paixaorpg | A Dark Reunion [Active]

Entry tags:

A Dark Reunion [Active]

Character(s): Luke and Natalia
Content: Luke goes to find Natalia and prove he's not dead. :|b
Setting: Somewhere in Vanaheim area. IT'S DARK.
Time: Dark-o-clock
Warnings: Shouldn't be any lol

Natalia's post had taken him by surprise. The idea that anyone else from Auldrant could possibly end up here hadn't even crossed his mind. What were the odds? He had no idea, but either way he wasn't exactly unhappy at the idea of seeing her again. Just hearing her voice again had been a relief! But now she was trapped here too. As much as Luke wanted to see everyone again, he hadn't wished for it to happen this way.

However, she had been acting kind of weird. Why did she not seem to want to believe it was him? He'd only been gone a few weeks, right? She was acting almost like it had been way longer than that. It couldn't have been. ...Could it? Natalia had asked him how long he'd been here, which had been kind of a weird first question. Not to mention, what was with all the past tenses? It was almost like she thought he was.... Well, that's what they'd have thought, wasn't it? That he was dead.

Luke pushed the thoughts from his head as he made his way through the dark streets. He was only distracting himself. He was tired of being in the dark, although at least now flickering light poured from house windows, casting glows across the cobblestone streets. Whatever had been snuffing out the light seemed to have dissipated. But that seemed to bring new trouble. Luke had no idea what they were, but it hadn't been long into his trip that he'd found himself surrounded. The dark creatures hadn't been difficult to dispatch, there was just a LOT of them. They were making his trip terribly annoying as it was taking him twice the time it should have to arrive.

Pulling out his journal again after taking out another group of the creatures, he pressed the button to bring up the map (something, with much trial and error he'd found again, and managed to remember since) to check his location. Luke was pretty sure he was in the right general area that Natalia had told him, but they hadn't set a specific place to meet. In hindsight that might have been a good idea...

Well, he'd find her, somehow.

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It took her by surprise.

It wasn't as though she didn't like the thought of seeing Luke again, but... it was a very real fact that he was dead. Ever since they left Eldrant over a year ago, there was no sign of Luke whatsoever. It wasn't as if she wanted him dead, but... the family had already constructed a grave for him without a body to show for it, and she was left in charge of arranging his coming of age ceremony. It felt very surreal, given all of the circumstances.

Natalia couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted about it. On one hand, she was glad that her childhood friend was alive... but on the other hand, would things have been any different if it were the other way around? No, she mustn't allow herself to think such thoughts! Gripping her own hands together, Natalia stood outside of the doorway. Luckily no Heartless were immediately around her as she stood outside of the apartment building, but she did have her bow and arrows just in case.

... her feelings toward Luke were still mixed. He wasn't a replacement for Asch. She knew that, and she knew that he also struggled with that. But also, the bond that Luke and Tear shared, the one she couldn't compete with... shaking her head, she sighed once more. There was little point in over thinking things. The fact is, she was about to greet a friend, and she had to not make the mistake of telling him about his eventual demise, if they were in fact from different times.

After wandering around the Vanaheim area, it finally hit him. Hadn't she mentioned something about an apartment? She had, hadn't she?

Checking the map once more he headed in that direction, or well, at least Luke hoped that was the direction he was going. Even without the mist, it was still very tough to get around. Finally he was pretty sure he was at the right place, and he could make out a familiar figure framed by light from the doorway.

Making his way close enough for the light to reveal his presence, Luke came to a stop a few yards back. There was no reason this should be difficult, yet there was still something kind of awkward about it all.

"...Natalia. Uh... H-Hey," he finally greeted.

Edited 2009-08-15 06:19 (UTC)

"Luke!" Natalia ran over to him, attempting to be enthusiastic. It really is him... There was no mistaking it; the haircut, the voice... it all matched up perfectly, as well as his memories this time. For that, she was grateful; it would've been painful if she were handed yet another replica, being reminded that somebody was no longer-

No, she couldn't allow herself to think like that. "I'm so glad that you could find me; it's a bit difficult to see with all of this dense darkness about, isn't it? I'm so glad to see that you're all right as well." She gave him a smile; while this one wasn't force, it was gentle.

Edited 2009-08-15 06:17 (UTC)

Luke relaxed a little seeing her smile. The strain he had sensed on the journals seemed to be gone, for the most part. Maybe seeing him had made all the difference?

"No kidding. I'm getting tired of stumbling around in the dark, and now there's all these creatures out there... geez," he grumbled slightly, before turning his gaze back to her.

"It wasn't like this at all when I first arrived here," Luke explained. From the reactions of everyone he had come across, nothing like this had ever happened here. It all had something to do with some kind of people who'd taken over city hall, he'd heard.

"How long have you been here, by the way?"

"Only for two days." Natalia responded. "It was quite a culture shock, but I've found a place to live and somebody even offered me a job! Let's not talk out here; come into my apartment, Luke!" She grabbed his hand, and motioned to head toward her apartment door.

"I work at Cid's Shop; he's a little foul-mouthed, but he's very passionate about flying! I wish I could have shown him the Albiore that we all flew on, but considering he's from a different world, they're probably different technologies, right? I get all excited about the people I'm going to meet and the things I'll be able to do here, when I think about it."

