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≋ Choices Made (Attempted Lock from Maleficent)

[When the communicator turns on, it shows Ven - and he doesn't look too good, to put it fairly mildly. There are faint circles under his eyes like he hasn't slept well since the attack on the castle in Never Was, and he's a bit paler than usual. But there's a spark in his eyes that's nothing but awake and focused - he's got a goal, and he won't be turned away from it.]

I'm going back. To the castle. I can't... I won't just leave her there, like that. S... Sailor Moon did everything she could to stop Maleficent, and I won't just give up on her no matter what any evil fairy says.

[He's taken this a little more personally than probably is expected, but he has his reasons.]

I'm looking for anyone willing to come with me. I don't know if it's going to be easy - I'm hoping we can just sneak in and out, but there's no guarantee about that, especially with the crystal she has now. But we all owe her the attempt. She'd do the same for us - and more.

[And he turns off the video function before he can dig himself in any deeper and give away his specific reasons for wanting to do this.]

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You're right. We at least need to try.

Yeah. And maybe... Maybe we can get Leon back, too.

[He knows that one would be much harder, but if he gets the chance, he'll take it. A sleep spell and dragging the man home would at least get him free of her influence.]

It won't be easy. But... we can try. We should try. For his sake.

I will go with you.

[He can already tell that Ven won't be persuaded otherwise. As powerful as Maleficent is and how foolish it would be to attack her head-on, the most he could do was try to strengthen the team. But there's also another reason.]

You've done the same for me before.

[That's why he's not planning a direct confrontation with her. At this point, that'd probably be suicide. He kind of doesn't want to go through that again.]

I don't need repayment for that or anything. People need to help each other, right?

Indeed. But what is that crystal that she has?

[ Ven isn't the only one who's been lacking in the sleep department. Although not exactly for the same reasons as he, himself. Part of it's simply because she just doesn't sleep half as often as a human being would, but there's definitely something more to that that's kept her up... even if, ironically? She's been stowed off in her room for a time. And the only time she's ever left it? Was whenever the others in the castle were insistent about seeing her.

It's only when she hears him over the communicator, specifically with that kind of tone... That gets her to rise from off her bed. Not bothering with her tousled hair and wrinkled clothing, she pads along to her bedroom door, opening it and peering out into the hallway. Only once the coast's clear, she heads on down. The walk seems longer than it really is, but eventually she reaches her destination. She hesitates before biting her lip as she raising a fist and knocking precariously on the door. ]

[It takes a second, but after a few moments there's shuffling feet over the floorboards as he approaches the door. He can guess it's not Terra since Terra knocks heavier and he thinks it's not Aqua, but he's not entirely sure. So he's not surprised to open his door and find Xion standing there. As for the disheveled appearance, it's not like that's important to him.]

Are you okay?

[ Xion looks to him as he opens the door with nearly matching pale skin and no smile to be seen. Yep, someone else is definitely in on the sleep deprived state. Seems like it's becoming a trend these days? Still, despite her state, she's come by for a reason. One that- ...mirrors right out of Ven.

She takes a moment to just blink dumbly. It's like her brain is just... taking a moment to even register what he said despite how alert her eyes look, watching him. Before she shakes her head rapidly- ] -I'm. I'll-

-Are you? [ Why, yes, she did just dodge that bullet. At least she's attempting to. ]

[It's a trend they could do without, all things told. Still, there isn't much else to be done about it - he's tried sleeping, it just hasn't worked well. At all. And he can guess that much the same thing's happening to Xion, otherwise their appearances wouldn't match quite so well.]

[Unlike a lot of times before, he lets her get away without a real response. Instead he turns away from the door, his head hanging a little as he sighs. He knows that hiding his own state is pretty much hopeless.]

...Not really. I just... [Yeah, he'll trail off there. Talking about this is hard.]

[ Admittedly, it would have come more as a surprise that he dismissed it if he wasn't in the state he seemed to be in. As it was then, she just... well. Felt ridiculous for even asking. It's written all over his face. She heard him just moments ago. All the same... she's just not sure what to do about things.

But she... doesn't want to just leave him alone. He's... a friend of hers now. Someone who let her in despite what she's done. So... if she can do what she can to help him... not that asking him that seemed to do that. She watches quietly as he looks away, losing his words like that. Ven, of all people. He's usually more... well. Talkative. And sure of things. It's... worrisome. But understandable after all that's happened. Leon and that girl she met the once... Taken away just like that. Slipped right out of everyone's fingers.

She.. nods solemnly, but then she realizes he won't be able to see it and so.. ] ...Yeah.

...I guess- that was a silly question.

[Asking doesn't really accomplish much. All it does is... bring out the fact that there is something wrong into the open, when, yeah, it's obvious that there's something wrong anyway. Asking more might help, if he can find the words... but there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that he can.]

It's... it's not. [Ven sits on his bed, looking somewhat defeated, not looking her in the eye.] But... I don't...

[ It seems words are failing both of them then. Well... Perhaps at first anyway. Seeing as Ven doesn't turn her away, Xion steps into the room as he takes a seat if not with a hesitance. For a moment, she just watches the floor uncertainly. But when he speaks again, she raises her head to look at him.

There's a brief pause before she gestures aimlessly with a hand. ] But you don't...? [ It's not much for conversation, but it's a prompt all the same. ]

[He can't turn you away, Xion. You've already been turned away too much, been left in the dark on so many things, just like him. It makes him far too sympathetic to you to close the door in your face - and you're trying to help, as best you can. He just...]

I don't... I don't know what to do. [His voice is quiet, not quite a whisper but almost there. His head sinks until he's resting it on the palm of his right hand, like it was too heavy for him to keep holding up. And then his voice gets even quieter.] She's my friend.

