001. (v2) [audio + commentlog/open]

[stillseecracks]

A...Again?

[Xanth lets out a hollow, bitter laugh.]

I... n-no, you, you have to be k--kidding. I-I already d--did this. M-My world was... a-already gone. Th--The End took it. K-K'lai, a-and Grams, they... th-they were... already gone.

[He takes in a shuddering breath. His chest tightens, his voice cracks.]N--Now you say it... it's all g-gone?

Comments

[Audio]

[lightyourway]

Hey...

[This is strange.]

Do you mean the letter?

[Because they already talked about that. Weeks ago.]

[Audio]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth had been walking as he checked the book, but this reply makes him stumble and stop in his tracks. He knows that voice. He knows this girl. He's hit with a tidal wave of relief and he can't stop grinning.

But just past that relief is a flood of worry.]

K--

Kairi? Wh-where-- wh-- where are you?

[Perhaps he should think something of her lackluster response, but he does not. To that, he is blind.]

[Audio]

[lightyourway]

I'm at the lake.

[And now that he sounds less like he's panicking, she chances teasing him, just a little.]

Did you get lost?

[Audio]

[stillseecracks]

N-No, um, I-- I'm okay! B-But, can you-- give me d-directions? I-I'm on-- o-on the grounds r-right now, so--

[He doesn't see the lake! But even if he's still all beat up from the battle with The End, he'll run miles to find her.]

[Audio]

[lightyourway]

Sure. There's a gate in the wall west of the hot springs, past the library entrance. You'll see it from there.

[Audio] --> [Commentlog]

[stillseecracks]

O-Okay!

[Xanth keeps her instructions in mind. He's not sure where the library or the hot springs are, but ten minutes of searching bring him to the place, and the girl, he seeks.

When he sees her, he breaks into a run.]

K-Kairi!

[He looks like the boy Kairi knew before, but so much worse for wear. His shirt is torn and dirty, and his pants are flecked with old bloodstains on the bottom left leg. He's favoring his right leg, too - did she notice the limping step to his run?]

[Commentlog]

[lightyourway]

[She turns at the sound of his voice and smiles, but the expression freezes on her face and just as quickly dissolves. She'd been fishing, but at once, she reels the line in and begins splashing back towards the shore.

She doesn't notice the limp at first. It's the state of him that's caught her attention, the blood and the dirt and the torn clothing. It's only when she looks for injuries to explain the mess that she sees.]

Xanth...!

[She pulls up short, momentarily at a loss for words.]

What happened? What's going on?

[Commentlog]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth might notice Kairi's different outfit, or her clean appearance. He might notice her choice of words or lack of reaction. Hell - he might notice her eyes. Her blue, blue eyes, instead of the black he remembers.

But he doesn't.

What Xanth does is pull Kairi into a tight hug.]

[Commentlog]

[lightyourway]

[Kairi immediately tenses at the contact. Something must be very wrong. Finally her mind ticks over and she tries to return the gesture, if a little awkwardly. She pats Xanth's back for a few moments before gently disengaging and taking a step back.

What was that about? She avoids Xanth's gaze for a second and then glances up at him, uncertain what to say.]

... Are you okay?

[Commentlog]

[stillseecracks]

[It's only when Kairi doesn't return the hug that Xanth realizes something is wrong. A terrible sense of dread settles within him, like he's swallowed stones.

It's now that all those details he missed finally click. Kairi's not disheveled. Kairi's not injured. She's not even disheveled.

And her eyes.

She hasn't had those eyes in weeks.]

Um.

[Xanth steps away from Kairi, recalling Kevas's words: "There are some other familiar faces here, but they aren't from the Elegante."]

I-I-- I'm-- s-sorry.

I-I thought... you were... s-someone I-- I kn-know.

[Commentlog]

[lightyourway]

... I am someone you know.

[Something was really wrong with him.]

What happened to you? You look-... You're hurt. C'mon. We're going to the infirmary.

[And squashing her misgivings, Kairi goes to walk past him. Maybe he has a concussion. Maybe she's walking straight toward the danger that left him this way. She squashes that feeling too.]

[Commentlog]

[stillseecracks]

N-No, wait--

[As she goes past him, Xanth reaches out to catch Kairi on the shoulder.

But he can't touch her.

He snatches his hand back.]

Can-- can we just-- talk? For-- f-for a min--minute? P-Please?

[Commentlog]

[lightyourway]

[Kairi sees the aborted motion. She sees, and has no idea what it means. What is going on?

It seems like there's only one way she's going to get answers.]

Okay.

[And turning back the other way, she walks a couple of steps before sitting. At least this way Xanth's not standing on that hurt leg. She glances back over her shoulder but can't muster a smile. It's all just too weird. So she tries to look reassuring instead. She's not really sure if it works.]

[Commentlog]

[stillseecracks]

[It doesn't. Very little could reassure him at this moment.

Xanth follows her lead and takes a seat a few feet away from her. For a few seconds, he just looks at her. His expression, though he doesn't realize it, is a mixture of longing and sadness.

He looks away, then runs a hand through his hair.]

O-Okay, uh. Y-You... know me. R...Right?

[Commentlog]

[lightyourway]

[Kairi nods.]

Mm. We met a few weeks ago.

[She looks from his face to his leg and back again, caught between concern and confusion.]

[Commentlog]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth sighs and slumps forward, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He and Kairi had been through so much together - talks, arguments, battles... dances, parties, a kiss...

But she remembers only a few weeks.

This cannot be her.

This cannot be the Kairi he knew.]

I...

I-I think... you m-met a d...different me.