damned_city | Night 70: Night, Farwell

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Night 70: Night, Farwell

Who: Sora, Locke Cole, and Byrne Faraday
Where: Section 8, subway entrance
Summary: The trio takes a ferry over to the entrance of the subway station, and then have no choice but to say their goodbyes.

What Sora couldn't quite get over about this place was how nice everyone seemed to be. Maybe it was just because he was used to the institute, where the nurses were kind but always treated him like he was a little kid who didn't know anything. There wasn't any easier way to frustrate him, but none of the rebels seemed to care how old he was, which was nice.

Either way, after Rockhand had given him a set of new radios and explained how to use them (they could talk to each other through them, which was pretty neat, even if Locke couldn't benefit much from them, which wasn't so good) and then gave them a chance to eat and rest, he'd sent them down to the river to meet yet another rebel who captained the boat and could take them over to the subway station the quick way.

It was pretty weird, to go from being stuck in that institute to traveling through an abandoned city by boat, but Sora made sure to take in all the sights. It was nice to get a better look at things without having to wear down his feet even further, and Sora fiddled with his new radio as the boat chugged along, taking them past the abandoned amusement park and the area that held the courthouse before they reached a part of the city they hadn't yet seen.

The first thing that Sora saw were some unmarked buildings, but they sailed right on by those, eventually stopping in front of the station, a green structure that was just as run down as the rest of the place. Sora jumped off of the boat and thanked the rebel before speeding his way toward the subway station. Rockhand had said they just had to walk down the tracks and if they kept right eventually they'd reach the institute again, right?

He noticed the sign that said "Welcome to Farwell!" and tilted his head to the side. It was a sad thing to see, because it reminded him that at one point this city had been thriving, full of people -- not half-dead.

Still, he couldn't focus on depressing thoughts like that for too long. Sora turned back to Locke and Byrne, still clutching tight onto his radio. "So... I guess..." This was where they had to say goodbye to Byrne, seeing how he wasn't coming with. That wasn't easy to say, let alone do, though.

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Like Sora, Byrne had been equally full of mixed feelings throughout the day. On the one hand, he was grateful for all of the help and genuine concern that he, Locke, and Sora had been receiving from the rebels. It really made him feel like there was hope despite the bleak atmosphere of this place, and, not to mention, it also made him all the more determined to become part of this, to help out the cause.

Unfortunately, that desire meant something more sad here, now that the trio had all rested, eaten, and arrived at their destination from the ferry (which had been quite the sight-seeing trip, he had to admit). Byrne was going back with the rebel who'd ferried them here, but Sora and Locke were venturing on ahead...alone. Which meant goodbyes. Oddly enough, it hadn't fully struck Byrne before, but once the station itself came into view, it was like someone had dropped the realization like a two-ton weight over him. If it had been any other situation, the goodbye wouldn't have been nearly as bad, but here? Who knew if he would ever see these two again, or if they would be safe after he watched them disappear into the subway tunnel?

Nevertheless, once they all got off the boat and Sora turned to address them, Byrne managed a genuine smile despite the subject. It wouldn't do to look depressed, would it? "This is where we part," the prosecutor said, finishing the youth's sentence for him, though words began failing him right after. What should he say to two new friends who were venturing on without him to a place of oppression and possible death? 'Take care' didn't express nearly enough concern.

Fortunately, as a man used to dealing with grasping for words in a short period of time (thank you courtroom experience), it didn't take Byrne very long to think of something to say - though whether it was the best thing to say or not wasn't guaranteed. "It'll be alright." He tried his best to sound reassuring. "We have more hope now, don't we? There's people here on our side, and a way to get out of that place. We can fight this."

Locke, as opposed to his two companions, drew nothing from the ferry trip but a sick and gross feeling. He spent the whole time in a corner of the boat just trying not to be sick. He was lucky in the sense this was just a river, but that only spared him of actually being sick and left him with just the nausea.

As soon as he could, he was off that boat and reuniting with solid ground. Of course, as soon as he wasn't distracted by his body's inability to handle water transportation, the realization that they'd have to go their separate ways hit him and soured things again. He didn't like good byes, they felt too final and too sad, and this was no different.

He pulled out the pad he was quickly running out of room on and jotted down 'We can and we will. This isn't good bye, we'll be back before you know it and we'll bring good news with us.' They had to, it finally felt like they were headed in the right direction.

It was a good thing that Byrne started things off, because Sora was no fan of farewells either. He didn't like even thinking about the possibility that they might not make it back here. It was Byrne's choice to stay, but Sora couldn't kick the feeling that they were leaving him here, in an unknown place. Sora just reminded himself that there were plenty of other people here, and that Byrne knew where he could go for food and shelter.

