mankind is still calling that life

[xioff]

Harvest Moon Simulator - C

[Xion's barely had any time in Prismatica, and she's been using her time here to the fullest. Nearly every event she sees, she's been throwing herself into, just enjoying her ability to do things, to experience the world as a person. So when they needed dancers, she volunteered. Then when they needed fighters, she volunteered at that, right after.

So now she's in the tournament, still wearing the dress from the dance, she has her Keyblade in hand, and she's going to town. It's entirely possible she has missed that whole 'weapons and armor will be provided' bit, but she doesn't seem to need it, effortlessly trumping most normal people. She's clearly enjoying herself, too, whether you're her opponent or just here to watch her. She'll be smiling cheerfully as she waves to you, personally, clearly just happy to be here.]

Right Round - B

[Marionettes. Puppets. A loaded word for her, of all people, and a loaded concept. But normally, it's not a problem for her. She can still tell the difference and draw the line between a Replica, and an actual, literal puppet. But something about those puppets... The way they look. The way they move. They way they look at her, a smile on their faces like they can see what she is.

"One of us", they seem to say, jeering at her. Is she just making it up? Is it her imagination? But those eyes...

They want her to join them. They're laughing. Why are they laughing at her?]

Stop it!

[She's swinging her Keyblade, trying to smash the marionettes, trying to silence the voices of the puppets, and the voices in her memories.]

Animals - A

[Xion had her bracelet, of course. She'd kept it on, trusting the native Prismals and believing what they said. But that didn't help her for long- In the chaos with the marionettes, her bracelet came off, and she lost it.

When the moons are shining down in full, Xion's changes don't seem as pronounced as many others. Floppy rabbit ears, some deer antlers. A fluffy rabbit tail under her skirt. But just because her changes aren't as obvious, doesn't mean they aren't there. Her innate desire to protect her friends is now ramped up, and she's immediately on the hunt for them. Whatever's happening to her, she doesn't like it, but it means she has to make sure her friends are okay. She has to protect them.

She's going to be hunting down everyone she knows to try to gather them up. She'll keep them all safe. She has to.]

Comments

B

[princessascended]

Xion!

[Kairi hadn't been intending to go see the marionettes. It just wasn't anything she was all that interested in having a look at. But upon hearing a familiar voice cry out like that, of course she had to come and find out what was happening.

The sight of Xion swinging her sword furiously at the puppets hits her immediately, and she runs over to her immediately. When she reaches her, Kairi reaches out to place a hand on Xion's shoulder, hoping to help her calm down.]

Xion, what's wrong?

[She couldn't have just been set off by the sight of these things. What had happened?]

[xioff]

[She stiffens on hearing Kairi's voice, and guilt seems to overtake her for a minute. She shouldn't have lost her head. She dismisses her Keyblade, shaking her head.]

No- Nothing's wrong!

[... except one of them starts laughing again, and she goes stiff.]

[princessascended]

[Kairi's already opening her mouth to rebuke her and insist she tell her what's got her so spooked, but that laugh interrupts her.

And answers her question at the same time, so hey, bonus! Kairi turns in the direction of the laughter only to find that it's stopped and there's no clue what was cackling.

Though she can probably guess...]

Uh, Xion... did that noise come from where I think it did?

[xioff]

... Yeah.

[She nods.]

There's no one controlling them, either. And they've been... Staring. Since I got here.

harvest moon

[cheir]

[ She's just here to watch, a little too cautious to risk showing off her combat prowess in an entire city full of strangers. Better to continue being the quietly smiling girl in the wheelchair for now applauding at this tiny girl's use of a giant key.

... Interesting choice for a weapon, but then again, she'd fought a man who'd fired actual fingers at her. ]

[xioff]

[Huh. Xion can tell she's being watched- Her literal entire lifetime was spent fighting, you get a sense for that sort of thing pretty quick- but when she tries to see who is watching her... Huh. Someone in a wheelchair?

Xion waves cheerfully, resting the Keyblade on her shoulder without a care in the world.]

Hello! I hope you're having fun here!

[cheir]

[ Fiore's return wave is a great deal more reserved, but that's just... how she was raised. Formally.

Nonetheless, she's still smiling. ]

I would say about as much fun as you're having, if that's possible.

right round

[fonsvitae]

[ He hears shouting from an alleyway, and glances into it. And frankly, his first thought is that whatever's going on here isn't his business. Probably just vandalism.

The sight of Xion smashing one of the marionettes, only to have the puppet immediately piece itself back together with a jeering laugh, suggests there might be more at play. ]

I suggest you stop. [ Avicebron enters the alleyway and approaches unhurriedly, though he does stop just outside of keyblade-swinging range; he's not in the mood to deal with that at the moment. ] You'd be wasting your energy.

[xioff]

[Good call, Avicebron. Xion spins, but doesn't move to attack him- He spoke. He may look odd, but he's not one of these marionettes, so...]

Who are you? What are these?!

[Maybe he knows more than she does.]

