Trade Corner

This is the Trade Corner, where you can find all of the goods you want for a (hopefully) decent price. Arya's Shop, stores set up in the Velvet Room, and other interactions between normal characters and merchants, regarding item exchanges (whether they are being bought, sold or traded), are to be made here.

Keyblade Master Aqua and Xion wound up in the markets, with Aqua recounting how she met Sora. Arya was visited by Marie and Elizabeth of the Velvet Room, while Dave Strider asked the strange Vulgrim about the Serpent Holes. Vio meanwhile was in the Velvet Room.

"So, umm... Do I get this right?"

Xion had sat down on a bench with Aqua, listening to her story intently...

"You've been stuck in the Realm of Darkness for years? That'd mean... You have no idea what'd happened in the outside world in the meantime, right?"

Xion sighed.

"That's gonna... take a while to get you caught up on. There's been quite a lot of stuff going on. Especially with Sora...."

---

Lavenza walks into the Velvet Room several years late, with starbucks.



"How are you faring, dearest siblings?"



"Rather well so far. We are awaiting a new guest quite soon."



"I see... Where is Elizabeth, if I may ask?"



"Taking a stroll in the town with Miss Marie, as it seems."



"What!? She's abandoning her duties yet again? That's irresponsible!"



"She didn't even think to ask me if I would join. Tch. Typical. You really could have stopped her, Theo."



"I... beg your par--"



"Be more thoughtful of your younger sister next time, Theo."



"...Yes, sister."

His suffering never ends.

Aqua nodded.

Judging by Xion's tone of voice when she said that, it's likely bad news.



"What happened?"

Ah, there we are.

The mysterious butterfly will find a familiar door in Larstern, the door that will lead to the old familiar home. It will be interesting to see what it is that Igor and the other servants have done with the place. The door will open very carefully, and through the entrance will be a man dressed up in a fairly simple black turtleneck, wearing a rather decorative mask.



It feels good to be home.

Aqua wrote:"What happened?"

Xion took a deep breath. How much of Sora's memory could she still recall...?

"I'm... fuzzy on the details myself. But that boy we're talking about, Sora... He's a teenager now. And he became a Keyblade Wielder to save the worlds. His world was one of whole lot of worlds that got run over by creatures called "Heartless". The Heartless are what happens to hearts that are taken by the Darkness, you know, and they attack whoever they can find to multiply themselves. The only way to release the hearts is to strike the Heartless down with a Keyblade, and Sora did that. He even took down the one who controlled them. He's still fighting right now to protect the worlds from them. Or, well, at least he should be..."

(I hope that I'm here really doesn't mean anything bad...)


"That's just the short version, though. A whole lot more stuff happened. A lot of which I'm really not comfortable talking about... A lot of people were lost, you know..."

---

Philefly wrote:Ah, there we are.

The mysterious butterfly will find a familiar door in Larstern, the door that will lead to the old familiar home. It will be interesting to see what it is that Igor and the other servants have done with the place. The door will open very carefully, and through the entrance will be a man dressed up in a fairly simple black turtleneck, wearing a rather decorative mask.



It feels good to be home.

Philemon enters into the Velvet Room and finds that, thanks to Igor not really knowing what to do with so many varied guests coming in, it's gone back to being a pretty dull lounge. 

He might want to do some redecorating. 

Anyway, the Butterfly man's presence is noticed immediately.



"Oh! Master! It is an honor to see you return!"

Igor stands up and bows low before his maker.



"High Master Philemon!" the siblings exclaim all at once, scrambling to line up and bow. 






"~♪"

Belladonna sings louder.



Nameless adds more embellishment to his arrangement.

Nothing but the best for the Master!

Philemon will keep watch for just a couple of seconds before letting out a small little laugh, looking upon the group of servants.

"My my, this is quite a treat, is it not? So long has it been since I've been able to hear the great music or bear witness to the Room. Though Igor! Is our current guest as such that the Velvet Room would be in a state like this? I shall have to hear what has occurred in my absence." His words are not stern, and seem to be in somewhat jovial light. He eventually passes by the three attendants, giving a nod to each of them. "Lavenza, Margaret, Theordore, it is good to see you all. ...hmm. We appear to be missing another, are we not? Where is Elizabeth?"

Continuing from here...

Dave listens to Vulgrim's carefully and nods. Sounds simple enough, he'll do it.

Dave: simple fetch quest huh?
Dave: alright ill bite. give me the goods and ill send that motherfucker on its way

"Ah, but that's the thing," Vulgrim replied, tenting his fingers. "I'm not the one in possession of what I'm asking of you. Astrid is the one who owns the items in question. You will need to speak with her to acquire them. Remember, ask no questions, and give me what it is that I desire. With that, you will have access to the Serpent Holes."

