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Saudade CRAU app
Mar. 5th, 2014 08:02 amPLAYER
NAME: Frudence
EMAIL: iblamejen@gmail.com
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frudence first, frudence (AIM) second, and then e-mail.
TIMEZONE: EST
AGE: 28
PLAYED CHARACTERS: n/a
LINK TO RESERVE: n/a (Mod)
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Naminé
CANON: Kingdom Hearts
AGE: Physically, roughly 16. In reality she's a little over a year old. She has existed as long as Roxas has, down to the minute.
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
The high level stuff is here on Naminé's wiki page. Novel translations are courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
im_so_flattered and Gold-Panner.
For as sweet as she appears, Naminé's first role in the series was as an unwilling antagonist. After her birth, when the Organization found her, she was put straight to work as a cog in their machine to achieve their ambitions. She did as she was bade, because Marluxia swore she would be locked in the Castle forever if she didn't; she did what she did because she was lonely. All of her interactions with Riku Replica are tainted by the knowledge that she made him feel that protective of her with her magic, to make him think he was the real Riku and taking Kairi's place in his memories just like Sora's. She will always remember that she didn't resist the Organization until Sora encouraged her to do so during re:Chain of Memories, for which she feels guilty, as well as what she did to Riku Replica. An important note is that the only reason Naminé even got to intervene between Sora and Riku Replica in Castle Oblivion is because Axel looked the other way one time during his guard duties, after they'd had several one-on-one conversations. Granted, Axel had ulterior motives, but it started what would become a friendship. Marluxia recaptures Naminé and uses her as a shield when Axel confronts him, making Naminé doubt Axel's kinder leanings yet again. Sora interrupts their quarrel, but Marluxia escapes with Naminé. When Sora confronts Marluxia again on the next floor up, Naminé finally stands up to Marluxia and refuses to use her powers to destroy Sora's heart. Riku Replica awoke just before then and comes to save her, forcing Marluxia away from her. While Sora, Donald, and Goofy go to defeat Marluxia, Sora requests that Riku Replica waits in that room and protects Naminé - which Naminé can tell is important to Riku Replica. Through her interactions with Sora after he defeats Marluxia, the rest of her canon goals are set in a motion - a kind of personal redemption quest. Her first step is in giving Sora a choice in how she helps him - whether he wanted to have his old memories back or not. Since Sora chooses his original memories, Naminé takes them to the 13th floor of Castle Oblivion and haves them sleep in some pods. They make plans to thank her, even though they won't know why when they wake up. Naminé thanks Sora for treating her like a real friend, even if it all started with a lie; Sora even promises to find her again and be friends with her again, rejecting the fact that he won't fully remember making the promise. They part ways with a pinky promise as Naminé encourages Sora to focus on remembering his light in the darkness, Kairi, while she fades into his heart's memory. "Forgotten, but not lost."
While Sora is asleep in order for her to do the kind of intensive repair work required, Naminé ends up having significant interactions with Riku after Sora defeats Marluxia. She helps him overcome Zexion's powers by accepting the darkness in himself, then meets him on the 13th floor. She gives him the same choice she gave Sora, sort of - she could seal away his memories that brought such darkness into his heart, preventing Ansem from coming back out - but Riku decides against that. Naminé is worried for him, but is glad that Riku can face the darkness - someone has to.
After Riku leaves Sora in her care, DiZ shows up and insists that she continue her work in an abandoned mansion in Twilight Town, the port town near Destiny Islands. Notably, it is Naminé who realized that Xion's very existence could be what was causing Sora to stay asleep for so long. Unfortunately, DiZ and Riku wanted to do things by forcing Xion into merging with Sora. Instead, she met with Xion herself on Day 356 to explain the nature of her existence. The gentle nature of the conversation, the kindred spirit between two girls who weren't supposed to exist, likely had an impact on Xion's decision to rejoin with Sora. Much like when Sora made a promise he knew he would forget, Naminé made a promise to Xion to look after Roxas. However, once Xion returns to Sora, everyone including Naminé forgets she even existed. Thus her role in 358/2 Days was very small, but very significant, and she made a promise she will still remember even though she forgets the girl she made it to.
At the start of KHII (Final Mix) then, the only piece left to rejoin with Sora is Roxas, although they all believe him to be the only lost piece in the first place. Naminé communicates with Roxas several times while he is in the digital Twilight Town, where she serves a very similar role to how she convinced Xion to rejoin with Sora. She tries to sympathize with Roxas as a fellow Nobody who is just a lost part of someone else, but Riku stops her from revealing his own nature to him - perhaps due to the lingering memory of how badly Xion took it the first time. Naminé is not afraid of her strange nature as a Nobody the way that Riku was afraid of his darkness, so that's likely the source of their division on the topic. She's even one of the people who saw Riku in his Ansem form while they oversaw Sora's progress during the game 358/2 days, and never treated him differently for it. It wasn't even until after Kairi and Roxas communicated, after Naminé contacted Roxas once, that Riku really understood who Naminé was - Kairi's Nobody - and even then DiZ was the one who explained it to him. In the end she did speak plainly with Roxas, but his resulting torment made her second-guess that decision. That put her in opposition with DiZ and Riku (as Ansem), because when Roxas kept seeking out more information, she wanted to give it to him - first as data, then as herself when they deleted her data self, and then they took her away from him by force. Feeling decidedly akin to how the Organization treated her, Naminé grew to resent DiZ moreso than Riku due to their time in Castle Oblivion. That feeling was apparently reciprocated, because Riku didn't destroy Naminé like DiZ insisted he should.
Instead, Riku took her and found Axel in Twilight Town, having just been beaten by Roxas in the digital Twilight Town's mansion - Axel, the one person from Organization XIII to have survived the Castle Oblivion incident in re:Chain of Memories, and thus whose loyalties to the Organization were in shreds.* This was the first time Axel met Riku in Ansem form, but it didn't stop them from having a mostly civil discussion. They talked about where Nobodies belonged - nowhere - and how Riku's business with Naminé was complete - since Sora was awake. Naminé was worried, but Axel said in his own way that he'd changed since they'd interacted in Castle Oblivion. Axel called Riku out on DiZ wanting Riku to destroy her. Riku didn't exactly deny it, so Axel encouraged Naminé to leave with him through a Corridor of Darkness. And yet Naminé apologized to Riku for the situation he'd found himself in before they parted.
[*This scene between the three of them was added in KHII (Final Mix) as Sora is leaving on the Twilight Town train for Yen Sid's tower [[Part 4 in kh13's Playthrough]], but for coherence purposes I'm incorporating the Novel's version of it starting from the end of Book 1, Chapter 7 since that covers what Naminé was doing up until rescuing Kairi from Castle Oblivion, i.e. a good chunk of the middle portion of the game. We return to KHII Final Mix after Book 4's Chapter 2.]
After that, Naminé and Axel had a rather intense conversation while walking through Corridors of Darkness. It began when Naminé asked where exactly they were going, meandered into wondering if Nobodies did have hearts after all, while Naminé continued worrying about Riku. Axel meanwhile was more worried about their status as traitors and so insisted they keep walking, apparently while he figured out what exactly he wanted to do.
To her chagrin, Axel decided to turn her back over to the Organization as a placating gesture to have his Traitor status rescinded. However, Naminé pinned him with the question of how that would accomplish his goals - getting that status revoked, that is. In the time it took him to consider that, she made a Final Request of sorts - instead of turning her in, she wanted to meet Kairi. As in, she wanted to rejoin with Kairi. Stunned, the conversation turned back to the nature of hearts and how Naminé thought Axel was lonesome (like she had once been), but before they could finish they were interrupted by Saïx. Axel summoned a Corridor of Darkness and urged Naminé through it, yet another self-sacrificing gesture for her sake that contradicted his previous intentions. That didn't go unnoticed by Naminé either, because she did leave to find Riku, but only to bring him back there.
