✩ 01 | a shooting star lands in the sea

[lux_permanet]

Characters: Aqua and everyone!
Location: Park - Outside the greenhouse
Time: Evening - Late hours
Style: Anything is fine. I'll match you!
Status: Open!

Aqua was never the type to panic. She is the level headed student Master Erauqs trained to be calm in all strange and new situations. She was always the composed one. The voice of reason. So a part of

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[lux_permanet]

The voice seemed to shake her mentally awake as unfocused eyes blinked and gazed up at the source. Aqua probably looked a little too awestruck, too dumbfounded as she stared at Squall. Was it really so strange to see another person? It was when you've been in the dark for so long without anyone else to talk to. "Hmm." A soft hum was all she could muster when taking in his command, processing it. Subconsciously, her body responded without protest as she bent her legs under her and rose from the cold spot on the ground. An even colder chill ran up her spine and she could feel the numbness of the air seep right into her bones.

Only now was she vaguely aware that the silk, white sleeves of her outfit clung to her arms and the blue sash around her hips was weighed down with water. How did that happen? Did she fall asleep by the black sand shore again? She wanted to ask the young man so many questions about this new place and how she got here since escaping the Realm of Darkness was an impossibility. Instead, she tilted her head slightly to the side and asked, "Who are you?"

He wouldn't know it but the stranger had given Aqua a small happiness in finally having the opportunity to talk to someone after being alone for so long.

[requiem_griever]

She stared at him, and Squall shifted awkwardly under her gaze. What was she doing? Scrutinizing him? Was she scared of him? Or did she just not understand him? But then she stood up and he felt relieved.

"Squall Leonhart," he said, glad that she had asked him something easy. Huh, if that girl didn't get somewhere warm or at least dried off a bit, she was in a world of trouble. There was a rack of dry towels nearby, so he took one and handed it to her. Would that even be enough? He didn't know.

...maybe...

With his other hand, he tried concentrated on drawing energy from the surroundings. He hadn't tried to use magic ever since his own arrival, and now was as good a time as any. After far more effort than it should have taken, he finally was able to summon a small fire spell in his hand.

That was terrible. Either something affected his magic, or he was out of practice.

"You?"

[lux_permanet]

Squall. Squall Leonhart. She repeated his name mentally to be sure to never forget it and nodded her thanks for the offered towel. As she wrapped it around her shivering body, Aqua took a moment to take a better look around her surroundings and seemed to be in deep thought until the flicker of fire caught her eye.

She stared at the magic produced to give her warmth and she seemed unfazed by the fact that he could use such a skill. Well, maybe she was mildly surprised.

"My name is Aqua," she replied and lifted her hands up to the source of warmth. She twisted her fingers and turned her palms to work out the cold that stiffened the joints.

"Thank you... for helping me."

[requiem_griever]

He was expecting a thank you, but it was strange to hear all the same. Squall was used to being praised for his work. Good job. You did well. But he wasn't used to actually being thanked for things. It was...weird. He maintained the flame and kept his attention on it. Partially to concentrate on keeping it lit, and partially so he could avoid eye contact.

"I didn't do anything special," he replied.

[lux_permanet]

Occasionally, Aqua would look up at Squall in silent observation when he wasn't looking. Normally she wouldn't stare at someone so intently, especially at a stranger but she couldn't help herself. Being by yourself for perhaps a year... maybe even longer can do that to a person.

"You might think that..." she started with a small smile and tugged the towel, feeling much warmer than before. "But I am thankful you did. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming... or..." The sentence trailed off and she fell silent again, eyes cast down to the ground.

[requiem_griever]

Squall was aware of Aqua watching him, and he couldn't blame her. He'd stare too. He turned and looked at her curiously. What exactly was she talking about? Dreaming? Squall didn't have the highest opinion of dreams as of late. Not when he kept dreaming that he was some moron frolicking around like an idiot. And before he had woken up in this underwater city, he had dreamt that he was drowning.

"This isn't a dream, as much as I'd like it to be," he said. "I'm like you, just dropped in here a couple hours ago."

[lux_permanet]

Bright, blue eyes blinked up at him as a look of worry washed over her face. "You too?" She shook her head and turned away, eyes trained elsewhere on the landscape of the park. "What sort of power does this place have?" she whispered, a hand brought up to her mouth with her fingers pressed against her lips. She stood like that for a few minutes in deep thought like she was trying to piece together clues to a puzzle.

"I know you may not know much," she suddenly said, turning back to Squall. "But do you know where we are?"

