First Flare

[eternalfrolicbond]

[A lanky redheaded man in a long black coat waves at the screen, apparently already comfortable with how it works. A komory bat is fluttering around above his head.]

Didn’t think I’d see this place again. Hey, everyone, my name is Lea. [He grins.] Don’t forget it, now.

I don’t know how I ended up here again, but does anyone know what’s going on? The moogle said you guys had been trying to work out what was up but that it didn’t seem like anyone had figured out how to get home. Since this isn’t the exam, I don’t think anyone’s going to try to wake me up any time soon.

Comments

[dork_of_keys]

Hoo boy. Yeah. There's a couple of people here who are from some time before the Organization was even formed. Riku and Kairi were here for a bit, but they came in from about the same time I did... and I've been here for about two months...

[Ahahahaa... If he didn't know that time could be screwy in dreams, he might assume that people in the waking world were worried...]

[eternalfrolicbond]

I didn't think the realm of sleep worked like that.

[Not that he stood around to listen to much of an explanation; if it was important, he'd figure it out pretty fast, if it wasn't, he didn't need to know, what with the evil council of evilness being on their own schedule.]

[Private] because somehow mentioning Xehanort on the comm causes headaches...

[dork_of_keys]

Actually, time travel using the realm of dreams was part of Xehanort's scheme when he tried to get me. At least for getting me. I have no idea where he's going to go with this now. But...

Wait a minute, do you really expect dreams to make sense?

[eternalfrolicbond]

From what I could tell, the realm of dreams was pretty much built on what the dreamer was expecting, right? So it wouldn't have to be consistent, but it'd have a logic that'd follow the dreamer's logic. And if it's a world that's dreaming, it follows the world's dream logic, even if the dream logic isn't logic logic.

[He tries to figure out if that made sense. Oh well.]

[dork_of_keys]

[Slightly dead pan, mostly snarky. Sora's actually kind of amused at that reasoning.]

In a bizarrely convoluted and illogical fashion, you've kind of got it. It's called 'dream logic' for a reason.

[eternalfrolicbond]

Hey, bizarrely convoluted and illogical is what I do best.

[Wait.]

[dork_of_keys]

[He's not going to argue that point, Lea. Instead, he's just going to laugh at you.]

[eternalfrolicbond]

Can we go back to before I said that?

[dork_of_keys]

Where would be the fun in that?

[You walked into that, Lea.]

[eternalfrolicbond]

[He did, but he doesn't have to like it.]

So...what's this photo thing that people have been talking about?

[dork_of_keys]

[Talk about mood whiplash...]

That is something we're trying to figure out. All I know for sure is all the pictures have me in them, they're all things that have happened since I got here and there's no way anyone should have been able to take them without being noticed. There's not even anything on them to show the maker of the paper or film, though someone suggested they might not actually be photos, but something else showing up as photos since we're in a dreaming world.

[Private to Sora]

[eternalfrolicbond]

It reminds me of what happened in the computer simulation of Twilight Town - that time it was photos of Roxas disappearing, even the word photo. That was just because the Dusks couldn't figure out the difference between Roxas in data form and a picture of him, though. I know everyone thinks this is the realm of dreams, but could we be trapped in a computer?

[Private]

[dork_of_keys]

I know about that...

[Oh jeez, it's only now occurring to Sora that he hasn't told anyone (besides Xion when they'd talked) that he met Roxas in the dream world and that Roxas gave him his memories... Not a detail he wants to go into right now, though...]

But the photos aren't being stolen in this case. They're just showing up randomly and people are finding them.

If we are in a computer, the photos showing up could be a... what's the word? A glitch? Then again, after a crazy battle a while ago, we found an ID card from someone else's world. Anyone that handled the card said they heard a voice trying to tell them something, but it was too faint to make out. Someone else suggested the photos might also be someone trying to tell us something.

[eternalfrolicbond]

Do you think it's Xehanort again? It'd be just like him to have another plan; if he can trap a few of us here, that's less protectors of light for him to worry about.

[It wouldn't matter if it's a dream or a computer simulation; either way, they'd be out of the battle until it was too late.]

[dork_of_keys]

I don't know. It does seem like he'd have a plan, but something about this doesn't seem to fit. One of the guys in the hi-tech armor actually disappeared from here for a few days. When he got back, he said he'd ended up back at the same point in time he'd been taken from.

If Xehanort is involved in this, I wouldn't even know where to start on figuring out what he's up to now.

[On the other hand, if he did somehow have control of this, the Keybearers might be the only ones he'd keep from leaving for any reason or any amount of time...]

[eternalfrolicbond]

Yeah, most of what that guy does doesn't make sense until he's already stabbing you in the back.

[Lea shakes his head; it's too soon to know and if they assume it's Xehanort, they might be setting themselves up to miss something important.]

[dork_of_keys]

We know what his goal is, but that doesn't actually help anything...

[eternalfrolicbond]

Now I'm just getting depressed. Is there anywhere decent to eat around here?

1/2

[dork_of_keys]

Well, it is kind of...

2/2

[dork_of_keys]

Seriously?

[eternalfrolicbond]

Usually at a time like this I'd nap, but I just tried that and ended up here.

[dork_of_keys]

Okay, I walked into that one.

But... there's a couple shops and restaurants around. And Ienzo opened a tea shop in the Fourth District. The portal in Second District goes to Twilight Town and there's more shops and stuff there.

[eternalfrolicbond]

Thanks. I think I'll be heading over to Twilight Town anyway if Roxas is there.

[dork_of_keys]

Yeah, he has been staying there. I'm not sure where exactly, though.

[Although as long as he's not like, camping out in some random little nook like Ven was, so much the better...]

[eternalfrolicbond]

I'm meeting him by the station; maybe we'll get some ice cream.