sixthiterationlogs | open your eyes to a new world }{ OTA

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open your eyes to a new world }{ OTA

WHO: Aqua
WHERE: Bunker, Inn, blacksmith (all south village)
WHEN: January 4th (bunker), January 5th for the rest
OPEN TO: Bunker is closed to Malik, the rest are OTA
WARNINGS: tbd!

bunker, January 4th, closed to Malik

Darkness had surrounded her for so long that she wasn't even sure if she would ever see the light again. It was almost as though she belonged to the Realm of Darkness now. Like she was a part of it somehow. Aqua had spent her life fighting darkness and had sacrificed herself to protect Terra from being lost here with her. That all seems so long ago. Sometimes a part of her wonders if it was even worth it in the end. Did Xehanort get what he wanted in the end? She doesn't know.

She just feels so lost and disconnected, forever wandering in the darkness.

Her eyes slide closed for just a minute. But it's a minute that feels like it lasts an eternity. Just like everything else in this realm. The sensation of falling asleep is the last thing she remembers. Inside the tube deep in the bunker located on another world entirely, she sleeps, unaware of where she is or why. Her name and vitals flash on the tube's readout, the only signs that she is alive at all. For now, her body rests within the stasis tube, the magenta scrubs a glaring contrast to the soft blue of her hair.

Inn, January 5th

After spending the remainder of the night and part of the morning in an abandoned house, she decides to take a better look around the southern village. Around lunchtime, Aqua slowly pushes open the door to the Inn. Her limbs feel like lead and she can't tell if it's because she's not used to so much light or because the Realm of Darkness took so much energy out of her all the time. She squints a bit at the flood of light, still not used to it after so long with so much darkness clawing at her. Finally, after she manages to get her eyes to adjust, she makes her way inside, closing the door softly behind her. So many people seem crowded into this one space; it's hard for her to adjust. She will, of course, but a part of her had almost thought she would never see anyone again. Her eyes search for any familiar faces, out of habit, but of course she doesn't see any. Ven is still sleeping and Terra...

She doesn't know what's happened to Terra and that's one of the things that keeps tearing at her.

Steeling herself, she takes a deep breath and heads for what appears to be the kitchen area. She can see at least a couple of people in here. Maybe one of them can answer a few more questions for her. "Um, excuse me," she says to the nearest person, doing her best not to take up more time than she needs to. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could tell me how much munny a plate of food is."

She doesn't really have munny right now, but she is willing to work for her food and help out as much as she can. Besides, having something to do will help her keep her mind occupied and keep her from thinking too much about what's going on in the Realm of Light.

blacksmith, January 5th

Eventually, she makes her way through the southern village again, ending up in what looks like a blacksmith's building. Taking stock of everything she can find once she makes her way inside, she heads for the first person she can see. "Excuse me. I'm looking for a new weapon."

She isn't at all used to needing help in any form and she's spent the majority of the day asking everyone she meets for help in some form or another. If this keeps up, she really isn't going to know what way is up anymore. Still, she is determined to find a way to help and fit in for as long as she's here. She will pay their kindness forward as soon as she can. Whatever the first person tells her, she eventually finds someone else and asks something entirely different.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

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Seifer, who was at the moment attempting to make a hinge, well, hinge and was entirely buried in concentration didn't immediately look up. He was trying to finish the thing so the pieces fit together and moved smoothly. "Weapon? Nah, you gotta run that by Tony first. What kinda weapon you in the market for?" He didn't immediately look up because he was hammering. Once he had reached a pause point though he did turn to regard Aqua briefly.

She looked new. Probably hadn't heard the no shanking spiel yet.

The question makes Aqua pause. A part of her wants a keyblade in her hand, at her beck and call, so badly. But another part knows that nothing anyone could make would be able to replace either of the keyblades she once carried. A part of her deflates as she glances away and then shakes her head. She takes a breath as she looks back at the young man in front of her.

"Nevermind," she says softly. "Nothing can replicate what I used." Her keyblade is back with Terra anyway. The Master's keyblade is... somewhere. Locked or trapped in the realm of darkness. And maybe all of this is just a dream, another vision like Ven and Terra.

"It would be for defense, not to hurt anyone," she offers next. "It was a large key-shaped weapon. But the real ones..." Her hand flexes, as if trying to grip an invisible hilt, but of course nothing flashes into existence. It's gone. "I guess the real ones can't be replaced as easily as a normal weapon."

