[video]

[prayerless]

[The woman who appears on the video feed might be familiar to some of the Tower residents, particularly the older ones; though, really, not necessarily as old as she thinks, but she doesn't realise there have been other Aquas here since she left.

Despite the situation, she sits up straight and offers a smile.] Hello. My name is Aqua. Some of you might know me, but I've been gone for a long time.

If anyone remembers the whale that attacked the Tower, I was returned home after that. I know it's been... [a small pause, and though her smile doesn't falter, her gaze does, just for a moment. Her eyes fall away from the camera as she continues, in a slightly softer voice.] ...a while, so I think I've missed a lot.

[She looks into the camera again, holding her head up straight.] If anyone could tell me what's happened since I left, I would appreciate it. [And, with resolve:] I want to help.

I'm in the library on the third floor if you'd rather meet in person. [She nods her head in a small, polite gesture of recognition.] Thank you.

Comments

[averytinyparticle]

[Quark never knew any Aqua, not as far as he could remember and he liked to think he had a good memory, but something very important catches his attention in this network post that he can't stop himself from responding to.]

A whale attacked the tower? A real live whale? I didn't know that!

[How come nobody told him about that? Gosh! That's a really big thing to keep quiet about! He had so many questions!]

Aren't whales supposed to be friendly? Oh! Was it a killer whale? Wait, how did it get out of the ocean? I didn't think they could fly!

[video]

[prayerless]

[The boy's excitement draws a small laugh from Aqua, muffled behind the polite cover of her hand. She doesn't recognize him, so he must have come here after she left. Still, she doesn't mind answering his questions, as well as she even can.

She lowers her hand and takes on a thoughtful expression, trying to remember what Dax and Riki said about the creature on the network.] I don't think it came from the ocean. Dax said it was native to this world, and it was a kind of ship for other monsters that could break through barriers.

[averytinyparticle]

Whoa...

[That's a lot to swallow. But then, maybe it wasn't, considering everybody was from different worlds here. But a whale that was also an alien space ship?]

So it was kind of like a...a...cyborg whale.

[That would be kind of cool of it wasn't for the monsters.]

I hope none of them got in...oh! I'm Quark, by the way. It's nice to meet you, Miss Aqua! I'm sorry that you had to come back to such a scary place though.

[prayerless]

A lot of the monsters got in, actually. [She delivers this correction in a careful tone, trying not to alarm Quark with the news.] But it's okay. We fought them off, and everyone was very brave. [People have to be, to survive here.

Despite the grim tale, Aqua looks pleased to make Quark's acquaintance.] It's nice to meet you too, Quark. It is a little scary, but I don't mind coming back. [There's a certain weight of responsibility in her words as she says this; she already doomed her universe once by setting Xehanort loose. She owes it to the worlds to try to save them now.

But Quark looks very young, so she doesn't want to burden him with something like that. Instead, she tries a different approach.] I made a lot of friends here, so I'm glad I'll get to see them again.

[averytinyparticle]

[Quark can’t help feeling a bit embarrassed, and it shows by the red flush that fills his cheeks at Aqua’s correction.]

Oh. Well, that’s good then.

[That’s all he can really think to say, though he does manage a smile when she mentions her friends.]

That’s good, too! It’s nice to have friends--they make things a whole lot less scary, huh? I made some friends, too, but most of them are gone now. I hope all of yours are still here.

[That way she wouldn’t have to be alone. It wasn’t fun to be alone.]