They did catch up to Axel after his fight with Saïx while he was talking to Kairi, but before they could make sure he was alright, Pluto growled and Saïx appeared again. Together with Pluto, Riku forced Saïx back, but he caught up with Axel later after he'd found Kairi and took Kairi while Axel was trying to. Saïx only got one hit in, but one hit was all it took to send Axel into the sand. That was how Riku and Naminé found him after all that running around looking for him in Twilight Town, when he'd been looking for Kairi - nearly dead. Naminé used her powers over memory and the heart to temporarily repair Axel's wounds, rewriting his body's memory to make it think that the severity of his injuries was less than it actually was. When he awoke, he actually apologized and thanked Naminé - and though he didn't say it, that was his first time ever doing so - which touched her. Even though he was still injured, Axel promised he would bring Kairi to Naminé if she and Riku went back to the mansion to wait for him.
Unfortunately, while they were waiting, two people found out she was in the mansion at the same time, and neither were happy about it. Xemnas showed up while Riku was still in Ansem form, and DiZ came in at the exact same time, having sensed Xemnas's presence. Even though Xemnas left, Riku readied his weapon against DiZ. Naminé still tried to prevent them from fighting, even after all that, and that's when Riku realized DiZ was Ansem the Wise, the real one. He offered to explain himself over ice cream, that he had indeed been out for revenge and felt bad that his research, his theories, had been incorrect. More importantly, he sought Riku's help in remedying his mistakes - and Naminé watched as Riku contemplated his request. But suddenly Axel appeared, fresh from his attempt to rescue Kairi for Naminé and subsequent defeat by Saïx. He was in good enough shape to steal a bite of Naminé's ice cream, but only just barely. Since he knew he wouldn't be able to rescue Kairi after all, he opened a portal to The World That Never Was for Naminé and Riku to go through. DiZ/Ansem the Wise encouraged them to do the same. For his part, Axel swore to get Sora, Donald, and Goofy there. Naminé had tears sliding down her cheeks both in gratefulness, and also from feeling how near death he was from how cold his hands were. She only said "See you later," but feared it would be goodbye. That turned out to be true, since Axel disappeared after escorting Sora through Betwixt and Between into The World That Never Was.
Once in Never Was, Naminé managed to open a Corridor (!) directly into Kairi's cell from a few yards away. Naminé managed to reassure Kairi enough that she followed Naminé through the Corridor. Together the girls started to escape from the castle, but Naminé started to fade out just from the close proximity to her Somebody, Kairi. Saïx stopped them in their tracks, but then Riku rejoined Naminé to fight him. Naminé even called him Riku, though he kept his hood up - at first. Saïx disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness and Riku was about to follow him when Kairi approached and removed Riku's hood to reveal Ansem's face. Naminé disappeared then, saying she'd leave the rest to Riku; she'd gotten her wish - she'd met Kairi - and so she rejoined with her.
But that wasn't the last of Naminé, for she still had that promise to keep to Sora to meet him again as a friend, and Roxas too. When Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy defeated a portion of Xemnas, they were literally rocked on the tower back into action to squash the rest of his power. However, Riku couldn't use the Corridor anymore, and they needed a way to get to Xemnas. Naminé appeared to Sora, Riku, and Kairi alone - forgotten but not lost at last - as Roxas emerged from Sora as well. Their memories of each other - even as Nobodies - kept their hearts alive. That's when Naminé will appear in Exsilium, after merging with Kairi while standing next to Roxas.
GAME HISTORY:
[All of Naminé's logs] and her [One response to the Network]
Naminé's arrival in Exsilium was actually very much a wake-up to the divide between civilians-turned-soldiers and veteran warriors. Sergeant Calhoun made sure that Naminé was debriefed on the sort of place she'd found herself in - and even helped her get warm! After that she bumped into Roxas first. Their tearful reunion was littered with questions of how either of them were even alive, separate from their Somebodies. Thanks to Roxas, she was able to see that he and Sora being separate, while strange, was something they both wanted. She wasn't sure how it was affecting either of them, but in the moment it was enough to simply be reunited with someone so important to her. He was able to reassure her that no matter how confusing it was to be in a new place with a new life, she wouldn't have to go through it alone. It assuaged many of her fears. Riku told her a bit more about the Initiative that Sergeant Calhoun had spoken of, and then she ran into Sora. He explained how everyone - Riku, Roxas, and Lea - were living together like regular ol' roommates. Lea - Axel's Somebody - being alive stunned her the most, and how he treated Roxas as a friend he'd known for months now was strangely comforting. She didn't want to treat Lea like Axel, though, and that spurred Sora on to insist that she had the ability, nay the right, to be her own person just like a Somebody. She also confessed why she wasn't sure if she could face all of them as 'friends' after what she'd done to them. Sora tried to reassure her, and while she wasn't entirely convinced, she allowed him to lead her back to the place they were all sharing.
Once there, she met Lea at last. He tried to pretend that he was Axel briefly, but Sora had spoiled that surprise, which got a good laugh out of her. Both of them felt incredibly guilty, but Lea insisted that if he got a second shot at life, then so did she, and she was more than grateful he'd worked so hard to reunite her with Kairi in the end, to help her get back to where she belonged.
Her days after that were spent reconnecting with "her boys" and learning how to make pancakes while also getting major pep-talking about how she was allowed to have a life of her own, to find some meaning in being her own person. It might have stuck better if the boys didn't keep having all the fun - which is to say they went on Missions during Endgame, and Naminé didn't. Partly it was sheer lack of combat experience and partly it was, quite honestly, player mood dropping completely when Endgame was announced to take place in early March despite her arriving in January.
So in the end, along with a good chunk of Exsilium - including Lea, Riku, Sora, and Roxas - Naminé chose to leave Exsilium in the hope of returning to Kairi's heart, thinking it would be for the best, even if she would be parted with her boys all over again. The fact that Roxas and Sora were making their own decisions independently gave her some comfort, but without Kairi to know what harm she may have done, Naminé felt it would be better to return... not expecting to end up in Saudade for all her trouble. She never did learn much about Exsilium beyond the snowy landscape and whispers about the Initiative, their technology, politics, etc., but always in vague ways she didn't fully comprehend. She allowed herself the 'normalcy' of a quiet life in one building she rarely left for 2 months - not because anyone prevented her from doing going out, but because it was familiar. It was easy. It was habit. Until the day came when she had to make that choice again to stay or go. Since she had no great attachment to Exsilium in so short a time, the choice was all too easy for her.
PERSONALITY:
Naminé looks like a wisp of a girl, the kind of doormat who can be bullied around, and that's exactly how she started out. She was driven to hurt others purely on the fear of being left alone forever. The organization promptly put her to work in as isolated a manner as they could manage to keep her spirits down, to keep the threat real. They only referred to her by epithets like The Witch and they hit her if required to get what they wanted out of her - use of her powers. Specifically, they found out that she could affect the memories of the people close to Sora, and so the Organization made plans that hinged on her cooperation. Of all the younger characters ensorceled by the Organization - Roxas, Xion, Riku Replica - Naminé is the only one for whom they made no attempt to socialize through actual or imagined interactions. They just made her draw, working her magic as she went. Interestingly, since her first major friendship came with Sora, she was able to have a very good person guiding her socialization, and she turned out alright in the end, but she had to overcome a lot.
The effect of her isolation by the Organization on Naminé was that she had very low self-esteem and easily bowed to stronger personalities. That has since started to change gradually. She may slip into compliance when she doesn't have a strong opinion about an outcome or if she believes the other person will be happier for it, but she does have a mind of her own now and ambitions to pursue. Anyone who comes across as confident and as virtuous as Sora will gain her respect and admiration quicker. At the very least, she will no longer acquiesce if she can tell it will cause great harm to herself or others; she will support alternatives.
