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 Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 1:51 am
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[Kyla/??? : Inside Kyla's Heart- Sancturary of Heart: The Hollow Mountain]
Cue: Feelings of the two aka Nameless Song
((combined post))
"Safe.." that word dropped from her lips with more weight then she intended, and it dropped to the surface of the cave, echoed off the walls, and came back to her ears like the empty promise that it was. Hollow- and empty. Raising her gaze back to him, Kyla watched as the figures hand dropped down from where he'd clutched his chest not a moment before.
Her sigh was soft but expressed her air of admittance- she didn't feel like lying, not in here. She was bad at it anyways. “This is probably the words of a naive heroine- but I'll just say you needn't trouble yourself with any failure over me...I always did that well on my own. There is no pain in this world, that earth hadn't already dealt me on its own." Turning towards the distant light on the far end of the cave, Kyla's eyes drifted up and down from that, to her reflected visage in the surface.
"Despite all the sorrow... I still prefer it here."
The boy sighed, "As long as that sorrow remains I'll continue to protect you as best I can. That is my promise and I intend to keep it." His words were final, It was clear she was serious, and so was he. He started moving onward, "Those who know sorrow... do you think they deserve to face more? Those who have never experienced pain, should they be forced to? If yes, then you're both a masochist and a sadist. If no, than you’re idealists. Some would say an idealist is naive, I'd rather be an idealist than either of the former. Whether you believe yourself to be too seasoned to be cared for, or simply convinced you've seen it all, I don't care. I'll protect everyone from pain if it's within my power."
She paused in her steps a moment longer before beginning to follow on behind him now. She craned her neck up towards the reverse towers of crystal that hung in the far ceiling above. "...I have no right to judge anyone beyond myself." she replied, and began to follow. Up ahead, something flickered in the bright horizon in front of the dark visitor. For just a moment- just a moment within a moment, it almost looked like another figure- something other than just them, but as quickly as it ran across the opening at the far end- it disappeared into that same light. Kyla didn't seem to notice and eventually returned to her original pace. "I've never had someone say that to me before... not anyone real." she admitted. Her thoughts lingered on the only other true occupant in this place besides herself.
The music seemed to hum in the air like a vibration, something more felt, then heard. The tone carried through the solid material of the stone, which was warm to the touch and for a moment Kyla crouched and watched as a massive shadow swam below the surface of the stone- a large whale-like sound erupted from beneath and joined the already existing white noise. "I won’t pressure you to answer why- but I'd be lying if I wasn't curious."
The figure stopped, looking down at the whale-like shadow beneath, "Amazing," He whispered, his voice carrying farther than it should have. Ominous and threatening, but beautiful at the same time. There was no way to tell if that thing beneath the crystalline surface was friendly or violent. He wasn't willing to find out.
The girl paused, then asked him the horrid, one word question, why? He stopped in the center of the large glassy cavern and continued to stare at the floor, feeling the music through the air and floor, it warmth reaching him and stirring emotions long buried, "I'd tell you, but I'm not sure if I could properly explain why myself. Ever since I emerged in this world, it's been my drive, this unseen force pushing me onward. I wish to protect, rid this new world of pain by all means. It's all I see now. A blind justice that governs my every act. Perhaps once there was more, but I've forgotten it... lost bits and pieces along the way. Perhaps those pieces were important once. Perhaps they were best left forgotten."
They stood like that for a moment longer, until the massive creature swam deeper and disappeared into the deeper blues beneath the iridescent gleam of the glassy floor.
“Maybe… maybe that’s all that matters- for now. It seems to me when all things are stripped away, it's the more fundamentally profound needs that remain.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:32 pm
{ ATE : Destati : Final }
{ Kyle : Earth } Running a hand through his hair to keep it parted in the light breeze, Kyle took a moment to sigh, enjoying the weather in Friendship Circle--a small little area (actually oval in shape, which he found amusing) in the center of the university's campus, famous for the "Friendship Oak" on the west side. He was sitting on a bench near the center, facing the Oak, since shortly after he clocked out of work. This was one of the few places, and one of the few times, when he could put some of his thoughts to paper. It was always very serene, though not necessarily 'quiet', with the music building on the north side and cars passing around every so often. But this late in the afternoon, with the setting sun, the campus was fairly quiet--the perfect atmosphere for his writing.
However, he'd been there for a little over an hour, and as was his normal cue, the sun had gotten so low in the horizon that its light no longer touched the Oak's branches. It was time to get on the road for the 20 minute commute home. Closing his notebook, he slipped it and his pencil into his leather messenger bag and uncrossed his legs from between him and the cement bench to stretch them out; with a groan and a pop of his left knee, he stood to his feet and bent backward to stretch his spine, since he'd been hunched over his notebook for an hour. With one last look at the grand Oak, he grabbed his messenger bag, threw the strap over his shoulder, and began walking to his car--only to stop and look back, an eyebrow raised.
Had that been a cat? He moved his head back and forth a bit, looking through the branches; he'd seen some cats every now and then. Just fifteen minutes ago, he'd seen an orange tabby chase a squirrel. But no, he couldn't see a cat this time. It'd probably run to the other side. With a shrug, he turned back and continued to his car, parked on the south side of the circle. After tossing his bag in the back seat, he jumped into the driver side and plugged his iPod into the jack before starting the car and beginning to back out. Turning his head to look, his eyes glanced over the Oak--and he hit the break, staring.
No, there had definitely been movement there that time. But he couldn't see... whatever it was. An odd chill ran up his spine, but he ignored it. It'd been a long day, and he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before anyway. He was probably seeing a squirrel. Shaking his head, he reversed, put it back in drive, and began to drive off campus.
It was a few minutes before he'd gotten to the interstate, but that odd chill hadn't gone away. If anything, the odd clouds he'd spotted on the horizon had made them worse. It was strange--normally, he loved a good thunderstorm, just like the rest of his family, but something about those cloud, the way they rolled, seemed to grow rather than just move... He cranked up the music, deciding to just get home and worry about it later. Besides, the odd movements out of the corner of his eye were starting to make him paranoid. He'd talk to his mom about it when he got home, maybe she could check his eyes out.
