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[John .: Jadis' Castle --> Train]

John dozed... like an idiot.

Upon reaching the castle, and realizing everything was right as rain, John found a corner away from all the action, and began to nap. He dreamed of home, of pretty colors, and of fun events. He began to fly across a great expanse, the wind flowing through his-

Why are you sleeping...

...The wind flowing through his hair! Bouncy, bountiful clouds tossing themselves to and fro before his own eyes! The ground far far beneath him cracking like an earthquake...? Starting to rumble and-

NO REALLY WAKE UP!

John snapped awake. He dashed up the stairs and dove through the open door plowing through any poor soul that happened to be in his path. As he lay on the ground he breathed in deep, heavy, long breaths.

"I'm here!" he gasped, as he lay face down on the ground.

{Bobbi .:. Narnia .:. Jadis' Castle >> Bobbi, Demyx, Zell, Nanaki, Yuffie Narnia .:. Outside/In/Around the Train}

Bobbi had made it outside the castle, wobbly legs be damned, when Joe's message came over the charms. It hit her like a blow to the gut, so painful, so stunning that she didn't even notice her knees giving out until they impacted the ground.

"Wait—" she said, the words barely more than a murmur. Her mind reeled; this couldn't be happening. It can't be happening. They'd just finished fighting. She'd just said goodbye to Louis. And in all that mess, they'd finally gotten Rae's heart back! How, how could she have been snatched away when they were just on the verge of bringing her back?

I'm not ready to say goodbye again—

"But—"

She had heard the yelling, of course. How couldn't she? Fueled as it was by such intense rage, and pain, she felt Kyle's reaction, even from here. The explosion now was no surprise to her, not with Joe's message on its heels, but it took her a moment to register that she wasn't the only one affected by this news. She had to hold herself together, for everyone else's sakes, at least. They didn't need her going nuclear as well, much as she wanted to. Screaming and exploding things would be very cathartic right now, but no, that would serve no purpose. Hard on that nebulous thought came James' advising that Joseph had fainted, and Bobbi swore, turned to assist...

And found herself leaning against the outer wall, catching her breath. Too much, all at once, it was starting to overwhelm her, and she could feel a panic attack coming on. She closed her eyes, blocking one stimulus, and focused on her breathing. Deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Two fingers on the pulse point in her neck, monitoring her heart rate as best she could. When Kyle gave warning that he was going to warp everyone else—or whatever he was doing—Bobbi forced herself to move along with him. Once by the train, she moved closer to it and leaned against the massive metal hulk with a thump, checked her pulse again. Slower now, good.

Dimly, she heard Riku say something about getting on the train, and with great effort she pushed herself away from where she leaned. She looked around, not sure where exactly the door was since she had been paying more attention to where her feet were going, and spotted Noelle, Jenny, Dani, and Kyle around Aslan. Poor Noelle, Bobbi could feel her heartache like it was her own. She longed to go over, to offer the blonde some form of comfort, but at the same time she didn't dare. She had to get herself strong enough to shoulder another's burden before she could even get close. Too close, and Bobbi would break down with her. She was on the verge of it now.

She felt a bump at her hip, and looked down, only to see Nanaki staring up at her.

"Do you need assistance?" the lion-like creature asked. Bobbi looked around, and realized that everyone else seemed to be moving under their own power just fine. She bit her lips in thought, trying to take stock of her personal reserves. The conclusion she came to could have been much worse.

"I think I'll be okay," she said as she headed towards the train door. "Eventually."

Demyx figured he'd waited long enough after that weird explosion to poke his head out of the train. He'd been in the dining car when Kyle had deposited Joe, and watched as a couple of the girls passed through. Uncharacteristically, he didn't say a thing to either of them. Even he could tell, just by the looks on their faces, that they needed to be alone. And even he understood at least some of the significance of the communications that had been happening over the charms.

As such, as the Melodious Nocturne headed towards the open door, when John came hurtling through said open door, only to land sprawled on the floor and not get up, Demyx was mildly inconvenienced. This didn't stop the Nobody from poking the Earth man with the toe of his boot.

"Hey, you're blocking traffic."