She is far more assertive now, and more expressive about her own wants & needs. After KH2, she has successfully executed a rescue mission and escaped from the Organization's clutches in the process. She even saved Axel's life, and was thanked for it. She's still not the type to rush into a situation, but careful planning and subterfuge is right up her alley. Each new success, each friendship created will continue to bolster her confidence. Now, she is a willing part of that development.
Unlike Xion, Roxas, and Riku Replica, Naminé does not suffer from an identity crisis about what she is. She knew from the beginning she was "Kairi's shadow" and that much is an immutable truth. She only worries about what she has done and any recompense needed for it. After the initial shock of being in Exsilium, she won't fret 'being' again either. Out of habit for preempting an offense, she will still hesitate to make requests of others at first. Given some encouragement, she will improve on that front. Answering the needs of others still brings her the greatest joy - that and creating order from the chaos she helped create. As a result, she will never lie if she can help it. Even though she saw Roxas become very upset over the truth she told him, webs of misplaced trust hurt far more, she knows well now. She will still hesitate over it, though.
The biggest thing she inherited from Kairi was compassion. The only time she's ever raised her voice was in defense of someone else - Sora both times. Every other time, she tries to talk things out, for as long as it takes. She speaks slowly in deference to the other person needing to comprehend her words - she's too familiar with the mind now to downplay how important some decisions can be for people, even when they may seem unimportant to her. Having come from Kairi, she is definitely an extrovert, just kind of a quiet one who needs to warm up to a person before fully expressing herself, but she does love being around people and draws personal energy from friends rather than solitude.
A flaw for now will definitely be apologizing too much - specifically for things she can't control. Another is her weak constitution and limited battle experience; she probably could learn magic, but she simply hasn't, nor has she spent time running around an island or across worlds like Sora and Riku have, or even Kairi. She won't possess seemingly basic skills like swimming, although she can sew (re:Chain of Memories Manga canon) and of course draw, so she will also have a hard time finding commonalities upon which to base new friendships. With a small push, she'll be able to try it out of the blue though, if nothing else to learn those skills she lacks. For all her efforts to be compassionate, she may come across as over-eager and a little firm in the belief that literally anything can be fixed, especially if she's allowed to use her magic. The idea that Axel didn't want his wounds healed was a little hard to swallow, knowing he could die from his next combat even if he won. Due to her magic dealing with people's minds and memories, truly her very being as an exsistential question, make her so familiar with psychological principles (without formal training) that she could appear as compulsively psychoanalyzing, even to people who she gets along with.
Naminé heard a lot of talk in Exsilium from her friends Lea, Roxas, and Sora, about how Nobodies such as herself should be able to live their own lives. To his credit, she also understood Riku to have similar leanings if only because he continued to treat her kindly, as he had back in Castle Oblivion. However, for all the talk, 2 months was not enough to leave lasting impressions save immense gratitude towards Lea in particular, as well as the one stray hope that she could at least make friends. That she could allow herself. Whether she existed long enough to repay Lea's kindness for his powerful words was another story entirely, but it was a start. She will be a bit more open to speaking with strangers, approaching them instead of always the other way around. She may reveal a bit more pieces of herself earlier on in a friendship than she would have otherwise been comfortable with, since Lea was living proof - in his time as Axel in Exsilium - that Nobodies could leave lasting impressions on the people they encounter. She never expected to use that knowledge going home to Kairi, but since she's found herself separate yet again in Saudade and Lea in a similar rut... might as well try something different for a change. Staying cooped up for 2 months certainly didn't help.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Lea (and Axel): Oh gosh, he hit her so hard with the pep-talking. He's an official friend now. She still sees him as the person who did everything in his power to get her to Kairi, not one of the Organization members who helped trap her in Castle Oblivion. She got explicit permission to subsume her (platonic) relationship with Axel into her now-friendship with Lea, but offered to treat him like his own person straight off the bat. Basically he became the first person she'd go to - as a Confidant - when anything was wrong. He's seen her best and worst moments and genuinely wants to help her. While she still doesn't think she really deserves that level of friendship, she trusts him completely.
Riku: While their acquaintanceship in canon was strengthened mainly in mutual frustration with DiZ, in the end his actions are as much proof of his character as anything they could have ever said between each other. It's actually the complete opposite of Lea - where so much of their CR is built on things they've said to each other, Riku's CR has been developed in quiet moments of mutual understanding, as two people living in the same house and gradually getting to know one another. She also knows that Riku did a lot to help Lea in Exsilium - died for him, for one - even before he and Lea formed a relationship. They could certainly know each other better, but yet again she trusts him completely.
Sora and Roxas: Bound up in the guilt for twisting their memories, Naminé doesn't feel worthy of either of them forgiving her to the extent they did in Exsilium, to the point of offering friendship and a house, a place to live. Sora guided her there and Roxas was the only Nobody in all of Exsilium, so she felt that he was the only other person to understand their quandary of belonging to their Somebody. But both Sora and Roxas had developed ideas about their separate existences that were completely foreign to her.
Lenalee Lee and Sergeant Calhoun: She would recognize these non-canonmate names and Calhoun's face if they showed up in Saudade, but both were very brief interactions. The commonality is a kindred frustration about being pulled from your old world and dropped into a new one and how to adapt to it. Lenalee and Naminé had a rather deep conversation about when people come and go, what happens to their memories? Meanwhile Calhoun was the first experience Naminé had with any sort of military figure.
STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: This is the best link I have since we didn't get to log out the KH cast leaving Exsilium. However, the fact is that even after everything she heard from Lea, Sora, and Roxas about the possibility of a new life, she chose to go 'home' to Kairi. It's not that she didn't believe them. It's that without Kairi to tell her otherwise, Naminé still believes that the best thing for everyone - the Right Thing To Do - is to rejoin with Kairi, and her personal feelings in the matter... don't matter. She still has something to repent for.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Naminé walked through the darkness as she walked on even ground, stone or wood, it didn't matter. She'd been through the Corridors, she'd stepped through dreams and memories and all manner of half-waking visions. More to the point, she'd been expecting to be someplace precisely like this. The space between Exsilium and Kairi's heart would be one travelled by way of heart connections, light and dark and memories chained up in one body. The stillness, the lack of wind and snow and everything else she'd come to know in Exsilium, it was all very familiar to her. She was returning to where she belonged, head held high and unafraid by the void that was spread out before her. At least it was a fate she'd chosen for herself twice over now.
"This isn't goodbye. I'll see everyone again - through her eyes." She kept walking without disturbing the space around her and without it disturbing her, as if it understood she was a being out of place and time, just passing through, not leaving a trace she'd ever been there to begin with. "Roxas and Sora... Lea and Riku... You're all strong. You'll be alright. I'm just strong enough to stand on my own like you four... " When a bit of light came into view, she was confident this was the place in Kairi's heart she'd been trying to reach. "Time for me to go back."
As she got closer, though, she realized it wasn't just a gateway to oblivion or the horizon of a renewed soul joining together, but rather a large circle seemingly lit from within itself and made from stained glass... that drew her interest keenly. Was it because Kairi was so full of Light, as Sora was? Maybe - and so she strode forward to find out. As soon as her first sandal touched the span of white-gold and mother-of-pearl inlay, the grey glass burst upwards to reveal not Kairi reclining on the edge of the circle, but Naminé herself. She bore her Compass Courser, but was fast asleep. On the other side of her were three blank circles spaced out evenly with her height.
Oh, no, they weren't blank - they were empty. They were holes in the floor that went straight down into the void again. She spun slowly in a circle, wondering briefly if this was meant to happen, or if something had gone wrong and she was waylaid yet again, as when she'd found herself in Exsilium.
