Kel didn't have anywhere particular in mind when he had left the ship, so he'd ended up making his way through the middle of District 2. There were a fair number of shops around him and he found himself eyeing the various wares through the window as he walked. A few things did catch his eye, but for now, he had no intention of buying anything. Luna walked off the ship and proceeded to look around her new surroundings. She decided to take the time to walk through the whole town and see what it had to offer. The girl walked into the 2nd District saw various shops lining the streets. As she walked along the streets, she saw Kel just up ahead. After all that had transpired aboard the Sanctuary, Luna was a bit concerned about him and how he was feeling about everything. She took a moment before walking over to Kel. “Perusing the shops, are we?” Luna looked into the window to see what items they were selling with a small smile on her face. She looked back at the boy. “Was there something you were going to purchase?” "Oh Luna, not really. Really just looking for some sort of distraction." That being said, it wasn't accounting for any other store that he might walk by. This was only the first shop that he's been to and it was slightly tempting to purchase something. "What about you?" The last time he saw her was before he was briefly taken at the summit and immediately following that he was way too lost in his thoughts to really notice anything else. Luna listened as Kel was perusing as a distraction more than just mere window shopping. She shook her head before answering Kel’s question. “I merely wished to take in the sights this town has to offer. “ The girl looked around the streets once more before looking back at him. After everything that has taken place, it made sense why Kel would want to take his mind off of it. Luna didn’t have much to say on that subject. It was more so she couldn’t find what words to even offer. Luna looked up at the stars before speaking. “It’s truly a wonder how such a beautiful sky such as this could connect to other worlds.” A small smile came across her face. “Wouldn’t you say so?” Luna looked over to Kel as she asked her question. Kel looked up to the stars above and found himself stricken by the same sense of awe he had felt upon seeing a waterfall for the first time. Thinking about it, this was the first time that he's taken a look at the stars with the knowledge that there were other words out there. It was a magnificent sight to be able to take in with all that in mind. "It is, I won't deny that." Kel then let out a sigh. "It's a shame that Nequa can see this sight as well." Kel agreed with Luna’s comment on the starry sky. Luna kept her eyes on the sky before Kel let out a sigh. She turned to the boy as he kept his eyes on the stars. He then mentioned Nequa able to see the same stars through his eyes. The princess lowered her head and cast her eyes towards the ground. She wanted to say something immediately, however, she knew if she didn’t choose her words carefully, the conversation would not end well. Luna took a couple of moments to gather her thoughts before opening her mouth. “Let her take in this sky.” She paused before speaking again. “Allow her to fill her own eyes with this wonderful sky. This very sky will continue to share its wonder with everyone.” Luna rose her head and looked at the sky once more. She took a few more moments to gather her thoughts again. “Answer me this Kel...” She paused. “With all these events that have occurred, what are you feeling?” She was definitely worried about him regarding everything that has happened. Perhaps Luna would be able to help Kel, even if she wouldn’t be much help, she wanted to try. He turned his attention away from the stars above and back to Luna, it was easy enough for him to surmise his feelings right now. "Conflicted and uncertain. I feel like me being with you guys could end with someone getting hurt if not worse because of it." Messing up was nothing new to him, but the severity of these circumstances was not doing him any favors. He felt bad enough when he'd learned that he was doing so unwillingly and to do so without some sort of means to preventing it sucked just as much. Luna listened as Kel went on about his feelings about the events thus far. She nodded her head before turning her head forward. She took a few moments to collect her thoughts again. What could she say to him to try and ease the conflict he was feeling? On the one hand, she couldn't really understand what he was going through. On the other hand, she could sort of understand. It was almost the same feeling she felt when Mira's soul was still confined in her body. The fear of hurting someone unintentionally, the fear of committing heinous crimes that you weren't able to stop yourself. Luna cast her eyes down before opening to speak. "I can almost relate to that feeling in a way. It's very understandable why would be feeling that way." Kel had no idea what it was Luna intended to tell him once she had heard his feelings on the matter, but whatever it had been it was safe to say that he hadn't thought that she would be able to relate to that at all. "You can?" He was aware of the weight that she did have upon her shoulders by being an