paixaorpg | Things always happen when you least expect them. [Open/Active]

Entry tags:

natalia l.k. lanvaldear

Things always happen when you least expect them. [Open/Active]

Character(s): Natalia and YOU!
Content: Arriving-- only to find ruins.
Setting: Ruins of Paixao, near the Muspelheim gate.
Time: Late morning, Week 42.
Warnings: Uh, bossybritches? None, really.

Natalia touched her hand to her lips as she carefully picked her way through the rubble. The gates themselves had looked impressive enough, but... this was what they were supposedly guarding? Something had obviously happened here, and she had the feeling that it had been fairly recent. Were people hurt? Did they need help? As perplexing as she had found her sudden arrival, looking upon the ruined city made her feel that maybe, just maybe, she had been brought here for a very good reason. If she could help, then her annoyance at being brought to this unfamiliar place might have been assuaged, at least a bit.

She gingerly stepped over what appeared to be a fallen lamppost of some kind, tilting her head at the nearest building. Had that been a cafe at one time? Whatever it was, it had certainly seen better days. What, exactly, had caused all of this?

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Zexion would be the first to admit that state of the city was rather less than hospitable. No one had even really begun to make much of an attempt to clean up the ruin. Not that he was surprised. Xemnas didn't seem to much care about the once-fair city, now that the other floors were open or at least hadn't made much of any sort of suggestion that the city was to be rebuilt. It was a shame, really. Surely they still had the original memory-data that had built it in the first place and unless the point was to show people the result of their folly, surely it would be better than bringing people to a ruined city?

Still, the choice wasn't his, as much as he would like to bring it up to someone. But he couldn't trust Xigbar to not bring the matter to the Superior and he certainly wasn't going to trust any of the neophytes. Perhaps if Lexaeus were still around... but no, there was no sense in wasting his time on idle fancy. If he couldn't rebuild the city, he could at least help the lost people who arrived to an empty ruin.

He did not, however, come as Zexion of the Organization. He hadn't been Zexion in public for quite some time, and so it was that when he arrived it was in fair plainer clothes and his normally distinctive hair had been pinned out of his face and then covered with an illusion of light brown hair, pulled back into a short ponytail.

Natalia had continued to make her way through the ruins, stopping every now and then to examine some of the damaged architecture, curious about what this place must have been like before it had been struck by whatever misfortune had been visited upon it. She was so absorbed in taking in the sights -- the city still quite impressive even in its current state -- that she almost didn't notice that there was someone else standing nearby.

"Oh!"

She startled slightly, but quickly felt relief at having run across someone else in this place. This was a great opportunity; perhaps they could offer her some answers, or even some vague direction.

"Hello! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. How rude of me!"

With any sort of luck, Zexion would be able to offer both answers and some semblance of direction. Enough to point her in the general direction of somewhere more habitable then the ruins that she was currently exploring. There weren't even very many bodies left at this point, nor much in the way of... anything, to be honest. Only the stubbornly insistent or the natives of the city stayed here now.

"It's alright," he answered, with a levity that he didn't feel at all, and one that suggested that he was relatively used to people not paying him much attention. Even here in the ruins there wasn't much to make him stand out. Only the fact that he was another person, albeit one who wasn't there because he wanted to be.

"Were you looking for something?"

"My way," Natalia supplied with a reserved smile, stepping over a number of crumbled bricks to allow herself to stand comfortable in a clear spot. "I've only just arrived here, but it looks as though the city isn't up to having visitors at the moment. Please, could you tell me what happened here? What is this place?"

Well, that was certainly simple enough. It was perfectly understandable under the circumstances as well. After all, it was hardly every day that one found oneself in the middle of the ruins of a city. Or rather, it wasn't under the circumstances present in most worlds. Whether or not it was the case here was something Zexion was hardly about to ask.

"I'm afraid it might not be up to having visitors for some time," he answered with an almost apologetic shrug. "You see, someone thought it be an excellent idea to bring the city to this state. Ah. and this is Paixao, for whatever it might be worth at the moment."

"Paixao," she repeated thoughtfully, testing the name on her tongue. She nodded once, offering him a somewhat more genuine smile of appreciation. "Thank you. This--" She paused, gesturing to the ruin around them, debris strewn chaotically in every direction.

