°–oo1–°ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴅᴏɴᴇ☽

[noctyourking]

WHO: Noctis Lucis Caelum
WHERE: Fountain & Surrounding area
WHEN: 6/13 evening
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: n/a

---

The weight around him pushed at his body and caused him to jet up toward a distant light. He felt the pressure of the pool around him and he found himself frightened of the depths. He was in deep. The familiarity of this came rushing through his head and a false sense of clarity overtook his mind as if his life flashed before his eyes and all he had lifetimes of opportunity to resolve every problem he’s ever had. All of this miniaturized within that small amount of time. Then a realization of I want to live overcame him and his feet kicked at the density and he reached for the light. Though he ascended the depth he felt a sinking sensation that he was swimming in the opposite direction of where he truly wanted to go.

The brighter the light became, the shadow behind him felt darker––though he couldn’t see from his angle, a feeling coiled around his lungs as if the pull of the depth was reaching back out to him, wanting him to turn around and face the darkness. Yet he continued to fight against the pull and soon, if barely soon enough, he broke the surface with a fast gulp of air. He barely managed to find the ledge of the fountain and once his arms were linked over it he took a moment to continue his gasping and groaning for breath. For a quick minute there, he didn’t think he was going to survive this pool.

Fighting for his life was about all he had time for and once he was secure enough in his being able to breathe he recognized the fact he had no clue where he was nor how he got here; let alone at the depth of the pool.

Thirty minutes later he was still at the fountain, although outside of it, and trying to piece together how he’d come here and what exactly he was wearing, and had on him.

He had on a pair of teal scrubs and a teal hat and had a bag, that came out of the pool with him, of what looked like a well packed overnight bag. This was not the afterlife. But it sure did appear he was delivered somewhere!

Wet and uncomfortable Noctis finally decided to drift away from the fountain to peer around, maybe he can find a map, a sign, a door, or something that would lead him to sense.

Comments

[digging]

The group of them here is small enough that the new folks would stick out even without the look of bewilderment or wet clothes. Karen's got her own pack slung across her back, filled mostly with gathered plants now that she has a better idea of what to look for, and halts in the middle of the road, dirt puffing up from her booted feet.

"Hi," she says, keeping a reasonable distance even as her face softens with sympathy. She hasn't heard of anyone being upset enough to get violent first thing out of the fountain, but there's a first time for everything.

"I'm Karen," she adds, pressing a hand to her chest. "Has anyone talked to you yet about where you are?"

[noctyourking]

Just like that someone appeared and Noctis felt an almost instant comfort in the sight of someone else. It seemed all too perfectly convenient, a nice person to greet him and explain this all to him. An offer he won’t surpass. “Hello, I’m Noctis… You’re the first person… I’ve come across.” He lingered in his next few steps before finally coming to a steady pace to close the gap between them. “Karen… where .. exactly am I..” His brows furrowed and he looked around him.

“We..”

[digging]

He approaches quickly enough that Karen instinctively stiffens, but she can see the moment he opens his mouth that he's friendly enough, if as lost as they all are in those first dizzying few moments. She huffs out a resigned breath, the line of her shoulders relaxing.

"I wish I had an answer for that," she says, knowing it's a shitty thing to lead with. It hadn't helped her much and doesn't seem to help anyone, in her experience, however true it may be.

"You're in a village," she continues, picking out what definitive answers she can. He'll find soon enough they're few and far between. "There's a group of us here, we all came up out of the fountain. None of us knows where we specifically are, or why, or how." Although the Peter kid apparently had some theories he was very excited about.

"What I can do for you right now is take you someplace where you can get into some dry clothes, and maybe get something to eat, and I can tell you what I know?"

[noctyourking]

He hadn't even considered food, but the mention of it was a strike to his gut as if she literally punched him in the stomach. He lifted a hand to touch at his stomach, the strange set of scrubs beneath his palm, and he squeezed his shirt softly. "I'd appreciate that, Karen." The complicated and somewhat existential questioning of who am I, where am I, what do I do, sometimes is better left unanswered. He knew, from experience, what fate and destiny designed for him, what the answer to his existence was, but he had no direction as far as what he was meant for here. What his destiny was here.

