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@SummerVacation; 11:45PM, Day 08

[ Here's the boy a few of Norfinbury's victims have been looking for. In the poor lighting of the chapel, the optic light of the tablet on his face, his skin is pale and his blue eyes are very noticeable. He has an odd look on his face, distracted, eyes dull. Maybe he's a tad groggy after lying dead on the slab for so many days. ]

How did I get here? I was trying to leave town. It was really cold, and now it's...

[ He trails off. Looking around himself, the stone-hewn chapel is dark, there's no fire there to warm the place. He should still be cold. ]

...I don't like it in here.

Characters: Anyone who wants to stop by.
Location Chapel (96 - T7)
Date: Day 09
Summary: Back out into the world.
Warnings: N/A

In the morning, the chapel pushes him out like he's unwanted. He has no inventory to take with him, and so he just wanders out into the bright morning sun in the same clothes he'd died in. He'd been dead before coming here, he'd been dead in the snow, dead in the confines of the chapel. The fugue of the revival and the numb lack of reaction to the cold is disorienting. The bright sunrise in his eyes is painful after a long sleepless night in the dark bowels of the church, staring into the face of the tablet.

He doesn't know where to go, but apparently he can't leave this horrible place just yet.

He sits down on a snow-covered bench, looking out over the icy lake, hungry and lethargic.

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[It's dark, and the lighting is strange, but Lea would know that face anywhere, would recognize that voice anywhere. He's so surprised he doesn't even think to set a filter, he just slams the reply button and gawps at the screen.]

Roxas!

[The obituary had started to seem like a cruel joke. There had been no sign of Roxas, and he had wondered if he'd really been here at all, or if it had simply been an effort to make him despair. But seeing Roxas' face, hearing his voice, this is real, isn't it?]

Is that really you?

[ He doesn't react for a noticeable moment, expression impassively frozen in that look of exhaustion. The change is a slow one, his mouth parting even though he hasn't yet formulated any words, his brows pinching. Maybe it's kind of funny, watching the realization dawn on his face, ]

...Axel?

[It would be funny, if he wasn't so damn relieved. A big smile spreads across his face and he gives a nod. He'll worry about explaining his new name later.]

Yeah, it's me. Light, are you okay? I thought you were-- [He cuts himself off and shakes his head.] Never mind. Do you know where you are?

[ His eyes get big, a brief shock as the reality of that answer strikes him. He had never thought he was going to see anyone again, let alone the one person he had hurt the most. The memory of the last time they'd met floods in, the heat of that subterranean laboratory when it had been filled with fire, the look on Axel's face first anger and then sadness. It makes something inside of him twinge and twist. It's overwhelming.

He hadn't thought his life would follow him to this terrible place, it had seemed so sterile and dead, all the others he's noticed have been strangers. Maybe just ghosts with bad destinies, just like him. (Maybe that part is still true.)

There are so many things to say and no words that are adequate. His eyes get wet. ]

What are you doing here?

[ That isn't an answer to any of the questions he was asked, but he's having a hard time focusing on that. ]

[He watches the shock cross Roxas' face and then temper to something like sorrow, though he doesn't quite understand why. He's the one who was in the wrong, not Roxas; Roxas hadn't forgotten him on purpose, and as much as it had hurt, as much as it had frustrated him, he knows that ultimately he only had himself to blame for what happened. Well, and Xehanort. Yeah, he'd blame Xehanort instead, that sounded like a much better option.

[He gives a wry smile at Roxas' question.]

Takin' a vacay. I got sick of all the hot weather in Agrabah and that Coliseum, so I thought I'd try something different. You?

[ He wants to appreciate hearing Axel joke again, but the answer to what he thought he was doing here makes him... self-conscious to say it out loud. ]

I... guess I just thought this was where you went. When you stopped mattering.

[ He had missed the whole injection deal, he doesn't quite understand that something more complicated is going on here.