"Hello? Is... anyone else here? Riku?" Maybe this was a deeper Darkness than even he'd travelled. "Lea? Sora?" She wasn't scared - concerned would be a better emotion. So she kept slowly looking around her, and when she'd turned a full circle, she looked at the three voids again - hovering above them were objects now. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
Stranger things happened in this Space Between, she supposed, so she approached the middle one that way the other two would also be in view.
It was the white crystal she'd concealed Sora inside in order to heal him, the petals drifting up around the sphere defensively. Nothing was inside, but she knew exactly what it was - a shell to guard him, to let him sleep until her work was done, and Riku's too. Even Diz's, in fact. The white shine reminded her that her that it was a fragile stasis, though - something she'd brought on Sora herself and Diz led Roxas to see. She didn't expect anyone else to understand her motivations for repairing the damage she'd done - but that crystal had done the job. She'd accomplished her goal of protecting Sora from the Organization until he was whole again.
"The path of the Guardian"
It was a young girl's voice? Not Kairi's... whose heart was she inside, anyway? That voice was too young and small to be Kairi.
"If you can stand your ground, you can stand in front of your friends. If you fall, it'll be before they do. Are you somebody like that?"
"Am I…?" She looked puzzled. What sort of child asked those kinds of questions - and how was she to answer a question about herself? She had no idea if other people considered her loyal, but she certainly didn't feel strong enough to be a shield for others. She didn't feel comfortable answering the question, so she shifted a little further away to her left.
There appeared the Compass Courser - which was strange because she'd had it in her hands just a moment ago. It was a small instrument to be sure, but not so small that she could lose track of it, she'd believed. Thinking she'd be able to hold it, she reached out - but no sooner did her fingers touch the narrow tip did the voice return.
"The path of the Warrior - the first one to reach for their weapon may be courageous, but it's your way or the high way. There is no reasoning when force will solve your problems. Are you somebody like that?"
"No!" Naminé responded instinctively. Forcing people to do things was what got her into trouble in the first place - both the bullying from the Organization and from her own powers forcing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to act a certain way.
And that seemed to be an answer the voice was seeking, because her Compass Courser disappeared immediately. "Wait, I didn't mean..."
"But you did mean it."
She bowed her head. "Yes. I suppose I did." And so she turned to the third item, staring at it from the other side of the white crystal - it was the star-keychain she'd given to Riku's Replica.
"The path of the Mystic - power is neither Dark or Light. A strong person can determine how that power is used, though. Are you somebody like that?"
Naminé agreed with the sentiment, certainly - in theory. There were people like Riku and Lea who could walk through Dark Corridors but still serve the forces of Light when they reached the other side. Whether it applied to her personally though... that was something she couldn't quite agree with. Her own powers - memory modification - she still thought from time to time were best put to use when they weren't being used at all. Sora wouldn't have needed protected, wouldn't have needed put back together… if not for her.
"I have to choose one or the other… don't I?"
"Yes. It's a very important choice - but it'll be yours forever. Somebody like a Guardian? Or somebody like a Mystic?"
Naminé walked over and placed both hands around the crystal, not quite touching the petals but just wondering... it looked pretty heavy. Could she carry that sort of weight around for more than just Sora? It seemed more possible than wielding power, anyway.
"Guardian."
"Say it."
Her head perked up, still expecting some being to appear, even some flitting fairy who happened to have a child-like voice. "Say what?"
"Say your choice."
Oh... how she phrased things mattered, how words linked together mattered. That made sense. She nodded. "I'll try... I'll try to be somebody like a Guardian."
"You said it."
Of course she'd said, she'd said - somebody? "Wait, did you mean a Somebody? Can I really-"
But then the ground crackled beneath her again and instead of remaining stable, the whole world shook up into an angle, making her slide forward, grabbing the crystal orb to herself instinctively. It was a bit of a forceful contact as the sphere hit her chest, but she endured it as she pitched into the empty hole the white shell had been hovering above.
Falling through the floor, a white light began to envelop her as she felt the weight against her chest crawl up her shoulder and nestle like a too-heavy bird on her shoulder. She didn't know where she was headed, but she was convinced it wasn't towards Kairi's heart.
"At least tell me your name!"
"Sure."
She closed her eyes as the light became too bright. "And it is?"
"Naminé."
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Canon Abilities:
Naminé's canon abilities almost all center around her ability to affect the people closest to Sora. In Saudade, the abilities listed below will be able to re-manifest since they were mirrored by her Exsilium-granted ones she's losing, kind of like re-absorbing the power back into her. The Exsilium ones (explained below) were lower powered but expanded beyond Sora's heart-circle of friends. More challenging will be convincing her to actually try them out.
Being a Nobody does carry with it some additional abilities she will retain in Saudade right off the bat - namely the Dark Corridors. Much like Axel/Lea, she can open up a hole in space and time that looks like a giant oval about 7' tall with a swirling vortex of black, purple, and blue in it. The doors do not canonically have a limitation on distance or dimension. Within Saudade, this power will be limited by two aspects:
Exsilium-Granted Abilities:
Compass Courser - a drawing compass vector, or a sheath for other drawing instruments. Naminé picked this item from the Exsilium armory, only to discover her powers still worked when she used it. When she saddled a pencil, pen, crayon, brush, etc. into the Compass Courser, she would have been able to make things real that she drew.
Since she never got to develop this power in-game, and the Courser itself is gone, she won't even really be aware that she had that power to begin with. I mention it here only for completeness sake and the fact that she was vaguely aware thanks to others around here that she should probably, by virtue of having been pulled to Exsilium, have access to casting magic of some sort or a special weapon or something. It will make her armor a curiosity, a 'how does it work' more than 'why do I have it.'
Saudade-Exclusive:
Aside from the limitations explained above, Naminé gains keyblade armor by virtue of being a Paladin via her Awakening choices. The pauldron she wears will look like this and her armor will be similar to Ventus's, meaning more lightweight to enable her range of movement than a bulkier style like Terra's or other full-plate. She also retains the ability to do Melding at a low level, although she'll have to learn spell casting basics in the first place.
INVENTORY:
She'd feasibly really only have her dress and her sketchpad. No Compass Courser due to her Awakening choices.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
I didn't get a chance to develop the muse in Exsilium before Endgame hit and squandered my drive for the character. I want to give her a fair shot in Saudade, to think more on the things she was told in Exsilium and then expand on them in Saudade. She shows a lot of backbone in canon, standing up to someone like Larxene, but only when she's helping someone else. I want her to become more self-confident, to be okay with having a self at all. That will take time, but hopefully having a very physical presence like the armor will prove a strong counterpoint to someone so very focused on internal things.
NAME: Frudence
EMAIL: iblamejen@gmail.com
PREFERRED PRONOUNS: Female.
BEST CONTACT:
TIMEZONE: EST
AGE: 28
PLAYED CHARACTERS: n/a
LINK TO RESERVE: n/a (Mod)
CHARACTER
NAME(S): Naminé
CANON: Kingdom Hearts
AGE: Physically, roughly 16. In reality she's a little over a year old. She has existed as long as Roxas has, down to the minute.
