[.001] O n e {Beginning

[lethechained]

[It seemed somebody had finally figured out how to work this odd little device. ...More or less. It definitely seemed to be recording something. There was the sound of someone fumbling with it for several seconds, and then--]

H-… Hello? Is this--

[Naminé cleared her throat, lapsing into silence for a moment. How was she supposed to know if anyone

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[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[She watched that smile, watched those eyes, watched that hand, that uncertainty-- what had happened? What had happened to him, all this time? However he'd gotten here, it had to have been some time ago, or at least he'd spent that time somewhere else-- a year, or something like it, just like her. And he'd said she'd been there for months. What had happened to her in all that time? To... them?]

[In the beginning, she'd been afraid. Afraid of him, maybe, or afraid of what she'd done-- it hadn't mattered. She'd twisted him to shape a rival, a foil for Sora, she'd done what they'd wanted her to do, but... that had also meant that she'd had a part to play. A damsel in distress. And-- he was supposed to be her hero, or at least to think he was. He was supposed to look at her like that, to... 'care'. It had been too much, too much, because she knew what she'd done was wrong, because it was all some horrible lie and he was a stranger. A stranger that she'd helped make, but a stranger nevertheless. He reminded her of everything she hated about herself, every twisted, sweet lie.]

[And then she'd broken him, smashed him to pieces, and he'd kept going. He knew it was a lie, knew it was all just a farce, and yet he'd continued to play his part. At first she hadn't understood. How could he not hate her? How could he not want revenge? She'd been so trained to think that she was nothing, that she was worthless, that she always thought that the slightest mistake would make her something absolutely contemptible. But... maybe it really was that those memories were all he had. Fake, or not.]

[And then he was holding his hand out again. It was tired, so tired. She heard that little tinge of something, something familiar and... bitter. All those names, both unfamiliar and familiar, some places and some people, and-- she had things, here, apparently.]

[But-- she was still thinking about that thing, that odd, chilly little tone. Him. Did she want to be taken to him? To Sora? ...To burden him, again? But no matter where she went, she would be burdening someone. Except... maybe she would be more comfortable, with him? ...No. He didn't know her. Not anymore. At least-- he didn't, back before... whatever had happened in the past few months that she didn't remember.]

....

[She reached out one pale hand, soft from a life of indoors, of quiet and solitude, and she placed it gently in his.]

...I think it might be best if I stayed somewhere else.

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

[There it was again. That feeling of uncomfortable heaviness in reminiscence, and all that had seemed to shift into their old places so quickly...back where they'd started. Back where they'd left off?

It didn't feel like this a week (or was it more) ago...when she'd looked at him through the camera on that communicator like she hadn't ever known him. That had hurt. That had stunned and pained him more than anything. And he'd known a little of what it must feel like to be Xion, forgotten.

...no. He'd felt a small sting of that when Sora didn't recognize him as anyone more than a boy who looked like Riku either.

This was different. When she looked at him, he sensed she could tell the old sore parts that still hung around him since Castle Oblivion, the shattered invisible pieces. Though cobbed together, grown over...they lingered like glaring weak spots in all the things he couldn't decide about her. And she saw him, and knew him and seemed almost afraid to venture any deeper.

Riqis felt his cheeks heat with something like shame at how the awkward feeling tightened in his gut.

He swallowed, stared at the sky, pursed his mouth and tried to think of something nobler to say. His one hand closed around hers numbly, and a second moved to cover them. One short, reassuring squeeze.]

I'll take you to the safest place I know, for now.

[The replica sighed, half-whispering. Something small was still pining and twisting uneasily in his voice, beneath the steady efforts to be bold.]

Tell you anything you want to know about this place, that I can answer.

[And then leave her those open doors. That was one thing he'd learned that was better for her to have, in this place. Choices. You can't keep a princess in a tower, that makes you no better of a person.]

Then you can decide where to stay.

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[Something was... definitely on his mind. Something she didn't quite understand, but at the same time, something she recognized. The silence of thoughts kept to oneself, the twist in one's gut when one looked at someone and knew something that that person didn't about themselves, about the both of them -- all of that, all of those things that she knew all too well, but... when she saw them in someone else, she only unconsciously recognized them.]

