discoveries?

[prayerless]

Characters: Aqua, Roxas, and hopefully the other girls of 1-07? Also open.
Setting: Room 1-07 (Aqua, AU!Feferi, Vietnam, Vriska) or Floor Three, the old library
Format: Starting prose, but I'll match. <3
Summary: Spells, socializing, and stumbling across something quite unfortunate.
Warnings: (Temporary) character death in the library, and magic

Comments

[prayerless]

When no response came, Aqua narrowed her eyes, calling her Keyblade to her hand. It materialized in clusters of light. She reached out with it, hooking the blanket on the prongs and pulling the cover the rest of the way off.

Nothing attacked her, but what she found was almost as alarming as any enemy would have been. "Roxas?" she prompted, eyes wide. When there was no response, she dismissed Stormfall and then knelt in front of the tent. The master doubled over so that she could reach inside and gently agitate his shoulder. The shaking produced no response.

Aqua felt a minor surge of panic begin to coil in her gut, and her hand moved from his shoulder to rest two fingers against the pulse point of his neck.

He wasn't just asleep.

She probably kept her hand on him longer than was strictly necessary, hoping beyond hope that his heart would start beating again. Her eyes stung a little and her throat felt tight, but no tears answered the call that her body posed.

It took her a while before she found enough composure to gingerly move the shelf away from Roxas so that he was uncovered. What was she supposed to do? There weren't exactly funerary services in this place, considering.

Aqua stood by Roxas' unmoving body for what felt like hours until she finally bent to retrieve the discarded blanket. One knee touched to the floor as she spread the blanket over the blond. With the utmost gentleness, she cozied up the cover around him as if tucking him in, leaving just enough room for his head to peek out.

Following that, she looked at his lifeless face, the sting in her throat moving to her chest. A lock of hair was brushed softly away from his face preceding her straightening up again.

With that, she made her way to the staircase, fully intent on meditating with her thoughts for a while before she told Ven about what she found.

[f0rceless]

"Aqua?"

She might not get her chance to go very far, because apparently Ven had been coming up the stairs to..whatever his destination was, and was stopped on the stairway when he saw the blunette in the library.

"Hey! What are you doing?" He asked. She seemed like she had had somewhere to go, but then when did he ever care about keeping people from their appointments for a chat.

[lethechained]

Naminé happened to be coming the opposite direction down the stairs (the elevator was easier, sure, but she had working legs and, after all, the exercise was good for her). The familiar voice stopped her in her tracks, and she was quick to look to see which of the two possible candidates it belonged to. Ven, it appeared, and... was that who she thought it was with him? She blinked; she'd known Aqua was here, but she'd yet to meet her. Now seemed as good a time as any, despite the growing feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn't quite right. She'd waved the thought off several times already today, blaming it on her continuing process of adjustment to living in the tower. Uncertain exactly how to approach the situation, she settled for the greeting of, "Ven," accompanied by an almost apologetic smile.

[prayerless]

Aqua barely registered Ven's voice at first, testament enough to how shaken she was despite not appearing so. It was only after some considerably delayed brain processes did Aqua realize that she was being addressed by something that wasn't a figment of her imagination.

She turned to face Ven, breath catching briefly when the similarities between him and Roxas struck her again. "Ven," she replied distantly, managing something that kind of looked like a smile.

It didn't last once her eyes were cast back in the direction she had just come from. She didn't want to have to tell him now. She needed time to think. But, he needed to know.

"Roxas is..." The statement trailed off oddly, as she was unsure how to phrase exactly what it was that she wanted to tell Ven without hitting him too hard with the knowledge. A brief reprieve seemed to come in the form of an unfamiliar girl.

Aqua turned her head to look at the petite blonde. Ventus was spared an inquisitive glance, but Aqua wasn't really surprised. Ven was good at making friends, and he'd probably been out and about the tower more than she had. Her attentions returned to the new girl, and despite the weight on her mind and heart, she managed a polite smile. "You know Ven?"

[f0rceless]

The way Aqua said his name, Ven grew a bit more concerned. He tilted his head to the side and was about to ask what was the matter, before he noticed Naminé descending on the staircase he was currently occupying. He dropped the subject momentarily, grinning when he noticed the other blonde. "Hey Naminé!"

"Oh, right!" He looked back at Aqua for a moment, "Aqua, this is my friend, Naminé. I met her around the tower." He'd, just tell her about the fact that Naminé knew a bunch of stuff they didn't later. That could wait, right? "Naminé, this is my friend Aqua, the one I was telling you about," He added, now looking back at Naminé.

Ven was pretty happy with himself when he finished introductions (now two of his friends could meet each other after all!), so when Aqua brought up Roxas, he looked back at her with a side glance, still smiling a bit. "What about Roxas?"