BACKGROUND HISTORY:
The high level stuff is here on Naminé's wiki page. Novel translations are courtesy of
im_so_flattered and Gold-Panner.For as sweet as she appears, Naminé's first role in the series was as an unwilling antagonist. After her birth, when the Organization found her, she was put straight to work as a cog in their machine to achieve their ambitions. She did as she was bade, because Marluxia swore she would be locked in the Castle forever if she didn't; she did what she did because she was lonely. All of her interactions with Riku Replica are tainted by the knowledge that she made him feel that protective of her with her magic, to make him think he was the real Riku and taking Kairi's place in his memories just like Sora's. She will always remember that she didn't resist the Organization until Sora encouraged her to do so during re:Chain of Memories, for which she feels guilty, as well as what she did to Riku Replica. An important note is that the only reason Naminé even got to intervene between Sora and Riku Replica in Castle Oblivion is because Axel looked the other way one time during his guard duties, after they'd had several one-on-one conversations. Granted, Axel had ulterior motives, but it started what would become a friendship. Marluxia recaptures Naminé and uses her as a shield when Axel confronts him, making Naminé doubt Axel's kinder leanings yet again. Sora interrupts their quarrel, but Marluxia escapes with Naminé. When Sora confronts Marluxia again on the next floor up, Naminé finally stands up to Marluxia and refuses to use her powers to destroy Sora's heart. Riku Replica awoke just before then and comes to save her, forcing Marluxia away from her. While Sora, Donald, and Goofy go to defeat Marluxia, Sora requests that Riku Replica waits in that room and protects Naminé - which Naminé can tell is important to Riku Replica. Through her interactions with Sora after he defeats Marluxia, the rest of her canon goals are set in a motion - a kind of personal redemption quest. Her first step is in giving Sora a choice in how she helps him - whether he wanted to have his old memories back or not. Since Sora chooses his original memories, Naminé takes them to the 13th floor of Castle Oblivion and haves them sleep in some pods. They make plans to thank her, even though they won't know why when they wake up. Naminé thanks Sora for treating her like a real friend, even if it all started with a lie; Sora even promises to find her again and be friends with her again, rejecting the fact that he won't fully remember making the promise. They part ways with a pinky promise as Naminé encourages Sora to focus on remembering his light in the darkness, Kairi, while she fades into his heart's memory. "Forgotten, but not lost."
While Sora is asleep in order for her to do the kind of intensive repair work required, Naminé ends up having significant interactions with Riku after Sora defeats Marluxia. She helps him overcome Zexion's powers by accepting the darkness in himself, then meets him on the 13th floor. She gives him the same choice she gave Sora, sort of - she could seal away his memories that brought such darkness into his heart, preventing Ansem from coming back out - but Riku decides against that. Naminé is worried for him, but is glad that Riku can face the darkness - someone has to.
After Riku leaves Sora in her care, DiZ shows up and insists that she continue her work in an abandoned mansion in Twilight Town, the port town near Destiny Islands. Notably, it is Naminé who realized that Xion's very existence could be what was causing Sora to stay asleep for so long. Unfortunately, DiZ and Riku wanted to do things by forcing Xion into merging with Sora. Instead, she met with Xion herself on Day 356 to explain the nature of her existence. The gentle nature of the conversation, the kindred spirit between two girls who weren't supposed to exist, likely had an impact on Xion's decision to rejoin with Sora. Much like when Sora made a promise he knew he would forget, Naminé made a promise to Xion to look after Roxas. However, once Xion returns to Sora, everyone including Naminé forgets she even existed. Thus her role in 358/2 Days was very small, but very significant, and she made a promise she will still remember even though she forgets the girl she made it to.
At the start of KHII (Final Mix) then, the only piece left to rejoin with Sora is Roxas, although they all believe him to be the only lost piece in the first place. Naminé communicates with Roxas several times while he is in the digital Twilight Town, where she serves a very similar role to how she convinced Xion to rejoin with Sora. She tries to sympathize with Roxas as a fellow Nobody who is just a lost part of someone else, but Riku stops her from revealing his own nature to him - perhaps due to the lingering memory of how badly Xion took it the first time. Naminé is not afraid of her strange nature as a Nobody the way that Riku was afraid of his darkness, so that's likely the source of their division on the topic. She's even one of the people who saw Riku in his Ansem form while they oversaw Sora's progress during the game 358/2 days, and never treated him differently for it. It wasn't even until after Kairi and Roxas communicated, after Naminé contacted Roxas once, that Riku really understood who Naminé was - Kairi's Nobody - and even then DiZ was the one who explained it to him. In the end she did speak plainly with Roxas, but his resulting torment made her second-guess that decision. That put her in opposition with DiZ and Riku (as Ansem), because when Roxas kept seeking out more information, she wanted to give it to him - first as data, then as herself when they deleted her data self, and then they took her away from him by force. Feeling decidedly akin to how the Organization treated her, Naminé grew to resent DiZ moreso than Riku due to their time in Castle Oblivion. That feeling was apparently reciprocated, because Riku didn't destroy Naminé like DiZ insisted he should.
Instead, Riku took her and found Axel in Twilight Town, having just been beaten by Roxas in the digital Twilight Town's mansion - Axel, the one person from Organization XIII to have survived the Castle Oblivion incident in re:Chain of Memories, and thus whose loyalties to the Organization were in shreds.* This was the first time Axel met Riku in Ansem form, but it didn't stop them from having a mostly civil discussion. They talked about where Nobodies belonged - nowhere - and how Riku's business with Naminé was complete - since Sora was awake. Naminé was worried, but Axel said in his own way that he'd changed since they'd interacted in Castle Oblivion. Axel called Riku out on DiZ wanting Riku to destroy her. Riku didn't exactly deny it, so Axel encouraged Naminé to leave with him through a Corridor of Darkness. And yet Naminé apologized to Riku for the situation he'd found himself in before they parted.
[*This scene between the three of them was added in KHII (Final Mix) as Sora is leaving on the Twilight Town train for Yen Sid's tower [[Part 4 in kh13's Playthrough]], but for coherence purposes I'm incorporating the Novel's version of it starting from the end of Book 1, Chapter 7 since that covers what Naminé was doing up until rescuing Kairi from Castle Oblivion, i.e. a good chunk of the middle portion of the game. We return to KHII Final Mix after Book 4's Chapter 2.]
After that, Naminé and Axel had a rather intense conversation while walking through Corridors of Darkness. It began when Naminé asked where exactly they were going, meandered into wondering if Nobodies did have hearts after all, while Naminé continued worrying about Riku. Axel meanwhile was more worried about their status as traitors and so insisted they keep walking, apparently while he figured out what exactly he wanted to do.
To her chagrin, Axel decided to turn her back over to the Organization as a placating gesture to have his Traitor status rescinded. However, Naminé pinned him with the question of how that would accomplish his goals - getting that status revoked, that is. In the time it took him to consider that, she made a Final Request of sorts - instead of turning her in, she wanted to meet Kairi. As in, she wanted to rejoin with Kairi. Stunned, the conversation turned back to the nature of hearts and how Naminé thought Axel was lonesome (like she had once been), but before they could finish they were interrupted by Saïx. Axel summoned a Corridor of Darkness and urged Naminé through it, yet another self-sacrificing gesture for her sake that contradicted his previous intentions. That didn't go unnoticed by Naminé either, because she did leave to find Riku, but only to bring him back there.
They did catch up to Axel after his fight with Saïx while he was talking to Kairi, but before they could make sure he was alright, Pluto growled and Saïx appeared again. Together with Pluto, Riku forced Saïx back, but he caught up with Axel later after he'd found Kairi and took Kairi while Axel was trying to. Saïx only got one hit in, but one hit was all it took to send Axel into the sand. That was how Riku and Naminé found him after all that running around looking for him in Twilight Town, when he'd been looking for Kairi - nearly dead. Naminé used her powers over memory and the heart to temporarily repair Axel's wounds, rewriting his body's memory to make it think that the severity of his injuries was less than it actually was. When he awoke, he actually apologized and thanked Naminé - and though he didn't say it, that was his first time ever doing so - which touched her. Even though he was still injured, Axel promised he would bring Kairi to Naminé if she and Riku went back to the mansion to wait for him.
