[after their announcement...or threat, really, sora hangs up the pa system and he holds onto kairi's hand tightly, leading her back to the truck. sei and leo have already left, and he has a feeling she feels similarly in that they don't want to speak to others right now. maybe later. but for now, it's just the two of them.
it's silent as they walk, and it's only when he shuts the door and pulls her back down onto the mattress with the shoebill settling nearby and meow wow curling up at their feet that he just kind of...stares at the door again.]
...I don't care what it takes. We're bringing him back.
[ kairi follows quietly, holding onto sora just as tight. her mind seems elsewhere, and she curls up to settle close to sora when they sit on the bed. she doesn't look at him when he says that, just puts her head on his shoulder ]
Of course we will. [ she squeezes sora's hand a little more ] We've all been brought back from worse, haven't we? His heart's still out there. So we'll find it.
[that's fine. he will tilt his head to rest on hers, too, while they continue holding each other's hands. he knows she's right in that they've all been brought back from worse, but it still doesn't really make it better does it? riku's still gone right now.]
We keep looking for answers. I have the security badge now, so I can keep looking for places we might not normally be given access to. I wish we could go back and watch the footage in that room. Maybe we'd get a clue what happened and how we can bring him back.
[ it doesn't make it better, but it gives them something to cling to besides each other. how many times do they have to be separated from each other because of outside circumstances? over and over again? they can't even blame xehanort for this one.
probably. ]
Maybe we could. We haven't tried yet. [ to go back, despite the rat man's entire existence ] There's bound to be something we can find that'll help us figure out what happened. That's what that announcement said, right?
[they can still blame it on xehanort. it's probably fine.]
We can go back tonight, but...that announcement said they've been banned. And that other one made it sound like they weren't expecting these "incidents" to happen, but I keep thinking about something Riku and I found in the security room. It was a card that said "gas station: known for our quick turnaround."
If the quick turnaround is getting rid of us one by one, that kind of takes away any idea that this place isn't involved at all. Do you think management is actually gonna make an appearance tomorrow?
They're powerful enough to have taken the keyblade from you and from ... from Riku, too. So we don't have a choice but to play by their rules if we want to get through this, do we?
[ which she doesn't like, because whoever management is sucks and she wants to beat them up? so bad? ]
For now. At least until we know what the rules are and we can find a way to get around them. [no fuck management's rules, they want their friend back.]
I just wish we knew more about tomorrow so we knew what to expect and could prepare a little more. [they'll go in blind and be fine, but...he wants answers and waiting sucks.]
If we're meant to find out what happened... do you think that place I went to the other day is relevant? Maybe it'll be the same?
[ which they'd discussed, but she's not exactly thrilled with the idea of murder solving when all they want is a good old fashioned beatdown of a villain after they monologue? smh? ]
I don't know how true those places are, but if they are we might have a bigger problem. Did you talk to any of the others who had their eyes changed the other day? Kama and those guys?
... Yes. I talked with Artemy. They had to sacrifice half of their numbers, but... he said the people of that place kept doing it over and over, except it never worked.
...I talked to Hythlodaeus for a while when we first got here. He told me that back in his world, he and half of the population there chose to give up their lives to someone or something called Zodiark to prevent the destruction of their world and save the other half of their people.
[ it's said a little softly as she squeezes sora's hand again ]
He told me a little, about sacrificing himself so the two people he loved the most could achieve their dreams. [ which she hated then and hates even more now, thanks? ] But then... does that mean that was his world they went to?
That's what he meant. He seemed to think that was the best way to fulfill his purpose. [she can squeeze his hand because he's not stupid. he gets why that might upset her a little, so he adjusts their grip to hold her hand a little tighter.]
I can't say for sure, but it's a weird coincidence for this to happen twice. You guys met someone that Iris knew from her world and we lost her the next day. That group went somewhere and experienced something Hythlodaeus went through, and we lost him the next day, too.
I don't know. One death was enough. We've had multiple deaths pretty much every day since Iris's. So why kill Riku?
[it loops back to that point. it doesn't explain riku, and he's pissed because if the answer isn't really that so many people have to die (since that's a hythlodaeus-specific experience), then there was no reason for killing him! the end!]
Yes. [there's a finality when he says it, because he had a similar thought.]
Riku would have told us if he knew something. This wasn't his choice. [...] We don't even know when or how long he was hurting before he came back to us.
[poison is tricky. he's not sure if it was right before they saw him or if it was prolonged.]
All he said was... that he was thirsty, and tired. [ none of that seemed weird at the time, but sometimes you go back and reexamine every bit of an interaction because your frined fucking dies!!! ] He was panting when he got into the truck, too, like he'd been running... right?
[ was he in pain? she's hoping he wasn't. he looked like he just fell asleep ]
Yeah...I thought it was because he ran across the truck stop to get back to us, but thinking about it now that shouldn't have made him tired. We used to race all the time. [and they fight and train a lot? all three of them are fairly athletic.]