{ Cue : Deep Anxiety [Remix] }
Then a car in front of him swerved straight into the grassy meridian between the lanes and flipped.
"Jesus @#$&#xin;g--" he shouted, immediately shifting to the right lane and planning to park on the shoulder--he had to check on them, make sure they were alright. At least, that had been his plan--until he saw what had made them swerve. Crawling out of the wreckage was a horrifyingly-familiar small black form, its beady yellow eyes still glowing as Kyle kept going ahead, staring at him in the mirror. Kyle couldn't take his eyes off the creature--and almost crashed into the back of another van. Swerving back into the left lane, he shakily turned the music off, reached for his phone (which, while driving, he kept in the cupholder rather than his pocket), and, without looking, unlocked it and started typing in his home number--
--which started calling him before he was finished.
"Hello?"
"Kyle, Deuce won't stop barking, it's creeping me out."
Kyle's chest tightened at his brother's words. Their Boston Terrier didn't bark for no reason.
"Josh, turn on all the lights in the house," he said, slamming his foot down on the gas. His Sonata roared louder than he'd ever heard it--but he'd never pushed it over 100 before.
"Kyle, what the hell was that?" Josh shouted, having heard it over the phone. "Did the car explode?"
"Josh, listen to me. Grab the baseball bat, keep Deuce beside you if you can, and turn on all the lights in the house," he snarled into his cell. "There's something going on--stay on the line, alright--"
He heard a shout--a woman's shout.
"Mom, what's wro--MOM WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Kyle couldn't breathe. Without thinking, he took his foot off the gas and began slamming it down repeatedly, as if that would speed the car up. He was already pushing 110, passing other vehicles like blurs--more than one or two had flipped over. Fear gripped him, and he quickly turned on all the ceiling lights in his car.
"Josh--Josh, talk to me--"
"Oh my God she's bleeding on her back something clawed her I don't know--" He gasped. "KYLE IS THAT A @#$&#xIN;G--"
"Josh, swing, just swing, just get them off of her, get to a corner--"
He was just outside of town now, and as much as he hated it, he had to slow the car to make the entrance--this was a popular street, he needed to check for other vehicles.
The clouds blanketed the sky now. Everything was dark--the street lights were on, but every so often one went out.
There was a lot of shouting on the line. Josh had dropped the phone, so everything was muffled. Kyle didn't care that the speed limit was 45--damn the speed limit, damn it all, he sped straight through the lights, didn't care for the people running about, he still had a mile to go--
He heard Josh shout over the phone. It was agonized, it was furious, it was terrified. Kyle's blood ran cold. Deuce was still barking furiously, he even heard one of the cats hissing--
Josh picked up the phone just as Kyle was turning onto his house's street, having to slam on the brakes just to keep from turning over on his side.
"Mom's dead, Kyle, she's dead, the Heartless, they, they-"
"I told you to stay in the corner, Josh, you keep your back safe if-"
He was cut off by a pained shout over the phone, followed by a thud-- Josh had dropped the phone. Somehow, the dog's barking grew more ferocious. He alternated between holding down the gas and the brake just to not die as he turned into his house.
"Josh! JOSHUA! ANSWER ME-"
"Get off! GET OFF ME! YOU'RE NOT REAL, GO AWAY!"
"KEEP FIGHTING, JOSH, I'M IN THE DRIVEWAY NOW-"
"NO, DUECE, RUN! STUPID DOG, RUN AWAY!"
There was a pained, inhuman yelp.
"GET OFF OF MY DOG, YOU STUPID PIECE OF s**t-"
"NO, JOSH, LET- LEAVE HIM, RUN, RUN TO THE DOOR-"
"I SAID GET OFF MY DOG-"
A pained, human shout. Kyle was already at the door, having jumped out of his car while it was still cranked.
"JOSH, NO, GET- DAMMIT, WHY'D YOU LOCK THE DOOR--"
He took one step back and, for once thankful to be in shoes rather than flip flops, kicked the door with his right leg just beside the doorknob, ripping the wood and knocking the door back against the wall. His leg screamed in pain, but he ran in anyway. The first rooms, the kitchen and den, were open and wall-less, allowing him to look down most of the house--and there, down at the end, was Josh, with a bloody arm, still swinging the metal bat at Shadows as they dove at him and Deuce.
There was a moment--one, singular, fraction-of-a-second moment--when the two locked eyes, Kyle's brown eyes meeting his teenage brother's teal eyes--
And then there was nothing.
{ Cue : Destati }
Kyle blinked, trying to bring his vision back, but his vision had never faltered--he was simply surrounded by an endless darkness. His body felt like it was floating--or just falling up somehow--and with a sense of dread, he looked up, recognizing immediately the glowing mosaic growing closer with each second. He noticed a small pedestal near one side of lit platform and, hovering above it, a slowly spinning swallow-spear.
None of this made sense. How could any of it be real? It was a game, a stupid, ridiculous game...
Not one second after he landed, Kyle was already dashing for the pedestal. He heard the typical voice overhead, though the words were different than he remembered--
"Your will, given form, will grant you strength... can you wield it?"
Kyle had already ripped the spear from the air by the time the voice had finished, meaning it went straight to talking again--
"The power of the dragoon--"
"Sure, fine--"
"Wyvern-hearted vigilance--"
"Yes, I accept--"
"A spear to both desolate and preserve--"
"YES, THIS IS MINE, I GET IT--"
"Can you bear this burden?"
The sudden intensity of the tone stopped Kyle's words in his throat. For the first time, he hesitated--but his brother was in danger. He craned his head up toward the endless abyss, swallow-spear in hand, his eyes narrowed.
"Yes!"
The mosaic began to quake, causing Kyle to spread his legs slightly to remain stable. Fractures appeared in the glass, spreading rapidly throughout the glowing images, before the entire platform began to shatter, the fragments floating upward into the darkness.