"Someone did this on purpose, then? Do you know why? It seems a shame... the city must have been lovely."

Edited 2012-08-20 04:46 (UTC)

"It was," Zexion answered with a nod. "Perhaps a little antiquated, but quite lovely all the same. It's a shame it's been reduced to the state you see it in, really."

Why someone had ever wanted to destroy it so thoroughly, he'd never understand. Not when it meant being rid of so very many places that newcomers had been able to stay. Speaking of, he'd need to find a new place for 'Ian' to live, now that the domes had come crashing down. It certainly was tempting to move in to the scattered refugees, but no. Not for someone who had been so thoroughly interested in books and information. There wasn't anything here for him now, save the drifting in and out of any newcomers to the city. It wold be better in the long run if he set up somewhere else.

"I'm afraid I don't know why, however. I barely even know who was responsible."

"That's too bad. Were there many casualties?" Natalia went on to ask, hesitating only very briefly. She was no longer as sheltered as she had once been. Casualties were a fact of life, one she had been forced to accept during her travels with Luke and the others.

"If I can... I'd like to help."

It may have been presumptuous of her, but perhaps she had arrived here at the perfect time -- if people were injured, she was more than capable of tending to their wounds, and while she was certain there must be other people here with such talents, she wanted to do whatever she could to lend a hand. It would reflect poorly on Kimlasca if she did not, after all, though her reasons for wanting to lend her aid were not purely political. What she did, she did well, and she liked to use her talents to their fullest whenever possible.

Well, as far as Zexion was aware, there had certainly been casualties. It was hard to have such a destructive event without at least some from of casualties. True, he'd managed to escape unharmed, and he was quite certain others had as well, but that wasn't quite the point. There was still far more to be done than what had been done, that much was clear enough. Still, he'd been largely absent throughout, and certainly wouldn't have been able to answer all the details.

"In that case, I would suggest looking for the loose collections of survivors. I can't promise that all of them will be willing to tolerate newcomers, but if they do, I'm sure whatever you could offer would be of use."

She nodded stiffly, appreciative of what assistance he had been able to offer. "Thank you. I'll be sure to do that. I'm sorry, I've forgotten my manners -- my name is Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. May I ask yours?"

She decided, at least for the time being, to leave her title out of this. If there was one thing she had learned while travelling with Luke and the others, it was that one didn't always want to flaunt the fact that they were royalty. It often lead to more complications than not.

Well, that was certainly a mouthful of a name. Not that it was really his place to judge, given the various sorts of norms across the worlds, but it was certainly more than was usually common. Still, a name given demanded a name offered and to ignore that would have been rude in the extreme.

"Ian, and there's no need to apologize. It's quite understandable, under the circumstances."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ian," she told him warmly, offering what would have to pass for a curtsy while standing on uneven rubble. She found it odd that there was no last name to go with that, but perhaps he just wasn't comfortable giving it out. Stranger things had certainly happened, and she often had to be reminded that outside of certain circles, formality was not always as important as she had been raised to believe.

"What brings you here, then, if I may? Were you looking for something?" she went on to ask, echoing his earlier question.

Looking for something? No, not really. It would have certainly been nice to have more answers than he had, but he wasn't precisely looking for them. Rather, he was acting as something of a guide, or would at least claim to be. Not to mention it was entirely possible something could still be salvageable from the ruins. What, he wasn't certain, but it was most certainly a possibility all the same.

"Not particularly, no. As much as I would like to see this place rebuilt I'm afraid it'll take more than me to make that sort of change."

She nodded in reply, understanding the effort it took to rebuild a fallen city all too well. "It isn't the first time I've seen something like this. Noble intentions are all well and good, but it takes a great many people to accomplish such a thing. Still," she went on, offering him a knowing smile.

"It only takes one person to spark such an effort."

Of course. That was something Zexion had seen time and time again across any number of world. To be honest, he would have been glad to have his name ascribed to such lists. But it wasn't how he did things. His were ever the shadows of secrecy and the subtle power behind all things. He'd let someone else take the credit for anything that came up. Especially given the uncertainty about Xemnas' thoughts in regards to rebuilding the city.

"I'm not that person."

