Wannabe Locksmith

[f0rceless]

Characters: Ventus and evrr'bodyyyy
Setting: Room 1-16 and Floor Fifteen
Format: Have prose, will action for CR
Summary: Ven is keybladeless, so he undertakes an endeavor to try and fix his tragic keepsake. Except he is not handy at all.
Warnings: Group B paranoia ahoy, especially since he's working on a weapon. Also splinters.

Comments

[Floor 15] ven you're doing it wrong

[prayerless]

It was the paranoia that had made her grab her long-deceased master's Keyblade from her trunk. She cared for it daily, cleaning and polishing it with the same care that she gave her armor, but the thought had never struck her to actually use it until, for some reason, she felt it was absolutely necessary to take any measure to defend herself. She hadn't practiced with two Keyblades, but she'd figure it out.

Aqua was slowly descending the highest floors to better acquaint herself with them, stopping every time a stray noise sounded over her shoulder. She eventually came to the fifteenth floor, where a familiar shock of spiky blond hair was waiting.

Despite the jumpiness, Aqua smiled. "Ven," greeted the woman as she began to approach. "What are you doing?"

sh-shut up this is harder than synthesis sob

[f0rceless]

Ven looked up when he heard his name; Aqua was possibly one of the only people who could show up behind him and not make him jump. Instead, he turned around when he heard her voice and grinned. "Aqua!"

When she got closer, he turned back towards the work table just a little and frowned at the wooden dummyblade. "The training keyblade I got from Terra was broken when I found it in my trunk..! I was going to try and use it to fight, but I don't know how to fix it.."

Sob Terra would be so upset with him.

nuh-uh, there's not even gems involved

[prayerless]

Aqua closed the majority of the rest of the space between her and Ven so that she could look over his shoulder at the work table, eyebrows knitting together. Her first response was to glare at the poor dummied out weapon as if it had done her some personal offense. In truth, the blade hadn't done anything to her, but the one that had broken it certainly did.

It wasn't worth troubling Ven over right now, though. There was a more important matter she needed to press. "To fight? What happened to your Keyblade?" questioned the mage in confusion, gaze breaking from the wooden Keyblade so she could instead look at her friend.

gems are easier to use they are shiney and magic

[f0rceless]

"Did you see all the people that were...messed up in the cafeteria?" Stupid experimenty towery people grumble grumble argh jerks. "One of the people they experimented on was my friend. They...turned him into a deer or something." He barely understood it, and he looked off to the side a bit with a pout before looking at Aqua again.

"He was having trouble walking, so I lent him my glider to get around until he could walk."

come on haven't you ever heard of wood glue

[prayerless]

Her expression turned considerably more troubled at that, and she shook her head to punctuate her answer: "No."

Ven's next sentence was nothing less than alarming, and Aqua's eyes widened accordingly. "They what?" If Ventus' friend had been turned into a deer, then, what about the others...?

She may have chided him for not thinking about the fact that he'd be without a weapon for doing that, but it was honestly such a Ven thing to do, she didn't have the heart to scold him. She looked to the Master Keeper clutched in her right hand, and then into the empty palm of her left. After a moment of consideration, Stormfall came to life in her vacant hand.

She offered the newly-summoned weapon to Ven. "Use mine until you get yours back, okay?" Her Keyblade wasn't as well-suited for a reverse grip and was a good bit longer than Wayward Wind, not to mention it completely lacked a curve. But spells would manifest much more easily for Ven by simply holding it; hopefully the ease of Cure spells would compensate.

wtf is that he's never heard of that command

[f0rceless]

Oh. Dang, she hadn't heard of that. Uh well then. Froooowny face goes here. "U-Uh..." Yeah now he felt kind of awkward bringing it up, but yeah, he'd explain it anyway.

"They took eight people and experimented on them or something. One guy had a bunch of stitches on his skin, and another one didn't have a face, and I think one girl had her arms sewn to her body...." His frown somehow deepened as he went on. He even shuddered a bit thinking about what had happened.

Ven blinked and just now noticed the Master keeper. Before he could ask though, she was handing him Stormfall, and he was looking up at her with surprise. "Are you sure..?!" True she apparently has Master Eraqus' keyblade, but it was hard using one that wasn't your own.

it makes things stick together, sort of like Magnet

[prayerless]

She wore a look of anger and disgust that gradually increased in intensity as Ven listed off the various different surgeries that had been performed. "That's insane," said the woman sharply, furious on behalf of the victims. Who could do such a thing? Maybe, if she encountered any of them, she could heal them...? She would have to try. Aqua was sure she'd know one of the patients if she saw them.