[fonsvitae]

A passerby. [ His gaze slides from Xion over to the unpleasant puppets; behind the mask, his eyes narrow. Ghastly things, aren't they. ] And those appear to be puppets. However ... Excuse me.

[ He brushes past her, ignoring it when the puppets turn their attention on him, and pulls back the curtain to look at the empty puppetmaster's chair. Magic, as he suspected. ]

I would guess this is just some cruel prank. Though one with notable effort put into it.

A

[bubbleblaster]

[ Thankfully, for the moment Aqua's bracelet is still firmly attached to her wrist, keeping her from subcoming to what was obviously a sudden, surprising case of the moonblessing effects.

It's when she's managed to subdue someone who hadn't been wearing her bracelet when she sees someone familiar... and yet different. The deer antlers and rabbit ears make it slightly hard to recognize her, but that was clearly...]

Xion! Are you alright?

[ She can't assume anything right now, considering the transformation but hopefully she wasn't having to deal with what Aqua did when she had been hit by the moonblessing earlier in the month. That would just be terrible to deal with right now.]

[xioff]

[Heat? Xion may be feeling some of it, but it's a secondary concern. Right now...]

I should be asking you that! These transformations... You avoided it somehow? Good.

[She looks at Aqua and nods, around again.]

Stay with me, we should gather everyone up.

[bubbleblaster]

[ Aqua's a little surprised at how direction that Xion is being, but considering that it was exactly what she was going to suggest if she had gotten the chance, there wasn't really any reason to comment on it. She does look around, trying to see who else was nearby, before answering Xion's first comment.]

I think it has something to do with the bracelets that were given out. They did say it was for protection... though it would've been nice if they had mentioned this.

Harvest Moon Simulator - C

[castcure]

[Having finished up the dance rehearsal, Dakki had overheard that a few of the dancers were going to make a late pass at the combat tournament... so she had popped off her dragon head, swapped out the scaley leotard for her adventurer's robes, and trailed along to watch the proceedings. Were there really that many combat-capable sorts that also had a knack for dance steps? Apparently! How nice!

She's just going to keep to the audience, though. And laugh and wave at Xion, and cheer for her as she fights with her... very interesting sword. How far will she make it in the standings? She's getting quite invested in finding out...]

[xioff]

[Xion, sadly, doesn't recognize Dakki. That's less a comment on Dakki or Xion, and more that... Well, how could she? Dakki had been wearing a dragon's head.

Xion hears a cheer for her, and turns to the stands to wave, not really minding that she's mid-combat. Her eyes meet Dakki's as she locates the source of the cheer, and Xion calls back a 'Thank you!' as she... off-handedly bats her opponent away into the ground with her Keyblade.

Normal people fighting against a Keyblade-wielder seems maybe a bit unfair.]

[castcure]

[And a leotard! These healer robes are much more bulky!

Recognition or not, Dakki cheers anyhow. She recognizes Xion, and that tiny bit of recognition is reason enough to be happy and excited. Recognition is just several steps away from acquaintanceship, and then comes friendship! Maybe. If everything goes well.

Oh, no, she just swatted her opponent aside like it was nothing! A not-particularly-polite laugh escapes her, and she tries to stifle it with one hand.]

Animals - A

[keythatconnects]

[Sora still has his bracelet when he finds here. The ears and antlers let him know what happened to her and he frowns at the thought that she's being effected by the moons.]

Xion!

[xioff]

Sora!

[She rushes over to him.

The glint in her eyes is different from what Sora knows of her. Honestly, it's differently than what even Xion knows of herself. Something isn't right here, it's affecting her, and she hates it, but- But right now, its priorities match with her own. She has to find her friends. She has to protect them.]

Are you all right? Where's everyone else?

[keythatconnects]

I'm fine. Everyone is kind of going a little crazy though, huh? Did you want to find everyone together?

B

[sealeted]

Hey!

[Bereft of her Servants, when Hakuno intervenes her only option is to grab the Keyblade mid-swing. She winces hard, certain bruises will follow soon enough. She'll have to burn a Code Cast before work, or the kids will get upset...]

What are you doing?! Leave them alone. They haven't done anything wrong.

[xioff]

[Crap. How out of it is she, that she didn't even notice someone getting in the way until they had caught her Keyblade? She jerks back, the Keyblade disappearing into light, looking startled.]

Are these- Are these yours?

[sealeted]

No, but they don't have to be for me to be upset seeing them attack, do they?

[She shakes out her hands, hissing out a breath.]

A

[princeproblems]

[Makoto had been mostly keeping to herself when things had started going crazy—she kept her bracelet on thankfully, so she's only got deer ears and a tail at the moment, but even so, it's way better than she could be. When she sees Xion, she actually does perk up because of the fact that she recognizes her.]

Xion!

[xioff]

[Xion perks up herself, immediately rushing over to Makoto's side.]

Makoto! There you are!

[Her Keyblade is out as she looks around, worried...]

Stay with me, okay? It's not safe.

[princeproblems]

I'm so relieved to see you—what's even going on!?

[But even so, she's glancing around too. Getting somewhere safe is a priority.]