"Fragments of light are all that remain," the voice resounded--words Kyle had never heard in the games. This was too vivid to be a dream. "Darkness comes. Only united can the balance be restored."
The last portion of the platform, and Kyle's only place to stand, finally broke apart, sending its fragments and Kyle floating upward into nothingness.
"Awaken."
Kyle's eyes shot open as he felt the cold tile underneath him. Staring right through him was a massive black-and-crimson wormhole, the all-too-familiar World Eater, the consuming Darkness.
"Josh!" He jolted into an upright position, wildly looking at his surroundings--which was nothing more than a small chunk of rock floating in nothingness. The rock had once been under his house, he knew--the tile floor was still there, with a familiar broken door lodged on one side and the remains of a wall coming up from another.
There was no one else there. He was alone.
"No," he muttered, pushing off his empty hands to get to his feet, hoping maybe he simply couldn't see too far. He was mistaken--this small piece of Earth was all that remained.
"No."
A chill ran up his spine, and he spun around, looking for what caused it. His shadow was growing... and growing. In mere seconds, the infamous Darkside began to pull itself up from the shadows, its golden eyes looking down into Kyle's brown eyes.
"Where is he?" he pleaded. He didn't care about anything else, he didn't care about Earth, about his life, about his future--he was right there, he'd been right there--
The Darkside slowly, wordlessly began to reach down with its massive hand, attempting to grab Kyle off the ground.
{ (Optional) Cue : Rage Awakened }
His blood ran cold--then seemed to burst into flame. His brother wasn't here because he was taken. His brother wasn't here because he'd been devoured. His brother had been ripped from his sight by the Heartless, by the mystic powers, he was gone, gone--
A flash of light from Kyle's trembling hand caused the Darkside to hesitate.
"A spear to... desolate..."
With an enraged shout, Kyle leapt into the air--far above the Darkside. The beast looked up with an odd swiftness, trying to find the dragoon in the chaotic sky...
Only for Kyle to descend on its head in a blind fury, golden eyes meeting golden eyes.
With every slash, with every stab, with every volatile motion, Kyle shouted in unbridled wrath, tearing away at the Darkside's tendril-like hair, gouging out its eyes, slitting its neck over and over and over, aiming to kill, destroy, desolate--
The massive Heartless groaned, reaching to grab the man off his head--but it was too slow. Kyle grabbed onto a black tendril and spun around, hacking at the beast's wrists and hands, severing his dark extremities each time he came back, only to take each reprieve to jam the reverse side of the spear back into its face, ripping it out to one side, then repeating with a different side.
The Heartless couldn't even get in a single blow before it fell to its knees, slowly dissipating into black flames.
His breathing ragged, Kyle remained atop the Darkside's head, spear in hand, as he glared up into the sky. That portal would consume him, just as it had consumed the rest of the world, just as it had consumed others, just as Josh had been consumed--
He didn't think. He didn't plan, he didn't analyze, he didn't hesitate. With one last, bestial roar of fury, Kyle launched off the Darkside's head and straight into the portal.
He had to find Josh. No matter the cost.
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:34 pm
{ ATE : To Give In to Temptation... [ Part Three] } { Kyle ; Ultima : Kyle's Heart : Station of Awakening }
"Why did I have to watch that again?" he muttered, looking up into the black abyss. He saw, but only barely took note of, the white hole in the darkness, teeming with odd, snake-like tendrils. It was nothing new to him; tendrils lapped at his feet, seemed to grow from the darkness over the edge of the station, sprouted from each scar and crack. "Just reminding me of the first time I gave in, Ajora? Really?"Ultima remained silent, gazing from her 'master' to the fracture mosaic around her. Not 30 minutes later, the fool's heart was put under yet-more strain. He had grown reckless, placing himself in harm's way so often that she was beginning to question her mortality. And though each time previous, he and his allies had won, they would have done so far more easily if they had gone in together.
Careless idiot..."What's happened?" he asked, glancing down at his left arm, at the black, web-like tattoo that was etched into his skin due to his deal with Seymour. "I wasn't always like this. I feel... cold.""Your heart is being taken," Ultima explained, her tone apathetic as she crossed her arms--one shackled, one freed. His heart had very nearly shattered earlier--only with the aid of Joe and Noelle had he been saved, but the consequences remained. Her connection to him was weakened--and still weakening. "Not literally. But as much as you've toyed with Darkness and its effects--""KYLE!"
"NO!" "Like Clayton, then," he mused, rubbing his left arm with his right hand."Yes," she replied, looking off to the side, toward the largest malignancy on the mosaic. The Darkness that had once merely ebbed and flowed and fluxed was now wild with life. Upon glancing into its depths, everything seemed to invert in her vision--and she saw hundreds of cloaked, masked entities standing on the station, huddled around the puddles and tendrils, all facing Kyle. She blinked, and they were gone.
His heart is being claimed moment by moment. It will only be a matter of time...
She glanced down to the shackle on her arm. It was cracked slightly, black webbing slowly growing over its metallic surface. Her eyes locked onto Kyle's back again; he continued to look out into nothing, his back turned on the only light in the area, his slowly dying heart. How... appropriate."So I'll be another Ajora?" he asked, his voice monotone... accepting."Not quite," she retorted, now turning to the side so that her full attention was on the crumbling station. Black tendrils grew and slithered, some even coming for her feet but pulling back when they touched, burnt by her inherent light. She would not be claimed by such base negativity; only he would. "More likely, you'll just continue being angry and reckless, but with his dominion over the Darkness surpassing yours, Ajora will likely be able to lead you to his liking."
As if I'd give up this body to him.
There was another moment of inversion. The dark manifestations were much less in number--halved, easily--and though it only lasted a split-second, she could tell why. They were being drawn into the massive scar, pulled in by the tendrils. They weren't after Kyle or herself--Ajora was assimilating all of Kyle's negative facets, forcing them to coalesce. But into what?"So just another puppet," he said with a sigh. He shivered, rubbing his arms together. "Funny, normally the original surpasses the clone. Talk about subverting a trope."Ultima glanced upward toward the hole in the 'ceiling', noticing its mostly-repaired state; the tendrils were slowly collecting the shards and replacing them, fixing the barrier of Kyle's Heart--ironic, considering that's how so much got in so quickly. Ajora clearly wanted his new toy to be his and his alone.