[Maybe that was why she reached out her other hand and placed it over both of his. There was no pressure, no squeeze, just a gentle touch. She stared at their hands for a moment, then,]

Can we talk once we're inside?

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

That's a good idea.

[He nodded levelly, trying to look at her directly while keeping his cool. Without the acknowledgment that the feeling of a soft hand falling over his own was making his breath come short and shallow, making it hard to focus on anything but the tingle of fingertips against the back of his palm.

Riqis took a step back, tugging her along gently with him.]

C'mon. Stick close to me.

[After all, it was cold out here. And who knew how long the monsters would be-

...Ah. Right. He'd passed the ragged gut-remains of one of Discordia's dead demons on the way over here, hadn't he? That, if she can't remember being here before, is probably going to scare her a lot.

He realizes it thankfully soon, and begins to quietly strategize how he might keep her attention fixed away from the gutters.]

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[Naminé needed little incentive; she followed along quite steadily, perfectly happy to be headed somewhere that might be less... terrifying foreign. She'd never quite gotten used to being outside the few times she'd actually been... well, outside. The idea of getting inside was a welcome one, even if the inside may have been another unfamiliar view.]

[Whatever plan he had to keep her from spotting some of the more unsavory scenery would have to be implemented soon enough; she was looking around quite a bit, trying to take in all these new(?) sights. This was all just so surreal.]

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

[He stayed on high alert with her, well aware he might have to summon Soul Eater at a moment's notice if any trouble showed, so he maneuvered himself carefully around her to keep his right side open.

This was a dangerous city, sometimes. In some places it was unavoidable. The stretch between the bulletin board and the Sanctuary's front stoop usually wasn't too bad.

Lately there had been giant roaches everywhere, and those still scuttled along the curb and through alleyways. It seemed otherwise eeriely quiet now. Maybe because of the plate. Or the restlessness of the city has dropped off, finally.]

See look!

[Riqis pointed across the road to try and lead her eyes towards the wall of an old building that was littered with chalk scrawlings at about child's height. He'd play tour guide, and try to stay her attention from the opposite end of street]

Those are made by these...imp-things, from the schoolhouse. Never go in there, it's dangerous. But they come out at night and make pictures, sometimes. There are monsters here, but the apartments have got magic wards up, so it'll be okay.

[They weren't really pleasant pictures. He knew that. but it was better than the guts, some scribbles of fighting dogs and stick figures squished under what looked like a large disc.

Riqis wondered if he should even tell her about the Upper Plate, right now. He felt sorry for her fear, more than he would care for most new people here, anxious and displaced. That was normal. Expected.]

There are monsters here...but the apartments have got magic wards up, so it'll be okay! It'll be- you don't need to worry. It's safest, where we're going.

[...He still carried the bent to shield her]

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[And Naminé played her part well, as a tourist. When he spoke, she listened, and when he pointed, she looked, just in time to miss catching sight of anything else she might have found more distressing. If anything, her only flaw in this part was her silence. She stayed silent, still trying to absorb all of this and reconcile it with the broken ends of what she'd thought would happen.]

[She watched the drawings as they passed them, squinting to try and make out as much of the scribbles as she could. They weren't... her kind of drawings, she realized. She'd never have drawn anything so... unpleasant, but-- it was so strange to see someone else's drawing. She'd spent a large portion of her existence drawing, and yet she'd never really had the chance to see what someone else had drawn, outside of memories. So maybe the images themselves may have made her skin crawl a little, but that didn't stop her from looking.]

[She looked up at him again when he mentioned monsters, big blue eyes surprised and just a little fearful. Heartless were one thing, but-- monsters? ...This place certainly looked like something had gone after it, but she hadn't really thought-- monsters. Oh, dear. Ah, but there were safe places? She'd definitely have to keep that in mind. Once again, it looked like she'd be spending most of her time indoors. She turned her eyes back to their path, blinking away her surprise.]

...Okay.

