a letter.

[adelicateflame]

[ A message in a bottle will appear on a newly made beach. It's located at the edge of the Gardens, but is not a wild place. Why? When did it appear? Nevertheless, if the beach is not visited, the letter will unravel itself from the Vine. The handwriting is messy and sharp, and the corners of the letter seem to be frayed. ]

Come one, come all!

To my welcoming ceremony. Celebrate by the 20th on this fine beach and I'll be on your coast by the next month, if the winds are fair.

I'll give you summer nights of excitement, delicacies you can't even imagine--or maybe some you'll recognize from before your kidnapping, eh? I've been so many places, after all. Just don't tell your head bitch.

Seeing you soon,
The Pirate Queen

Comments

[action]

[mnementomori]

[seeing the word beach sends Xion scurrying off to look for it, and anyone else there will see her standing in the sand and looking around in awe.]

It's real...

[of_the_highest_caliber]

[ Subaru, curious by the invitation-slash-threat of the letter, had spotted the beach from a skyward vantage point during her "patrols".

She skids to a halt close by, but still atop her Wing Road, looking down at the sand cautiously. ] Do you think it was the magic sand at work? [ If so, this could be dangerous. There was an awful lot of it around after the fairies had their way, and not all of the places she knew of were rebuilt afterward. ]

[mnementomori]

[Xion looks up and waves a little; like she could forget someone who loved ice cream as much as she did!]

I don't know...is there a way to find out? I mean, the Queen made some places without the magic sand before, so maybe...

[she bites her lip.]

I hope so. I want it to stay.

[of_the_highest_caliber]

[ Seeing that Xion doesn't seem to be affected by anything weird (that she can tell), Subaru smiles down at her and then dispels the Road entirely. She drops into the sand with a heavy sound, skates sinking in, before she dismisses those, too, in a flash of light. ] I wonder if it's her doing, since the letter made it sound like this should be a surprise... [ Furrowing her brow. ] I mean, I always wondered how much the Queen could see about what all we do here, day in, day out.

[mnementomori]

[the flash makes her blink, but she doesn't pry, just stares a little in interest before looking out over the sand again. Her Keyblade disappears and reappears in a similar way, after all: it's not strange to her.]

She doesn't seem to know that much. I mean, she could look at the Vine, but she seems busy all the time.

There are the people who work for her, too, so maybe they know more of what's going on.

[of_the_highest_caliber]

Mm, that's right. The Healer and others? I remember reading about them on that one game a while back... [ Which was a good bit of information to process, even if it made little sense at the time. Context is a beautiful thing. ]

[ She digs the toe of her sneakers into the sand and drags it out in an arc. ] Do you like the beach, Xion? I think it would be nice to have, too, with the summer weather. A lot less messy than trying to swim the shore at the lake, eheh. [ Mud and grass and reeds and all. ]

[mnementomori]

Oh...in the library, right? I remember that.

[she tugs her hood up a bit further, self-consciously.]

I...I do. I promised my first friends to go see it with them. And then I made one a long time ago here, but it didn't stick...

[of_the_highest_caliber]

Was it in the library, too? I was thinking about the games at the Arcade. [ Maybe there was more to that day than she knew about. ]

Then I hope this one does stick around, at least for a while. [ Subaru smiles softly, though she wonders why the girl chooses to hide away like that. She shifts a bit closer, hands behind her back, and leans in to hopefully get Xion's attention. ] —so you can share it with your new friends.

[mnementomori]

The Arcade...that too. And I heard about one more place, I think. I forget what it was, though.

[she shifts a bit, not sure what to make of the attention. People usually ask about the hood or ignore it completely.]

Ah...me too. I think it would be...too much to ask for my old friends to come here.

[of_the_highest_caliber]

I think there was a cave. [ She tried not to think about what Akiha was implying, about the blood. ] I'm not too sure on that.

[ Subaru folds the "skirt" of her barrier jacket under her as she flops down onto the sand. ] Emotions are tricky like that, huh? You miss people, so of course you want them to be close to you, but at the same time... trapping them here along with everyone else is, well. Kinda selfish. [ She smiles sadly. ] I have similar thoughts from time to time. I think it's just natural.

[mnementomori]

[she hesitates, then sits down next to Subaru.]

They were here, a while ago. But they went back. It's better that way.

But it's...good to know I'm not alone.

[of_the_highest_caliber]

I'm sorry to hear that. I haven't experienced that too much, yet... but it can't be easy. [ Excellen leaving didn't hit her hard, but it did surprise her. A few others, too, who ceased answering the Vine, but she wasn't as close to any of them.

If something happened to Vivio, though... or Katina?

No! She won't think about it. She smiles big. ] That's the way to live on. To make new friends and cherish every moment you have with them and, if you run out, make more!