Seifer felt similarly, though a gunblade could be much more easily manufactured in all likelihood. Without gun powder or the ease of making small precise parts though it'd be a task that might be a bit much to deal with right now. That, and Tony had strictly forbidden it. Oh well. He'll learn to use a sword. While Aqua thought it over Seifer watched out of the corner of his eye, making note in her change in body language.

"Something similar, maybe? Ain't sayin' you can't have a weapon you just gotta clear it with Tony first. He's keepin' tabs on things like that around here. Keepin' the lethal violence down." Only so much one could do in such a situation, an industrious enough individual who really wanted to kill someone would find a way. But making it slightly harder to do on accident wasn't a terrible idea.

"Key-shaped? How'd that work?" He perked up, immediately interested when she mentioned a weapon of unusual qualities. Seifer's a big weapons nerd. "I know the feeling. If it helps put you at ease there's not a lot in town that's especially dangerous and would require self-defense. Or if you wanna learn another method we got the dojo. Hand to hand, and I think someone's teaching staves." Easier to produce with all the forest around them, and less lethal while still being a fantastic self defense weapon. "You new?"

Maybe she could deal with a wooden keyblade until hers came back or until this Tony decided it was acceptable to make a metal replica. It still wouldn't replace her real keyblade, or the Master's, but it might serve in the interim. It would be better than being completely defenseless, not for her own sake, but for her ability to protect the townsfolk. Though, maybe learning hand-to-hand combat might help with that. All she has ever trained for was to be a keyblade master, proficient in a very specific one-handed weaponry discipline. Maybe... maybe learning something else would be beneficial.

"Do you think Tony would be against me having a wooden keyblade?" she asks next. "It wouldn't be sharp, but I could still help protect the town with it." Really, she isn't the type to want to protect herself as much as she does everyone else. "And then I could show you how it works."

There are a lot of things the real keyblades can do that a wooden or even metal replica can't manage. But she could at least show him how it works as a simple weapon.

"Yes. I guess that's obvious, isn't it? Everyone seems to know that before I even start talking."

"Tony's only concerned about what comes outta his forge. You want a wooden one and can make it or find someone who can? Help yourself," He assures. A wooden sword wouldn't quite do the trick against large predators though. The townsfolk, Aqua would come to find, are pretty adept at self defense in this area. Not that there's much to worry about.

"I get your concern, I really do. I'm a soldier where I come from, being unarmed is drivin' me nuts. So far haven't seen any real need to worry about it beyond my own paranoia though." Is that reassuring? He's trying to be reassuring. She looks upset about the whole situation. Can't blame her one bit. "I'd like to see this keyblade of yours sometime anyway. Sounds interesting." Weapons are cool okay?

"Somethin' about the demeanor. Everyone starts off that way, you're not alone. Actually all of us here came from somewhere else."

The townsfolk being adept at self-defense would be a nice change of pace, but that wouldn't stop Aqua from keeping herself on the list to help out anyway. Necessary or not, she is always available to help. That's part of her job and who she is as a person.

"Not having a weapon is a change. Or any kind of magic." His own paranoia is something familiar-sounding. If she were in the mood, she might smile at that. He sounds like Terra and the realization makes her heart hurt. She misses Terra and Ven so much. "I'll see what I can do," she says in response. If she can ever find a replica, or her ability to summon the Master's keyblade comes back someday, she'll show him. Until then... well, she can hope.

"Everyone has?" That's what she's gathered so far, though no one has really put it into words like that before. "So, this world is kind of like a meeting point of all the different worlds?" That's an interesting thought. It makes her wonder again if this is the realm of light or darkness. Given the fact that the sun has set and risen already since she found herself in that tube underneath the bunker, and that there's a sun at all, she's guessing it's the realm of light.

Of course not. They all still needed to pitch in, they just didn't need Aqua to pitch in an unfair share in this instance. She could have more liberty to do what she liked, rather than only fighting. A fact Seifer was still learning to contend with.

"You're telling me. I was a soldier before comin' here, still don't really know what I'm doin' with myself." Just taking it day by day. One step at a time and keeping busy. Always keeping busy. It was the only way to not fall into the mistake of being in his own head for too long. Always a bad idea, that. "Sure thing."

