uccellodifuoco | 13th Rise of the Phoenix ஜ Action (Fourth Wall Event)

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13th Rise of the Phoenix ஜ Action (Fourth Wall Event)

[Apparently, either the Malnosso have decided that around three hundred of people aren't enough for their experiments... Or someone has left open the front door and people thought that the enclosure was a commercial center with a sale going on. Ikki has never been a people person, he has problems already when half of the village gathers for parties, this sudden influx of not-New Feathers isn't something that pleases him.

Specially when his pet, an arctic wolf cub, little over one year old and named Hyoga, decides to start running around to play catch with his owner. Of course, like always, Ikki is the "it" that has to catch the animal. And of course, today the village is so full of people that running around isn't easy, or keep sight of the animal, good thing Hyoga knows how to get back home... Or he should, Ikki had been teaching him that recently. Still he tries to catch the animal, not because he's worried but because it would be troublesome to just let it go and bother people.]

Let me go through, dammit! Hyoga!! Stop right there this instant!! Come back, stupid wolf! I'm not going to chase you forever so come already!

[Of course, Hyoga will at most stop, turn to look at its owner and then keep running away happily. Or bother whoever is next to him if he thinks they smell nice or something. He's not afraid of the angry phoenix chasing him, not at all.]

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[Hyoga keeps barking and howling, stopping only to sniff at her hand and lick it, confirming that she has Ikki's scent still lingering in her person. When she calls Ikki's name the animal just gets even louder and more excited.

Ikki makes his way to where his noisy pet is, not knowing what has gotten into the animal, he doesn't sound scared but Ikki can't think of what would make him that excited. Unfortunately he misses Esmeralda's voice, drowned in the crowd and the wolf's barking and howling. Something in the back of his mind tingles as he gets closer, her Cosmo being noticeable, but it has been so long since he last felt it, close to six years or so, it doesn't ping him immediately.

He finally gets to where they are, stumbling a bit and glaring at the crowd, wishing they all would just vanish already. He must be taller than Esmeralda remembers, he's older, but he's still Ikki. Just as she's still Esmeralda when he turns and finally finds her. If there's ever a moment in which the world freezes and seems to vanish, it's this one.]

... E-Esmeralda?

[Esmeralda is, of course, looking in the wrong direction at first as well, but at the sound of her name, she'll turn to Ikki. She will pause, of course. He is taller, and older. And...perhaps there is something ever so slightly different about him.

But it is him. And he's alive.]

Ikki.

[And she'll smile.]

You're all right.

[No, he's not all right. He's frozen, paralyzed, almost... Scared. Luceti is a strange place, it's a place where those who are dead can appear and live on a second life. It's both a gift and a curse, because as sad and terrible as dead is, it has a meaning, there's a reason it exists. Even if he knew it was possible, he never considered that those who had died as he kept on living would appear here. Because he wasn't sure if he would be capable of accepting death a second time, as inevitable as it was. So he even preferred if it didn't happen, let those who died rest, let their deaths still have meaning and be something to draw strength from and not just sadness.]

Esmeralda... It's you... It's really you.

[She's here, in Luceti. At his reach and smiling like she always did. Alive and smiling. He should be happy, yet all he can do is wonder for how long will this be possible, as anger coils inside of him at what he knows will come at some moment. It's like being dead all over again, those brief times in which he can try to reach for her, hear her voice and see her face before he's pushed back to life. Except that this time he's still alive.]

Umhmm...

[And that smile gets a little brighter as she nods. Still, she can sense the hesitancy, just as she can still feel the pain that had sent her on past her own mortal coil.

Or so she had thought. She will glance ever so briefly at herself, looking for the wound that should have been there before meeting his eyes once more.]

I've...been gone for a while, haven't I?

[Might as well try and make the best of this situation, yes?]

[For a while... For some reason that just strikes him and then, he starts to chuckle and then laugh, closing his eyes and shaking his head before he looks at her again. She's still there.]

For a while...

[He nods as the brief funny-but-not-really moment passes and finally, finally his feet answer his will and he approaches her. He does so carefully though, almost as if still not convinced that she's really here... It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to trick him to lower his defenses, he can't even be sure of Hyoga isn't being fooled even as the wolf tries to tug as his pants to make him go faster.

When he finally stands in front of her... For the first time ever it really strikes to him. "For a while", six years. Six whole years in which he has been alive and fighting and she has... Been gone. Six years in which her death felt fresh in his mind and heart, in which he still could feel the weight of her body in her arms as she died. It hadn't felt long until now that he has to look down to look at her, because she's thirteen, a teenager, and he's twenty one, an adult. When did that much time pass by.]

