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Innocence, as he listened to Bobbi proclaim her willingness to kill Traitor looked onward with a increasingly despaired expression. His eyes, already tear ridden, grew bloodshot and devoid of hope. At last as she asked him his opinion, he merely stared at her, through her. Slowly but surely he shifted first closing his eyes and furrowing his eyebrows before any looking onward might have seen his shoulders shake up and down as though crying... or laughing, one couldn't really tell based on sight alone.

[ ??? : Traitor's Test ; Nightmare's Nightmare ; Prisoner's Purgatory ]

"That's the problem with darkness, isn't it."

The echoes came from a distance, somewhere deep in Traitor's abyss, or far beyond the walls of Nightmare, or deep within the confines of Prisoner's library. They could hear them just faintly, just... barely. It sounded... maybe like Kyle? But distorted somehow, as if passing through the wind itself.

"It's an obscuring veil. You only ever see two paths--your way, or failure."

It felt like an odd chill running along their arms, raising the hair along their flesh. Those that were outwardly wearing their charms would have felt as if one of the pieces had been flicked--but there was nothing there.

"But beyond the veil, there's always more."

[Kyla: Louis Heart: Nightmare Tower]


The artist practically held her breath watching for any response from the corrupted shard within. Any sign of life… or change… the floor became sharp, needles, his face contorted- was he angry they were not granting his plea for death?

Then- wait who- Mathew?? The man was suddenly there, and then not- she felt the resistance against her shield, but it was over before she could make heads or tails- and he was suddenly behind her again. Dangit!
Something echoed in her head then. Was it a thought of hers? Was Carbuncle trying to say something? Like a faint breeze. She felt a weird chill-
But whatever Matthew did.. it worked- nightmare seemed to respond, and he turned his awareness onto his own fabrication.

-Kyla had just looked down to her charm when when Loui’s shard said the words…

You’re not Real.

And the world shattered- blowing away, leaving them standing in an endless expanse. Kyla remembered to breath- as stars flew past her.

"It's an obscuring veil. You only ever see two paths--your way, or failure."

When they finally descended onto the platform of awakening, a very familiar setting, Kyla stared down at the pained image of the tormented soul they resided in, biting her lower lip. She looked up and there Nightmare stood, holding out something corrupted. His core he said?

Kyla dropped down onto the surface, her feet making an empty tap as she walked the distance closer towards him, till she stood across from Joe. She regarded the core and looked to their leader.

“I think we'r eon the right track here-… like the other shards- why don’t we purify it? Use our light to purge the darkness corrupting it. Make this fragment into something new.” She had been trying to do something similar with her shield, maybe she could do it again only more precise?

If nightmare was what he was corrupted- it was very possible his true form was 'dreams'- as Mathew had said before. An essntial part of any individual. Somethign worth redeaming.

“ -mmm, guess now is a great item to think of a basic purification spell...grr...what I'd do for a key that just did that..restoring something to it's original shape using light.”
She began flipping through her pages to a fresh one, then began sketching an abstract concept for purification, specifically designating a target- their light, or connection to the cornerstone- or whatever source of light they were bound to, being who they were- and the specific purpose of isolating what was within something.

“We’re going to have to work together on this though right? Maybe if we combine our light?” she looked back towards Mathew, checking to see if he was alright. If the young man was still shuddering Kyla would go get him.

{Demyx, Zell .:. Louis's Heart .:. Cornerstone of Death}

When Melisandre looked to him for confirmation that Nemesis’ explanation of the situation was a joke, Demyx shrugged, but didn’t say anything.

"No, that about sums it up," Zell said, scratching at the back of his head and not quite meeting the giantess’s eyes. "If it helps, though, pretty sure Louis has gone off the deep end. Like, he wasn’t exactly sane when he started this. Something about being the host of Mateus, I think? Dem, did you understand what they were saying about this guy back at Disney?"