Dave nods. Simple enough. If the giant lady's still where she was last time, it'll be easy.

Dave: got it
Dave: be right back then

And with that, Dave takes off.

Continues here...

Shuda51 wrote:

Philemon will keep watch for just a couple of seconds before letting out a small little laugh, looking upon the group of servants.

"My my, this is quite a treat, is it not? So long has it been since I've been able to hear the great music or bear witness to the Room. Though Igor! Is our current guest as such that the Velvet Room would be in a state like this? I shall have to hear what has occurred in my absence." His words are not stern, and seem to be in somewhat jovial light. He eventually passes by the three attendants, giving a nod to each of them. "Lavenza, Margaret, Theordore, it is good to see you all. ...hmm. We appear to be missing another, are we not? Where is Elizabeth?"

Igor keeps his head down, humbly.

"Well, you see, Master, the situation is such that we are currently expecting multiple guests within these walls. Accordingly, I believed a more neutral appearance for this room would be suiting. Please, forgive me should I have acted improperly."

He bows.



"Elizabeth appears to be outside, exploring the town our current guests reside in alongside Izanami, the Guardian of Mankind's Desires." Lavenza states somewhat sourly. There is jealousy in her voice. "As Theodore has not seen it fit to inform me of this, I... Ah, forgive me. It is not proper for me to voice such thoughts."

She, too, bows before Philemon.



"..." 

Theodore is glancing at Philemon in a sad way that says 'Daddy, Lavi and Maggy are bullying me again!'.

Philemon will give a small nod to them all, just letting out a soft chuckle. There was always a bit of excitement in being home., especially as everyone was so quick to make sure things were proper.

"Igor, it is fine. It is similar to the original Joker incident, is it not? You have acted properly. However, given that we are likely to be dealing with those beyond our normal guests in this place, I feel as though we may need to make some adjustments. Though I dare say it will still have to be something expansive, the car would be far too small for our purposes in this case. "

There is an easy laugh in the air as he looks at the others. Theodore will get a rather knowing nod that says 'I know, I know, patience dear Theo.'

"Given how quickly things move around here, I wouldn't be so quick to poke fun just yet. The current situation has been undergoing such rapid changes. We face no single threat of Mankind's faults this time. Though I dare say even our old foe would have issues adapting."

Philemon will remain silent for a second, thinking.

"What sort are our current guests? About how many do we have right now? "

"Of course, Master. This room is for you to alter as you see fit," Igor answered with another bow.

Margaret then stepped forward.



"Currently, we are expecting to support the following Persona Users on their quest: Labrys, a soul born of a fragment of the primordial mother. A soul born of Shadows, which refers to itself as 'Teddie'. The remaining two are human. Their names are Haru Okumura and Akira Kurusu. These two have previously fought side by side and the later of the two is a wielder of the Wild Card. There is also a possibility that further Persona Users might appear at a later point, so we are keeping ourselves prepared for all eventualities."

Nenilein wrote:
"I'm... fuzzy on the details myself. But that boy we're talking about, Sora... He's a teenager now. And he became a Keyblade Wielder to save the worlds. His world was one of whole lot of worlds that got run over by creatures called "Heartless". The Heartless are what happens to hearts that are taken by the Darkness, you know, and they attack whoever they can find to multiply themselves. The only way to release the hearts is to strike the Heartless down with a Keyblade, and Sora did that. He even took down the one who controlled them. He's still fighting right now to protect the worlds from them. Or, well, at least he should be..."

(I hope that I'm here really doesn't mean anything bad...)


"That's just the short version, though. A whole lot more stuff happened. A lot of which I'm really not comfortable talking about... A lot of people were lost, you know..."

"I...see..." Clearly, this is a lot to take in. "But, the last time I saw him, I didn't pass down the Keyblade to him because a friend of mine performed it on his friend, Riku. How was able to get one?"

"I dunno." Xion answers truthfully with a shrug. She doesn't know what Aqua means with 'passing it down', but she tries to give a satisfactory reply regardless. "Wait... Well, Riku did take the Keyblade away from him for a while, I think. But he got it back, because his heart was stronger. Maybe that's got something to do with it? Honestly, I'm not sure. My memories... that's to say, they're not really *my* memories... umm... The point is, I don't really know everything. Just the stuff that happened to 'stick'."



"Now, it's your turn. Who are you? Why do you have a Keyblade? How'd you end up in the realm of Darkness? And..."

Xion hesitate. 

"Who's face do you see on me?"

A few minutes had passed. Dave flew back to the Trade Corner, Astrid and Vulgrim's mysterious contraband safely in his hands. He flew high above the bustling market place until he spotted Vulgrim and his shop. Once he saw him, Dave swooped down and offered the merchant the mysterious goods.