Just for a little while.

[And she will stand and wait as he approaches, even though she's starting to shiver a little in the cold. It's a little odd to find Ikki suddenly towering over her, but no less odd than being here at all. Instead of worrying about it though, she will study him instead, trying to do her best to pick out familiar details from any new variances.

Still, her gaze remains unafraid when he finally stops in front of her, and she nods her acceptance at his response.]

Where are we?

[He's tempted to say "in Hell", but as much as this place can be bad, he knows it's still better than Hell itself. And it won't do well. He belatedly notices the shivering... Of course. She's from Death Queen Island, that's where she grew up. She never even got to see snow. She must be freezing.

He takes off his coat and puts it around her, pulling her in for a light embrace even as he releases some of his Cosmo to help her warm up a bit again. Still, he should bring her home... For as little time as it may be.]

In a place called Luceti, far away from Death Queen Island. Don't worry, you'll be fine here.

[As fine as one can be here, that is.]

[She snuggles into the warm coat readily enough, and her own returning hug is gentle and careful; perhaps a sign of just how unnerved she really is. She will look around though, not moving far from his side once the embrace is over.]

Is this where you live now?

[She isn't sure if she should ask any more than that. It's so different here, after all.]

I've been living here for the past two years, yes. Come, let's get you inside before you catch a cold.

[Before she catches a cold. She's dead and may not be here for long... And he worries about if she will catch a cold. Only in Luceti. He spares a look to his pet, which fell silent and just sat patiently while they talked.]

Hyoga, we're going back home now. No more playing outside today.

[There's a whine but the animal obeys and starts to lead the way back to the apartment.]

[Esmeralda follows in their wake, still looking around and trying to take it all in as they make their way to the community building. So may people. And plants, although they look dead at the moment. And buildings. It's an eyeful to take in.

And not a one of them seemed to be warriors or trainees to her unknowing eyes.

She does stop to gaze inside the window of the flower shop before moving to catch up.]

Do you...protect this village?

[Did you win the Phoenix for yourself?]

[Part of him wants to just take here and show her everything here. The snow, the flowers, the restaurant, the bakery, even the stupid school and the library, he wants to take her to the Battle Dome and load the pool simulation and take her to the mountains. But it's not the moment and there may not be time for it, he just cant relax and stop thinking that it's just a matter of time. Specially after he realizes she has no wings. Fortunately his own are still hidden by the sweater he wears.]

If there's a need to, I do it even if I don't want to be here. It's not something that happens often, though, this place needing protection.

[He pauses as he talks, thinking about the question... Right, he's the Phoenix Saint. It's natural she would ask that, she never got to see him win his Cloth... Time m ay be limited, but if he's going to show her something it will be that.

He stops in his tracks, closing his eyes to summon his Cloth, calling it with his Cosmos. The Cloth answers and from the nearest community building a bird of flames jumps outside, soaring on the sky before falling over him in a matter of seconds. Only a second later and he stands there as the Phoenix Saint.]

I'm the Phoenix Saint now. I've been so for a while.

[She does blink in surprise when the Cloth answers him, and her expression is both awed and a little grave as she watches it descend. She of course wonders how soon it was after she'd...

And she will push that thought aside, smiling, even though there's a slight hint of tears in her eyes.]

I knew you could...

[Those words are barely a whisper, but they're quickly eclipsed by another smile before she remembers what he said first.]

But what keeps you here? Can't you leave?

[Part of him wonders, as he looks at her expression and notices that hint of tears, if she's happy or not. If knowing that her death was what pushed him finally through it all would make her happy or sad that he went and got the Cloth first before properly burying her or anything.]

I'm not the type of person who stays in one place unless there's a reason for it, be it that I can't leave or that there's something I have to do. There's nothing for an Athena Saint to do here.

[She can fill the rest easily. He lightly nudges her to resume their way to the inside of the building.]

[She can, and she does, nodding even as she lets him steer her inside and to their destination.

As for the other? In truth, she's both happy and sad. Happy because he did it; sad because as innocent seeming as she is, she can figure out what the cost had probably been. It's written in the guarded way he acts, if nothing else. She remains quietly thoughtful as she follows.]

[He remains quiet as well as he guides her, the only one making any noise being Hyoga, but even he is relatively quiet. Eventually, Ikki opens the door to the apartment for her to enter.]

You can stay here from now on. [For as long as she's here. It's probably good now that Selphie didn't move with them, there's a room free for Esmeralda.] Smoker won't mind it... I hope you won't mind too much the smell of cigarettes, he smokes like if his life depends on it.