No, it was. [ she'd teased him about it, so she... kind of hopes it isn't relevant. fuck. ] He said he'd tried one of the ... icees? With Hyuse. I thought it was... like the popsicles we'd get as kids, that turned our tongues weird colors.
Then we'll have to figure out what it was and how it happened. Might've been something hidden in that icee thing, but that would still point to Hyuse wouldn't it? [he is unsure all over again.]
Okay. [ it's equally quiet, but she also makes no move to get up or anywhere away from him, so. clearly. she also thinks it should mean "let's stay here and ignore everything else". ]
w1 friday
it's silent as they walk, and it's only when he shuts the door and pulls her back down onto the mattress with the shoebill settling nearby and meow wow curling up at their feet that he just kind of...stares at the door again.]
...I don't care what it takes. We're bringing him back.
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Of course we will. [ she squeezes sora's hand a little more ] We've all been brought back from worse, haven't we? His heart's still out there. So we'll find it.
[ there's not even a hint of doubt in her there ]
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We keep looking for answers. I have the security badge now, so I can keep looking for places we might not normally be given access to. I wish we could go back and watch the footage in that room. Maybe we'd get a clue what happened and how we can bring him back.
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probably. ]
Maybe we could. We haven't tried yet. [ to go back, despite the rat man's entire existence ] There's bound to be something we can find that'll help us figure out what happened. That's what that announcement said, right?
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We can go back tonight, but...that announcement said they've been banned. And that other one made it sound like they weren't expecting these "incidents" to happen, but I keep thinking about something Riku and I found in the security room. It was a card that said "gas station: known for our quick turnaround."
If the quick turnaround is getting rid of us one by one, that kind of takes away any idea that this place isn't involved at all. Do you think management is actually gonna make an appearance tomorrow?
[do they get to complain to the manager????]
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[ why are they here and why do people keep dying in a gas station. ]
I think the only way to know for sure is to wait for tomorrow, but... [ she wants? answers? now? ]
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[now he's just ready to beat the shit out of management, too.]
It has to be some kind of a game to somebody, but I don't know why. They know too much about us.
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[ which she doesn't like, because whoever management is sucks and she wants to beat them up? so bad? ]
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I just wish we knew more about tomorrow so we knew what to expect and could prepare a little more. [they'll go in blind and be fine, but...he wants answers and waiting sucks.]
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[ which they'd discussed, but she's not exactly thrilled with the idea of murder solving when all they want is a good old fashioned beatdown of a villain after they monologue? smh? ]
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[ SO WHY DID IT KEEP HAPPENING ]
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...I talked to Hythlodaeus for a while when we first got here. He told me that back in his world, he and half of the population there chose to give up their lives to someone or something called Zodiark to prevent the destruction of their world and save the other half of their people.
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[ it's said a little softly as she squeezes sora's hand again ]
He told me a little, about sacrificing himself so the two people he loved the most could achieve their dreams. [ which she hated then and hates even more now, thanks? ] But then... does that mean that was his world they went to?
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That's what he meant. He seemed to think that was the best way to fulfill his purpose. [she can squeeze his hand because he's not stupid. he gets why that might upset her a little, so he adjusts their grip to hold her hand a little tighter.]
I can't say for sure, but it's a weird coincidence for this to happen twice. You guys met someone that Iris knew from her world and we lost her the next day. That group went somewhere and experienced something Hythlodaeus went through, and we lost him the next day, too.
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...But what about the others? As far as we know, no one went anywhere else.
[ it doesn't explain riku, which. y'know. they care a lot more about than anything to do with whatever other mysteries are involved!!! ]
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[it loops back to that point. it doesn't explain riku, and he's pissed because if the answer isn't really that so many people have to die (since that's a hythlodaeus-specific experience), then there was no reason for killing him! the end!]
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[ something about that feels like fate, but like, the worst kind of fate. seven and thirteen haunt them too much. ]
I don't know. The sacrifice they talked about-- people were doing it willingly. Riku would never have done that.
[ ...
without telling them first ]
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Riku would have told us if he knew something. This wasn't his choice. [...] We don't even know when or how long he was hurting before he came back to us.
[poison is tricky. he's not sure if it was right before they saw him or if it was prolonged.]
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[ was he in pain? she's hoping he wasn't. he looked like he just fell asleep ]
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Was I imagining it, or was his mouth blue?
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I think so. He was already affected by the time he came back to us. So it was something that happened outside.
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[ and why was it a fight. this is hilarious ]
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...but it was probably something poisonous, right? We can agree on that.
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[ and then they fell asleep and someone stole his body. which like. rude ]
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[ she hates waiting!!! has she mentioned that!!!! god ]
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I hate it, too. [they're both impatient, and that was their riku.] But we will find them tomorrow.
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We will. I just... I hate the thought that they get to be out there, knowing what they did.
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[ she holds onto his hand tighter ]
They'll pay.
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...let's just get ready for tomorrow. [he doesn't know how, but maybe it just means "let's stay here and ignore everything else for a while."]
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