TRACES OF AFTERMATH [a kingdom hearts roleplay]

[Story Keeper]

~- Amends -~

Radiant Garden

James saw the way the moogle's face fell at his questions, and he did have to admit he felt guilty over the idea of being the cause. Forcing a smile, James chattered, "That's cool. I-I mean about what you guys can do, not about...you know." Looking away, a frown briefly flitted across the boy's face before he shook his head and replaced it with a smile. Looking back at Mogoni, he laughed, "You know, if we had a gummi ship it'd make it so much easier. We wouldn't have to hitch a ride from people and run the risk of people turning into jerks. One piece of advice, don't take Cyrus's pens, especially his green ones. He gets a little grumpy when that happens."

James shrugged in nonchalance and kept walking, his steps steady as he watched his sister he continued, "Cyrus, is a little...oh, how would you describe it?" He paused in his explanation, tapping his lip as he tried to figure out how to word whatever he was thinking. "He's a nice guy, but he's definitely not someone you want to get on the bad side of. Juliet? She's a little hot tempered but she's actually really nice, maybe a tad over dramatic at times." He dropped his voice on that last bit, glancing at his sister in the hopes that she hadn't heard him.

He grinned a little bit and he continued in the same muffled voice, "As for me? To quote Cyrus from one of his favorite games, I'm as 'restless as a little puppy', and also apparently I tend to get into way 'more trouble than I can manage.' Or at least that's according to Cyrus, I think Juliet agrees about the puppy thing though. I'm not entirely sure though, you'd have to ask them." James grinned impishly at the last bit, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he kept moving.

"Is there anything you want to know about me? I'd be happy to answer any of your questions," he chattered, quite obviously trying to keep the mood light in wake of the questions he asked that he really shouldn't have asked about involving the moogle.

~- Time Crawls On -~

Twilight Town

Arno hates Heartless. He hates it even more when the Heartless smack him upside the the head. Colliding hard with the ground, Arno pushed himself up and twisted around to glare at the offending Neo Shadow. He rolled out of the way as it struck again, his head was hurting him. Rubbing the back of it, he flinched when his fingers glided over the bump on the back of it. He glanced over to see that Nico was holding his own against the Heartless, ducking, weaving and attacking the Heartless in accordance to what was needed. Twisting out of the way of the Neo Shadow that was closest to him, Arno swung the rope dart out toward the creature, entangling it and allowing him to shoot it with the crossbow that was around his wrist.

He spun away from the Neo Shadow, catching a glimpse of one of the girls saying something and he felt his panic rise. He didn't know what they said and it bothered him, he had a sinking feeling it wasn't a good thing and judging by Nico's face it wasn't. Hopping away from the Neo Shadow, he landed a little closer to Nico and caught it as the older boy mouthed, "Duck."

Hitting the ground, Arno glanced toward the Heartless to see that one of the black bands that Nico wore get thrown toward the horde that was heading toward the boys. Closing his eyes, he felt Nico drop down next to him and move him so that way Arno was on the other side. Opening his eyes after the explosion died down, he opened them to see that the area had been cleared some what only for more to appear. Opening his mouth to give a shout of frustration, Arno felt a strange darkness roll over his skin like water.

Rising to his feet, Arno ignored the Heartless and started moving toward the forest, and away from the mansion. Setting foot inside of the forest, Arno moved to the center of it and turned in a slow circle, searching for whatever it was that was calling him. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that there was something here and it was hungry. He didn't pay attention to if anyone had followed him, instead he was busy scanning the trees for any sign of movement. "Who's here?" He called, his obsidian dagger clutched in his right hand. Sensing something coming up behind him, Arno spun and leapt backwards; flinging his dagger toward it he watched as it bounced off of the creature.

Rolling to the right, Arno opened his mouth and started shouting, "Forget the small fry! Get over here so we can eliminate the Big One!"

He couldn't see it clearly, all he caught was flashes of magenta and glowing red eyes. Rolling away again, Arno scrambled to his feet and bolted behind a tree. He felt it collide with the tree, the force of the vibrations knocking Arno to the ground. He had to admit it was strong, and it was fast. Climbing to his feet again, Arno sprinted over to the next tree and did something that was probably stupid, climbing up into the higher branches, Arno turned to look down at it and started shooting at it with his crossbow, his eyes constantly darting back to the mansion to keep an eye out for the others.

~- Exchange -~

Traverse Town

Tora listened as Alexandra talked, she didn't mind the other Nobody, sure sometimes Alexandra could be extremely literal, but Tora liked the other girl. Actually, Tora would like to say that they were friends. Noticing that Sakura wasn't there, and not sensing the wolf's presence at all within the area, she frowned. Only for her attention to get drawn back to Alexandra as she asked, “Do you happen to know what is going on over there? It sounds as though there is a battle going on.”

Before she had a chance to answer though, Gnostos chimed in with, “Sounds pretty fun!! But too loud, means, too many people, and you heard what the boss said, got to keep watch for now…”

Tora thought about it for a moment, her fingers dancing across Hawthorne's shoulders as she considered what her two superiors thought. Looking over to Gnostos, she nodded at the other Nobody before she focused back on Alexandra and answered, "I don't know what's going on over there, but if it's connected to the Guard Armor that was heading over in this direction then my best guess is that the Heartless went over there and there is a group of people fighting it. So yeah, it would be crowded and loud." She addressed that last bit to Gnostos.

She heard what sounded like a barrage of gunfire coming from the other direction, glancing over her shoulder to see if she could see anything she returned her attention to her fellow Nobodies. Dropping her gaze, she kicked the ground and asked, "Do either one of you two know someone by the name of Captain Destati? I was following him when the Guard Armor appeared, and then he started following it so I was following them both in this direction only to split off from them when I saw you two."

She glanced at her fellow Nobodies, only to return her attention back to Hawthorne who was leaning against her leg; trying to provide some comfort even as Tora tangled her fingers in the wolf's fur. Sensing when a strong source of energy faded and only for a couple spikes of darkness, she glanced in the direction of the Third District and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "It seems as if there's a few strong hearts in that direction though, but we should still keep a low profile."

~- Pack -~

Ronin watched the events with the Guard Armor from his hiding spot, everyone was handling their own against it; so Ronin felt no need to intervene. Becoming disinterested in the fight, he turned to leave only to pause as a spike of darkness slammed into him. Whipping around to look to see what the cause was, Ronin couldn't help but stare at the boy named Derrick as he tore the Guard Armor apart. It also didn't take much to figure out that he was the source of the increase of darkness, watching the boy as he turned around, Ronin hissed under his breath as he caught the red eyes that stared back at the group. Taking a step forward, Ronin shook his head and back up a step again, there wasn't any point in intervening right now; everything was still under control for the moment.

He watched as a child went running past, and he almost turned to follow the child when a yip drew his attention backwards. Seeing the wolf after a few minutes, Ronin felt his desire to check on the wolf war against his desire to check on the child. Ronin saw the look on the wolf's face, and even though he wanted to go check on the child, he found his feet taking him straight to the wolf, skittering the edges of the group. Crouching down next to the wolf, he extended his hand to the wolf to sniff and asked softly, "Do I have permission to touch you?"

Ronin heard the commotion behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see what was going on. Returning his attention to the wash, he glanced back at the wolf and said in the same tone, "You should probably go after the boy and make sure he's okay, I'll see about helping them out." He waited to see what the wolf would say, but even then he already had one of his handguns out and directed behind him, his face half turned so he could see what was going on behind him.

 

[HyperShadic]

So Tora knew of at least something of the noise, a Guard Armor heartless fighting armed resistance. “I see, thank you Tora,” Alexandra said politely bowing her head towards the lower ranking nobody. She did enjoy the other nobody’s presence and found it, reassuring to say the least. She removed her helmet and let her red hair down and removed the gauntlet from her right hand as she bent down to pet her friend’s canine companion lightly, silently thanking it for staying with Tora Alexandra knew Tora liked their presence.

Do either one of you two know someone by the name of Captain Destati? I was following him when the Guard Armor appeared, and then he started following it so I was following them both in this direction only to split off from them when I saw you two.

She looked back towards the nobody and cast her glance back towards the Third District. “I’m afraid that I don’t know any man named Destati Tora, I’m sorry that we caused you to split off from your reconnaissance mission. Perhaps he is in there with the heartless,” Alexandra said standing and bowing her head in apology. Maybe she was misunderstanding the nobody's mission, but she figured it was better to be on the safe side. She then returned her helmet and gauntlet before looking towards the roofs adding, “Perhaps we can use the roofs to conceal ourselves while we look for this captain.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theo found that the new giant bone heartless were considerably tougher than he could have imagined, not that they seemed all that interested in fighting at the moment, they had only caused a small fault in the ground and a tremor which hadn’t really affected him, requiring him to draw his blade for some extra stability. They just continued hanging onto the strange bone and darkness anchor before something launched past him and latch onto the other anchor.

Wait! Derrick!