[ Her... hand falls at that and she goes quiet again. Really... This is something she's been pondering, herself. For a while now. Ever since they came back. But no matter what, she can't come up with anything. And... apparently, he hasn't had much luck either. And if what Maleficent implied is true.. that she destroyed... but...

It's hard to say it isn't when she isn't sure. ...What she is sure of though... Xion bites her lip as her gaze lingers back to Ven. Lingers back to the day she arrived in Traverse Town. She shuts eyes tight a moment. Opens them. And then she crosses the room until she's standing in front of him. An unsure beat later and her hand touches his shoulder, ghosting over it. ] That just means... we'll have to try even harder to stop that witch then... right?

Edited 2012-12-05 04:54 (UTC)

[Ven doesn't react to the hand on his shoulder, which... actually a fairly good sign. He's not resisting physical contact, even (or especially) from her, he just isn't responding to it full throttle. What Xion chooses to do about that is her decision, but at least he doesn't seem to think it's a bad thing.]

Yeah, but we have to save her. We have to save both of them. [He still didn't know Leon all that well, but he was a good man, and very important to Sora, almost like a brother. Definitely a mentor and a guide. Whatever Maleficent had done to him, it had to be undone.] I'm so sick of not being able to do anything until it's too late. It just keeps happening...

[ Seeing as he doesn't flinch away, she doesn't remove her hand. If anything, she rests it a little more firmly there. But otherwise, her attention is more drawn towards him.

Save them... ] ...I know. [ At least until she furrows her brows and shakes her head out of it. Really, she barely knows the two of them, herself. But... Leon entrusted her to help them. And Sailor Moon seemed nice enough. Plus then being one of Ven's friends...

Though... She can't hide the way her expression falls a little darker as he keeps talking. The moment's brief but there. Somehow, it seems like... She doesn't want to pry. She's hardly told him everything about herself, but.. ] ...You make it sound like something like this. ...Like it happened before.

It... [Well, he hasn't exactly hidden it, specifically. Not since the knowledge of the Keyblades came to light, but yeah, they haven't exactly come straight out and explained everything about their pasts. Some of it, yeah, and Ven especially has always left himself open for questions and answered them honestly, but it's tough to talk about things that have happened in the past when they affected you so badly. Even to this point.] It did. It's how everything started going wrong in the first place, with me and Terra and Aqua and the Master and... and Xehanort and Vanitas. It's why I don't look as old as I really am.

[ It's not exactly something that's bothered her though at least. Not... for the most part anyway. Although some of it's simply due to just not wanting questions to be turned her way. But... now that they're on the topic, she can't help herself.

Especially when he says something like that. She can't hide the confusion. She steps back to see him better. This means letting his shoulder go, but she wants to get a better look at him. ] Why you don't look... as old as you are? What do you mean?

I mean... it's a long story. [Understatement, Ven. You're good at it, apparently. He's not refusing to talk about it, but there's a general answer and then there's a full answer. He'll start with the general.]

[But not before pushing back so he's sitting completely on the bed, back up against the headboard as he finally looks up at her.] You may want to sit down. Remember I told you that my heart was destroyed? [He pauses for a second before pushing on, trying to get it all out quickly.] I was born twenty-nine years ago, or somewhere in that area. After my heart was broken, my body went into a... really long sleep, where I wasn't aware of anything and I didn't age at all, as my heart slept in Sora's to recover.

[ There's the faintest hint of relief when he finally looks her way though it's quickly dismissed by just how heavy his expression appears. All the same, she starts taking a seat when she's offered only to stall mid-sitting position, eyes darting from the bed to meet his. ]

Twenty-nine years ago? [ Uh, whoops. That came out louder than intended. ...That's about when the rest of what he says hits her. ] So... When you said you were connected to Sora... and that you wouldn't have been here.. [ She slowly lowers herself the rest of the way- flopping at the last moment as something else hits her. ] So then, that's why...

...Why I look like Roxas. Yeah. [There was no way he could mistake the question that she wasn't speaking there. He'd met Roxas himself, if briefly, and Sora had more or less spelled out what had happened to him, and by extension to Ven. There was a lot that they didn't know, obviously, but together they did have a good number of pieces.] I think... I think when Sora took out his heart to save Kairi, it took out my heart, too. I'm pretty sure my heart was in Roxas, while he was... here. [He was her best friend. Ven didn't want to dwell on the fact that she might never see him again; they were already depressed enough, he didn't want to depress her any more.] And that... was the best we could do, when it was me and my friends. We hadn't realized just how bad things were getting until it was too late to stop it for good. We did our best and we stopped his first plan, but... our best still wasn't enough to stop him, or save us. I'm sick of things like that happening.

[ She... can't really hide the slight wince when he finishes what she was about to say. Because it's really no better than someone saying she looks like Kairi. But at the same time, it's just.. an honest deduction. She knows that, but... And she does admittedly want to get to the bottom of things.

...Which it seems like Ven's already done. When Sora took his heart out... She remembers a dream about Kairi going through him. So then... That's what that meant? And he'd taken it out- he'd taken it out? Subconsciously, she reaches up to place her hand on her chest as she bites down a little harder. So many answers there... yet so many questions born, too. And... admittedly, bringing up Roxas didn't make things any better.

But this... She does herself to push those thoughts aside, pressing herself to focus back on what he's saying. About bad things... About his friends... The way he talks about it, she's... not sure how much she should really push to know. But there's something that really bothers her in all this when it hits her that- ] But I thought you said you- I thought you said you saved your friends! That you destroyed your heart, so they would be safe!

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