confusion.

"Roxas?!" So that's what Axel had meant, calling him out like he had. Ventus can't seem to move his eyes, Roxas looking back with the very same ones, just colder, more hostile. "But- that's my face..."

He has even less answers than Axel, and so he looks down, clenching his hands out of nerves. Was this all part of the dream, as well?

[dualstance]

"How am I supposed to relax when a guy who looks just like me is standing right there?"

It doesn't matter if Axel knows who this person-- this imposter is. The only thing that did is why there a person who looks just like him. Is this some kind of joke? Because he isn't laughing, not by a long shot. Sure there might be a few differences, now that he's really looking at the guy, but-

He looks exactly like me.

"What's going on?"

The temptation to pull out his Keyblade rises as he keeps his gaze on the other, wanting the answers to his questions. And hoping that this time, they'd be given.

[hellofashow]

"Hey. I said relax." He puts a hand on Roxas' shoulder. It probably looks comforting, but really, Axel's grip is hard and he's holding the angry little Nobody back.

"Look, I don't have a clue why you two look the same. If I knew, I would say. I promise."

Still with his hand on Roxas's shoulder, Axel looks at Ven. "Ven, this is Roxas. He's a Nobody, like me. Roxas, this is Ventus. I met him something like ten years ago, before I lost my heart." A pause. "Come to think about it, I never thought about how similar you two looked. My memories from before are kind of fuzzy, I guess. Either way, there's no fighting, alright? I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for all of this."

Probably.

... Maybe.

[endtome]

"A Nobody?! I don't-" His mind is awash with questions. Lost his heart? Ten years ago? None of this is making any sense at all, and it's simply made worse by the fact that Roxas looks ready to draw blood. He doesn't seem all that bad, but it's hard to tell when his own face is being twisted into such a hostile expression.

"That's not right. I met you... a month ago, tops! You were shorter, you had those- Frisbee, things." He makes a hand gesture, a circle in the size of said Frisbee things. "What's a Nobody?!"

He hopes to every power he knows that there's a logical explanation, because this first meeting is already wildly out of control.

[dualstance]

Roxas freezes when Axel mentions that they're Nobodies, like it's the most natural thing to do towards a person that they hardly knew. Well, he hardly knew and it still doesn't help that the guy looks like him. He'd taken care to not mention it to the others that showed up, not wanting to reveal himself so soon.

Looks like that's for nothing.

"Why'd you have to say it!" Narrowed blue eyes turn to Axel for a second, shock and something akin to fear showing them before the anger takes over again when he returns his gaze to Ventus. No one needs to know, no one should have to know.

"Look, just forget what he said and tell me why you look like me. What are you trying to pull here?" He won't do anything, not with that hand still on his shoulder, but the second Ventus does something not favorable he's not going to hesitate in the slightest.

[hellofashow]

Axel blinks, dumbly, down at Roxas. He was hiding it? Why? Seemed like an exercise in futility to him. Also, good job NOT telling him your clever plan, dude. Because he's totally a mind-reader.

"Geez. Sorry. I didn't realize you were keeping it a secret!"

Axel puts his other hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples a bit. "Look, Ven. It might have been a short time ago for you, but for me? It's been years. Time here is... weird. To say the least. I'll tell you about it later. And I still have those frisbees! ... They're just different, now. Roxas... I don't think he knows why either. Cool your jets."

He's content to let the pair talk it out, as long as they don't go at it. Axel's not as strong as either of them, but he is taller. Also, neither of them were fireproof. And he would use those to his advantage if he had to. Since really? He has no idea what's going on either.

[endtome]

"I'm not trying to pull anything!"

Roxas keeps picking and picking for a fight, and Ventus would be tempted to give it to him if that was his nature. But it seems to be the last thing Axel wants, and as much as Roxas is acting like a good whack around the head might set his nose straight, the last thing Ventus needs is to cause bad blood when he hasn't even been here all of a day.

"Look, I don't mind if you're a Nobody, but-- I don't know what's going on either." He holds his hands up in a peaceable manner, earnest in his explanation. "I'm Ventus. I bet I know one way we're different."

And he summons wayward wind up, offering it for examination. Surely, that'll do the trick.

[dualstance]

And it surely does.

"Wha--?"

Blue eyes widen in surprise at the sight of a Keyblade, appearing with ease in the other's hand. Although it's offered for examination, Roxas doesn't move to take it, doesn't need to take it to know that it's real. But what does this mean? If this person is a wielder, did that mean they weren't trying to fool him? Not everyone can have one after all, and he didn't think anyone would be able to imagine one up, especially not as genuine as the one Ventus is holding.

So what's really going on then? Did he have some weird twin that had been created somehow and he didn't know about it? Is that even possible? Just who is Ventus?

Roxas shoves his hand into his pocket, taking hold of his zero gear and pulling it out, summoning his own Keyblade to show that no, we aren't so different. Not if he can wield one too. "I don't.. get it. How can you and I-?"

Anger fades away to only leave complete and utter confusion.

[hellofashow]

Crap. At first, Axel feels a pang in his chest, a memory of something. Fear. He's afraid that Roxas, seeing that keyblade, will spring out of his grip and attack Ven, and then he'd have to get between two Keyblade wielders.

And that would be pretty painful, all things considered. Axel liked to avoid pain. His fingers brush the gears in his pocket.

But nothing of the sort happens and the taller, older Nobody visibly relaxes, letting out a breath.

"Both keyblade wielders and face-twins to boot. There has to be some connection here." But he can't for the life of him think of what it could be. So instead he just shrugs and diffuses the situation as best he knows how, "Oh well! No use worrying over things that no one understands, right?"

[endtome]

It seems to work to some extent, seeing as how Roxas is now artfully distracted. But it puts Ven himself at a disadvantage when Roxas summons one himself, grip different but still steady, and-

He doesn't understand. Who would have been there to do the inheritance ceremony with him?

"I think- let's start over, huh?" He dismisses the blade, walking over to Roxas, though he stops a few feet away. Raises his hand to shake, leaves the option of actually taking it to Roxas himself. "My name's Ventus. I'm a Keyblade Wielder from the Land of Departure, my master's name is Eraqus."

"Pleased to meet you, Roxas." Hopefully if this goes to hell in a hand-basket, Axel will jump into clear it.