Well that answered that question, but it raised another, and this one had a dark chuckle attached to it, does this mean that they aren’t friends? The thought caused him to freeze for a few seconds as memories came back, a flaming village, crying people, and a dark haunting laughter. He shook his head clear as he looked back at the boy and saw the tendrils coming from the anchor, no not anchor, heartless. “NO,” the shout startling himself before pointing towards the boy’s location with his sword. “We need to get him off that NOW,” he ordered loud enough for the others to hear. He could only imagine what might happen if he was pulled up to the ship.

 

[Mason Stark]

So, that little attack didn't work... The Keyblade ended up getting stuck in the creature's armor, only to be flicked off like it was some sort of bug. She grumbled as the Keyblade reappeared in her grip. Casting her gaze down upon it, she piped up in a mutter.

"There's gotta be somethin' we can do... right?"

NO!

Her gaze shot up. Her eyes bugged.

We need to get him off that NOW!

By tugging on the anchor, somehow, Derrick had triggered tendrils to appear. And they were trying to drag him with them!

"No!!"

Any sort of calculation or plan she could've come up with wasn't going to happen at that moment. She charged in without a second thought, pushing past Sleif, Theo and Aoi to get to the anchor.

"HA!" she slammed the Keyblade into the side of the anchor, hoping to cut the tendrils and free Derrick. Then, she suddenly dropped the Keyblade, grabbing the tendrils themselves and trying to rip them off.

She was much weaker than the rest of them, so who knows if it would actually do anything, but for some reason, she had this reckless abandon, something that made her not care how weak she was nor what she was capable of. Maybe this sudden recklessness had something to do with the fact that Sleif and Theo told her to help Derrick, like she had a responsibility to help somehow.

[I had a dumb idea, so that's why I posted again so fast .__. //hides in shame]

 

[sephiroth2]

-----------------------------------------------------------

The two hulking brutes seemed to have no trouble with the raised gravity throughout the little area, the added intensity only managing to slow the huge creatures instead of immobilizing them like the Clatterjacks. With their arrival the ground soon shook with their strength, Sleif being one of the first sent back by the shockwave, the great sword of his following in turn after erupting back out of the ground. While the weapon landed with a clattering of noise on the stone floor, the Captain managed to right himself a little, enough to land on his feet with some kind of regained balance.

Sleif was now able to take in the current situation with the anchor and creatures. The now living bone weight grasped hold of Derrick and Rena, with the new arrival trying her best to cut or tear the tendrils away from herself and the young boy, even when the dark tentacles would grow and spread faster with every pull. The massive Bone Bruisers seemed more interested in standing guard than actually going out of the way to attack the others, the little Clatterjacks already having left back up along the chain and to whatever vessel the living anchor and these creatures belonged to.

With a swinging of his arm towards the large sword, Sleif’s weapon suddenly jumped to life, the once lifeless object shooting up from its resting place on the ground with its handle leading the charge through the air, allowing the Captain to safely grab hold even as he ran towards the Bruisers, as if knowing the sword would do just that. Just like before, the faint glow of purple around his boots appeared just before Sleif launched himself with a running jump, the tall man reaching even greater height as he sailed through the air, looking down towards the now much smaller versions of everyone. While the glow faded from his boots and gravity soon returned to pull the Captain down quicker, it seemed it would have a new job, the glow radiating around the entire weapon as Sleif reared his arm back as he came hurtling towards the anchor and Bruisers.

“You two!! Hold on tight for this!!!” Roared Sleif, his voice getting louder as he descended from above, the glow of his weapon like a shooting star as he fell closer to the action. With an almost effortless swing of his arm, the large sword cut through the air like it was a gust, the Captain aiming to slice right through the chain itself and to bring the mighty weight down onto those unfortunate creatures that were to guard it.

-------------------------------------------------------

“Captain…?” Asked Gnostos, the Masked Nobody still hanging his body limply to the ground, his voice coming across as slightly muffled as he spoke, yet still appearing to choose not to stand up straight once more as he continued.

At the suggestion of reaching the rooftops to better look at whatever was happening close by, Gnostos’ whole self changed, the Nobody straightening up and sounding much more happy and interested now.

“That sounds like fun!! Good idea Alexandra!!!” Said Gnostos, the Nobody not waiting to stand around any longer, effortlessly jumping high enough with a single bounce to reach one of the building’s ledges, the black cloak draping down the wall as if it made one sweeping shadow, until disappearing over the rooftops edge.

“Not heard anyone calling themselves a ‘Captain’ in ages! This guy sounds weeeiiirrddd! What’s got you so interested in him, hhhuuuhhhh Tora?” He asked, his voice echoing down to his two fellow Nobodies below after peering back over the side of the roof, his marbled fingers gripping the edge as he stared down with the lifeless mask.

 

[Ruby Rose]

The party was persistent, now the keyblader girl tailed the heartless boy, in an attempt to break him free of the constricting vine tendrils from the living anchor.

The tall man soon followed with a giant swing of his blade, the attacked aimed at the chain of the anchor itself. The attack connected and hit the chain's weak spot, a spot of rust, causing the metal itself to be chipped. The attack sent the anchor swinging, with the combined weight of the Bone Bruisers and Clatterjacks and the party, the now fragile chain will give way any second; while still ascending inch-by-inch.

The chipping of the chain ring caused the vine tendrils to harden and rot into a withered husk, making it really brittle and easy to break free from.

Wasting no more time idling latched, the Clatterjacks hurriedly climbed the chain and through the dark portal. The Bone Bruisers followed them, climbing the chain up the dark portal.

From the other side of the portal, a massive vessel of world debris, bones, and colossal black vine briars mimicking a colossal pirate ship. The vessel itself was larger than ten worlds combined, like the vessel itself was a world itself, and it was being pulled by a colossal Leviathan heartless as its steed. The particular anchor that had landed in Traverse Town was just one of the millions it had. The vessel was crewed with a swarm of unique heartless, each with their own function. From ones that are as small as shadows, to ones that were as tall as a few stories high; and all of them are armed with bone armor, weapons and even pirate gear, all bearing the crossbones heartless emblem. An ancient hive of these unique heartless.

*claka claka*

The Clatterjacks quickly scurried towards the busy atmosphere of the ship, and made their way towards the captain's deck. As the Bone Bruisers arrived, they were greeted with a great shadow that towered over them like they were Clatterjacks, another giant heartless. The bruisers stepped aside and this giant heartless dipped its massive bone claws into the dark portal.

Before the party knew it, a huge hand emerged out of the portal. As it opened its palm, the shadow of it easily shrouded the entire Third District. The dark hand grabbed the stock of the anchor and then pulled it to the dark portal. If the party haven't broke out from the tendrils, then their foreign presence shall be graced by the captain of the ship herself.

 

[Eventua]

Traverse Town​

As Jotin poked his head from behind the wall of one particularly decrepit house and looked out upon the Third District, his mind desperately whirred, trying to take in everything. He had a high vantage point, the alleyway having led up several stairs to the 'upper level' of the District, and it was beyond his wildest dreams.

The Guard Armour was gone, but the battle had wrecked most of the District - the ground was dotted with tiny craters and the walls were crumbling, broken glass and pieces of wood were everywhere. And now, right in the center, a new battle unfolded - bone covered Heartless of various sizes clung to and fought around a great anchor on a chain, leading up into the maelstrom. The assorted warriors valiantly fought to remove the anchor, chipping away and damaging it as they could, and Jotin could only watch with mouth wide open.

That Darkness, it's... a World? Surely not, but...

He gave his goggles a slight tap with his fingers before adjusting them again, trying to collect whatever data he could - it was, unfortunately, a largely impossible task. He cursed under his breath, his lungs straining under such repeated strains, as he tried to get a better look before it left.

His whole body shook with excitement, and for a moment his Heart begged him to grab the chain... but would the Heartless ignore him? On the one hand, they were distracted by such a large amount of Light - including two Keyblades - and seemed busy just trying to cling on themselves. His Heart was no doubt weak enough - and Dark enough - that he'd be practically invisible.

On the other hand, once I get there, I, uh... how do I get back? I don't fancy my chances stuck onboard such a wonderful construct full of Heartless, though, hmm.

His lips trembled slightly, sweat creeping down his skin. But so much... knowledge.

Undiscovered Heartless. A World of Darkness beyond imagining. A respite from the thought of Keyblade wielders and Nobodies.

And, unfortunately, some sort of organization, suggesting a controlling intelligence that could perhaps be reasoned with in some way.

Eugh, he thought, what an awful thought. But... those advantages, it... it's now or never.

As a great arm of shadow emerged from the maelstrom and grabbed the chain, Jotin paused. He slowly, carefully breathed in, before taking a few steps back. It'd be a long shot, but he was fairly lightweight and his robes had 'given him air' in the past. He quickly patted himself down to make sure he still had everything, and mumbled a faint and distant prayer to long dead gods.

Well, here goes nothing!

