revenance_rpg | Into the silence will you answer

Entry tags:

Into the silence will you answer

Who: Aqua and Soma
What: Seeking out a friend
When: Before Spellican is taken down
Where: Fourth District
Warnings: None, at the moment

With the worst of larger Nightmares dealt with, there was once again time to simple enjoy a moment of relative quiet. True, Aqua wasn't entirely certain what to make of the fact that the Realm of Dreams had had far more visitors than usual, but that might well be something that will never have an answer. And it hasn't been bad either. Crowded, but friendly enough even with that.

However, in the wake of various sudden departures, it occurs to her that there's at least one person she knows that she hasn't seen for some time. They might not have spoken very much in the long run, but that's hardly going to be enough to stop her from actually looking. So it is that she's taken to the streets to see if she can't find Soma, while her Komory Bat hastaken to the skies above her just in case. And if she really can't find him, at the least the walk will have done her some good.

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In the grand scheme of things, Soma had not been actually, honestly *missing* for more than about four days from the world of dreams. But in those four days, a year had passed, and he was no longer quite the same person he had been before; he was older, a bit taller, a bit stronger, and no longer in imminent danger of losing his mind. What had been a schism in his soul had been repaired, and he was no longer two distinct individuals vying for control over the same body.

Whether that was a good thing or not depends largely on one's perspective, but at least the individual now standing on the rooftop of a building overlooking the central district still called himself Soma and had no particular desire to go to war with humanity.

Leaning against the railing, he watched as Aqua - a distinctive enough individual that even a year's absence had not erased his memory of her - wandered through, her Komory Bat overhead. He gave the lazy specimen on his shoulder a mental nudge. "Get up there and see what they're looking for," he whispered to Tepes, who was still as lazy as the day he'd been put together. Well-rested from his four day vacation, the bat flapped lazily off Soma's shoulder and took wing, trying to catch up to his counterpart in the sky above. Meanwhile, Soma hopped over the railing and floated toward ground level, arcing his flight path to bring him down a safe distance behind the blue-haired keyblade wielder.

(Currently using Flying Armor's slow fall ability.)

Having no desire to go to war with humanity was definitely a plus. Not that Aqua was even the slightest bit aware that she was closer to finding who she'd meant to go looking for than she had been anywhere else and certainly wouldn't have known about the potential for him having wanted to declare war on humanity, but the lack of a desire for same would have been something of a relief if she had known. She's seen what can happen when darkness is allowed free reign.

Unfortunately, given that there isn't really any specific place either of them are looking for, there's not much for Tepes to see. Instead, he mostly manages to attract the attention of Aqua's bat, who turns to offer a squeak of greeting to Tepes.

Which in turn gets Aqua's attention, and although she hasn't turned around just yet, she's at least aware that she isn't alone. There wouldn't be another Spirit around, otherwise.

"Something I can help you with?" he asked without preamble, right hand in the pocket of his coat and left loose and open at his side.

Now that he was at peace with the monster inside him, Soma no longer feared the Light. He was relaxed, a hint of a smile playing at his lips as he stood there. He had only been back an hour or so - long enough to get the barest hint of how much time had passed, and what had happened during it. Was still happening, technically, he guessed; whatever was responsible for this mess was still out there, and he could feel its presence, if not sense its location.

Time for that later, unless someone beat him to it.

Tepes, happy to meet another bat, actually -fluttered- around his counterpart. His happy chittering caught Soma's peripheral attention, and the smile that had been merely hinted at became a realized entity. "It may sound odd, but I've missed this place."

"Not really," Aqua answers with a brief shrug. "Unless you were asking him, and I'm not certain what he might have been trying to say."

She's gotten used to her bat wanting to say hello to any of a variety of people, but that doesn't mean that she's really been able to translate any of the squeaks that he usually offers. Besides, the advantage of not having really being heading anywhere in particular means that it's easy enough to stop midway through.

"And it doesn't sound strange at all. It's... nice. Not somewhere where you have to worry about things quite so much."

Well, apart from the various Nightmares and sometimes strange things happening, but compared to the sort of thing she'd have to be putting up with if she weren't in the Realm of Dreams, it's just life as normal. And that's already miles better than anything else.

Compared to crazy evil cultists, thousand year old vampires, and castles full of demons, this place was practically a vacation. It did lack a few amenities, but at least now he had a fair idea that he wasn't about to lose them if he stayed here too long.

"They're speaking Greek as far as I'm concerned, but they seem to understand me just fine. I get the feeling that's how it works with everyone."