She tilted her head curiously, wondering what would inspire such a response. Doubt? Fear? Unwillingness? It could have been any number of things, none of which resonated with her. She had spent so many years doing everything she could to help her own country, and now the lands beyond, that the idea of not trying to inspire change felt completely foreign to her.

"No? Why not?" She quickly touched her fingers to her lips as soon as the words escaped her.

"I apologize, that may be too personal."

Without a heart, there was nothing to doubt or fear. Nor was he truly unwilling. There were simply other matters that complicated matters. Not anything that he was inclined to speak of to other. Everything in his web of secrets was personal and this new stranger barely had anything that would be be necessary to understand the intricacies even if he wanted to explain. Fortunately, the same intricacies made it easy enough to come up with any number of reasonable excuses.

"It's not terribly personal, no. However, I am afraid it would take some time to truly explain. Suffice it to say that I'm not the type to be suited to such things and neither do I have the inclination to make the attempt."

She offered a reserved nod in reply, resolving not to pry any further for the time being. "I understand. I'm sure someone will try to inspire some kind of recovery effort, though. Don't the citizens want their city back?"

She turned her gaze upwards, catching a glimpse of the fragmented edges of the broken dome as she did so. "It's such a shame."

Zexion simply shrugged at the question. He'd long since stopped paying attention to the native citizens of the city, and regardless what the visitors thought of the situation it was clear that they were scarcely welcome. "I can't speak for the native citizens, but those were simply staying for a time have generally found elsewhere. It's unfortunate, yes, but the city belongs to those who were here first, and they've made it quite clear we aren't welcome in their political system."

A shame, really, but for the best. There were few people who would be able to understand all that the city required, to say nothing of the fact that he didn't trust many of them even besides that.

"I see. Thank you for explaining it to me. If that's the case," she reasoned aloud, thoughtful, "Then perhaps I should leave the city as quickly as I arrived. If I'm not welcome here, then I should find elsewhere -- or, I hope, find friends."

"It would likely be to your benefit," Zexion answered with a slight nod. True, he couldn't speak to what most people would want out of any given situation. Perhaps she would be both willing and able to deal with what she would get from the natives of the city. Or perhaps she simply preferred ruins. Zexion couldn't say, at this point, and wasn't really going to ask.

"However, if you have friends here as well, it's more likely they're on this floor still."

"Floor?" she asked curiously, glancing upwards -- proof enough to show that she wasn't at all sure what that implied. "There are more levels to this city?"

Well, she wasn't entirely incorrect. As far as the castle was lead out, the other levels were - general speaking - above the city. Not in any sort of way that would be visible from the inside, but that didn't change the truth of the matter. It simply hid it from sight.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. You see, this city is inside what people have claimed to be a castle."

"An entire city inside a castle?" she echoed, her voice somewhat awed. "The castle must be enormous! Even larger than the palace at Baticul!"

"More than one, actually. Assuming the rumors are to be believed, of course."

Natalia was correct on one thing, however. The castle in which they stood was a rather massive affair, not that many had been granted the privilege of seeing it from the outside. Thus, for all that what was widely believed was in fact the truth, it was a truth with only the strength of belief behind it. Still, for all that the fact was an interesting one, it was also largely irrelevant to the topic at hand, and thus, not something Zexion was at all interested in mentioning.

"I see," the princess remarked with a nod, letting out a slow exhale of breath. "Thank you for all of your help. I'm afraid I've kept you too long, though I greatly appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. Finding myself here has been quite disorienting."

"It was no trouble at all," Zexion answered with a polite nod. Everything he'd offered had been things that she would have found out on her own in time anyway, as such, he wasn't doing much more than simplifying the overall process. "But I won't ask for any more of your time, if you wish to head elsewhere."

She shook her head lightly before looking over her shoulder, back towards the gate. "It sounds as though I'd better stay outside the city for now, at least. If the citizens aren't feeling particularly friendly towards outsiders, I'll likely fare better beyond the gate, at least until I get my bearings."

"So I've seen," Zexion answered with a slight shrug. Honestly, they'd never been particularly friendly, but this latest outburst was beyond even that - and for good reason, all things considered.

"I do wish you luck with whatever you find beyond the gate."

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Things always happen when you least expect them. [Open/Active]

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Sorry so short!

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