This horrible cold, white place where you could die over and over again really did just seem like some kind of wretched purgatory for the unwanted. ]

If that was the case, you wouldn't be here, kiddo. [His smile is a little crooked, a little sad.] You still matter to me. I know I did a lousy job of showing it, but... I'd like another shot at it, whaddaya say?

[The smile fades a little, and he gives him a worried look.]

Are you okay, though? You're inside somewhere, right?

[He can't quite see in the darkness around him, but he had said he didn't like it 'in here'. He's seen what happens when people get stuck outside at night, and he doesn't ever want to see Roxas' name in an obituary again.]

[ Axel's apology just summons a pained look to his face, his eyes big and earnest as he leans in a little closer to the tablet. ]

I... was really selfish. [ He bites down on his lower lip for a moment, brows pinching. It's almost hard to look that far into the past. He feels like he's been so many different people, each one distinct despite having his self there at the core. Each person he's been has such a definitive break between all the others, cohesive but fragmented at the same time. ] I don't know, if I'd... do anything different. But that doesn't make it less selfish.

[ Maybe if he'd just had a little more faith in his friend, things might have been different. But the person he was at that time... had no way of knowing the reality of things. All he knew was that he'd been betrayed by everyone around him, and the only one he could trust was himself. ]

I'm sorry. [ He doesn't seem very relieved about being able to get that off his chest, and he makes a concerted effort to gloss past it. ] I'm in a church. There's just a bunch of dead people downstairs.

[ It was seriously creeping him out. He's never been this close to a corpse before, everyone in Disney Land just faded away. ]

[Selfish? He would hardly have called Roxas' actions selfish. He had only wanted answers, answers Axel had been too afraid to give him. What if he's angry? he had thought, back then. What if he leaves? And in the end, Roxas had left angrily anyway. The worst part was that he'd let him. The truth was, Axel had wanted to go with him, to leave the Organization behind, but he'd been too afraid. He had feared the consequences of his actions, when ultimately it had been his actions that had caused so many problems in the first place.

[He shakes his head.]

Selfishness was kind of making the rounds, I think. I know I'd make different choices, this time around. No more lies, all right? [He drags his thumb in an X across his chest.] Cross my heart.

[He rubs his chin then.]

The church? [Damn, he's not even sure where that is. A few people have been there, he knows, but he's got no point of reference to place it in regards to where he is now. He gives Roxas a bit of a frown.] I'd like to find you. [It's as sincere as he's ever been.] Do you know how to tell which direction is which? If it's not snowing in the morning, see if you can tell where the sun is in the sky. If you head south, maybe we can find one another.

[ There's something fascinating about that statement. He's hesitant to show it, how intrigued he is by the idea of no more lies. He supposes, if there's one person he should have faith in now... it was Axel. This was their second chance to actually be good to each other. There's still a vague fear in the back of his mind that is distrustful, that expects deception. He shakes it off, irritated by his cowardice. ]

I'm not a very good liar anyway.

[ Acknowledgement, assent to this promise and he kind of hesitates before awkwardly repeating the gesture. It's an odd choice of symbolism for someone who still believes he's a Nobody, but that's how you seal an oath, isn't it?

He still looks a bit shy about it, like maybe he shouldn't have done it. ]

I'll... try to figure it out. When the doors open... It's creepy how they lock at certain times. It's like the town is alive.

[ Manipulating them, eating up their corpses and then spitting them back out again to wander through the snow. He can't feel the cold right now, but he wraps his arms around himself in utter discomfort. He doesn't like it in this church. He doesn't like it in this town.

The World That Never Was had been disconcerting in a similar manner, dead but alive, but at least there he'd felt some sense of power and control with their great white castle floating overhead, all the minor nobodies under their command. ]

Edited (whoa word swap) 2015-06-27 23:28 (UTC)

[He chuckles softly.]