actual princess and having a whole kingdom to look after and protect, but from what he knew she wasn't alone in that regard. She had both her brother and Koa to assist her whereas he wasn't sure how anyone could help him. Luna nodded her head. She expected the confusion in his voice when he asked. She took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to best explain her situation. "Well...I did say almost." Luna scratched her head before continuing. "There was some complicated circumstances that went on prior to my being with you guys. It even went on during our time together." She closed her eyes and recalled her days with Mira. "To put it simply, when our kingdom was first born, a war broke out, in which we called 'The Tragedy'. During the first Tragedy, a rampaging murderer went on and on. She wasn't always like that, mind you. When she was getting out of hand, our first queen separated her soul from her body." Luna paused for a moment. "The queen sealed her body away in a place nobody would find her. Her soul, on the other hand, the queen took it upon herself to keep her soul safe. She cast a spell that made sure her soul would be protected by royal blood until the day the criminal's soul would reignite once more." The princess looked up at the stars, recounting a few memories. "Emphasis on Royal Blood." She chuckled for a moment before looking to Kel, giving him a few moments to process her story. The blue hair teen stood attentive for the tale Luna had to tell and at first, wasn't sure what to make of what he was being told, but he listened all the same. It wasn't until the end of the story in which pieces started to fall into place into one coherent picture. A picture that had rendered him speechless at first and only speaking when he had drawn his conclusion. "The murderer's soul was put inside of you until it reignites again? What's going to happen to you if it does?" Luna kept her head up, with her eyes still gazing out at the stars. It had seemed like he was putting the pieces of her story together as a look of confusion spread across his face while coming to a conclusion on her story. Kel asked his questions, questions Luna expected him to ask. The princess nodded her head as she closed her eyes albeit for a brief moment. She opened her eyes and turned her head to the blue-haired boy. "To answer the first question, yes. As for the second..." She paused before turning her head up again. "That problem has already been rectified." She closed her eyes and turned her head down. "There was more to the First's spell than what has been spoken about." Luna looked at her left hand, palm up. "In order for her soul to reignite, one requirement must be met." A slight smile spread across her face. A few moments passed before she spoke again. "The bearer must under an extreme amount of despair or upset." She paused. "Then and only then will her soul awaken once more. Once that happens, the bearer's days will be numbered if her soul is not expunged immediately." The princess grabbed her right arm before looking back at Kel. "But no need to worry. The situation has been resolved." There had been a moment where Kel was concerned for Luna's well being as the rest of the spell had been explained to him, but she had said that it was resolved so those concerns faded slowly and his body did relax. It was good to know that the soul of his friend wasn't at risk of being overtaken by the soul of a murderer. "That's a relief and here I thought having someone permanently eavesdropping on me was the worst that could happen, but that certainly takes the cake." At the end of the day, he was still in control of his actions, something that couldn't be said if the whole soul issue with Luna hadn't been apparently resolved. As Luna finished explaining, she saw Kel's body relax a bit. Considering she never really went into detail about her situation, she understood the relief that went through Kel as she informed him of the resolution. She chuckled for a moment before answering. "It was definitely something. But it wasn't exactly a 'walk in the park'. If I'm using that phrase right." She put her thumb under her chin with the rest of her hand over her mouth as she pondered for a moment. "She had her control over me a rare amount of times but if I recall right the only people who would've seen that would be Steel, Karina, and..." Luna tried to recall the last person but their name wasn't coming to mind. "There was one more person but for the life of me, I can't recall who they were." Try and try she did but nothing bore fruit. The princess shook her head before speaking again. "I'm sure it'll come to mind eventually, however, it kind of saddens me that I can't recall them." She took a deep breath and shook her head again. "Anyway, despite all the trouble I went through with her, deep down, all she wanted was someone to listen to her. To let her vent out her frustrations, to have a shoulder to lean on." She paused. "And I was more than happy to do just that. I still am. Regardless of what had happened in the past, that doesn't mean she's forbidden from getting a second chance. To live life on her own terms, on better terms." She walked forward a little bit before turning to Kel. "The point of our story is that