From what Karen had said, it didn't sound like anyone knew the answer to that either. At least no one she or they have come in contact with.

Though it was strange to think there are only people that come from a fountain here. "You would think there would be... natives.. or something left behind to guide us.." He lowered his hand and looked to Karen. "I would appreciate anything you could tell me... that you know about this place."

[digging]

"Yeah, you'd think," Karen agrees with a nod, glad he's taking it so well, his mind clear enough for logical thinking. Some people cope with the shock by looking at this place like a puzzle to be solved — She'd been one herself, saving her emotional fragility for the moments she was alone in the dark.

"There've been some older settlements found, but no one's lived in them for a very long time," she continues, motioning for him to follow toward the inn. Thankfully, the walk's a short one.

"Where are you from, Noctis?"

[noctyourking]

The news about the the older settlements does nothing to resolve any of his feelings about the curious state they have found themselves in. One moment he was in this blissful abyss filled with light, peace, and Lunafreya. Then he was in the depths of his own despair, or so he had thought, only to submerge the pool had been but a gateway, a doorway, for him and many others before him.

"I was dead.." He said, almost foolishly and he looked to Karen to gauge her response to that response. Maybe they all came through the pool after death?

[digging]

"Oh," Karen says, her expression softening, mouth turning down in a little frown. "I'm sorry to hear that." He's not the only one, but she really isn't sure if this is the best time to mention something like that, even if he is taking this transition amazingly well.

Maybe that's why. Maybe when you come in dead, it all feels inevitable.

"And before you died?"

[3ofswords]

At least in the warmer months, watching the fountain could be a little less urgent. Something to do more in appreciation of the evening air--or in Kira's case, because he was helping Mark move a thousand plants and pieces of equipment into the new house, and dangling his feet in the fountain was a welcome break from carrying old boxes and buckets across the fields.

It's probably time to cut his new scrub pants down into shorts, the ones he has on faded from black to deep grey, fraying at the edges, their elastic worn out by a slightly meatier incarnation. But they leave him in dry clothes when he backs up out of the water, making space for the man crawling over the fountain edge.

Kira backs up until his heels hit the most recent box, sitting out of the splash zone. Over the dull black shorts, his white tee is sweat-stained, sleeves rolled up to his armpits, and his feet are bare despite Mark's warnings. "Hey," he greets, hands presented with the empty palms forward. "I'm here to help, if you want it."

[noctyourking]

His mind was blotted with emotions and fear as soon as he clambered out of the water and hit the ground. The only sensation which had his attention was the breath he took and the feel of something solid to hold his weight. He was exhausted and his heart was barely contained in his chest. The threat of it bursting out had felt real enough for a good moment.

He turned on the ground, rather pathetically, and kicked his foot out before a hand moved on the ground to help push himself up to sit.

Noct had a bit of time to put together the words he heard from the unfamiliar voice and he looked up to see a stranger. “W.. what?”

[3ofswords]

It was an understandable response, considering, but Kira still sighed: he long suspected his last incarnation had been much better at this than he would ever be. As he closed the gap between them, he dropped to a crouch--much the way he'd approach a wounded animal. He'd like to think he was smarter than to ever do that, but he had a crow following him around who ran counter to that theory.

Crouched with his arms braced on his knees, Kira tried again, gestures and words slowing down. "If you can be cool," and god, no one could in that hat; all the slower, and trying to project the best of intentions through his eyes, he lifted the stupid wet cap off of the man's head.

"Okay, better. Let's start over: my name is Kira, and I want to help you when you've calmed down, okay?"

[noctyourking]

Noctis leaned his head back and tensed as the stranger drew closer. He tried to maintain his expression, but he physically lacked the control to maintain anything after surviving the fountain. Oh, and the fact he had no clue where he was or how he was.