Being a bad liar isn't a bad thing, Roxas. Believe me, lying isn't all it's cracked up to be. [He watches Roxas mimic his gesture, then presses his lips together. Well, in the interests of being honest, then...] Actually, on that note, I guess... I should tell you, ah... It's Lea, now. Not Axel. [He's not sure Roxas will make the connection, so he pats his chest with one hand.] That was my name before I lost my heart. It... looks like I got that next life after all, you know?

[ He never really thought much of lying. He couldn't really, not when he was fractured off of a heart like Sora's. It has always been... strange, to be that fragment. To be built off of something so powerful, but to be told he didn't have that power himself. To be told that all the things he felt inside weren't really what they were. But that was his life, wasn't it. Just one beautifully woven delusion after the other. He's so afraid that's what this place is too, and the look he gives the camera is such an expression of vulnerability, the tentative hope of someone who isn't sure what to believe.

But they'd promised, just now. ]

You... got your heart back?

[ He parses it out slowly, like maybe he's possibly misunderstanding. ]

Sure did. [He takes a deep breath and lets it out again, rubbing the back of his neck in his usual slightly embarrassed fidget.] Wasn't expecting it, really, but I'll take it.

[He waves a hand then, shaking his head a little.]

I'm still me, though. I mean... I guess technically I'm more me than I was before. [He hesitates, then looks a little embarrassed again.] What I'm saying is, I'm... we can still be best friends, if that's still okay with you.

[ Pretty much for the first time in the entire conversation, Roxas quirks a smile. It's pretty pathetic in terms of what he's capable of, but it's about as much as one could expect from a recently dead kid in a dark empty church with nothing but corpses for company right now. ]

I didn't think that was up for debate.

[Small and thin though the smile may be, it's a relief to see it, and Lea relaxes a little. He grins in return.]

I didn't want it to be. I was just worried I'd messed up too much. [He straightens a bit where he's sitting, giving Roxas a serious and slightly hopeful look.] We'll find each other, okay? We definitely will. And I'll... I'll be better this time. I learned my lesson.

When you can get outside tomorrow, try and see where the sun is, in the morning. Whichever direction the sun is shining from, go exactly left, so the sun is directly on your right. That'll be south. The position of the sun'll change over the course of the day, and it'll be on your left when it's setting. If you keep heading south, eventually you'll hit a big wall of snow, so tell me right away when you do, okay? And we can try and figure out where you are from there.

[He looks a little worried then.]

Just make sure you find somewhere to be inside before it gets dark. The tablet'll tell ya when you need to find shelter, so... make sure you do, all right? If you get caught outside, you'll freeze to death. [Again? He's not sure how Roxas died the first time, and he doesn't even want to ask. He just wants to make sure it doesn't happen again.]

[ Hmm. The look turns a little pensive. There had been... plenty of mistakes made to go around. In a way he wants to just forget about it entirely, but he knows that won't really make things better. The blissful ignorance of those few days in Twilight Town had been nice, but insincere. He had to accept where he'd been, and if Lea can accept him as the boy who ran away and disappeared, he supposes he can accept Lea as the friend who tried to make him stay. ]

I think the coat downstairs might be mine. [ It was a little fuzzy, honestly. ] I'll be okay.

[ His smile is not the least bit reassuring. ]

I'll see you tomorrow.

Take it anyway. [Who cares whose it is? If Roxas needs a coat, he'd better take one. He gives a bit of a grin then.]

Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Check in every once in a while, all right? This old heart of mine makes it a little easier to be worried about those people who matter, you know?

[ There's a part of him that wants to tell Axel that he's done enough worrying about him. But this is Lea now, and maybe people couldn't just turn their concern on and off like that. Roxas certainly knew he couldn't, which... maybe raised a question in his mind that he wasn't really ready to mull over just yet but was probably going to be up all night gnawing over anyway. ]

I will, don't... uh [ The laughter is faint, a tad distracted. ] don't worry.