A culture shock was putting it lightly. Almost everything about this place felt different from anything he'd seen on Auldrant. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it. Natalia on the other hand... Leave it to Natalia to do all that in two days.

"Hah hah, alright!" he agreed as he found his hand taken. He willingly allowed her to lead him inside.

"I couldn't say, but these journal things everyone has here sure are different from any fontech I've ever seen," Luke replied. Of course, Luke didn't bother with a lot of fontech to begin with. Guy would be a far better judge.

Luke suddenly felt very conscious of just how little he'd really done since arriving. He'd really done nothing in comparison. He just hadn't been sure what to do. For a day or two he'd just been trying to wrap his head around the fact he was actually alive. And here was Natalia with a place to stay and a job within two days. How did she do it?

Edited 2009-08-15 07:00 (UTC)

No way would Natalia actually fault Luke for not doing any of this sooner; after all, he was still technically seven years old. Not that she'd actually say that aloud, but opening the door it was revealed that her apartment was... fairly barren. "I haven't had a chance to furbish it yet, sadly enough, but hopefully I'll be able to do that soon enough. I was thinking about getting a roommate as well, but that might be asking for a bit too much." That and Natalia enjoyed her time alone, but really, the apartment really seemed too big for just her... then again, she came from the castle in Baticul, which was bigger than the apartment building by several times.

"How far did you have to travel to come here? Maybe we can mark it on this map." Natalia took out the journal. It definitely was different from any fontech she's seen, but a basic function like that should exist, right? As long as she didn't try to mark it up with a pen or something. "I'd like to visit you, too, if possible."

"Furbish it?" he laughed lightly. "You've been here two days!"

Luke would have been astonished if she had been already that setup here. It sure seemed like she was ready to stay here for awhile. His thoughts had mostly only been on figuring out how to get home.

He hadn't had much success with that so far.

Visit him? He wasn't sure how he was going to answer that, so he delt with the first question first. "Mark it? Hm, I'm not sure that you can. This guy I met showed me how to use it, and he didn't say anything about that. It just has this dot to show you where you currently are. But there is a kind of grid..."

Pulling his own out and flipping the thing open, he brought the map up once more and held it up to her. "See what I mean? I came from, uh... there," Luke said, pointing to a place called O Pastor, looking a little sheepish. "It's just an inn, though."

Unfamiliar with the map herself, Natalia made sure to remember where Luke pointed. "I'll be sure to make note of that." Natalia responded. "And there's no shame in that, Luke; here, nobody knows the Kimlasca-Lanvaldear family or our heritage. Of course we're not going to be living in a mansion as we did before." She brushed some of her hair away from her face as she looked at Luke.

Perhaps she had already resigned herself to staying here for a while... but after talking with Setzer, it was also apparent that people could not come or go of their own volition, and Natalia already decided to not worry about something that she had no control over whatsoever.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if she didn't know which subject to pursue next in her conversation with Luke. But putting her hand on his once again, she tightened her grip on it and gave him a smile. "It's good to see you."

"That's not really what I meant," he said with a laugh. Staying at the inn was just temporary. There was another he'd spent a night or two at too. He hadn't really thought of it as somewhere he was staying, it was just where he fell asleep. "Maybe I should think about somewhere a little less temporary. I guess it's something to think about."

At first he gave her a questioning look when she took his hand again, but it quickly spread into a warm smile. Luke gave her hand a gentle squeeze in return, "Natalia... It's good to see you, too. Really."

A moment of silence, then his expression shifted to one more serious and questioning. He wanted to know the truth. "How long, Natalia? How long have I been missing?"

She was about to ask Luke if he wanted to stay here with her, until he popped the question she had been avoiding.

"..." This was a delicate thing. Luke had been sensitive to such things ever since he found out he was a replica, ever since what had happened at Akzeriuth. Natalia knew that. That's why she couldn't bring herself to answer right away. To her, he had been dead for almost a year... an entire year without Asch or Luke, with all of their friends going their separate ways. It was so difficult... but she was so happy when she found Luke again. Certainly, she also wanted to see Asch, but... Luke wasn't somebody she wanted to ever leave, either.

Her precious friend. Which was why it was so difficult to answer this question. However, her eyes never left his.

"Before I answer that... what is the last thing you remember, Luke?"

Luke closed his eyes a moment, running back over the last things he could remember in his head before he returned his gaze to hers and spoke.

"We were on Eldrant and I used the key to free Lorelei. I was descending... Lorelei spoke to me..." he said, falling silent for a moment. Asch... He probably shouldn't mention him. He didn't want to upset Natalia anymore than she might already be. "And that's really all I remember. I then woke up here, outside one of the gates."

There was a time discrepancy, that was for sure. It had already almost been a year since Luke descended into Eldrant, but he said he only was in Paixao for a few weeks. Was the flow of time different here...? Natalia wouldn't know how to answer that question. But his memories were still intact, and there wasn't that much discrepancy regarding that; for that, Natalia was grateful. If Luke had been taken from an earlier time, it would have been even more difficult to adjust herself being able to see him.