Dave: one box of mysterious contraband as you requested

Vulgrim grinned as he got his merchandise. He took the box and it disappeared into wherever Vulgrim stores his stuff. "The Serpent Holes are yours to use," he declared. "Come find me whenever you wish to use them. It will be easier for me to connect you to places we've met before, but considering the layout of time and space, it should be possible for me to bring you elsewhere."

Vulgrim thought for a moment, and then added, "Ah, but before you leave, there's on more thing I wish to request from you. During your journey, you'll come across certain items that are of interest to me...Artifacts of the Crusades. These relics are worth quite a pretty Gilt, you see. Should you come across any of these Artifacts that I am after, please, give them to me, and I will make it worth your while."

Vulgrim gave Dave a device that listed the Artifacts he was after, which included stuff from a holy suit of Power Armor, to a flamethrower that burnt down a city, all the way to more mundane things such as early minted Gold that was blessed by priests, or rank signifiers from important members of the Crusades. Each artifact had their own price in Gilt listed next to it, and it seemed that Vulgrim was offering thousands of Gilt for each artifact he requested.

Philemon will remain quiet for a few moments, his thoughts gathering. After a minute, he gives a nod.

"I see. We truly are dealing with something... Beyond the pale, as I believe some would call it. Very well!"

Philemon will clap his hands together, looking around the room. "My dear servants, I will need to conduct a little studying of my own to learn about this mess that we are in. Until such a time we deem necessary, we shall proceed forth as we would have against our old, familiar foe. For now...we should offer a small expansion of our services. Nothing much. Nothing grand. But the Velvet Room will need to act as a sanctuary against the chaotic storm that is this event."

He'll think for just a second, snapping his finger. "I think I know what form our guest's
sanctuary should take. There was a time... Not long ago, I believe, when it had a perfect form for such a task. Margaret, I believe you know which one I am talking about? It would also provide Nameless and Belladonna a perfect stage, as well~."

Nenilein wrote:"Now, it's your turn. Who are you? Why do you have a Keyblade? How'd you end up in the realm of Darkness? And..."

Xion hesitates.

"Who's face do you see on me?"

Deep breaths, Aqua. "I am a Keyblade Master. One of the last, I think. My friends and I studied to become Master and so we had Keyblades of our own." It's not a pleasant experience to look back on. "One of the masters, Xehanort, turned on us, tore us apart for his own motives. He manipulated a friend of mine and used him as a vessel. The other friend had his heart shattered. I fought Xehanort, who was in his new body, but he was being sent to the Realm of Darkness. I followed him, not to save him but to save my friend, who was still trapped there. I took his place and fell into the Realm for ten years. My friends' names were Terra, who was possessed and Ventus..."

Aqua's voice trailed off as she looked at Xion when asked about whose face she saw. What she saw was a familiar face, one she dreamed of seeing in a long time. That spiky, blond hair and those blue eyes... It almost brought her to tears.



"Ven... Oh, Ven..."

Dave nodded. Sidequest complete, bitch. And then he was given the request. He looked over the list. This shit certainly looks expensive, fancy, and deadly as hell. He doubts he'll find it where he'll be going, though.

Then again, his bro had some dope shit in his room. But he doubts it. He folds up the list and puts it in his pocket.

Dave: right thanks for the usage of those holes man
Dave: if i see any of this stuff ill bring it back
Dave: though i doubt ill find any of this on my first trip
Dave: well unless it magically materialized somehow since the last time i went to the old apartment living room

He crosses his arms.

Dave: anyway id like to use those holes now
Dave: my destination is a planet called the land of heat and clockwork
Dave: my old house is there and it has some stuff that might be useful for crafting some dope shit that might help around here

Vulgrim nodded. "I believe I know where that location is, friend," he declared. "It's time for your journey." With that, Dave found himself teleported into a strange dimension between dimensions. A pathway made of rock with runes on it started putting itself together in front of him. Dave would probably have to follow this pathway to reach his destination, which can be found in the Questing thread.

Philemon will remain quiet for a few moments, his thoughts gathering. After a minute, he gives a nod. 

"I see. We truly are dealing with something... Beyond the pale, as I believe some would call it. Very well!"

Philemon will clap his hands together, looking around the room. "My dear servants, I will need to conduct a little studying of my own to learn about this mess that we are in. Until such a time we deem necessary, we shall proceed forth as we would have against our old, familiar foe. For now...we should offer a small expansion of our services. Nothing much. Nothing grand. But the Velvet Room will need to act as a sanctuary against the chaotic storm that is this event."

"Yes, Master!" the entire room echoes in reverence with the voices of its denizens. 

He'll think for just a second, snapping his finger. "I think I know what form our guest's 
sanctuary should take. There was a time... Not long ago, I believe, when it had a perfect form for such a task. Margaret, I believe you know which one I am talking about? It would also provide Nameless and Belladonna a perfect stage, as well~."