Zell was busy in the engine car, making sure everything was good for their imminent departure. So far nothing appeared to have been damaged, sabotaged, or Captain Jack Sparrowed (which was Zell's personal phrase for what certain Earthlings would refer to as "******** beyond recognition," and had been so ever since said pirate captain screwed everything up).

It wasn't that he was ignoring or hiding from everyone else. No, he was giving people space to grieve, to breathe, to have their own reactions to the huge hullabaloo they had just been through. Zell was dealing with it in his own way, as evidenced by the six hotdogs within arm's reach.

Nanaki watched Bobbi board the train, and turned to see if any of the other Earth children might have needed assistance. He knew Aslan could take easy care of the group around him, but the others... Well, they had been through a lot. More than any could, or even should, be expected to handle. How so few of them had broken under such stress was beyond him.

Yuffie could be found in the Lounge Car, huddling in one of the booths a few rows down from Joseph. She'd covered him with a blanket and tucked a pillow behind his head so he could at least be comfortable in his unconscious state. She had no idea what to say to anyone, and so kept to herself as people passed through. Sure, there was a lot she could have said. There was a lot she could have done, too! But given everything everyone had just been through, it didn't seem, well, right to act like her usual boisterous self.

[Noelle : Narnia : Outside the Train --> Lounge Car]

Noelle stood on wobbly legs and clung to Kyle for support as he guided her to the lounge car. She declined to go rest in her room because, though she was exhausted, she didn't want to be alone. After she sat down she pulled her bare feet up onto the seat and sat with her knees close to her chest. There was, somehow, already an embroidered handkerchief on the low tea table in front of her which she took. Funny magic train always seemed to know. When Kyle put his arm over her shoulders she leaned into him tiredly. She didn't respond to him at first, only hiccuping and wiping her tears with the kerchief that never seemed to dampen.

"I kn-know it's n-not." She responded eventually, trying to breathe and calm the hiccups staggering her speech, "Bu-ut . . . I was there, and she was right the-ere and . . . it wasn't e-enough . . . I just keep thinki-ing what if."

[ No One : World That Never Was : Station of Awakening ]

There was a heavy silence following the question, the air of the station charged with tension. Each of the identities looked around the others, their stances taut like tightly-wound coils ready to strike at a moment's notice. And then, in a sudden boom as the sound barrier was broken, Cory appeared behind the dark-spawned Ajora, Revblade wildly churning. The latter dodged with nonchalant ease, but beyond that split second, everything else fell into chaos.

Factions formed almost immediately.

William, Elizabeth, Mickey, Kairi, and Kyle all rushed to each other, prioritizing the idea that those with a good heart should take claim. Without question, they all surrounded Fayleen, who—even with powers granted by the heart—was too timid and frightened to take part, let alone erase someone. Cory was adamantly targeting the two replicas, Ajora and Kai, who themselves were fighting anyone that dared approach or lose advantage—each other included. Louis, meanwhile, fought alongside Ajora, helping to defend him against Cory's offense with his own disgust. Cidolfus, Hojo, and Lugae, each obsessed with power, were blasting this way and that, earning the occasional ire of anyone involved, and though they tried to avoid hurting each other, they didn't seem particularly concerned to defend each other, either. Even, panicky as he was, still rushed to Zexion's side to defend the boy he'd once taken care of; Zexion, more appreciating the shield than the man, took his time weaving this way and that, conjuring phantoms and clones to cause greater mayhem and capitalize on noticed weakness. Meanwhile, the three greater powers—Melisandre, Gilgamesh, and Rumplestiltskin—seemed locked in station-shaking combat. Each personality had been taken on much more thoroughly than the others, granted more power. Worse, of the three, only Melisandre had any noticeable shred of concern, so she was forced to spend as much time defending the good as she spent assaulting either of them. The other two did not punish her quite so severely for such missteps—for without her, neither would likely top the other.

With every passing moment, as their shouts and assaults grew in power, the station began to shake, tremors rising from the depths. Meanwhile, in the midst of it all, Jack just walked over to the once-true owner of the heart, near the ledge now, and sat down, blade casually stabbed into the mosaic.