Unfortunately, while they were waiting, two people found out she was in the mansion at the same time, and neither were happy about it. Xemnas showed up while Riku was still in Ansem form, and DiZ came in at the exact same time, having sensed Xemnas's presence. Even though Xemnas left, Riku readied his weapon against DiZ. Naminé still tried to prevent them from fighting, even after all that, and that's when Riku realized DiZ was Ansem the Wise, the real one. He offered to explain himself over ice cream, that he had indeed been out for revenge and felt bad that his research, his theories, had been incorrect. More importantly, he sought Riku's help in remedying his mistakes - and Naminé watched as Riku contemplated his request. But suddenly Axel appeared, fresh from his attempt to rescue Kairi for Naminé and subsequent defeat by Saïx. He was in good enough shape to steal a bite of Naminé's ice cream, but only just barely. Since he knew he wouldn't be able to rescue Kairi after all, he opened a portal to The World That Never Was for Naminé and Riku to go through. DiZ/Ansem the Wise encouraged them to do the same. For his part, Axel swore to get Sora, Donald, and Goofy there. Naminé had tears sliding down her cheeks both in gratefulness, and also from feeling how near death he was from how cold his hands were. She only said "See you later," but feared it would be goodbye. That turned out to be true, since Axel disappeared after escorting Sora through Betwixt and Between into The World That Never Was.
Once in Never Was, Naminé managed to open a Corridor (!) directly into Kairi's cell from a few yards away. Naminé managed to reassure Kairi enough that she followed Naminé through the Corridor. Together the girls started to escape from the castle, but Naminé started to fade out just from the close proximity to her Somebody, Kairi. Saïx stopped them in their tracks, but then Riku rejoined Naminé to fight him. Naminé even called him Riku, though he kept his hood up - at first. Saïx disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness and Riku was about to follow him when Kairi approached and removed Riku's hood to reveal Ansem's face. Naminé disappeared then, saying she'd leave the rest to Riku; she'd gotten her wish - she'd met Kairi - and so she rejoined with her.
But that wasn't the last of Naminé, for she still had that promise to keep to Sora to meet him again as a friend, and Roxas too. When Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy defeated a portion of Xemnas, they were literally rocked on the tower back into action to squash the rest of his power. However, Riku couldn't use the Corridor anymore, and they needed a way to get to Xemnas. Naminé appeared to Sora, Riku, and Kairi alone - forgotten but not lost at last - as Roxas emerged from Sora as well. Their memories of each other - even as Nobodies - kept their hearts alive. That's when Naminé will appear in Exsilium, after merging with Kairi while standing next to Roxas.
GAME HISTORY:
[All of Naminé's logs] and her [One response to the Network]
Naminé's arrival in Exsilium was actually very much a wake-up to the divide between civilians-turned-soldiers and veteran warriors. Sergeant Calhoun made sure that Naminé was debriefed on the sort of place she'd found herself in - and even helped her get warm! After that she bumped into Roxas first. Their tearful reunion was littered with questions of how either of them were even alive, separate from their Somebodies. Thanks to Roxas, she was able to see that he and Sora being separate, while strange, was something they both wanted. She wasn't sure how it was affecting either of them, but in the moment it was enough to simply be reunited with someone so important to her. He was able to reassure her that no matter how confusing it was to be in a new place with a new life, she wouldn't have to go through it alone. It assuaged many of her fears. Riku told her a bit more about the Initiative that Sergeant Calhoun had spoken of, and then she ran into Sora. He explained how everyone - Riku, Roxas, and Lea - were living together like regular ol' roommates. Lea - Axel's Somebody - being alive stunned her the most, and how he treated Roxas as a friend he'd known for months now was strangely comforting. She didn't want to treat Lea like Axel, though, and that spurred Sora on to insist that she had the ability, nay the right, to be her own person just like a Somebody. She also confessed why she wasn't sure if she could face all of them as 'friends' after what she'd done to them. Sora tried to reassure her, and while she wasn't entirely convinced, she allowed him to lead her back to the place they were all sharing.
Once there, she met Lea at last. He tried to pretend that he was Axel briefly, but Sora had spoiled that surprise, which got a good laugh out of her. Both of them felt incredibly guilty, but Lea insisted that if he got a second shot at life, then so did she, and she was more than grateful he'd worked so hard to reunite her with Kairi in the end, to help her get back to where she belonged.
Her days after that were spent reconnecting with "her boys" and learning how to make pancakes while also getting major pep-talking about how she was allowed to have a life of her own, to find some meaning in being her own person. It might have stuck better if the boys didn't keep having all the fun - which is to say they went on Missions during Endgame, and Naminé didn't. Partly it was sheer lack of combat experience and partly it was, quite honestly, player mood dropping completely when Endgame was announced to take place in early March despite her arriving in January.
So in the end, along with a good chunk of Exsilium - including Lea, Riku, Sora, and Roxas - Naminé chose to leave Exsilium in the hope of returning to Kairi's heart, thinking it would be for the best, even if she would be parted with her boys all over again. The fact that Roxas and Sora were making their own decisions independently gave her some comfort, but without Kairi to know what harm she may have done, Naminé felt it would be better to return... not expecting to end up in Saudade for all her trouble. She never did learn much about Exsilium beyond the snowy landscape and whispers about the Initiative, their technology, politics, etc., but always in vague ways she didn't fully comprehend. She allowed herself the 'normalcy' of a quiet life in one building she rarely left for 2 months - not because anyone prevented her from doing going out, but because it was familiar. It was easy. It was habit. Until the day came when she had to make that choice again to stay or go. Since she had no great attachment to Exsilium in so short a time, the choice was all too easy for her.
PERSONALITY:
Naminé looks like a wisp of a girl, the kind of doormat who can be bullied around, and that's exactly how she started out. She was driven to hurt others purely on the fear of being left alone forever. The organization promptly put her to work in as isolated a manner as they could manage to keep her spirits down, to keep the threat real. They only referred to her by epithets like The Witch and they hit her if required to get what they wanted out of her - use of her powers. Specifically, they found out that she could affect the memories of the people close to Sora, and so the Organization made plans that hinged on her cooperation. Of all the younger characters ensorceled by the Organization - Roxas, Xion, Riku Replica - Naminé is the only one for whom they made no attempt to socialize through actual or imagined interactions. They just made her draw, working her magic as she went. Interestingly, since her first major friendship came with Sora, she was able to have a very good person guiding her socialization, and she turned out alright in the end, but she had to overcome a lot.
The effect of her isolation by the Organization on Naminé was that she had very low self-esteem and easily bowed to stronger personalities. That has since started to change gradually. She may slip into compliance when she doesn't have a strong opinion about an outcome or if she believes the other person will be happier for it, but she does have a mind of her own now and ambitions to pursue. Anyone who comes across as confident and as virtuous as Sora will gain her respect and admiration quicker. At the very least, she will no longer acquiesce if she can tell it will cause great harm to herself or others; she will support alternatives.
She is far more assertive now, and more expressive about her own wants & needs. After KH2, she has successfully executed a rescue mission and escaped from the Organization's clutches in the process. She even saved Axel's life, and was thanked for it. She's still not the type to rush into a situation, but careful planning and subterfuge is right up her alley. Each new success, each friendship created will continue to bolster her confidence. Now, she is a willing part of that development.
Unlike Xion, Roxas, and Riku Replica, Naminé does not suffer from an identity crisis about what she is. She knew from the beginning she was "Kairi's shadow" and that much is an immutable truth. She only worries about what she has done and any recompense needed for it. After the initial shock of being in Exsilium, she won't fret 'being' again either. Out of habit for preempting an offense, she will still hesitate to make requests of others at first. Given some encouragement, she will improve on that front. Answering the needs of others still brings her the greatest joy - that and creating order from the chaos she helped create. As a result, she will never lie if she can help it. Even though she saw Roxas become very upset over the truth she told him, webs of misplaced trust hurt far more, she knows well now. She will still hesitate over it, though.
