The Happy Trio [Noctis/ Daiki]

She's not coming back.

It had felt like it had taken weeks for her to come to that conclusion, though in reality it had only been a day at most. Every moment she had spent fearing, and yet wanting to hear footsteps at the warehouse door again. She was terrified at the thought of having to face her creator once more, and yet wanted nothing more than Ruo to come back and make everything go back to the way it was before she had left, as though she could fix everything. She knew it wasn't true to an extent, but that childish hope still clung on, wanting to believe that there was a time soon in the future where she could stop being scared.

What she had learned upon her close call with her 'death' was something that would never leave her mind, suddenly understanding why Alphonse had told to stay away from the construction yard, and all the times that her friend had referred to the once abstract concept of 'harm'. To think she had gone weeks being oblivious to it all, wasn't it just a miracle she had kept her mechanical body intact? She didn't like to think about it much, as her mind would always then wander off to think of her friend, which she could only imagine had walked off into danger. That would be the only reason she would leave her behind, right?

She had to think that. She had to believe in her.

But it had become apparent that Ruo wasn't coming back on her own, that she herself must have been in danger. She could find no other explanation that would have kept the other android from returning when she said she would have. She had promised herself that she would go looking for her if she hadn't yet returned by now. Given her newly obtained persona, that had to be her duty now....right?

It was hard to take her first step outside once again at first. Constantly closing the door once she had opened it, panicking at the thought of what to do if her creator was to stand only a few feet away from her, or any other kind of threat for that matter. She must have spent at least ten minutes just standing there, trying to sum up the courage to face all the fears she had learned to have.

Eventually, she just simply forced herself to put her foot out the door, and greet the ever-dark sky of Iwaigodai. Closing her eyes for a few more seconds, she finally moved forward.

She didn't know where to start, having no idea where Ruo had gone off to. She though her best course of action would be to question anyone she ran into about the whereabouts of her friend, hoping that someone would have the answer she was looking for.

But she stopped only a few feet out of the warehouse door, she noticed something she hadn't seen before. It was a blue, glowing door, just out in the open. It was so out of place that she wondered if this is where her friend had gone to, something that she previously couldn't have seen before gaining her persona.

Even with all she had gone through in the past few days, that child-like curiosity still hadn't left her. So, almost fearlessly, she grasped at the doorknob to open it,  excited to find what was inside.

Since Daiki had met Tezcatlipoca, he had been noticing strange doors around Hayabusa. They were blue and glowing, and he hadn’t seen them before. Either this was a new trend he hadn’t heard about, or he was going more insane than he had already thought. He stood outside one of the doors and stared at it for minutes after minutes after minutes. At some point, people started gathering around him to see if he was real or just a very well detail statue. By the time he finally began to move again, the onlookers had assumed he wasn’t real and nearly panicked. He looked out to them and waved his hand in a dismissive manor, “Just thinking to myself about why there are suddenly blue doors everywhere. Don’t worry about me. I’m perfectly fine.” The people gave him looks of suspicion, but not much else. One by one, they all started leaving.
When he was along again, he reached out to open the door. As he turned the knob, he could tell this door wasn’t put in recently. It was too well placed to be an addition to the building. Whatever it was, he just hadn’t noticed it before. But, that would be nothing new for him. There were things he didn’t notice all the time, like the color of his school textbooks. He was getting side tracked again. He had to find out what this door was. He finally opened it to a world of sheer blue, “Not the choice I would go with, but it has a certain charm to it.” He had to admit, he was not expecting this of all things.

Noctis would be looking through his book, taking various glances at the doors to Ueitawa. He had lately grown rather focused on his guests, and attending to them would require him to mostly remain in the Velvet Room for the time being. Though he still manages to walk out into what remains of Ueitawa. The red areas bothered him, as he did not particularly know the way to stop them entirely if they do so. Though, looking behind him to one door, he would see a grey-haired woman walk in, and not too long afterwards, a man of black hair. Both of them seemed to take Noctis aback for a second, as he could tell from the moment he saw them that they were not only those with awakened potential, but were rather powerful. The black-haired man in particular. Have either of them been in here before? Good time to greet them and introduce himself then! Walking up, he would give a grin and wave before walking to the two and bowing low. “Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Noctis. Beans of color?” he said, holding out a bag which he would open up to reveal jelly beans of all colors. The two were free to take as much as they wished. If none were interested, he would whip out from his jacket a bar of chocolate in his other hand. “Just in case. In any case, how do you fair? Is this your first time being here?” he would ask.

