Redi Domum

[stringmods]

Who: The missing visitors and you. Open to everyone.
Where: MAGI Labs
Summary: After being violently removed from the Tower of Animus, everyone is returned 'home'.
Warnings: None

There was a tight clench behind your navel, the sensation of something dragging you through the fabric of time and space itself... it was an unpleasant sensation, almost sickening. Those of Hinoto-Ri had vanished from the tower completely when the clock struck midnight from what had just happened, removed from that reality. It had happened with such abruptness that it was downright disorienting to observe. There was no chance for a hurried goodbye, no chance of even letting out a surprised scream...

Those of Hinoto-Ri were dragged back to their own world with very little grace, and for a dizzying and wild thirty seconds, they suffered from the sensation of thick tentacles grasping and yanking their bodies this way and that through a swirling blur of matter. Where were they going? What had caused this?

After those sickening moments that seemed to last far longer, they were unceremoniously shoved out of the Shining Trapezohedron in a stream of bright lights, and into what looked like a giant room filled with computer screens. At least it didn't appear to be the Mictlan, like when the other group had returned.

Pray that you weren't on the bottom of the pile...

Now there was a quiet hum, as an alarm went off. Lights shone brightly upon you as scientists outside were running scans to determine you weren't harmful from your trip. That left you time to think.

You had finally met him...

Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. He'd taunted some of you, shown you another world you had been sent to save...but in the end, nothing much had changed. Perhaps there was small solace that it was still standing and not completely obliterated as had been his plan. The questioned remained, however...

Where was He now? ...you could figure that out later. There were reunions to be had first.

[OOC - Anyone can start threads.]

Comments

[destinedwaters]

[Aqua had been lucky to end up on the edge of the pile after that disorienting trip through space and time, inwardly cringing at how her legs had been caught for a brief moment and the opportunity to say one final thing to those she had met back in that world--even one small word of power and light-- before finding herself back in the world they had come from.

Yet there were no words said as the scans are performed, only thoughts back on the time spent there... what was learned... who was met...

She had hated yellow eyes before, but that--

Her hand closes around her wayfinder before she goes to find her friends that had gone with them still there in the pile. That was more important than any harsh word or half-truth that had been shared. She wasn't going to share her pain, but focus on others.

They need it more than she does; that listening ear.]

[greyerrant]

[ Loken strides out of the center of the pile, looking down at Aqua. He is clearly disgusted, not with her, but with his failure to slay the Daemon. For that is what Nyarlathotep was to him. ]

Aqua.

[destinedwaters]

[He isn't the only one disgusted, but for now... she simply looks up at him. There's no smile, no shared look of disgust. Only a practiced blank face of someone who has seen some serious shit and isn't about to burden the others with it just yet. in other words, concerned mom mode]

...Garviel. [It's okay, man... They'll have another chance at cutting him down to size.]

[greyerrant]

You all right? [ And he is spacedad. Together they are spacemarried ]

You look... distant.

[ And he's just grimdark. ]

[destinedwaters]

[She nods faintly.] Mm. I'm alright. Just a lot on my mind.

[She manages a faint smile, but inside... she is seething mad and conflicted. What had they left the others to? What was to become of those they couldn't save...?

ffffft worst spacemarried couple ever]

[greyerrant]

Understandable, considering the state we left everyone in.

[ His eyes harden a bit. ]

It distresses me to think we couldn't free them.

[destinedwaters]

[....Couldn't free them.]

I know. Many of us feel the same way. [I feel the same way.]

ftr this is Strings!Xion not Animus I swear I just need icons

[attheclocktower]

Aqua!

[Have a very relieved (but taller) keybitty all but flinging herself at you and clinging very tightly, with no regards for whether the situation or position is awkward or not. She's too relieved.

Mom is home. ;n;]

i am fully aware shh...

[destinedwaters]

Huh-?

[Oof, oh hey there. Aqua blinks for a second, before it completely registers. The black hair that always looked like Kairis, the voice that was so similar yet so very unique...

Those arms wrapped around her as one of her keybitties practically clings to her.

She's silent for a moment, and in that time... she doesn't realize just how much she is suddenly holding onto her student and not!daughter/niece/whatever-she-is-at-this-point because she's here and Aqua's here and it's over and just a memory now. Or at least, she somewhat wishes she could say that it is. Because it's still a harsh reality for those she couldn't save.

