middleofsomewhere | The Waking of Neran

The Waking of Neran

"Good morning Voidtreckers and passengers. Today is day twenty one of the month of Orchestra. We will be arriving in System #78961112094711 later today and the dressing carriage is open for your use."

It is indeed, with thick winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves in all sizes. There are also some bags suitable for carrying food, for anyone who wants to add to the festival food with more food!

They have the morning to prepare before another announcement.

"Shortly arriving in System #78961112094711. The weather is extremely cold, voidtreckers and passengers should wrap up warm and wear their SCA's at all times. Arriving in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."
The train shakes as they leave the void and they will see dark skies with glowing flecks of light falling down around them. It's only a glimpse before there is rock to both sides as they enter the landing area.

The Waking of Neran

... ARRIVAL TO OSIGA

THE VOIDTRECKER EXPRESS PULLS INTO AN OPEN HIGH-STACKED PARKING STATION, FILLED ALREADY BY A VARIETY OF VEHICLES. Darkness and the cold spills into where they pull in, lights and signs around to guide the Voidtreckers who exit the craft where they need to go, elevator and teleporting systems available to choose from.

For those turn their gaze to where the cold comes, they will see a view of the world: a landscape of mountains lit in burning bright blue. Like Christmas and city lights, they can be seen in the far distance, and the sky too glows with a shimmering, falling blue. It looks like a slow rain, while farther up, the twinkling of actual stars can be glimpsed.

This will be their view of the world for three Osiga days - 210 hours, give or take.

The lower floor widens into a train-like station, shuttles ready to take them into Osiga proper in short five minute rides. They just need to figure out they need to scan their SCAs at the turnstiles, which will beep with approval, and send a map to their SCA of the grotto.

With a handy dot to their hotel.

... THE IRUE GROTTO

HOTEL. THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOTEL IS STONY, A WALL OF UNEVEN ROCK WITH SLITS FOR WINDOWS CLIMBING UPWARD. It gives off a sparse, cold impression, but the interior is anything but. Inside the floors are smoother, a carpet in the middle of a lobby, and the walls are decorated with colourful paints and endless rugs and furs. There's seating, a roaring fire in one corner, and lighting set to a cosy mood.

There's stairs that can be taken, but also elevators. The bedrooms are much the same as the lobby, with paints and furs all around - the furs especially covering the beds, along with hand stitched quilts. In the centre is a fire pit, set with heatstones than wood or coal, and extras in a container by a wall with safety instructions of how to move them (with tongs and gloves).

Outside the rest of the grotto can be seen, a mish-mash of layers closer to a labyrinth. There's curtains for privacy, and also a screen to help blot out the sound.

FOOD & SIGHTS.

NOW, THE IRUE GROTTO CAN BE EXPLORED. The grotto is easy to get lost in, with stone stairs and archways doubling as bridges to lead to different levels, but always with something to see. Museums and art galleries fill most of the lower layers down, a few shops between of traditional trinkets and garments for those who come out interested in taking a piece of Osiga back with them. There are also day classes, with candle-making a big one on the first night.

Water runs through constructed streams, small but always in travel. They fall off into small waterfalls, eventually gathering into pools that always ensure drink is around. But there's also drinking spaces around, wall coves where servers mind the drinks, and people gather around on crouched seating. Privacy isn't a big deal in Osiga; visitors welcomed into conversation freely. The drinks favour the strong, spicy and sweet. Their traditional drinks are a fiery whisky and a sweet creamy milk drink flavoured by spices that taste very much like cinnamon and nutmeg. It is strongly alcoholic though there is a non alcoholic version as well. There are other drinks available of course from other planets but visitors are encouraged in a good natured way to try the good stuff.

And let's not forget the food. Most traditional Osigian dishes are spicy yet sweet, fatty, and largely meat. There are also food baskets all over, filled with wrapped snacks free for taking, or to add your own. Never let your neighbour go hungry. What will you find, dipping your hand in: a treat, or a mistake?

SORS PARKS, OPEN SKIES. THE FARTHER FROM THE HOTELS AND STATION VISITORS GO, THE MORE THE SKY BECOMES VISIBLE, AND WITH IT THE FALLING SNOW. Except this isn't snow, and those who venture out will figure this soon enough. There are sors parks up ahead, hard to miss for how they glow a brilliant blue, tall erratic sculptures shaped like an abstract mess. They're cold, even colder than the rest of the grotto, and near every entrance are wooden racks with coats and scarfs hanging from pegs, a bucket of heatstones to stick in pockets.