After Byrne said his piece, Sora was quick to nod. He couldn't lose a hold on his optimism for long, as melancholy as it was to have to say goodbye. "Yeah. We're really getting somewhere now, aren't we?" He was just going to ignore the fact that all three of them had died for this to happen. The memories of that night were still painful -- not because of what had happened to him, but because of what he'd put Kratos and Tsurugi through. He had to go back and let them know that he was okay.

With that thought in mind, Sora knew that he couldn't have any seconds thoughts about this. He was curious about what Locke had written, but since there was a chance that it was private, he didn't lean over to read the words. Instead, once Byrne had read the message and handed the pad back, Sora stepped forward and moved in to hug him.

It was true that they'd only known each other for a few days, but to someone like Sora that didn't matter. Their hearts had still become connected in the time they'd spent together. "Be careful, okay? We'll make it back here, I know we will." He pulled back and then stared up into Byrne's face. "And let us know if you want us to give anyone a message from you!"

These two... Byrne truly couldn't have found himself in the company of better people during his stay here. True, how they all had actually gotten here hadn't been pleasant to say the least - in Byrne's case, it had even involved an Institute patient turning on him, though the reasons why, he'll never understand - but they had all trusted each other and survived up to this point in this city, hadn't they? And both Sora and Locke were good people, without a doubt.

Byrne was really going to miss them.

But hey, both of them were right, weren't they? They'd be back! And they'd survive, for sure. Byrne had faith in them, just like he had faith in the rebels and the rest of the patients. (...Well, most of the patients.)

As he handed Locke the notepad back, Sora suddenly moved forward to hug him, somewhat catching him off guard; but after a moment, the prosecutor briefly returned the hug, quickly finding himself feeling even more emotional than before. G-geez. No way was this going to end in tears! Not going to let it happen! "I know you both will, too," Byrne replied, smiling even more than before as Sora stepped back and looked up at him. He briefly reached over and put a hand on the younger man's shoulder, just long enough for him to say, "You be careful, too. I'll be waiting for you guys here."

Now Byrne was left thinking over what Sora brought up, the same as Locke's offer from last night. He'd thought about it before, not sure if he'd wanted to place such a burden on them. But since they were still offering, he might as well take advantage of it, right? Plus, he was worried about some people back in the Institute anyway. "Well... If you see or know anyone named Renamon, Rei or Gren, can you let them know I'm okay?" He contemplated mentioning Niikura, too, but figured it...wasn't as important as the other three.

But speaking of important individuals he should be mentioning... Byrne's smile disappeared immediately as he stared hard at Sora, then at Locke. "Oh, and if you see a white haired little kid, be wary of him. He's not trustworthy." To say the least.

Locke's smile grew seeing Sora and Byrne hug. No doubt, these two had become part of his family just as the others still back home had. He'd miss Byrne, but they'd be back and he'd look out for Sora as much as he could while they were gone. He jotted down the names Byrne listed; none of them sounded familiar, but he he could still ask about them while he was there.

His expression turned both curious and a little concerned when the older man mentioned the kid with white hair. Locke didn't think he knew anyone by that description, but it was clear Byrne had strong feelings about him, so he nodded. If his friend thought they ought to be careful, then Locke would listen.

Something else occurred to him and he wrote something else down for Byrne: 'Is there anything in your room you want? I'm going to be making a trip to mine, so I could grab something for you, if you want.' Locke still had his normal clothes, after all, and as petty as it might be, he wanted to grab them if he could. It wouldn't be impossible for him to pick up something similar for his friend.

Hugs were still something new for Sora, but he'd found that they were effective for expressing the things he couldn't quite communicate in words. He nodded to Byrne's statement and then took a step backward, letting out a sigh. This sort of thing was always difficult, but surprisingly, there weren't any tears forming in his eyes. Not that Sora couldn't shed a few from time to time, but he wasn't going to be sad because he knew they'd see Byrne again.

He took careful note of the names, though he was relieved that Locke wrote them down because he didn't want to risk forgetting, either. Renamon was the only one who sounded familiar, and he'd only spoken with her once or twice. Sora couldn't recall seeing her around any time recently, but he hadn't exactly been looking. At least the bulletin board would make things relatively simple for them. "Got it."

That warning about a white-haired kid gave him pause, though. He knew someone who fit that description, someone he'd been warned about before. "Albedo...?" he murmured under his breath while Locke and Byrne had another silent exchange. It had to be. Sora had spoken with him a few times, but their conversations had never veered toward anything too weird. He took the words to heart, but he had to ask...