"Quite the mess you've got," he said, slipping one hand into his coat to grab a flask.

The man stared at the fighting in defeat, his legs curled up with his knees to his chest. Occasionally, someone would try to throw an attack his way, such as Cory bursting forward with his blade, but he just held up a psychic barrier to push them back and nothing more. "I don't know what to do," he whispered. "Everything hurts. I keep looking at each of them, thinking, maybe I'd be better off as him or her, or at least portions of them."

"Seems like one of those identity crisis things your world goes on about all the time." The other man looked at Jack with confusion, to which the pirate captain simply poked his own head. "Mem'ries from you. They're all here, we're all here, so it goes."

They didn't speak again for a second, the battles intensifying, the rumbling growing stronger. Kai took both a revblade and a dual-spear to the chest, vanishing in mist that only spread to the others; Fayleen, even with the aid of the others, was consumed by an errant blast of energy from Gilgamesh, with her accumulated power likewise splitting amongst the rest. The mosaic station began to fracture. The pirate offered his flask, and the other man took a sip from it before handing it back.

"So why aren't you fighting?"

"Why bother? The real me's already out there livin' the dream, ain't'e?" he asked, taking a swig. "Real question is, why aren't you?"

"I don't have enough power," he said, deflecting a blast from Jack's back with his mind. "I can do little things like that, but... most of it's in their hands."

"And why's that, I wonder," he said, taking another sip and swinging his legs lightly over the mosaic's edge. Kairi was incinerated by a dual-blast from Lugae and Cidolfus, while Hojo was caught in between the crashing blades of Ajora and Cory—and not accidentally.

"I gave it to them. When I took on their memories or their masks," he explained, struggling to keep his composure as his chest pains worsened. "I don't know who I am. Who I even want to be. I was a fake created to kill, but I just want to live. I don't want to be like Kyle, but I don't want to be like Ajora, either. I don't..."

"Sounds like somebody's just an indecisive baby," Jack mused with a smirk.

"Don't... ugh," he started, only to sigh into his knees. "You're right, but I don't even..."

"No, really. A baby," Jack said, looking over with a raised brow. "Literally a less-than-a-day-old bratling."

"Haha, I get it, mock the soon-to-be-dead," muttered the nameless pseudoinfant. More identities fell, evaporating into mist, and the heart simply continued to shudder.

"Look at your old self, the goodie two-shoes," the pirate began, twisting around to look at the fight. "You think he knew what he wanted to be when he was a newborn? Or the mouse, or hell, little Willy?"

"Don't be thick, it's not the same."

"Oh? What about as little punks just getting chest hair? Do they know exactly who they are?"

"You know, you don't really sound anything like Jack."

"Been minglin' in yer mem'ries and mind too long. You can't write me worth s**t," he said, nudging the younger man with his elbow. "Don't miss the point, though."

The two sat in silence, watching his heart tear itself apart, though it seemed to fall into slow motion. "So, what, I just pick and choose what traits I like?" he grumbled. "Like that won't just get me right back here."

"Aye, probably. But it's a start. You need to figure out who you are now, and who you want to be later."

"I don't think it's that simple."

"Why not? How else do hearts grow within their person?" he asked, offering another dose of his flask. "You've got the mind of a man, but the heart of a child. And what happens when you force someone to grow up too soon?"

The fighting continued to slow down with every moment, even as the no-name furrowed his brows in thought. "You're not actually Jack, are you?"

"Ha! Barely," he said, grinning as he took the sip himself. "You only took, like, 3 minutes of his memories. I'm just the concepts you applied to them without realizin', s'all. And the same goes for all of them."

There was another moment of silence before the younger man released his held breath. "They break. If you force someone to grow up too fast, they grow up broken."

The pirate smirked, offering the flask again, and the other man took it. "You've got to let it grow on its own. It'll catch up, but you need to stop putting so much pressure on it. It's just a boy, and you're pushing so many of your own conceptions onto it, not letting it be what it wants."

"And how do I know what it wants? And if it'll be... good?"

"Why don't you ask it?"

He looked over to the pirate—only to see that the man, like everyone else, was frozen in time. Turning back to the chaos, he slowly stood, trying to get a better look at everyone.