The biggest thing she inherited from Kairi was compassion. The only time she's ever raised her voice was in defense of someone else - Sora both times. Every other time, she tries to talk things out, for as long as it takes. She speaks slowly in deference to the other person needing to comprehend her words - she's too familiar with the mind now to downplay how important some decisions can be for people, even when they may seem unimportant to her. Having come from Kairi, she is definitely an extrovert, just kind of a quiet one who needs to warm up to a person before fully expressing herself, but she does love being around people and draws personal energy from friends rather than solitude.
A flaw for now will definitely be apologizing too much - specifically for things she can't control. Another is her weak constitution and limited battle experience; she probably could learn magic, but she simply hasn't, nor has she spent time running around an island or across worlds like Sora and Riku have, or even Kairi. She won't possess seemingly basic skills like swimming, although she can sew (re:Chain of Memories Manga canon) and of course draw, so she will also have a hard time finding commonalities upon which to base new friendships. With a small push, she'll be able to try it out of the blue though, if nothing else to learn those skills she lacks. For all her efforts to be compassionate, she may come across as over-eager and a little firm in the belief that literally anything can be fixed, especially if she's allowed to use her magic. The idea that Axel didn't want his wounds healed was a little hard to swallow, knowing he could die from his next combat even if he won. Due to her magic dealing with people's minds and memories, truly her very being as an exsistential question, make her so familiar with psychological principles (without formal training) that she could appear as compulsively psychoanalyzing, even to people who she gets along with.
Naminé heard a lot of talk in Exsilium from her friends Lea, Roxas, and Sora, about how Nobodies such as herself should be able to live their own lives. To his credit, she also understood Riku to have similar leanings if only because he continued to treat her kindly, as he had back in Castle Oblivion. However, for all the talk, 2 months was not enough to leave lasting impressions save immense gratitude towards Lea in particular, as well as the one stray hope that she could at least make friends. That she could allow herself. Whether she existed long enough to repay Lea's kindness for his powerful words was another story entirely, but it was a start. She will be a bit more open to speaking with strangers, approaching them instead of always the other way around. She may reveal a bit more pieces of herself earlier on in a friendship than she would have otherwise been comfortable with, since Lea was living proof - in his time as Axel in Exsilium - that Nobodies could leave lasting impressions on the people they encounter. She never expected to use that knowledge going home to Kairi, but since she's found herself separate yet again in Saudade and Lea in a similar rut... might as well try something different for a change. Staying cooped up for 2 months certainly didn't help.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Lea (and Axel): Oh gosh, he hit her so hard with the pep-talking. He's an official friend now. She still sees him as the person who did everything in his power to get her to Kairi, not one of the Organization members who helped trap her in Castle Oblivion. She got explicit permission to subsume her (platonic) relationship with Axel into her now-friendship with Lea, but offered to treat him like his own person straight off the bat. Basically he became the first person she'd go to - as a Confidant - when anything was wrong. He's seen her best and worst moments and genuinely wants to help her. While she still doesn't think she really deserves that level of friendship, she trusts him completely.
Riku: While their acquaintanceship in canon was strengthened mainly in mutual frustration with DiZ, in the end his actions are as much proof of his character as anything they could have ever said between each other. It's actually the complete opposite of Lea - where so much of their CR is built on things they've said to each other, Riku's CR has been developed in quiet moments of mutual understanding, as two people living in the same house and gradually getting to know one another. She also knows that Riku did a lot to help Lea in Exsilium - died for him, for one - even before he and Lea formed a relationship. They could certainly know each other better, but yet again she trusts him completely.
Sora and Roxas: Bound up in the guilt for twisting their memories, Naminé doesn't feel worthy of either of them forgiving her to the extent they did in Exsilium, to the point of offering friendship and a house, a place to live. Sora guided her there and Roxas was the only Nobody in all of Exsilium, so she felt that he was the only other person to understand their quandary of belonging to their Somebody. But both Sora and Roxas had developed ideas about their separate existences that were completely foreign to her.
Lenalee Lee and Sergeant Calhoun: She would recognize these non-canonmate names and Calhoun's face if they showed up in Saudade, but both were very brief interactions. The commonality is a kindred frustration about being pulled from your old world and dropped into a new one and how to adapt to it. Lenalee and Naminé had a rather deep conversation about when people come and go, what happens to their memories? Meanwhile Calhoun was the first experience Naminé had with any sort of military figure.
STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY: This is the best link I have since we didn't get to log out the KH cast leaving Exsilium. However, the fact is that even after everything she heard from Lea, Sora, and Roxas about the possibility of a new life, she chose to go 'home' to Kairi. It's not that she didn't believe them. It's that without Kairi to tell her otherwise, Naminé still believes that the best thing for everyone - the Right Thing To Do - is to rejoin with Kairi, and her personal feelings in the matter... don't matter. She still has something to repent for.
POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
Naminé walked through the darkness as she walked on even ground, stone or wood, it didn't matter. She'd been through the Corridors, she'd stepped through dreams and memories and all manner of half-waking visions. More to the point, she'd been expecting to be someplace precisely like this. The space between Exsilium and Kairi's heart would be one travelled by way of heart connections, light and dark and memories chained up in one body. The stillness, the lack of wind and snow and everything else she'd come to know in Exsilium, it was all very familiar to her. She was returning to where she belonged, head held high and unafraid by the void that was spread out before her. At least it was a fate she'd chosen for herself twice over now.
"This isn't goodbye. I'll see everyone again - through her eyes." She kept walking without disturbing the space around her and without it disturbing her, as if it understood she was a being out of place and time, just passing through, not leaving a trace she'd ever been there to begin with. "Roxas and Sora... Lea and Riku... You're all strong. You'll be alright. I'm just strong enough to stand on my own like you four... " When a bit of light came into view, she was confident this was the place in Kairi's heart she'd been trying to reach. "Time for me to go back."
As she got closer, though, she realized it wasn't just a gateway to oblivion or the horizon of a renewed soul joining together, but rather a large circle seemingly lit from within itself and made from stained glass... that drew her interest keenly. Was it because Kairi was so full of Light, as Sora was? Maybe - and so she strode forward to find out. As soon as her first sandal touched the span of white-gold and mother-of-pearl inlay, the grey glass burst upwards to reveal not Kairi reclining on the edge of the circle, but Naminé herself. She bore her Compass Courser, but was fast asleep. On the other side of her were three blank circles spaced out evenly with her height.
Oh, no, they weren't blank - they were empty. They were holes in the floor that went straight down into the void again. She spun slowly in a circle, wondering briefly if this was meant to happen, or if something had gone wrong and she was waylaid yet again, as when she'd found herself in Exsilium.
"Hello? Is... anyone else here? Riku?" Maybe this was a deeper Darkness than even he'd travelled. "Lea? Sora?" She wasn't scared - concerned would be a better emotion. So she kept slowly looking around her, and when she'd turned a full circle, she looked at the three voids again - hovering above them were objects now. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
Stranger things happened in this Space Between, she supposed, so she approached the middle one that way the other two would also be in view.
It was the white crystal she'd concealed Sora inside in order to heal him, the petals drifting up around the sphere defensively. Nothing was inside, but she knew exactly what it was - a shell to guard him, to let him sleep until her work was done, and Riku's too. Even Diz's, in fact. The white shine reminded her that her that it was a fragile stasis, though - something she'd brought on Sora herself and Diz led Roxas to see. She didn't expect anyone else to understand her motivations for repairing the damage she'd done - but that crystal had done the job. She'd accomplished her goal of protecting Sora from the Organization until he was whole again.
