paixaorpg | I never thought that I would fall like that. Never knew that I could hurt this bad. [Active, Open]

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I never thought that I would fall like that. Never knew that I could hurt this bad. [Active, Open]

Character(s): Nana, and anyone who wouldn’t mind going out of their way to help her.
Content: In the middle of adjusting to move with her prosthetic arms and legs, a lost and lonely Diclonius child arrives to Paixao.
Setting: Muspelheim Gates
Time: Mid-week 27, late afternoon
Warnings: This post might compel you to want to give her a hug.

When Papa had finished speaking to her, through that strange little box on the side of her stranger looking bed, Nana sat there and stared at it. The little red light had stopped blinking on and off. It was just off now. This was nothing like a regular bed. She knew that. It had to have been made just for her.

“Papa?” She waited a moment, but she did not hear his voice. “Papa, where should I go? If I have to go far away...” Confused, afraid, and feeling so alone, this young Diclonius saw a lot of water to her left. To her right, the ground looked so shiny, but she didn’t keep her gaze on it. The sun hurt her eyes a little as she took her time to see her new surroundings.

“Papa. Are you still there?” After more silence, she breathed out a sad sigh, realizing the truth; she couldn’t speak to him or go look for him right now, no matter how much she wanted to. He had left Nana some instructions, and expected her to follow them. Nana was told to be a good girl, and she wanted to stay a good girl, stay as his good girl. Papa had helped her get away, and wanted to keep her safe—so, that had to mean...she wasn’t useless. He didn’t see her as useless.

He still loved her, and wanted her to live!

As tears began to well up in her pink eyes, she felt herself smile a little. She couldn’t have felt more relieved, and grateful to Papa for wanting her to be safe.

Nana moved to get out of the bed she woke up in. She wasn’t to go back to the facility, he said. He wanted her to go far away...and hide? Was that what she was supposed to do? Hide from the doctors, the only other people she knew?

The two tears streaming down her innocent face were soon forgotten as she swung her legs over to the side. Her black shoes were flat on the shiny ground. Knowing she had to go live peacefully somewhere else, she knew she had to stand up and move across the ground. It was so different and strange, but that didn’t bother her. Not at all.

She stood up with ease, feeling her new arms and legs attached to her body—but with less feeling. Unlike before, she couldn’t feel the warm light on her arms and legs. She could feel the day’s warmth on her face and through her black and white dress. Also, Nana felt the strap of her brown handbag on one of her shoulders. It was slung over diagonally across her body. The bag part itself she could feel the light weight right next to her left hip, so she supposed all that was enough. Papa’s instructions were still clearly present in her head. She needed to get far away from here, so the doctors won’t be able to find her.

Carefully, she moved one step forward—no problem. She moved her other leg just as slowly. Then another step. And another. From her body weight, she could tell that this ground was soft. Her feet sunk into it a little, in which made her flinch. That’s all it took for her right leg to come loose. Nana fell forward, her arms out front to catch herself before her face could sink into the ground. The new leg that was once attached had fallen inches away from the rest of her body.

Her heart began to beat a little faster as she looked over her shoulder at it. “Oh no,” Nana whispered. She quietly told herself not to worry as she took her time to turn herself over. Papa wouldn’t leave her in a dangerous place like this, someplace in which she could be so easily killed. But the outside world he said wasn’t a very safe place, right?

The facility wasn’t going to be any safer if she returned there. The doctors wouldn’t feel the same way Papa had. Going back meant getting herself killed. With that bitter and frightening truth in mind, she knew there was no other choice. Papa must have known this too.

She picked up her leg with both hands, and pushed it back onto where it fell off. It slid into place with a little click. “So that’s what I have to do,” she murmured to herself. “Just push it in when it comes off...” If it worked like that with her legs, then Papa must have thought it could work the same way with her arms.