regardless of what your circumstances are, you are still you. You still have a hold on who you are. You get to decide how you move forward. Only you. No one else can make that decision for you. When things get difficult, you know you are never alone. You have people beside you who will be more than glad to help you carry your burdens." Luna walked up to Kel and place a hand on his shoulder. "All you have to do is ask and help will be right around the corner." She smiled at him, hoping her words brought even the slightest comfort. He could only imagine just how badly that must've gone if Karina had been one of the first people to see it. Steel he couldn't imagine reacting too negatively nor positively to that either, just not as strongly as the way Karina would've. Kel did give Luna some time to try and remember the mysterious third person, but when nothing came to her he left it as is. Everything about this reminded him of when they had done the same back on Pocahontas's world. It hadn't been too long since then and yet here he was already being roadblocked with another issue. One step forward and two steps back. He was getting good at that song and dance, annoyingly so. "Yeah, knowing that I have you guys does help." Which was also why it bothered him so much, he didn't want to lose the people dearest to him because of his own mistakes. All of this built up and lead him bringing out his keyblade and looking at it. Resolute Heart, supposedly a sign of his resolve to move onward without looking back. A task he did manage to keep to even with all of the hesitations. "If only I can decide how I want to move forward, then I'll press on without letting this cause any of you guys harm." It wouldn't be easy, but that was why he had them to lean on if the going got tough. The girl nodded her head as she listened to Kel's resolve. He knew the road ahead would not be an easy path but he knows he won't be bearing that burden alone. It had seemed as if Luna's words were able to get through to Kel. She smiled at the boy before turning away. "It would seem those feelings of uncertainty aren't as strong as they were before, are they?" She turned her head back to the boy as she chuckled for a moment. She turned her head back toward the front, with her arms behind her back, hands linked together. Luna started to walk away before stopping in her tracks. "Miravel." Luna spoke, pausing for several moments. She slightly turned her head to Kel. "Her name is Miravel Salavic." Luna paused again. "And she's one of the most honest people I've the honor of calling a friend. I'm more than happy to tell her story again and again if it means I can help someone, even if I can only help a little bit." The princess smiled again. "I'm always around if you're ever in need." She nodded her head before she walked away.
It shouldn’t have been any surprise that the first thing that awaited Kel as he attempted to clear his thoughts was an endless fog. What was supposed to be a clear path could hardly be seen. Not the most inspiring of sights and that alone was the least of his problems. Form within the fog a singular voice echoing out, sowing its own seeds of down "We're still watching Bravo... ain't nowhere you can go without her knowing..." The chilling reminder from Hotel had stuck with him, creating this fog of uncertainty that he was now venturing through. Even with the decision to keep tagging along with his friends something that he didn’t want to take back, but the potential consequences of these actions were the true hindering factor in all this. Enough to the point where the fog of his mind only got thicker the deeper he went with the words of Hotel continuing to ring out around him. This attempt to clear his own head was met with little success as he was soon brought back to reality by the announcement form Shiro that they had arrived at their destination. Kel’s eyes opened to see a pretty average sight. Everything seemed normal, outside the voices of the kids they had run into back on Montro and Beuce leading Karina into an alleyway. Something that would’ve worried him a bit more is it not for everything that was currently going on in his head. Eventually, he got up from his seat and walked out of the ship, waving at the trio to show that he did in fact notice them. Here seemed like a good place to find some sort of distraction from everything.
Having already said his farewells to his dad there wasn't anything that Kel had left to do before heading aboard the ship. While not intentional, he'd ended up taking a seat that wasn't near anyone for the time being. It was something that could change quickly when everyone else started boarding. For now, though he would have the time to attempt to sort out his thoughts. The choice of just up and leaving or sticking around was no longer running about in his head, the same could not be said regarding any doubts. He took in a breath and closed his eyes to allow his mind to focus on his thoughts. Doubts were the main thing on his mind. A Siegend never loses his cool How true that was he really couldn't say, but he's done a pretty poor job at that all things considering. If that was the case though, then he should start trying to uphold that. Baby steps to be done alongside everything else.
