And I still see your reflection inside of my eyes [ closed ]

[flame_flurry]

Who: Castle residents! (You know who you are!)
What: Ven's been unconscious for way too long. Time to fix this heart problem.
Where: The Castle That Never Was
When: TBA (sometime soon!)
Warnings: Spoilers for BBS? And KH in general.
Notes: Post order will prooobably get sort of weird. :|; Hit it where you feel it's appropriate; we can work out

Comments

[MAIN THREAD IS HERE]

[journeybroken]

Roxas hadn't slept as much as he should have. He knew how these things went at times, so he tried not to worry too much... But he couldn't help it. Ven was his friend--almost like a sibling of his, he couldn't deny that--and seeing him like this was painful. It was like watching himself, asleep and detached from those he loved. He would hate himself, if he woke up to find he'd been out as long as Ven had been, worrying his friends this way.

... And yet, Ven didn't even know that his own friend was here now... It wasn't just the residents of the Castle anymore. It was this man, from their world, who claimed to be Ven's friend. Maybe one of the ones he'd mentioned before... They would find out for sure who he was if when Ven woke up, though... Until then, the man was harmless, having just arrived and lost all powers he'd possessed back in their world

[unlockingsmiles]

Sora didn't knock on the door or say anything as he walked in - he didn't need to. The Keyblade Master just took a place by the wall, slipping in as if he had never left at all. Really, with the amount of time he had spent there, it was almost as if he hadn't. Every day, he had been coming in to check on Ven - sometimes, he would stay for hours, and sometimes just for a little while, but he always came.

Every day, he kept hoping he would come in and see some sort of change for the better. But, so far, there was still nothing. Ven was on the bed, still just as asleep as he had been all the days before.

Sora sighed, still keeping quiet. The worst part about it was that the more time he spent there, the more that he felt as if there was something he should know. Something that could help, but that he couldn't remember. That feeling had been growing, and, as he stood there, he tried his hardest to think. Was it something he had forgotten, or something that he was being reminded of? Or both?But there had to be a way to fix this. Ven

[flame_flurry]

Speaking to fill the silence was generally something that Axel was good at, provided it wasn't a silence that he himself was enforcing. It was better to say something -- anything -- in this situation, he thought. If they didn't talk, how would Ven hear them? If they didn't speak, how was this any different than standing at the bedside of someone on the verge of death?

His own concern over this whole thing was ... oddly muted. It was strange: he should have been feeling more about this. It wasn't as though his friends weren't nearby, after all. But for some reason, he simply wasn't as concerned as he should have been. It was as though there were something missing, but it was ... faint. Just enough of a nagging annoyance to be a distraction.

Sora's statement pulled Axel from his thoughts, and he looked over at the brunette, a frown crossing his features.

"But she was a pretty unique case, wasn't she?" he asked. "Something about being a Princess? Ven's definitely not that."

[unlockingsmiles]

Sora nodded in response to the question, taking another look at Ven before turning his attention back to Axel.

"That's right. Her Heart doesn't have any Darkness. That's what makes the Princesses of Heart so special. But...that's all I can think of."

He wasn't sure what he meant by that, exactly. He tried to think, absentmindedly staring off to the side and scratching the back of his head as he did so. Ven couldn't be the same as Kairi, right? But, then, what could be wrong with him? If he had just been hurt in a fight or something back home, he would've woken up right now.

So then...what?

"Maybe it's not exactly the same, but what if there really is something wrong with his heart?"

[INTERNAL STUFF HERE]

[journeybroken]

Roxas didn't even feel himself slipping away from the room. Whatever was said after that didn't mean anything to his ears. All he could see was Ven, and all he could feel was a sense of calm focus, contradictory in its consuming haze that blocked out the world around them. He could feel something was here...

Something was with him.

[ventrust]

He could feel someone there. It was what brought him back to some semblance of a conscious state. But...he wasn't supposed to exist anymore, was he? His heart had shattered, after all. So how could he be here? Not that...he knew where here was. It was warm, though. Familiar. Like something from a long time ago...