"Mhmm, every single person here. Not a native in sight. Pretty sure the houses were here already, abandoned and empty. Creepy, now that I think about it." He hadn't thought to question too much when he first arrived. Not about the details and particulars. More the how, and how crazy he must be to be experiencing it. Maybe he still was crazy.

"A soldier? That sounds familiar." she says thoughtfully. That's probably closer to what she was than anyone else's past occupation. Something in her feels a little more relieved, just to find someone who understands.

"I wonder why that is," she muses next. If there aren't any natives, then why choose this place to settle? Why bring anyone here at all? "So, all of the people here have made the villages inhabitable and functional since the first people arrived here?" That's impressive. "I guess I'll have to find something to do with myself, too. I don't even really know where to start."

"Did you not have soldiers where you're from?" It seemed weird to hear it termed "familiar". If they didn't call them as such, then he'd understand better what it was she meant. Her reluctance not to have a weapon, however, he completely understood. He also understood the reasons behind it. So for now, he'd respect Tony's wishes in that regard.

"Runnin' theory I've heard tossed around is science experiment. This is the habitat, we're bein' observed for some reason or another." How, where, and why? No idea. He also wasn't especially concerned about it. He's been observed most of his life, what's new?

"The buildings were here, dunno if they were in poor shape or not you'll have to ask someone who's been here longer. The rest of it's been put together by the folks here." He nods, it's a lot of work, they've obviously worked very hard. He's happy to offer what he can. "Ask around. That little device on your wrist lets you talk to everyone. We're not too bad off here at the smithy but that's up to Tony. Food's always a question, clothes, I'm sure you'll find somethin' to do."

"I think they do," Aqua says. "My friends and I were just warriors." Keyblade warriors to be specific. Some worlds had to have had soldiers of some sort, though, or guards. Just not hers.

All of what Seifer tells her gives her more to think about. She nods thoughtfully, turning iy all over. The smithy isn't really her thing and it looks like they have plenty of hands around anyway. Other people have to need help more than they do.

"I think I will," she says, lifting her wrist to briefly examine the magenta band. "Thank you for your help." And then it occurs to her that they haven't even traded names. "I'm Aqua."

"Similar enough I suppose. Did you serve an army or a king or somethin'?" He's read enough stories to have a vague idealized version of how being a warrior works. Whether or not it translated to reality was a different thing. It was difficult for him to comprehend being a warrior for only yourself. But man, wouldn't that be something if you could?

Someone as eager to help as this girl seems to be? She'll find herself a place soon enough. There's always something to do around.

"'Course," He rumbles, sensing them nearing the end of a conversation he starts to turn back to his own work. Another pause. "Seifer. I'm sure I'll be seein' you around." Hard to miss a girl with bright blue hair. "That hair color natural, by the way?" Because it was really cool if so. Still cool if not, more impressive if it was.

"Not exactly." A very small smile crosses her face as she thinks of King Mickey and Queen Minnie. If she weren't serving as a guardian of light and a keyblade master, she wouldn't mind serving as a guard for them. "We're... kind of like the protectors of all worlds. We don't really serve anyone. We just... try to help people."

They protect the light and fight the darkness, but that seems to be harder to explain here.

She blinks in surprise at the last question, one hand absently moving to the front strands of her hair. Maybe hair color is another difference they have. "Yes, it's natural. This is how my hair has always looked." She might have cut it differently over the years, but it's always been this color. So she should be easy enough to pick out in a crowd. "Is it not common in your world?"

"Hang on, did you say all worlds?" Because if so that's a pretty big claim, and now she's got his full attention. The work can wait a moment he might be talking to a pretty serious hero here. "How d'you do somethin' like that?" Because as far as he knew long-distance space travel wasn't exactly possible. Then again he's here, so never mind that limitation had officially been blown out of the water.

Back to the hair conversation he shakes his head. "Nah, not without a lotta dye. Impossible, far as I know. 'Course with everything the way it is here I should probably stop assumin' what's possible based on what little I thought I knew." He chuckles at his own dumb joke. Don't mind him.

She did, but there's always some kind of caveat to it. Hoops to jump through, secrets to keep. "Not just me. People like me. I guess everyone who has the training that I do." Or is as strong and good as Sora. Keyblade wielders in general.

For the most part. Vanitas doesn't count and neither does Xehanort anymore.

"We fight for the light, to protect the good in other worlds. Sometimes it's hard, but it's always worth it to fight darkness and protect the light."

