Dunes of Death

[Lagunamov]

A Vast Improvement.

Costa del Sol.
[July 23, 2010]

Completely against what he was originally planning, Elrick sat on a chair under a parasol at the beach with a drink in hand. It had been quite a while since he last entered any sort of combat, mocked or not, and yet he seemed to run into situations that would lead into him not doing, well, anything. Sure, the cart ride at Traverse Town was fun, but still. Looking over at the ocean, he couldn’t help but wish for something to pop up from the waters for him to slay. A monster, a heartless, even a scuba diver would do.

Things had grown stale to say the least. The lack of action in so long had him worried. ”The calm before the storm they say…” he thought, taking a sip from his chocolate frappe. Lillian was sitting opposite of him at the small round table, the shadow of the parasol also covering her from the sunlight. ”If the info I got is correct, I’ll need to go back home to pick up stuff…” his mind wondered of, remembering the few things he had managed to decipher from the message he got. His sister had apparently procured new equipment that he would need, and hidden. ”But… Can I return with her? She doesn’t deserve the risk of being captured just for tagging along…”

Brushing the thought aside, Elrick stood up, leaving his cold drink and beret at the table. “I’m gonna go take a dip,” he told Lillian, thinking only of getting his head to cool of those thoughts. He removed his shoes and put them right next to his chair and wandered of to the shallow waters – his shirt and coat had already been taken off half an hour before and now rested on the back of the chair, same with his sword, only his gauntlets still on. As the sand touched his feet, he couldn’t help but notice how different it was than that of previous worlds he had visited. Agrabah was rough and burning, and the one at the Coliseum was almost compact like concrete. This one, however, was soft in comparison, and warm.

”I should have brought a pair of swimming shorts,” Elrick’s mind trailed off from all his worries the moment his feet made contact with the water. He had made sure to fold his pants upwards up to his knees so he could walk better in the water, but decided to stay in that spot. He had plenty of time.

[Fate]

Now What?

A beach was definitely not the sort of world she expected to go to, but it would do. She sat under the parasol, sipping a lemonade with a pair of old sunglasses on. They had a scratch on the left lens that was bugging her, but nothing she could really do about that; it had been a miracle she had found them in the first place. Either way, that was the only complaint of the day from her other than there was nothing to do here. There weren't any Heartless to shoot, none of the Nobodies, or even some crazy evil guy or something.

But no, it was quiet. They hadn't even heard anything about the Champion since they've been traveling, which she supposed was probably for the better. Honestly, she didn't want to be reminded that the Champion was still out there. She had been purposely ignoring the taint he had left her and the rest of Radiant Garden with since she'd left. It probably wasn't the best idea, but she had gotten on fine since leaving, right? Right. There was no need to focus on it anymore.

"All right," she answered Elrick, watching as he did and then looking around. There was sand... and ocean... and more sand. Couldn't they have picked a more exciting world to stop off at? Admittedly, the beach was nice, but she was already bored. She put her lemonade down and started walking along the shoreline, her shoes and leather jacket already off. She rolled up her pants so they were up to her knees, going into the actual ocean a little deeper. She put one hand on her hip, looking out into the distance before sighing.

"So... where are we going to go after this?" she asked, "This is nice and all, but we haven't run into a single Heartless for almost a month now. Isn't that sort of... unusual?"

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[Axel]

If I'm burning up, somebody needs to turn on the air conditioning.
--------

The beach was a nice change from the starkness of the Castle. Although, Axel was unfamiliar with this particular world. It was somewhat similar to Destiny Islands, but the sunlight felt far more direct. The air was laden with the smell of salt and suntan lotion far more than he had ever found on the island home of Sora.

He didn't really want to be around the crowds bunched toward the more commercialized end of the beach. For one, he would stick out in this cloak (which, by the way, was acting like a sauna right now, even for Axel). And he didn't wish to cause a stir. Such a thing wouldn't be profitable, so he saw no reason to do it.

Besides, the Flame needed time to think. His reattachment to the Organization was tenuous for the moment. He supposed he was part of it again, anyway. There hadn't been any official decree revoking his traitor status. Although, that was probably because everyone with the exception of the neophytes couldn't simply brush aside the memories of his betrayal. Multiple betrayals. By now, there was certainly more than one on his account against various individuals.

