Kingdom Hearts : Heartfelt Adventure {Day 8 ; Invite Only}

[Kaegoe]

[Dawn : Disney Castle : Throne Room]

"Sorry..." Dawn said out loud to everyone with a soft sigh, "...Just trying to help..."

Without anything more to say. She had no defense she just kept her hands in her lap.  

[HeadlessKoko]

[ Song : Disney : Rooms -> Throne Room ]

"Awww...," Song reacted the moment it was confirmed there wouldn't be a food fight. It wasn't even like she wanted a food fight to happen. She felt like an opportunity had been lost just because.  

[Je suis a toi]

[Noelle : Disney Castle : Throne Room]

Noelle snickered a bit at poor Sora's growing confusion and was going to explain it and apologize, but the general mood of the atmosphere took a turn with Nick's demands. She watched him carefully but didn't say anything, figuring that like a bull in a china shop he'd have to find his own way out. As he walked away she called to him gently over the charms.

'Ay dude, I'll catch up with you later.'

Then a grape was flung across the table.

The agromancer snapped her attention back to the group, her eyes flitting between Dawn and Sora (she was in a position at the table with a clear view of the act). The tension only rose higher, and Sora, the poor guy, just grew more confused.

"It was me," she lied in a whisper to him, figuring it was probably obvious that she wasn't the culprit."We'll foodfight later. Anyway, Merlin? Have you seen Prote? I haven't caught up with him since last night. Was he invited to breakfast?"  

[Faerdhinen]

[ Feather : Disney : Throne Room-> Hallway towards somewhere ]

Huh, Feather’s eyes flickered over to the whole conversation about magic being able to be withheld, with something along the lines of being a villain before and the person who haven’t given their name to the table seemed to be asking for the magic back. Merlin has the power to do it, interesting. That seems to be a very awkward conversation, ending with the guy leaving the room with Feather’s brain running at top speed.

Well, Feather could maybe, not really sure what the feeling is to be honest, feel bad for the guy? Yes, they understood that this magical power could be abused for the not so great, but at the same time it was like a security blanket when there isn’t much to rely on. Feather sure knew they were holding onto it for all it was worth during the past few days, especially when their real security blanket, pillow and object are now lost with years of memories and comfort. It must feel really uncomfortable to have that feeling removed suddenly and held dangling over your head like a bully holding your show and tell toy to the point you want to-

Feather felt bad, that much is for certain.

After watching the man get escorted out by the brooms, counting a few seconds down until he turned the corner and probably some way down the hallway, Feather chugged down the remainder of their lukewarm tea. Feather then announced to Song and Kyla who are the closest to them and due to their projecting voice, anyone else in the area.

“I’m gonna use the loo, be right back. Tea goes through you quick.”

With that, Feather got up from the bench and MDCBT remained at the table though it would probably disappear if Feather gets too far. With no distant emotion of their face other than a neutral expression, Feather made long strides to the door with acting urgency about their bladder. Without a charm, they had no idea about any mental conversations people would be having so they are all about talking face to face.

Normally this would be a bad idea, Feather knew from many experiences when people storm off it’s better to give them space, but besides the feeling of the lowkey empathy was the curiosity of the magic being taken away from them really ticked on Feather’s brain. Mysteries, one of the triggers in the back of Feather’s brain that leads to probably bad decisions in hindsight. So off Feather goes to stalk poor Nicholas for the better or worse, following from a distance silently surprisingly for the supposed loud person. They made sure to walk on the tips of their toes with the grace of fifteen years of ballet experience to make the least noise.

Hey, their high school nickname was ‘Ninja’, it does mean something after all.  

[fractalJester]

[ Kyle ; Yen Sid ; Merlin : Disney : Throne Room Buffet ]

"I haven't seen him, personally, but I did send brooms to escort him to join us," Merlin said, mostly distracted by the charm in his hand. Except, after a moment, he suddenly looked up, his mustached twisted. "Oh bother the little things can't talk and he probably won't understand anyway. Now I feel rude."

"Sorry," Kyle said after a moment's pause, collecting himself, and sending a sort of mental ping to Dawn to let her know it was mostly directed at her. "I don't... like things rushing at me. I'm already always-on-edge enough as it is."