It would be easy to just right it off as them messing with him, but all the evidence that pointed towards that made it hard to just do so. Still, to take back their base of operation? It was a course of action that Kel hadn't really considered them doing at all so to suddenly hear that from Shiro was surprising and yet still did nothing for the internal crossroad that he found himself in. Something he could do however was to properly speak to his dad again before possibly leaving again. "Hey, kiddo not exactly what I had planned for your first day back, but here, always tomorrow right?" He smiled patting his son on the back. "Unless of course... tomorrow needs a raincheck?" "Yeah, about that." Kel found himself taking in a breath. He couldn't back down now and this was something that he did know he needed to do. "For as better or worse this maybe, I'm going to continue traveling with my friends in this adventure of ours. I need to see this through to the end." "Yeah, kinda figured that's where you were headed... wouldn't be my son if you didn't," he smirked. "I'm proud of you, son... drop me a line when you come out on top, will yah?" He pulled him in for a tight hug and hardy pat on the back. He put his hands on both his shoulders. "You sure everything's gonna be okay?" Something about being told that he was proud did help left his mood a bit. Just enough for him to be able to crack a smile. "I will and I'll explain why I left when I do." He owed his dad and especially his mom that much. "Honestly I'm not sure. We've gotten lucky this far, but even that hasn't been without losses." Each comrade's face still remained in his head...right? Odd, it felt as if there was a blank slate in his head but the reason seemed to have been lost on him. "Well, I have faith in your son. And if you ever feel in distress, just remember... A Siegend never loses his cool... very important with women also," He chuckled Kel chuckled at that too. "I'll definitely keep that in mind dad." The doubt still lingered, but this talk did make him feel better about the decision to keep going on this adventure of theirs.
"Are you sure that we should be tagging along with you to a shootout?" Zeke had no qualms when they entered the police station as at least they shouldn't have anything on him given how quiet of a life he tried to live. A shootout, on the other hand, taking them to a shootout was more on the concerning side of the spectrum. But with Jaycob moving out the door alongside the other officers that happened to be here, their choice was essentially made for them. The thought of just staying behind and fiddling with things in order to see what he could find himself, but that quite possibly was a crime. Something he did not have the time for right now, prompting Zeke to follow behind out the door.
Naturally, Kel attempted to worm him way out of Shiro's grip when he was literally being carried off like an infant and fortunately he'd manage to do so before joining up with the first group. It condition aside, the fact that Karina was in what was a pink dress had thrown him off guard. "Its good to see that you're okay." All things considered, the fact that she was okay was reassuring to know. When everyone had gotten back together, that was when the unsettling feeling had returned to Kel. They were finally grouped up together, trying to figure out their next course of action and Nequa was still using him as both her eyes and ears. The temptation to just leave was still, but at this point, it wasn't a likely option that he would do. Too much attention would've been drawn towards himself in the process of doing so. The nail in that coffin was when it came time to explain why he was taken and, with a moment's hesitation, he told them everything regarding Nequa using him to essentially be the 'traitor'. The act of doing so didn't leave him feeling any better. If anything the uncertainty had been replaced with anxiousness that had been more than enough for him to fall back into silence. There wasn't much that he felt like he could add right now and perhaps that was for the best.
Physically speaking Kel was perfectly okay. Sure his arms hurt slightly from the way that the Remnant was holding them, but compared to the treatment they'd gotten in his fight against Karina, it was nothing. Mentally, however, that was where the real issued lie. The news that Nequa had been basically puppeting him this whole time still left him infuriated and at the same time, greatly disheartened. To learn that he had been the sole cause of all this, even unwilling, nearly brought back some of his old habits. If he just left now then whatever vast emptiness he decided to look at would be viewed by Nequa and nothing else regarding his friends. Even if this meant that he would be no better now then when he up and left his home for similar reasons. "What? No, I'm fine. The prison block if I had to guess." Shiro had snapped him back to reality through the vigorous shaking.