[lethechained]

Her smile got a little more open when she was greeted back, and she descended the last few steps to stop on the even floor. She turned her eyes toward Aqua as Ven introduced them. It was strange, finally seeing her in person, and she couldn't help studying her just a bit. Ven's omission of certain things did not, however, go unnoticed. Still, she managed a smile for Aqua and a nod. "It's nice to meet you, Aqua." Fortunately she had the presence of mind not to include a 'finally' in there.

She was immediately distracted by the mention of Roxas, which caused her to glance at Ven, then look back to Aqua, expression growing more curious and just ever so slightly apprehensive, that feeling that something was off coming to mind immediately.

[prayerless]

Aqua looked between Ven and Naminé with distraction. It's not that she wasn't happy to meet one of Ventus' friends, but...she wasn't exactly in the right mindset for it. If she noticed Naminé's observance of her, she didn't say anything. "It's nice to meet you, too," returned the mage, adding as an afterthought, "I hope Ven didn't tell you any bad things about me." It was intended as a joke, but there was understandably not much life to it.

She almost thought she'd gotten away with not having to talk about Roxas for the time being, but then Ven had to bring it up again. The small smile vanished, and she looked away from both her fellow apprentice and his new friend, focusing her gaze somewhere just off of the floor.

"...I found Roxas' body," she finally said, voice somber.

[f0rceless]

"Aw come on Aqua, you know I wouldn't say anything bad about you!" Ven offered, chuckling a little and folding his arms behind his head. It wasn't that he didn't notice her listlessness, more that he wanted to try and cheer her up. Her and Naminé seemed so down!

When Aqua spoke again however, he lowered his arms and looked...well, considerably less pleased with himself. He looked at Naminé as if to check to her reaction, before looking back at Aqua again and speaking carefully, his brow furrowing a bit. "You...found his body? What do you mean?"

[lethechained]

Naminé's reaction was... good, considering. She made no noise, but her skin went ashen immediately, her eyes wide and disbelieving for only an instant before her expression became something between shame and surprise. She'd known something was wrong-- she hadn't seen him in so long-- why hadn't she gone to look for him? Why? She already knew what Aqua meant, but still, she looked at Ven when he asked and back at Aqua, hoping her assumption was incorrect.

[prayerless]

Aqua still didn't meet Ven's eyes -- she wasn't sure exactly what Naminé's silence meant, but she wasn't going to ask. It wasn't her place. "...he wasn't asleep," she went on regretfully, reluctant to bluntly speak of the matter of death. "I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry."

[f0rceless]

"...."

It was obvious he made the conclusion at some point, as Ven's face slowly moved towards a mixture of shock and sadness. He looked down at the ground a bit, trying to think. It couldn't have been Eiji again, could it?! No... she said she found the body, so he hadn't been shattered, right...? Unless Eiji had some other powers..

"But why, what happened?" He said when he finally looked up. He seemed to be keeping his calm at least, though it was obvious he was in not a little bit of distress. This was the second time after all! "Did he get attacked by someone?"

[lethechained]

Ven saved her the trouble of asking, so she kept silent, watching Aqua carefully for her answer. Naminé's expression changed only to grow more pained as she waited and her mind reeled until she managed to reign it in; it didn't pay to assume without that answer.

[prayerless]

Aqua finally found herself able to look at Ven when he posed the question. "...I'm not sure," she confessed quietly. She had to think for a few seconds after her claim. "I found him in a little fort," she elaborated with a motion of her arm, "down that way."

A thought struck her. "...it actually looked like he had been asleep. He had ice cream wrappers around him, too. It seemed like he had been staying in that thing for a little while."

[f0rceless]

"Ice cream wrappers...?" Well that was a bit, baffling. He knew Roxas liked ice cream, maybe he had just brought a bunch with him...still, you'd think he'd at least clean up or something. He wasn't really sure if Roxas was the tidy type or not.

Still frowning, Ven zipped off towards the direction Aqua had indicated and down the line of books to check on the fort and the body inside. Maybe he'd be able to find some sort evidence?

next time on CSI: Animus

[comboherooo]

Did someone call for an obvious suspect?

While Eiji wasn't quite the reading type, the library was one of the more peaceful areas of the tower - and it had the computers, which he was on his way to show Ankh when he spotted the group of kids doing something. He didn't see Ven since his head was shoved in the fort, so Eiji makes a small detour. "Hey, everything okay over here...?"

[handpuppeeet]

Ankh had already been eying the computers with intrigue when they entered, a popsicle in one hand. Though when Eiji got side-tracked by something, he made a slight 'tch' sound in annoyance before following the magical hobo him on the detour.

"What're you doing?" He asked, coming up to the rest of those assembled and biting the top off his popsicles.