[It kind of does though. The apartment isn't exactly a paradise, not with two single men and a wolf living on it, it's not an example of what would happen if you store a hurricane inside a closed space, but it could do with great improvements. It's still far better than anything that could be found in Death Queen Island, though.]

[Esmeralda is already taking the place in as she walks through the door, noting how the place looks. The cigarette smell is noticeable, but compared to the sulphur smells on Death Queen from the volcanoes, it's not bad at all.

Once Ikki leaves her alone for a reasonable amount of time and she figures out where everything is, you can bet she'll be cleaning the place up, though. She looks back to Ikki with a smile.]

It's nice! And...

[She really is suddenly at a loss for words as everything catches up with her; still alive, Ikki is older, this isn't Death Queen...

Pardon her for a second while she hugs you, Ikki. Or maybe clings. Just for a moment.]

Edited 2012-01-29 14:03 (UTC)

[She can do whatever she wants to do, Ikki wouldn't be able to stop her even if he wanted, and he certainly won't complain if she cleans the place. He may even try to help even.

He smiles a bit when she says that it's nice, of course, anything would be nice compared to Death Queen Island. She never had the personality of a girl that needed much to be happy, she couldn't be like that if she was capable of smiling even in that place. He makes a surprised noise when she hugs him, clings to him, but he quickly returns the embrace. It's so different from how he remembered it, from how he kept imagining it, it's only now that he can see her again that he starts to realize that time has passed and he has grown older. His mind and heart was still stuck back in that day, so whenever he thought of her he would imagine their heights being the same as they were back them, both being teenagers.

It's only his pride that keeps him from shattering in her arms. His pride and his will to be strong, to not give her something to worry about now. Not now, for however long this miracle is possible. He just wants her to be happy right now.]

Esmeralda...

[It only takes a minute or two for her to get her equilibrium back, and only a brief wipe at her eyes with a single finger before she's smiling again and is willing to let go. She doesn't want him to worry, either, after all. It's all all right, if a little strange.]

I'm okay.

[And she beams at him.]

Which rooms are which?

[Because she doesn't want to go wandering into the wrong place, after all.]

[He caresses her hair as the hug breaks, smiling a bit in answer to her brilliant smile. Exactly the way he remembered it, it shouldn't be something he notices that much, it should be obvious but maybe he's not surprised at her being the way he remembered but at him being able to remember her so clearly even after so long.

He leads her to the rooms, even opening the door to Smoker's room to check if he's there, but aside of a higher condensation of the scent of cigarettes there's no trace of the man.]

This is Smoker's room. Guess you'll meet him later when he comes back.

[In Ikki's room she will be able to easily see the pandora box of the Phoenix Cloth, there are several shelves full with plushie dolls among which she will probably see a doll of herself as well as a one of Ikki himself. Theres also a cushion and a plate with water for Hyoga, and a vase with plain and boring flowers but that she might recognize as the only ones that ever grew in Death Queen Island.

The last room is mostly empty, with only the basic furniture and a soft bed to sleep in.]

We have never really have someone who stayed in this room, so it's very empty. Sorry.

[Esmeralda trails in his wake, peeking into Smokers room for a second before nodding. She wondered what kind of man he was...and was he kind to Ikki? A friend? teacher? Or someone Ikki had to share room with for some other reason.

When they come to Ikki's room, if he allows it, she will carefully make her way in to take a look, her eyes first drawn to the pandora box and then the shelf of plushies. She'll even poke the one of Ikki gently in the stomach before noting the flowers. That will make a different smile appear; one of recognition, and perhaps subdued fondness. And with that, she'll follow him to the third and last room.

When he apologizes for the room, she shakes her head, still smiling.]

It's fine! It even has a real bed! [And more and nicer furniture than she's ever seen in her life. To her, it might as well be an executive suite.]

[He lets her explore all she wants. He has no reason to stop her nor he has a wish to though he will look a bit flustered when she pokes the plushie done after his image. Part of him wants to ask her if she would want one, but... It probably wouldn't made it with her once she returns, right? So there's no point if she can't truly have it.

He laughs a bit at her reaction to the bedroom.]

I know, but it still could be better. We can work on that if you want though, give it your own touch.

[As if she would stay... But he really doesn't want to acknowledge that she probably won't out loud.]

Okay.

[In truth, even just a brightly colored blanket and maybe a vase of her own with some of the flowers would do...

....And maybe enough flowers of other types to try and weave together later, if she has some time to herself.]

Is there anything to cook?

[yeah, might want to get a shopping list going, Ikki.]

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13th Rise of the Phoenix ஜ Action (Fourth Wall Event)

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