"If you would have taken my advice, you wouldn't be in this position," she sneered, glowering at his back. As if he could feel her gaze, she noticed him slump slightly. "You gave in to desperation and rage too easily. You opened your heart to this. Your allies would probably be better off without you, no matter how badly they think they need you."
There was no response, which was more than enough for Ultima to know her point had been made. She glanced to the scar again, its vivid malevolence surging like a tide. Her vision once more inverted, revealing the cloaked specters to be gone entirely--and in the moment of distortion, she watched a peach-skinned arm reach out of the Darkness and slam its palm down on the mosaic floor, as if it were trying to pull itself out. Her vision quickly returned to normal--
--but the arm was still there.
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:46 pm
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[??? : Inside Kyla's Heart- Sanctuary of Heart: The Shores] "Perhaps... no way to be sure really, but you're right, if it gives me purpose, what other reasons do I need," the figure paused and glanced at the girl once the shadow beneath them faded entirely, "What about you? What keeps you going?" the figure motioned for her to lead onward deeper into the crystal cavern, "And please, I do hope it isn't something as cheesy as being a hero of light or champion of justice... clearly there's more to you than that."
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:55 pm
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[Kyla/??? : Inside Kyla's Heart- Sanctuary of Heart: The Hollow Mountain]
At the gesture the girl indeed moved forward, eyes dropping to observe the faded reflection of herself walking along the surface. Her transparent reflection looked like a specter and gave her something to contemplate in concern over how to explain her answer. Kyla hadn’t ever been one to impart her deepest secrets to a complete stranger- but there was something comforting about the ambiguousness of it all. AvaMat was open about his own feelings so far.
“… that would be the typical response hmm? Maybe someplace in here harbors the faint recollection of my heroic aspirations- but I never considered Justice or the Light as the focal point- simply an attribute of what it is I seek. I can’t imagine obtaining my desire can happen any other way.”
Yet another flicker from somewhere ahead fo her, and Kyla this time seemed to notice and look on ahead. For just a moment, and that’s all she needed, Kyla saw the answer staring back at her in the form a small person who’s details were white washed by the light at the far end of the tunnel. But she knew who it was. Not even a blink later- they vanished.
“My repentance… I guess. I want to apologize. The only way I can do that, is to ensure the people I’ve wronged, can be restored. My existence has only been troublesome to those around me. In spite of this burden- I want to find a reason to justify my life that outweighs all the pain it has caused. Only then- when I’ve found my reason, can I face the people I’ve ruined.”
She held out her hands as if examining something invisible in them, and they closed around it like it was there for her to grasp.
" I cling so pitifully to this hope of mine. That I'll find that my life truly matters. heh,-" she chuckled bitterly, "- You'd think finding out you were the sole survivor, chosen to save the world supposedly- would convince a girl like me. That should be enough right? Perhaps that is why I tempt fate. I wanted to be judged by fate and chance."
She looked over her shoulder at him, the light ahead illuminating her so the faint red in her dark brown hair lit up like an outline of fire around her head.
" Does that reason satisfy you? It's funny.. you'd think a person of faith would have more solidarity. I suppose I do- I haven't seem to have given up yet."
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:59 am
{ ATE : Curls and Cohorts : 11}
{ Elleon : London : Beauty Parlor}
Elleon smiled at Dusk with a dangerous glint in her eye. So that's the game she wanted to play.
"That depends entirely on how much you're willing to give. I can bring you to her, if that's what you want. I can afford the pit stop before I continue on my way. I'm busy bee--there's always some place to be, plans to carry out. What do you want from Ultimecia, if you don't mind my asking? I might be able to help~"
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Je suis a toi Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:04 pm
{ATE : Curls and Cohorts : 12}
{Dusk : London : Beauty Parlor} Dusk glanced over at Elleon as she spoke, she was silent for several moments before she continued.
"Ultimecia has strange powers over time," the woman hissed, "I want her help to simply answer several questions. Few of them I already asked you. The mysteries are going to be answered through time. Though I don't know exactly how someone like you can help besides helping me find the Sorceress.... And giving me an idea of what type of price she'd want...."
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Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:16 pm
{ ATE : To Give In to Temptation... [ Finale] } { Kyle ; Ultima ; Ajora : Kyle's Heart : Station of Awakening }
When the substance finally broke, revealing what was trying to free itself, Ultima froze.
The tendrils had been accumulating all of Kyle's negativity. All of his dark memories, his dark thoughts... the entire cancerous side of his consciousness and unconsciousness. It was so obvious now what it had been forming--who it had been forming. For what did all of that make?
Ajora.
The yellow-eyed doppelganger gave a wild grin as he continued to pull his bare form up; he was free from his chest up now, eyeing Kyle with a determined gaze."The others... do you think they can do it?" he asked, not even noticing the shift in malevolence behind him."...I need you to try and fight this, okay?..." "Do what?" she asked, turning back to Kyle now; she'd heard the pictomancer, but due to Kyle's current state, she knew he hadn't. "Save the world? Probably, if they'd stop making such idiotic mistakes.""... You see it yet Kyle? You’re my greatest weakness..." There was a sigh from his direction. He stood just inches from the ledge, looking over. "So not only could I not save Josh, but I've helped to damn them, too."There was an odd metallic sound--the teenage esper looked down to her remaining shackle. It was growing more and more brittle... just a little more, and she'd be free. "... So I’ll keep fighting to atone for… being alive. That’s the guilt I carry inside me..." Ajora, though his lower legs were still enveloped in black, viscous ooze, was beginning to step forward; the negative manifestation that had once restricted him began to flow around him freely, molding to his form, covering his nudity. His smile seemed to have an inhuman curl to it as he approached.
