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

[wavesinherheart]

[Normally Aqua wouldn't drop in quite like this, but... well. That's a name she knows all too well.]

The... "Xehanort thing"?

[Private to Aqua]

[eternalfrolicbond]

[Oh. He hadn't really thought that anyone would notice - or know - about Xehanort here. He probably shouldn't talk about him out in the open; some weird feeling in the pit of his stomach makes Lea worry that if you say the guy's name too many times, you summon him.]

[There's a delay as Lea asks a moogle how to make things private like Xion did.]

You know Xehanort, huh?

[Private to Lea]

[wavesinherheart]

Yes. I do.

[And to judge by the expression, she's none to amused by whatever shenanigans he's gotten up to.]

[Private forever?]

[eternalfrolicbond]

What do you know about what he got up to?

[He doesn't want to go over stuff that she's already heard and there's a lot to tell about Xehanort and his crazy plans.]

[Private forever!]

[wavesinherheart]

I know he tried to make the X-blade, and... he did some other things as well.

[eternalfrolicbond]

Mind if I ask why you want to know about it? A lot of this is pretty heavy stuff.

[And he's not sure he should share it at all. On the other hand, not having all the information in one place could screw them over.]

[wavesinherheart]

[There's a moment of silence on Aqua's end, before she decides to simply get right down to it.]

Because I've fought him.

[eternalfrolicbond]

Huh.

[Lea shrugs.]

It's not too nice. Xehanort wants to recreate the keyblade war by making thirteen darknesses to fight the seven lights. Like that old fairy tale; he figures if he can't get Kingdom Hearts any other way, he may as well break everything.

[wavesinherheart]

Again?!

[eternalfrolicbond]

None of his plans have worked yet, so it's more "still" than "again." We've got Sora and Riku to thank for that.

[wavesinherheart]

Riku and Sora aren't the only ones who have fought him.

[eternalfrolicbond]

They're the ones who stopped his more recent plans. And me, of course, and the King.

[wavesinherheart]

You know the King?

[eternalfrolicbond]

I've met him. I helped him out when the Queen was in trouble.

[He's glad he was there to help with that; it got him on the track to where he is now.]

[wavesinherheart]

That's good. I'm glad there was someone there to help.

[eternalfrolicbond]

When did you fight Xehanort? I first ran into him on Radiant Garden about ten years ago.

[And no one was there to stop him from ruining everything.]

[wavesinherheart]

I...

[There follows a long silence as she wrestles her own personal history into something that vaguely makes sense. It's not like there's exactly calendars in the realm of darkness.]

I think it was longer ago than that, even. I know I met Sora when he was much younger than he is now.

[eternalfrolicbond]

[Lea nods and crosses his arms.]

No one knew where the guy came from; he just seemed to fall out of the sky one day. He said he didn't remember. After what happened, though, it's pretty likely that he was lying.

[wavesinherheart]

[There's another long pause before Aqua speaks again, and when she does there's a note of something in her voice that wasn't there before.]

He made it back?

[eternalfrolicbond]

[He has nothing to go on and no idea what she might be talking about, but she seems pretty upset for some reason.]

I was a teenager at the time and it was all castle stuff; if Even or Aeleus is here, they'd know more than me about how he showed up.

[wavesinherheart]

I... no it's alright.

[This is a lie, but she's not about to burden Lea with her problems.]

[eternalfrolicbond]

...wanna talk about it? I didn't mean to bring up Xehanort and upset everyone, I at least owe it to you to listen if you need to vent.

[wavesinherheart]

...Terra. Did he ever say anything about Terra, even briefly?

[eternalfrolicbond]

[Lea shakes his head.]

I don't remember the name ever coming up.

[wavesinherheart]

[There's a soft noise that sounds like it might be a whisper of an 'oh,' but she's moving on before it really has time to register.]

I see.