Keeping company is better than not. Anyone who goes in alone will find the chill uncomfortable to those who have someone else nearby, SCAs working stronger together. Paths somehow stay free from being covered in the icy mess, and every few yards are grit bins with small bags to put the contents in, instructions as to what to do.

And that's to throw them at the sculptures, into the air, and watch as the hardened ice disperses into a fizzle of lights. The sight is considered beautiful, and especially fun for kids and couples.

... ANAN & THE MINISTRY

It's maybe an hour or so after their arrival when a message comes through the comms on their SCA's.

boop beep boop beep / boop boop boop/ boop boop/ beep//
beep beep / boop beep//
beep beep beep boop/ boop boop boop/ beep beep/ boop beep beep / boop / beep boop beep/ beep/ boop beep boop beep/ boop beep boop/ beep/ beep boop beep/ beep beep beep//

"It didn't close the hack. I think your Voidtrecker Express likes me." Anan sounds almost triumphant. "Glad you all came. I'm at the drinking space next to the Irue Museam of Osigan Art."

For those that wish to go and meet her, they can.

... THE WAKING OF NERAN

NIGHT ONE: REMEMBERING. It's hard to tell when 'night' begins when the world is in darkness and there are more hours in the day then they are perhaps used to. But things begin to wind down a little, the art houses and museums close and the day activities are wrapped up.

People begin making their way to the main streets where the parade will go. Some people may have made candles throughout the day but there are also long candles for sale and 'fire' bearers carrying large torches to light the candles. The main lights are all turned off, plunging the streets into darkness lit only by the candles and the faint distant glow of sors.

The parade itself has large lit floats, literally floating above the ground, the lights are in intricate shapes. There are light dancers- people dressed completely in black to blend in to the night, with ribbons of light doing feats of acrobatics to music- instruments and volcaless voices weaving melodies.

After the parade passes by people move to the streams, where their floating candles that can be lit and sent on their way. There are designated areas for the tall candles to be placed- almost shrine like with areas to pray or think or sing- the helpful guides will assist anyone and are very open to the different ways people from various worlds and cultures may wish to remember their dead.

Afterwards people are encouraged to drink, eat, spend time with the living and swap stories of the dead. Dance and sing. It is upbeat, joyous and the tears are meant to be cathartic.

NIGHT TWO: PERSEVERING. After another day of activities- or resting and recovering from the excess of the night before the grotto again is ready in anticipation. The side of the grotto open to the sky is packed with people, ledges and railings packed with people. Even the buildings on this side of the grotto have opened their doors to allow people up on their roofs to watch the firework display.

Sparklers are sold, as are snacks and drinks and a voice comes through speakers throughout the space.

"NERAN! On this night you fight!" The crowd cheers. "Hear our dedication, return to us! For tonight is a night of COURAGE!"

The crowd cheers again and the fireworks begin. Loud and colourful, beautiful shapes, almost like dances in the sky. It's loud and it's busy but the atmosphere is great, throughout the night within the crowd there are marriage proposals, declarations of new jobs, decisions to travel the void. Bravery and courage abound- helped probably by the strong whisky that is flowing freely.

NIGHT THREE: UNITY. The festival continues, though it's a slightly later start on day three for many who are nursing hangovers, having a well earned sleep in preparation for the final night or just frantically trying to remember what declarations they had made the night before.

But the activities are still happening throughout the grotto- though the guides might advise any obvious voidtravellers that they may wish to nap before 'night' time, especially if they are not used to day/night cycles this long. The final night doesn't stop til sunrise after all and no one wants to miss the sun rising!

As the time comes for the party to start every square and every street is packed, music blares through speakers. Traditional Osigan music mixed with styles and music from other planets in the galexy. The traditional Osigan music has many layers, deep bass instruments that seem to make the ground itself rumble.

There is dancing, led by guides and locals. They are big circle dances, loud energetic and done in unity. There are callers who keep everyone in time and remind them of the steps but it is mostly an exercise in organised chaos.

But very fun organised chaos. There's extra chairs and benches set around for people who would rather watch or need a break from the endless swirl of dancers. There's plenty of water in large barrels for people to help themselves and other drinks are available to buy.

The party goes on for hours but eventually the music stops and there is an announcement that they have an hour left until sunrise. People begin moving out to find the best spots to watch. Up high on the cliffs people spread out rugs and blankets and settle, waiting.

