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{Leon : Village Outskirts : Clearing}

Leon kept his eyes trained on Cloud, his back leaning against the rock that Genesis had sat upon when they first encountered him, as he listened to the the blonde's explanation.So apparently the man they had encountered in the Land of Dragons was Cloud's Darkness.Leon wasn't even sure how exactly that was possible.

"That's tough, being forced to fight your own darkness. Don't think that you have to fight it alone though." Leon replied, no expression on his face though as he said it.

He turned his attention to Alan as he said he was leaving to return to the group and watched him walk a distance away before turning back to Cloud.

"We should head back as well." He said, pushing his back off of the rock he was leaning against.

[Alan :: Beach]

Alan breathed a sigh of relief that the situation seemed to have ended without a fight. "Replica," Bobbi had said. Alan suddenly realized why the creepy man seemed familiar. He had seen him before, in battle, albeit in armor at the time.

Wait a minute, that's a Replica? Why aren't we moving to subdue him? He's an enemy, he's alone, he's at ease . . .

Alan shook those thoughts from his head. Attacking under such circumstances would be all kinds of dishonorable. Was their cause important enough to justify it? Maybe. But many, many fighters throughout history have thought that their cause was important enough to commit atrocities. That, Alan reflected, was one of the major contributing factors that led to the tide of Darkness overtaking the earth. If both sides in a war drive each-other further and further into brutality, it only creates a downward spiral of destruction. True honor was to abide by the code even when a breach would be justified.

Alan realized that he had been staring at Azrael for a bit longer than could be considered polite. He smiled (warmly? Not really, although that was the intended effect) and nodded his head.

How would Azreal respond to courtesy? Alan hoped that he would be receptive to conversation. There was a lot he hoped to learn from one of the infamous Replicas.

[Michelle : Black Pearl : Above Deck]

Michelle had been on the heavier side all her life so when Jacob hoisted her up into a big hug she was very, very, taken off guard. The sensation of having her feet off the ground was unnerving and she was glad when he quickly put her back down. Not that she had anything against hugs mind you but it was quite sudden.

"Friendly lot aren't they." He was extremely amused by her suddenly flustered state.

When Jacob made a vague statement about a look-a-like that she didn't entirely follow, having little knowledge about the replicas beyond their name, and then he backed off towards the mast and Michelle switched her attention to those still around her.

Watching Sayrike's face as she processed who Michelle was she couldn't say she was surprised that the girl started almost babbling as she tried to find an excuse for them to all leave again. She hated to have the others feel awkward about being around her and she really did want to get to know everyone, but she was desperate to have some time to think. That being the case she just smiled and nodded blankly as they all moved away to supposedly explore the crow's nest. Readjusting her seat from her impromptu lifting she tucked her legs under again and leaned her head back against the wall in case Chickidee wanted to move away too.

Alright lets try this again. Please help me sort through my feelings while I meditate before I have time to bury them away.

[ Ajora ; James ; Lugae ; Zexion : Hawaii : Volcanic Lair Laboratory ]

"You're sure there's nothing you can do?" Ajora said with a whiny tone to his voice as he pouted at a certain Cloaked Schemer, who was in the process of entering information into a computer. James stood on Ajora's right, his Trinity Charm-wearing arm still out just enough for Zexion to glance at it, though he didn't.

"For the third time, yes. I've looked at the Charms numerous times when I was with the group; that type of magic is still unknown to me, and to tamper with it might be more trouble than it's worth, now that they're bound to the Dress Spheres," Zexion replied, his own voice a steely monotone against Ajora's childlike insistence. "Why not try Maria? Since her fusion with Kallista, she's had access to the fae's magic, and the charms seem similar by comparison."

Ajora groaned in protest as he turned around, putting his back to Zexion and leaning against the table. "I knoooow, but she's such a b***h. 'What do I get in return?'," he replied, the latter in a very nasally mocking of the shapeshifter's voice. "Ugh, I guess I don't have much of a choice though... do you mind looking after this bloke? I think I'm gonna hit the beach, it's been ages, and I've got a few hours to kill."

