DAY 25: GREENHOUSES (second shift)

[beforehertime.livejournal.com]

Elena was not exactly thrilled with the idea of playing in dirt. It was just...dirt. Gardening held no joy for her. Anything that anyone tried to plant in Midgar died almost immediately, so why bother? All of the plants in the little parks that Shin-Ra had created to keep the denizens of the Upper Plates happy were artificial. The only time she ever got to see plants that weren't fake was on daytrips to Kalm or holidays spent with relatives in Icicle Inn.

She'd never worked with them before.

Sighing, Elena accepted a pair of too-big gardening gloves. They had been pink, at one point, with little blue flowers. Now they were just a sort of spotty brown. Frowning, she poked at the small potted violet that a nurse had set in front of her with a little plastic shovel that looked like it had come from a child's playset. What was she supposed to be doing with it?

Comments

[beforehertime.livejournal.com]

Smile and nod, Elena. Smile and nod.

How could Landel's be "not so bad?" Had Renge not yet realized the full implications of this place, or something? Whatever. If Renge had questions, she would answer them. From what she had seen in the courtyard yesterday, Elena knew that the other girl didn't react well if someone tried to tell her that her perception of reality was anything other than God's honest truth.

"I'm...not actually a Turk," she admitted, a little pink. "I mean, here I'm sort of a de facto Turk, but it isn't an official job. If you'd like, though, I can introduce you to Reno?" Oh, that would be a sight. Well, at least it would stoke the redhead's ego a bit, keep him happy.

Naminé, on the other hand, had reacted differently to the same words. "What's a 'Keyblade Master?'" Elena asked, curious. "And yeah, the 'other worlds' thing is a bit trippy, isn't it?"

[3bowlsofrice.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry, you'll make it Elena!" And be foiled time and time again by Cloud and company, but it was the thought that counted, right? Renge smiled, feeling like her chipper old self and practically beamed when Naminé asked about Sora.

"Yup! I saw Kairi during breakfast yesterday and Sora came by." Even though the teen would've preferred seeing Roxas or Naminé instead. Either one balanced Kairi perfectly, but she knew she couldn't be picky. But at Elena's question, she found herself tapping her chin while she tried to come up with an easy way to explain it.

"A Keyblade Master is a defender of worlds, using a giant key to vanquish the Darkness overrunning them and open the Door to the Light." Renge summarized with a sage nod. "Naminé could probably explain it better though."

Or more like Renge just wanted an excuse to hear the blonde girl speak again.

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

How did... How did Renge know that?! Naminé continued to stare, dumbfounded. Granted, Sora or Kairi could have explained that to Renge earlier, but... she spoke as if she knew about the Keyblade long before she even met them. So confident! So accurate! It was a textbook answer! Maybe Renge was from the same universe, or perhaps she was simply very intelligent.

"Ah, yes, what Renge said is correct. Those with strong hearts are able to call the weapon. But, they can also be used for evil as well as good. They are very important in our world."

Naminé wondered what else Renge knew about her world. It seemed like she knew things about Elena's world as well. Naminé was actually very impressed. A lot of people didn't accept the fact that there were multiple worlds so quickly, much less learn about them.

[beforehertime.livejournal.com]

Elena smiled weakly. "I've been hearing that a lot lately," she said with a little humorless laugh.

From the way Naminé was staring, she was willing to bet money that the younger girl had never heard of the prevailing theory at Landel's that some worlds were fictional in others. From what Renge and Naminé were describing, it sounded rather like a video game. Poor thing.

"Wow, sounds complicated," she said, blinking. "How do you know if someone's got a strong heart or not?"

[3bowlsofrice.livejournal.com]

"It all has to do with virtues of course," Renge nodded again. "Pretty classic, but that's how they do it over there. How strong a heart is depends on how pure the person is. There are actually seven women known as the Seven Princesses of Heart that are a representation of Light itself."

She gave a light hum.

"You can tell if a person has a weak heart if they're easily won over by the Darkness. They have shady morals, and in the end if they're not careful their hearts might be consumed. And if this happens they're split into two beings: a Heartless, which is a part of the Darkness, and the empty shell left over."

If there was one thing Renge loved it was showing off what she knew, and in a place like Landel's, her knowledge shined even more so than in her own world.

[angels-inflight.livejournal.com]

And once again, Renge was correct.

But now, Naminé was starting to feel a little frightened as Renge explained the most complicated parts of her world with absolute ease. There was no way that she could have understood this all from Sora and Kairi. In fact, it sounded like Renge knew more about her world than Naminé did.

"Yes... that's right! Miss Renge, are you a scholar?" She asked, staring up at the other woman in a mixture of fear and awe. Perhaps she was like Yen Sid, or Ansem the Wise. Maybe the reason why she wasn't afraid of Landels was because she was used to traveling to other worlds. Maybe Renge lied about her origins!