Just ask it, huh...?

Many of them were just memories he'd taken on—nothing he'd particularly appreciated, to be sure. Fayleen was literally a stranger—he didn't even know her name until just then, honestly. The scientists only had worth to him for their zealous love of progress and knowledge; the majority of them were too far gone to care about what they'd done to damage the rest of the world. He didn't give too much care for ethics on the whole, but their bad far outweighed their good. Kai was similarly a lost cause; she had a hefty dose of creativity, but tended to be lost in her own universe, and cared too little to oppose erasure.

He looked over to Louis and felt a sadness wash over him. That man had struggled against his internal corruption without realizing it, and until he'd lost, he'd gotten extremely close to some form of redemption—even offering friendship. Louis had had some sort of burgeoning hope, and though Ajora had originally only gone to help because he'd felt a sense of debt for sending Louis down that path, he now felt at least a sliver of admiration, for fighting as he had. Cory was a similar inspiration, loathe as he was to admit it—defiant, but self-assured, unyielding. Idiotic, too, but he didn't have to admire the whole package.

William and Elizabeth were equally courageous, but also consumed with passion. They felt so strongly—he could hardly remember feeling anything the way they did. They were devoted, to each other and a cause, like Mickey and Kairi, each ardent and good. Good. His mind initially discarded the concept, but a part of his heart seemed to like it, attach to it. He found it easier than he'd ever expected to help them tonight, to get Noelle and Prote out of harm's way, and he looked back on some of his once-brethren's ideas with revulsion. He didn't like the idea of being wholly consumed by righteousness or benevolence—even his heart shuddered at the concept—but maybe he'd consider goodness more than he'd once expected.

He gazed up now at his more personal trio: Melisandre, airborne in a fiery rage; Rumplestiltskin, hovering to the side, great shadows and bolts of energy surrounding him; and Gilgamesh, all gold and radiant, conjured power glowing behind him. He'd leaned toward Gil because of the memories he'd carried over from Ajora: survival of the fittest, elimination of weakness. It was pure domination, but it left no room for compassion, or the idea of teamwork reaching for greater powers than isolation. Gil had been an amazing power on his own, true, but humanity together had far surpassed him in the millennia that followed. He'd taken on Rumplestiltskin, admittedly, because he needed the persona of a magic broker, but also because of the man's calculating and attention to detail. He'd admired that, as well as his ability to survive and go toe-to-toe with some of the greater powers of the multiverse. And he'd created Melisandre from the Norn inspiration and the raw magical might of the elementalist. Her kind were hardy and unified against the forces of nature themselves, and that mage's powers gave him the adaptability he longed for.

When he constructed those masks, he'd gathered all the many ideas he associated with them, and their themes were harmonious: power, confidence, cunning, and the sheer capacity to adapt and survive, no matter the odds.

Jack had the cunning and adaptability, at least.

With every consideration, the other identities seemed to fade, disintegrating into mist, coalescing in a cyclone above them. When only Kyle and Ajora were left, things began to move once again, his heart slowly mending, color returning to the mosaic here and there. They remained stationary, dismissing their weapons. The former could not live while the prime Kyle still existed. The latter could persist, but had willingly given away his existence to ensure the no-name's full survival, and so did not actively desire to continue anyway. Their eyes both glimmered unnaturally, neither brown nor violet.

"Have you learned?"

"Or will this inevitably begin anew?"

He took a slow breath. His mind still reeled at the idea, but for the first time in as long as he could remember—whether his memories, Ajora's memories, or Kyle's memories—he pulled his thoughts back and let his feelings flow.

"I am."

Both of them raised a brow, confused, before dissipating once more into mist. The great, golden dragon once more began to twist around the station, slowly reaching a point where it could turn its gaze toward the nascent man.

"Whoever you are, I have your answer. I am," he said, looking up at the white-eyed stare of the possessor. "I want to be strong, and smart, and confident, and clever, and passionate, and all these other things, but for now, I simply am."

There was a pause.

"Then tell me, given all the things you've done," they spoke, slowly moving the dragon's head—itself many time larger than the man's body—forward toward the man's face, "why should you be allowed to pursue this?"

