[open] welcome to the masquerade

[implying]

Date & Time: Friday the 7th, 4pm to midnight.
Location: Palace of Versailles, France, 1772.
Characters: anyone! Even characters not yet accepted as of when this log goes up. 8)
Summary: It's just some fancy masquerade dance with spiked punch.
Warnings: here be pictures, slow connections beware.


Welcome to Versailles.

The decorations are arranged, the food is prepared and laid out, the music has been rehearsed, and... most people have their costumes and masks ready. At precisely 1600, the Transporter machine activates, and a full room of people and all of their decorations, food, musical instruments, and costumes are sent back to 1772. The Palace of Versailles is in the height of its splendor, the weather is perfect and cloudless, and the gardens are in full bloom for the spring.

➣ Explore the Palace

Holy shit look at this, you have the chance to get your grubby little fingers all over history before it even becomes properly history. Do you know how many famous butts sat in all these plush velvet chairs? Or are going to sit in these plush velvet chairs? And they were all probably just talking the hell out of French, too. Wow. Go invade some bedrooms, poke your head into the kitchens (but no more than that, or territorial cooking elves might take offense), just. Touch everything. Everything. Just know that where ever you are, there's no escaping that beautiful music your fellow Transports are inflicting on you, that shit's just echoing all over the place tonight.

➣ Admire the Gardens

Jeez look at this, these people just had way too much money. But you get to benefit from it! You can basically just get yourself lost for hours here, so try not to starve or anything. Meet all the statues, go streaking through the fountains (please don't, no one wants to see that), get lost and desperately burst through cute little trees in your increasingly frantic attempts to find the exit. There's all sorts of fun you can have!

Just don't wander too close to the edge of the grounds, or you'll encounter (run into?) the invisible forcefield set up to keep wandering guests from utterly ruining history. That's probably a good way to get yourself a bloody nose.

➣ Enjoy the Banquet

There's tables and tables of this finger-licking good finery here, and it's all for you. And can you believe how fancy it is? Oh my god, those sausages have adorable little spears through them. And those spoons gently cradling their cheesy goodness? Yeah. They're made of crackers. And don't even get me started on these desserts. This is amazing. You've never eaten this good. And naturally, each drink (some of which are spiked, you're welcome) has adorable little frozen flowers in the ice cubes. Who even comes up with this stuff? Elves, that's who.

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Comments

[got_it_memorized]

[Target acquired. Axel's known Riku was here for a while now--he checks that list of residents every few days, just in case. He never actually met the kid in Castle Oblivion, but if he's anything like his clone then Axel figures maybe it's best to make a certain kind of first impression. Namely, the kind that impresses upon Riku that while he's not necessarily a threat so long as Riku behaves, he could be. Yes, that sounds like a good plan.

[Creeping up behind the boy, Axel sort of looms over him. ... Actually, he seems a bit taller than he thought he would be: the Replica was definitely shorter than this, but at least a few inches, he's certain. Interesting.

[He's about to just snort a laugh when Riku whirls, but the words register almost too sharply and he actually gives a start instead. Lea. Did he just call him--? ... Wait did he say Keyblade?

[Riku quickly corrects himself (though as an inquiry. How interesting), but it's too late for takebacks. How in the Underworld does Riku know what his name is? More than that, how does he know what his other's name was? Rolling his shoulders back in an attempt to regain whatever poise he lost, Axel tugs his hood back.]

Bingo~ I'm impressed, Riku, I didn't expect my reputation to precede me quite this much.

[Or, you know, at all. Sora was sleeping in a giant egg. Had Naminé talked about him? Curiouser and curiouser...]

[limitstorm]

[ riku takes a sharp step back, thankful he's not near any punch or food items, so he isn't walled off.

for a moment, he thinks about running. it always worked before, right? but this place was full of people. he can't blend in, a shock of silver hair is easy to see anywhere one goes.

... hold on. axel's acting like he doesn't know him at all. his brows furrow. ]

What are you talking about?

[ he should test the waters before letting on too much. ]

[got_it_memorized]

[He's really not sure why the kid seems so on-edge. They've never met, after all.

[... Have they? Demyx did seem pretty insistent that a lot more had happened than he himself had experienced, all that nonsense about defecting and so on. Could he have really forgotten having met Riku?

[No, this is absurd, even if they had met and he'd given Riku a reason to be afraid of him, that wouldn't explain how the name Lea was familiar to him. There's something else afoot here, and as much as Axel likes a good mystery, this one's shaping up to be a little too close for comfort.

[Shifting his weight and folding his arms over his chest, partly in an attempt to show Riku he had no particular immediate interest in any asskicking, he narrows his eyes.]

I'm thinking I should ask you the same thing. Last I checked, your little carbon copy was the only one of you who knew who I was, but it seems perhaps someone's sold me out.

[limitstorm]

[ those narrowed eyes say otherwise, Axel.

Riku tries to reason with himself. at the very least, he knows what Axel can dish out should this turn ugly.

and as he speaks, it dawns on him that he's from Castle Oblivion. he's only seen the replica. He hasn't been able to witness Roxas, and--

if that hasn't gone down, he's not even half the person Riku knows. he didn't know Axel at all. ]

I know you in the future.