The hand moved forward and Noct felt a relief of pressure come off his head. That’s when he realized he was wearing a baseball cap. He tilt his head and looked at the material as it was taken from him and his expression changed once again to confusion. “Kira..”

Noct moved his eyes to the other and he shook his head. His heart felt as if it was near bursting from his chest. “Oh. Okay..” He said a bit dumbly before, “where.. where am I?” His voice was heavy and his throat felt tight.

[3ofswords]

Kira pulled the cap backwards over his own hair, the wet material cooling him somewhat and pulling it out of his face; still crouched he squared his shoulders and tilted his head, watching the man struggle to cope. What's up, fellow weird-kidnapping victim? Welcome to your new life, it's got baseball caps and jorts, once you find the scissors to make them.

"You're in a village of maybe eighty people, all of whom crawled out of that fountain at some point," he said, and as the calm factor seemed to be hitting several obstacles, he chanced a hand on the man's shoulder. "So you're not alone in what you're feeling, and you're not in any danger right now. There's plenty of time for you to take a few breaths, tell me your name--and I'll tell you what I do know."

[noctyourking]

The news was disconcerting. So many people had come to this place through the fountain. He hadn’t ever heard of something like this, least not that he could recall. Maybe he’d seen a show, read a story, heard a legend––but nothing was coming to mind at the moment. In fact, his mind was blank outside of absorbing the information the other was offering him.

Grateful was an understatement to how he felt to have someone here to explain this to. The touch to his shoulder had Noct look to the arm outreached toward him. Just then it occurred to him: he hadn’t been touched in so long. Outside the few exchanges he had with his friends and his enemy.

He went silent, his eyes distant, and he was thinking of the crystal and his time within it. Suddenly he had something that came to mind which was like this fountain. He had disappeared in a crystal for ten years, perhaps this fountain had similar properties to absorb people.

[3ofswords]

Well: okay. Giving the shoulder a squeeze, Kira's other hand came up and he snapped finger and thumb under the guy's chin. This was a lot for anyone, but it was the first time he'd met someone so out of it after an arrival. Maybe it was just that he'd come through in the winter, and freezing to death had been a pressing enough concern to snap him out of it and get him to move.

But maybe it was something else. There was no rule that said everyone had to come out of the fountain in perfect physical or mental health. "If you can't tell me your name, can you get up? There's a clinic we can get you to, or I could go get help?"

[tooktheblack]

It had been a while since Jon had encountered someone fresh from the fountain but there was no mistaking it when he saw the man dripping in the park; his scrubs were soaked, his hair plastered to his head and he had the look of most new arrivals. Jon himself had been headed to the woods and had decided to cut through the park along the way - now he had new plans.

"Did you just come, then?" he asked, wanting to be certain. Sometimes people tried to test the fountain, tried to see if they could go back through it the way they came. He didn't recognize this man but he could be one of those who sought desperately to return home through any means necessary.

[noctyourking]

Water dripped around him and his hand held the bag which he'd rolled out of the fountain with. He had seen the stranger before the other spoke up and Noct lingered in his step before he answered and took another step forward. "Yes.." His voice was rough and his throat felt tight. "I take it... this isn't new then, coming in from the fountain?" He felt like everything he knew and was prepared for was left somewhere at the bottom of that fountain, too deep to get it, too dark to find it. Even his first few steps in this place felt heavy, sluggish, clumsy. It could have been the exhaustion of all his kicking in the water, but something about the gravity of this place made him question if he's ever walked here before.

[tooktheblack]

"No, it's not. We all came in through the fountain," Jon said. It was strange that those words were no longer foreign to him, that they no longer seemed like nonsense. It was one of the more constant things about this place.

"You're not injured, are you?"

[noctyourking]

Inside the bag was the hat he’d found on his head. The pressure on his temple was unwelcome and he found better relief without it. Noct squeezed his fist around the strap of the bag and slowly shook his head. “No.. I don’t think so..” He was better than being dead but was being alive considered an injury? Nothing made sense, not even his own thoughts.