"It's been nearly a year." The golden-haired princess stated, finally looking down. "We all had assumed that you and Asch had died at Eldrant. I... was put in charge of planning your coming of age ceremony, Luke." She then lifted her gaze once more to Luke's face, giving him the best smile she could muster. "I'm so sorry you endured this entire time alone..."

"A year..." he echoed in a murmur. It was hard to believe that such a short amount of time to him had been so long for her. No wonder she'd been acting like she had. A year was a long time.

"Hey, it's only been a few weeks for me, remember? So you really don't have to apologize," he added, a little awkwardly, but returning her smile with one of his own. Not that he hadn't missed them in that time, but he'd been alright. It hadn't been really long enough to really start feeling alone.

"How is everyone?" Luke suddenly asked, attempting to move the conversation along, as well as being genuinely curious.

"Well, Anise became the new Fon Master despite not being a seventh fonist, not that it really matters anymore." Natalia explained. "Jade's still Jade. Guy went back to Malkuth, Tear continued her services at the Order of Lorelei, and not much else has happened, I suppose. For the past year I've been tending to Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, of course, as well as entering with peace negotiations with Emperor Peony. "Noelle and Ginji haven't given up their dreams, though, and are working on other types of machinery that don't rely on fonons in Sheridan so they can fly again!"

"Sounds like everyone's been keeping busy," Luke replied, sounding fairly cheerful. It sounded like they'd all moved on with their lives, which was good, of course. He was glad, even if it was a little hard to hear.

He perked a little more at the news of Noelle and Ginji, "That's great!"

Luke opened his mouth to try to say something else, but after a few tries, closed it again as nothing was fourth coming. He really wasn't sure what to say.

"..." Natalia took a deep breath. "Asch isn't here, is he?" It was a question that she had been dying to ask ever since she heard Luke's voice... if Luke's death caused him to appear here, then it would've been possible that Asch was here as well, wasn't it? But she knew that it was incredibly selfish of her to ask that of Luke, somebody who needed above all else to not be compared in any respect to Asch. "... I'm sorry, Luke." Natalia bit her lower lip. "I know he died in Eldrant, but..."

Edited 2009-09-08 23:59 (UTC)

Luke blinked at first at Natalia's question, then looked away. He wasn't exactly surprised she'd decided to ask He'd wondered himself what had happened to Asch, after all, he'd been holding him before he'd found himself here. What had happened to Asch was a complete mystery to Luke. He wasn't even sure what exactly had happened to himself.

"But I probably should have died there too, but here I am, right?" he finished her sentence.

Looking regretful, he then sadly shook his head. He really wished he had some better answer for her. Some explanation for how he was here but Asch wasn't. "I'm sorry, Natalia. If he is here, I haven't seen him."

"My apologies, Luke. You must have been lonely here, all alone." Natalia bowed her head. "But that is no longer the case...!" She added on. "I may not know what brought me here, but the fact is that I'm here for you. If you want, you may move in here with me, and we can make the best out of our situation." But... she wasn't a suitable replacement for Tear, was she? Much like how Luke wouldn't be a... replacement... for Asch. Luke was his own person, and Natalia had to realize that she had a specific place in Luke's heart and soul, much like Tear did. Natalia couldn't allow herself to think that she could, all of the sudden, take Tear's place in his existence, giving him meaning and something to protect.

... but there was something that Natalia could do, that Tear couldn't hope to compete with. Natalia was the one who grew up with Luke. Certainly she didn't always treat him as well as she should have, but he was her dear childhood friend nevertheless. Allowing a small smile to form on her lips, she winked at Luke. "Of course, there's no pressure or anything. It must be nice having the freedom to be around here without anybody expecting you to be royalty, right?"

He visibly perked up at Natalia's offer. Luke certainly wouldn't mind not being alone. In fact, if she hadn't offered he likely would have tried to find somewhere closer to stay. They were looking to be pretty stuck here, so sticking together did make more than a little sense. And he had heard about people disappearing and the like. He didn't want to see anything happen to her.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" he asked.

He then grinned a bit sheepishly. He couldn't say he missed being called 'Master Luke'. "Hah, there is that, I guess."

"I wouldn't mind at all, Luke!" Natalia gave him her best smile. She didn't know what she would have done if he had shown hesitation or even flat-out rejected her offer. However, with his fairly enthusiastic response, she breathed a sigh of relief. Being able to enjoy this sort of freedom with him was something that she wouldn't mind at all.

"In that case, I'll set aside the other bed room for you." She continued. "I... tried practicing, yet I'm still not competent at cooking, I'm afraid. We may need to eat out a lot unless one of us learns how to cook." She jokingly giggled.

Ah cooking. A sometimes touchy subject around Natalia, but as she was the one joking about it, Luke joined in with a light laugh of his own. "And I definitely haven't been practicing lately, so eating out might be our best option."

Luke's cooking wasn't quite as bad as Natalia's was known to be, but they were easily the worst cooks in the group. Eating out really would be probably their best option for now, although Luke was certainly willing to try to cook if it came down to it.

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out."

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A Dark Reunion [Active]

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