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[Carribean Sea ~ The Pearl]

"Yeah," Noelle mumbled, watching Kyle for a moment as he continued on, her frown apparent. So much for easing her anxiety by pulling their stuff together. Knowing what was coming next usually helped her feel more comfortable and confident; only knowing that she would most likely be going down to Atlantica and Atlantis wasn't enough to console her. The blonde glanced over to Joe when she heard him vomit and immediately regretted doing so. Pressing the back of her hand to her mouth she sped up the stairs to the brig to avoid puking herself. As much as blood made her queasy, vomit was worse. Stopping at the top step, she sighed and sat on it, balancing her elbows on her knees and rubbing here eyes with the heels of her palms. She was still a little teary from what happened back on the Dutchman. She didn't want to think about it, but it was hard not to.

'Quit with the waterworks, Human. You know how I hate crying.'
TITAN?! If Titan were a physical manifestation, Noelle might have tackled him. My magic is back!
'Good thing too, look what a sorry mess you are.' Titan gumbled, chiding the terramancer,'I thought I taught you better.'
Noelle didn't respond at first--her physical reaction was to start crying a little more. As much as she tried not to she couldn't stop the few tears that made it past her guard.
'Alright-alright! I didn't mean it! Suck it up already. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. What are you, some sort of girl?'
The agromancer chucled a little, wiping her eyes before pressing her forhead into her hands. Titan . . . they took James . . . it was awful.
'I know, human . . . but that's not your biggest problem, there's much more to worry about.'
Yeah . . . We have to get down to Atlantis as fast as we can to warn them about the attack.
'One step at a time, Human. First just make it to where you need to be safely. Don't worry about it too much. Remember, stay calm and you'll make--'
--Better decisions . . . don't I know it.

The agromancer stood and wiped her eyes one last time before continuing up the next staircase to the deck. The crew was rejoycing at leaving the Dutchman behind, Barbossa in command and at his rightful place at the helm. Noelle couldn't deny it, she always did like Barbossa as the captain better. A glint of light caught her eye and the girl looked up, catching Jacob throwing his daggers before sinking down onto the floorboards of the crow's nest and out of sight. Jacob seemed to be having a rough time, they all were, but for some reason he stood out to her. With a shrug, she began climbing up towards where he was.

"Jacob?" Noelle called as she neared, "Hey, you got room up there?"

"Noe-" He started.

Noelle?

"Noelle? Yeah! Come on up, hun!" He called out.

Will you be quiet. He rubbed his eyes and noticed pressed over them goggles. He slowly removed them from his head. They were slightly smaller than his RAF goggles. They had a nicer cut and were a dark, deep blue. He looked down. There was a tight black spandex muscle shirt where he used to be nude. "Man these dress spheres are cool." At least he felt less naked, and looked more modest for Noelle.

Trying to impress her, are you?

Jacob sighed as he put his goggles around his neck. What did I say about the talking?

What did I say about you being a buffoon? Fine...jerk.

[Carribean Sea ~ The Pearl]

When Jacob called back to her, Noelle climbed all the way up and began climbing into the crow's nest. She flashed a smile at him as she tried to pull herself in. Being a little taller might have made it easier.

"Just thought you could use some company." She said, throwing one leg over the edge, then the other before jumping in a plopping down next to Jacob. She hadn't really talked to him much since he joined the team. It was almost the way things worked with them--always on the move, not many chances to really get to know the person they're standing next to. That's why Noelle wanted to make the effort. She never could have enough friends, especially during times like these.

"How you doing?" The blonde asked, resting her back against the wall of the crow's nest. She tried to keep her tone light and friendly, "I mean, in general? You've seemed kind of upset lately. I wanted to make sure you're okay . . . that and you did get kicked in the head. We don't need you collapsing from some brain injury."

"Well, I almost died three times today. I made a whole bunch of new friends, and I'm almost going to have a panic attack. Oh, and I have the spirit of a moomba who won't shut up in my head."

JERRRRRRRKFAAAAACE. C'mon!

Jacob sighed. I'm sorry, but I cannot take a puppy banging around in my head right now. Plus, I haven't had a chance to talk to Noelle, so I was to learn as much as I can. We'll talk later. The more I can learn and the more I can make friends, the better, 'k?

Ok! Moomba smiled inwardly.

"But yeah. Joe's mega potion seems to have helped a lot. At least I'm not bleeding from Celia's...Or Louis's outburst anymore. Whaddabout you, hun? How long have you been travelling with the team? Are you already indoctrined to this sort of thing?"

[Amy ; Riku : Angel Grove : Outside the Church]

The moment of being overwhelmed passed, and Amy found herself looking up at Kyla. The memory of the cocoon they had put around Axel, Beatrix, and Yuffie flashed through her mind, and was gone.

"I feel powerless," Amy said, sitting up. She caught herself, and explained further, "I mean, not helpless 'oh, I'm Kimberly save me' powerless, you know, but just," she struggled with finding the right word, shaking her head, "less, I guess."

She stood up, brushing her clothes off. "What happened?" she asked. It wasn't the right thing to say. She might have been met with looks similar to those a person might receive after walking in on the end of a movie and asking the same question. "... Neeevermind."

Riku looked like he was leaving, but he didn't go far. He entered the church, and came out a moment later, lingering by the doorway. It looked like he was talking to one of the kids inside.