"Such reactions are understandable, given everything you all have been through this week," Yen Sid mentioned from the end of the table. Almost unbeknownst to Merlin, he'd long since summoned chairs for himself, the other wizard, and the Guardian. In fact, humorously enough, it was only once he spoke that Merlin turned around, recognizing that Yen Sid's voice was coming from lower than normal. And then he bashfully took a seat.

"I appreciate the reassurance, but this... is much more long standing," Kyle said, keeping his eyes low as he poured some more hot water for tea.

Yen Sid simply remained silent, watching the young man and then turning back to the others, particularly as Feather ran off not-so-subtly after Nicholas.

"Anyway, Song, Luke, Steven, Feather's question about summons might seem off. So far, every one of us has had a magical spirit attach to us at some point between Earth and this universe," Kyle started. "From what we know of them, most are basically formless masses of magic at first, until something... catalyzes their formation. Usually on our side, what ends up triggering it is a unique bonding magic included in our dress spheres--which we'll get to soon enough, it's a whole other topic. Rarely, though, they already have forms or get catalyzed some other way--the Zodiac espers Nicholas mentioned pre-existed, and... well, I have no idea about Feather's."

"That said, as he alluded, mine is Ultima, from Ivalice. At least partly," he said, steeping his tea repeatedly, not really making eye contact. "That's a weird story for a different time anyway. The point is, the summons give us more magic beyond the powers we accepted during the dive on Earth. Some of us get elemental properties. Others get more non-descript aspects, like invisibility or alchemy. For instance, I can manipulate the element of time. Aaand that should catch you up to speed."  

[RhikoDemson]

[[Steven : Disney Castle : Throne Room]]

{{Cueing: Discussion from Project K}}

Steven nodded to Feather as she took her leave, turning his head and listening to Kyle, still tapping his left index finger silently. He was quiet, these were answers, but still left him with a lot of questions when Kyle called the matter to a close.

So, this guy has Ultima as a summon. Judging by what the guy that left said-- ah, he must be Nicholas-- it should be safe to assume the Ultima he's referring to isn't the Bloody Angel, but... her earlier version. Before the fall maybe? Lucky him. I wonder if he knows about the War of the Lions? Seeing how that turned out for the pour soul that got involved with- well, any of the Ivalician scions really, I would not want to be caught anywhere near one of their later renditions.

Wait... didn't the Guardian mention Mateus too? Right, and Chaos. Is that what happened to Louis-- oh s**t, was he possessed by Mateus? Yikes. That esper's lore is one of the more frightening, besides governing the underworld, he used a Goddess as a living shield and tried to kill the gods. The worst scion has to be Zelera thou-- ooohhh, and that's why Nicholas had his magic taken away! They mentioned two people falling, but I didn't know the other one was here. Even more reason to talk to him I guess.

Waaaait. Why the hell does that make me the most hated person here? Didn't he fall like Louis? What a d**k!

Steven flexed a fist with his right hand and relaxed lifting it arbitrarily from the empty space it occupied on the table, "Couple questions: First, by 'beyond powers we accepted during the dive on Earth,' what do you mean? This might be obvious and I'm not seeing it, but what powers? I don't feel any different from back... home. On the same vein, does this have anything to do with the 'shard of the guardian' in me that they talked about before I came up from the-" he trailed off for a second and crossed his arms before continuing, "cornerstone room? basement? down stairs?"  

[fractalJester]

[ Kyle ; Yen Sid : Disney : Throne Room Buffet ]

Kyle turned toward Steven when he first spoke up, and didn't respond at first. The man's casual tone threw the dragoon back to the day prior in his talks with someone else.

It was bittersweet.

"I've personally taken to calling it the Hall of Light," he said after a couple seconds, shrugging and going back to the ritualistic steeping of his tea. "It's technically in the first floor of the castle since this is the second floor, so it's not a basement, just an otherwise inaccessible room. It was once the Hall of the Cornerstone, and as the Cornerstone has become the Guardian, we could either call it Hall of the Guardian or of the Light, and given that they are capable of moving around..."

"As for your powers, yes, according to the Guardian, it was a shard of their being that brought us those weapons and gifts in the dive. You... are probably a special case," he said, humming once under his breath as he stared down into the darkening liquid. "To my knowledge, all of us ended up having to fight for our lives in the last seconds before Earth fell, and that fight at least awakened some of the more basic things we could do. You... had no such fight, I wager."