Rosewater didn't know what she had imagined would be on the other side the door, but it certainly wasn't anything like this. She didn't understand how that door could have brought her to a place that was so different from the one she had just stepped out of. She blinked quite a few times, never having come across a room like this in her explorations thus far. Ruo had taught her of the basic public buildings she could expect to find in most cities, but she connect the sight of this world of blue to anything she had described.

At first, she flinched at the voice of boy within the room, almost taking a step back as she had not been expecting for someone else to be in here. She was still on edge from her last human encounter and a bit paranoid at that. She needed to calm down, and she knew that. Panicking about everything she heard wasn't going to help her get anywhere in her current search.

She released the tension in her shoulders as the joyous face her offered her sweets, reasoning to herself that she was not in danger here. He seemed helpful enough, at least. She knew she couldn't take his offer, knowledge programmed into her to have been able to avoid the sin of 'gluttony'.  It was a kind gesture though, one which brought back a hint of a smile on her lips.



"Is that what this place is called? I'm afraid I didn't know. Yes, I am indeed visiting this place for the first time. Apologies, but I can't take your generous gifts." best not to mention why, she remembered Alphonse having told her that not all would understand what she was "My name is Rosewater, it's a pleasure"

Daiki was still looking around the room. Was every inch of it blue? Granted, blue matched blue, but the more he looked at it, the more he thought it needed another color. When Noctis introduced himself, Daiki looked at the jelly beans, “Get a glass bowl and put some of those inside and it would give this place a bit more life.”  That was Daiki’s way of turning down the offer. More importantly, there was a lady here and he had to introduce himself. He went over to her and bowed at the waist, “Hello, my dear. My name is Daiki Tanaka and I think I’m looking at a goddess. What a cruel fate. That door has led me to heaven and straight to my death. At least the women here are beautiful. It was well worth it.”  He stood up again, “Miss Rosewater, in all my life, I cannot say I have ever seen a woman quite like you.”  He had all but ignored Noctis’ greeting the moment he saw her, and, as far as he was concerned, the room was just the two of them.

Noctis was confused at the girl’s own confusion at the area. ‘Indeed, probably her first time here,’ he thought to himself. Though, she still seemed happy shortly after, so it seemed to work out just fine in the end. She introduced herself as Rosewater, but she unfortunately declined the jelly beans. He will probably have to bring more varied types of candy into the room for the future. The other boy who did not introduce himself also seemed to turn him down, but when he tried to greet him and offer a handshake, he was already gone and turned to the woman, talking and complementing her very highly. Though apparently he told the girl his name was Daiki, so Noctis may have to use that to address him. He seemed though he thought he was dead. “Oh! Daiki, you aren’t dead at all. This is just a place where you who have awakened to your potential can meet and get possible assistance from others like you or us Attendants. Was there anything you wished to know?” he would ask, taking a few steps to them. He hoped Daiki truly didn’t think he was dead, that would be very saddening. With all that was going on, Noctis had to stay strong and convince everyone not all was lost. If he felt that way, he had to change it at all costs!

She hadn't spoke to the other boy in the room, so she was quite surprised when he suddenly turned her way and started introducing himself to her in such a flattering way. Having never truly been complimented before, and certainly not to anything of this degree to say she was a bit overwhelmed by the praise was quite an understatement. She knew enough, thanks to some of the Bible's scriptures which she later discovered where programmed into her knowledge database, that she couldn't begin to compare herself to something as perfect and powerful as a God. She knew the other probably meant well by comparing her to one, but she simply couldn't device him.

"Oh no, you must be very confused. I couldn't begin to resemble.. ". She stopped abruptly when she heard the mention of the door possibly leaving her to heaven, knowing by instinct that such a place was preserved for the dead.

But wait, had she died herself? Had walking through those blue door caused her to leave the world she had only just recently settled into forever? She turned her head to try and find where she had come from, wondering if there was any way she could reverse this. She couldn't stay dead if she had a choice in it after all, she had a job to do...!

Thankfully, the tension in her shoulders melted away when Noctis quelled this fear. Though she would have usually smiled and given a pleasant greeting back to Daiki, the attendant's explanations as to what he was was something much more important to address, as it might be a great help to her current quest of sorts.
 

