Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

After a busy few days, Isabel was stretched out on her bed, reviewing her notes for Hunting.

The door was open.

Comments

[the_merriest]

Rikku stopped nervously, peering into Isabel's room. Okay, she got the room number right, that was a plus. She shouldn't pester her, except ... okay, maybe she should. And Isabel could always tell her to kiss off. Right? Right.

"Isabel? Hi, are you, uh, busy?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Hi Rikku," Isabel smiled. "I'm just doing some studying but it's not a big deal. What's up?"

[the_merriest]

"Hi!" Rikku smiled back. "I just, uh. This might be silly. Or rude, or something. But you said, the other day, if you could, uh. Help? With what I'm doing? And you might have been being polite and that's totally okay if you were. But ... can I ask you, anyway?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Sure," she nodded, sitting up and crossing her legs. "Come in, grab a seat. What do you need?"

[the_merriest]

Rikku flashed a grateful smile and snagged the nearest chair. "It's just ... you work at the library, right? I'm trying to find something that I think isn't going to be there. It's not, okay, it would be in the Special Collections section, it's just, I don't think you guys are gonna have what I need, here, since no one's heard of Spira. And I can't find anything and ... I don't know if you know where people look, if the library doesn't have what they need."

She blushed. "It's, uh. Kind of a stupid question, I know."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's not, especially considering I've asked it myself," Isabel replied. "As for where to look? I guess it depends on what you're looking for."

[the_merriest]

"Really? Okay, thanks." Rikku smiled, a bit wistfully. "It's ... it's just that, where I'm from, things work different. Your dead move on, you don't need Summoners. No pyreflies, no fayth, and ... I need to know how all of it works. Where the fayth dream, if they even do any more. And there's nothing here to help me, because no one here has anything like that, and ..." She bit her lip. "It's not even something that forms into a question right."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean dream?" she asked curiously, wondering if it was anything like her ability to dreamwalk.


[ZOMG... So sorry, I forgot a real life commitment this morning. But I'm home now!]

[the_merriest]

Rikku bit her lip, trying to figure out how to explain it. "There's ... there are people who choose to ... not quite die. But give their spirits over to statues? And then ... they can merge with a Summoner, and I'm so bad at this, I don't understand it at all, but somehow it's their essence and ... what they dream can merge with pyreflies and become real. That's what the Aeons were, like, the fayth might be a little boy but when you Summon him, he's Bahamut, this enormous dragon-thing. Or this other woman turned into Shiva, this kind of ice goddess? It's ... that sounds strange, doesn't it?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel didn't understand much of the explanation so she focused on the one part where she might possibly be able to help. "The dream is a real person?"

[the_merriest]

Rikku nodded. "Becomes one. Or, I mean. Maybe they're not real, like, how we are? But they can walk and talk and feel and love and don't know they aren't. Not until someone stops Summoning them."

She looked down for a long moment. "There was ... a city. Summoned for a thousand years. And when we freed the fayth, the dreaming stopped, and all of those people ... they vanished into thin air."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"That sounds incredible," she said slowly. "I've never heard of anything like that. Is that what you're trying to do? To find them?"

[the_merriest]

Rikku shook her head. "I never knew most of them. Just one. He crossed into our world and helped us ... end things. Save the world. Even knowing what ... what it would mean for him." She closed her eyes. "I thought ... I thought maybe I could find him. And bring him back."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel sighed, understanding the feeling of loss and the desire to get someone back. "He sounds very special." She thought about her dreamwalking, so far it had only been on people that were relatively close physically, whether or not she would be able to reach someone that was essentially a dream. "Do you have a picture of him?"

[the_merriest]

"He ..." She looked down, thinking. "He and Yunie, they were in love. And she was supposed to die, saving the world, but we fixed it, and then he died instead, and ... that's why I was trying the whole ... ritual in the first place. She misses him so much and ..."

Rikku looked away for a long moment, then back. "No. No mementos or anything. His sword is back on Besaid, maybe I should have tried using that."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Liz and Maria's faces flashed in her mind and Isabel closed her eyes. She could relate to what Rikku wanted to do. "The reason I asked about the picture. There's this thing I can do. If I had a picture of him, I might be able to contact him. If he still existed."

[the_merriest]

Rikku stared at her. "You ... you can? You could? I mean. Is it dangerous? I don't want to ... I can't ask you to, if you might get hurt?"

She bit her lip, thinking. "I could, maybe Yunie has one? Maybe I ... I don't even know. How close would it need to be? I would draw one but ... I can't draw."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's only dangerous when I pop into the head of a friend and find out he's possessed by the Source of all Evil," she replied with a shrug. "Otherwise, it's not a big deal at all."

No photograph, Isabel bit her lip, wondering. "I don't know. I've always used photographs. So I don't even know if a drawing would work. But I'd say it would have to be pretty detailed."

[the_merriest]

"The ... the source of all evil!? Whoa." She shook her head. "Are you okay? Did it try to hurt you?"

Rikku listened, nodding. "I'll ... I'll see what I can find. If you're sure that it's okay and you don't mind, and ..." She smiled a bit wistfully. "I, uh. Even if it doesn't work, I ... thank you. I don't know how to say it right, other than I'll owe you one, and that sounds stupid, but ... thank you. For offering."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"He did, but Parker did some fast talking and saved both our lives. And eventually? A bunch of us were able to stop him," Isabel said, remembering how frustrating the whole situation had been.

"I don't mind. At all. We look out for one another here. And help when we can." She paused for a moment, trying to get her thoughts straight. "I can't even guarantee I'll be able to help. But I'll try. And you won't owe me a thing. I want to help."

[the_merriest]

Rikku nodded. "I'm glad you're both okay, then. That's ... that's scary. That's the kind of Fandom weirdness I'm not so keen on." She shuddered.

"This place ... it's full of some really amazing people. I mean, not just, you know, that people can do things or be things, I mean, uh." She blushed. "I was just hoping that no one would ... hate me, for being Al Bhed? I didn't expect people here would be ... so nice."

"I know none of this is definite. It's ... it just means a lot that you'd even ask. And if I can ever help you. I mean, something stupid or something big or you want some smoke bombs so you can go cause some mischief. Let me know, okay?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Honestly? I don't even know what Al Bhed is," she admitted. "It doesn't make a difference to me. You're a nice person. That's what matters. But I will keep the smoke bombs in mind."

[the_merriest]

"No one here does," Rikku said softly. "It's ... it's nice. No one's called me names and someone said my eyes were pretty. It's hard to get used to."

Her eyes lit up a bit. "I have plenty of smoke bombs. And explosives. Always good for wreaking a little havoc, you know?!"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"They are pretty," Isabel smiled. "And I'm finding you during the next invasion then. Because havoc will be required I'm sure."

[the_merriest]

Rikku grinned. "Thanks. And you bet! Unless it's another storm-thing. Then I'll be hiding under my bed. Other than that, I've got all kinds of useful goodies."