Charging forwards, his right food hit the very edge of the wall. His knees, arms and spine all bent, and with a strained cry into the air, he leapt with all his strength.

He tried not to think about what he'd just done, but thankfully had no time to really invest much brain power anyway - within the space of a few seconds he had crashed into the back of the great black arm, his own arms wrapping around it like a black and oily tree. He clung to that arm, desperately scrambling for the much sturdier and uneven layers of bone, like a frightened baby in its mothers arms.

Can't say the ground would be very comfy from up here.

Goggles still on, he looked straight up, past the face of the great Heartless, into the center of the maelstrom. Was this... was this the ultimate power of the Heartless? The true embodiment of such wondrous creatures, freed of the mind and body? No... too organized, surely?

He bit his lip with excitement, his mouth wide in a maniacal and bitter grin. The Guard Armour was nothing - a bauble, a pattern in a foggy window.

"This... yes, this must be my destiny. Take me!"

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Problem that Just Doesn’t Want to be Solved -~

Nico dove to avoid a Heartless, jumping back to his feet he spun and punched it. Dodging again, he retaliated as the Shadow got close; knocking it backwards and causing it to dissolve into wisps of darkness. He’d taken care of the Neo Shadow that had been attacking him. Feeling the scratches from the mentioned Neo Shadow start stinging, he glanced down at his right forearm to see the blood and darkness mixing together. Clenching his teeth in frustration, Nico threw himself backwards and kicked his right foot out, connecting with the Neo Shadow that got too close to stumble backwards.

“Speed.”

The word caught his attention easily, and it wasn’t much of a surprise to see that it was the crying girl. She seemed to be able to manage herself well enough, but Nico got the distinct impression that this girl was not a fighter. Dismissing the thought from his mind, he did a quick check of the other two combatants location, most importantly Arno’s, and saw that they were both holding their own against their respective opponents. Refocusing on the Heartless closest to him, he slipped into a battle stance and started attacking them again; using a mix of martial arts to attack them.

“G..Guys? Every time one dies, another spawns, that means…that means that there’s a boss and it’s nearby!"

The waver in the girl’s voice confirmed Nico’s suspicions; she wasn’t a fighter because otherwise she wouldn’t have let her fear show. But still, it was a little unnerving knowing that unless the boss was attacking the small fry would just keep appearing. Catching a glimpse of Arno out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head to check on the younger boy to see that he’d somehow made his way over. Spotting the swarm of Heartless, Nico’s left hand was already working on removing on of the black bands as he called for everyone, “Duck!”

Throwing the band, he grabbed Arno who was already done and repositioned the boy, using his own body as a shield for the younger one. Glancing toward the area of the explosion, he saw that it had somewhat cleared out the group of Invisibles and Neo Shadows; but more were forming in their place, just as the crying girl had said. Getting back to his feet, he braced himself for the upcoming round. He saw Arno rise too, but unlike him, the younger boy turned toward the forest and headed toward the forest, eyes slightly glazed over. Taking a step toward him, Nico was about to reach out to grab the other boy’s arm when he sensed the presence of a Heartless behind him. Whipping around, Nico grabbed a hold of the Invisible’s sword and shoved it backwards, ignoring the slight sting of the sword biting into his palm.

Getting attacked from the right, Nico hit the ground and rolled after the Neo Shadow had finished its claw swipes. Climbing back to his feet, he took just a moment to inspect the injury before he got back to the fight. Attacking the Neo Shadow with a prejudice, he didn’t pause as Arno’s voice rang out from the forest, "Forget the small fry! Get over here so we can eliminate the Big One!"

He wanted to go and help, but he was a little busy at the moment. Glancing at the girls, he called over, “Hey, can one you two break off and go help Arno? It sounds as if he’s found the boss.” Before he could see if either one of them heard him, which he hoped they did have their hearing; Nico was forced to roll out of the way again in order to avoid a strike from an Invisible’s sword. Getting back to his feet, Nico glanced around to see if there was anything present he could use as a firearm. Seeing nothing, he focused back on the Heartless and snarled, “Firaga.” He watched the large ball of flame jump to life and then go flying toward the Heartless.

Inching closer to the forest, he kept up with the barrage of fire spells and felt a bit of relief when he saw that it was chipping away at the Heartless army in the front of the mansion. Now, as long as that thing didn’t show up during the fight, Nico was pretty sure that they’d be able to get through these battles basically in one piece.

Here’s hoping his luck would hold.

~- Don’t Stop -~

Tora bowed her head to Alexandra in return, and she saw Hawthorne lean into the other Nobody’s touch, setting Tora more at ease. She watched Gnostos as he did his strange antics with his body, a smile coming to her face as she watched it. Listening as Alexandra apologized for causing her to break away from her mission, Tora returned her attention to the other Nobody and answered, “It’s fine Alexandra, I needed a bit of social interaction, it was little boring anyway.”

Listening to the commotion coming from the Third District, Tora turned her attention in that direction for a few moments before returning to the conversation. A whistle escaping her, she watched as Sakura materialized out of the shadows and padded over to stand on the side that Hawthorne wasn’t on. Looking at the red wolf, Tora looked at it with a questioning look on her face and asked, “Sakura, didn’t I tell you to meet up with Rae?”

The wolf gave a quick bark before it looked away, clearly saying, ‘Yeah, well, I was working on checking in and then a massive commotion happened in the Third District; so I thought I’d check in with you.’ Sighing in mock-exasperation, Tora ruffled the red wolf’s fur as Alexandra suggested, “Perhaps we can use the roofs to conceal ourselves while we look for this captain.”

“That sounds like fun! Good idea Alexandra!”

Hawthorne and Sakura barked in agreement with Gnostos, showing their approval for the idea. The smile staying in place, Tora considered it for a moment and said, “Sure, let’s use the roofs to our advantage. Provided you and Gnostos want to tag along, Alexandra.” She eyed the other Nobody, only for Gnostos to pull her attention away as he climbed up on the roof only to peer back over the edge and asked, his voice becoming curious and childlike, “Not heard anyone calling themselves a ‘Captain’ in ages! This guy sounds weeeiiirrddd! What’s got you so interested in him, hhhuuuhhh Tora?”

Turning to look at him fully, Tora answered, “Yeah, he does seem a little weird Gnostos. He also seems to be a powerful warrior, he possessed some kind of gravity magic I’d assume while there was something darker lying beneath the surface. I think he’d be a person of interest for the Embodiment, or at least one we wouldn’t want to be coming after us.”

Pulling herself up onto the roof, Tora turned to offer a helping hand down to Alexandra and didn’t even bat an eye when Sakura and Hawthorne jumped up, the two wolves resuming their positons on either side of her.

 

[Ruby Rose]

The anchor has been pulled up and the portal dissipated. Whatever commotion on the other side of the portal beforehand was now none of these Heartless' jurisdiction. The colossal heartless that pulled the anchor slowly stood up, the Bone Bruisers waddled back to their posts. This colossal heartless walked through the massive and twisted scape of the Stygian Ferryman, ignoring the person clung to its arm. Sailing through beyond the veil of space, a warp webway horizon of infinite twilight; plagued with countless cosmic storms. Even though this being was as massive as looked, the sheer size of the ship easily dwarfs it like a soldier ant. If these Heartless were ants themselves, then they'd be in a 30 foot anthill.

*claka claka*

The Clatterjacks finally arrived at the Captain's Deck where a huge door stood before them. The heartless slightly bowed their heads, and the door opened inward with a very loud creaking. The two heartless slowly walked through a pitch-black ruined hallway, with the carpet and furnishings infested with cobwebs and mostly covered in dust; the atmosphere bore resemblance to Halloween Town. And from the deepest shadows of the hall, resided powerful-looking heartless of numerous variants.

*claka claka*

The two Clatterjacks stopped on their tracks as they reached the end of the hallway, where a jet-black shrouded throne presented itself. From the shadow throne, a feminine figure of overwhelming presence, enveloped with darkness stood up and took her time to step down the elevation. Her luminescent velvet locks brushed through the slight breeze, like beautiful and glossy gossamer satin, her cold blue eyes beamed down to the crew she sent on a mission. The Clatterjacks bowed their heads in wait, as the enigma approached them to acknowledge their presence. One of the heartless lifted the jar to which contained the acquired Black Heart from Traverse Town, presenting it as an offer to the figure.

The velvet-locked enigma reached out her arm, slowly illuminated by the faint light source of the twilight outside. Her gold-laced skeletal gauntlet peered out of the darkness with the golden lace glimmered. She took the jar and inspected at the Black Heart carefully.

"Mmmm....~ Black---gold."

Her seductive tone oozed from her lips, biting it a bit as she looked at the Black Heart's glimmer. With a slight squeeze, she broke the jar into pieces. She opened her palm and watched as the heart slowly hovered down on her palm.

"Caaawww....!!!"

The red-eyed raven on her shoulder cawed as it sensed a foreign presence within the ship. Hearing this, the enigma's glee turned into fury.