Nana stayed on her hands and knees a moment, surprised that she hadn’t sunk all the way into the shiny ground by now. Because she thought it was unsafe. She moved her hand through it. She could barely feel the ground as she grabbed and lifted some of it up. Dirt. This was some kind of shiny dirt. Nana knew about dirt, because she had asked Papa why the ground looked so different outside from inside the place she called home. Yesterday was her first time in the outside world, when she had to go look for...

Lucy. She tore off her old arms and legs and didn’t apologize to Nana for it. No, she didn’t feel sorry at all. It was Lucy’s fault that this was happening! Nana felt sure about that, as she felt sure of herself. If Lucy hadn’t been such a bad girl to run away, she wouldn’t have put Papa and Nana in so much trouble.

“Forget about Lucy,” Nana recalled Papa saying to her. After she got away again, when the doctors were wrapping her bloody body with clean bandages, she had asked and even pleaded to him if she could go back out there, with help this time. She wanted a second chance to bring Lucy to him. Papa said no. He told her not to worry, and that it wouldn’t be much longer until she was either brought back or killed.

That little swell of anger felt inside of her, she tried to stop it from growing. Nana was to be a good girl for him. She wasn’t told to fight anyone. She was told to go far away from what she knew. And she would try her best to follow everything he told her just a minute ago.

“What if I see her again,” she wondered, worried. “Should I run away from her too, Papa?” What if she wouldn’t fail to stop her by then? Wouldn’t Papa be proud? Nana knew he would. Next time, she wouldn’t show Lucy any mercy. She’d tear Lucy apart the same way she tore her apart, without shame or guilt. Nana would use her vectors, the arms and hands only Diclonii would have, and teach that bad girl a lesson!

“You seem very comfortable with that experimental equipment of yours.”

“Forget about Lucy. Please, don’t punish yourself... I’ll handle her. Don’t worry, Nana.” She remembered how soft and reassuring Papa sounded. He was also mad, not at Nana, but at Lucy, because she would never listen to him...

“I can’t forget about her.” The words just slipped out, and Nana almost wanted to cry again. But as she recalled Papa’s instructions in her head one more time, she knew she hadn’t started moving again. She had to go find a new place to live. Someplace far away from...wherever she was.

Dirt was...well, dirt. It was harmless, and all it ever did was get her hands dirty. There was some of it on the lower part of her dress too.

She dropped the fistful of shiny dirt and pushed herself steadily back on her feet. Nana forced herself to calm down as she batted at her dress lightly to make the other dirt come off before trying again to walk.

There were times when that same leg or the other came off, yet she managed to bend down, reattach it to herself, and then keep moving. This was starting to get a little annoying, as it happened whenever she’d think too much about anything else. Two of her four vectors individually wrapped around her legs. Whenever she’d start to lose concentration, those invisible arms would start to loosen their grip.

As she looked ahead, there was a gray wall. It looked very tall and solid—so maybe Nana could lean against it and follow to see where it led. With this goal in mind, she felt more focused and determined one step at a time through the light colored dirt. It was better to travel through here than in the water. She’d get cold, and her dress would get wet! Papa had picked out a nice dress for her, to cover herself up. It was important to be clean and covered up when going outside, he said.

After a little more walking, falling, pushing a detached leg bag in, and standing back up to move some more, she had reached the wall. Just as she had expected, it was what a wall should be; hard and solid. Nana didn’t feel herself sinking into it, and believed that wouldn’t change anytime soon.

Following the wall several paces later, something on the wall opened up. It looked so dark and strange... The edges of the round opening moved and pushed out thin streams of shadow that disappeared. She stopped, wondering what to make of it.

“What’s that?” Where did that come from? Nana didn’t know, as she cautiously approached. There were voices coming from there! They were low and muffled, but Nana was sure of it—there had to be people through that dark opening.

Was it safe to go in? Nana couldn’t see anything, and she didn’t like that. When was Papa going to come for her? Probably not for a while... Why couldn’t he just stay with her?! He’d be able to tell her if this was the right way to go or not.

Maybe if she could try to touch the opening first... Nana slowly moved a trembling hand into it. And that’s what happened, nothing else. It didn’t hurt her. Not even the slightest pain came from this opening.