[Wow, that backdrop looks familiar. Not that Clayton remembers exploring the chapel, but he's seen the pictures he took while he was there and he knows he saw a morgue and at least one dead person down in the basement. Which means this kid, obviously suffering some level of amnesia and mysteriously locked in with the bodies in the church, must also have been revived after an apparent death.]

[...Oh god. It's after lockout, and he's in the church.]

[For how worried this makes him, Clayton keeps a remarkably calm, reassuring face.]

Hard to say, but you should be safe. [Is this true? Who knows! Clayton figures that being doubtful of such things will not help the situation.] Are you feelin' alright? Sick or anything like that?

[ He's a little more lively after talking to Lea, but not by much honestly. He feels numb and disoriented and the church scares him in a deep visceral kind of way. His eyes roam the darkness of his surroundings as he considers the question he was asked, ]

I don't know. I don't think I'm sick.

[ He glances at the tablet and there's something very vulnerable in the look, like maybe he has something more to say but he's uncomfortable doing so. Exulansis is the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it. It was hard to explain to someone not of his world that he hadn't even existed anymore before he was brought to this place. That maybe he doesn't entirely feel at home in his skin again just yet, and certainly not after dying. ]

[Yeah, that's the look of someone who definitely should not be left alone. It hurts him immensely, knowing he can't be there to help--some kind of physical presence, anything would be ideal over trying to distract him over video--but this, and some attempted advice and diagnoses, are the best Clayton has to offer. This sucks a lot.]

[Naturally, his response to this is to smile. It's sad and a little pained, but deeply sympathetic, and probably much better than the alternative (blind panic).]

That's alright. We'll sort it out. [Clayton keeps his voice quiet, low and soothing. Assuming the kid isn't hurt, maybe just getting him to fall asleep is the best solution.] You're in the church, right? Think I recognize them windows.

[ In a way, Roxas was at peace with the idea that it would... sort itself out. He didn't seem to have much choice in the matter. Death wasn't death here, it was no escape. Not that he was proud that the thought of escape had drifted through his mind at all. It couldn't really be helped though, misfortune is always following him... and it seems like in the end things somehow always get sorted out and he ends up standing in the ring, waiting for another round with sorrow.

He wraps an arm around his curled up legs with a sigh, huddled in against the wall, ]

I am. Maybe it's nicer during the day...

[ Church was an ephemeral sort of concept he didn't really understand. Before waking up inside of this one, he had never seen nor heard of one. The word was part of the vocabulary that had been implanted inside of him after his memories had been erased; false. Those false memories of normalcy clash with his remembered history and the current reality. ]

Hmm. It's a little lighter. [Based on the pictures he took, anyways.] I was there a few days ago. Didn't have t' stay the night...prob'ly woulda been better off if I had. [i.e. "not dead." Clayton chuckles instead of saying this.] You woke up in the basement, I'm guessin'?

[ He nods, looking uncomfortable with the memory. He's never really seen is a dead body before. He'd come from a world where the only thing he killed was ephemeral shadow monsters who dissipated into nothing. No blood, nor corpses, no permanence. That lack of permanence had been a boon and a curse to him, his existence falling into a nebulous in between place where he was not meant to exist, and should he be expunged, it would be like he was never there. ]

I didn't like it down there.

[Clayton's brow crinkles in sympathy.]

I don't blame ya. Ain't nobody likes bein' in a morgue, 'specially wakin' up in one. It's good that you got the rest a this place to stay in, 'least.

[He pauses to chew on his lip. This isn't enough...Roxas still looks uncomfortable, and Clayton can hardly leave him alone in that state overnight. Need to figure out something more constructive.]

[Well, when all else fails, simply ask! But first, maybe some proper introductions will help ease him.]

I'm Clayton. What's your name?

Hi, Clayton.

[ He greets him with a perfunctory tiredness. ]

My name is Roxas.

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video; ID: Nobody

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video - ID: claytonator (hope this isn't too late!)

not at all, I need to get my cr rolling after having the hiatus :)

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