Lost in a City of Lights (Tag: Maxwell)

[Lorena]

Lorena had spent much of the last few days within the small safehouse the Moogles had prepared since transferring here from Twilight Town. All the bright neon lights and towering skyscrapers had been a lot for Lorena to adjust to, pair that with the rampant technology of moving pictures on screens and metal constructs people referred to as robots, and Lorena wasn't sure what to make of it all. Many of the others from Twilight Town must have been adjusting quite well, having moved from a crumbling city of darkness to a utopia filled with people and light. It had been a change when Lorena had lost her home originally and ended up in Radiant Garden and then Twilight Town, but its technologies were never quite in her face like everything here in San Fransokyo was. She wasn't quite sure what to make of their escape from Twilight Town either; did they lose to the heartless yet again? Were they doomed to repeat the loss of each new world one by one once the heartless reached them? What was their next move?

Perhaps it was time to finally get her bearings. She stepped out onto the bustling street, her robes and weaponry contrasting sharply with the other residents of the area. She received a lot of curious looks as she continued through the street and eventually pulled her hood up over her head to hide how anxious her expression was. She couldn't help but wonder if the heartless had shown up on this world yet, and in how big of numbers. How safe is this city really? And how good are its defenses?

Lorena stiffened as she caught some unnaturally rigid movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, expecting an enemy out of habit, only to be confronted by a small construct with a strangely shaped head dancing in front of a store front, singing some annoying and repetitive song about noodle burgers. With an awkward shuffle Lorena turned down an alley to avoid crossing the bizarre creature, and exited into the next street over. With a few more similar encounters with things Lorena couldn't understand, she wound up somewhere she didn't recognize, and she had no clue how to get back to the safehouse. At this rate she would have to swallow her pride and ask for some directions, hopefully by someone not fabricated from metal.

[Maxwell Tendas]

Max had left the safe house for some fresh air a long time ago. Had it been an hour or two? He wasn’t sure, but it had been a long time. He was just so fascinated by all the lights and things, though he could do without all the noise that came along with it, especially that odd song about something called “noodle burgers”. He rolled his eyes every time he heard that song and just kept moving, trying to get away from it.

He was a good long ways away from the safehouse and he was nearly ready to head back. He wasn’t sure how to get back on foot, but was sure he could find it by flying on one of his water platforms. He just needed to find a good source of water that he wouldn’t have to bust things up to get to. After all, this was a vibrant city full of people. He was sure they still needed their plumbing.

He wasn’t paying attention as he came up to the mouth of an alley and run full-on into someone. Both of them nearly fell over, though Max managed to catch his balance before grabbing the other person’s arm to help them regain their’s. To his surprise, he had quite literally run into Lorena. His brow furrowed, remembering the last time he had seen this woman from his homeworld was when she had tried to help him recover some of his memories a little faster. The attempt technically was successful, but Lorena had ended up reliving the memory alongside him, and it had been a very personal one. At first, he had been angry about it, but now he thought he was just embarrassed about the situation, and it felt like things had been awkward between the two of them ever since.

“Sorry, Lorena,” he said, helping her regain her balance before letting go, “I didn’t see you there.”

He moved to step past her and continue down the street as he said, “I was just out for some fresh air, and was about to head back.”

Despite the fact that they hadn’t really said two words to each other since they escaped Twilight Town and came to this new world, it seemed as though things were still awkward between them. At least, they were for him. Lorena’s face though, which was normally nigh unreadable, had a look of discomfort on it as well, and that gave him pause. If something had her on edge, it had to be bad.

“Are you okay?” He asked, the awkwardness momentarily forgotten, “You look a little...stressed.”

[Lorena]

Lorena gasped as she ran head first into something, which then caught her before she could stumble backwards to the ground. She looked up to see Max, and removed her hood, "Ah, Maxwell, glad to see ah... familiar face." It was certainly true neither of them had spoken much since she had helped him recover some of his memories, and those memories ended up being incredibly personal. She hadn't been consciously avoiding him however, they had both been fairly busy with their respective tasks back in Twilight Town; though being confronted by him now she wasn't sure exactly how to talk to him, apart from pretending the event never happened in the first place. His memories had hardly been her business in the first place, so surely it would be easier for the both of them if she forgot about it.

"You seem well," she replied as he commented on her noticeably anxious state, "This place is just so much louder than I'm used to. I'm not even sure where I've ended up." She looked up and down the street, and then back towards the alley she came from. "Perhaps you could help me find my way back?"