Well, he'd see what would come of these new developments. As long as the Organization had its act together by the time they needed to face the Champion, that was all that mattered. What happened after that... Better to focus on getting to that point. Who knew what would happen to any of them at the Graveyard?

[Lagunamov]

His body, on the other hand, I'd rather not see. His body fat must be on the negative numbers.

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Only a minute after he had entered the water was Elrick joined by Lillian, doing the same and standing around. “I dunno. I’m not the one who put world names in a hat and randomly picked this one, am I?” he mocked his travel partner before giving it some actual thought to the question. The lack of any significant encounters in so long had certainly raised a flag, and as such, they ought to investigate that. “We could go back to Radiant Garden; that place always gathers information. If not, the King might actually know something,” he suggested, leaning down to gather some water in his hands and bringing it to his face.

Lillian could be such a party pooper. Elrick had just managed to get all those worries off his head, and there she went and reminded him of all that crap. Hell, they were at the beach and she was still wearing more clothes than him, which was certainly disappointing. Then again, he missed being able to walk around his ship in his underwear only, so maybe the odd one there was him.

At last, something caught his eye. After all, not that many people walked around the beach wearing a full body black coat, so the matchstick stood out. “Ok, found a non-human. Does that work?” he smirked at Lillian as he took a few steps back towards the beach, but not leaving the water. The water was too nice to be left just like that. “Dude, how in the seven circles of hell aren’t you roasting with that thing on?” he yelled at the red haired Nobody. Elrick had only met him once at the Coliseum, but for someone who wasn’t, you know, someone, he was a pretty cool guy. Metaphorically speaking.

[Fate]

Do Anorexic Non-Human Things Roast?

"Seeing the King sounds like a better idea," she said. He had to have a home outside of Radiant Garden since he was a king and all that. King of what exactly, she didn't know. Eh, when they met him next, she'd find out. She crossed her arms, looking around. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to wear dark clothing, especially the tank top. The sun on her back was hot as hell and the idea of just doing away with it and jumping into the water almost sounded like a great idea.

Until Anorexic Red Head showed up. Then that idea kind of just faded into the background. Elrick phrased her thoughts quite perfectly too. How did he manage to walk around in that cloak like that? Maybe because he was anorexic? Nah, even they wouldn't wear a cloak in this heat. The guy was probably just nuts. "Oh yeah, crazy non-human guy works," she told Elrick, "He's probably from the seventh circle of hell or something if he's not roasting. This would be nothing to him if that were the case."

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[Axel]

I don't think I've taken this thing off in years. Yeah, that's right. Nobodies don't need to shower.
--------

Voices pulled Axel out of his thoughts, and they were familiar ones. It was Elrick and that girl who had been with him at the Coliseum. Good. A distraction that didn't involve other Nobodies or Keybladers. He had not met Lillian, so he did not know anything about her, but Elrick, at least, he knew was friendly enough.

They were right, though. The heat was intense in this cloak. Normally, he loved the heat, being a pyro and all, but this was just too much. He let out a chuckle, still looking out over the ocean. "Is it hot? I hadn't noticed."

A bead of sweat rolled down his temple, followed by at least ten more down his back. Ah, screw it. No need to act tough here. He was practically dying in this damn thing. In a matter of seconds, the cloak was off, as were the boots, leaving Axel standing barefoot in the sand clad only in his black pants and black sleeveless shirt. He shook his hair a little and exhaled a deep sigh.

"Ahhh, better. Doesn't feel quite as much like an oven anymore." He turned to face Elrick with a smirk. "You two on vacation?"

[Lagunamov]

What is this I don't even...

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Lillian’s comment made it impossible for Elrick not to chuckle even a little bit. Considering the matchstick’s affinity with fire, his precedence from Hell itself would certainly make some sort of sense. Where were Nobodies born anyway? Maybe this one happened to be born in the fiery bowls of a blasting volcano somewhere out there. Then again, Axel was starting to show signs of suffering from the heat, which put into question how regular humans could ever withstand such sunlight.

Then, he did the unthinkable. The scarecrow-shaped Nobody removed that black coat – which as far as Elrick knew, no Nobody in the Organization had ever done in public before – and revealed something even more mind blowing. Beneath that black cloak that could smother someone normal in the heat, there was a relatively normal looking… thing. Sure, the red hair was skinny, but at least now the travelling pair was no longer staring at a pair of hips that don’t lie. Instead, they were most likely stuck trying to figure what kind of hammer space must had been at work beneath that coat.