"...I see. We have a stowaway."

She closed her palm and hid the Black Heart inside it, utterly shrinking then absorbing it in her skin. The enigma hurriedly went down the steps. The shroud that covered her throne seemingly attached to her shoulders, was stretched and ripped like cloth. This shroud then flowed and formed an overcoat hanged from her shoulders, worn like a large mantle. The embroidered crept from her back of the coat to the loose sleeve, a disturbing motif of laughing skulls and crossbone.

The enigma then made her way out of the hallway which was the Captain's deck itself, to the hull descent. She has that displeased expression about her face. If there is one thing she hates dealing with, other than obstructions, is stowaways on her ship.

 

[Mason Stark]

Rena had been so reckless that she barely managed what was happening to her as she tried to free Derrick.

"Huh?"

Looking down, she realized her arms were quickly becoming consumed by the very same tendrils she was trying to rip apart. Tugging back hard on her arms, she found she couldn't break their grip, no matter how much she fought against it.

"Ahh, help!!" she said in a panic, still pulling hard on her arms. It was no use -- she couldn't break free!

You two!! Hold on tight for this!!!

Looking up, she heard Sleif just moments before his sword came crashing down on the anchor's chain. And, fortunately enough, it did something! The chain didn't break, but whatever Sleif did made the tendrils turn brittle and useless. Rena threw her left arm back, immediately breaking free from the trap. She went to free her other arm, but wasn't able to.

That's because someone grabbed onto her hood and ripped her backwards.

"Ahh!"

Pulling backwards, Rena crashed to the floor, fixing her hood as she looked up to see the culprit.

But, before she could find out, she received a nice little present: a hard slap in the head.

"Ow!" she hissed, rubbing her head, "What was that--?"

"What the heck was that, kid?!"

When she looked up, the color drained from her features.

Aoi was staring down at her, his features hidden except for his very bright green eyes. He was pissed. Just moments before the anchor was pulled away, he had stepped in, grabbing both Derrick and Rena by their hoods and ripping them off the anchor before it was too late. He quickly released Derrick (fearing what would happen if he pissed off that Heartless), but he had no qualms against yelling at Rena.

He grabbed her arm, ripping her off the concrete and keeping her arm in a vice grip. She was being held so high up, nearly face-to-face with Aoi's features, that her feet were barely touching the ground.

"You could've gotten taken off to who-knows-where and we probably wouldn't have been able to find you again or save your ass!" he snapped, glaring down at the girl; she looked more like a human version of a guilty puppy at that moment, "Think next time before you do that shit!"

"B-but they said I had to help Derrick!"

"So?! It doesn't mean getting killed over!"

 

[sephiroth2]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The swing landed, the blade feeling weightless in the Captain’s hand as it struck one of the links of the great chain that stretched back up through the portal. Though it never went straight through, the single chip the attack made seemed to have a great effect on the living anchor itself, the dark tendrils which had once been both restraining and attacking the young girl and boy, immediately began to harden and twist back in onto themselves and becoming quite brittle in the process, like some kind of dead plant.

It was here that the portal appeared to flair widder as Sleif clung to the bottom of the chain, the vortex revealing more of what laid waiting higher up along the links. The vessel that owned the anchor was simply colossal in size, with an even greater number of strange bone-like Heartless on board as supposedly crew. The Captain could only stare up wide eyed at the sight he saw. Something so world-shadowing was beyond normal comprehension, the closest thing being a handful of tales during the time of the Great Heartless War, and even they seemed dwarfed by what Sleif was seeing.

Quickly taking the chance to swipe the pocketed device from his coat, the Captain aimed as best as he could up towards what floated beyond the opening, the still swinging chain making this rather difficult. The sudden tug of the chain soon began however, the large anchor starting its return back up towards the vortex, whether with its passengers or not, and Sleif was pretty sure nothing good was waiting ahead if he stayed.

“Okay! Think it’s time for us to get going!!” Yelled Sleif back down towards Rena and Derrick, the Captain dragging his sword behind him as he slid down the curved bones that wrapped around the metal anchor, making his way to the young kids as he did.

Landing just above where Rena had flung herself to, the Captain soon watched as the Hooded Figure who was fighting before, had pulled the two kids free from the anchor and leaving Sleif to jump clear as the hunk of metal and bone retracted back up towards the sky and its portal.

"What the heck was that, kid?! You could've gotten taken off to who-knows-where and we probably wouldn't have been able to find you again or save your ass!" Yelled Aoi, Rena most likely feeling even smaller after being picked up by the taller figure, especially after then getting told off for doing something so reckless.

"B-but they said I had to help Derrick!"

"So?! It doesn't mean getting killed over!"

“He’s right you know. That was very dangerous…” Said the Captain as he walked up to the two, his height reaching even higher than Aoi’s and possibly making Rena feel even smaller with the two grown-ups there for comparison.

“But…” Added Sleif as he carefully plucked Rena out of Aoi’s grasp and back onto solid ground.

“You really stuck to your duty. You’re just full of bravery today, huh Little Lady?” Asked Sleif, smiling down to her before looking back towards Derrick, the Captain’s eyes once more glowing a faint yellow.

“Guess next on the list is to help your friend.” Said the Captain, his eyes focused on Derrick’s as his thoughts started to speak out towards the young man’s own.

“...Derrick...if you can hear this...try and stay in control...I can help you so this doesn’t happen again...but you’ve got to take the first step...and come back to us first…”

 

[HyperShadic]

Alexandra was able to give a mental sigh of relief when Tora told them that they hadn’t really interrupted her mission, and her wolf companion didn’t seem to mind the petting of its fur. Tora always seemed to have a way with wolves that Alexandra would love to have, seeing her call a second lupine companion and seemingly communicate with it. She was caught slightly off guard by Gnostos’s reaction to her idea though. She considered asking if he was sick before dismissing that idea when she figured it was just one of his weird whims. Accepting Tora’s help onto the roof, as her armor made her less able to perform the other nobodies could so easily. Yes she could take it off, but if things went poorly she could at least defend her fellow nobodies.

“Thank you for the help Tora,” she said after she was helped onto the roof. She then turned to Gnostos “Perhaps you should lead us, since I might draw to much attention to us before we find a good spot to hide.” She rattled her armor to emphasize her point. Gravity magic? My earth magic will be ineffective around him so no separating him from the others, she thought her head tilting down in thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things were wavering back and forth between alright and very, very bad. Theo couldn’t do much as he wasn’t able to reach were Derrick and the girl were tangled with the anchor. That left the hooded man and gravi-master to save them, and save them they did with the anchor retreating with another passenger, the fake Theo. He sighed knowing that there would only be further problems with the fake. He looked at the hooded man berate the girl.

B-but they said I had to help Derrick!

So?! It doesn't mean getting killed over!

He’s right you know. That was very dangerous, but you really stuck to your duty. You’re just full of bravery today, huh Little Lady?

Theo leaned against a wall and began laughing while sliding down it “Well, she got us there,” said while laughing. He had to put a hand to his face in order to calm down. He motioned to the girl to take a seat next to him while he waited for the Gravi-master to get through to Derrick. He has a better grasp on how to get him back, Theo thought. Kallian took that time to chime in too, Aw, I was really hoping to get a better look and a crack at another of those armored things. Theo smacked his head against the wall at that, before taking deep breaths and bringing his other arm onto his lap. Once it was there he grasped at the wrist were he knew Kallian’s mark was, thankful that he had the bandages covering it.

 

[Eventua]

The World That Never Was

​

The sound of insects can be heard, wings buzzing as they weave through the air. Artificial lights bathe the massive green house - an indoor paradise - and the occasional rodent shuffles through the undergrowth. The edges of the glass shielding provides a stark contrast - windowed towers of monochrome metal shoot upwards into the bleak and empty black sky, the moon a grey and fading thing.

At the edge of the great fountain that serves as the garden's center piece, a woman sits cross legged. Her attire is not the ornate set of cloth and metal it once was - its colours long since faded and bleached away into various shades of gray a long time ago.

Her eyes closed, she breathes in through her nose, and then slowly exhales through her lips. Again. Again.

Her mind wanders through ancient lands, clearly envisioning the faces of people she once knew - an old man at the market, the boy who loved to fish, the girl who dreamed of becoming a snake charmer, the mother of a slave.

...

How many of them were now cold and broken shells? How many of them were now little more than animate dolls of human skin and bone? How many of them were now more monsters than men?

Perhaps a few months ago she would have risked throwing up at the thought of the creatures that were once her friends and family and foes.

...

She sighed, eyes opening as she adjusted her position to one of resting on her knees. Gazing around at the majestic, clean beauty of her surroundings, she slowly shook her head and stood up.

"We aren't human," she said out loud to no one save the beetles and trees.

 

[Kingdomkeylight]

~♣A Miscalculation♣~​

"No; just... just go away!"