"Kiiiiind of? Kyle said something about magic affecting his mind, but he never really went into detail. Oh, and Mateus can possess him. I bet that’s really unhealthy for the psyche."

{Red XIII, Yuffie .:. Louis's Heart .:. Tower of Victim}

When the boy stroked his muzzle and with the gesture healed old wounds, Nanaki snorted and immediately moved out of arm’s reach of the boy. He glanced around at the others to see their reactions, noting Yuffie’s slight pallor and wide eyes, and Kyle’s attempts to take the boy’s wounds unto himself. As the boy continued to speak, Yuffie’s hands crept up to her mouth, and she looked near tears.

"That’s… that’s horrible," she said in hushed tones. When the boy issued the ultimatum, for the briefest moment Yuffie stared at the boy in disbelief. Then, she brought her hands back down to her sides, clenched into fists, and stomped petulantly. "What part of 'we’re here to help' is so hard to understand?"

Both ninja and beast looked to Kyle when he started talking, and when he requested their charms, Yuffie hastily removed hers before she bent down to help poor, thumb-less Nanaki take his off. With a hopeful smile on her face Yuffie handed the charms to Kyle without a word before stepping back, giving him room to do whatever he was about to do.

{Bobbi .:. Louis's Heart .:. Tower of Traitor}

Riku’s hand on hers was surprisingly hot, almost scorching, but she didn’t flinch as he pushed her weapon down. In fact, she went a step further, and let her arrow dissipate back to wherever she pulled them from.

"I didn’t," she said calmly. The calm was a ruse, however. Hear heart was pounding and she was sifting through her memories, thinking back to the face-off against her shard in her heart. As she pieced the memories together, she grew hopeful, her eyes widening and the first genuine smile in what felt like forever blooming across her face. "Kyle did. By flooding it with light! Riku, I could kiss you if you weren’t like a billion years younger than me!" For the briefest moment, Bobbi was excited. An option, a solution that didn’t leave the Archer feeling riddled with guilt was finally there, but she had no command over Light, and as far as she knew, no one in her group did, either. Slowly the excitement drained out of her face, and she grew thoughtful, trying to think of how to implement the solution that actually let them save Louis.


Barely on the edges of her awareness, she heard Kyle’s voice. She wasn’t sure if it was memory, her imagination, or what, but she was glad to hear it. She focused on his voice, and she thought she felt someone flick the æthicite charm she’d connected to her necklace, felt the movement against her breastbone. Briefly, she touched the charm with the tips of her fingers, her brows creasing as she retreated further into thought.

"I can’t use Light," she said slowly, taking the æthicite between her fingers and fiddling with it. "What about the rest of you?"

[Joseph: Louis' Heart: Nightmare Tower]

The monk was actually kind of impressed with the...well, it didn't seem to really be the clearest of images on his side of the lotus, but he caught bits and pieces.

He probably would've stayed impressed had he not been suddenly falling, when Nightmare seemed to stand up to his fear.

Honestly, he was getting tired of falling, forcing himself upright with his wind as he fell. Impressive as the scenery was, he was also still angry and tired. He might reflect on it later, but right now, his face showed frustration more than awe.

The shard asked them to wake him up. And Joe, in a moment of...perhaps not the best 'clarity', took in a deep breath, his wind magic ready to increase the volume of his voice as he prepared to yell the shard awake like one might do a sleeping person.

Kyla spoke, and Joe stopped his 'plan', coughing as he choked on the air, the magic fading. Apparently there was a better, more likely plan in the head of the pictomancer. Amy also piped up, and Joe thought for a moment. Technically, he had helped purify one shard before. Though that was with Noelle and Ultima. He didn't have anything Light on him. He had an attack, but it was more physical in nature, not magic. And punching the 'soul' didn't seem like the best option. So he tried to think of anything else he might have that was Light, bouncing slightly as he kept shifting his weight around.

The tinkle of his charms caught his ear, and he looked down at the charms hanging off of his belt. The charm that connected him to everyone, and the little aethesite shard of light. Light.