Ultima grimaced. There was too much going on. Her host was a buffoon, Ajora was gaining in strength, the pictomancer was rambling on, threatening her once chance at freedom--"... It’s changing you- I know it. I don’t want you to change Kyle..." "At least you can seek solace in that you may meet your brother in the Darkness," she grumbled, trying to keep track of everything. Ajora was free of the Darkness now, cracking his neck, testing his limbs--was this a new Ajora? Was that the goal? Truly make another? Did he even notice her?"... He’s betting on us to defeat the darkness that awaits us all at the end. He’s part of you- right? So he knows what’s in your heart too..." As if to answer her question, he turned to gaze at her, a raised brow accompanied by an arrogant smirk. Oh, he knew she was there. And there was a message in those eyes--a challenge. She sneered, glaring down at her shackle, the metal slowly growing weaker, too slowly--"... if I find out you've given in to any of this stupid bullsh*t going on I'm going to give you such a SPANKING..." "... you know, I never thought of it that way," he said, and for a moment, both Ajora and Ultima paused, looking at the dragoon. The air was heavy--things grew still. Far, far too still.
"He's there, right?" he asked before taking a step forward. "No more fighting, no more searching." His other foot slid forward, the tip hanging over the mosaic's ledge now. "And all I have to do is not fight this...? I'm so tired of fighting... sounds ideal."Everything erupted at once.
The cracks that had once broken Kyle's heart reappeared, the station beginning to fracture once and for all.
The Darkness surged with life, giving Ajora's eyes a wild golden glow, the malevolence manifesting around him as tendrils, endless tendrils of Darkness, reaching out, launching toward Kyle.
Ultima's remaining shackle finally shattered, falling to the ground with a clang--she was free.
Free to choose.
Free to take her host as she'd wanted from the very beginning...
... if she could assault him before Ajora's pulsing Darkness.
In a blur of motion, both of her hands flew forward together, unleashing a swift Banish spell from both palms at the form of her once-master. With his fall into the Darkness, she was in control.
She was free, and she wasn't going to let Ajora take that from her...
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phoenixianCrystallist Crew
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:01 pm
{ATE : Curls and Cohorts : 13}
{Janex : London : Beauty Parlor} She had no idea why she was wandering about the streets of London. She'd had a perfectly comfortable set-up in Maleficent's castle shooting goblins. Sure, the scenery left a little to be desired, but all she really needed was fresh air and open sky. Oh, right, and food apparently. That was why she was in London. Apparently they had good food. Not that she had anywhere to go to get it, but hey, sight seeing was supposed to be fun. In her wandering, Janex passed by the door of a beauty parlor, and heard a couple of familiar voices talking. Well, more like caught a snippet of conversation that sounded like familiar voices. The rest of the noise on the street almost caused her to miss it. Janex paused for a moment, then sighed. "Not like it's gonna hurt anything just to go in and find out what the hell's been going on," she muttered to herself. ~:Maybe get a haircut and gussy up a little while you're at it,:~ Shiva suggested coyly. ~:A little pampering is good for the soul, love. Besides, don't you want to look your best in case your lost love should arrive?:~You know what? Screw you. Just because you share my head doesn't mean you have permission to read my thoughts.~:It's not my fault you shout your thoughts at me anyway. Just go in, get a trim, kill a few people for therapy, and move on. No consequences in this world~:~"F*ck it," Janex spat, and turned to walk into the salon. Sure enough, there were Dawn and Noelle. Or rather, their replicas. Apparently there were more survivors, and someone had decided to replicate them, too. "Enough room for one more in this b*tchfest, ladies?" she asked with just a touch of sarcasm, though her expression was vaguely bored.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:17 pm
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[??? : Inside Kyla's Heart- Sanctuary of Heart: The Hollow Mountain] As the girl turned to him at the end of her self-expression, the fire buried in her hair drawing a red outline around her face and shoulders, he stood making a smooth nod in reply, "Satisfaction or disappointment, that's not what matters. What matters is your desires, your drive is not hollow, empty."There was a pause as they approached the light at the end of the cavern, a sudden shake in their surroundings, a shift, sharp and jarring like someone pushing the ground beneath another person sideways. The air trembled and their surroundings flickered like static on a TV screen. The darkness behind them that had slowly been creeping into the cavern rushed forward like a black silk sheet and cast everything into black. [[Cue: (5.) Sound Sepher - 花の中の命]] A few seconds later light returned dimly from above. As things came into focus the world had changed, the shimmering cavern was gone, instead replaced by an empty expanse of black filled as far as the eye could see with countless shards of crystal of every shade and color. Like a colidescope the colors blended together around them in constant shift, beautifully maddening... entrancing to make it hard to look away. The figure said nothing, a small shard drifting past his shoulder in Kyla's direction, in its reflection indistinguishable images moved about, fragments of a whole picture, or torn frames of a movie reel. With them flowed a collage of feelings, confused emotions splashing together not sure which way to go, sadness with happiness, distress with calm. "A hollow drive is easily broken. An empty desire merely a figment of fleeting thought in the overall scheme of things. God, demons, fate, destiny... perhaps they exist. Perhaps there is a plan. A reason for it all... but such intangible things are worthless to me. To build my foundation on those, I could only stand to fall to pieces... I abandoned those things when it all collapsed around me."The figure looked up, the light far away glistening and parting through the endless sea of colors, "Si deus me relinquit, ego derelinquat deus. If God has forsaken me, I forsake him. The light did nothing to save me in my time of need, the emptiness of my drive shattered. It only took losing it all to see what I never had all along. There is no purpose, just a broken world... if there is a god, some higher power... then this is nothing but a sick joke. If that god exists, I seek nothing more than to break him like he broke me and left me to writhe... but I'll do it by saving every person I can as long as I still draw breath. No one will be left to suffer."
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:11 pm
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[Kyla : Inside Kyla's Heart- Sanctuary of Heart: The Hollow Mountain]
Normally Kyla didn't enjoy dark places, but the pitch abyss did not last and faded to something which entranced her.
Reaching out towards the drifting shattered memory, the girl pulled the fragment towards herself like trying to cradle a butterfly between her palms. It hovered there held aloft in her hands, with its faint light reflecting off her face in the glooming darkness.