“So there was actually meat and bones beneath that instead of just sticks?” Elrick blurted out, one of his eyebrows raised in the shock. A shock that caused his mouth filter to fall of and most likely float away in the sea, never to be found again.

"An accidental vacation you could say," he answered after a couple of seconds of silence, not before shaking head sideways to remove the rest of the comments on the sudden change of anatomical proportions he had just seen. "We just haven't run into anything lately, as strange as that sounds."

[Axel]

Wait, vacation? This is the part where I do a lot of sleeping.
--------

The look of utter shock on Elrick's face made Axel smirk wider. "Yeah, turns out I'm not nearly as freakish as I look wearing that damned cloak." It was certainly a relief getting out of that thing. The heat was still fairly intense, but it was much more bearable free of heavy black clothing.

"Haven't run into anything exciting lately, hm? I hear things around the worlds are generally quieter, as far as the Heartless are concerned. Of course, they're always quiet wherever I am, especially if I'm by myself."

[Fate]

-He's still Anorexic Redhead to me without the cloak.-

Okay, so Anorexic Redhead was actually somewhat normal and was actually roasting in that black cloak of his. Good to know. She was going to have to get his name sooner or later instead of calling him this. Eh, she'd ask for it when a good opportunity came up. Point was that none of them had anything to do since they were all on some sort of vacation thing and it was boring. Redhead mentioned that the worlds were quieter regarding the Heartless, which quite honestly wasn't a surprise.

"Judging by how well you fought last time I saw you, I'm not surprised," she said, smiling a little bit, "Name's Lillian by the way. Can I know yours so I can stop mentally calling you Redhead?" She probably could have asked that in a much nicer way, but neglected to. It was hot, she was bored, and they all needed something to do besides looking out at the ocean and commenting on how blue it was, or some other nonsense like that.

What to do, what to do. She supposed she could be nice and get everyone drinks. Redhead had just gotten after all and it would give her something to do. Maybe she could find something that wasn't dark blue or black to wear so she would also stop melting. "Hey, I'm going back into town real quick to get more drinks. Want anything?"

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[Axel]

Drinks? How strong are we talking?
--------

Ah, Lillian didn't get it. She was assuming he was as human as she was. Sure, he might be intimidating in a fight, but he knew the Heartless better than that. When they were ravenous, they were relentless, no matter how effectively you could destroy them.

Unless you were a Nobody.

Still, Axel saw no reason to bring that up. How did one bring that up in casual conversation, anyway?

Hi, my name's Axel. Oh, by the way, I don't have a heart, so I can't feel any emotion. Just thought I'd let you know that. Have a nice day.

Hm? She had asked for his name and also asked if he wanted anything to drink. "Oh, right. We weren't properly introduced in Olympus. The name's Axel. And sure, I'll take something to drink." He thought for a moment. "I'll just have whatever you get Elrick."

[Lagunamov]

I want to quit my day job and open a bar at the beach now.

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Oh, that was right; Lillian had never been properly introduced to Axel back at the Coliseum. It was good to know that she also used similar nicknames for him when thinking of the guy. On the other hand, nobody seemed to have been in the mood to fill her in about his status as a Nobody, or else she would have commented on that already. It was hard to not wonder whether she was among the ones that automatically attacked the creatures no matter what they did, and, not wanting to find out, Elrick decided to keep his mouth shut on that topic.

“Oh good, drinks,” he thought after being asked if he wanted something. The matchstick went and answered first, only to leave the entire decision on him. Considering what Elrick was about to ask for, he might come to regret that choice. “I guess we’ll take what I ordered last time at Traverse Town,” he smirked for a second, before adding “Don’t worry, you won’t have to go looking for a cart to drag me this time.”

After leaving his order, he turned to Axel. “You never did say what you were doing here now that I think about it. Didn’t think of you as a beach sort of guy.”