"If for no other reason than to redeem myself," he spoke, holding his ground, "I may not strive for some pure goodness or morality, but I can and will help to stop this ridiculous tide of darkness. I've given others like me new lives, and there are others I can still affect, or if necessary, put a stop to. I've accumulated all of this power to protect myself, but also to turn the tables on this fight. I've done some terrible things, even for good reasons, but there are a million things I haven't done—just you wait."

The entity did not immediately respond, once again staring into his depths, weighing his words. "So shall it be, then," they spoke, their posture unchanging, "That is who you are. Have you a name?"

He lowered his gaze, mind in thought. Parents usually came up with a name. He had none of his own. Well, perhaps Vexen and Seymour. Louis loved to claim responsibility, as well. Still, since then, he'd reformed, been born again, by his own hands—

... oh. And Eden.

His thoughts briefly raced.

"I was the first down into that hole. The first to awaken. The first to reach out to learn the truth. The first to rebel, and strike myself out from my creators' embrace," he said, looking back up into those unblinking eyes of light. "I was the first, and I plan to lead others out of those ignorant shadows. So then... how about Adam?"

"I do not care."

He stopped, only to snort and laugh at the response. This whole scenario was fairly stupid and preposterous, wasn't it? Man, was he glad no one would know this was happening. "Alright then. Adam it is."

The dragon simply nodded before pulling back to the outskirts of the station, its large body still enveloping it entirely. However, as it did so, the massive coalescence of magic above began to funnel down in roaring gusts, all focusing into a single point in front of the newborn man and creating a blinding light that forced his eyes shut. The station trembled, and he quickly began to worry that he had done something wrong. But when the cacophony came to a close, and he opened his eyes...

"Then by this dawning heart shall these powers be bound."

Standing in front of him was an ornate pedestal, identical to those seen by Sora and other heartbound heroes. However, unlike their own, this pedestal was empty—utterly barren of a weapon of his own.

"You have overstepped. Even in such a world as this, there must be limitations."

He cautiously stepped forward as the dual-voice spoke. There was no first line for this; the entity possessing Shinryu seemed to take that role already. But as he brought his hand to the pedestal, gingerly placing the palm to its top surface, a unique, androgynous voice called out from everywhere at once.


"Will you accept this decree?"

Adam took a slow, deep breath. "Yes."

The dragon loosed a long, deep sigh, and the man felt the magic in his body and soul suddenly churn, twisting, contorting, all as the light from the summon's eyes suddenly grew brilliant, blinding—

[Dawn : Train : Stable Car]

Dawn jumped slightly when Carbuncle spoke to her. For a long time she stared at him for long moments, before she sagged to her knees in front him.

"I..." she said between a sob and long breathe. Instant later, Dawn scooped Carbuncle into her arms. While holding him tight to chest like a stuffed animal.

While holding the blue summon, Dawn continued to break down into tears freely.

[Dani :~: Narnia :~: Outside the Train -> Lounge Car]

“Thank you again,” Dani smiled as she tested her arm out before following the others into the train. She quietly found a seat and made sure to give room to those who needed it. She started to listen to others that were in the car but only focused on looking over to where Kyle and Noelle are.

There was no grief really on her face since for her there was not really anything to grieve. So, for now she kept out of the way to let others deal with their own emotions in their own ways.

[Axel: Narnia : train time up n' down- up n' down<3]

The dancing flame was brinig up the rear as the final call for baording was heard- it was tense inside- he could probably cut it with the tip of his chakram and spred it on toast.

Maybe have it with a cup whatever Shiva's partner was having.

He did a short walk up and down the train, locating two of their earthlings in the stable car. The tall nobody sighed- turing back around figuring the artist and her fluffy summon had this covered- it was hard to imitate some semblance of levity when the mood was just so subdued. He didn't need something in his rib change to know everyone was in a 'mode' right now.
He passed behind Demyx as he asked about Nick, and left Yuffie to answer- before finding someone to sit in the lounge car.

"This is going to be one weird ride back." he muttered looking lengthly at Dani who seemed to share some level of detatchment from the grief carried by a great deal of the other occupants.