"Master... You are not suggesting...?"



"Could it be... The fabled...!?"



"Why, a club!"

Lavenza claps her hands together.

"How marvelous--- F-For the play-minded, I mean! Yes, I'd imagine, Elizabeth will be quite pleased. Ahem."

Your Caroline is showing, Lavenza.

---

Deep breaths, Aqua. "I am a Keyblade Master. One of the last, I think. My friends and I studied to become Master and so we had Keyblades of our own." It's not a pleasant experience to look back on. "One of the masters, Xehanort, turned on us, tore us apart for his own motives. He manipulated a friend of mine and used him as a vessel. The other friend had his heart shattered. I fought Xehanort, who was in his new body, but he was being sent to the Realm of Darkness. I followed him, not to save him but to save my friend, who was still trapped there. I took his place and fell into the Realm for ten years. My friends' names were Terra, who was possessed and Ventus..."

"A... Master?"

Xion had never heard of that term before. She was fairly sure it hadn't occured in Sora's memories either. How curious. So there were Keyblade Wielders who were ranked in classes or something?

"I'm afraid I don't know what a 'Master' is. I just use my Keyblade. That's all." she briefly summoned hers to demonstrated. "But I do know what it's like to lose your friends... I'm really sorry this happened to you." 

She sighed.

"Seems like when you have a Keyblade, everyone is just out to use your and your power, no matter who they have to hurt for it, huh...?"

Aqua's voice trailed off as she looked at Xion when asked about whose face she saw. What she saw was a familiar face, one she dreamed of seeing in a long time. That spiky, blond hair and those blue eyes... It almost brought her to tears.



"Ven... Oh, Ven..."

"Oh no... I was afraid of that..."

Xion sighed again. It was in her nature, of course, but she hated it. She just wanted to be herself...! Why couldn't she just be 'Xion'?

"That 'Ven' you're talking about... He's a boy, right? Well, that's the thing though. I'm a girl. You may see or even hear a boy, but that's not how I see myself, or how my friends saw me. Or, at least... I hope they didn't..."

Xion shook her head a little to clear her mind.

"It's... kind of hard to explain. But I'm connected to Sora's memories. So if there's someone who has a special meaning to both you and to Sora, then you might see a reflection of them in me. That 'Ven'-boy must be such a case. Though, I really don't know what that means. I can't remember Sora ever meeting anyone with that name."

Nenilein wrote:



"Seems like when you have a Keyblade, everyone is just out to use you and your power, no matter who they have to hurt for it, huh...?"

"That 'Ven' you're talking about... He's a boy, right? Well, that's the thing though. I'm a girl. You may see or even hear a boy, but that's not how I see myself, or how my friends saw me. Or, at least... I hope they didn't..."

"It's... kind of hard to explain. But I'm connected to Sora's memories. So if there's someone who has a special meaning to both you and to Sora, then you might see a reflection of them in me. That 'Ven'-boy must be such a case. Though, I really don't know what that means. I can't remember Sora ever meeting anyone with that name."

Aqua listened to Xion's explanation. It would make sense, given that she met Sora as a child and knew Ven since he came to the Land of Departure. But what kind of connection does Ven have with Sora? "I see. I'm sorry."

She places a hand on Xion's shoulder, giving her a smile. "I'm sure your friends saw you for who you really looked like. I would like to get to know the real you sometime."

Her expression became somber again. "As for that power, well... We were at a wasteland full of broken, rusted Keyblades from the last war. The χ-blade, the ultimate Keyblade... Xehanort sought it. Vanitas, who took control of Ven explained that the χ-blade would open the door to all worlds, bringing many Keyblade-wielding warriors to fight for Kingdom Hearts. Xehanort planned to start a second Keyblade War using that thing."

"Keyblade War...?"

Xion had never heard of that term, but it frankly scared her. 

"Why would anyone want something like that?"

Philemon let's out a small laugh.

"I am indeed referring to that club room. It is a fitting form. In the past, the Velvet Room has shifted to suit the situation. An elevator for a climbing tower. A vehicle to drive forward through the fog. And, though I am sad to say it, a jail to hide the truth. In this case, it will be a bedrock against this encroaching storm for our guests."

A moment later his face will grow a little more stern. "Everyone. Even though this is an abnormal event, we must keep some of our rules. Take care of our guests and their friends. Provide aid as necessary. Learn about this great event. But remember, should any of our old guests arrive, or if we learn the fates of our current ones, we will not interfere in those. Guide them. Aid them. But never direct or lead them. "

A moment later and he has his levity back. "Now, let us begin the change for the Velvet Room."

"With pleasure, Master."

Igor snaps his fingers. The redecoration begins.