You don't want to see this, if you did you'd surely disbelieve it.

[gotitmemorised]

The days that followed Axel, Saix and Aerith's return to Rabanastre had been sombre ones.

The news of what had befallen Midgar had spread throughout the world via news channels, both visual and radio, and by here-say and would-be accounts, like wildfire.

The death toll was being counted in untold thousands and, according to most broadcasts, there were no survivors. It was being readily compared to the tragedy of Nabudis that had taken place nearly a decade ago. Aerial photographs and video showed what Midgar looked like in the wake of the disaster in comparison to the earlier pictures of it finally nearing completion.

The damage to the city was extensive. The iconic Plate had collapsed almost completely and fires raged across great portions of what was left. An entire district was still alight, even days after. The telltale pale green glow of burst Mako pipes was visible in some areas and Mist obscured some of the visuals to such an extent that entire sectors were hard to make out. Teams were struggling to get inside the city in order to fully assess the damage. Bancour's division of the Gotei 13, Squad Seven, had been drafted in as an emergency measure and the surrounding areas were on high alert regarding its potential to turn onto a Necrohol. Reports assured viewers and listeners that such a thing had not yet occurred, and may not, but tensions ran high.

Travellers were being advised to steer clear of the entire Centra area as a precaution.

Officials had not yet managed to ascertain the cause or motive behind the attack, if it even was one. Theories regarding the method used for the wiping out of an entire capital city varied almost widely as the reasons. Some theorised that it was accidental -- a chain reaction of Reactor malfunctions. Others were convinced that it was down to eco-terrorism from anti-Mako power groups. That it could possibly be an enemy nation that was responsible was not an uncommon suggestion, either. This last one had thrown the entire political state of Ivalice into turmoil.

As a result, political debates made up a heavy portion of the current programming.

The ambience of even Rabanastre, Dalmasca's usually bright and bustling capital, had been considerably more subdued than it was prior to their departure. Numbers were down in the East End and in the Muthru Bazaar. People were still shopping, but the carefree spark had been, if only temporarily, doused by numb shock.

Comments

[gotitmemorised]

Axel made his way back from the markets with paper bags stuffed full of shopping in his arms. A grocery run, the type of chore he usually considered a necessary evil, was about as close to normality as he was able to get under the circumstances. As such, he'd jumped at the chance to do it, funereal atmosphere be damned.

His apartment, something he managed to afford thanks to him being in the lucrative business of monster-slaying, was spacious enough, but with both Aerith and Saix staying with him for the time being, it was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic. That, and a curious invasion of plant pots had started appearing all over the place. They had sprang up on nearly every flat surface and some uneven ones. Shoots had started sprouting in them, too. He had no idea that they could grow that fast. Then again, they kind of had to. Timcanpy, his Golem, had taken to eating them almost as quickly as they grew.

That alone had caused something of a problem between Aerith and Timcanpy, but the situation hadn't quite escalated to all-out war just yet.

The only refuge from their standoffs, the smell of soil and the odd sensation that the wild was slowly taking over his space was the Sandsea. It was the tavern where the Order made their base and where Saix tended to lurk. Axel knew that he was desperate to go back to Lindblum to check on Vexen, or perhaps beg his forgiveness for accompanying him on his fool's errand, but all transcontinental flights had been grounded as a precaution and Saix, unable to go home, had taken to spending his nights sleeping on his floor and his days in the pub listening to the radio.

The depressing news broadcasts were a constant drone in the Sandsea thanks to the usual music being cut off. They were miserable, a constant dirge of repeated information, slow refreshers as to the situation in Midgar and the political state of the world, with the odd interview from somebody high up in some government or other thrown in to liven things up. Only yesterday a plea for calm from Reeve Tuesti, a Shinra official, had gone out from Junon, the temporary seat of Bancouri governmental power since the disaster. Occasionally, however, an update concerning the state of the temporary Aerodrome closures came up and it was those, he assumed, that Saix was tuning into.

Axel just needed a break from it all. Even one that lasted only as long as it took to pick up groceries.

Axel wasn't present on Spira for the destruction of Nabudis. He barely knew anything about it besides the fact that anywhere with the word 'Necrohol' in its title was not somewhere that travel companies offered package holidays or romantic getaways to. He hadn't had a great deal of time to research every wartime atrocity of the modern age, nor did he have any inclination to do so now. He had only really heard of what happened almost ten years ago in detail since returning to Rabanastre and listening to the news reports. They were kind of hard to avoid. Talk of Midgar, and of its similarity to Nabudis, was on the lips of almost every person he passed that wasn't maintaining a kind of distressed or depressed silence.

He tried to maintain a feeling of indifference at what had happened to Midgar, even though he had been there, but the memories of his own hometown seeped through. Lines blurred.

Aerith's new presence in his apartment didn't help, steady invasion from the soon-to-be-flowers aside. Midgar had been her home. She'd lost everything. Almost everyone she knew, every thing she owned. She could never go home. Axel knew that feeling. Even so, being able to sympathise with her didn't make him feel any better about it. If only they'd had more warning ...

He shook his head to dislodge that thought. There was nothing they could have done. What had happened there, whatever had happened, for whatever reason, had been planned in meticulous detail. Even Xigbar's source of information hadn't been forthcoming with the ins and outs of it, just that it was going to happen.

Axel sighed.

He glanced up at the blue sky that was visible between the tall buildings and squinted against the harsh desert sunlight. Dalmasca's dry season was relentlessly oppressive and that was compounded by the miasma of negative feeling that swirled in every corner of Rabanastre and swept down every street. He turned the corner and made his way home, intending to stow the groceries and then head to the Sandsea to get a nice, cold drink.

Assuming that Aerith and Timcanpy hadn't kicked off World War II in his living room, at least.

[innatelunacy]

Saix occupied a table in the Sandsea, and had the dubious honour of having it to himself. Other members of the Order had passed through over the course of the day, although only the two that worked there, and Xigbar, had stayed for any length of time.

Xigbar was still there. He'd grouched, briefly, about work being slow on all fronts. Saix had to agree; mark hunts were thin on the ground unless they were local, and the local hunts were taken up quickly. Whatever it was Xigbar did for an income seemed to be suffering, too.

The nature of what had happened at Midgar was still unknown. The radio still spouted theories, talking heads and pundits, and quotes from government agencies all voicing the same basic message, which as far as Saix could determine consisted of 'we don't know what the hell happened'.

Saix had been there. He didn't know what the hell had happened, but he'd done an extremely good job of not thinking about. He was doing a less successful job of not thinking about how thoroughly livid Vexen must be with him. He'd dreaded facing Vexen again since he'd set foot in Midgar, and this stay of execution was, if anything, making it all worse.

He was halfway through his current drink, and Xigbar had bought it for him; he'd actually paid, too, which made Saix wonder what Xigbar was buttering him up for. Or perhaps it was Demyx whose good side Xigbar wanted to stay on for the time being; it was hard to tell. Saix had little interest in Xigbar's company. The main reason he came to the Sandsea was because it was air conditioned, and away from Axel's apartment. Though, small as it may be, Axel's was an improvement on Xigbar's, where he'd stayed the last time he and Vexen had fallen out like this.