The atmosphere is one of anticipation, people passing around drinks and snacks. Then there is a hush, a cry as for the first time in a month the first ray of light streaks across the sky.

Neran has awoken. The sun has returned once more.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. The Ministry's testimony form is here

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Food

OK, if there was one thing Lea was loving about this place, it was the food. Some of it might be a bit on the unusual side for most people, but there was really something for everyone. Well, everyone who could handle a bit of spice that is, and Lea could handle it like a champ. And since the opportunity had been offered, Lea had brought some grilled rice balls- some with octopus filling, some without- from the train to share around, so those might be found in the snack baskets.

He happened to be sitting in an outdoor eating area, starting in on a large plate of a dish made of a mix of sausage and roasted root vegetables in a sweet and spicy sauce when he spotted one of his fellow Voidtreckers passing by. "Hey there," he called out. "Wanna join me? This is really good, and there's enough here for two."

Sights

Lea wasn't really big on museums or galleries, but a lot of the classes were pretty interesting. He doubted he'd be taking it up as a hobby on his own time, but candle making was surprisingly fun, and there were lessons in making a few other traditional handicrafts as well. Some of them would likely even come in useful for the project he intended to take on with the help of Xion's seashell collection.

And of course, there was always window shopping. He wasn't initially sure if he intended to buy anything at the various market stalls, but a lot of it looked cool. Or rather, warm, in the case of some of the soft goods on offer. In fact, one scarf in particular caught his eye. There was nothing obviously remarkable about it, but his expression looking at seemed oddly nostalgic. Maybe someone could convince him to drop a bit of money on it?

Night One (Feels-heavy)

Lea watched the parade, one of the tall candles in his hand, expression thoughtful. And when the parade passed, he followed everyone down to where he could let two little floating candles- each lit from his fingertip- go to float on their way. Then? Then there was nothing to do but plant his tall candle. Other people were praying or singing, but Lea wasn't sure quite what to do so he just... talked.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad," he said. "I guess... it's been awhile huh? Sorry this took so long, but... I guess there was always something else going on, you know? And I just got so used to you both being gone that I just... didn't think about it much. Not like this anyway. I know, I know; that's no excuse. But... well, better late than never, I guess?" He offered a weak smile, but it quickly faded.

"I know I haven't been much of a son. Wasting over ten years working for the bad guys, not being able to stop things from falling apart back home, or anywhere else, really... Most of the time I can't even manage to help my friends. Not when it really counts."

"But I promise, I'll do better. I'm already trying. Trying to fix some of the harm I did, to help people, to help my friends. To be the kind of man you guys would want me to be. I don't know if I can, in the end, but... I'm gonna try."

"I just... I wish you were both here. Partly to see all the amazing stuff I've seen, and to meet Xion and everyone- I know you'd love her, Mom-, but mostly... mostly, now that I can again, I just... miss you. I really miss you. Both of you. I'll do my best to make you proud. And... I'm sorry."

Night Two

Now this was more of a festival in his mind. Lea cheered with the rest, waving his sparkler- when was the last time he'd had a sparkler, seriously?- and watching the impressive fireworks display. And later, once everyone had filtered down off the rooftops and he'd managed to find an open enough space, he put on a little display of fire tricks of his own. Fire birds and butterflies danced above his head. Miniature fire horses, cats, and dogs pranced around him. And if the opportunity arose, he might even relate Radiant Garden's most well known bed-time story with fire effects as visual aides.

Night Three

Lea was among those who slept late and caught a nap during the day, because he wasn't about to miss any of this night. While his group dancing skills were mediocre at best, skill wasn't really the point of these dances. Having a lot of fun was. So if he happened to see someone along the sidelines who he thought might want to join in? Well he might just try to snag that person and pull them in for a round of fun organized chaos.

End of Night Three- Closed to Xion

This? This was why Lea hadn't wanted to miss any part of the night. He'd managed to snag a fairly good spot and spread out a fur rug for himself and Xion to sit on. And from his pocket? Well, he pulled two ice cream bars, one for each of them.

Was it actually colder than the ice cream itself around them at the moment? Almost certainly. But an occasion like this couldn't be marked any other way. Though Xion may want to forego the usual space between them and take advantage of Lea's warmth, just this once.

Wildcard

(OOC: You know what to do.)

Xion's eyes lit up under her hood as she saw the ice creams and took it. But she still left Roxas' space. Even if it was cold and Axel was anything but. There were still echos of their fight worrying her, but...