The voices were still there, but why couldn’t she hear what was being said on the other side? This made her uneasy.

She slowly moved her other hand in—and made sure those two vectors of hers kept those legs steady as the other two remained harmlessly inside her back. She didn’t want to fall in and hurt herself! She could barely feel both hands lightly touch something. Curiosity was gradually winning over fear as she eventually moved all the way into the opening.

Now it wasn’t so dark. Nana noticed her hands on someone’s shoulders. The man’s head turned to look at her. She couldn’t help but feel a little scared, from the way he looked at her. The dark haired man with the dark hair under his nose looked like he didn’t want her touching him.

She moved her hands away immediately. Her voice was at a small near whisper in volume. “I-I’m sorry, mister--”

Someone behind her let out a soft gasp, making her stop in mid-sentence. Nana looked over her shoulder to see the lady standing behind her. Where did she come from?! Behind Nana, the wall, the dirt, and all that water was behind her before stepping forward. She hadn’t seen the pretty looking light haired lady then.

Nana felt the need to look around—and on both sides were thin walls that looked gold and flickering. They lit up, too! Nana felt herself gasp she noticed that this warmth was different, coming from the not so solid walls.

This was all happening so fast as she wanted to ask the lady where they were. She took a step back and seemed to be staring at...her horns. The two pointy bones on each side of her head.

“Would you quit moving around back there, please,” said the man she didn’t mean to bother.

“Sorry about that! C-Could you please tell me where I am?”

Was this man going to yell at her or hurt her if she did something else he didn’t like? Some of the humans dressed in white coats did that to her, whenever Papa wasn’t around. The doctors were always mean to her when he wasn’t around—but Nana did the best she could to stay brave for him. He couldn’t be with her all the time, and she understood that...

He sighed. “Can’t tell ya. The woman up ahead might.”

“A woman?” Nana looked back at the red haired lady who looked uncomfortable being near her. She looked that a little older than Nana was. Aside from that, Nana understood why the lady looked a little scared of her; Nana wasn’t a normal person. The doctors and Papa had told her that over and over all her life, and this made feel her sad... Now that Nana was back in the outside world again, she felt a fresh wave of sadness by just looking at this person.

“No,” the lady said irritably, and pointed past Nana. “Over there.”

Nana turned her head in attempt to follow where she was pointing. She had to lean to the side and stay balanced on her new legs to see a woman not far from where she was. The yellow haired lady in the pretty dress was asking for people’s names, giving them different colored boxes, and welcoming them to...Pie-Zow?

“Do I get one of those boxes too,” she asked, looking at the man who seemed a bit nicer than the lady. “What are we supposed to do with them?”

“Do you have parents, kid?”

Nana’s innocent pink eyes lowered. “I don’t know where my papa is...” She really wished she knew, because she didn’t know where to go or what to do without him.

Then she looked back up to see the man sigh again, and not pay anymore attention to her. He didn’t like her bothering him, and she certainly didn’t want to make him angry...so she quietly followed him in the line. It’s what all the others ahead of him were doing anyway.

Nana stared back at the strange thin walls that gave off warmth, and didn’t dare touch it. Nana wasn’t going to repeat that mistake, as she just waited for her turn to see the lady with the colored boxes. That was no normal wall, just as the last one she used to support herself. Were all walls like this in the outside world? Did the lady with the boxes know? Was she the right person to talk to?

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Since arriving in Paixao herself -- Kakyuu had been attempting to find the ones in charge of the city -- but to no avail. And so she was also turning her attention to try and find a way out herself -- but that too didn't seem to be working out too well for her. She was doing a bit of information gathering, finding herself at the gate called Muspelheim, and studying the ushering of new arrivals through the gates.

She recalled her own admission as well. Frowning, she chastised herself for her own stupidly for winding up in a place like this -- at which point she noticed a young girl coming through the entranceway.

The Princess' expression softened, approaching her slowly -- she looked rather lost and frightened... "Are you all right?" she asked in a soft tone.