"Oh! You're closely tied to those with potential?" she repeated, almost excitedly "Then please, I think you might be able to help me...you wouldn't know about the locations of any of them would you? A dear companion of mine left a few days ago, and she hasn't returned as she promised. Her name was Ruo. Do you know any way in which I could learn of her current whereabouts?"

It was a long shot, but it was all she had go on at the moment.

Daiki sighed as Noctis told him he wasn’t dead. Of course he knew that. It was just a bit of poetic language to compliment the beautiful lady standing in front of him. She didn’t seem to be very interested in him, however. He felt wounded from her rejection, “Oh dear me. I seem to be going crazy. First I get a giant cat, second I end up in a fight, next I see blue doors that lead to an alternate dimension, and now I’m being told that there are even more people like this. How common are these gods that they all just decide they wish to help mankind?” He sounded as if he were reading for a soap opera. He even went so far as to fling himself to the floor, “The world, this place, existence itself is laughing at this poor fool. They take all he knows and twists it into confusion. Alas, poor Daiki Tanaka, a fool in this game.” He stood up and brushed himself off as if nothing had happened. For him, it was just another normal episode.

Noctis would cross his arms, losing his smile for a brief moment as Rosewater asked her question. Noctis did not know everything about it. He only knew the circumstances surrounding what happened. “I have a guest who I serve, and I know he is associated with her along with someone else that happens to be my guest.  Forgive me, but I do not know much about the surrounding for what happened to your friend Ruo. I do know however, that they had fought someone in the town with the shrine…..Nokawia I believe. It is now currently taken over by Limbo, so I doubt she remains there. She was taken by a Shadow, and I only know she resides somewhere in Limbo itself. She is indeed alive, though I do not know how much time she has,” he said. He felt it was at least good enough to tell her this information. He kept the identities of his guests secret for now. Now, if Rosewater needed help, he would probably tell her, it seemed like she truly was in need, and Noctis had to find some way to help the other Persona-User.

Daiki on the other hand seemed a bit in disbelief in all this. “Your Persona can indeed be a God, though it is not literally what it is. A Persona is the manifestation of your psyche, a mask you wear when facing hardship,” he explained. Though he felt he explained well enough, Daiki still nonetheless seemed to topple onto the floor, and Noctis would kneel next to him pulling out his Compendium. “Hey, are you well? Here,” he said, flipping through the pages of his book and finding the Lovers Arcana on one page. He would tap the page and pull out the card and hold it to Daiki, and in a short second, he would feel a washing wave of health rush over him, healing any injuries he may have. “Is that better?” he would ask with a concerned face.

Skill Used on Daiki:

Though the majority of her attention had been diverted to the attendant rather than the other guest in the room, even she couldn't ignore the young man who had literally thrown himself on the floor at his 'plight', eyebrows together furrowing in concern. Was he hurt? Hm. It didn't seem like it, more overwhelmed by what was happening than anything else. She knew the feeling well, and felt as though she should at least offer him some encouraging words. She wouldn't want someone going through that alone, even if she did have a more pressing personal matter at hand.

"Ah- maybe it'd be best if you didn't think of it among those terms, Mr. Tanaka. The fool is, after all, still an important part of any chess game, according to the French. It's the most unpredictable one, easily forgotten by beginners, but can often be used to turn the tide. " This was one of the few tidbits of knowledge that her creator had taught her first and only chess game, the only fond memory of him she had "If you do find yourself to be helpless, then couldn't a better comparison be to that of a King? Surely that does not seem like an awful title to have."

She then turned back to Noctis, taking in all he had to say to her about the disappearance of the android. She closed her eyes, silent for a few moments as she processed what this new information meant. She had not been expecting to get this much, and to have her fears confirmed was unpleasant to say the very least. It seemed as though she could no longer hide behind the walls of the warehouse if she was going to carry out her self appointed duty. It was time to accept what she was. The fun of simple learning and discovery had come to an end. There was still a sliver of hope that Ruo might be able to be saved, and she would take it.



"Please, Noctis. I need any help you can give. I would never be as arrogant to ask you to come with me, but I need guidance. Any possible guess as to where she might be, or where I could find those who would know would be much appreciated. I owe much to her, and I cannot leave her alone."