Again.

'Don't cry, Aqua. ...I never like it when you cry. Please... remember to smile.'

...

Aqua holds her tight, tears of relief and a smile cross her lips, because for the first time in a while... it feels like she's home.]

S-shh... [She whispers] W-we're back.

I know the notice was for the general benefit

[attheclocktower]

[Xion hadn't been crying before, but now Aqua is and the soothing words being whispered at her and now she is crying because nothing bad happened, she isn't hurt, but there's something in her that can tell that those who went cannot say the same.

Those most precious to her hurt, and of course she hurts too.

She doesn't let go for a long while. And even when she finally does, she seems a little shaken, but still relieved and happy and...]

I-I'm glad you're back. Everything's been okay here [mostly] but... we didn't know where you'd gone or when you'd come back or anything.

[destinedwaters]

[Aqua doesn't mind, because it takes a while for her to calm herself so that she isn't crying as much at all even if it's just relief and guilt and so many other things that she is not going to burden the others with but mostly just the gratefulness that, instead of simply disappearing back into the dark... she was here. With family. With her world and while it isn't their worlds it was better than nothing and it was all she could ask for.

Now if only there wasn't all this pain from not being able to do more... of being unable to save those she'd promised with the others.

When she lets go, she ruffles Xion's hair lightly, smiling as any sign of her sadness is wiped away. No, now it's just happiness and relief with a side of weariness because oh man, had that been a roller coaster.]

I'm sorry, Xion. [she really is.] To be honest... we weren't sure other than what Philemon said before we arrived where we were sent.

[Which was a whole other can of worms, but one step at a time.]

[whereibelong]

Didn't tell any of us very much, did he?

[Don't mind her sounding the tiniest bit resentful. She's remembering Tatsuya's warning. This seemed to fall pretty well in line with what he'd said.

The hairruffle reminds her of Lea, and her expression shifts to something a little bit harder to identify. She's cautious though, as she bites her lip]

What... what happened?

[quakega]

[It's kinda hard to ignore that rather powerful yank on the Dimension Links that the return to Hinoto-Ri had caused. So when the tug coincided with the message on the COMP network detailing the location of the missing Visitors, Terra hadn't wasted any time racing there.

His Wayfinder had been a huge help, but the directions on the COMP hadn't hurt.

Finding familiar faces in this chaos was going to be a little difficult, but he's already spotted one very familiar head of blue. There is no hiding the relief in his voice or in his expression.] Aqua!

[Find Kairi and Naminé after getting the run-down. They're bound to be in the same room, after all.]

[destinedwaters]

[That it is, and feeling her Terra's yank on the unbreakable connection they have. He was still here... thank Light. She had found Kairi and Naminé earlier, tried to console them the best she could while she too was suffering... but now she needed to be alone so she could put her thoughts in order.

At least, until she sensed that familiar light/dark ratio grow ever closer.

Her Heart hurt, heavy with the burden that she couldn't do more for those left behind in that living hell. That so many familiar faces, some that were here, were still in that mess they'd been ejected from in a fit of rage. It has probably been a long time since she did this, but...

Have a little older sister clinging to you, Terra. Yes. It was that bad.]

[quakega]

[It has been a long time since she last did this; long enough that the very fact that his little sister is clinging to him like a lifeline is far more worrying than possibly seeing her return injured.

It takes him a few seconds to shove away the sheer surprise he feels over this. Aqua was strong in a way that he wasn't, and she always had been. For something to shake her this badly...

Where had they gone? What the hell happened over there?

Slowly, he lets out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and he wraps his arms around her.] It'll be all right; you're safe now.

[He waits a few minutes for her to hopefully collect herself. He keeps his voice quiet to avoid being overheard, and for a moment, it's uncanny how similar he sounds to his older counterpart in the Tower of Animus.] What happened over there?

[destinedwaters]

[Since they had been little, and she remembers that well... Back when they found out why she'd been so terrified of her water-based shotlock before the Master suggested a way of modifying it. Back when nightmares of that night still haunted her dreams like one of fire haunted his. She had long-since overcome the fear, sure... but back then...

She doesn't mind however long it takes him to get over the shock that is her breaking down in a strange mix of relief, survivor's remorse, and guilt for not being able to keep yet another promise. What they'd seen... hadn't nearly been as painful as that.