Taces and KOS-MOS immediately took note of the child that had ran straight in-between them, and the Heartless. It only took a second longer for the heartless to pick up on the child as it continued to spin its to remaining limbs in fury of what had happened. With a defining roar it sent both of its Hammerleg Arms at the child threatening to crush him in one move. Yet both Hammerleg Arms would violently be stopped as KOS-MOS took them head on halting them in a temporary stalemate of force as she held them back with her arms. Taces immediately ran up to Colt picking up the child as a series of green ectoplasmic rings started to form around them both. He didn't say anything to the child as he held him with one hand while stretching out the other directly at KOS-MOS who was further away. Taces eyes started to glow a eerie green as the rings levitating around started to swirl faster, and faster before suddenly they bursted into a volley of orbital shots that expanded outward at first. To Colt it would probably seem at first that Taces was about to hit his own ally to take out the Hammerleg Arms, but soon it would be clear that even those weren't his target as all the blast went right past them and converged onto a rather surprised Opposite Armor that took the full attack. The resulting explosion caused the Hammerleg Arm's to temporarily falter giving KOS-MOS a edge as she aggressively took a step forward hurtling the two limbs backwards as they collided harshly with the already majorly damaged torso. The damage from the first hit already being quite extensive caused the torso to be flung to the ground after being rammed by its arms that went rolling past their torso after impact. All three seriously wounded body parts started to crack all over showing signs that this battle was pretty much over as they fought to get back up.

"You should never freeze on the battlefield... such a action could cost your life or another's trying to save you," Taces spoke to Colt as he placed the boy down before starting to look him over for any wounds. When none were shown to exist Taces redirected his attention the rather broken heartless still trying to get up. "The heartless here are a lot more stubborn it seems," he spoke to KOS-MOS as the rather stoic woman seemed to await a set of orders. "No reason to make it suffer," with that queue KOS-MOS walked over to the Torso before quite frighteningly, and literally stomping it out of existence with her left heel. However in a last ditch effort before they could be destroyed the two Hammerleg Arm's sprung to life boosting past KOS-MOS, and Taces in a wide arc right for Colt.

"R-Cannon," KOS-MOS's right hand transformed back into the cannon like appendage as she immediately took a shot for the left Hammerleg Arm hitting it with deadly precision as it burst into a dark mist. The one arcing from the right was immediately block as Taces got in its way with shield taking on the blunt of the attack. With a aggressive growl Taces's eyes glowed a more aggressive green as the shield released a vibration like wave that immediately shattered the limb into a dark mist. With not other threat's around at the moment Taces eased his body language as he stood up straight. "Is any medical assistance needed," KOS-MOS asked as she walked over to the two boys.

"I am fine, but it wouldn't hurt to scan the kid real quick," the shield user responded as both his weapons burst into a green mist as if they had never existed. KOS-MOS's cannon arm transformed back into a regular delicate looking hand even though it was clear this woman was anything, but delicate.

"Scans show no wounds the child is at top physical standards permitted by Aeronaut Society medical regulations," her monotone voice sounded off as she finished observing the boys body with her retinal scanners. "Shall I set a perimeter?"

"Negative we should find Captain Sleif first... kid have you happened to see a rather unusually tale male with a massive broadsword?"
...............................................................................................................

 

[Eventua]

The Stygian Ferryman

​

It was not long after Jotin had managed to jump from the arm of the monstrous Heartless onto a narrow ledge, a crevice that led into the bowls of that great floating fortress, that he was suddenly struck by the fact that he had put himself in a rather... precarious, situation.

He gently mopped a few beads of sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his brow and tucked himself away into a small gap between two large piles of barrels containing what appeared to be Hearts. The 'cargo hold' contained countless such containers and stretched on for what seemed like miles, rising up multiple floors with only a relatively few Heartless scurrying around.

He smiled slightly as one Heartless crawled right past his feet, even noticing his robes and didn't so much as pause - no doubt, the Darkness here was so great, and the Hearts contained here so numerous, that his own weak Heart was effectively invisible. He jotted that down in his notebook, and his thoughts soon turned to the nature of Heartless.

A Heart contains the memories, emotions, dreams and instincts of a human being or other living creature - however, it lacks any sort of intellectual ability beyond the most rudimentary problem solving skills. This is why most Heartless are unarmed, even though weapons would make catching their prey easier, and those that do are skilled in the use of only a single such device.

He paused as he sucked the tip of the pen before continuing.

However, while a physical body and brain - the 'mind' - allow a Heart to take in sensory information and process data in ways that the Heart alone cannot, they are inherently fragile and prone to decay. The basic laws of entropy demand that their bodies eventually collapse, and in the process, force the Heart to return to Kingdom Hearts, the place from which it originates.

He gazed up at one particularly ape-like Heartless that was busy transporting some of the containers a few hundred meters away off to... somewhere. He bit his lip, preparing himself to move at a moments notice. But for now, the notes continued.

Hypothesis: the Heart, as a spiritual object, bonds with other similar objects - other Hearts - on some strong non-physical layer of reality, in much the same way that physical bodies process physical information. Heartless, being pure Hearts trapped within the Realm of Darkness, thus can 'sense' Hearts even if they cannot directly 'see' them with their eyes, which are effectively useless in many situations due to the simplistic and transient nature of a Heartless's physical form.

...

Wait, were those foot steps?

He gently swallowed, his breath becoming shallow, as the sounds stopped. Had he imagined it?

... Yes, surely. He was certain he hadn't been spotted - if he had, the Heartless would have immediately attacked him, surely? Continue.

Unsure how to test this hypothesis, but observations that the Heartless largely ignore Hearts that are Dark in nature - as well as the fact that the Heartless ultimately outnumber beings of Light on a truly miraculous scale - suggests that they may be targeting Hearts that they sense as being 'abnormal' in some way. They may be attempting to free humanity from their broken and fickle bondage, perhaps?

He smiled at that.

That made sense... of course creatures as pure as the Heartless would seek to liberate Hearts trapped within physical cages, in much the same way that certain animals feel a strong need to help other members of their species that they recognize as being injured or trapped in some way.

As another load of containers were shifted, Jotin slowly got to his feet, goggles raised to peer through the Darkness, and began to creep back towards the crevice he'd crawled from...

"Now," he whispered to himself, "to find another safe observation point and-"

 

[Lunarmaster54]

“Duck!”

Hitomi moved swiftly, crouching down on the ground and trying to make herself as small as possible after the order was given. Just in time too because she had just barely done so when an explosion rocked the area, the shockwave almost knocking her down. Hitomi stumbled a little before straightening up and looking to see what effects the blast had. The various heartless had diminished, and that was good for the moment because less heartless meant less things trying to kill them all, but it was only a matter of time before they all respawned and that made it imperative that somebody found and killed the leader of the bunch. In fact Hitomi had just finished processing the situation when the heartless began to reform themselves yet again.

Hitomi raised her sword in a clumsy defensive position as the monsters started to strike out at her. She managed to parry and stop a few of their attacks but others made it through the holes in her defenses, scratching her and causing pain to shoot through her body. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to retaliate and turn the flow of the battle in her favor but the neoshadows that had taken an interest in her were nimble and they were able to dodge and twist out of the way of her swings. Her haste spell ran its course too and Hitomi wanted to cry all over again once the backlash hit, hard and fast. When people first started harnessing their magic pool and cast their first spells there was always a chance of some negative effects when the spell was finished and had run it’s course. Madoka had almost set herself on fire on a number of occasions in her rush to learn as much as she could and it was why they were all supposed to practice under strict supervision until they were more comfortable with their magic. Hitomi hadn’t thought about that when she had cast haste because she had needed it to properly combat the heartless. She was more or less used to her magic too so she had stupidly assumed everything would be fine. Backlash wasn’t exactly the most common thing but of course it would happen right now in the middle of a fight. Which, now that she thought about it, was exactly what they’d been warned might happen as a worst case scenario..

More slashes, Hitomi’s whole body was sluggish as she tried to do something, anything, to stop the assault but no dice. Her emotions were off so of course she couldn’t really concentrate on casting the spell properly and of course that would raise the probability of it blowing up in her face. If she had been thinking clearly she would have remembered that. Madoka and Sayaka would have known that, hell they wouldn’t have summoned these monsters here in the first place because they were both stable and she…
Hitomi cut the thoughts off there, now really wasn’t the time for this. With her luck she’d summon even more heartless with her sour attitude and self loathing. What she needed to do was turn her brain off and focus on fighting and casting. Not sloppy casting either, either cast the spell right or don’t even bother with it. That’s what she needed to do. Just close her eyes, take a breath, get focused..

“Hey, can one you two break off and go help Arno? It sounds as if he’s found the boss.”

..and go do that. Support was what Hitomi was good at. It’s what she wanted to do when she had first started after all. That’s how she could help. The green haired girl sheathed her sword and moved, rolling and breaking away from her group of neoshadows as she made her way over to Arno, taking a few blows to the back for her troubles. The negative effects of her spell wore off and Hitomi was free to run full speed into the forest and into the clearing.