He looked back over to Steven with the most neutral curious look he could manage. After all, he already knew from Justice. "I'm assuming that for you, the dive happened, you accepted the burden, and then... you woke up here in this castle's courtyard?"  

[RhikoDemson]

[[Steven : Disney Castle : Throne Room]]

{{Cueing: Discussion from Project K}}

Kyle didn't say much more than Steven had guessed to some degree, he'd already been told he was an oddity, the fact something else deviated from their experiences didn't surprise him. The question for Steven now was, how much should he reveal to these people. He'd spoken to the Guardian below, he'd told them what he knew of his... dive. He'd been offered a... well it was something. It wasn't really clear if one could call it by appearance a weapon... nor pass as a gift unless someone liked handing out broken things as symbols of generosity. Though, gifts can mean a great deal of things: a present, a talent, a power.

Unbreakable Loyalty.
A shackle to command obedience.

But there was no telling what that information could mean to them, he was still too much in the dark. Giving out too much information could be just as- if not more-so dangerous than sharing too little.

"More or less. Woke up in someone's shrubbery after supposedly falling from the sky. I feel bad for the gardeners." he shrugged casually with a sheepish grimace on his face, "Second question: So, summons are magical spirits that latched onto you at some unknown point and are formless hitchhikers in your body until otherwise given shape- right? Sounds a lot like a demon. You're not in any danger of being possessed are you?"  

[fractalJester]

[ Kyle : Disney : Throne Room Buffet ]

"Heh heh heh heeeeeh..."

The laugh came off... almost morose. A sorrowful irony.

"Without an extremely strong willpower or some form of bonding magic, that's absolutely a possibility. In some cases, a high likelihood," Kyle said, diverting his gaze back to his tea. "Most Zodiac espers we've come across make a habit of it when their hosts show a second of vulnerability or go against the summon's intent. Worse still, they can wreak havoc on your heart without you realizing it, molding you to their liking. It's happened to Nicholas, and it happened to Louis."

He paused, taking the bag out with his spoon and going for some honey. "Fortunately, however, all other summons have been without sentience before formation, or maybe just... dormant. Double fortunately, the dress spheres do have a bonding magic to them. According to Merlin, it was utterly accidental; the sphere bonds to your heart and forms magic clothing, but as an odd side effect, it also gives the summon within form and binds it to your will. That bond can break if your own willpower utterly gives out--if your heart breaks down so certainly that you can't muster any power at all--but otherwise, the summons cannot disobey."

"Of course, in almost all cases, that's rarely an issue. Every formless summon thusfar has been inherently on our side," he continued, stirring in some milk. "Perhaps with some... differences of opinion, but even those seem to be aligned, sometimes as a mentor and others as a complementary friend."  

[RhikoDemson]

[[Steven : Disney Castle : Throne Room]]

{{Cueing: Discussion from Project K}}

"Oh, that's good," Steven took a deep breath and relaxed a little. Talk of Louis made his nerves on edge. Considering what he said about Louis and Nick's Ivalician summons, they did have the capability to act like demons but otherwise seem benevolent- but what was that he mentioned about if your willpower gives out? Did that mean these things can still take over at the host's weakest moment? "You should consider yourself lucky you've bound Ultima then. That one's pretty... problematic. Ever heard of Ajora?"  

[fractalJester]

[ Kyle : Disney : Throne Room Buffet ]

The reactions of those nearby around the table were... similar and immediate. Some momentarily choked on their food (Matthew and Sora in particular), others stopped what they were doing in an exact pose to turn toward him with a look of confused shock (such as Sayrike and Riku), and still others snorted. Of course, most people down the table probably weren't listening to every word of a conversation.

Kyle simply locked up, a low groaning whine reverberating from low in his throat as he stared at his tea. He felt Ultima's frustration bubble up at Steven's first comment but otherwise let it slide, given her past. "More than you'd guess."