[Fate]

-I don't think I fit the barmaid build... do I? Wait, don't answer that.-

So his name was Axel. Eh, she'd still probably call him Redhead for now. It took her a while before she got used to calling people by a certain name unless they specified upon introduction. And they were making it pretty easy for her right now by ordering the same thing, which she was going to have to wrack her brain to remember. Unfortunately, there would no pushing around Elrick in a cart this time. "You're no fun," she teased, then leaving the two to walk into town.

It took her until after she had changed into a bikini top and reached the bartender until she figured out exactly what had been in Elrick's drink in Traverse Town. He gave her a funny look when she ordered both of their drinks and her own, but obliged. Next thing she knew, she had all three drinks and was making her way back to the beach. When she got back, the two were still chatting about who knows what. Choosing to be nice and ignore the temptation to dump the drinks on said two, she brought them over.

"Your drinks, gentleman," she said, handing them over. Time to sit back on the beach and relax with Captain and Ginger now. If they wanted more drinks, they knew how to get them. She wasn't going to be their personal maître d' all day.

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[Axel]

Get me enough of these things, and we'll have ourselves a real party.
--------

"Depends on my mood, really." Axel looked out at the ocean. "And I just happened to be in a beach mood today. Needed a drastic change of scenery, and I guess I ended up here purely be chance. It's hot as hell, but there's color here, at least."

Even if he was back with the Organization, however loosely, he planned to spend as much time away from that Castle as possible. Far too depressing. Not that he actually felt depressed, of course. It was the thought that counted, though.

That Lillian girl returned with drinks then and had apparently changed her attire in the interim. If Axel had spent more time around Luxord, he might have feigned a greater interest in this new outfit. As things stood, he was no Gambler in that regard. He didn't ogle every female body his eyes encountered.

Whatever the drink was, the Flame could already smell how strong it was going to be. Fun. Without hesitation, he took several large gulps. Oh, yeah. Definitely strong.

Let's see how long I last...

[Lagunamov]

Well, this is going to keep me up at night.

[/center][/i]

It seemed like the matchstick had ended up at this beach resort world by pure chance of luck, which sounded incredibly strange all things considered. Elrick would have questioned that, seeing the reputation his kind had and all, but considering the guy had remained pretty harmless so far and even friendly, he decided against it. Besides, he had an entire ocean behind him, so even if hell froze over and Axel tried to bring it back to normal by burning stuff all over, there was still a large body of water to contain him.

It didn’t take long for Lillian to come back with drinks at hand for all three of them… and a wardrobe change that caused Elrick to swallow what little liquids he still had in his mouth with a particularly loud noise. Well, loud for swallowing. “Do I need to tip you?” he said as he grabbed his glass, trying the best he could to stare at just his glass and not remove his eyes from there, for he feared he’d get punched in the face if he started staring.

Axel was already drinking, and from the look of his face, the stuff was strong even for a Nobody. ”Lovely, we’ll get hammered at the beach… and I’ll probably be buried alive as soon as my mouth starts moving on its own again,” Elrick started to think as he sat on the sand, the waves barely reaching his outstretched feet now. ”Eh, when has being sober stopped my mouth from moving on its own anyway?” he shrugged and started drinking the same deadly mix that left him unable to walk only days before. He sure was going to make burying him alive a lot easier.

[Fate]

-This beach just got a little better.-

"Yes, yes you should," she said sarcastically, "You should always tip your waitress." With that, she took a few gulps of her own drink. It was nowhere near as lethal as what Elrick and Redhead had, but at least one or two more of these would probably earn interesting results in due time. This was her signature drink though, always what she got back home. Her and the other pilots would drink at night, have a hangover by dawn, and then fly all day only to come back and do it all over again.

But that was then and this was now. Now she was sitting on an ocean with two guys and staring into a very boring ocean. Everything about oceans during days like this was boring; even flying over them made her nearly fall asleep. How could anyone even live like this? Seriously, how could anyone spend everyday of their lives living on a beach and just looking at the ocean? There was nothing to do it, at least in her eyes.

She took a couple more gulps of her drink, which was definitely helping cool her off. Dissatisfied with sitting, she stood up, with drink in hand, and walked around the beach a little so up to her ankles were in the water. "So far, I think the only thing I like about this place is the rum." That was more of a comment to herself, but she supposed she should attempt to have conversation with one of the two. "So... Axel. What exactly do you do?" Vague question naturally, which was probably going to get a vague answer. Oh well.

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