But he was still Axel. One of her two best friends. And she wouldn't have missed this for anything the train could offer. She took the ice cream, wishing there was one for Roxas.

Wishing Roxas would surprise them by showing up, like it was any day after a mission where he was just late...

"I'm glad I get to see this with you, Xion," Lea said. "You sure you don't wanna scoot over here though? It's gotta be really cold for you, especially with the ice cream."

"But... that's Roxas' place," she said quietly as she looked out at the sunrise. She tucked up her feet onto the edge. "Why won't the train bring him back?" she whispered.

"Trust me, he'd be fine with you sitting next to me under the circumstances," Lea said. "Best friends don't leave best friends in the cold- figuratively or literally- for the sake of a seating chart."

As for the rest of it though... He sighed slightly. "I don't know. We're not even sure how it finds people to bring here in the first place. Maybe it's hard to lock onto someone a second time or something."

She was unsure if it was really okay to move closer. "But when he did come he... he didn't remember Diatu. At all. None of this makes sense," she said softly, looking out at the sunrise. Which was also not quite right. She sighed, closing her eyes. She didn't know how to express what she was thinking. Even to herself. This was one of those days where all she wanted to do was listen to Axel and Roxas talk while she sat quietly. Just being there. With them. But she didn't get to do that any more.

She opened her eyes and looked out at the sky again. So different from Twilight Town. Just the two of them watching the sunrise instead of the three of them watching the sunset.

Well, there was more than one way of handling the situation if Xion wasn't willing to move closer. Lea scooted over til he was sitting right next to her, slipping his free arm around her back to gently encourage her to lean against him and share his warmth.

"You're not going to get much argument from me on that front," he said. "Though weird as it is, I think I've gotten kind of used to things not making sense? Or at least making a different kind of sense than what we're used to. Kind of like Wonderland; it seems completely bonkers at first glance, but things there are still pretty consistent if you pay attention. It's got its own rules; they just don't match up with everyone else's."

She closed her eyes so conflicted. About so many things. Part of her just wanted to go back to Diatu. they'd been together there. Sure, there had been lots of bad stuff too, but that was her whole experience that sh could remember, clinging to the small few good things amidst the bad things. Here... well, on the train, things wre less bad over all, but Roxas wasn't with the,. But if they went back to Daitu, what about Taiki? Would going back even fix things?

Sometimes she almost wished she could go back to before she died... things were horrible constantly then, and she'd always been afraid, but... the three of them were together. She could always find Roxas and Axel. They could always resolve things with ice cream and sunsets. She could go to the beach.

But she didn't know Taiki or anyone else then. She was safer now, less scared. Not not scared, but not scared as often or as much. But Roxas wasn't here. And his absence hurt.

It didn't dawn on her that Axel might be waiting for her to speak as she sank further and further into her thoughts.

Was it better...? To be afraid all the time, but to be together? Then to be like this now?

A single tear ran down her face.

She knew she never got to win, she never got what she wanted. That wasn't how the worlds worked. She knew that.

So why did it still hurt so much, sometimes?

Xion being quiet was nothing new, so Lea just sort of let her as they waited for the first rays of the sun. But the tear got his attention, even in the dim light. "Xion?", he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Why do I even try to figure out what I want..." she whispered "when I know I'm ever going to get it?" her shoulders slumped. Why did she bother? Why did it keep hurting? Was she making herself hurt somehow? Was this because she was broken? Or was there some other reason that things always went wrong?

"Because you don't know," Lea said. "You might expect certain things, but no one knows for sure what's going to happen until it actually happens."

"Take ice cream as a simple example. If I eat it too fast, I expect that I'll get brain freeze. But I don't know for sure that I will. As long as more than one thing happening is physically possible, there's always a chance that things won't go the way you expect. I mean, you wouldn't worry so much if you already knew for sure what was gonna happen."

"I know that whenever things seem to be better, they get worse," she said, softly. "I know that wanting things doesn't make them happen. I know that at some point I... this me... has to stop," she whispered, looking down at her gloves.

"Well, you're right that just wanting something isn't going to make it happen," Lea said. "But that's why, if there's something you want, you work to make it happen. You can't just sit there and give up, or passively wait for someone else to solve the problem for you."

"You're not going to get what you want by sitting in a room all day, hiding, and hoping things never change. That's just not how life works. You know I'll stand up for you any day, but if you're not willing to stand up for yourself, make your own goals and work towards them, then there's only so much I can do."