Still, she insistently kept Stormfall presented to Ventus. "You probably didn't know, but your Keyblade saved me once," she told him, her voice a little softer. "It's only fair if mine does the same for you. I'll be okay. I can use this one just fine."

oh snap what is this sorcery

[f0rceless]

"Yeah..." He looked down and shook his head. "I don't really know what they were trying to do, but..." Bad. Just, bad.

"Huh? It did?" Ven blinked in surprise. He sure didn't remember that, but cool! At Aqua's insistence, Ven carefully took Stormfall into his own hand--holding it in the reverse style-- and admiring it with a grin. "Don't worry, I promise I'll take good care of it!"

He spent another moment getting a feel for the Keyblade, before he lowered it just slightly and looked at Aqua again with curiosity. "Hey, why do you have the Master's Keyblade?" He asked, gesturing to the Master Keeper with his free hand.

it's ~science~

[prayerless]

Aqua still seemed quietly angry at the nameless experimenters, but she let it go without further comment, preferring to keep her loosely-constructed thoughts in her head for the time being. There was nothing she could do right now. There wasn't any point in getting herself too worked up.

"It did," she said instead, and then hesitated, the anger slowly disappearing from her face. Slowly, she realized that the case must have been that Ven hadn't heard of the news of the Master's fate; if he hadn't been there for the end of Master Eraqus' struggle with Terra, and hadn't spoken to Yen Sid...

"...Ven," she began quietly, averting her eyes. "Do you know how long it's been since we last saw each other? Before we got to this tower?"

are you sure they're not the same thing

[f0rceless]

Ven gave a cheerful laugh. "I'm glad it could help then!" He turned a bit and set Stormfall next to the broken dummylade before turning back.

His face fell considerably when she brought up the time lapse, and Aqua wasn't the only one looking away. "I...Naminé told me...that I've been asleep for ten years...."

He kept staring at the two Keyblades in front of him, fidgeting slightly and squirming a bit at the thought. It was...uncomfortable knowing you had lost all that time. Especially since the universe was apparently destroyed.

...pretty sure, go ask Ienzo though

[prayerless]

Aqua had to smile a little forlornly over at Stormfall and the broken practice Keyblade. Maybe she could try fixing it with a little magic at some point. It probably wouldn't be able to hold up for attacking, but it would look a little less sad, at least

>PROCCEED TO POLL ALL OF THE SCIENTISTS EVER

[f0rceless]

Ven looked up to pay attention to Aqua, but his face just started to fall when she brought up the last time he had seen the Master. And when she continued... his eyes grew wide and his face grew into horror.

"St-Struck down...?!" He stood up from his seat so fast he almost knocked it over, bumping the Keyblades slightly. "B-But...!!"

He had known Terra was going to fight the Master; what did he expect to happen? But to know that they had been fighting because of him, that it was technically his fault, and even if their worlds were still around, the Master was gone, even if he had been afraid..

Ven didn't even even seem to care about the fact that at least he had been on the Land of Departure while he was asleep, he just turned back to the table and sat back down, holding each side of his head and set his head on the table. "Why...?!" It wasn't fair.

...i don't know if that'd end well

[prayerless]

Aqua's eyes fell to the Master Keeper in her hand. In the realm of darkness, it had resonated with her -- it felt different from Stormfall, but it still felt active, still felt alive. There was no connection with it now though. She didn't want to think of it as a dead hunk of metal, but...

"I'm sorry, Ven," she said, sincerely. "...you deserved to know." And then, as an afterthought: "It's not your fault."

She wasn't a mind reader, but she knew Ven well enough to know what he was probably thinking.

but at least it'd end hilariously

[f0rceless]

"Yes it is...!" His voice was a bit muffled against the table, and the blonde had moved to wrap his arms around his head, one around and one on top, and try and make himself as small as possible.

"Terra was fighting to protect me! I-If I hadn't listened to Master Xehanort...!!"

It was probably obvious he was trying really hard not to cry.

and probably in a magic science explosion, and then you get Heartless

[prayerless]

Aqua set a hand between Ven's shoulder blades, bending over a little so she could be closer to his head (and consequently, his ears). "It isn't your fault. You never wanted to make the X-blade or anything like that. This was all Xehanort," she assured him gently.

She stooped a little more so she could move her arm to rest across his back, just below his shoulders in a half-hug. "You didn't do any of this."

...and now we know how it all started.

[f0rceless]

"I-I...." Of course he hadn't wanted to make the X-blade. He hadn't wanted anything to do with the darkness which was exactly why he had ended up in Land of Departure in the first place which of course he didn't regret, but it was because of him he got Aqua and Terra involved and then Master Eraqus was dead because he had wanted to go back and ask.... If he hadn't done anything, how come he still felt horrible?

When she stooped closer, Ven turned and shifted to wrap his arms around Aqua's torso. "It's not fair..."