The Mourning After [Open]

[Aerith]

Something is wrong with me.
--------

Lanying was not sure what to make of Viola. Perhaps it was because she was used to more reserved people, having come from a society who valued balance and honor. That combination tended to produce more serious-minded people. Lanying was also not used to Viola's manner of speaking. It was even more informal than Raen's was, unless he had been hiding this side of him during all their travels.

Ah, but she was being asked a question. "From what I have heard, the cosmic balance is shifting too far in favor of the light. While I would say this is good, it is not, it seems."

Qinglong stirred within her spirit. You see the darkness as something bad, and perhaps it is, in its own way. But without it, life cannot continue to function. This is an inescapable truth of the universe, Small One.

Lanying suppressed a sigh. She had seen what darkness could do, and she wanted it to leave her home untouched from now on. Home. A sick feeling welled up within her. Why did she keep imagining that it was in ruins? Of all the worlds, hers was the one she couldn't bear the most to see destroyed.

"Forgive me. I need some air."

Without a glance at either Viola or Raen, she turned and wandered outside. It was amazing that she managed to get that far without smacking into a wall or a piece of furniture. Inhaling deeply, she tried to remember where she was and escape the daze that had come over her.

Selecting a random direction, she began walking, heedless of anything else around her, not caring where she ended up.

[Nothingness]

Aren't I Supposed to be the One that Runs Away?

Viola nodded at Lanying's response. "Yeah, them's the brakes, I guess." She tapped her chin, thoughtfully. What most concerned her right now was how to break the news? The Shield had almost disbanded the last time the group thought they'd be fighting for the darkness--now they had to fight for the darkness if they wanted to keep not only their world safe, but all the others as well. "Well, isn't this a big fucking mess." She muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, Raen was trying to hold back Lanying's emotions from affecting him. It had been a while since he'd been around anything that strong, and he'd forgotten just how powerful they could be. Not to call it 'lucky', but the feeling subsided as soon as Lanying left--something he didn't notice until his mind had cleared. "Excuse me, Captain." He had turned to leave when Viola's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Raen, wait a moment."

Forcing himself to turn around, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Viola, slight irritation visible on his face. "I want you to continue your mission. Keep finding information, and report anything important back. I had them add a radio into your ship so you won't be late again." Getting up out of her chair, she walked back over to the mirror, looking at Raen's reflection. "You're dismissed." Raen brought a fist up to his chest for a moment before turning around and running out.

[Fate]

I'm never going to spell that right. And I don't care.
--

"Well now that makes me sound like a stalker," she quipped, "But yeah, I would." The mood was better now, lighter. Lillian had no idea what sort of situation they'd be getting themselves into upon going to Yer-id-i-see, but she wasn't going to back down upon finding out. That's what friends did, and all of that good stuff. Though, they didn't have to exactly leave right now. There had to be something to do in this world that didn't involve either one of them getting drunk again. Maybe if they go down that alleyway and head to the Third District.

Yeah, that's what they were going to do. "While we're here, maybe I can show you the Third District. Might as well since we don't exactly have to leave right this second. Come on." She started walking in the direction of the alleyway nearest them, turning into it and heading for the Third District door.

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[Aerith]

Solitude?
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Lanying's knees bumped against something hard and cold. The edge of a fountain. The sound of the water flowing helped calm her somewhat. She sat down on the edge and trailed her fingers in the water.

[Lagunamov]

That was... not one of my brightest moments.

Well, that settled it. He was going back home, and Lillian was tagging along. Damn stubborn girl. Though, it made Elrick somewhat happy, knowing he could count on her like that. They had only known each other for less than two months, so seeing such loyalty was comforting. His mind was more at ease now, having vented out his troubles to someone, letting those things that were worrying him so sink down to the depths of his mind for a while.

“Sure, lets go. I could do with some leg stretching,” he commented as he walked after her, leading him into the Third District through a door at the end of an alley. On the other side he was met with a small house on his left, which appeared abandoned, a ledge further along the road and stairs to the right alongside it. From where he stood he could see the upper part of a fountain, with a picture of two dogs on the back. His eyes wandered for a bit around the ground, noticing a pebble close to his right foot.

Kneeling down and picking up the small rock, he flung it up and down on his hand, a playful smile on his face. “Five bucks says I make the shot,” he joked, but he was serious about making the shot. Just like that, he flung the pebble forwards and towards the fountain in a large arm in the air, hoping to hear the sound of it splashing on the water in a matter of moments.