He sighed and took a bite of his ice cream. "I wish... I wish you could believe in yourself the way I believe in you. I wish you could look at yourself in a mirror and see the same amazing person I see when I look at you. And I'm not talking about the whole thing from before where you'd physically look different to different people. I mean just... I wish I could help you understand how amazing you are. And help you believe it."

"But... how can I work to make Roxas show up?" she asked, jumping on that idea. Was it possible there was something she could have been doing?! "How do I make it happen so he shows up and we never have to go back?" She'd do pretty much anything for that. For the three of them to be together and to not have to go back...

"That's... not really something we can do in the end, unfortunately," Lea said. Maybe he should have said 'realistic goals'? But Xion's idea of 'realistic' was so warped that that might have made it worse. "We can all be together again, sure. That's a goal we can work towards. But it can't be here. None of us really belongs here in this world with the train, including Roxas, and it'd be wrong to take him from a place he belongs just to make ourselves feel better."

"Most of the time, we can't have things exactly the way we want. We can't make things perfect. But what we can do is work to make them better."

"What's something you think you can do on the train to make things better? For me, for yourself, heck, maybe even for everyone?"

"So.... the only way to be with Roxas again is... to go back?" she whispered, tears starting, though she wasn't aware of them.

She had to die? Again. To forget everything...?

Sorry about your other question, Axel, she hasn't really heard it. "I can't.... can't see Roxas again and keep.... me?"

"That's not what I meant at all," Lea said with a bit of a sigh. "Of course you can keep your memories. There's no reason why you wouldn't, and we'll work with Vexen to make extra sure of it. "

"But we can't all be together like we want to physically here. It wouldn't be something that we could sustain. If we're going to do it, we're going to have to do it at home. We'll kick Master Xehanort and his new Organization's butts and then we'll all be back together again, and be able to have peaceful lives, without anyone or anything trying to tear us apart."

"But Roxas... he was from further ahead of us in Diatu and he didn't remember us talking about it. And then when we were all here... he didn't even remember Diatu." she was shaking now, near tears. "I don't want to forget. I don't... don't want this me... to vanish..." she whispered. She drew her feet up and wrapped her arms around her knees, curling up small.

Why couldn't she just accept reassurance the way she accepted random things he told her? It would make his life so much easier. "That's because it wasn't the same Roxas we were with in Diatu," Lea said. "Some worlds have more than one version of them out there; that's why sometimes there's been more than one version of certain people on the train at the same time. Not clones or Replicas, but literally the same person, just from a world where things happened a bit differently. I didn't know that could happen when we met Roxas in Diatu, and again on the platform, so I thought it was just a time travel thing. But I found out the real reason later."

"So even if neither Roxas we ran into knew about it, that doesn't mean it won't happen. It just means they're the Roxas from another version of our world. Still Roxas, but things happened a little bit differently for them than they might happen for us."

"Multiple... of Roxas?" she asked, bewildered, staring up at him, wide eyed. Even when they were with Roxas there was another Roxas, their Roxas, who could have thought he was left out and forgotten? Who could have thought they replaced him...?

"Roxas..." she whispered, having a whole new worry.

"Yeah," Lea said. "Multiple all of us, really. But Roxas is still Roxas, no matter where he's from. And you'd still be you, no matter where you were from. Ice cream might get a bit complicated again if too many multiples of us showed up though. After all, we can only make six at a time."

He had mentioned the possibility of multiple of her before, but she hadn't really extrapolated that to multiples of him or Roxas. She looked down again. "No matter what I do...." She'll always be leaving some versions of Roxas and some versions of Axel... out? That no matter what she was doing or trying to do... she was potentially hurting one of her friends...?

Lea wasn't sure what her quiet comment meant exactly, but had a few educated guesses. "Hey now, none of that," he said. "No blaming yourself for stuff you have absolutely no control over, got it memorized? Time travel is weird, inter-dimensional multiples are weirder, but if there's one thing we're good at handling, it's weirdness. We'll handle this one too. Together."

"But if two of Roxas show up and...." She couldn't even finish the thought, shaking her head. No matter what she did one of them might think they were being excluded or left out...

"If two Roaxases show up, that just means we'll have an extra friend to hang out with," Lea said. "Granted it might strain our ice cream supply a bit, but that wouldn't mean we couldn't hang out together. We'd just have to do it without ice cream some days."

The Waking of Neran

Lea OTA

Presuming this is after the reconciliation, so doing my best, lol.

Yep it is

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When you try to figure out how to pluralize Roxas and just... can't

Heh... X3

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