She could see the distorted images inside like a poorly edited video reel. Faces and things flickered too fast for her mind to focus on anything in particular but let them rather wash over her visual memory without any true fixation.
“Revenge by Mercy. Seems fitting.” She mused, her eyes going unfocused almost blurred, allowing the colors themselves to bleed in her vision. “It makes me feel better-saving others from a fate I could not bare. I guess I thought, if I could save others then my own hurt would begin to slowly erase. But the more I screw up the more it grows.”
The fragment was released into the open air to rejoin the others. Kyla then turned back to where she could hear his voice, but amongst the shards and against the fathomless black he was harder to see.
“I can’t profess to think I understand everything, or have any right to question a being who thinks outside of time and space and reality- but if my own mind is his product then there is no shame in seeking answers to why we suffer. Perhaps we’ll find it along the way. I shall cling to that hope. That way- I can live with myself.”
“I want to help you too.”
It was funny how easily she felt that way. It wasn't out of pity either. She could relate to this...hopelessness on the edge of the blade with the real hope dangling high above her head.
“Perhaps it’s selfish of me, but hearing your story makes me feel better… I’m not the only one in this place between absolute forces and feelings.” She tilted her head back staring up the distant illumination with her hair floating aloft around her face like she was underwater.
“..I find that comforting.”
Something high above their head reaction to her final sentence and one of the shards ignited like it was suddenly made of a different material. It floated down towards them and Kyla reached out to it. It looked like crystal, like the others but it was golden hue and burning like an ember. It felt hot to the touch but did not burn. In its surface there were no images.
"...tell me Ava Mat. Are you my friend?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:42 pm
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[??? : ???- Sanctuary of Heart : Crystal Fields] The figure still chuckled at the name, Ava Mat, but he stopped his breath short on the question. Friend? All the crystals moved at once, thousands of tiny chimes ringing in unison flowing up from the expanse below to the endless roof above like a ripple on water or shiver up one's spine. "Friend?" He recited out loud, What was that?The crystals shifted more, some shards coming together, one or two at a time making clearer pictures of what once was but still incomplete. He looked down from the girl and then to the side. He found trouble with the words. Eventually he raised his eyes and smiled, "Yeah, I guess I am."
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:36 pm
~~{ ATE: The Dark Visitor and the Opened Door }~~
[Kyla: Sanctuary of Heart : Crystal Fields]
"Yeah, I guess I am."
Articulation with the concept of Friend, Friendship, companion ship, was something the two to them seemed to share. Kyla knew when she asked him, that did she did not mean allies, or comrades- but the more obscure and alien phenomena that which was a friend. Something this world of Kingdom Hearts was a focal point for friendships profound influence.
Upon entering this world, Kyla held a secret hope that here, here of all places, she could come to understand the true meaning of that word. but who could possibly be her teacher? Who could claim that right and prove to her what all the books, stories, and song talk about.
It must be real. How else do humans continue to live and thrive in the face of adversity.
Up until now the only bonds of friendship she had were ones she fashioned of her own design. Simulations of trust and caring with the figments of her own inner world.
But this was something different- friendship found outside of her sanctuary, had to be found, not faked.
Felt and not forced.
She returned the smile, but it was small and weary. It was a tired and forlorn smile but it was her own. Kyla's real smile.
Cue: Conturbatio
Back home she had mastered the art of the grin, smirk, smug twinge and beaming. She used them in the work place, at home, at school. But none of them were real.
This one was her real smile. Not many had seen it, but since coming here, it began to show up more and more.
" Up till now- I would have said that I've never had one before that existed outside this place." She looked into the surface of the shard that glimmered in her palms, it finally showed some kind of reflected image. on it's glowing surface. As all the others floating up into the light like fish up stream this one she kept close to her, halting it's ascension.
"- I have no real reference in mortal men to clarify what I can confirm to be a friend- personally. But I've seen, I've heard, all about them. If you are one. I expect to learn much from this experience. I am surrounded by people- and so suddenly it seems I find myself stumbling around trying to make sense of this transformation but I become assaulted by my own short coming and false hopes." She could see the reflection of Ava Mat in the fragment.
" I've never been smiled at and called by name by complete strangers before."
She looked back into his featureless face save for those glowing eyes.
"...even you, who is of the darkness, smiles at me. You don't know me. But you're smiling and I can tell it's not fake. I want to know why."
She released the fragment at last and it rose up slowly to rejoin the others, floating in the stream to eventually fade out of sight.
"Forgive me for over thinking or any sense of personal conceded bravado ... but why did you choose me? I keep telling myself that I let you in, that I'm the one who chose you- gave you the opportunity to make contact. I like the diea that I'm in control of my own destiny- but I'd be a fool to think this is all according to my own fantasied master plan. So- why did you reach out to me again? Is it because my heart is so messed up that it was easy for you? Is there something in me you see that I cannot? Or is there nothing really that special at all and it was just a coin toss and I got heads?"
This same act of questioning the intentions of fate was repeating itself. Kyla had confronted Ajora to find out what he was thinking or was he just doing things at random. Ava Mat may have stated his partial intentions before, but she needed to be sure about the nature of their link. Was he watching her this entire time? Was her heart just that close to darkness all along that he could sniff her out? Was something changing inside her that even she wasn't aware of? How this entity perceived her could perhaps open a window to what exactly was she- to this world. Ajora's perspective was just one view point- ava Mat's was another.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:27 am
{ ATE : ... or Not. : ? } { Kyle ; Ultima ; Ajora, Jr. : Kyle's Heart : Station of Awakening }
The cracks that had once broken Kyle's heart reappeared, the station beginning to fracture once and for all.
The Darkness surged with life, giving Ajora's eyes a wild golden glow, the malevolence manifesting around him as tendrils, endless tendrils of Darkness, reaching out, launching toward Kyle.
Ultima's remaining shackle finally shattered, falling to the ground with a clang--she was free.
Free to choose.
