queenoflogs | birth by sleep. ( open )

Entry tags:

birth by sleep. ( open )

Characters: Aqua and OPEN
Date: 22nd January, afternoon.
Summary: Aqua's escaped her cage, and has come tumbling into the Gardens.
Warnings: Spoilers for Blank Points.

Aqua wondered, from time to time, if the Realm of Darkness had a name before she arrived there. Perhaps it was something she had heard of from Master Eraqus, all those years ago, or maybe she conjured it up after endless hours spent wandering dark paths. It was hard to think back that far—did she know what she was getting into when she sacrificed herself for Terra? Did she know that she'd end up in a world that sapped every last drop of light from her bones and the air all around, all so that she could save Terra, so he could save Ven, and then at least they'd have each other? Surely she wouldn't have willingly abandoned them like that, left them alone while she spent what was either a decade or a hundred years in a world so full of nothing that it didn't even deserve a name.

When Aqua woke up, she felt as if she'd been beaten from all sides. She'd actually woken up, and that was too much for her to comprehend at first. In the Realm of Darkness, there was nothing she could do to waste away her hours. She didn't eat, she didn't drink, she didn't sleep, and she certainly didn't dream. And yet there she was, face-down in wild grass, each and every sense so utterly overwhelmed that she believed she might never move again.

Her first thought was to work out where she could possibly be, what world she'd crash-landed on, but soon learnt that she just didn't care. There was light, if only in name alone, in the Realm of Darkness, but that had only served to make the shadows starker and the dark shapes on the horizon deeper; the sunlight, so unfamiliar to Aqua, stung her eyes, making them water. It was so much warmer there, made her feel so wonderfully alive, and it was as if Aqua was only just realising that she'd been freezing all along. For a brief moment – and it was only the most hollow, fleeting of moments, one that Aqua would desperately cling to and try to recall at least a jot of in the weeks and months to come – she felt that nothing in the Realm of Darkness mattered, and that it had been another life altogether.

Sprawled out against the dirt in clothes that weren't her own, Aqua kept her eyes screwed shut to protect them from the light, and reached blindly for her Keyblade, though she knew it was bound to appear at even her subconscious behest. The sound of light cutting into the air like diamonds rang in her ears, and there it was, Rainfell firm in her hand. It was all she needed.

She was out. She may no longer have had a home to return to, but there were people she could save, and that was enough. She was free.

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Aqua didn't believe that last part for a second. The girl, Xion, couldn't have been nobody important; not when she looked so much like Ven, not when she acting so casually about slipping from one world to another. Aqua was suspicious to say the least, and determined to learn more without being forceful. Xion was staring at her feet, seemingly dejected, and Aqua immediately felt that she'd made a faux pas by asking her who she was.

“It's nice to meet you, Xion,” Aqua said gently, and genuinely did mean it. She hadn't met anyone in so long, and confusing though this all was, she was grateful for the opportunity to do so. “My name is Ma—”

Pausing mid-sentence, Aqua found herself oddly hesitant. Should she give out her title, she wondered; was there even any need to? She'd earnt it, she knew that well enough, but Aqua didn't feel that it was something to boast about, or laud around. Still, making note of her status might get her some way to getting to the bottom of the truth.

“My name is Master Aqua. Please, call me Aqua, though,” Aqua finally said, not liking to let the silence linger. She flicked her wrist, banishing her Keyblade elsewhere. “You shouldn't say that you aren't anyone important, Xion. Getting to meet you here, like this – it's important to me. I know there must be a reason for it.”

"Aqua." She repeated the name carefully, as if pressing it into place in her mind. Those words made her feel strange, almost...giddy. An odd, bubbly feeling in her chest, a tingle at the back of her neck. Getting to meet you here, like this – it's important to me. They resonated with her, her heart. She'd almost forgotten how grateful she was to be here, alive, breathing, seeing things and meeting people. Living was important. How could she have lost sight of how much it meant to her?

Because you took away parts of someone else's life to stay here, that nagging voice reminded her. It's not right. But she shook it off for the moment, as best she could.

"I--...it's important to me, too."

But wait.

"...master? What does that mean?" She hesitated again, then pushed on. She had to know. "Why do you have a Keyblade...?"