"What makes him so dangerous?" he spoke up a little louder, peering at Byrne curiously.

Neither Sora nor Locke rushed to comment on the familiarity of any of the names Byrne mentioned, but that was okay; they didn't have to know them personally to pass along a message. (...But he couldn't help but admit that it would be nice if they knew beforehand that each of those individuals were okay. That's probably asking for too much, though.)

As the conversation shifted in subject and tone, however, it seemed that at least Sora did know who Byrne was talking about. "His name is Albedo?" he asked, a little surprised that Sora even knew his name. Should Byrne be even more concerned that he was possibility familiar with the kid? Considering what he did to Byrne before, all answers were pointing to 'yes'.

The prosecutor lowered his eyes for a moment as he briefly pondered how to go about explaining this. He hadn't exactly told either of his companions about what really happened to him before coming here, but, well, now it was probably about time. "He's...he's the reason I ended up here, actually. I didn't even know him, but he turned around and shot me without provocation." Admittedly, the kid - Albedo - had also mentioned his having that illness before shooting him, but--but really, did that justify murder? How many other people had he targeted in a similar fashion?

Byrne held off on commenting further, however, as he received another written note from Locke. Anything in his room...? He wondered if any of his belongings could still be left untouched when he was here now, but nevertheless. "If they haven't taken any of my things yet," he said to Locke, "you guys can feel free to help yourselves to whatever you like. It's room M27. I know I had a loaded gun in there that you can use to defend yourselves."

...Though... "If you see a trenchcoat in there, then I wouldn't mind having that back. Only if it isn't too much trouble, though."

So the kid with white hair had killed Byrne? That was definitely something to be wary of. Why would he do that? Weren't they all in the same boat on this whole thing, what was the point of turning on another patient? Maybe he had some motivation that drove him to do it, something he couldn't have told Byrne. Still, it didn't really matter in the long run if he could just avoid the guy, maybe he could ask if he ever ran into the kid. Of course, he could just be legitimately crazy, some people were.

It was a question for another time.

Byrne's answer took his attention and he scratched out a quick 'Not a problem! I'm headed there anyway' and offered one of his usual grins. Assuming his untimely death hadn't scrambled his brain, M27 should be in the same hallway as Tolten and Edgar's rooms, so it was really right on his way.

While Sora had invited Byrne to explain, he hadn't expected him to reveal that Albedo had been the one to kill him. And with no explanation, either! Sora stared in shock, wondering how someone as young as Albedo appeared could be capable of something like that. He'd had a few different conversations with him, and he would have never thought...

Then again, his own brother, Nigredo, had been the one to issue that original warning. Sora should have known that it was something serious. His expression turned into something harsher as he nodded. "All right, I'll keep that in mind." Byrne had revived, true, but what if he hadn't? Then Albedo would have done something truly horrible. Sora wasn't going to let him get away with it so easily if he happened to see him again.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said after a long pause. He wasn't going to bring the mood down any further now, but Sora couldn't just let something like that go. Then again, he didn't know if Locke had also been a victim of a similar fate... they hadn't exactly talked about it.

"A trenchcoat," he echoed. "Got it. I guess that's everything then, huh?" Which meant that he and Locke needed to get going, as hard as it might be to leave Byrne here. The tunnels were dark and foreboding, but if that was the way back to the institute, then Sora would head through them without any fear.

Byrne nodded his head, the smile from before returning now that Locke was smiling again and such a grim subject had passed (thankfully). Though now he felt a little bad for his warning, as necessary as it was; he didn't want to kill his friends' spirits or make them apprehensive about returning in any way. But that said, they really did need to know. What if that kid was still there, targeting other innocent people? What if he targeted Sora and Locke for any reason? Not that Byrne fully understood why he himself had been killed, but...

Still, he had faith in Sora and Locke that they'd be okay. They'd survived in this city together up until this point, hadn't they? Byrne trusted them, and that trust eased his own worries (...a little bit).

"Guess so," he said, then gave a firm nod of his head. "Be careful, and watch yourselves. We'll meet again."

Locke pocketed the notepad again, figuring he was probably done with it, and reached out to Byrne's shoulder, that smile still firmly in place. Despite how gloomy everything was here and the very real danger he and Sora were headed back into, Locke's optimism was unwavering. Of course they'd meet again, there wouldn't be any other option.

He stepped away gave a little wave before turning to head into the tunnels with the expectation that Sora would follow when he was ready. As bittersweet as this whole thing was, Locke was already turning his mind from the friend he was leaving behind to the task still ahead.

