[Raven has been gifted booze, which means he is somehow, after all those weeks of absence, right back to haunting the inn lobby with his half-drunken presence. He's not gone enough to not flag Sora down when he sees him, though.]
Hey, kiddo, I think I've got some unfinished business with ya. [Hm!]
Mm. But I can't blame ya if you don't wanna talk about it. I sure ain't in any position ta force people ta give up their secrets. As many as I gave up in public I've got plenty more.
[He is just so much lore, this man.]
But if there's something you'd wanna talk about, I'd like ta help.
...I'm not sure there's anything anybody can help with, you know? Or what to really say about it. [there's a light smile though because he's not intentionally blowing him off.]
I mean...I kind of knew I would when I chose to. So I guess you could say I was a little more prepared for it than other people would've been. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to handle your own death.
[well...this time when he smiles it's a little more vague and a little unsure, like he doesn't actually mind but he knows how it sounds.]
The only way to save the hearts and revive all of my friends was to use this power I had. It was supposed to be used to awaken sleeping hearts, not restore them after they've disappeared. But I'd used it enough times to revive six other people. Doing it one more time would mean that I'd lose my powers, I'd vanish from the Final World, and I could never return to the world I came from.
But not doing it would mean never saving someone really, really important to me. So the choice was pretty obvious.
Admirable, huh? [he doesn't want to agree because that seems selfish to him, but he understands the sentiment.]
...her name's Kairi. She's really important to me, I've known her since I was really little. The only reason I started my journey a few years ago was to find her and bring her home. And then we lost Riku, too, so I kept going. And then Xehanort had to be stopped. [it's a very, very loose timeline of events.] To not save either of them would've been like saying none of that even mattered. I wasn't going to let them disappear again.
Something like that. It's a pretty long story, and I didn't mind saving the worlds and keeping them safe from the darkness, but all I wanted to do in the first place was find my friends.
Yeah. If there is a way, we don't know what it is and I don't think my friends know where I am. The Final World is called the Final World for a reason.
[except there are some weird things about it and he frowns.] It's complicated. It might not be the end yet, but I have no idea what to think anymore.
Confused and annoyed some guy showed up after a year and tried to fight me because he was supposed to save me? [dryly.]
...I don't regret it. Kairi, Riku and the others were too important to let go. But I kind of think maybe I should've told them before I ended up just disappearing.
[sometimes. you make a choice, hide it from your friends and literally say you have to leave and disappear 10 seconds later.]
I'd already made the choice by the time I could tell them, but yeah. [...] I think they would've let me make my own decisions even if they didn't agree. It's always been that way.
And even though I had time to tell her, I didn't want to. I wanted to spend as much time with her and the others as I could before I left.
[this is more than he actually planned on telling raven, period, but he's definitely had time to come to terms with these things over the course of this competition.]
...was it the same for you? [raven has mentioned he's died but admittedly he still doesn't quite know much about his whole. everything.]
... The time I properly died? No. There wasn't anything heroic about that. Our whole brigade got wiped out. [He could go into more detail, but it's not really relevant here and it's all very depressing. So he wont!!]
But recently I made some new friends as Raven. And as Schwann, I betrayed them. But when I realized the Commandant's plans was gonna result in them all dying, I made the choice ta prevent it, even though it meant dying in their place. I figured, I was living on borrowed time anyway. Might as well give it up ta make amends.
[A pause, where he sighs.]
Next thing I knew, my men were diggin' me out of the rubble. So maybe things'll work out for you, too.
[there's a wince. he has sora's sympathy at least, yikes. but he listens anyway and seems to take that all in, not entirely understanding the difference between Raven and Schwann but also getting it just enough to follow along.]
Something must've protected you from really dying then. That's good, isn't it? And even though you betrayed your friends, you turned around and did the right thing to help them again. [it says a lot.]
...how much time was borrowed time at that point though?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
week 7 friday!!
Hey, kiddo, I think I've got some unfinished business with ya.
[Hm!]
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Oh yeah? What kind of business? [and without missing a beat:] Welcome back, by the way. Sorry I didn't say it earlier.
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[It was very chaotic!!]
... I don't really like dealin' with things Schwann started, and I sure don't wanna pry, but you remember when we all played Never have I ever?
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I remember. And I'm sure you have some questions about some of the stuff that was said that night. Right?
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[He is just so much lore, this man.]
But if there's something you'd wanna talk about, I'd like ta help.
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It just kind of happened like a year ago.
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[SIGHS!!!]
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I mean...I kind of knew I would when I chose to. So I guess you could say I was a little more prepared for it than other people would've been. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to handle your own death.
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What's with all you teenagers havin' ta make choices most adults would balk at?
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The only way to save the hearts and revive all of my friends was to use this power I had. It was supposed to be used to awaken sleeping hearts, not restore them after they've disappeared. But I'd used it enough times to revive six other people. Doing it one more time would mean that I'd lose my powers, I'd vanish from the Final World, and I could never return to the world I came from.
But not doing it would mean never saving someone really, really important to me. So the choice was pretty obvious.
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... That's real admirable of ya, kiddo. I can't imagine making a choice like that when I was your age.
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...her name's Kairi. She's really important to me, I've known her since I was really little. The only reason I started my journey a few years ago was to find her and bring her home. And then we lost Riku, too, so I kept going. And then Xehanort had to be stopped. [it's a very, very loose timeline of events.] To not save either of them would've been like saying none of that even mattered. I wasn't going to let them disappear again.
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... One of those, huh? Ya go out there just ta help out the people you care about and end up having ta save the world?
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[That sucks!!!]
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[except there are some weird things about it and he frowns.] It's complicated. It might not be the end yet, but I have no idea what to think anymore.
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[Sometimes you just have to be sad and mad. Smad.]
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...I don't regret it. Kairi, Riku and the others were too important to let go. But I kind of think maybe I should've told them before I ended up just disappearing.
[sometimes. you make a choice, hide it from your friends and literally say you have to leave and disappear 10 seconds later.]
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[He understands this feeling.]
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And even though I had time to tell her, I didn't want to. I wanted to spend as much time with her and the others as I could before I left.
[this is more than he actually planned on telling raven, period, but he's definitely had time to come to terms with these things over the course of this competition.]
...was it the same for you? [raven has mentioned he's died but admittedly he still doesn't quite know much about his whole. everything.]
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[He could go into more detail, but it's not really relevant here and it's all very depressing. So he wont!!]
But recently I made some new friends as Raven. And as Schwann, I betrayed them. But when I realized the Commandant's plans was gonna result in them all dying, I made the choice ta prevent it, even though it meant dying in their place. I figured, I was living on borrowed time anyway. Might as well give it up ta make amends.
[A pause, where he sighs.]
Next thing I knew, my men were diggin' me out of the rubble. So maybe things'll work out for you, too.
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Something must've protected you from really dying then. That's good, isn't it? And even though you betrayed your friends, you turned around and did the right thing to help them again. [it says a lot.]
...how much time was borrowed time at that point though?
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[That's.... a haunting thing to say. But don't worry about it!]
They really let me have it afterwards, fer everything I did. But it wouldn't have felt right if they didn't, I think.
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But you're still your own person, aren't you? Even if it's weird sometimes, there are still things that make you very much yourself.
[it's similar to how he views himself and roxas even if it's not entirely the same. it's the best idea he can relate it to.]
I can't say I blame them after a betrayal like that. So what happens now? What do you have waiting for you back home?