It's barely audible when she admits it, but:] It isn't me I'm worried about.

[Nothing about her own fate could make her break down like this. It was her duty as a Keyblade Master to protect the worlds, even if it painted a big red X on her back in doing so. That was her charge, and she...

She keeps her voice low as she speaks, in case there were others too traumatized to speak--like Kairi.]

...We were taken to another place called the Tower of Animus in pursuit of Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos, and... [She pauses, letting go enough to look him in the face.] There were... so many others there. People we know, some that we miss... some who do and don't remember those in our care. Even ourselves from different situations.

They're being tortured by their captors, Terra. I can't even begin to describe it... but it was like listening to a child with free reign in a toy store the way He went on about it when he showed himself. Kairi... got the worst of it of the three of us.

[...Uh oh. There was her far-too-justified anger and concern.]

[risingshepard]

[On the flipside, at least there's the mommy figure you probably exchanged names with at least once during the whole arena debacle to talk to... she'd at least recognize your face, too.

Too bad you didn't run into her while at the helltower--would've made for a hilarious sight until shitxfan was a thing...

Regardless, here's the commander who you helped out last month, still looking that little bit worse for wear, but otherwise alright. Come greet her after the pileup shenanigans?]

[destinedwaters]

[Yes... She remembers you as well, Commander. Just give her a moment to check on her pseudofamily first before she does more than briefly share the smile of someone who has seen serious shit once again but is physically OK. Because they need to be reassured as well as they can be before they lose it, and seeing Kairi's face...

It's at least half an hour before she seeks her out, some of her armor still activated though its clear it has seen better days.]

...Commander Shepard. [It's good to see at least one familiar face outside her close circle is alright.]

[risingshepard]

[The keyblade master gets a nod in acknowledgement.]

Aqua. It's good to see you're still kicking. [The same could probably be said for her since she took some bad hits from the Anoli, and it took her plenty of time to get back into good shape, but...let's not get into that.

She leans against the wall.] ...First things first--how're you holding out?

[destinedwaters]

You'd thenk they'd realize I'm too stubborn by now. [It's okay, Shepard. They all did.]

I'm fine. Better than the others, at least. [Things really needed to stop borrowing their faces, okay.] Anything happen while we were gone?

[Yeah, she'll...get into the details of the tower later. She needs to know what kind of mess she came home to, first.]

[risingshepard]

They were probably too busy to notice.

Good to hear. I'm not the best person to ask for that though; got sidelined pretty badly last month. [Implants were a bitch to have fixed. She should thank the guy they referred to for the repairs later...]

[photonicfighter]

[A stunned-looking Dakki has stumbled away from the pile, with scuffs on her armor and no real demonstration of purpose. She felt she ought to be helping... someone. Or doing... something. Somehow. But she was at a loss as to what any of those things should be. It was hard to process properly, after what had happened in the middle of that maze. Her thoughts kept looping back to it, no matter how she attempted to do the right thing, the professional thing.

In her aimless efforts to remain composed, she nearly bumps into Aqua.]

Aah! I...

[The start of an apology trails off, as she realizes who she just nudged against. Her eyes widen, and she recoils. She laughs. Then she shakes her head.]

...I'm sorry. Aqua, right? I'm... we're... here we are. I guess.

[She's making the effort to smile, even if only weakly. Positive, be positive...]

[destinedwaters]

[It's a common thing going on, then. Because now that she's done all she could for hr family, Aqua's nearly at a loss as well. Blinking, she can't help a faint laugh herself at realizing who she bumped into.]

Mm. Hello, Dakki. It's nice to see you under better circumstances. [She tilts her head, though.] Holding up okay?

[Because dat maze, girl. It was hard on everyone.]

[photonicfighter]

It's good to see you here, too. I'm glad that's over. [Though there's a sound of something unspoken in her tone. A trailing off. That wasn't the ending for it that she had hoped for. They had done nothing for those poor residents of the tower, really....]

I... I've been better. But I think I just need to give this time to process. And how are you?

[And she's genuinely concerned.]

[destinedwaters]

Me too, but... [Her trailing off said much of the same; she hadn't wanted this ending, either, but she at least hoped they would be able to stand on their own...]

I may need a little time, too. Though I'm more worried for the others than myself.