[[ Like I said in Discord, I'm just putting up immediate reactions right now in case anyone else wants to maybe chime in (as he and I have gone back and forth a bit). If no one else responds in the next day or so, I'll post again and we can continue. ]]  

[Pie Thrower]

[John .: DIsney : Throne Room Buffet]

John was mostly consumed with the food in front of him during the conversation. For new folk he wasn't the most talkative, and the idea of a food fight was not his cup of tea. He gave the occasional nod every now and again, until Steven mentioned Ajora. Mid-croissant John nearly choked on his savory pastry and quickly grabbed for a glass of anything to wash it down with.

"Excuse me sorry," he sputtered in a garbly voice.

He hit his chest, cleared his throat and continued, "We're all too familiar with that urchin. Kyle especially is rather... uh... 'familiar' with the little devil. Ain't that right Kyle?"

He upnodded to Kyle and began to stuff his face again with the rest of the half eaten croissant.  

[Psalm Grasshopper]

[Amy : Disney : Throne Room Buffet]

Amy was quiet during the ongoing shenanigans. She found there was too much to follow all at once, and preferred to silently sip at her coffee, her breakfast having been fully devoured for awhile now. She found it incredibly amusing when Dawn flung food at Kyle, although he didn't take it very well. Too early for a food fight?

Hearing Steven mention Ajora did nothing to help alleviate her distrust of him. She was willing to try, just moments before, but she couldn't keep the tone of accusation from her voice when she demanded: "How do you know about Ajora, Mr. Doesn't-Remember-Anything."

And what else do you 'not remember?'  

[ArcanaFate]

[Nicholas <> Disney Castle <> Throne Room Buffet -> Castle Gardens]

One, two, three, four...

One, two, three, four...

Nicholas kept his pace brisk and in tune, an old habit he had when walking by himself. He would count his steps, watch the floor, and keep moving at a steady pace until he felt calm. As he stepped away from the throne room door, he rolled his eyes at the two broom guardians at his side once again. "Well, such lovely company I will have today." He said aloud to no one before continuing on his journey the hell away from the throne room.

The bard would eventually make his way to the open castle courtyard, taking steps quickly down into the grass. He paused, kneeling down and pulling his shoes off until he was barefoot. Placing his feet on the fresh lawn, he exhaled a calm breath before making his way towards the castle topiary that resided in the center of the courtyard. As Nicholas moved, he inhaled deeply and began to sing loudly to the air. He knew it was somewhat off-key; not having his magic to accompany him made the singing sound uncoordinated. But he didn't care, it was therapeutic and he needed his moment of angst.

"I paced around for hours on empty, I jumped at the slightest of sounds~
And I couldn't stand the person inside me; I turned all the mirrors around~
I'm bigger than my body; I'm colder than this home~
I'm meaner than my demons, I'm bigger than these bones~

And all the kids cried out~
"Please stop, you're scaring me"~
I can't help this awful energy~
God damn right you should be scared of me~

Who is in control~"

As he sang the last line, he threw himself onto the grass in front of the castle topiary's doorway and stared up at the sky. Nicholas took a deep breath, and spoke through his charm to answer Noelle's message to him. 'Yeah, no worries. Needed to be alone and angsty for a bit. Did I disturb breakfast? Cause honestly, really not liking the whole 'good' turn at the moment.'  

[AldrickZearse]

[Joseph: Disney: Throne Room]

The male stayed quiet, only occasionally moving to drink more orange juice. Good stuff, he was always a fan of juice. But he was still being 'grumpy' and staying quiet.

He didn't keep his eyes closed for too long. He went back to watching everyone, though his neutral face seemed a touch more 'bitchy'.

Zodiac talk with introductions. Nich left, Dawn threw something...he watched a few things but everything seemed to pass by quickly. Probably because he wasn't super paying attention(except when Prote was mentioned. That caused his entire body to tense up for a moment before he relaxed himself).

Of course, then talk turned to Ajora. And the reactions were...somewhat varied. Even he looked to Steven with a...relatively confused but acusatory look.

Then his mind spun around the name and realized something. If the guardian said he didn't remember, then....

"He could be thinking of the other Ajora. Or would Original be a more...apt term?" He was loud enough to be heard, but he was more withdrawn, more careful with his wording. Even questioning it aloud, looking more to Kyle than anyone. Kyle liked semantics, and he'd know best about Ajora, considering...everything, really.