fourteen | oo52 [action / video]

[ Since her "return," Xion has been staying in temporary New Feather accommodations as she gets her bearings. She's had a lot on her mind... a lot of thoughts and fears. She goes to sleep the night of the 19th thinking everything will be the same tomorrow... and the next day, and the day after that. Whatever she was before... this is her life now.

Of course, that's not the case when she wakes up. Which she does with a yelp when she discovers her clothing is too small and pulls in all the wrong places. And her hair is longer, and-- and-- ]

Oh, no. Oh, my gosh--

[ That's all her journal, conveniently open as ever, catches before she slams it shut and races off toward home. Toward Luke.

Once she's met up with him and apologized until she was blue in the face and possibly cried a little, she takes off to Seventh Heaven. There is a certain chef she needs to see and hug and hug and hug until they both feel better.

Finally, once all that is done, she takes to the journals once more. ]

... I can't believe what just happened to me. I know I'm not the first one, but... it was so strange. Being young all over again... not having any memories of this place. They're such precious memories to me... and I think I realized something. I know how a lot of people here feel about Luceti, and the Malnosso, and the war...

But I'm grateful for this place. [ Gently. ] It's given me everything I could never have.... everything important and wonderful to me is here. Well... almost everything. [ Oh, Axel. ] But... I never want to leave. I never, ever want to go home. Not when everything important is here...

I'm glad. I'm glad I'm still here. I'm -- I'm sorry if that makes anyone angry to hear. I know it probably sounds really strange... [ She smiles, warm and sad at once. ] But this is my world now.

[ She ends the broadcast there... or seems to. In fact, she's got a number of messages to get out. ]

( Suki | 100% )

Hey, Suki... I don't think you remember me, but my name is Xion. I need to talk to you... about the Kyoshi warriors.

( Luke Skywalker | 100% )

... hi, Luke. I remember everything now. Thank you for being so kind to me. I could... probably clear some things up now, if you still wanted to know.

( Wreck-It Ralph | 100% )

I'd -- really like to talk to you. I think... I have something really important that I should tell you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I know... it's weird, isn't it? Of all the things to do to us... it's like they're trying to make a point somehow. I guess I'll never really understand why the Malnosso do what they do.

After this long, I've come to believe that even they don't really understand what they're doing.

... that's a pretty scary thought.

Is it? I'd have thought it would be just par for the course to someone who just recovered from a pointless abduction side-effect.

I guess I always thought there was some sort of reason behind it. A lot of the things they do seem way too specific not to have a point!

What do you suppose their reasons are for changing so many men into women? Or animals? Or forcing us to fall for one another on a yearly basis?

[Please enlighten him, he's very interested.]

[ She goes quiet, feeling a sudden tightness in her throat. When she speaks again her tone is suddenly quite stiff. ]

If I had to guess... data-gathering. Just to see what we'd do, or... how we'll react. Maybe seeing... which of us is strongest, and who can cope the best... I don't know what they'd do with it, though.

The only reasoning I can give it is if the Malnosso themselves are actually an elite gambling club. The data gathered is for their wagers.

[And doesn't that just chafe the ass, to think that they're betting on who fails the most.]

[ He doesn't seem to have noticed the shift in her tone... or if he did, he doesn't care. In moments like this she's grateful for Asch's demeanor. She relaxes marginally, grateful to have gone unquestioned over why she thinks that or why her tone sounded different. ]

I wouldn't really be surprised... they're scientists, but some of the things they do to us are too ridiculous to be just about data, right? It's probably both.

[Congratulations, Xion, you have a friend who doesn't really pry. Probably because he hates it when people prod him for uncomfortable information, himself.]

They're scientists. Nothing they ever do is only for data. Maybe it's pleasure, or maybe it's ambition, or maybe they're being coerced. There's always a reason.

[Reason enough to do sadistic things to innocent people...

Speaking of tone, he's got a certain degree of loathing in his as he talks about them. Someone isn't a fan of science apparently.]

... ambition. [ She says that thoughtfully. His tone doesn't shock her - in fact, she completely understands where he's coming from.

What she says next is normally something she'd say hesitantly, and maybe not something she'd say to Luke. But it's easier with Asch, somehow. ]

I used to know people like that. Members of the Organization... Vexen used to say it was all about data, and observing things correctly, and using logic, but... he enjoyed it too much. Collecting data, I mean. Using us for his experiments. I didn't notice it then, but looking back now... there's no way he was in it just for the data, even if that's what he said.

He's the one that created me. The way he'd smile sometimes... [ She trails off, slightly unnerved despite herself. ]

[Asch is quiet at that for a long moment, his brows furrowed, gaze low. As uncomfortable as this discussion is for him, he's many years beyond the angry, bitter, close-mouthed youth he used to be. Not that he isn't still all of those things, but he's an adult now- and with his coming of age is a certain degree of... tolerance. He's not sure if he can grant himself the trait of "mature" just yet. One step at a time.

Either way, he finally just nods.]

I understand.

Luke doesn't remember, but I do.

[The pain, the humming machinery, the unwilling screams of a terrified child. His shaky, broken heaves and sobs when the room went silent and he heard his replica take his first breath beneath him.

Van's solemn, serious voice telling him how necessary it was as Spinoza delightedly announced what an incredible feat they've accomplished.

"He's perfect, Commandant. A perfect isofon. This is a grand day for scientific advancement!"]

They always smile at their own success, even at the cost of someone's suffering.

... did you ever think sometimes they smiled because of our... um, the suffering? I used to think...

[ She trails off again, then steels herself and continues, somewhat neutrally. ]

One person in the Organization really hated me. I guess because he saw me as a failure. Sometimes I used to think he enjoyed singling me out and sending me on missions I couldn't possibly complete. All for the sake of proving I wasn't worth it...

...Some people are just like that. Cruel for no reason besides the fact that they take delight in it. Like it's the only thing that they find worthwhile.

[Living with those kinds of people is a pretty good excuse for growing up to become a cynic. Really, if Xion was in that situation it's amazing she came out alright.

...No, he's not jealous.]

oo52 [action / video]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked]

[voice/locked] this thread emily I can't

[voice/locked] i know oh my god

[voice/locked]