"The path of the Guardian"
It was a young girl's voice? Not Kairi's... whose heart was she inside, anyway? That voice was too young and small to be Kairi.
"If you can stand your ground, you can stand in front of your friends. If you fall, it'll be before they do. Are you somebody like that?"
"Am I…?" She looked puzzled. What sort of child asked those kinds of questions - and how was she to answer a question about herself? She had no idea if other people considered her loyal, but she certainly didn't feel strong enough to be a shield for others. She didn't feel comfortable answering the question, so she shifted a little further away to her left.
There appeared the Compass Courser - which was strange because she'd had it in her hands just a moment ago. It was a small instrument to be sure, but not so small that she could lose track of it, she'd believed. Thinking she'd be able to hold it, she reached out - but no sooner did her fingers touch the narrow tip did the voice return.
"The path of the Warrior - the first one to reach for their weapon may be courageous, but it's your way or the high way. There is no reasoning when force will solve your problems. Are you somebody like that?"
"No!" Naminé responded instinctively. Forcing people to do things was what got her into trouble in the first place - both the bullying from the Organization and from her own powers forcing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to act a certain way.
And that seemed to be an answer the voice was seeking, because her Compass Courser disappeared immediately. "Wait, I didn't mean..."
"But you did mean it."
She bowed her head. "Yes. I suppose I did." And so she turned to the third item, staring at it from the other side of the white crystal - it was the star-keychain she'd given to Riku's Replica.
"The path of the Mystic - power is neither Dark or Light. A strong person can determine how that power is used, though. Are you somebody like that?"
Naminé agreed with the sentiment, certainly - in theory. There were people like Riku and Lea who could walk through Dark Corridors but still serve the forces of Light when they reached the other side. Whether it applied to her personally though... that was something she couldn't quite agree with. Her own powers - memory modification - she still thought from time to time were best put to use when they weren't being used at all. Sora wouldn't have needed protected, wouldn't have needed put back together… if not for her.
"I have to choose one or the other… don't I?"
"Yes. It's a very important choice - but it'll be yours forever. Somebody like a Guardian? Or somebody like a Mystic?"
Naminé walked over and placed both hands around the crystal, not quite touching the petals but just wondering... it looked pretty heavy. Could she carry that sort of weight around for more than just Sora? It seemed more possible than wielding power, anyway.
"Guardian."
"Say it."
Her head perked up, still expecting some being to appear, even some flitting fairy who happened to have a child-like voice. "Say what?"
"Say your choice."
Oh... how she phrased things mattered, how words linked together mattered. That made sense. She nodded. "I'll try... I'll try to be somebody like a Guardian."
"You said it."
Of course she'd said, she'd said - somebody? "Wait, did you mean a Somebody? Can I really-"
But then the ground crackled beneath her again and instead of remaining stable, the whole world shook up into an angle, making her slide forward, grabbing the crystal orb to herself instinctively. It was a bit of a forceful contact as the sphere hit her chest, but she endured it as she pitched into the empty hole the white shell had been hovering above.
Falling through the floor, a white light began to envelop her as she felt the weight against her chest crawl up her shoulder and nestle like a too-heavy bird on her shoulder. She didn't know where she was headed, but she was convinced it wasn't towards Kairi's heart.
"At least tell me your name!"
"Sure."
She closed her eyes as the light became too bright. "And it is?"
"Naminé."
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Canon Abilities:
Naminé's canon abilities almost all center around her ability to affect the people closest to Sora. In Saudade, the abilities listed below will be able to re-manifest since they were mirrored by her Exsilium-granted ones she's losing, kind of like re-absorbing the power back into her. The Exsilium ones (explained below) were lower powered but expanded beyond Sora's heart-circle of friends. More challenging will be convincing her to actually try them out.
- Memory Modification - by drawing in her sketchbook, Naminé can select aspects of a person's memory to swap out with other elements. She was able to successfully insert herself in Kairi's place in Sora's memories as well as insert a star-shaped keychain where a star-shaped Paopu fruit once was. Basically it's far easier for her to replace like with like. However, she has shown the ability to completely remove elements too, such as removing the links for literally all of Sora's memories of his time in Castle Oblivion during the game re:Chain of Memories. In KH you don't lose your memories entirely; what's broken are the links that tie a specific person to a specific thing they said at a specific event in time. This means you can remember those 'lost' memories, but only in fragments when a triggering incident comes up again. That's why Naminé also has the ability to repair those links. The people she has canonically affected include Sora, Riku Replica, Donald, Goofy, and Roxas. She also made Axel temporarily forget his body was in pain, allowing him to meet up with Sora in the fateful battle that would claim his Nobody life.
- Heart Break - Naminé has used her powers offensively in only one instance: she shattered the fake heart's connection to the memories placed in Riku Replica enough to completely knock him unconscious, although Larxene seemed to imply he was closer to brain-dead or heart-dead, as the case may be.
- Limited Telepathy - She can appear in their minds with an image of herself or just words.
Being a Nobody does carry with it some additional abilities she will retain in Saudade right off the bat - namely the Dark Corridors. Much like Axel/Lea, she can open up a hole in space and time that looks like a giant oval about 7' tall with a swirling vortex of black, purple, and blue in it. The doors do not canonically have a limitation on distance or dimension. Within Saudade, this power will be limited by two aspects:
1) If she doesn't already know where she's going, she'll have a % chance of ending up in a neighboring vicinity. Her familiarity will reduce the distance - pretty familiar but not quite will be a radius of 5-10' for example, whereas taking a shot in the literal dark will be closer to a 50' radius off the mark. I'll also roll for an orientation in which her variance sends her - such as 10° from center or 90° or 150°, etc. Naminé's not very good at using the Corridors in the first place, partly due to lack of practice but she also had to get help from Axel to even get decent at using them.
2) She'll be limited by the usual barriers that a formal game sets. In this case, she won't be able to go back to Penrose from another world's surface. We'll also say she can't go further than the distance of one edge of a face to another - meaning she can get around corners if she's closer to the center, but from edge-to-edge, only from one face of Penrose to the other.
Exsilium-Granted Abilities:
Compass Courser - a drawing compass vector, or a sheath for other drawing instruments. Naminé picked this item from the Exsilium armory, only to discover her powers still worked when she used it. When she saddled a pencil, pen, crayon, brush, etc. into the Compass Courser, she would have been able to make things real that she drew.
Since she never got to develop this power in-game, and the Courser itself is gone, she won't even really be aware that she had that power to begin with. I mention it here only for completeness sake and the fact that she was vaguely aware thanks to others around here that she should probably, by virtue of having been pulled to Exsilium, have access to casting magic of some sort or a special weapon or something. It will make her armor a curiosity, a 'how does it work' more than 'why do I have it.'
Saudade-Exclusive:
Aside from the limitations explained above, Naminé gains keyblade armor by virtue of being a Paladin via her Awakening choices. The pauldron she wears will look like this and her armor will be similar to Ventus's, meaning more lightweight to enable her range of movement than a bulkier style like Terra's or other full-plate. She also retains the ability to do Melding at a low level, although she'll have to learn spell casting basics in the first place.
INVENTORY:
She'd feasibly really only have her dress and her sketchpad. No Compass Courser due to her Awakening choices.
NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
I didn't get a chance to develop the muse in Exsilium before Endgame hit and squandered my drive for the character. I want to give her a fair shot in Saudade, to think more on the things she was told in Exsilium and then expand on them in Saudade. She shows a lot of backbone in canon, standing up to someone like Larxene, but only when she's helping someone else. I want her to become more self-confident, to be okay with having a self at all. That will take time, but hopefully having a very physical presence like the armor will prove a strong counterpoint to someone so very focused on internal things.