Daiki was really starting to feel like the black sheep here. Everyone was treating him like there was something wrong with his brain and body. Granted, he was more eccentric than most people, but he wasn’t so out of this world, “God or not, Tezcatlipoca sure seems to think highly of himself.” Actually, it was Daiki who thought that. Tezcatlipoca hadn’t said a single thing about being a god. As for how Rosewater was trying to cheer him up, Daiki could only think she was secretly a saint, “My dear, you are so kind trying to bring my damper mood back into the light. My spirits are already lifting, and I cannot thank you enough for helping me. Truly, you are one of those kind, innocent, noble women I have ever had the good fortune to meet. If there is anything I can do to repay your kindness, just let me know. A true gentleman, such as myself, must always help such a beautiful lady.”

Noctis would frown lightly at Rosewater. There was little he could do about Ruo, and he certainly could not figure out exactly where she went into Limbo. “I am sorry, but I truly cannot tell you. I do not know myself. I will gladly help you as much as possible. But to her exact location I cannot tell you. Forgive me,” he said. It was a shame he could not locate her. Limbo was slowly becoming out of hand, and Noctis was slowly losing his ability to help people with their requests. It was unfortunate he could only do so much. If only he had more at his disposal besides his book….Regardless, his frown would turn to a passive state of confusion at Daiki’s state of being, constantly speaking so highly of the girl he probably only just met. “I wonder why he talks of you so highly Rosewater. Is he your student of sorts?” he asked curiously. He did not know what was going on with him. Noctis did not know how love and affection aside from perhaps friendship worked, and in truth, could not ever hope to understand it without some form of teaching.

((Forgive my short post. Homework has me speeding it up))

Weakness:

Ah, she had thought as much. For Noctis to be able to tell her what had happened to her friend at all had been a sort of miracle in its own right. The fact that he couldn't tell her much more might have been a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn't as though her hopes had completely been crushed. At least she had a goal and a place of destination. It was a start, no matter how much of a shot in the dark it truly was. Better than a complete wild goose chase, at the very least. She unconsciously played with the purple stone she still kept in her left hand, as if trying to find reassurance.

"There's no need to apologize for information you cannot give" She reassured him "You've already helped me far more than I had thought you'd be able to. Thank you."

She turned to Daiki next, to answer the attendant's question and address the extravagant praise she was given.



"Oh, no. He's not. I haven't met him before today, in all honesty. And Mr. Tanaka...you flatter me. But I'm not worthy of such kind words and praise, I assure you. I wouldn't dare ask anything of you. To ask you to accompany me in Limbo would simply be irresponsible of me. This is a journey which you have no reason to be pulled into.  "

The last two sentences were probably something she would have kept in her own thoughts, had she not had the tendency to say all of what was on her mind when she spoke.

Weakness::

Daiki was taken aback when Noctis asked if he was a student of Rose. Even he had enough sense not to hit on a teacher… Most of the time, “I would be struck with despair if I had a teacher like the lovely Miss Rosewater here. My heart would bend and ache from such an unfair, cruel twist of fate. It just so happens that this lovely lady looks like the vision of a goddess I once had.” One of several goddesses, but he wouldn’t say that out loud, “Noctis, my friend,” If Noctis thought they were friends or not, Daiki was going to say that anyway. Everyone was his friend as far as he was concerned, “people do not speak like that to their teachers. We only speak that way to people who catch our eyes and our hearts.” He put his hand to his forehead and shook his head, “Have you learned nothing in your time in this world.” He couldn’t properly voice what people should feel. He knew that everyone had different emotions and reactions, and he wasn’t going to control that. He just never expected someone to seem so detached from a normal reaction.

So they were not student and teacher. Once more, they had not met each other before finding one another in the Velvet Room. It was nice to see people able to get along so well and complement each other the moment they met. Noctis would smile and look to Daiki. “I am afraid I do not understand what you mean. What does it mean to catch someone’s heart? I figure it has something to do with “love” as you humans have described as such. Though I cannot say for sure as if I have felt it,” he said. What was love? Could it hurt? Too many questions that Noctis wanted the answers to regarding that subject. “I lately have not been going out into your world. This is my home, and I have been slowly getting a small number of guests to look after. So I am mostly laying in wait until they need me or I acquire another guest to help,” he explained. It seemed that these new Users did not know too much about the room, so they may need help in figuring out the current situation of things. “Do any of you have any other questions?” he asked.