So that was it. Locke was already heading off, and Sora knew that he couldn't stall on this any longer. He smiled at Byrne, and if there was a tinge of sadness to it, then he at least hoped it wasn't too obvious. He waved to Byrne and then spun around to face the subway station, racing after Locke to catch up with him.

Which meant that now it was just the two of them. Sora wondered if he should summon his Keyblade so he could have it at the ready. He knew that eventually his powers were going to weaken again, once they got closer to the institute, but he was going to make the most of having that power back while he still could.

Then again, if they were lucky they wouldn't have to worry about any monsters on the way back. Either way, it was going to be a pretty quiet trip unless Sora found some way to fill up the silence. "I wonder how long of walk it is..." Sora was mainly musing to himself. He didn't really expect Locke to write messages back to him while they walked.

Locke found himself wondering the same thing as they started on their little journey, it wasn't like they'd been awake...or perhaps even alive, when they'd come to Farwell. As much as he didn't look forward to the institute, he hoped it wasn't far. Already, he was planning what he would do once they go there, assuming nothing caused them to stray from their path. Of course, that brought the question of what exactly it was Sora had planned. Locke knew he wanted to go back for the same reasons he did, but what his plan, exactly?

That was worth a quick note of 'What do you plan to do when we get there?' to the teen. As he was passing the pad over he noticed a decently sized stone on the ground and stooped to pick it up as they passed.

It might seem random to anyone else, but he found rocks were pretty useful when traveling through caverns. This wasn't exactly a cave, but it was underground and in disrepair, so who knew what it's condition would be further in. In caves, there were times when you needed to know how deep a hole in your path was or sometimes even a body of water. He didn't know what he should be expecting to find on these tracks but, at the very least, it could always be used as a distraction if they came across anything unpleasant.

There were only a few lights here and there along the train tracks, but Sora made sure to look over at Locke's note right as they walked past one, using that in order to read it. His plan? Well, it was simple, really.

"The first thing I want to do is find my friends and let them know that I'm okay." How much detail did he go into about that? He wasn't sure if he should admit everything to Locke, but at the same time, he had no reason to not trust him, and after what Byrne had told them, Sora felt it would be best if he came clean. "I... I asked someone to make sure I didn't hurt anyone. But when I transformed, there wasn't much they could do. I would have probably killed one of them if they hadn't done something, so..."

Hopefully Locke knew what he was getting at. Sora swallowed harshly as he remembered the feeling of Kratos' sword piercing through his changed body. He closed his eyes for a moment, walking blind as he tried to push the memory away.

He hadn't missed the fact that Locke had picked up a rock, though. That seemed kind of random, but maybe Locke thought that he could use it as a distraction if they ran into any monsters down here. So far it was completely silent, so Sora was hoping that it would just be a long walk, rather than a dangerous one. He could tell that his Keyblade was still fully accessible, though, so he'd be able to handle a monster if one came their way.

He played with the rock in his hand a bit as he listened to Sora's story; it really wasn't too far off from his own. He hadn't asked Edgar or Tolten to do anything, he'd tried to lock himself away from them and anyone else as well in order to keep them safe. Except that hadn't really worked so well, had it? Part of him wondered if maybe he should have just stayed in his room and shoved one of the chairs under the handle in case Guy had tried to come back for whatever reason, but it didn't really matter now.

He winced a bit as the memories he'd tried not to dwell on ran through his mind. Some of them were blurry, like what happened after the headache hit, it was mostly just emotion and pain, but he could remember trying to attack and kill his friends. He could remember tearing into Edgar's shoulder with his teeth, this on top of the fact he'd already sliced his best friend's arm open the night before that. He was just glad he hadn't gone for the throat...and that Edgar got Locke before Locke could get him...even if death by fire magic really wasn't the greatest way to go.

Maybe that was selfish, in a way. He knew how he would feel if he had killed Edgar, and no doubt the king wasn't too happy with what had happened either. Still, it all had worked out, right? And it was in self defense as a opposed to being because he wasn't in his right mind at the time. Either way, that was why he had to get back to his friends and let them know he was fine and definitely didn't blame them in the slightest. Really, if he hadn't, Locke likely would have killed Edgar...and Tolten had been sick too, he would have been next in the end.

He waited till they were nearing another light before writing another message, 'Same. And while I didn't ask anyone, my friend did the same. glad he did.', and handed that one over as well.

Edited 2013-05-22 03:40 (UTC)

Sora felt kind of bad for making Locke write messages back to him while they were walking, but if it wasn't for that they'd just be moving down the long set of tracks in complete silence, and that was no fun either. Even if it was only his voice (and the sound of Locke's pencil scribbling against the pad of paper) that was breaking the quiet, that was better than nothing.