Amy stood there, awkwardly shuffling her feet, at a complete loss of what to do. Part of her screamed to run to the other side of the volcano, like Alpha had said in his message thingy. Some village being attacked? Hmm. When was a village not being attacked? She felt like she had missed something important, though, while she and Kyla had... whatever had happened. It was fuzzy. Best to shut up and see what the heck was going on.

{Kyle : Angel Grove: City Streets}

As Bobbi shook his hand, Kyle was slowly getting his bearings back. He noticed Dani at his side and Bobbi in front of him, also managing to notice that the captives had fled the coop as he listened to what Bobbi said. Not that he attempted to pay much attention. They had already left, but he was sure they would be seen again. So Bobbi had been with the group since the beginning as well. Interesting. If Kyla hadn't already given a pretty good account of what had already happened, Kyle definitely would have asked more about the past events.

Keeping what Demyx said in mind, Kyle walked over to where Alan and Seymour stood. He'd noticed the look on Alan's face and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Well, he thought it was a comforting touch. He wasn't sure how Alan felt. "Well, now that the captives have fled the coop, maybe we should go see what's going on over in the village that Ooze is attacking? Not like the kids need us. Or was there some other reason that we couldn't go? We even have our ever so useful buddy Demyx to open a portal for us." He said, clearly not intending to let Demyx run away. He also was still slightly confused about what was happening and decided it was best to attempt to throw himself into the conversation.

[Carribean Sea ~ The Pearl]

Noelle smiled a little, "No problem. Feel bett--?"

--Whoa-hey I guess I'm getting hugged . . .

The agromancer hadn't really expected Jacob to just hug her like he did. Her face grew a little warm as she fought with herself on what to do. Finally she just accepted it and put her arms around him as well. Sure, she liked hugs, and hugs were definitely the best remedy for a hard time, she just wasn't expecting one from someone she didn't know all that well yet. But the blonde had noticed that Jacob was a little quirky (though not in a bad way or anything), so this was probably just a part of his personality. It was actually nice, just to get a hug from someone, anyone. That was probably what a lot of them needed.

'Don't go there. We've been through this.'
Aww, what Titan?
'The villains do not need hugs . . . they're villains.'
But you--!
'I ESPECIALLY do not need a hug. Drop the subject human.'
Fiiiiiiiine.

Noelle sighed and nodded a bit at what Jacob said. She knew what he meant.

"Yeah, you kind of have been just thrown in to our big mess. And unfortunately it's become your mess now too, and there's nothing to do but catch up and keep going. And that's what you have to do, get in on it, get to know everyone, and help them fight their battles so you can have help fighting your own. It's not about any one of us as an individual, we all have to face this together. Your greatest strength is us, and our greatest strength is you . . . with a little more cheese and fluff in the middle." She said, chuckling at her terrible pep-talk. She just wanted him to know that he wasn't completely alone.

"And believe me, I know all this is the exact opposite of what you expected, we all feel the same way. But you gotta remember that this is still the same Kingdom Hearts we played at home, so there's still a bunch of cool stuff to go and do and see. There's magic here, and according to every cliche Disney ending, things can change in an instant. So don't give up or you might fall short of things coming out alright. And just remember, you're not alone. When you feel weak an powerless, the rest of us probably feel the same. That situation back there sucked for everyone, so don't get off thinking that you're the only one who feels useless, none of us are that special. The Replicas will make sure of that. Whenever you doubt that we're in the same boat just look at me and I'll set you straight, okay?"

Noelle sighed and looked to Jacob. What a terrible pep talk . . . it probably hardly made sense. The small blonde just figured if she kept yammering the right thing would come out. She hoped that was the case. Clearing her throat a little, she asked, "So . . . you okay now?"

[ Ajora : Caribbean : Brig -> Captain's Quarters ]

Ajora remained for a moment, pressing against Celia's skull with a frown. Great. She and the Heartless were absolutely useless until the Stop effect ended, and who knew when THAT could be.

"They'll be heading toward Shipwreck Cove, of course- to elect a Pirate King, gather their army, and free Calypso from her bindings," Ajora said, blunt and uncaring as he followed the Captain up the stairs. "Probably what Beckett and Turner are talking about on the Endeavor as we speak, really- go ahead and follow the Pearl for awhile, I'll get some better directions in a... bit."

He stopped for a moment, eyes caught in space as if distracted. Someone was giving James a message. Jacob- the one with the big mouth and no brain to speak of. How? How was he sending that? Ajora dug through James' memories for something, anything, as he listened to Jacob's words... only to find the information on the Trinity Charms.

Ajora's face widened, not just into a smirk, but into a full fledged, ear-to-ear, over-joyed smile. This was it. This was... this was perfect.

Oh, Jacob... I welcome the challenge. Without a chase... life would be so boring, wouldn't it? But most of all... I must thank you. For revealing a way into each and every one of your minds.

Thank you, Jacob, for letting me in.

With that, Ajora projected to Jacob the sound of James screaming, crying out in agony as if he was on fire. And in the background was none other than Ajora laughing. This little message went on for a good thirty seconds before it faded away and Ajora, a smile plastered on his face, walked into the Captain's Quarters, where James had been patiently waiting, with Elleon still at the keys.

"You wanted to see me?" Ajora asked, obviously extremely perky.