“I'm a Keyblade Master,” Aqua began to explain, deciding it was best to be upfront. She was usually right, when it came to following her instincts, and Xion seemed trustworthy. She had a good aura, a good heart, even if she was a little hesitant, seeming to shy away. If she recognised the Keyblade on sight, then Aqua certainly couldn't let her get away. The fact that she looked like Ven was still eating away at her, because the last person who resembled him had been the all too literal dark part of her heart, and she wasn't sure if a person could be split in three. “I've been training to use it all my life. What do you know about the Keyblade, Xion?”

She was starting to realize how little she really knew about the Keyblade all over again. Masters? Training all their lives? Sora hadn't gotten hers until she was a teenager, right? And Xion herself, as well as Roxas, only had one because of Sora.

"I--a friend of mine. My best friend has one. And someone else...her name is Sora."

She hesitated again, but she realized there was no use hiding it any longer. Other people have seen her Keyblade. One of them might tell Aqua, and she didn't want that information to be learned secondhand. She wished it didn't have to be so sudden, but...

"And..."

She took a deep breath, realizing she was shaking a little, and held both hands out in front of her, calling for it. That familiar weight settled into her palms, and she clutched the gold-and-silver weapon to her chest, eyes downcast. She was almost afraid of what she would see if she looked up.

Edited 2011-01-23 21:04 (UTC)

Aqua had seen Keyblades that weren't her own before, and had grown up surrounded by plenty of other trainees, so seeing another blade in and of itself wasn't exactly surprising. The fact that this girl hand one, however, caught her off guard, and she furrowed her brow, scrutinising the weapon, almost as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. Xion hadn't recognised the title of Master, which caused doubt to swell up inside of Aqua, but the Keyblade wasn't something that one could simply steal. It chose its Wielders for a reason. Aqua shook her head, banishing the thoughts; Xion had a good heart. She'd already decided that much.

Still, the bit about Sora made her take pause, and she tried to weigh the name against the fact that Xion's referred to her as a girl, too. With Ventus, she could convince herself that it was a mere coincidence, but now she wasn't so certain. The man by the shore told her of how Sora travelled from world to world, Keyblade in hand, so she knew there has to be some link there.

The man on the shore wearing the same manner of cloak as Xion, Aqua told herself, feeling more and more questions form in the back of her head.

“You're a Keyblade Wielder, Xion?” Aqua asked, kneeling a little, so that she could look her in the eye. So much for being nobody important. “This Sora you know... is he – she – from Destiny Islands? I know there has to be something more to this.”

Edited 2011-01-23 21:16 (UTC)

At the very least, no matter who she looked like, those wide blue eyes staring back at Aqua were the same.

"I don't know if I'm anything like that...I've just had it for as long as I can remember." She didn't know how else to elaborate on her situation without getting too deep. But Sora, at least, she could talk about.

"Um, I thought Sora was a boy at first, too. But then I met her here, and she was a girl. Is. And..." she nodded. "She's from Destiny Islands. You know her...?"

She didn't loosen her grip of her Keyblade--it felt too solid and reassuring in her hands to let go of. If Aqua knew of Sora, why hadn't Xion ever seen her in the girl's memories? There were just more and more questions that seemed to crop up with every one she answered.

Aqua wanted to laugh at how ridiculously complicated this was all getting, but decided to keep her inappropriate, dry amusement to herself, lest she give Xion the impression that she was mocking her. Another person linked to Sora, then; it made sense, in an odd way that Aqua couldn't quite reason through, and the matters of swapped genders was the least of her concerns. All of them were in this together, somehow, and it was important that she figure out how.

Placing her hands gently on the handle of Xion's Keyblade, but making no attempt to pull it away from her, Aqua stared down at it, taking a moment to just think. She felt as if she might drown in her thoughts, for it was all too much for one day. Back out in the light, everything was infinitely more complicated than anything a world of Darkness could offer.

“I met Sora a long, long time ago. She was... four, I think. Five, at the oldest. I'm not sure how much time has gone by, and I don't know if she even remembers me. How do you know her, Xion?”

Xion blinked at the gesture, but didn't draw back. At the very least, this woman seemed to be trying to help. And her words were a little reassuring. It made sense, now...Xion's glimpse at Sora's memories didn't go far back enough to have seen Aqua.

"She's, um..." She wasn't sure how old Sora was, but-- "She's my size, now."

How did she know her? That got even more complicated.

"I used to...have these dreams about her." She bites her lip. She can't say everything. It's too much.