He took the pad, reading it over before nodding. "At least he made that decision before you did anything you couldn't fix." Maybe that was why he and Locke were so eager to return to the institute while Byrne hadn't minded staying behind. Byrne had been murdered in cold blood, something that Sora was still trying to process, while he and Locke had been put down by friends who were only looking out for them.

But Sora had spent the past few days dwelling on that. He couldn't imagine the guilt that Kratos (and Tsurugi, to an extent) must be going through, and all he wanted to do at this point was soothe some of that.

"Anyway, now at least we'll be able to let them know that we're okay..." Sora kept his gaze directed forward as he walked along the tracks. He wondered how long it had been since a train had actually been in use here, and what it had been used for. Why was there such a direct link between the institute and Farwell?

Even with the flickering lights, Sora was able to see that some distance ahead of them, the tracks dropped off, and concrete switched to dirt.

Considering the subject and their environment, Locke appreciated Sora's optimism, it ensured his didn't go anywhere either.

His night vision had always been pretty decent, so with the lights he caught sight of the terrain change as well. Did that mean they were close? He supposed it depended on where this path ended. He hadn't really thought about it, but it was possible this would lead them to just outside the institute and then what would they do? He wasn't familiar with the grounds of the place and, beyond that, there were those birds; Locke knew they wouldn't come after him, but the same probably couldn't be said for Sora. Not that he was going to ask.

There was also the possibility that there was some underground area that he and Tolten had never gotten around to exploring. That would be more convenient. Well, maybe, then they'd have to deal with whatever creatures might be wandering around and the fact they didn't have any weapons. Locke didn't know if he had enough luck to hope for this to be easy, but he was hoping all the same.

While it wasn't something they were talking about out loud, Sora also had to wonder where this tunnel would eventually lead to. He hoped that it was a part of the institute that he at least recognized, though either way they would probably end up in their beds in their room when morning came. It was odd to realize that when they hadn't been bound by those rules for a few days.

Right as Sora stepped off the tracks, though, something changed. It felt a bit like getting the wind knocked out of him, and Sora staggered to the side to lean against the side of the tunnel, not really caring in that moment that he would end up dirty as a result.

Slowly, he felt all of that strength and power he was so used to being drained out of him, though it actually happened in a matter of seconds. He realized that they'd just entered Landel's realm again -- and that meant having weakened powers.

Sora glanced over at Locke, letting out a breath as he tried to recover from that disorienting experience. "Did... you just feel something, too?" he asked.

He had. As soon as his feet touched dirt it felt like something heavy had landed on his chest as he felt his magic get ripped away. It caused him to gasp and double over a bit but he remained on his feet. Maybe it was because the power wasn't naturally his or because he hadn't been able to access it anyway, but it didn't seem to have hit him as hard.

Even though he hadn't been able to fully access that power, just knowing he had it when he didn't have anything else had been a comfort, especially since he knew nonverbal magic was possible, even if unlikely for someone as inexperienced with it as him. Now he just felt somewhat defenseless, it wasn't like he had Sabin's physical prowess. On the plus, they'd gotten this far without incident.

Locke nodded at Sora's question and straightened. He started to reach out to help Sora but faltered as he remembered the last time he'd tried that. All he could offer was a concerned expression and hope that the teen was okay.

It was probably for the best that Locke didn't grab for him, even though Sora appreciated the thought. It would just end up hurting both of them. It had even happened when he had hugged Byrne goodbye, so it looked like physical contact was just not possible for him at this point. Sora tried not to be bothered by it -- not being able to speak had to be much worse, but it was still enough to make him feel oddly lonely.

As for his powers, well... he'd gotten through a long stretch of time without them, so he would just do it again. Sora wasn't going to doubt himself now. They'd found Farwell, which meant that they were that much closer to fixing all of this. They had to be; he wouldn't accept any other possibility.

"We need to keep track of where we come out, so we can try bringing people back this way if we can," Sora told Locke. He didn't know if it would be that simple, since they'd only ended up in Farwell by dying, but there had to be another way.

Sora heard a swishing noise as they continued walking. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what it was. "Is that... water?"

Keeping track shouldn't be too hard. Locke was good at info gathering and remembering which paths led where; it was a useful skill in his own travels and a necessity when acting as reconnaissance for the Returners.

Locke paused as well, listening to the sound of...well, it sounded like a lake. He glanced at Sora before moving on as their path led them out of the tunnel and into a new area.

[To Here]

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Night 70: Night, Farwell

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