She was hardly used to the crowds either, the swarms of people surrounding them, as well as the skyscrapers towering over them made Lorena feel quite confined and small. Twilight Town had been crumbling ruins, with only a small number of survivors around, and Radiant Garden couldn't compare to the sheer scale of this city. Even as she stood there trying to absorb her surroundings she felt like she was in the way as pedestrians skirted around the two of them. She slinked back a few steps into the alley behind them to allow more space on the sidewalk for other people. "How can you even stand it here?" Lorena half muttered under her breath.

[Maxwell Tendas]

Lorena looked up and down the street as she mentioned how long this city was, a complaint Max himself had as well. The former acolyte continued by saying she was lost, and asked Max if he could help her get back, then muttered something as she pulled him into the alleyway she had been walking out of to make space on the sidewalk for other people.

“Yeah, no problem,” he said, looking around the alleyway they found themselves in. There was a water faucet sticking from a wall nearby that he could pull water from, “You’re okay with heights right?”

Before she could answer, a group of three teenagers broke from the crowds on the street to enter the alleyway. There was a look of awe on all three of them as they approached the two Grendamites.

“Dude, your cosplays are awesome,” one of them said, causing Max’s brow to furrow, “is that real mail?”

“Yeah it looks like it!” A second of the teenagers said, grabbing Max’s arm to inspect his armor.

“It looks cool,” the third said, adjusting his glasses,”But I don’t like the leather. It’s not accurate.”

The three kept basically talking and squabbling amongst themselves, Max or Lorena unable to get a word in whatsoever. Max just kept trying to pull away from the one grabbing him until he grabbed his sword and pulled it from its sheath. He was more than done with these three at that. He grabbed the water in the nearby faucet pulled it free as non-destructively as he could and sent it against the chest of the teen who had taken his sword and was now marveling at it. Before the boy could do anything, he was lifted off his feet and shoved against the alley wall by the water, which then turned to ice and held him there. His two companions screamed and rsn off, leaving their friend behind. Max retrieved Quicksilver from where it had been dropped and turned to the boy.

“You shouldn’t mess with people’s things like that,” he said, turning the ice back to water and releasing the boy. He would be afraid, but unharmed, “Now go.”

As the boy run out of the alleyway and back onto the street, Max gathered up the water again and turned to Lorena as he made a platform.

“So, why don’t we go up and head back to the safe house?”

[Lorena]

Lorena reached for her daggers as the group of teens swarmed the two of them, at first expecting an attack, but instead they seemed to be admiring their garb. She didn't quite understand it, or what they meant when they asked if the mail Max had was real or that the leather wasn't accurate, but Lorena supposed their clothes were different from these kids that they were curious. She really had no idea what a cosplayer was though. Once one of the kids started reaching for Max's arm though, he retaliated with a water attack that slammed the kid against the wall and froze him in place. The others ran for it, and so did the first kid once Max finally released him from the ice and returned the water from whence it came.

After that, Max turned to her and suggested they head back to the safehouse. Lorena gave a curt nod and a "sure," as she waited for him to lead the way, considering he seemed to imply going up, probably with his water abilities. It was strange, she had once possessed the same ability to control water like Max, but never thought to use it in the ways he did; then again, she gave up that power at quite a young age, so it was understandable that he would have far more mastery over it. Lorena wouldn't have changed anything though, if she could go back and try again. She was honored to carry on the magic that her masters taught her, knowledge that only a limited few were chosen to see.

"So what do you think will be our next move?" She paused, before realizing her statement was rather vague, "Have the others said anything since we arrived here from Twilight Town?" Paired with her discomfort about this strange world, her need for purpose had left her rather restless during the time they'd spent here so far.

[Maxwell Tendas]

Lorena nodded in agreement and Max stepped up onto the platform, then turned to offer her a hand up. When they were both standing firmly on the water, he raised it slowly so they were above the roofs of the nearby buildings. After dodging some sort of speeding flying machine, with a curse muttered under his breath, he began to move them in the direction of the Safe House.

Or so he thought.

In answer to Lorena's question Max shook his head, "I haven't heard anything. They might just be trying to give us a chance to catch our breath though. I think it would be well deserved with all we went through in Twilight Town."

They were keeping up with the slower of the vehicles below them, which meant they were moving much more quickly toward their new home than they had away from it. Before long, they came up on a corner that, according to Max's estimations, was the last they needed to turn before they came upon the Safe House. As they turned it, however, it became clear that it was not there. He stopped the platform and they just hung there in the air as he looked around in surprise.

"I think we took a wrong turn somewhere," he said, scratching his head.