Don't fall to pieces

[apollo-chase.livejournal.com]

Who: Ren, Chase
What: Researching to save the world. Again.
Where: Ansem the Wise's private library
When: The morning.

Chase was glad Ansem had let her into his private library once she explained the urgency of the situation. Honestly, the man still intimidated her - she had been polite and forthcoming and damn well earnest in her pleadings to find some sort of answer in his private collection of books. From the scattered bits of paper and notebooks at one of the desks, Chase realized that the Refs hadn't been alone in their quest to find answers.

But if Ansem couldn't fine anything in his own library...Chase had squared her shoulders - well, a fresh perspective wouldn't hurt anything.

So there she sat about two hours later, her notebook open, scribbling with her odd mix of cursive and print. A mug of chai tea - specially created by the Moogles to actually keep said coffee hot (Chase had priorities, she really did) - sat just next to her left elbow, and she paused every so often to drink from it.

Ugh. She was going to need help with this. Thank god she had asked Ren to join her.

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[apollo-chase.livejournal.com]

Chase grinned - she had heard about that infamous masquerade from other Refs. She had the feeling that there were pictures somewhere, but where was the question.

She turned her laptop to face Ren, pulling up the appropriate document. "Those are the five that have disappeared so far."

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

Ren bit her lip as she looked over the list. Wonderland, Beast's Castle, Dwarf Woodlands, Castle of Dreams, Destiny Islands... "They're all worlds the Princesses of Light are from," she pointed out again. "Enchanted Dominion and Agrabah are okay for the moment, but I'm really not liking this pattern." And yet, it fit far too well. Aerith's vision of Radiant Garden's spirit in pain, the steadily rising numbers of Heartless and Nobodies...

"Chase?" Ren said in a very small, frightened voice. "I think Radiant Garden is going to be consumed by Darkness in the very near future."

[apollo-chase.livejournal.com]

"'At the moment' being the key phrase there," Chase said, lacing her fingers underneath her chin as she peered at the document. There was only so much they could really do - a mass evacuation of an entire world? Their best bet was to find the source of everything and as soon as pos-

Ren's next words stopped her cold.

She blinked and quickly mulled over the words. Of course. Even though Destiny Islands was Kairi's adopted home, she was originally from Radiant Garden. And everything that had happened so far...she knew in her heart that Ren's words were true.

Shit.

She jumped to her feet, nearly knocking papers and notebooks and pastries all over the place, a serious look crossing her face. "Alright, first things first. We need to get to Ansem, let him know what we've found out and see if he can round up the beginnings of an evacuation. I'll check with Cid to make sure Agrabah and the Enchanted Dominion are still safe for now."

Time. It was hardly on their side. Her mind was racing just to keep up. "Never thought I'd know what it felt like to be the captain of the Titanic - wanting to save people but not wanting to cause a panic."

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

Ren nodded numbly and got up to follow Chase. Her mind was slowly shifting out of its steady stream of four-letter words and variations of "no, not again" and into a more coherent and useful line of thought. "After that, we have to tell the others... Ugh, this is not going to help Sora feel any better about the way things are going." Of course, that wasn't the most pressing of their problems at the moment, but still, poor kid.

For a moment, the idea that maybe she was wrong, that she had just read too much into things, that everything would be fine, crossed Ren's mind. She honestly wanted to believe it, but the way Chase had reacted, she knew her theory made too much sense to be wrong.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ren replied, anxiously biting her lower lip. And just like with the Titanic, there was the problem of lifeboats--how could they possibly evacuate the citizens of this world with the few Gummi ships that they had on hand?