Free to take her host as she'd wanted from the very beginning...
... if she could assault him before Ajora's pulsing Darkness.
In a blur of motion, both of her hands flew forward together, unleashing a swift Banish spell from both palms at the form of her once-master. With his fall into the Darkness, she was in control.
She was free, and she wasn't going to let Ajora take that from her...
... so as the nascent replica, the Darkness that took her once-master's form, was launched over the ledge of the crumbling Station, Ultima, now in her adult, six-winged body, couldn't help but sneer in success.
Her choice was made. "Ohmygodit'sKyleyouliveddideveryoneliveamIbeingPunk'dwhereallthewhitewomenat" She had thought humans weak, insignificant--easily used, easily corrupted. How torturous, she'd thought, to be bound to one's will. "I see you, Kyle. And I don't see anything different between you, me, and Noelle." So she'd resisted at every turn. She was Ultima, Masterpiece of the Scions. This boy was just another tool, another mortal that would inevitably fall to the Darkness, just as she had."... if I find out you've given in to any of this stupid bullsh*t going on I'm going to give you such a SPANKING..." She waited, biding her time in his heart. Every time he got close, however, others would interfere... they'd always pull him back. Why? "If we lose you now... I don't think I could handle it." She grew curious. Did these idiots not realize the omnipotence of the Darkness? She, the Scion of Light, greatest of the divine creations, had fallen to its power. What could they do?"You're as strong as any and all of us. Why else do you suppose you're here, or made it this far?" She watched the present while searching through his memories of the past. Yet the more she learned, the less she understood. Light had repeatedly rebuked the Darkness. How? "... deep down, there's a light that never goes out!" She was Light Manifest, created from its very essence, and still she fell. How could such insignificant entities as mortals accomplish the impossible? How could they be so blessed by a Light which had forsaken her, its very coalescence? The answer rattled her more than she thought possible."My friends are my power!" Unity. These mortals came together to form bonds of Light more powerful than any magic she'd ever come across. That was how Kyle survived over and over, constantly coming back from the brink. No mortal--no, no entity could resist alone. Together, however... together, they were capable of accessing power the likes of which she had never known, even in her prime. They could resist... even overcome a force that had felled her, the Masterpiece. They could conquer the Darkness...
... if they worked together. But here, now, Kyle was isolated. Ajora's magic had somehow made Kyle deaf to their concerns, had split him off from their Light. But not her."Two reeds together are stronger than one. But the choice is yours alone." Ajora, it seemed, had assumed that she was unchanged. But she wasn't. She had scoured Kyle's memories and, as a result, felt his emotions--his drives, his passions. He had one goal--saving his brother and anyone else he could--and to him, to his heart, success was worth self-sacrifice. Such was a Light truer than any sorcery she'd controlled. For the first time since her creation, she understood. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." It was never as simple as freedom or enslavement. They could work together--as one unit, constantly safe-guarding each other from Darkness. Without meaning to, he had given her salvation--and against his will, he had provided her with the chance to return the favor.
Alone, none could stand.
Together, they were unstoppable.
Her choice was made.
"Kyle!" she shouted, soaring over the growing chasms of his heart to reach him; the commotion had apparently left him unfazed, and only when she grabbed his shoulder to pull him back did he finally turn, as if snapped from his reverie."Wha--" he exclaimed, only to gape at the chaotic scene before him. Then, all at once, the agony struck him, and he screamed, falling to his knees and gripping his chest.
"I don't--what's going on--""Fight it! Fight this invasion, control the Darkness!" she shouted, kneeling down and holding onto his shoulders."I'm so tired, Ultima," he groaned, his eyes furrowed in pain. "All I do is fight, and for what? Where is he? What's the point?!""So you'd just give up?!" she demanded, growling at him. Such a stupid boy, there was no time--the larger chunks were beginning to fracture further. "Is that it? You've come this far, but that's all you're willing to give for him?!""How dare you!" he seethed, finally looking up into her eyes, glaring, furious. The rumbling of the Station was forcing them to shout just to be heard. "I would give everything to get him back! But look at me! I have nothing left! I can't stop this!""Maybe not alone--but together, maybe we have a chance--""Together?" he repeated, a bitter snarl in his voice. "Why toy with me? With me out of the way, you can duke it out with Ajora for control--""Yeah, well maybe I don't want that!" she rebuked, and then seemed to bite her tongue. The piece of their station was beginning to disintegrate into glowing dust.Kyle hesitated, suspicious. "Why are you suddenly so helpful?"It was Ultima's turn to pause. "There isn't time for that now," she explained, turning to look around them--hoping he would get the message. "Listen, if you survive this, I'll tell you everything, deal?"He glanced around at the cataclysm that was his heart. The sight only seemed to deflate him further. "Fine, deal, but it won't mean much. What can I even do?""Another stupid kid once said that beneath it all, there is a spark of Light that never dies," she said, hiding her smile as she stood up to her full height; when Kyle did the same, she was still a foot taller than him. "Darkness is consuming you--but you're still here. Find that spark. Find the Light that drives you on. That spark is the glue that holds a heart together. You may know it, but not truly understand it.""And you? What will you do?""This curse is still injecting a constant stream of Darkness--if it doesn't stop, your heart may collapse before you have a chance to find your answers," she explained, rolling her shoulders. "I'll have to leave your Heart and encapsulate it in a barrier of Light to keep more taint from entering. I can't help you.""And what about him?" he asked, pointing behind her.She quickly spun around to see what he meant, but she knew already--Ajora was climbing up on one of the Station's fragments using the numerous tendrils of Darkness sprouting from his back, like an eldritch monstrosity. She hadn't destroyed him; it would be impossible to do so. He was the manifestation of Kyle's Darkness. Destroying him would literally obliterate a portion of his heart.