But instead of that he heard some girl cursing. Maybe he ought to have checked if no one was around first.

[Aerith]

I hope you do not understand Chinese.
--------

Lanying's serenity was shattered by the impact of a rock against her shoulder. She yelped, then began spitting out a string of curses in Chinese. Leaping up from her seat, she whirled in the direction from which the rock had come. Two people were standing nearby, and the man had a guilty look about him that let her know it was he who had thrown the projectile.

The surge of anger was enough to shake off her half-daze for a while. Storming over to them, she looked up and poked a finger into the man's chest. If only she were taller. She could be far more intimidating than her height allowed.

"You! Do you often enjoy hitting women with rocks? I know your kind, and I will not stand for such behavior. If you do not explain yourself quickly, you will have more than a bruised shoulder."

[Fate]

Well, you made the shot... sort of.
--

Not even two minutes into the Third District and they already had someone cursing at them-- not in a language Lillian understood, but still cursing nonetheless. The woman then came over to the two of them, furious and eerily familiar, and started interrogating Elrick about throwing the rock at her. It probably would have been more effective if she was taller-- that was all Lillian could think. She suppressed a couple of laughs at Elrick's expense and attempted to explain.

"He didn't mean it, trust me," she interjected, "He wasn't trying to hit anyone. Just get the rock in the fountain." That was all she was going to say on that. Elrick could defend himself more if he wanted or needed to. And if that didn't work, more laughter would be had.

[/font]

[Nothingness]

Oh, boy...

It didn't take long to find Lanying. It wasn't because she was still in the Third District. No, it was because he could hear someone shouting in what he thought was Chinese, followed by a stream of angry words. Raen scratched the back of his head, carefully walking out into the plaza. "Maybe I should...nah." She needed to get some of whatever-it-was out of her system. That guy was just the unfortunate victim of it.

[Lagunamov]

No Orpheus, no Heartless, no Big Bad. Nope. I’m going to meet my end by the hands of a petite Chinese woman.

Well, he was screwed. Next time he tried something like that he’d be better off doing it in the middle of a crowd, at least that way he wouldn’t be spotted so damn fast. The girl he had hit had come storming at him faster than he had ever seen. Evidently, she wasn’t hit in the head. But she was poking at him in the chest with her little finger. Seriously, Elrick was like an entire head above her, he wasn’t sure for a second whether to apologize in fear that she might hit him with her Keyblade, or chuckle at the image.

Yes, he immediately recognized the girl, he just remained too shocked for a bit to even utter a word. He certainly wasn’t expecting to run into her under these circumstances. “Eh, yeah, she’s right. I was only aiming for the fountain. Sorry, I should have checked, didn’t see you from up here,” he started to apologize a bit, trying to smile his way through it to some degree. “Can I buy you and your friend a coffee or something? Wouldn’t want you to hit me with the sharp end of that dragon Keyblade of yours,” he asked, smirking a bit.

He looked back and forth between them for a second, just to make sure. “I can’t be the only one with good memory here. I mean, liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze fuh ur-tze, it’s not every day you freeze a tornado down into an ice sculpture!” he told them, slightly joking as he was moving his arms around a lot.

“And before you ask, no, I don’t know Chinese. I just watched a show that used to throw curses around in that language and picked up a couple,” he whispered to the side to the only other person in the area who probable knew what that phrase meant.

[Aerith]

You learned that from where?
--------

After a second or two, Lanying did recognize the man from the Keyblade Graveyard. Regaining control of herself, she took a couple of steps backward and gave him a formal bow.

"My apologies. I am not normally this on edge."

The one Chinese phrase he interjected was something Lanying had heard uttered only by the gruffer men of her homeworld, and she arched an eyebrow until he explained where he had picked that up. So, none of them knew Chinese very well. She would keep that in mind for when she wanted to speak her mind without anyone else knowing what she was saying.

"I am Tai Shi Lanying from the Land of Dragons. You should have no reason to worry about my Keyblade. I remember you from the Graveyard. Weren't you the one who shot at the Champion?"

That earned him instant respect points on her part. "And yes, we did make quite the pretty ice sculpture out of the abomination."

She noticed Raen hanging around nearby and motioned him over with a tilt of her head. "Hmm. As long as wherever you take us serves tea, I would gladly accept your offer."

