eleven locks.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Roxas appears distracted the very moment he appears on the Plane, cradling a cup of tea. His head tilts to the side, his expression open and confused. He kneels down, gently sets the cup aside, then lays himself along the 'floor' so that he can press his ear to it. ]

That's... new. [ He pauses, winces, and places his hand over his other ear. ] All right, let's use our indoor voices now.

Comments

[pactum.livejournal.com]

Not really. It couldn't be helped.

[He studies Roxas, looking far sharper than usual, and then -]

Hey!

[... he's such a jerk.]

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ OW. He claps his hands to his ears and gives Emil a very irate look. ] What was that for!?

[pactum.livejournal.com]

[He snorts.] I knew it. Those damn dolls do something to us when we die.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Dropping small tags, just use your imagination, etc., etc. ]

Do something to us...? What are you talking about?

[pactum.livejournal.com]

You've got exceptional hearing now. It'll probably make you go deaf before the year's over unless you can figure out how to control it. [He folds his arms.] And I can read mana signatures. Magic is all over you, but I knew that anyway.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

How am I supposed to control my hearing...? [ He reaches for the tea, taking a sip from it. ] So... they messed with our senses? Why...?

[pactum.livejournal.com]

Your mind decides what to pay attention to and what to filter so that you don't get overwhelmed by the noises around you. If it doesn't mellow out after a day or two, you're gonna have to wear earplugs.

[He's only crabby 'cause he's jealous of tea... maybe.]

I'm not sure why they'd screw around with us like this. Maybe it's personal amusement. Maybe it's to show that they have control over us because we died and lived again under their care.

I hate being treated like an animal that lacks training. [His lips twist in a sort of snarl.]

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

Earplugs... If they even work.

The deathmatches—do you think they're related? Not enough of a chance to mess with people, so they're giving themselves practice?

[pactum.livejournal.com]

Adapt or die trying. [shrug~!]

I don't know about that. They could kill all of us every day if they wanted to. I think it's more about turning us against each other, considering how we're a pretty solid force when endangered. Shatter that safe cuddly feeling with a seemingly hopeless situation, and they can wear us all down until we won't fight them anymore - only each other.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah...

But that's not everybody. Is it? There's no point if it's not.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

Don't be so modest. You know your death had an impact. So will the other deaths. It's all going to unravel.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

It doesn't have to. We can do something about it.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

That's what you say now, but in a few days it's all going to hell. You'll be fighting tooth and nail for the salvation of people who don't think they can be saved, and you're the kind of person who wouldn't let that happen.

Right?

So the fighting will continue, outside and in. And the jerks who run this place will have won.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to just sit by and let this happen, if that's what you mean.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

You're going to have to cut your losses, then.

I wonder if you're strong enough to do that.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

I have to try.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

[He's quiet and contemplative for once.]

That sword of yours. What's it good for?

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

The keyblade? It's... a key. It locks and unlocks things.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

[blank look, like, 'why the hell do I bother?']

What kinds of things?

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Oh, he's pretty sure he knows where you're going with this, Emil. ] Anything that's got a lock. Including some barriers.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

Assume you can pierce the barrier around the Coliseum. Maybe even get to the guy hosting it.

What then?

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

Get the fighters out. Try talking to the guy in charge and see if there's any way to stop this from continuing.

[pactum.livejournal.com]

You think people haven't already tried to talk to him? He's probably fairly useless for information, either because he's got something holding him back or he just won't cooperate.

I don't think it's as easy as breaking a wall and grabbing them and running. It's not just the Coliseum that they have control over.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

So, we'd have to have a way to hide them too...

[pactum.livejournal.com]

How do you hide someone from the influence of the Plane?