It was really starting to get hold hearing that he wasn't in the position to be making demands and other such nonsense. Like he had said before, that was the last thing he cared about right now. His sentiments haven't changed in the slightest since the last time he was told that. With Nequa essentially being a harbinger of misfortune that always seemed to end worse for him, all of his encounters with her were basically engraved into his mind permanently. It started with Deep Jungle and the battle against those chameleon heartless and that jaguar, the Nottingham and the Guard Armor, Land of Dragon with Shan-Yu -more notably his bird- and lastly Camelot with Mim and Nequa herself. Beyond the difficult battles and general pain that he was put through that her being around tended to signal whenever she was around, he realized the other common occurrence whenever she was around. Bravo. That one singular word. An immense sinking feeling was cast upon him up, bearing enough pressure to almost crush him right where he was restrained. Was everything that had happened to them, from the fall of Central Haven to being thrown into the Realm of Darkness to damn near dying against No Heart, was it all really because of him? The final nail in the coffin was the Scarlett 'B' on his right shoulder and along with the pressure was a tightness in his chest. His head was spinning as the overwhelming wave of despair clashed with the anger towards Nequa that only intensified, resulting in him uttering a single phrase. "Gods Dammit!"
Kel had hoped that he would be able to get farther away to be able to put all of the information that he had to use, but that wouldn't be the case as his face met the ground and again was restrained. It was nowhere near as easy as to get out of these as with each attempt made to move an inch led to the Remnant's grip tightening to the point in which his keyblade had just fallen out of his hands. "Who. The hell. Is Bravo. That is not my name." And being called that, especially by them of all people, was starting to get old.
Once again the trend of a million questions running through his head and not a single answer in sight continued in his current situation, but in this case, there was actually something that he could do that came to mind. With everything that he overheard from the Red Society before they split off he knew where to go and the ice that was currently restraining him didn't bother him due to his own innate aura. Kel took his chance while Hotel was distracted to work his way onto his feet before striking him with the ice that currently restrained his wrists. The blow was strong enough to break said ice and hopefully enough to knock Hotel out as well. His keyblade formed in his now free hands and melted the ice around his ankles by covering the blade in flames and applying it upon the ice. Now that his limbs were free, he was quick to move towards the exit and from there he would try to find his way to prison blocks and hopefully the others.
"I'm not going anywhere with you so you can forget that." Kel didn't know why it was him in particular and he wasn't too keen on giving it too much thought right. Whether it was his place or not to make demands his concerns lied more with dealing with this and figuring out how to get back those who were taken. That had been the drive behind Kel remaining firm in his position despite the gun being pointed at him, even with how disadvantageous things started to be for them. With the numbers that they had they should've been able to deal with both Hotel and his marksmanship, but Aislinn defending her niece which gave them something to exploit. His grip on his keyblade tightens as is looked around to see the situation that his friends were in. As annoying as he found Sho's general way of speaking to be, this whole incident was pointed solely at them. In fact, one of the people who had been taken was Xares, which made things a bit easier for the time being. Kel aimed his voice towards where he presumed Beuce was, hoping he was conscious enough to hear this. "Beuce! Karina's still on the ship, she's on one of the deepest cells!"
His bracelet landed against the ground with a clank which drew his attention away from the summit itself briefly to that, which lead to him noticing that the same had happened to the others who also wore bracelets. Access to his keyblade was returned to him, but the sheer suddenness of it worried him. With all the procedures and protocols that they stuck to here, they would do something like this completely outta nowhere. Then came both the familiar voice and symbol to further justify these worries. As Kel rose to his feet, he caught a glimpse of the portal that had pulled his father in. "Dad!" Gone without a trace and leaving behind the empty chair in which he once was seated. A mixture of fear and anger welled up within him. He knew that his dad was a capable fighter, more capable than he was, but this was something that e's never dealt with before. If something were to go horribly wrong, then it would be while he didn't know what he was up against which was exactly what he wanted to prevent from happening. To that end, he paid no attention to the red "X" that had appeared onto him and instead focused right on Hotel. "The only thing I want to do right now is to get my dad back and if you're going to get in the way of that, then I will remove you from my path first." His keyblade manifested in his hand as he took up his read stance for th battle to come.
