cinderlea | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ Riku disappears first. Vanished in her sleep, in the middle of the night, collapsing in on herself in a shimmer of starlights. This isn't like last time. No warnings, no chances to say goodbye, no hesitation or resistance. She just isn't there.

Lea goes minutes after Riku, in the same way. But she's awake, lounging on her couch, having a conversation as she flips through her phone. Here and then gone, like a flame. This isn't the first time either of them have gone home, but it's the first time it's so abrupt. At least it isn't death. The last time Riku went home was seven years ago. She was gone for a month, and she came back with shorter hair and the Mark of Mastery. The last time Lea went home, no one really noticed. She thought she was used to it by now.

Things are different this time. Disorienting. Lea meets Kai in the training, for real this time. Riku has her memories, or at least most of them. They're hazy, dreamlike, but real. She has them all. She remembers how old she really is and how long she's been gone. She remembers everyone she cares about, and everyone that won't change here. She keeps her ice magic and takes what she's learned here to use there. But time is fluid. She doesn't feel like she's been gone for seven years.

Lea's are gone, for now. She lives everything new and fresh, with the dressing room appearing only in dreams vivid enough to unsettle her.

Things aren't the same for every world.

Things go better than expected.

The core story is the same. The heroes rescue the ones that need it, they bring everyone back, they defeat the darkness, and they go home. How and when and who — these things vary, but they do it all together and they go home together. And then their story is over, at least for now, and they come back.

Unlike how they went out, Lea and Riku reappear together on the beach. Coming back is just as disorienting, and neither has their phone, so they get their bearings and confirm memories with each other, of the dressing room and of home, and then separate to find their friends.

They've been gone two months. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I wouldn't worry about it too much, when there's so little information and it may be years before you even go back.

[he won't say to not think of it as a threat, because Xigbar is always a problem, but they have to be realistic here.]

I'll try not to let it ruin my life.

[ She's just sassy because- oh ]

Hey, I was promised barbecue.

So let's go, I'm ready.

[you're the one on top right now, woman. also lbr, only half of what he eats is going to be cooked.]

Alright.

[ God. She wiggles and steps off of him, stretching again once she's standing fully. Having her arms up above her head like that makes her scar noticeable, especially to her, and Riku stops to stare at it. ]

[i assume you mean the one this douche gave her, but regardless, he's obliviously yawning until he notices why she's stopped. even then he just looks at it and then her like "what's up, you weird human?"]

[ The werewolf scar on her arm was the one that came to mind, actually. So Riku's essentially staring up at her arms in the air, but after a second or two she drops her arms and then lifts up the edges of her shirt to see the fucked up rib scars because that's a good point. ]

Everything I got here disappeared. The one from Xemnas, that was still there when I went home. But I wasn't a werewolf anymore. I didn't have any other scars, or proof this place was ever real.

[he tips his head slightly to one side, not to see better but because there's no other way to show this emotion without movable ears.]

Kai at least had his rings still, but otherwise he was the same way, and only fully remembered things some of the time. Are you glad to have them back?

...yeah, mostly. I kind of missed being a werewolf.

[ This is a joke, but they both know what Red knows, which is that it's actually true. She's mostly lucid these days, and she hasn't hurt anyone since she turned Nami. She regrets that, and feels guilty, and also feels guilty for enjoying the full moons. But she does.

Hmmm. She eyes the one he gave her with nonchalance. ]

Maybe the dick who gave me this one could've made it look a little cooler.

Nah, the other options would be bite scars or burn scars, and both are pretty messy and not cool at all.

[not that this one's much better, probably, since it was a wound that went in instead of raking over the skin, but whatever. also if anyone's going to understand about enjoying being a werewolf it's Hachibi.]

No thanks. I have enough bite scars.

[ Admittedly one isn't visible because of the artistic Nami who fixed her arm, but if anything happened to that paper and her arm vanished, she would have some incredible scarring. She does have the bite on her back from him, though. ]

You coming?

[whoops, he was so busy admiring Riku he forgot to get up, but now he is. he'll follow her out and then lead the way.]

It's not far. What's the last thing you got a scar from?

Uhhh...

[ She's heading over to the door and slipping her shoes on, but now she also looks thoughtful. ]

Big scars? I'm not sure. You?

Me personally or Axel's body? I've never had anything last long enough to scar, but those claw wounds Axel got on his face that you stitched up were the last thing for him, I think.

[they're still there, too, but somewhat faded, since it's been... almost seven years since that happened, jfc. that was a good thread and a good time for everyone.]

— Uh. I meant, you were the last person to scar me. I think? I would have always thought you and Axel weren't capable of being scarred, if not for that.

[ Seriously, she saw his face grow back from skull in places. ]

Oh. Yeah, he doesn't normally, but because I mostly left it alone so it could heal the regular way, since it was so bad, it scarred on the surface. Things that I've healed quickly leave scar tissue down in the muscle, but nothing on the surface, usually.

[and facial/head wounds are special anyway, they require so much more delicacy because of all the muscles and nerves involved.]

What's the fastest you've ever healed something?

[ Because she's suddenly curious. It's neat, the way he works. ]

Hmm. You've seen how fast I heal from things like water or ice, but deliberately healing... there was one time, Axel nearly had his arm taken off, some special jutsu that cut through all the muscle and was partway through the bone, but I had it pulled back together and healed almost before the attack stopped, because he needed to be able to retaliate.

[he was never that fast with previous hosts, because previous ones weren't Axel. also these fools left the apartment and are on their way to food now, yes?]

[ That was a little bigger than what she was expecting. A cut or a gash or a stab or something, maybe. But almost losing a limb? ]

That's... I can't even imagine it.

[ Also yes, definitely on their way to food. Riku is hungry, dammit. ]

Don't ask me how it works, because I don't think I can explain.

[not for lack of trying; Axel wanted to know how it worked, early on, and they both got frustrated when Hachibi couldn't explain.]

Magic. ...I wonder how much of you and your powers are connected to your world.

[ Since that's how it works in Kingdom Hearts, a lot of personal things are linked like that. ]

Not as much as you're used to, I don't think. There are some greater powers out there on our world, but I don't think the world itself has any power, or a heart. It's all very individual, as far as I know.

[except for people like their Xemnas, who were eventually going to try and combine lesser powers to make a greater one, but that plan is moot now anyway, he's only got three people left to work with, if that.]

Every world has a Heart.

[ She looks dubious, but not about that — about him saying such a thing. There's no way he could convince Riku otherwise, when she knows so much about the worlds. Keyblade Master, remember? ]

Well, if it does, it never had any bearing on anything in the time I was there.

[he shrugs a little. granted, most of his time on that world was spent inside a human body, and he was busy being extremely angry for the bulk of that time. titles mean nothing to him, she's still babie compared to him.]

[ Babie will kick his ass!! ]

That part I can believe a little easier. I think some worlds... interfere more than others, if that makes sense?

[she can try, he'd probably just interpret it as flirting.]

That makes sense. Some of them have louder hearts than others.