I'm not supposed to be here-- He thinks, and he nearly goes back to sleep, then. To that state of near-non-existence. Except that feeling--like someone was there with him--brought back a memory. A promise.

That's right. I promised...that I would go back. But how could he go back, when he didn't have anyway to go back. After all, he didn't exist, not really. He was just--But there was someone there, right? So maybe they were listening. Maybe...maybe they could tell everyone he was sorry he'd broken his promise--And so he concentrates. He tries with all he has to be heard by the person he knew was there:

"Hello?"

[journeybroken]

Roxas doesn't know where the voice comes from. Somewhere inside of him--because he knows he's there, within himself... He just doesn't know how. It's confusing, but he doesn't try to dwell on that. He's concentrating on the fact that there is a voice there inside of him... and a familiar one. His own.

Ven's.

That realization makes him nearly lose the fragile and fleeting connection, but he holds fast to it, the only physical sign of this is a very slight and sudden wince that's gone in half a second.

Roxas reaches desperately out to the voice's source, feeling something rising when he does. Something... full. Something he knows well, but can't place.

"Ven..?"

[ventrust]

"Roxas?"

If he could laugh, he would. Because it seemed kind of ironic, that the person listening was the one who looked like he did. But he didn't think on it long, because he didn't know how much time he had. It felt like he might sink and fall away again, and that worried him. He wasn't ready to go just yet.

So he focuses, and eventually the feeling itself falls away. I'm not going anywhere, He decides not yet. Not until he gets his message through.

"I'm sorry."

[SHIT HITS THE FAN HERE]

[journeybroken]

Despite the conversations around him, Roxas isn't responding, or even seemingly listening. He's in his own world, dealing with the matter on a level the others can't. Every now and then, his expression changes for a split second before going back to calm. It looks as though he's lost in thought.

And then, suddenly, he twitches, expression turning very pained for a moment before it lessens, though it never fully fades. His concentration is running very deep, as he tries to Bend his heart away... and into Ven.

[ventrust]

He'd been about to apologize and say goodbye. He did know there was a way back, but he didn't want Roxas to lose his heart. It made him a little sad, that he probably wouldn't see his friends again, but he thought it was for the best--However, before he was able to say farewell, he was filled with an odd sensation. Almost like...he was being weighed down by something. And he swore he could feel the tips of his fingers...

"Roxas, what are you--"

Ven didn't finish the question, because in that moment he realized what Roxas was doing. There was a moment of panic but it passed. Oh, no. There was no way he was going to let Roxas do this. And so he focuses, trying to keep his heart right where it is.

[flame_flurry]

It's not Roxas' expression that initially alerts Axel. It's a strange sort of pull in his chest, like something being slowly stretched. His hand instinctively raises to rub at the odd sensation, and only belatedly does he realize exactly where his hand is pressing: right over his very much incomplete heart.

Confusion overtakes his expression as he focuses on the sensation, trying to figure out what's going on. Naturally, this proves completely futile. How could he know that Roxas, with whom Axel can feel, is giving away such a vital part of himself? How could he know that the odd stretching feeling is his body's very physical reaction to that sudden shift?

The feeling suddenly ebbs away, and in his confusion, he looks towards his best friend ... only to notice that eerily calm, but completely focused expression.

"Roxas?" he asks, his puzzlement over the strange feeling momentarily forgotten. "You alright?"

[unlockingsmiles]

Meanwhile, Sora doesn't notice much of anything until, after a few minutes of quiet, he again glances at Ven. His eyes, at first, pass right over Roxas. But slowly it dawns on Sora that he's been standing there for a really, really long time - had he even moved? Said anything? Had anyone else noticed how quiet he was being, or was it just him?

No, he realizes when Axel speaks. He wasn't the only one who had noticed. He stared as his brother for a few more seconds, and notices his expression - something about that strange focus seemed out of place, almost as if...as if there was something going on that they couldn't see. Something that Roxas was paying really close attention to.

"Roxas, you awake?" Sora asked, hoping that what he was seeing was just in his head.