This was a mistake. Pain ravaged her body as something invisible struck her and struck her hard. The girl crumpled with a scream. No, no this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. She came in here to help Arno not get one shotted by the boss that wouldn’t even freaking be here right now if she had just kept her head on straight and her emotions in check. She could feel something wet underneath her and saw flashes of magenta around her, could sense that she was being circled and the boss had drawn blood. Hitomi tried not to panic, she tried to think calmly and get in the right mind for a heal spell so she could get up and help.
But who knew if she’d be able to do it before the boss finished her off once and for all? Hitomi smiled bitterly, concentration wavering.

Maybe she’d get to apologize to Mami sooner than she thought.

 

[Ruby Rose]

"to find another safe observation point and-"

Before this trespasser could hide from a nearby crevice, a pair of red dots peered from the shadow of the crevice. From a pair, to a massive swarm. All of them glaring daggers at the unwanted stowaway.

"Caww caww!!!"

A huge unkindness of ravens burst through the crevice, their flapping of wings and loud and agitated caws, it caused quite the ruckus. From just across that ruckus, two powerful-looking heartless appeared behind the trespasser.

These heartless stood 6 foot tall, stood upright and their chest out, like a soldier in attention. Their exo-skeleton mimics that of a conquistador's armor, they have blades for legs and armed with a 7 foot skeletal poleaxe. They don the crossbone heartless emblem on their breastplates. One of fearsome heartless crew of the ship, the Esqueletador Heartless.

The Esqueletadors placed their poleaxes' blades dangerously close to the stowaway's neck. A way of telling the man to not make any more sudden movements. Their purple orbs fixated upon him. Then from a distance, a Bone Bruiser approached the Esqueletadors and picked up the trespasser by the collar of his coat, lifted him up and carried him away. With the poleaxes still aimed at his neck. As they reached a certain distance, the Bone Bruiser just dropped him in an open field of the ship and then surprisingly just left. The Esqueletadors then shortly followed after, dropping their blades and just left the stowaway alone. Leaving him nothing but a false sense of comfort.

*kchink!*

A ring of steel being stabbed on a solid surface was heard behind him, then loomed a tall shadow that easily towered over him. The figure's cold blue eyes beamed down on him, her velvet gossamer locks and mantle brushing through a non-existent gust like a raging black and velvet inferno. She was holding a long skeletal-laced falchion forward with both arms like a cane. Her strong stance and dark presence apparent.

"So I thought... a pig managed to snuck up on board. This is terribly displeasing."

The figure spoke with a fluid french accent. It would sound like a calm running water but this one was tinged with venom. Signifying to the stowaway to choose his next words carefully.

 

[Eternal Dream]

~- Blackened Heart -~

Rae had been following her target for some time after she left Alexandra and Gnostos behind in that small alley. The man's path had been... interesting, to say the least. She had been en route to the battle against a Guard Armor that had appeared, but then she'd felt him moving away from the battle, the slight pulse of his darkened Heart thrumming through her empty being, so the Nobody had shifted the direction of her corridor and followed the man until he had come to rest in another part of Traverse Town. For a while, she observed him as he scribbled away in a notebook of some sort, her curiosity leading her to decide that she simply must see what was in this little journal of his.

A great pulse of Darkness hummed through the World, drawing the researcher's attention as well as Rae's. The Nobody turned her head toward the source of this spike, her non existent heart beating with similar anticipation to what this strange little man was obviously feeling. The Nobody had heard tales when she was a little girl, still safe and sound in her home World, of a pirate queen that commanded a monstrous ship crewed by Heartless of a rather strange breed. However, she, just like all the other children, had believed these to just be stories to terrify, to keep them well behaved. Yet now...

Still cloaked within her shadows, Rae followed the man as he went racing back toward the scene of the Guard Armor's defeat, following him even as he ascended into the rent in the sky that the large bone anchor had created. Unlike the weak hearted fool, however, the Nobody had no need to cling to the bone clad demon's arm, instead riding the shadows that the Heartless and anchor had created, using those shadows to take her straight up to the ship.

For the moment, she let him fade away into dark recesses of the ship; dark as his heart was, Rae was fairly certain that the man could summon portals, and so she was safe to leave him. Instead, that forgotten part of her childhood led her to explore the ship, searching out this fabled queen. The Nobody was careful to hide her presence; certain that this woman wouldn't take kindly to trespassers in her domain, Rae kept herself to the shadows, her very non-existence fading to corners and corridors that were within this realm, but not. She stilled her breathing, finding the discomfort that went without it a mild nuisance, but nothing that she could not manage. Her shadowy path wound through the ship, her eyes taking in what she could and filing it away for informative use later. She sought the queen, but for now, Rae was content with getting a lay of the ship. She knew she would meet this woman in due time.

The Dark Summoner could be patient.

~- Market -~

"...she thought Cyrus was being irresponsible by playing such an mature game around her younger brother."

Gadele had been talking with Cyrus and Juliet about the architecture of his home World as they walked toward the market, Mogoni and James trailing just a short way back. Cy seemed pretty interested, breaking in on occasion to ask him about a few things here and there, and Jewel couldn't help but smile. She knew he was looking for details to use in his writing; Cy was like that, always on the look out for some little detail for his stories. Leaning into his side, she looped her arm through Cyrus' as she called back, "She also thinks you ramble off in totally weird directions, James."

Before James could retaliate, Jewel suddenly bolted ahead, straight into the marketplace. Spinning in a circle, she turned back to look at the others and said, "Okay, does anyone else need to do some shopping? And do you know where the herbal shop is, Gadele?"

~- More than You Can Take -~

“Hey, can one you two break off and go help Arno? It sounds as if he’s found the boss.”

The older boy's voice broke through the battle concentration that had clouded Selene's brain. At first, she'd been concerned for the three civilians; even though the girl carried Mami's blade, that didn't mean that she knew how to use it. However, all three of them had soon shown themselves to be at the very least competent combatants; even the girl had shaped up once she'd ducked out from behind Selene's wings, allowing the Wielder to draw her blades from the hiding place among her feathers.

From there it had turned into a free for all as they hacked and slashed at the Heartless, trying to find an end to their numbers. However, Selene quickly came to the realization that something was calling them there besides the other girl's negative emotions, a realization that the girl came to as well, as noted by her warning. Shortly after, the younger boy had moved away from them, and Selene lost his direction as the older boy through a bracelet with an explosive charge into the throng of Heartless. Even Selene, with her own skill with explosives, barely had enough time to shield herself again with her wings.

Now he wanted one of them to go after the younger boy, this Arno? Before Selene could weigh in on that, the other girl bolted off, heading in the same direction that Arno had left in. Yeah, no way was that gonna fly; even with their skill, Arno and that girl weren't the warriors in this little mish-mash. They'd be slaughtered...

An Invisible's blade slammed into the ground right next to her, sending Selene into a sprawl. Her shoulder protesting the hard knock, she screeched, "Futhermucker, show some class! You don't send a lady onto her ass!" Her wings swept forward, sending a hail of feathers at the Invisible, the quill storm making short work of what was left of its life.

Jumping back to her feet, Selene rolled her shoulder quickly; determining that it was just bruised, her hand snapped to her waist to pull her communicator out. "Cadet Carter, this is Lieutenant Commander Destati. There's a large concentration of Heartless in front of the abandoned mansion on the outskirts of the city. There are civilians here. Requesting backup!"

Static.

Swearing softly, she stowed the communicator back in its pouch. Fine, looked like she'd have to clear her way through these things herself. Turning to the boy that had thrown the explosive earlier, she said, "That was an impressive trick. However, watch this!"

Hopping into the air, Selene swung Angel Wing in a wide arc, catching the Invisible that had been closing in on her across its chest. She charged her wings, feeling a persistent tingle spread through each of her feathers. She pushed the magic further, going for optimal cover, then swept her wings forward, sending the feathers diving into the clearing once more. Her eyes glowing with magic, the girl snapped her fingers, setting off a chain reaction as the quills exploded one by one. With any luck, the two of them could break off to help the others, now.

But where the hell was Jason?

 

[Aphex]

Click....click.....click....

With each step, the Heartless continued to reel the anchor back in an attempt to bring the entire ship down. Despite the amount of strength he possessed, the plan would come to a screeching halt as what appeared to be tendrils began to sprout from the anchor he tugged away at. In an instant, the tendrils had shot out towards Derrick, wrapping around him which caused the boy to lose his grip.

He was now being dragged away along with the anchor!

"HA!"

The sounds of a blade clattering against the anchor followed by what appeared to be somebody tearing away at the tendrils, the Heartless shifted his focus over to where it came from and ended up finding Rena.

Was she insane?! She was trying to help him despite seeing him in this form! But her rescue attempt failed as the tendrils ended up capturing her as well.