[He said it was safe where they were going. Funny enough, she believed him. He may have had every reason in the world to lie to her, but-- she believed him, and that, if she'd thought about it, would have seemed bizzare. Maybe it was that he was just a familiar face in an unfamiliar world, or maybe it was the way he treated her, or maybe... it was that, even if she'd known that what had happened way back in Castle Oblivion was a lie, she'd also known, at least, that he'd wanted to keep that promise. But this was a year later. Couldn't he have changed? And yet-- that year seemed to disappear, all of a sudden, because he wasn't just a memory anymore.]

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

[He was relieved the dreams had come the night before. She wouldn't have to face them for another few weeks.

...it also meant people would be on the edgy side today, if they weren't already. It had been an uneasy week. More so than usual. He kept glancing anxiously upward.]

There's an eating hall where we all go for food, on that street we just passed. Down the other way, towards a bar...called Thorn. But Matt's a bit of jerk, so don't go there.

[Riqis advised sternly, steering her along towards the larger cluster of buildings with noble Hylian columns. The Sanctuary apartments stood surprisingly intact.]

...We might need to go underground soon. There's a sky level, up there, and there was something that blew up up there, earlier this week. If it looks like it all might fall, we're going to move everyone down into the tunnels.

[It was easier to talk facts. Easier to talk doing, and less sentiment. He was involved in this place, this world he could exist in, and so the time spent explaining things about it could be easily stretched. He hoped that whatever had happened earlier would remain unsaid...

But surely she'd have questions, about her time here before. He'd probably have to tell her about Riku, in case he ever did show back up too, but remembering. The replica was reluctant to do so.]

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye as he mentioned a bar and somebody who was supposed to be a jerk. That had been pretty stern. If for no other reason, she wouldn't be planning any trips there; she'd been given her instructions, and... call it an old habit, but she didn't feel comfortable going against them.]

[The buildings they seemed to be headed for were... pleasantly solid, comparatively. A little odd looking, certainly, but not in a bad way. When he mentioned something above, Naminé automatically glanced skywards.]

[...So that was why the sky had looked so strange when she woke up. But, if that was going to fall--]

[Suddenly, those drawings they'd passed seemed a whole lot more significant. Without even realizing it, she edged a little closer to her companion.]

Tunnels?

[She certainly hoped they were strong tunnels. If something that huge crashed down on them, then...]

[...Well, she was definitely looking forward to being inside, where she couldn't see the giant time bomb hovering in the sky over their heads. Out of sight, out of mind... right?]

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

Yeah.

[He nods, leading her up the apartment steps, past the wink of a shimmering barrier, barely visible to the eyes, but tangible to pass through, like a shiver of warmth. Do no harm in this place.]

There are some people down there now, clearing them out. Making them safe.

[It's only slightly warmer in the apartments, but the replica seems to relax just slightly into the shadows of the unlit hallways. It's the best home he's come to know]

So...Um. You're probably...confused about everything. Are you cold? I can get you something extra, from my room. Maybe. A blanket or something.

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[That little change in temperature was not lost on her, and it almost made her stop. So that was what the barriers felt like. Carefully, she brushed against the memory in her mind, doing her best to remember it, almost using her powers-- but... no. Perhaps... it would be best to try to live without them, for a while. There was no reason to use them anymore, no one to force her to, and no one to need her to. If she was going to find the right way to use them, she needed to be more careful (even though she didn't see the harm in what she'd been tempted to use them for. It was just the principle of the thing.) It was... odd, to suddenly be able to choose. But perhaps she was being hasty-- she might find herself in captivity yet.]

...Yes, I am.

[That was in response to his statement (that she was confused), not the question that came after it. She was cold, and she knew it, but... she drew the jacket a little closer about her. Being cold was nothing unfamiliar, for her. Castle Oblivion had been a cold, eerie place. She'd never been offered a blanket or even a jacket there. She could stand it. She wasn't going to ask him to do anything extra, not even if he'd offered. She shook her head, the shorter areas of her hair tickling her face.]

I'll be fine. But... is there somewhere we can sit down? To talk.

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

[He nods, hesitant to offer his own room. There are too many memories of his own in there that he feels too self-conscious to share with her, just yet. He's not ready to show her his own place.

The signs of nine months life.