“Your size?” Aqua asked, voice lost to a murmur. The words were mostly for her own benefit, and she was pulled this way and that by two conflicting emotions. The thought that Sora had grown, that she'd been able to take up the Keyblade and protect all the worlds that Aqua couldn't filled her with a soft, understated happiness, made her proud, but it only served to confirm just how long she herself had been missing for. Definitely at least a decade, she thought, swallowing the lump in her throat. There was no use denying it anymore, no use in hoping that time spent in the Darkness acted as an illusion that threw senses out of order.

Xion's answer, of course, didn't clear anything up for Aqua. Letting go of her Keyblade, she chose not to press her any further. After all, Xion had no reason to trust her; Aqua had to earn her answers.

“It's alright if you don't want to tell me, Xion. We've only just met.”

Aqua's understanding was a relief. She hadn't told Sora anything yet, and the girl didn't push it either. As for Xion's friends...she didn't know how she was going to break it to them. If they didn't remember the good times, what reason would they have to accept her if they knew the truth?

She echoed that silent reminder to herself--I'll set things right. She didn't know when or how, but she would. What scared her, though, was that she wasn't sure if she could give herself up again. She'd made the choice because there was no other way, but here she was...alive. She didn't want to throw that away again. She'd made so many friends! Was it right? Was it even fair?

She let her Keyblade disappear, finally, noting that Aqua had already done the same.

"I'm sorry I can't...help more. I don't know very much."

“It's fine,” Aqua reassured her, certain that a topic change would do the both of them a world of good. It'd been an awkward first meeting, that much was clear enough, and Aqua hoped that there was some way for her to smooth things over. “I'm sure you've helped me out more than either of us realise. These things have a way of all coming together. Maybe you could tell me what you know about this world?”

Yes, she could do that. She straightened a little, trying to calm herself.

"Well...it's called the Gardens. And it's the Queen who brought us all here. She has some people helping her, but none of them will really explain why."

She thought for a moment. What else was there?

"And like I said--there are only girls here. I think the boys get turned into girls, or...something. Someone I met called it 'alternate universes' but I didn't really understand. We think the Queen needs girls for something. There are a lot of things about love, like on the computers and in the library, so I thought maybe she was studying Hearts. But I can't be sure."

She took a deep breath; the words had just started to spill out, building more momentum than she expected and making her a bit dizzy.

"And no one can leave. Or, we haven't found a way to, yet. There are animals that will help you, and you can build things...and sometimes there are monsters around, but not always."

Aqua listened intently, nodding as Xion spoke. It didn't sound too far removed from any of the other worlds she'd visited, with the exception of not being able to leave. At the mention of being able to build things, Aqua made a mental note to retry making her armour at some point, if it was at all possible; with any luck, she'd be able to fly straight out.

The studying hearts part, however, was particularly worrying. That'd have to be the first thing she dealt with, rather than worrying about getting home.

“Thank you for the help, Xion,” she said, trying to organise her thoughts. “And how are you getting on in this world? Are you alright?”

She blinked at the question, startled. She was still getting used to people asking how she was feeling.

"I'm...yeah. I'm okay." She paused, wondering if she should elaborate. "I made some friends here. It's not so bad." She glanced down again, briefly. "I want to help everyone else get home, but...I'll probably stay here. There's not really anywhere else for me to go."

Aqua could understand that much. Worlds disappearing, stars blinking out of existence. That sort of thing was happening far too often, these days, and if Xion wanted to stay here, where there seemed to at least be the illusion of safety, then Aqua could hardly blame her.

“I'm glad that it's working out for you,” she said, smiling. “Even in the most confusing of situations, you can still find something good—and if you're helping everyone get home, then I expect we'll be working together in the near future.”

Xion looked back up at that. It wasn't often that people welcomed her help. She was used to it from her friends, but from someone she just met, the most she could usually hope for was indifference.

That said...it was a good feeling. She wouldn't deny that. She wanted to prove herself to this woman.

"I'll do whatever I can."

“I'm glad to hear that, Xion,” Aqua said, smiling at the girl. No matter the reason for all the things she'd learnt, no matter why Xion had a Keyblade and looked like Ven, she was glad that she was here. She seemed like somebody Aqua could rely on. “I'd better— get settled in. These aren't even my own clothes!”

That smile made her chest feel warm, soothing some of her anxiety. She could be useful to someone.

"They should have your clothes somewhere, you just have to look." She twiddled her fingers a bit. "And hope the rabbits haven't found them first. They ruined my boots when I first got here..."

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birth by sleep. ( open )

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whoops, tense hiccup there.

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