Writhing to set himself free, Derrick watched as the anchor grew closer to the portal above but there came yet another sound; this one being another weapon striking against the anchor. It was Sleif and luckily enough, it actually did something! The tendrils began to recede but not enough for the two to get away just yet, Derrick managing to free at least one of his arms from its grip.

But there was no need to fight anymore as he felt something latch on his hood, yanking him away from the anchor and towards the ground below. Now tossed off to the side and rolling a few feet away from the rest of the group, the Heartless now laid on his back and watched as the ship escaped into the portal.... leaving no trace of it behind.

This angered the Heartless...

Body twitching uncontrollably again, his entire figure sank into a black pool which it was now slithering along the ground. The shadow bolted towards the group but stopped just a few feet away from them, the Heartless rising and reforming in front of them.

Claws now balling into fists Derrick now started to take a few steps towards the group...

 

[Mason Stark]

He’s right you know. That was very dangerous…

Uh-oh... Rena may have tried to protest against Aoi, but she didn't dare do that to Sleif. As the man approached the pair, the girl looked away, limply hanging in the enigma's grip and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

But…

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Aoi let go of his grip on Rena's arm, specifically Sleif had set her down on his own!

You really stuck to your duty. You’re just full of bravery today, huh Little Lady?

The girl beamed, as if she had gotten a pat on the head for doing a good job. Someone thought she was brave!! Granted, she hadn't really helped Derrick, but still, she was brave and that was pretty good! (Considering how scared she had been of everything lately...)

"The heck?!" snapped Aoi, "Everyone's okay with a Keyblade Wielder doing something stupid? Seriously?! Do you guys not realize that if anything happens to that Keyblade, we're..."

His voice kind of trailed off. There was no point. These dumbasses weren't going to understand the gravity of the situation.

He scoffed and shoved his hands into his pockets, turning and stepping away.

Guess next on the list is to help your friend.

As Rena watched Aoi walk away and saw him lean back against a nearby wall, the girl turned back to Sleif. She saw Theo motioning for her to join him, but something got her worried, like she couldn't leave the situation just yet.

She tugged on the edge of the man's sleeve, trying to get his attention.

"Is he gonna be okay, Miste--"

shiiiiiish...

Eyes bugged, she quickly turned to face Derrick, who had sunk into the ground in a dark pool and was coming near them!

Despite her recent displays of courage, she couldn't help but take a step back, unsure what was about to happen. Derrick soon rose from the dark pool and started to make his way near the group, looking a lot more hostile than he was before...

"Ha, told ya we should've killed him already!"

Suddenly, Aoi burst back into the scene, pistol at the ready. He snarled at the sight of the Heartless boy, "Damn kid should've been put out of his misery when we had the chance..."

He readied the gun, aimed it at the Heartless, and...

"Wait!!"

He glanced down, realizing that Rena had grabbed onto his arm, as an attempt to make him stop.

"Kid, cut it out!" he scoffed, trying to push her aside.

"No!! Derrick's still in there, I know it!" she protested, just after being dropped from the man's arm. Granted, she didn't actually know if Derrick was still there, but maybe if she acted like she believed that, maybe Aoi wouldn't shoot him?

"Lemme try to talk to him or somethin'," she said, grinning meekly, "Just... put the gun down first, okay?"

He narrowed his emerald orbs, still pointing the gun at Derrick.

"Great, a 12-year-old is bossing me around," he scoffed.

"H-Hey, I'm not 12!!" Rena suddenly protested, her cheeks turning red, "I'm 13!"

"One year, big difference!" he paused, twisting his frown, "Gah, okay fine, I won't shoot him yet, but if he attacks anyone, then you can't tell me I can't attack him."

The girl frowned, folding her arms, "O-okay, fine, I guess..." She glared up at the man until he finally pocketed his gun, Aoi giving her a glare in return.

She turned around, looking meek as she faced the Heartless. Maybe, if they proved they weren't going to mess with him, he wouldn't attack them...

"H-Hey, Derrick!" she said, wearing a big grin (though it wasn't the most convincing grin; she still looked super nervous), "Its'okay! We're not gonna hurt ya! W-We're gonna help ya get back to normal, okay?"

She looked back at Sleif then Aoi, as if for some confirmation that that was going to help somehow, and hoped that what she just said didn't make Derrick more angry.

 

[Story Keeper]

~- The Edge? -~

Traverse Town

Ronin waited for an answer, just some kind of acknowledgement from the wolf. Watching the mayhem from that giant ship type-thing, he felt his heart jump into his throat when the girl with the keyblade started tugging at the ship. Didn’t she realize how reckless she was being? Rising to his feet, he turned to fully watch it as a giant hand reached down out of the clouds to grip the anchor, pulling it upwards and he was distinctly reminded of his time in Port Royal. Specifically of his time on the Flying Dutchman under the captain Davy Jones.

Getting the same sense of ill-foreboding from this ship, Ronin felt his wings appear and he even took a step forward. He could tell that the tendrils that had once been active were now withered, probably in an attempt to keep the anchor from falling off. Taking a step back towards the wolf, Ronin scanned the surroundings before banished his wings again. He didn’t want to let these strangers in on that little secret just yet; it wouldn’t do him much good.

He watched as the girl got reprimanded by the one that had saved her, and he did feel a pang of sympathy for the girl; but his heart quickly hardened itself again and he shook his head. Ronin smacked himself in the forehead and snarled sarcastically, “Wow, I think I feel pretty safe knowing you guys are protecting the worlds.”

It took a moment for his brain to register it, but then he swore under his breath when he realized that he'd said it out loud, and way louder than what he would have liked. He watched the way one of them, he thinks his name was Derrick, the Heartless-boy, zipped forward by slinking along the ground only to materialize and look like he was ready to hit something. Eyeing it closely, he raised one of the handguns and pointed it directly at the Heartless, pulling the hammer back on the pistol. This way it was primed and ready to fire in case the Heartless-boy made any sudden moves that Ronin didn't like.

He watched the wolf go past him, heading straight in the direction that the boy had gone. Ronin watched it for a moment before he refocused on the group that was near Derrick, he didn't trust them but more importantly he didn't trust the kid. Taking a step back into deeper shadows, again helping to conceal himself, Ronin watched the events that he was pretty sure was about to unfold; and he was on standby in case things didn't go the way he feels it should go. He could tell that the other gunner had a point, it wouldn't d o them any good if the keyblade wielder got hurt; but it seemed as if Rena was determined to help her friend and Ronin definitely couldn't blame her for that. After all, that's how he got into the mess he was in. So, for now he'd just wait and see what happened.

~- Leave A Penny For the Water -~

“Thank you for the help Tora.”

“You’re welcome Alexandra,” Tora answered, a smile dancing across her face. She listened as Alexandra suggested that Gnostos take the lead, and she did have to agree with the logic behind the suggestion. Besides, if you asked her, it only made since for that to be the case since Gnostos outranked the two girls; so it only made sense that he’d lead the rest of the mission. She caught the brief flash of longing on Alexandra’s face, causing Tora to feel slightly guilty over the idea that she was being envied.

She glanced at the two wolves that flanked her on either side. A weak smile crossed her face at the looks she sent them, before she rose to her feet; waiting to see what Gnostos would say about him having the lead. She wanted to trust them with the secret, but the need for secrecy has always kept Tora from revealing to any of them, other than Rae, why it was that she could communicate with the wolves.

Withholding the information once more, she felt Hawthorne and Sakura brush against her legs; and she didn’t have to look to know they were staring up at her, asking her silently what was troubling her. Shaking her head, she answered the two wolves mentally, It’s nothing, don’t worry about me.

Sensing something in the direction of the Third District, she turned her head in that direction and narrowed her eyes. It felt as if there was old, ancient magic in that direction, and she knew for a fact that she hadn’t sensed that type of magic in years, not since her home had been attacked. Biting her lower lip, she took a couple of steps towards it before she stopped in her tracks. There was still a presence of darkness in that direction, but it was that ancient magic that called to her.

Looking back at the two wolves, she nodded curtly at them and watched as they took off for the Third District. Turning back toward her fellow Nobodies, Tora temporarily pushed aside the desire to see what held the ancient magic so she could see what Gnostos had to say about him leading the rest of the mission.

~- Swear I Need A Day -~

Twilight Town

Arno tossed his rope spear at it, watching as the blade bounced off of the Heartless. It wasn’t backing down though, not that he was that surprised with it being a stubborn son of a bitch. Glancing up to see if any of the others were there, he paled a little when he saw it was the green-haired girl, he’d seen that she was a promising fighter; but this might be a little difficult depending on her skill level. Watching as she got hurt, Arno muttered something his mother would have slapped him for and hopped from one tree branch to the other.

“Oy, f**kface!” Arno shouted, hopping down on the beast, or judging by the shadow of the creature and its glowing red eyes, Arno stabbed it and then rolled off of it toward the right. Hitting the ground a little harder than he would have wanted, Arno scrambled up to his feet and bolted toward the girl, hauling her up he saw the injuries and felt his panic rise.