[Nothingness]

I Thought You Looked Familiar!

Oh, it was over already? Well, at least Lanying seemed to have cooled off a bit and the guy wasn't taking it too badly. In fact, he looked like he actually knew Lanyi--oooooh. "I thought I recognized you." He shook a finger at Elrick, chuckling to himself as he walked up to the other three. "That was definitely the flashiest team attack I've ever seen."

He liked these new guys already. "Name's Raen--and I'm all up for a good cup'pa joe, if it's not too much trouble." Nice people, free food; what was there to not like?

[Lagunamov]

So many walls next to destroyed right now.

Well, that was a complete 180°. Not that Elrick minded, he’d rather have a Keyblade Wielder not on his bad side over something as silly as a pebble hitting her. It didn’t even hit her on her face, so there was obvious no reason to remain angry for long. And she remembered him, apparently more for his shooting with the Gummi Ship, with a second close of the ice sculpture. “Yeah, that was me. I wasn’t about to play nice and wait for him to monologue for fifteen minutes as if that was a rule before starting a fight, you know?” he joked, scratching the back of his head. “That did empty my payload, though.”

Before letting his mind get sidetracked with the lack of physical missiles on his ship and only lasers now, he decided to finish the introductions. Since he might just as well. “Anyway, I’m Elrick the-rest-is-too-much-of-a-hassle-to-say, and my partner/whatever over there is Lillian,” he said as he pointed back at her with his right thumb. “Good to know you guys are up for a drink. It’s kinda hard meeting people when you don’t stay put for long. Last guy we met on regular basis wasn’t even human,” he started rambling as he turned around and took a couple of steps, heading back to the Second District and he motioned at them with his hand.

“Come on, there’s a good coffee shop at the First District. It’s run by moogles, though,” he started commenting as he lead the way, Lillian already following him. And probably trying not to laugh or sass back. “I think they had a bar or nightclub before, but some emo guy got drunk and dropped a giant rock on it or something. Details are not clear.”

[Aerith]

Tell me about yourself.
--------

Lanying nodded and followed Elrick, wondering briefly about this coffee shop. She was not a coffee drinker, but perhaps this establishment would have tea. She did love a good cup of hot tea.

"If I may ask, what connection did you have to the events in the Graveyard? Had you heard about the Champion?"

[Lagunamov]

That looks awfully comfortable.

As they passed through the doors to the First District Lanying asked Elrick about why he had ever showed up at the Graveyard in the first place. Or that’s what it sounded like. Decorate the words as much as you like, but that was still the gist of it. “Eh…” he trailed off, thinking of whether he should give the full version, or the abridge one. “I had heard of the Champion from the King,” he started, remembering his first encounter with the mouse back at the desert city. “But, I wasn’t aware of the gathering. We just happened to ran into the whole mess. Some luck we have, huh?” he joked, scratching the back of his head

Having finally reached the coffee shop, Elrick pushed the door open and held it so that the three following him would enter. “Come on. We can continue the questions once inside while drinking something,” he said as motioned his head to the inside, taking a look there himself. There were already some people there on a couple of tables, but his eye was drawn to a semi-circular couch around a small coffee table in front of a fire place near the middle of the shop, and directly across the bar. “Take the couch. Please go take the couch.”

[Nothingness]

Moogles and a Nightclub? What?

Straight-forward and to the point. Yeah, Elrick wasn't bad at all. A pretty startling change from Lanying and Zack, that was for sure, but change is pretty good. As long as he didn't lose Lanying or anything: it was pretty hard to let Zack go, and he didn't think he could do something like that again.

As they walked, he couldn't help but ask a little incredulously to Elrick, "A nightclub run by moogles? Damn, I must've missed a lot in these last couple of months." He'd heard of a few bars and cafes in this District, but never of a nightclub. Especially run by moogles, no less. They always seemed to uptight. Plus, people already enjoyed messing with their pom-poms enough--it'd only be worse when they were drunk.

Thanking Elrick for opening the door for him and the others, his eyes immediately caught the couch as he stepped inside. He couldn't recall the last time he had been able to just put his feet up, and plus, if his memory served him right, that couch was usually occupied 24/7. Pointing a finger at the counter, he said to Elrick, "Straight black--no sugar or cream or anything. I'll get us a spot. Thanks!" While not exactly power-walking, it was fast enough that he'd gone and plopped himself down on the couch within seconds of telling Elrick what he wanted.