"Is she really so bad you want to procrastinate...? Just keep him off in the corner. As long as he's out of our way, I don't really care," Zexion responded, once more with a nonchalant tone as he continued to type away at the keyboard. With an obnoxiously loud 'WOOOO!', the Replica vanished in a Corridor of Darkness, leaving the Possessed Pirate at the mercy of the Nobody.

---

Meanwhile...

"Let me guess. Those idiots have already filled your head with soft little lies."

The voice belonged to none other than James; the person 'he' was speaking to? Michelle.

"And you probably believed them... you were always so damn gullible. Hell, I managed to convince you I loved you, and you believed that easy enough. When are you going to get a clue?"

[Michelle : Black Pearl : Above Deck]

Michelle was deep in meditation when his voice came. She was so focused on sifting through memories and emotions that it took a moment to realize it was an outside thought and not just some part of herself. The first thing that tipped her off was the language 'idiots' and 'damn' sounded coarser, cruder than she was accustomed to.

"Little one was that your husband speaking?"

I'm not sure... it sounded like him but the... the tone was so off. It didn't feel like him. I'm so confused....

"Well, what about what the voice said?"

Michelle's mind was filled with silence as she sought for inner truth, it really was quite convenient that this occurrence was happening while she was already grounded and centered.

No... your right if there is one thing I'm sure of it's our love. I can't explain why is sounded like him but something else must be going on.

Experiencing a lap in judgment Michelle followed her mental curiosity, she could be worse than a cat at times, and traced the path of the thought that had been sent directing a mental reply to James' charm.

"I'm not sure why you sound like James but... whoever you are... if you see him deliver a message. I miss you." The last sentence of her thoughts was absolutely laced with the longing she felt to be near her beloved again. She hated being separated it was painful.

[Amy: Beach]

Amy stayed silent while John spoke. She found it hard to believe that he was capable of anything worthy of being punished with this, the destruction of Earth, and wondered how he could bother to even consider it. She could tell, just by being around him, that he wasn't evil. He may have done bad things, and made mistakes, but... who in the world could honestly say they had never done wrong?

Amy appeared very contemplative for a moment, and she looked down at the water around her without really seeing it. Abruptly, a smile spread across her face. She playfully attempted to push John with her shoulder; similar attempts with others John's size usually resulted in her not moving them at all, or in the case of her father, an exaggeration of falling over as if some superwoman had assaulted them.

She wasn't sure if she was blushing. "Right," she said, "but, you're not dead. Because then I'd be dead. And that's simply unacceptable."

Her logic in this matter was obviously mind boggling, and brilliant.

[[Louis : Caribbean Sea : Main Deck]]

The arcanist smiled and nodded in reply to Barbossa. He wasn't exactly the captain he was speaking to, but both were captains none the less and his question was answered. In the back of his mind, he felt the urgent drive to get ashore quickly. When he said they'd be there by nightfall he sincerely hoped he was right, he had no desire to be on the seas this night, "Well, captain, if there's anywhere I can help out, let me know. Anything to get us there quickly and smoothly."

Louis looked around at all those present, something in his heart tugged on his spirit as he felt tiny sputters of darkness in several of the others around him. The topic was dim, but this was different, something else was at work, but nothing he did allowed him to pinpoint just what it was or who was experiencing it.

The realization drove him crazy, sitting and watching, reading everyone's words and actions, but being completely useless in actually addressing the issue. Part of him wondered if knowing was really better than being blissfully unaware. The others couldn't read darkness like he could, most of them couldn't even notice its presence. It wasn't a problem for him though, better most of them couldn't sense darkness or else they'd probably misinterpret and turn on each other. Too much insight had that effect on people when not paired with understanding or wisdom. Yet, despite this, something still felt like it was raking at the back of his mind, like all this should be child's play. He knew he'd had an easier time before, identifying and pinpointing darkness, now it was like he had a veil drawn across his metaphysical eyes.

Louis put a hand over his mouth as he yawned. It sucked not being able to know though. If he knew, he might be able to help them, but as it stood he was helpless to do anything, Whatever...