The mild joke gets a small smile from her. She's beginning to understand what that feels like. "Well, I can tell you that mine is real and I'm probably not the only one."

Of course. Aren't there always caveats and hoops? "What kind of training, was it something you signed up for? Or were selected?" He'll keep asking as long as she keeps answering. The idea of protecting worlds, not just a country or one but many was intriguing to him.

"The light?" Uh oh, that sounded like some religious stuff. She wasn't talking about religious stuff was she?

"Probably not. Striking, I like it." It's a good color. Would definitely make her easy to pick out of a crowd.

"Signed up for." Probably. But really, this was all she had known, all she had been raised for, and she couldn't remember anything else.

"Um... the good in people and in the worlds. I guess light and darkness aren't concepts people are familiar with here." How had Cinderella's fairy godmother put it? "Light and darkness exist hand in hand. Light is like... inner beauty. Kindness, compassion. Selflessness. Darkness is the opposite of that. Jealousy, hate, rage. Things that can destroy you if you're not careful."

"'Least you got a choice," He didn't know she'd been effectively raised for it. Made the choice a lot less of a choice in the end, didn't it?

He nods. "Alright, that makes sense enough. Got the same concepts we just don't call 'em light or dark like that." Negative and positive aspects that all people hold. Easy to have too much of one or the other sometimes. Selflessness can be as damaging as selfishness in excess, after all. "So exactly how do you fight for a concept, though?" You can't just kick people's asses into being more kind.

"It's less fighting the concepts and more..." Her voice trails off as she thinks about it. She's never had to actually explain darkness and light to anyone before. They were just understood. "Darkness can manifest in a physical form, but not always. I once met a young woman who was so kind and compassionate. It shined out of her in everything she did. Her step mother and step sisters grew jealous and their jealousy of her created a creature of darkness. That's what I fight. To defeat that creature of darkness and protect the young woman. Sometimes we'll be able to change the jealousy into something else. That's what I do."

Sometimes kicking someone until they see the error of their ways works.

"So wait, you're telling me negative emotions and shit can make a monster? And that's what you fight?" Well that just sounds completely insane. Things sure work strange in the universe she's from. "Does it work? Taking down that monster?"

He has to wonder if doing something like that could actually influence a person to change. Of course kicking someone until they see the error of their ways is a good plan B. He's been on the receiving end of that enough times. Kind of, it didn't work on him.

"Sometimes." It has to be in specific situations and the Unversed were a special case, but in situations like Cinderella's, it definitely did happen. Taking the monster down sometimes helped, too. More in the immediate sense of lives being saved than in the sense that the jealous or angry people changing their tune.

"I haven't seen any of that happening here so far." Granted, she hasn't been around for long, so she doesn't know what the normal thing is. "I guess I should keep an eye on that."

"That's pretty hard to believe." He assumes she knows that, still had to state it anyway. A monster born of the negative emotions of jealousy that would then further influence the people it was made from. That just sounded like superstitious nonsense, but Aqua seemed pretty honest and earnest about it, so he didn't disbelieve her. It was just a lot to try to wrap his mind around.

"You can, can't say I've heard of such a thing happening before. Might be safe here." Maybe, he didn't know. "Are they invisible to most people?" That would explain better how it was so easy to miss.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but Aqua's not in the best frame of mind to explain it further. Maybe another time. She just shakes her head. "Not usually. The darkness inside people doesn't always manifest as a physical form, but creatures of darkness are easy to spot. I haven't seen any signs of them yet, so I don't think there's anything to worry about. But I'll keep an eye out, just to be safe." She could do no less.

"I should let you get back to work. Thank you for answering my questions."

Edited 2019-03-31 03:12 (UTC)

Maybe another time. She'll have plenty of it, and Seifer's fairly easy to find if she ever got the wild hair that she did want to talk about it. For now he was perfectly content to let it rest at what she told him so far, mulling over the information with interest. What a strange universe she comes from. "Well, that's good. You see anything be sure to let us know. Got a fair few people here who can hold their own in a fight." So at least she won't have to do it all alone.

"No problem. Need anything else you know where to find me. Other questions could probably be covered on your wrist device. Everyone here's pretty helpful." With their conversation pretty well over, he turns back to his work. These nails aren't going to make themselves.

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open your eyes to a new world }{ OTA

Blacksmith

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