[ he finds himself saying, despite himself. ]

[got_it_memorized]

[Well that gets his attention. The narrow look on his face shifts and his eyes widen noticeably, all the suspicion sort of bleeding away into visible surprise. He recovers quickly, schooling his face back into something closer to uncertainty.]

So Demyx isn't as far off the rocker as I thought he was, is it? [He says it more to himself than to Riku, and then tilts his head a bit, his arms still folded, but somehow less guarded than before.]

The future, huh...? [The suspicion returns a bit, but is belied by the incredulous grin.] Funny, I'm pretty sure I haven't used that name you called me the first time since about ten years in the past.

[You've got his attention, Riku, but he's not sure he's buying your story yet. WHO SENT YOU? WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?]

[limitstorm]

Hey, don't ask me about that.

[ it's Riku's turn to cross his arms over his chest, even if he's doing it defensively. ]

You just showed up and told us to call you Lea. And these [ he presses a finger to his own cheek lightly, dragging his finger down a little to mimic the tattoos Axel has on his face. ] were gone.

[ ... okay, so he knows. but he's not sure if he should tell Axel now. what if messes something up, back home? ]

[got_it_memorized]

I...? [Does not compute. Demyx had said he'd defected, but Axel really couldn't see himself joining Team Hero; that's so not his style, ugh. Antihero, sure, he'll wear that mantle anyday--his loyalty to the Organization is skin-deep at best, and the second he and Saïx get their opportunity to... do whatever it is Saïx is really planning to do that he hasn't fully disclosed yet, it'll happen and they'll be gone. He'll get his heart back his own way, if he has to; the Organization is just a means to an end.

[He actually makes a startled noise at Riku's next statement though, and suddenly his previous train of thought is fiercely ironic. His hand moves involuntarily to his face, pressing into the skin of his cheek. The tattoos... if the tattoos were gone, if he was calling himself Lea... then that meant...

[No, that couldn't be right, if he defected, how did he get his heart back? Had he left with Saïx? Demyx hadn't said anything about that.

[His hand drops back to his side and he just sort of stares at Riku for a moment. He doesn't know Riku, not really at all. He knew the replica well enough, as well as one can know a replica, he supposes, but his knowledge of Riku is mostly passive, like a language he can understand but can't respond to. This kid's not a liar, though, Axel can see it in his face. Any good liar can spot another one at twenty yards, and Axel might just be the best liar in the room.

[Riku's not lying.]

How...? [Congratulations, Riku, he's speechless. That only happens once every 15 years or so. He blows out a sigh and shakes his head quickly, then slices one hand through the air.]

Okay, back up. How 'future' are we talking here? The last thing I did was leave Castle Oblivion after your pal Sora took out the rest of the Organization members there. How much time am I missing? [It's unsettling enough to think that Demyx came from an uncharted future in Axel's path, but to think that Riku knows this much is downright scary. He has to figure they reached some kind of truce, or else Riku would have been more likely to try and kick his ass instead of answer his questions, but why would he have gone to Riku after getting his heart back in the first place?

[What the hell had happened?]

[limitstorm]

[ that noise stops Riku where he stands, expression melting slowly from surprise to confusion. why did he react that way? why is he staring at him like that?

why is that such vital information? Riku just looks completely baffled, staring up at Axel, trying to figure it out. why is the absence of a tattoo and a name change so significant? what about both of those--

suddenly, his eyes widen and his shoulders slump.

oh.

that was...

how could he have been so stupid? ]

I don't know--a year? More? Maybe two?

[got_it_memorized]

[A year? Maybe two? (TWO!?) Suddenly he feels a little lightheaded. No, no, Axel you may not be woozy in front of Riku are you kidding? Obviously there's just some sort of miscommunication here.]

Okay, I'll buy maybe I napped for a few weeks, but... two years? [He presses a hand over his face, grinding the heel into his eye socket.] That can't be right.

[limitstorm]

[ he thinks, honestly thinks. after Oblivion, it was a few weeks, and then there was that whole year with Sora sleeping... and more months when Sora awoke, to land them to where Axel died. and then, more months, spent in Destiny Islands, until the Mark of Mastery exam was given.

that was at least two years. ]

It's at least two years in the future. Maybe I didn't take track of time, but...

[got_it_memorized]

[Axel hadn't been planning to drink at this party. Now he's really giving it some consideration. He stops himself from asking Riku what happened, because while he doesn't doubt the kid might regale him with the Light Side of the story, Axel has a feeling that regardless of whatever truce they reach by the end of that two years, their paths didn't converge until the seventh inning stretch. However he got his heart back, he has to figure he didn't necessarily share that with Riku.

[Worst. Hindsight. Ever.

[He's honestly not sure what to say. He doesn't necessarily think Riku's pulling his leg, but he's not entirely convinced this isn't a trap of some sort.]

You said I showed up and told you to call me Lea... [He arches one eyebrow, folding his arms.] Define 'showed up'. No offense, kid, but I don't really play for the good guy team, remember? Why would I have gone running to you guys with my new name?

[limitstorm]

[ he opens his mouth, then closes it. open, close.

what can he even say at a time like this?! why isn't Sora here? he could deal with Axel a lot better than Riku ever could. ]

You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And I don't know why you came to us. You just did. We didn't question it, and you didn't explain.