“C.. can you help me? I .. I don’t know what’s going on..”

[tooktheblack]

"Aye, I can help you. I'm Jon," he offered, scanning over the man to see if there was an injury he might have missed. He was no maester, no, but he was experienced enough in battle to recognize wounds and he saw none. Hmm.

"Did you come from a battle or something? You seem a little shocked."

[noctyourking]

“Isn’t this enough to shock anyone?” He questioned, fairly, though not facitiously as he offered a kind smile. “But.. yeah, I guess you could say that.. the last bit of my time on my world was spent fighting.” He licked his lips and lowered his eyes before he spoke again. “I don’t believe I’m dead.. I don’t believe this was where I was meant to go either.” He lifted his eyes.

“Jon,” he tried the other’s name out. “How … what do you remember? Before coming here.”

[enterprisingheart]

Maps are, regrettably, in somewhat short supply. Not that he imagines that there aren't already attempts underway, even if people might not have actually set down their findings on paper, but he knows well enough that he's not the only person who happens to be spending some time exploring their surroundings either. How long it'll take before the various snippets of information get shared is another question entirely, but just at the moment it's the exploration itself that has the most of Picard's interest.

In fact, he's on his way back from one of his trips out beyond the edge of the village when he passes by the fountain, and even without the fact that he's still gently dripping, it's hard to mistake the expression that most new arrivals end up wearing sooner or later. And without even really stopping to think about he turns his path towards the fountain.

"If you don't mind me saying," he begins as soon as he's close enough to be heard, "you look a little lost."

*o* it's like... I'm starstruck .... eeeee!!

[noctyourking]

Noctis had lingered by the fountain perhaps longer than necessary. There was a great weight of apprehension to move too far from the place he had been born from. The bag he’d already looked through and the items inside were wet and confusing to him. It was like he’d been given the sack to prepare for some sort of night spent at a friend’s house. Yet, he had no friends here––

at least he assumed.

Nothing about this world felt familiar, nothing about this world was right. He shouldn’t be here, that much was clear from the start.

He couldn’t have been sure how long he’d actually been sitting there, but he was still dripping from his hair when an unfamiliar voice called out to him. Noctis responded with a quick stand and he looked ahead to see an elder man coming toward him. It was then, at the sight, did he feel the mourn of losing his father. How wonderful would it have been to see his father greet him in this place? After all, his father would be one to explain just what was going on here. His father knew everything.

After a moment of repeating the words he heard he registered them and gave a small nod. “I…” His voice was deep, groggy, croaked. “I just… I came from there…” He gestured behind him to the fountain.

[enterprisingheart]

No direct friends, perhaps, assuming he would have been looking for people from his own world. But in Picard's experience, the majority of the people currently inhabiting the village are reasonably friendly at the very least. Enough to not turn someone away, at the very least, for that he certainly can't fault Noctis for not be particularly inclined to try his hand at exploring just at the moment either, for all that the weather could certainly be more inclement.

"Everyone who turns up here arrives through the fountain. We've never been quite able to figure out why, although it's not impossible that it's considered 'safer' than some of the other alternatives."

Whether or not that's actually the case is another matter entirely, but he'd like to think that it's at least not an entirely unreasonable assumption.

[noctyourking]

Other alternatives? Noctis followed the other's words best he could, but he couldn't help the occasional drift into his mind, or outside of this present moment to where he had come from. Home. What did it mean for his home now that he was here? What did it mean for him being here? This world which called its people from the fountain.

"How long..." He cleared his throat. "How long have you been here?" He wasn't necessarily getting the impression this was a simple weekend vacation.

[enterprisingheart]

"As best I've been able to tell, nearly a year, at this point."

And that's mostly judging on the turn of the seasons, rather than anything else. There's not really much by way of time-keeping devices in the city and even then there's very little to suggest that the years here are the same length as the ones he'd be more familiar with. But the seasons are at least reasonably consistent, and that's good enough for him. Anything else is something he figures he can deal with later.

But either way, it's definitely not a simple weekend vacation.