Vexen - No.IV (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thechillyacademic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
spira_rp2015-06-11 02:49 pm
thechillyacademic) wrote in spira_rp2015-06-11 02:49 pm
Entry tags:
Forgetting what it was I came to find...
Even, after his discussion with Szayel early in the morning, had stepped out into the garden to experience it properly.
It was a curious place. The sky, be it projected or a magical window to somewhere far away, felt real. The temperature had risen as time progressed, but it hadn't got too hot. The height of Summer was long gone and things were cooling down. The breeze was like a breath of cool air, not the stagnant atmosphere that ordinarily lingered and loitered in caves. The grass smelled pleasant, but there was another scent there, the subtle odour of dull decay mixed with the sweet smell of fallen fruit, as though Autumn was on the horizon.
He found that he wasn't sure whether those particular notes were borne on the light wind blowing in from who knows where, or whether they came from the garden itself, the tangible expanse he could see before him. Almost everything seemed so ... normal. There was grass, both mown short and left long, there were cultivated flowerbeds close to the kitchen door, not far from the little slab-covered patio that the doors opened out directly onto. Once upon a time there must have been a canopy or veranda, he noted, for there were pillars at the corners of the brickwork that stood freely and supported nothing. Further away from the palace he could see the heads of the season's last wildflowers bobbing back and forth in the wind.
Flowers hadn't surprised him much. He was used to them, given his original home. Their beauty wasn't lost on him, but it wasn't something he cared for. Flowers carried memories best forgotten, and not all of them were of Radiant Garden.
It was the trees that had shocked him. According to what he'd heard, the garden had been discovered late, and yet trees grew tall and thick trunked. Not immense, old trees, but ones large enough to be too big to have been grown naturally in the time that was reputed to have passed between the garden's discovery and the present. He didn't doubt that Marluxia had a hand in encouraging their growth. The ivy that climbed up old ruined buildings dotted out further afield appeared, at least, to be natural.
The low hum of an insect caught his attention and made him wonder whether the miles and miles between the location he stood in and the place where the weather came from was able to be crossed by creatures coming in from the air. Perhaps they had been imported in from somewhere manually, in little boxes with tiny air-holes and kept in hives. He wouldn't put that past Marluxia -- he, of all people, would know that insects were important for pollination. Insects and birds, he had thought, and listened, in a pause between steps, to the musical posturing competition that was birdsong.
More than the garden, Even was paying attention to the palace itself. He had walked some distance, but not far enough to arouse the Malboros' ire. They were larger close up, but not the biggest he'd had the misfortune of meeting. The palace extended up to and beyond the position of the greenhouse, he'd seen. The windows were black and lightless and a layer of dust was visible on the insides thanks to the light of a faraway sun. Nothing past a peculiar glass sunhouse positioned near where a deep ditch dropped away from the palace seemed to be inhabited.
Upon returning to the building itself, he worked out that the area of the Palace that those ground-level windows corresponded to were not occupied, but he hadn't yet worked out how to reach them. It was entirely possible that they were blocked off entirely. It would make sense that the palace might not be entirely whole after sinking beneath the ground, but it would take further investigation to confirm that. He had a brief look in the general area, but found nothing of use.
Since he would need help to try and work out the route, he decided to explore already charted areas of the palace instead.
Even's first port of call was, of course, the library. He pushed open the doors and looked around from the doorway. It was ... large. Probably not as big as the one in Radiant Garden, but it spanned two floors and extended some distance under the mezzanine layer. Heavy curtains covered the windows, but the room was already lit despite the fact that it appeared to be quite unoccupied.
It was a curious place. The sky, be it projected or a magical window to somewhere far away, felt real. The temperature had risen as time progressed, but it hadn't got too hot. The height of Summer was long gone and things were cooling down. The breeze was like a breath of cool air, not the stagnant atmosphere that ordinarily lingered and loitered in caves. The grass smelled pleasant, but there was another scent there, the subtle odour of dull decay mixed with the sweet smell of fallen fruit, as though Autumn was on the horizon.
He found that he wasn't sure whether those particular notes were borne on the light wind blowing in from who knows where, or whether they came from the garden itself, the tangible expanse he could see before him. Almost everything seemed so ... normal. There was grass, both mown short and left long, there were cultivated flowerbeds close to the kitchen door, not far from the little slab-covered patio that the doors opened out directly onto. Once upon a time there must have been a canopy or veranda, he noted, for there were pillars at the corners of the brickwork that stood freely and supported nothing. Further away from the palace he could see the heads of the season's last wildflowers bobbing back and forth in the wind.
Flowers hadn't surprised him much. He was used to them, given his original home. Their beauty wasn't lost on him, but it wasn't something he cared for. Flowers carried memories best forgotten, and not all of them were of Radiant Garden.