Even if it was for a completely different reason, Kel hadn't thought that anyone would call him out on his muttering. In this instance, he couldn't help but feel apologetic given that he'd completely forgotten that he was sitting next to a child. "Sorry." The floor was opened and Beuce had been the first to ask his question and the answer was given was concerning. It was too simplistic and they sounded too sure that it would succeed without fail. Having first hand seen the might to No Heart was enough to put doubts in this plan, but adding in all of his cohorts, that only made things worse. Another concern formed at the realization that his own father might be participating in this near-suicide mission.
The summit had started as Kel waited for a response and thus he turned his focus turned to it. The captain had stepped forward and gave them both a welcome and a rundown of the situation at hand before one by one addressing the staff. At the start, Kel was clapping when the rest of the crowd did so as well. if not just to go through the motions of being here. When Alexander was mentioned however Kel did not clap for him at all. His hands were firmly planted on his lap as even from this distance he glared at him. "Lying *******" The words had been muttered softly underneath his breath. 30/30
"You know two of them?" AJ was a given with everything that she's made a point to tell him, unless she was including him in the category of knowing. She was pretty invested in knowing more about thier group, especially with how little he's actually said about them as a whole. "In the simplest of terms, we're a mixed bag of people that have somehow managed to find a way to work together." 29/30
Kel groaned internally when Bob's name was mentioned again. It wasn't someone that he wanted to think about again anytime soon. Still, he listened to what she had to tell him and looked at the cube he was given with a raised brow, unsure as to why he was he was being entrusted with it when he could just as easily point her in the direction that AJ was in. "Uh sure, I'll see what I can do." 28/30
"We are part of the same team so I know him through that." Kel explained. It wasn't much that he did know about AJ, but he knew enough to say that he did know him. That said he couldn't help but wonder why it was that she was looking for him in the first place. "Why is it that you're looking for him anyway?" 27/30
Still recovering from that bout of questioning, Kel ended up lagging behind his father and the others. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of Zeke riding on his father's shoulders. It reminded him greatly of when he was that age and got the same treatment and as much as he would love to continue reminiscing about that, with the summit coming up and his promise to Quill it would be best to pay attention during. Not to mention there was a matter of what to do with the information on where Karina actually was. With people still walking in and getting seated for the summit, Kel took this chance to ponder just that. At one point the option of confrontation came to mind and was quickly tossed out just as quickly as it came to mind. Way too many negatives with that one. he had to put these thoughts on hold when someone else started speaking to him. "Uh yeah, it is." Not expecting his hair to become the topic of discussing, but it was short nonetheless. "I actually do know him, is he a friend of yours?" 26/30
In the short time after he explained his doubts to his father, not only had Aislinn had arrived with what he assumed to be her niece and nephew, the latter of which ran up to his father, but now his father was presuming that Aislinn was his girlfriend. Naturally, that was the first thing was to do was to address that. "No, no, no, she's not my girlfriend, she's just a friend and not the one who was missing that I was currently looking for." She was still missing and it was good to see that she was safe. Kel then looked at her to say, "You know that Luna is engaged." And the immediately turned to his father before any other misunderstanding could be made. "Not to me, someone from her home." Kel sighed, feeling an odd mixture of exhaustion and flustered after explaining all of that. 25/30
Oh shit. Briefly, a look of concern form on his face as his mother was added to the equation, the one person he'd really forgotten to take into account how they would feel about his sudden disappearance. Something else to add to the pile of things that he wasn't looking forward to. With the cobbler in front of him, Kel didn't start eating any of it right away and instead just picked at it as he listened. It wasn't too surprising hearing that his father's talent's had gotten him a position like it. That was pretty reminiscent of what happened back home in fact. "It's not that, I just got a lot on my mind." He broke off a piece of the cobbler to eat. "One of my friends is missing and despite everything that I've been told, I don't know how much of it that I believe." 24/30