Folded paper stars. Scorecards pinned to the wall, the pictures she'd drawn him in the summer. A mess of blankets and too many littered monster drink cans and a few nuka-cola bottles, and one very embarrassing, dinky holiday sweater she didn't need to see.]

Lets just duck in here, right now.

[He offers instead, opening the apartment on the end of the bottom hall. There's sparse furnishings in here, but most importantly there are stacked and labeled containers and cardboard boxes. Labelled with the names of people who have gone away.

He's careful to settle her comfortably on a tattered couch, before crossing a few feet to lean at the window frame, to keep half a wary eye on the sky outside]

This is the Sanctuary lost and found. Sometimes, people will leave this world for good without warning...other times, they come back. So we keep their personal stuff packed up, to free up space.

...You didn't stay here, last time, so...Terra probably has all of yours, across the city. And your direwolf pup.

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[Naminé sat on the couch as directed, her arms crossed around her for warmth. Tattered or not, it was, ironically enough, a lot more comfortable than most of the chairs she had gotten used to. This was the lost and found, huh? So, all of those names belonged to people that... disappeared. It seemed like everything in this world happened without warning-- both entering and exiting. That explained, at least, what had happened. She'd disappeared, but she'd come back.]

[She just wished she could remember what had happened. Maybe then she would have recognized the name Terra, and--]

[Wait.]

[She looked up at Riqis suddenly, eyes wide.]

A 'direwolf' pup?

[What? A pet? She had a pet? Something she was responsible for...?]

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[myownmemory]

[He nodded, smiling slightly at her surprise. Finding out you had a wolf for a pet probably was a little startling.]

It's like a...great big wildish dog. Well...smaller, for now, its young.

[He clears his throat, folding his arms as he leaned back. Tiredness clung heavily to his limbs. The day after dreams always felt double exhausting, even if he hated to admit it.

His eyes wandered back to her shyly. He had missed her. A pang of a thing to realize.]

Aaron let you have one, when Freki had her litter. But...he's gone now too.

[World's End was full of melancholy losses. Riqis was only beginning to understand the weariness that Roxas had known with it, in longer time here.]

[Commentlog]

[lethechained]

[So she did have a pet. A... probably potentially dangerous pet. She'd never really gotten the chance to go through the 'I want a pet' stage, but... it looked like she would find out how it worked anyway. She'd have to.]

[She slowly leaned back into the couch, the weight of all of this settling onto her shoulders. There were months - not just days, but months - missing from her memories. All kinds of things could have happened, she could have met any number of people and done unimaginable things - and she wouldn't even know. But-- when, hesitantly, she reached out with her powers... she couldn't find them. She couldn't find the memories. She wasn't certain what to make of that. Either she was being lied to (very, very well) or someone or something seriously powerful had decided she was to lose those memories and had left no 'but's about it. Either that, or it was because she was terribly unused to looking for memories in herself that were out of easy reach.]

...Riqis, what happened? I mean-- the time I was here before.

[Commentlog]

[myownmemory]

A lot happened.

[He sighed. A lot had. He didn't want to go through the load of it, through all the messy 'you and I's, which probably wouldn't make her first day back here very comfortable.

...because it felt like she was new here, and he didn't want to make her upset, first thing. When she was probably confused, scared.

Needing him. Maybe. For once. He guarded that thought jealously.]

We taught you a little bit how to fight for yourself. How to do some healing magic.

You stayed with Aaron, out at the Pagoda.

[He told her steadily, a careful patience in his voice.]

Riku stayed there too, he was tempted to add, but stayed his tongue. He didn't want to bring his Original up. Maybe not yet, maybe not ever. ]

...A few weeks ago, there was some trouble. This world changed into another one, a sort of half a copy-one, but...and it was like a prison. We tried to fight back, and we got hurt. You...you went into the schoolhouse, and...[And you died.] and whatever happened to you in there, you didn't speak about.

Whatever it was, it hurt you bad. You...[An uncomfortable pause]...you forgot about me, because of it. That's what happens here, when the gods lend their help to heal you up, give you life. They take away a memory. It was a memory of who I was.

[His voice had gone very low, deliberately quiet, his expression a careful blank aimed at the floor]

...So I'm surprised, that you remember again. Now that you're back.

But I'm glad.