It was the trees that had shocked him. According to what he'd heard, the garden had been discovered late, and yet trees grew tall and thick trunked. Not immense, old trees, but ones large enough to be too big to have been grown naturally in the time that was reputed to have passed between the garden's discovery and the present. He didn't doubt that Marluxia had a hand in encouraging their growth. The ivy that climbed up old ruined buildings dotted out further afield appeared, at least, to be natural.
The low hum of an insect caught his attention and made him wonder whether the miles and miles between the location he stood in and the place where the weather came from was able to be crossed by creatures coming in from the air. Perhaps they had been imported in from somewhere manually, in little boxes with tiny air-holes and kept in hives. He wouldn't put that past Marluxia -- he, of all people, would know that insects were important for pollination. Insects and birds, he had thought, and listened, in a pause between steps, to the musical posturing competition that was birdsong.
More than the garden, Even was paying attention to the palace itself. He had walked some distance, but not far enough to arouse the Malboros' ire. They were larger close up, but not the biggest he'd had the misfortune of meeting. The palace extended up to and beyond the position of the greenhouse, he'd seen. The windows were black and lightless and a layer of dust was visible on the insides thanks to the light of a faraway sun. Nothing past a peculiar glass sunhouse positioned near where a deep ditch dropped away from the palace seemed to be inhabited.
Upon returning to the building itself, he worked out that the area of the Palace that those ground-level windows corresponded to were not occupied, but he hadn't yet worked out how to reach them. It was entirely possible that they were blocked off entirely. It would make sense that the palace might not be entirely whole after sinking beneath the ground, but it would take further investigation to confirm that. He had a brief look in the general area, but found nothing of use.
Since he would need help to try and work out the route, he decided to explore already charted areas of the palace instead.
Even's first port of call was, of course, the library. He pushed open the doors and looked around from the doorway. It was ... large. Probably not as big as the one in Radiant Garden, but it spanned two floors and extended some distance under the mezzanine layer. Heavy curtains covered the windows, but the room was already lit despite the fact that it appeared to be quite unoccupied.
no subject
"Professor Hojo?" She repeated. "Are you sure?" 'Professor' wasn't that popular a title among scientists who made a name for themselves. There was one Professor Hojo who had made a name for himself, but there was no way it could be him.
Hojo couldn't be that common a name, though, let alone Professors among them.
no subject
He was an odd man. Even thought so after just one meeting and there had definitely been an open invitation open for others. He wasn't entirely sure that he would be taking him up on that.
"Why?" He raised his eyebrows.
no subject
But surely.... But this was Khamja, wasn't it?
"He's supposed to be dead," Nel said, surprise and disbelief still tainting her voice. "He was the head of Shinra's science department, but he died in a laboratory accident in Midgar years ago." She paused, and decided to make an adjustment to that statement, "Or everyone thought he did, anyway."
So his death had been faked. She wondered who'd done it, and why.
"He'll be why Szayel was told he can't have Orochimaru's labs," she said, putting her chin on her hand as she thought about it. As far where he'd been hiding until now, and why he'd moved into the Palace, she couldn't hazard a guess. It was a big world out there, and much bigger if you had Khamja's backing to hide in it.
no subject
"He seemed alive enough to me," Even said, shrugging his shoulders once more. "Though after speaking to him, I'm not surprised he was squirrelled away by a Clan like this."
Human experiments weren't looked upon kindly in most societies and he definitely dabbled in those. He had certainly made no secret of it.
no subject
"Shinra were into all sorts under him," she thought about it and added, "probably after him, too, but there were rumours of human experimentation, and manufacturing monsters, as well as the mako studies they were supposed to be involved in." She smiled, faintly. "So they have access to everything from Draklor and Midgar," she said, quietly. "How nice."
Khamja clearly didn't believe in keeping its egg in one basket, or even in only two, or three. Khamja must have had a hand in every side of every power struggle. Talk about hedging your bets.
no subject
"Lucky for Khamja," he said, blowing iced breath onto his tea to take the burning edge off it. "Not so much for those outside."
He wondered how many large-scale scientific facilities Spira had. He decided that it was ridiculous for them to be limited to just Draklor and Midgar, especially since Midgar had collapsed. Others had to exist, but he would probably have to put some effort into looking them up.
no subject
It was nice to see someone else who could be as unthinking about using their elemental chakra to do mundane things as she could be.
"No," she admitted, "not for everyone else." She sighed, and brought the conversation back to the topic that had been in hand before Professor's Hojo persistence in drawing breath had sidetracked it. "So, you've seen the kitchen, the library, your room, and the gardens? Anywhere you want to see, or that you're looking for?"
no subject
The palace felt like a maze, as if whoever had discovered it had hidden the entrances to various areas on a whim. It was possible that it was due to genuine reasons, like structural damage, but nobody knew for sure. Or Even didn't think anybody knew.
no subject
"I can help you look, if you'd like?" She offered. Frankly, it was either that or make a start on the laundry and see if someone had kept on top of the grocery shopping in her absence, and if they had, if they'd done it properly.