She had slowly moved past the strange light that emitted warmth. The thin walls hadn't done anything else, so she relaxed a little. Soon, it would be Nana's turn to meet the yellow haired human who knew the name of this strange place. Looking around nervously, she soon saw another pretty lady, and she was coming her way. To Nana, she sure seemed nice. Yet, some of the human doctors back at the facility only acted nice. But this place is so different from back there. She believed there were more people who could be nice to her, without harming her--people like her papa.

There was a mixture of worry and hope in her expression as she hesitantly spoke to the nice lady. "Do you live here?" Would she be more helpful than the other two people she talked to?

"Excuse me madam; you are in the way." Another voice spoke before Nana could say anything else, a more or less polite voice.

Turning to look past the red haired lady towards the yellow haired lady, the other one had distracted her that she hadn't realized it was her turn to get a little box. In one hand, she held a red little box, about the same color as the human who showed concern!

...That box was going to be hers, right? Everyone else in line ahead of her got one of those.

"Come, follow me," Kakyuu offered, disliking the rudeness of some of the newcomers in line. Where had all the manners in the world gone to? When arriving in a strange place such as this, one would think others could be a little more understanding of the initial confusion.

The princess cupped an arm behind the girl's shoulders, trying to usher her in a direction of less traffic. "No, I'm not from here..." she explained in a gentle tone, "actually, there are many of us that come from different places, as you can see," she motioned towards the line. "You've come to Paixao."

"Wait, I--!" Before Nana could let herself be led away from the line she went ahead and picked up her red box.

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you have least told me your name before receiving your free journal?"

Nana looked at the yellow haired lady and realized she did something she wasn't supposed to. At the same time, the prettier dressed woman was trying to move her along elsewhere. Then, before Nana could wonder what she should do, one of her prosthetic legs simply fell off.

The yellow haired woman stared, surprised. There were a few gasps coming from behind them. That had to mean they were bothered by what had just happened.

"I'm sorry. It does that when I'm not paying attention!" She bent forward and picked her fake leg up with her free hand. One of her other vectors wrapped securely around her other leg as she did this. She had to push that left leg of hers back in place.

The young girl was tugging at Kakyuu's heartstrings in every sense of the word. As the limb fell from place, she was a little startled herself, though she managed to keep any trace of it hidden from her expression, and mannerisms. As she bent down, she wasn't exactly sure that she could help, but she attempted to offer support by any means necessary.

She sent a glare in the direction of the gaping onlookers. "Have you not business of your own to conduct?" she snapped slightly, turning her attention back to Nana. "Is it all right? Do you need help with it?" her tone was once again soft.

"I can do it," Nana said, trying her best to be brave under the stress. She wasn't completely helpless. She's had to put a leg of hers back in over ten times now! This helped her feel like she could take care of herself--a little, anyway.

With a click back in place, Nana had successfully reattached her leg with a simple twist and push. Then, she looked back to the nice lady. For her, she wore a little smile. "It's all right now." She looked toward everyone else, as one of the other three vectors, focusing so that it remained around her reattached limb.

The line waiting to enter Paixao behind them pretended not to see what just happened. She looked to the kind human, since she was the only one who could help. Should I trust her, Papa? Would that be all right if I did?

Nana really didn't want to mess up in following his instructions. There was a little hope that this person could help keep her safe, but also a little hesitation.

"...You wanted me to go somewhere with you?"

Nodding in approval when the girl successfully attatched her limb, she wasn't sure if she should ask about it outright but -- since the girl didn't seem to be in too much distress over it, and in fact, mentioned that it happened occasionally, Kakyuu kept quiet about it. If the girl wanted to explain it, she would on her own accord.

"Away from these gawking eyes, at the very least," she explained to Nana. "Unfortunately, I am still new to this place myself but... if we stick together, perhaps it won't seem so scary, right?" she ended off with a smile. Although the girl seemed to be not all that much younger than herself, there was... something about her that seemed so much more innocent.

"My name is Kakyuu. What's yours?"