[requiem_griever]

It was as Aqua said, he didn't know much more than the basics. But being able to explain it to someone kind of made him feel like he was back at Garden. And maybe talking about it out loud would help him sort it out himself. Squall closed his eyes and extinguished his fire, crossing his arms.

"This place is called Vatheon," he started. "It's an underwater city in another dimension. It pulls in people from all kinds of universes and we're expected to just live here." He made no attempt to hide his annoyance. To him, it didn't even sound like there was a good reason for this to be happening. Or any reason at all.

[lux_permanet]

"Vatheon..." She mentally flipped through all the memories of the worlds she had visited, none of them called Vatheon. "So... it summons people from other worlds? ... why?" The question wasn't directed at Squall because he only just arrived. How could he know?

She took note of his discontent and completely understood why he would feel angry. But a part of her felt a sense of relief. If this really was a new world, that means she would no longer be alone and in the dark. In some weird way, she was thankful to whomever (or whatever) brought her here. Although, she was worried about one small thing...

"So... you've been told there's no way out."

[requiem_griever]

Squall shook his head. "None that's been found. I'm sure most of the people here would leave if they had the chance." He certainly would. It was more than just wanting to go home. He was needed back where he came from. How was Garden faring without him? Just fine, he bet, but the fact that he wasn't there and there was no way to get back there bothered him to no end. "Whoever or whatever brought us here wants us to stay."

And it wasn't just the whole "nobody can leave" thing, the locals were ridiculously generous. It made Squall suspicious.

[lux_permanet]

Her gratefulness seemed to falter quite a bit. So, she was stuck... again. "I find it hard to believe that there's no way out. We just have to find it," she reassured, a determined look about her features. "This place can't keep us forever... we're needed back home." Aqua hasn't forgotten. She needed to get back to her friends, to Terra and Ven.

She shivered a little now that the magic he produced for warmth was extinguished. Maybe it was best to find shelter to rest for the night. Worrying about their new living arrangements would do nothing for the two newcomers. "We should find a place to stay... for the time being."

Team Mom, these two would be

[requiem_griever]

Squall was of a similar mindset. If Vatheon expected him to just sit down and accept this, it was sorely mistaken. He liked Aqua's boldness, though he didn't say or show any approval. What she said made sense. They should definitely find a place to-

Wait. What!?

The first thought to cross Squall's mind was this was not what he expected. He was just going to make sure she was all right, give her what information he knew, and be on his way. How was he supposed to respond to this? Tell her no? But then he'd potentially lose track of her, and Aqua seemed like someone he would want to work with on solving the mystery of getting out. But still, this was too weird and he should tell her he'd rather just be by himself.

"You're right. I heard it's easy for newcomers to find places to stay. They give away practically everything free here."

Dammit.

Indeed! :D

[lux_permanet]

"Really? Then that is good news for us. The soon we have a chance to rest, the soon we can gather information about this place," she said, the situation resolved. Little did she know of the conflict presently battling inside Squall's mind!

"Do you know where we are exactly?" She realized then how late it was in the night and wondered if it were even possible to find a place to rest. "Do you think there's someone we can talk to this late in the night?"

Come, Aqua, we will fuss over this city together

[requiem_griever]

Why. Why did he say that? Squall at first didn't know why he agreed to that. He didn't know this girl aside from her name. Did their shared predicament have something to do with it? That was probably part of it.

Or maybe he just didn't want to leave her alone.

"We're in a park," he answered. He was still learning the layout of the city himself. "And there has to be someone we can talk to. If all else fails, we can check into a hotel."

And despite his earlier inner panic, the fact that a plan of action of some kind was being made and executed helped Squall feel a little bit better, like he had more control over the situation, even if it was just a tiny bit.

Yes, let's! (Please for give the typos... clearly my mind is not all here this night. >.<)

[lux_permanet]

"Hmm... a hotel..." She was in her quiet mode again, fingers pressed to her lips and suddenly deep in thought. Aqua had always been the type to think things through and come up with plans. It was the way she liked things to be run: efficiently and effectively.

"I think a hotel is best option for the both of us. It's far too late in the evening to look for help... we'd be running around for the next hour or so before getting any answers." She motioned her hand out towards him than down a path supposedly leading out of the park. "Let's get moving... it's far too cold to be standing here."

YAY, UH, if you ever wanna talk, my contact info's on his journal

[requiem_griever]

It is far too cold, and only now does Squall actually put on the jacket that he's been lugging around for the past couple of hours. It was a little stiff from the water and cold, but it still offered some warmth and protection from the cold.

"Let's go then. I saw a place a couple blocks from here."

So Aqua was an initiative taker. It was a nice change of pace from everyone turning to him for direction on what to do all the time. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad.