Ash and dust

[wheretheresawill]

Who: Terra and other(s).
What: Terra finally pulls himself together enough to take note of his surroundings.
Where: Starting at Terra's heart station.
Warnings: TBD.

He doesn't notice the change at first; the inside of one heart is much the same as another, in many ways. But slowly, he realizes that this is different: there's no smothering cloud, no one stopping him. There's space, of a sort. Slowly, he begins to piece himself together.

The result is still a little strange by the time he realizes he can speak: his skin has a dull sheen to it, like metal, and his movements are slow and strange. He's in half a suit of armor, give or take, bits and pieces interspersed with his ordinary clothes.

But he has his voice, and he hopes there's someone (someone else) to speak to.

Aqua? ...Ven?

Then, less clearly, as he hesitates, worried about what the answer may be,

Is there anybody there?

Comments

[afterthemoon]

"Who's there?"

Isa might not have been the first to hear him, but he was the first to answer.

[wheretheresawill]

"My name is Terra." The voice sounded familiar, but at the same time not quite. "Who...are you?"

[afterthemoon]

"Terra?"

...But wasn't Terra the one who had struck up a conversation with him?

"I'm Isa."

Rather than questioning the voice right away, Isa decided to play along, figuring that would be an easier way to get information from him.

[wheretheresawill]

"Isa, I -" He knew Isa, from - memories not quite his (but not quite not his) burst behind his eyes like fireworks. IsaSaïxvictimtraitorpawnseneschal -

The voice cut off with a much less verbal cry of pain and a swirl of unintentionally projected emotion as Terra failed, at first, to keep those memories and his reactions to them under his control.

He wasn't - he didn't do all those things, did he? No; for all their vividness, the memories are distant somehow. He just watched. He always just watched.

[afterthemoon]

Isa was not prepared for the sudden rush of painful emotions, he could barely handle his own, dealing with someone else's was overwhelming.

With a yelp of pain, Isa fell to his knees, cradling his head in one of his hands.

[wheretheresawill]

Ironically, hearing Isa's pain helped Terra get a handle, however temporarily, on the memories. He'd hurt Isa enough; he wasn't going to hurt him anymore.

"I'm sorry." Between his tone and the extra emotion carried through this heartspace, it was clear he wasn't talking only about the accidental projection.

[afterthemoon]

Isa wasn't able to reply, he was still reeling from the pain of Terra's memories. What was going on?

[wheretheresawill]

The silence frightened Terra. Had he done something to Isa without meaning to?

"Isa? Isa, are you there?!"

[afterthemoon]

"I'm there." Isa tried to shake off the feelings that had overwhelmed him.

"W-where are you?" Sure he was probably risking being overrun by more of Terra's emotions and memories, but Isa thought it would be better to continue this face to face.

[wheretheresawill]

"At my heart." Terra paused. "You don't have to come." If just talking to him was hurting Isa, would being in the same place be worse? And Isa was definitely under no obligation to want to see him, after everything.

[afterthemoon]

It was too late though, Isa was already there, and it wasn't quite clear if Isa had indeed come on his own accord, or he had been whisked away.

He probably didn't look much like the Isa, or rather Saix, Terra had remembered.

[wheretheresawill]

All things considered, Terra was in no position to throw stones at changes in appearance. Isa still looked recognizable, which was more than he did. He got to his feet as the other appeared.

"I'm sorry," he said again, and again it was unclear whether he meant the emotions or the memories that had prompted them.

[afterthemoon]

"You don't... You don't have to apologize, it's not your fault."

It was all Xehanort's fault, everything was.

[wheretheresawill]

Terra has his own opinions on that score. If he hadn't been so weak, so foolish, who knows how much might not have happened? "Maybe...but it was my responsibility." To protect the worlds, and the people in them, and there's no denying he failed.

[afterthemoon]

"But it's in... the past. You have to try and put that behind you."

Not that Isa was very good at following his own advice.

[wheretheresawill]

"I'm not sure it's that easy." Or that in the past, if Terra's Heart Station was any indication. (Or, more noticeably, the silver streaked in his hair.)

[afterthemoon]

"I know, but.... isn't that what you're supposed to say in these situations?" Isa looked away sheepishly.

[wheretheresawill]

Terra chuckled despite himself. "I'm not sure anyone ever thought about what to say in this situation."

[afterthemoon]

"I mean more in general..." Isa tried to keep the conversation amiable, but he was probably projecting heavy feelings of fear and worry.

[wheretheresawill]

Terra picked up on the feelings more easily than on the conversation. Especially because he was expecting them. "You don't have to stay," he said abruptly. "I won't - I'll try not to hurt you, but. You don't have to trust me."

[afterthemoon]

"It's not..." How was he ever supposed to explain this? Isa barely even knew what was going on.

"Something... something's wrong."

[wheretheresawill]

"Wrong?" Terra assumed he meant more than the obvious wrongness they were surrounded by. "What do you mean?

[afterthemoon]

"I mean...." The general feeling of wrongness that's begun to radiate throughout everything, Sora's station? Where to start?

"I mean there's two of you."

[wheretheresawill]

"Wh-what?!" Terra shook his head. "No, there can't be. There's only one of -" He stopped. Could he really say that there was only one of him? Didn't his own Heart Station suggest otherwise?

"What kind of - other me?"

[afterthemoon]

"He seemed more... pulled together," More normal.

Really, it was the sudden, drastic change in appearance that made Isa even consider that possibility that it was another Terra entirely.

Hadn't a part of Terra been inside that discarded armor for nearly a decade? He seemed to recall something like that. Maybe this was that part of Terra given some form of autonomy? Or maybe Isa was completely off base with this whole thing.