She wanted to trust this person. She really, really wanted to. Papa didn't say she had to go someplace far away to live all by herself, right?

"My name's Nana." Nodding her head, she felt she had to agree on what Kakyuu said about gawking eyes. "Yeah. Those people were rude." She couldn't blame them for never seeing a Diclonius.

But this lady didn't seem bothered by her appearance at all.

Her smile made Nana feel a little less afraid as she smiled softly in return. Timidly hopeful, she had something to ask. This was very important, because being alone in the outside world wasn't something she was sure she could be able deal with. "Does this mean...we're friends?"

At the very idea, it gave her hope. But if Kakyuu didn't want to be Nana's friend--then that was okay, she supposed. But she'd still feel so lonely...

The question threw her slightly off guard. This girl... definitely seemed to act quite a bit younger than her appearance suggested. The redhead, however, gave a slight nod in response. "I don't see why not," she nearly chuckled, but held herself back. There was something she saw in Nana that was strangely -- endearing.

"Have you come all by yourself to this place, Nana? Do you have any family or friends that could have also been transported?"

Once Kakyuu replied, this a wave of excitement swept over the younger girl. "Really? For real?!" A bit of giddiness followed as she felt herself starting to giggle.

Nana was beginning to feel better than how she was earlier--until she heard Kakyuu's honest question of concern. This surprised her, but through the lady's voice and how convincing she was to be of help, Nana knew that from this moment on she wouldn't have to be alone in a place with strange walls.

"I came here all by myself... I don't know where Papa is." If anything, Nana was so set on clinging to a present glimmer of hope that maybe soon, her parent would come for her.

"I have a favor to ask you." That was spoken without thinking twice. It's what Papa had told her once. Doing a favor for someone meant helping that person. Nana didn't know why she began to feel nervous about what she had to tell Kakyuu next. She just knew it was nothing great.

Yes, she knew she had to explain herself, but how much could she be able to share? Probably not very much, but enough to make it clear on what's happened.

"A favour?" the princess tilted her head. That was also rather unexpected, but if it was to help out someone in need -- it wasn't exactly something that she could out rightly refuse, either. "Well... I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but if there's something I can do, feel free to ask, Nana."

She swept one of her arms out to the side, positioning herself in an open stance in an effort to use body language to put the girl a little more at ease.

Kakyuu's response caused her to feel a little better, but she still didn't like the notion of having to share anything of her past...

It was impossible to keep a steady eye contact after she paused to think of the best way to explain without bringing up memories of pain, suffering, and loneliness.

"All my life, I've lived in this facility. I have no home, nowhere to go back to, and I don't know a lot about the outside world... Papa, he--"

"The director ordered me to kill you. I’ve decided to disobey his order and help you make an escape..." It wasn't all that long ago when she received his last message.

As the first part of it came to her clearly, Nana began feel scared for him. She knew her only parent wasn't around, but the way she voiced her troubles made it clear as to how much she missed her only parent, the only human she'd do anything for. "Papa, what are you doing? If the director finds out what you did, to help me..."

She trembled in place, as she found herself unable to finish that sentence. What was a director anyway? Someone terrible, that's who! Someone who'd punish Papa and Nana for wanting to run away!

Ever the calm one, Kakyuu just titled her head slightly off to the side, as she shared. "It's all right," she attempted to soothe the girl's nerves with gentle words. "you don't have to say everything at once." Obviously, there was more to this tale, and perhaps just blurting everything wasn't the best way to go about it.

"If I can help you, Nana, then I will." Her sense of duty always outshone her. A princess, perhaps, but also a soldier for the greater good.

Relief came in Nana's heart so fast. Stray tears began to well up in those innocent eyes, but she quickly wiped them away with one hand. "Really? You'll help me find Papa then, Kakyuu? I could tell you what he looks like. If we both look for him together, he won't get hurt!"

Yeah, she liked the sound of that idea! "You'd know more things than I would know..." The next thing had to be said, she felt. There was just no way around it as she wore a sad smile. "All my life, I've lived in this facility. Now I don't have a home. Nowhere to go back to...and I don't know a lot about the outside world.