He took a few steps closer, putting himself in a more comfortable conversational range, and leaned against a lamp post. "What happened here? I've only been gone about four days, surely that wasn't long enough for the place to fall apart..."

"It does, doesn't it?"

But as long as they know what they're saying, Aqua isn't going to concern herself with what the Dream Eaters are saying. Which means that her bat and Tepes are perfectly free to chatter among themselves. For her part, Aqua is content to concern herself with the questions that Soma himself is asking.

"It hasn't really fallen apart? But we had an influx of people recently, although they didn't stay."

What to make of it, she isn't certain, but it seemed to happen about the same time that the worlds had closed themselves off once again. And given that they have yet to get them back, maybe it is something to do with the Nightmare still floating around.

"That's kind of what I meant. Before, there was a slow but steady trickle - enough to think that, maybe, it was somehow happening naturally. But a sudden rush in and back out again? That makes me think whoever's behind all this slipped up."

And maybe the big Nightmares were their way of trying to cover their tracks. Unless a Nightmare was, itself responsible somehow - but that would mean something in the world of dreams had a whole hell of a lot more power than anyone ever thought possible. Enough that the ones they've fought to date will look like playthings by comparison...

"If it's a person, we might've just gotten lucky. If it's a Nightmare, though... we're in for big trouble."

"I don't think it's a Nightmare," Aqua answered after a long moment of consideration. "I'm not sure it would be useful to them to bring so many people here."

Which means that someone - or something - else is responsible for them all falling to dreaming, and that's not exactly a comfortable thought. Especially not when some of the other things that have turned up now and again are taken into account. On the other hand, there's been no one to come taunt them for a while now, and perhaps that's a good sign.

"But I agree. Something must have changed, if only for a little."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I don't know how the dream world works in your universe, but where I'm from, there are... things that inhabit the far reaches. Demons, devils, things that don't even have names - there's a whole laundry list of beings out there that could be behind this, and each has a stranger reason than the last. I'd actually be kind of relieved to find out it's a person, no matter their goal."

Tepes and Aqua's bat were, for the moment, left to their own devices. Their people had enough to worry about.

"If we could find out what and why, I think we'd be a lot closer to the answers we need. Does anyone have any leads?"

"This is the first time I've been here," Aqua answered with a shrug. True, she's been around long enough to get a general idea of how things works here, but she can't really say for certain whether or not this is normal for the Real of Dreams.

"But I agree. If we could find out why we were here for certain, it would help. But I don't think there have been any leads for a while."

Certainly not since they had more than one or two worlds to visit, at least, and the thought is quite entirely worrying. Especially given that she wouldn't be surprised if it means that they haven't even been on the right track lately. But for now she'll keep that possibility to herself. For all she knows, she could be proven wrong and so best to keep silent a moment longer.

"The problem as I see it is that there's nowhere left to look. We've been all over all the available worlds with a fine-toothed comb, and all it's gotten us is a boatload of dead Nightmares. Either we're missing something... or there's nothing to find. And I don't like the implications of that at all."

Truth be told, it was Soma's first time as well (well, technically second) - but Dracula had been an alchemist in the days when people took dreams seriously, and he'd done plenty of research. There was a *reason* nightmares and succubi inhabited his castle, after all, and Alucard could tell anyone who cared to ask that falling asleep there wasn't the best of ideas.

"We need more information. I think that's a safe bet to start with. Do you know if anyone currently here has ever been to the dream world before?"

"Neither do I. Especially when we used to see other people on the communicators, sometimes."

Not enough for it to be common and they didn't usually get anything out of the fact that other people had gotten on to them, but it had been something. Nor was she at all inclined to think that they'd fallen prey to the Nightmares. Gotten less interested in speaking up, maybe, but even that has the potential to not be too terribly comforting.

"But I think Sora's been here before, if he hasn't woken up."

"I don't know that I've ever actually met Sora. I've seen him on the network a few times, I think, but never in person." Which... was kind of odd, considering how few people there seemed to be around, but he wasn't going to bring that up now. "Do you think we should track him down and see what he can tell us?"

Admittedly, the insights of someone even younger than himself - even if that someone was markedly better traveled - weren't likely to be of much use now. But, if there was even a slight chance he knew something crucial that they had missed...

The idea of tracking someone down strikes an... unusual chord in Aqua. It's not the first time she's gone looking after someone who is - or perhaps could be - a friend but the wording is unusual enough to remind her of something else. Of chasing down people who are distinctly not friends and she's not certain what to make of it. So she puts it out of her mind for the time being and simply shrugs.