He may have been the healer between him and Nico, but he couldn’t quite remember how to heal this injury. Judging by the vibrations of that ran up his legs, Arno gathered that the creature had regained his composure from having something insult it and drop on top of it. Tightening his grip on the girl’s hand, Arno bolted for another tree and ducked behind it. Feeling the impact of the collision, Arno looked the girl over and absently fished something out of his backpack. Seeing that it was a hi-potion, he held it out to her and said quickly, “Drink that, it’ll help you out.” Peeking around the tree to see that it was getting ready to charge again, Arno glanced up at the branches and smiled as he saw a black feline heading toward the mansion. If Thrash was here, then that must mean that Liberty was too.

Whistling, Arno saw that the Heartless had honed in intently on the tree they were hiding before. He was also pretty sure that the girl next to him thought he was crazy, but he knew that it was worth it. A grin spread across his face as a short-toed eagle dive bombed the heartless, scraping its talons along the heartless’s head before the eagle headed straight for him. Holding his arm out to the side, Arno smiled as the bird landed on his shoulder. Reaching a hand out, he stroked the soft feathers on the bird’s head. “Come on pretty girl, let’s get back to work.” He whispered to it, sending the bird back into the air; he turned toward the one that had arrived to help him and chirped cheerfully, “You ready to fight this thing?”

A mischievous gleam coming to his eyes, Arno waved his hand and added in the same tone, “Heal!” He watched as the cure spell set to work healing any remaining injuries that the hi-potion hadn’t. Fully stepping out from behind the tree, he struck it again with his rope spear before rolling out of the way of the Heartless. Hopping back to his feet, Arno flicked his wrist and threw a fire spell in its direction. Watching as the boss Heartless dodged it, Arno rolled away again only to get caught in his left side by one of its horns; he went flying through the air.

Sucking in a breath of air through his teeth, Arno looked up and saw Liberty flying overhead. Motioning to the bird of prey, he watched as it again dive-bombed the Heartless again, before Freedom flew away to avoid the retaliating strike. Glancing down quickly, Arno did a quick inspection to see the extent of the damage. He could already see the bruise blossoming on his left side from where the horn had connected.

Climbing back to his face, Arno whistled again and watched as Liberty attacked the Heartless again; before the raptor flew away once more. Striking it again with his weapon, Arno quickly scampered backwards out of reach, glancing toward the girl to see how she was fairing, Arno mentally smacked the back of his head at his stupidity before he suggested, “Get into the trees, it doesn’t seem to be able to reach us if we’re high up.” Jumping up, he grabbed the lowest branch and hauled himself up, clenching his teeth to keep from snarling as his side screamed at him.

Continuing the climb, he got high up and started to fling blizzard spells at it one after another. Some of them hit the mark, but other times the Heartless dodged them. A snarl tearing free, Arno glanced around to see if he had any weapons, spotting that Freedom was up by him and that he had no weapons, Arno glanced back down to try to figure out his next move.

~- Ready or Not -~

Nico didn’t say anything as the green-haired girl ran off; he’d definitely have to make sure he got her name after this. Seeing the annoyance on the other warrior’s face, he shrugged simply and focused on the fighting only to notice her throwing feathers at the creatures of darkness. Raising an eyebrow at that, Nico jumped away from a feather that had landed too close to him right before it had exploded. Irritation passing over his face, Nico snarled, “Fate attenzione a dove si gettano le piume. (Watch where you throw those feathers.)”

Okay, he knew that he was being slightly unreasonable, but oh well. Refocusing on the fight, he tried to figure out which one to go after next when a black blur leapt at one of them; pinning it down and giving Nico a good look at them. A hint of a smile spread across his face as he watched the black panther as it ripped the throat out of an Invisible, only for it to quickly retreat over to Nico. Looking down at Thrash, he snapped, “Ora siete arrivati qui, Thrash. (Now you have arrived here, Thrash.)”

Catching the irritated huff that Thrash gave, Nico rolled his eyes and quickly sent to work on clearing out the batch of Neo Shadows that cropped up and knew that Thrash had gotten to work as well. After several more minutes, the Heartless suddenly retreated; leaving the three fighters alone for a few minutes. Growing suspicious at the sudden retreat, Nico practically froze as he heard something collide with a tree.

Spinning on his heel, Nico bolted for the forest with Thrash hot on his heels. It didn’t take long for him to pinpoint the Heartless, or for him to see that Arno had retreated up a tree but still seemed dazed from something that had happened. His anger taking a tighter hold, Nico didn’t even bat an eye when Thrash lunged for the Heartless and started attacking it alongside Liberty, who kept attacking it from above. Charging up a fire spell, he sent off a blast of three firaga spells back to back; and he didn’t even smirk as they hit their mark.

Watching as the Heartless spun around to face him, Nico swore, “Merda.”

Why did it have to be a Dark Hide of all things? They couldn’t have attracted the attention of a Darkside? Nico had to silently admit he would have preferred the Darkside or anything else compared to the boss they did have. Catching the attention of Arno, Nico held up his hand and signed quickly, “Stay in the trees, I’ll keep it distracted down here so you can attack it from there.”

He watched the careful dip of Arno’s head, alerting Nico that there was something wrong. His anger intensifying, Nico dodged the Dark Hide as it charged; and he felt Thrash throw him a dirty look at doing something as stupid as ticking off the creature. Yeah, that was pretty dumbass on his part. Doing a handstand to spring back to his feet, Nico spun around and shot off another firaga spell at the Dark Hide to keep its attention on him.

~- Ice Cream! -~

Radiant Garden

As James waited for Mogoni to answer, Juliet chose to make a comment about his tendency to ramble. Blushing a little at that, James called up to her, “I wasn’t asking for you opinion on that Jewel, stop being mean!” Looking at Mogoni, he added, “I don’t ramble, or not often. I’ve just got a lot going through my brain so I have trouble keeping up with it which can make it seem like I ramble.”

He really didn’t know what to say to that, he focused on the ground and it was only when he heard the giant mesh of voices that he knew they’d reached a more crowded location. Looking up, he saw that they were in a market place of sorts and he listened as Juliet asked their two new friends where the herbal shop was. Scanning the shops, he frown a bit as he tried to figure it out. He, surprisingly enough, hated crowded places like this market place. James's eyes locked on Juliet and he asked quickly, "Hey sister, can we get some lavender, lemon balm and passionflower please? Or just any one of those will work, but can we get some while we're here?"

Feeling someone bump into him, James cringed as they snapped at him to "watch where he's going and just stay out of the way". Looking at Juliet again, he quickly crossed the distance between them and wound up hiding by her again, his eyes wide and fearful as he saw everyone that was there. To make it even worse, he saw the shiny objects that were there and he wanted to take them so he could look at them. He felt his panic surge until the whiff of lavender caught his attention. Letting the flower work its magic, he closed his eyes and tuned the world out, taking several deep breathes he let the calm, relaxing smile of the herb wash over him.

Opening his eyes after he got himself control, James scanned the surrounding shops again to try and pick out the herbal shop that Juliet wanted. A frown came to his face when he didn't find it, but he did perk up a little when he saw a duck standing next to what appeared to be an ice cream shop, curiosity getting the better of him; James walked toward the duck to see what kind of ice cream he had to offer.

~-Visitor -~

Cecilia had changed her position since Ronin had left. Holding Eternity in her arms, she stared down at the Lost in front of her. Its body was broken, their throat slit and the Fragment had been stabbed by some sort of bladed weapon. Cocking her head to the left, a slow and deliberate smile spread across her face. She caught a glimpse of the boy standing next to her, his eyes expressionless as he stared down at the corpse.

“They went rogue, I had to do it.” He whispered, not even bothering to look at her as he watched the body.

Turning to look at him fully, she took a step forward and brushed the boy’s bangs out of his eyes. “Oh sweetie, don’t worry about it. You did what you had to, and we both know that you had no choice about it.”

She saw the way his eyes flared at the comfort, only for the light to fade again and he refocused on the body. A pout coming to her face, Cecilia stepped back and looked back at the dead Lost, giving the boy the space he needed. She wouldn’t press him; he was new to this life after all so it was best to handle this situation with care. Crouching on the ground, she reached out a hand and stroked the dead Lost’s face, without taking her eyes off of it she ordered, “Go back to your room, I’ll take care of the cleanup and I’ll visit you in a few hours to see how you’re doing, Little One.”

She heard the boy stiffen at that remark, but she knew that he’d obey. He always did, but even then no one knew his name; so because of that he was typically called “you”, “servant” or “squire” by some of the older Lost. It was why she called him “Little One”, since whatever had broken him made it where he didn’t want to give out his name. A glance over her shoulder and Cecilia saw that the new boy was gone, just as she expected him to be. Letting her attention refocus on the Lost, she returned to her full height and waved her hand; causing a burst of dark ice magic to envelope the Lost before it disappeared, taking the body with it and erasing any evidence of the crime.