He thought for a moment, then finally spoke up. "Why don't we...mm." He paused, as if not sure about saying what he was going to say. "We could try...if it's even possible, I mean. Why not try channeling your diaga, Amy? Into something of Kyla's to kind of softly shine the light and cleanse it...and me, John, and Mathy could all try doing something with our little shard charm things." He reached down, unhooking his little crystal and dangling it in front of himself.

"These are Light, right? Like the cornerstone? So if we all use these, and make a super strong but super soft light...anyone else willing to try? Or think we should try something else? Cause I'm realizing I just described my idea like one would describe really good toilet paper."

{James : Louis’ Heart : Tower of Traitor}

James nodded his head in understanding to Mizu’s statement and watched as Riku approached her and slowly her bow lowered and she even dismissed her arrow. He listened to the keyblade master’s words, focused on them as he pointed out the seal, pointed out the corruption and the corsair’s right hand slowly raised to his chest to rest upon the burn scar of Ajora’s seal. It wasn’t exactly the same, but the circumstances were definitely similar. Shortly before they had returned to Disney, Kyle had purged the residual darkness from him. Mizu then confirmed that it was Kyle who had purified her shard with light.



He looked around as he swore he heard the voice of Kyle on the wind and with it a slight hint of movement from the æthicite stone as if it had someone had flicked it where it rested, attached to his necklace. The small shard of crystalized light that Yen Sid had given them at the parade. His right hand raised from his chest to the stone, just as Mizu’s was. His free hand reached to card box at his hip and pulled out the Light Card.

”I can, Either with the Purifying Helix or my Holy Grenado. However, I’m not sure if my strength alone is enough,” He stated before turning his gaze to Riku, his right hand holding the heart shaped crystal. ”If I were to draw on the power of everyone’s æthicite charms do you think that would be enough?”

{Leon : Louis’ Heart : Tower of Victim}

The gunblader remained silent as he focused on Victim, listening to the boy’s words. He tried to understand it all, what the purpose of it was, why the boy took their scars away from them. Listened as the tower was explained, unsure what to do. As the boy lifted his shirt though he saw the seal and it seemed that Kyle seemed to come to understand, asking for their shards that Yen Sid had given them. It only took a moment for the young man to unclip the small charm from his belt and handed it to Kyle, curious to see what the Dragoon had in mind, though he had a pretty good idea.

{Auron : Louis’ Heart : Tower of Prisoner}

Auron remained silent, scanning the room as things grew darker and changed drastically. His muscles tensed, ready to strike at anything that came their way. The table’s leg gave way causing the book and the record playing to fall to the floor and the screaming and conversations that ensued because the book had fallen open. The boy was terrified senseless and then all of a sudden smiled, seemingly hopeful as he pulled down his shirt to expose what appeared to be a spell circle and asked them to kill him. The unsent samurai stared at the boy for a moment, unsure what the best course of action was, spell circles or seals like the one upon the boy’s chest were often able to be broken through other means than the host’s death. He looked around at his group, remembering their powers. None of them seemed like they would be able to do much on their own aside from Sora.

”Sora, do you think you could break that spell circle?” He asked, fairly certain it was their only other away aside from killing the shard.

[Joseph: Louis' Heart: Nightmare Tower]

The leader nodded towards Kyla, then stared at Mathy when he spoke. He slowly nodded. Mainly cause he didn't...exactly remember that bit of Atlantica. Then again it was fairly hectic. But he didn't doubt Mathy, especially after adding the light to Kyla's spell.

So he held his charm in his cupped hands, and tried to bring out the light from the crystal, focusing on the warmth it seemed to generate in his heart. And he thought, and he wished, and he hoped.

It began it's own soft glow before it, too, passed magic through the connection like Mathy's, a shining ray of white light into Kyla's charm, causing another small heart to appear, this one colored a soft green also with a small bit of white at the center. His magic was ready for use.