"Heeeee," she began, drawing out the word as she nervously gave Kyle a pat on his back. "--will be your trial, or some other wise way of saying a pain in your a**. You beat him, you'll probably be able to find the spark. You lose, nothing I do can help, he takes over, and the world has two Ajoras to deal with. No pressure.""No pressure," he groaned, summoning his swallow spear; he watched as Ajora did the same, snarling as he finally got to his feet. "Good luck, Kyle," she said, giving him a reassuring nod before vanishing in a flash of light.Kyle noticed that, almost immediately, the Station's fragments stopped deteriorating, slowing to a complete stop seemingly in mid-air, as there was no foundation underneath. Each fragment was like a horribly-angled platform that required jumping to and fro."So she chose you," Ajora sneered, righting himself on his own fragment while the black growths remained undulating behind him. He summoned his own twisted swallow-spear, something Kyle hadn't seen since Beast's Castle. "What use is that? You merely fall and fall again, even if those morons do pick you back up."Kyle didn't bother talking, instead merely taking a defensive stance and watching the malicious amalgam's movements. Every so often, he chanced a look around the station; how in the world was he supposed to find this spark? Below was pitch black, around them was pitch black, everything was dark save the fragments of the Station itself."Go on. Look for it," he taunted, the tendrils lifting him up and beginning to attach to separate chunks of mosaic, slowly making his way toward Kyle with a sneer. "Look for your precious Light, that bit that never goes out. You think that'll be enough? He used the Trident to ensure my creation. Can your drive beat the Trident?"Kyle attempted to charge himself with Light, a very basic spell from Ultima--except nothing came. Ultima was gone, repelling the Darkness.
He had no power against the oncoming corruption, whereas he--it--was surrounded on all sides by its source of power.
Kyle watched Ajora's lips twist into an unnaturally sinister grin."That's right~," he sang, cackling. "No back up. Just you and me. You don't stand a chance. So why don't you just take a hint..."
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:28 am
{ ATE : A Broken Whole : Round One }
{ Kyle ; Ajora, Jr. : Kyle's Heart : Broken Station } { Cue : Beatdown (Strider Style) } "...and FALL!"Kyle barely had time to leap away from Ajora's sudden charge, dodging to a nearby fragment, its cover mildly scarred black. The blow meant for him struck the chunk of Station with a heavy boom, causing vibrations in the air. This Ajora was supercharged by the Darkness--and coming again.
He tried to leap to another, only to have his legs clipped by Ajora's spear, sending him whirling midair and hitting another scarred chunk entirely. He wasted no time in jumping ahead to another fragment, barely dodging again. He had to figure this out, what was he looking for, how could his Light defend him against all of this negativity--"Why do you resist?!" Ajora shouted, blurring from fragment to fragment via the movement of his back-sprouted tendrils, slashing again and hitting Kyle's shoulder, sending him careening near the edge, barely sliding on to one fragment. "Your friends cannot reach you! Your summon has left you! You're alone, Kyle!"He growled as he tried to flip off of one and onto another, only to miss and almost slip off a third chunk. He had no physical wounds, this being a mere metaphysical self, but he felt it all the same.
Ajora was right. It was only a matter of time before he wore down.
He timed his next jump to leap straight over the Replica, landing on another tainted section of glass and hopping from chunk to chunk away. Every bit of his station looked corrupted in some way, as if scarred or infected by his Darkness. Even if he found some spark, would it be enough to help? Ajora had sources everywhere--"FOCUS!"He felt the wind knocked out of him as he was sent flying near the ledge, struck on his side. With a shout, he managed to latch his spear-tip on the ledge of a fragment and land on its surface. He felt an odd tingle, and without warning, he heard a familiar voice call out through the abyss--"It’s okay, Kyle, you’ve done enough. Don’t move anymore, everything’s okay now." Light pulsed from the fragment, and all the pieces of his Station began to slowly move, spinning and growing closer, self-repairing. Even Ajora hesitated for the moment. Kyle looked down to the source, astonished: the fragment held Noelle's portrait, and unlike most of the Station, it was untainted.
The hand he was leaning on was glowing gold.
Other fragments seemed to glimmer just slightly."Enough? YOU'VE DONE NOTHING!"Kyle barely managed to escape false-Ajora's rage, leaping away and reflexively letting loose the charged Light in the form of a Banish, which pushed the Replica back, destroying some of the tendrils--purging external Darkness. That was the answer! Some of the fragments were untouched, still Light, he had to find them--
Except Ajora, it seemed, was fond of magic too, blasting him once more too-close to the edge with a dark blast of his own. Kyle caught himself, sparing a glance at the Replica and seeing his seared flesh, and made his way to one of the glowing fragments. Ajora was sending blasts left and right, trying to maneuver Kyle away and failing as he returned fire with the Light he'd found--
There was another pulse."You didn't fail anyone, Kyle. Not Rae, not me, not anyone on this train...and if you keep fighting...you won't have failed Josh." Joe!"YOU'VE ALREADY FAILED!" he seethed, unleashing black magic as the platform spun faster and faster, and his advantage grew smaller and smaller.He could feel the warmth as the world began to spin, various sources of Light glimmering now as he hopped around, getting to the next piece of the puzzle--"I believe you’re stronger than this. You’re stronger than Ajora." Kyla!"BULLSHIT!" he snarled, becoming more and more erratic as he tried to intercept Kyle, speeding after him, attacking with spear and magic and only grazing him less and less each time--and Kyle was slowly landing more blows, ridding him of true-Ajora's boost. At this rate, they'd be even--The pulses of light were beginning to occur more often, and for once, it didn't take Kyle forever to figure out what was going on. Every message was the same--support from a friend. Jenny, Bobbi, James, Matthew, they were all there, all the things they'd said to help him, even some of his friends and family from Earth--they were his Light. That's the only reason he kept coming back, they're compassion, their strength--
Kyle couldn't help but grin as Ajora was starting to lose his mind, lashing out at everything as the Station was coming together. There were still stains, of course, particularly the large one near the center that covered whatever Mosaic-Kyle was holding, but with one final tremor and gust of wind, followed by a powerful pulse of Light...
... the Station was restored, leaving just the two fighters on opposite sides with the mosaic surrounded by the tell-tale flash of an invisible barrier.
One smirked, one snarled, both leapt directly at the other.
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