"It couldn't hurt. Especially if it helps explain what we might be doing here."

Or what they should looking for or not looking for, if that happens to be more relevant over all.

If she'd brought it up, Soma would have told her that it was just a poor choice of words. He's done the hunting people thing before, and that is most certainly not what he meant this time. Of course, if they ever got a bead on that cloaked person on the network... well, that would be a different story.

"I think it's about time to gather everyone we can find together and do some serious talking and thinking. Put together everything we know or think we know, and then try to make a plan from there. It doesn't sit well with me, knowing we've just been letting ourselves be led around by the nose."

If they ever got a bead on the cloaked person on the network, Aqua would be one of the first to sign up to help track them down. She might not know what the cloaks mean, but she knows someone who likely doesn't mean well when she sees them, and the last thing she wants to have to deal with is another Xehanort. But for now, she'll trust that no one is going want to hunt Sora down.

"I don't think it sits well with anyone. But I can't remember anyone actually managing to agree on a plan. Which only means that there's more reason to get something figured out."

Soma nodded in agreement. "Exactly. We've all been running around with no real direction thus far, and even when we make progress it's like we're stumbling over each other to do it. That needs to stop."

How could it be stopped? He wasn't entirely sure. His predecessor - one might go so far as to say his ancestor - might have been a tactician, but he was not. But there were doubtless others among the refugees who were, and getting them all together would hopefully give one or more of them the kind of inspirational spark they needed to move forward.

"We need a date, time, and location to gather everyone up. Sometime soon, by preference, and not in Ponyville. Most of us aren't really comfortable there."

To be entirely honest, Aqua wasn't much of a tactician either. Getting people to all put their heads together would likely help, but over all, she doesn't have terribly much of an idea on how to get it to stop. Especially if more things come up later and people don't think to share the information.

But that can be something to deal with later. Preferably after they've managed to get everyone talking to each other.

"We could have it in Twilight Town, maybe? Or here, if people didn't want to have to go so far."

"Either is fine, as far as I'm concerned - but it needs to be a location we can defend. Whatever's been springing the big nightmares on us is putting up some ridiculously strong barriers; a large, open area with scattered cover might be best."

And if they could draw who or whatever it was out with such a meeting... maybe they could spring a trap of their own. He didn't mention this aloud, not yet. He needed to work out the details, find someone who knew something about barrier magic, and see if his own, newly expanded abilities could be put to use.

Unfortunately, large open areas with some amount of cover aren't really all that common over all. Or at least, not by what Aqua considers cover. On the other hand, she's pretty much used to fighting wherever fighting happens, since the Unversed were never terribly convenient about that sort of thing.

"I suppose there's the greenhouse, here. Or maybe the sandlot out in Twilight Town?"

Neither of which have a lot of cover, but they're probably about the best that anyone is going to be able to find.

"The sandlot has better lighting, I think. Not quite as much cover as I'd like, but... better than nothing. We can always drag more stuff in."

Or just make do with what's there. If the objective was the element of surprise, they shouldn't have stuff like overturned wagons or the like out there, after all.

"I'll post to the network to try and get people gathered together a bit later. Can you think of anything else that might help?"

"It does," Aqua answers with a nod. Traverse Town isn't really the best lit of places and although Twilight Town isn't necessarily much better it's something. Enough of something to be of use at very least.

"Nothing that I can think of," Aqua answers. "Most of the things we found earlier have already been spoken about."

True, a general recap might be a good thing but that's not quite the same as something that might help.

"I wish there was some way to talk strategy with everyone beforehand without giving away the plan, but I don't think that's going to be possible - not unless we use the spirits as carrier pigeons or something. Even then... well, you know most of them will go out of their way for a treat, no matter who's giving it to them. I know we've come to rely on them for protection and companionship, but... I think that might be a bit beyond them."

He sighed, glancing up at their bats. "Not only that, but what if they run into something they can't handle? We already know the biggest ones use some kind of barrier magic to prevent escape."

"A little bit, yes," Aqua answers with a nod. "And there's no way to guarantee that they'd even make it to the right person, which isn't going to be much of a help, even if it's just us and the moogles here."

And it's even worse if there are darker forces actively present in the Realm of Dreams. Especially if the point of using the Dream Eaters as messengers would be to not need to leave the messages where just anyone could see them.

"We do, yes. So we probably will have to tell people about the meeting and not so much the strategy. Although we could mention that we wanted to talk about that sort of thing?"

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Into the silence will you answer

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