"Papa's from the outside world too. He would have told me more and more about it if he didn't have to work so much."

A soft smile brushes across her lips. There was something so fragile about this one -- "Mm," and she nodded. "Let's look for him together, all right? And..." Kakyuu dropped her head slightly, "even if we cannot find him in this place... I will try my best to see to it that you get home," and as she said it, she also wanted to believe it was possible.

"Come," she said softly, extending her hand towards Nana.

Nana listened attentively, and would have told her friend Papa's description right then if Kakyuu hadn't said the word home. That one little word alone just hurt her from the inside. Nana looked to Kakyuu's open hand, and then to her pretty face that looked so warm and caring.

"But I don't have a home, not anymore," she told Kakyuu softly. "All I have left is Papa..." Her voice rose to a sense of urgency. "I'm a good girl. I have to follow his instructions and be safe, far away from that place."

As she felt the need to make that clear to Kakyuu, there came a small clapping noise coming from the ground between them. It came a little suddenly. Nana looked down, surprised to see the thin little red box there. She had been so occupied telling Kakyuu what she needed to know that she didn't even realize she dropped the box. In fact, she had forgotten she was even holding it, when she couldn't really feel holding the object, just its light weight. These new limbs Papa gave her--it was going to take a while in getting used to them.

Nana lowered herself to a kneeling position to pick it up. In both hands, she rotated and examined it upon standing. It wasn't just all red. There were very thin lines on almost all sides. On the top and bottom it was smooth and shiny. "What's this box supposed to be for? The yellow haired lady back there was handing them out to everyone who passed through those walls of strange light..."

"Where your Papa is, then," Kakyuu corrected herself, still smiling. "You see Nana, I... don't really have a home either. But -- I also have a family. So from now on -- where ever they are, that will be what I consider home," she spoke, laying a hand across her chest. "So you and I... let's work on trying to find a way back together, all right?" It was obvious that the young one wanted to do well by her father...

"Oh," she grinned, "that's a communicator of sorts," the princess explained. "You see? When you press this button here... you can create a new message. It can be either in writing or by voice. We can use this too keep in touch, if ever we get separated, all right?"

Nana had never heard it that way before--and she didn't deny it all that she liked it. A bright smile appeared, now realizing that she wouldn't let the doctors or the Director hurt her. "All right! We'll do that then. We'll stay together, find Papa, and go make a new home."

She watched as Kakyuu opened the box to see all those weird tiny boxes aligned with markings on them. She had no clue what "writing" meant but... "Voice? So, we can talk to it?" Well, that was surely something different!

Nana looked to her friend, staring in both wonder, excitement, and confusion. "Does the communicator talk back?" No, wait! "No. Ah, I mean... It can be used like the radio communicator I used to contact Papa, once!" She almost forgot that detail, when she had been able to feel Lucy's presence and locate her.

"That's right," she giggled, feeling elated by the change in the girl's mood. "Although... it will only work within the confines of the city I'm afraid," she explained, "but it certainly can come in handy. But..." Kakyuu hesitated slightly, wondering how to word the threat that the Organization posed without scaring her...

"However... if you have a secret to tell someone Nana... be careful, all right? Because there may be people listening who aren't very nice..."

Nana nodded, with both understanding and determination in her eyes. "Papa told me there could be people around in the outside world who would take advantage of me." I can't tell her about my vectors, right? Even if she's the first friend I've ever made...

Hiding her little uncertainty in a cute smile, she finished, "Don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets!" For all this time, she never told those doctors about a lot of things Papa told her and taught her about--because he asked her not to tell them.

Nana felt confident on protecting herself, as well as her friend.

She curiously looked at the big light source on the red communicator box Kakyuu had opened for her, located just above all those little squares aligned in rows. There were strange markings Nana did not recognize. "What's this light for? Is that important in order for this to work right?"

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I never thought that I would fall like that. Never knew that I could hurt this bad. [Active, Open]

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BAH. exam death there. sorry .-.

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