Welcome to Gaia! ::

The prince followed behind his sister while still being a bit groggy, but his attention was caught when his sister spoke. He really didn't pay the man attention but instead focused on what he wrote afterward. He made sure to give it a good read before speaking up himself.

"Excuse me, but I'm Kuumaru Amemiya, Prince of Eiengetsu. Since you have a bounty on Haruko does that mean you've been to Eiengetsu recently!?" He asked while raising his voice hoping for something out of Kellan. Unlike his sister the boy didn't contemplate whether asking the man anything was the right choice or not. It had been a while since the twins had last heard from their home world so if this man had any information on Eiengetsu's current state he wished to know.

[ Ѵ ͼ Ʀ ͼ Ѳ Ʀ ]

{A heart shed for power is the only heart of worth.}

[Castle Oblivion : Kitchen]

Once more, Vereor let his silence linger in the air, allowing the members to converse amongst themselves. They asked questions, and others responded, in turn invoking new questions. He merely sipped his tea quietly, allowing the conversation to progress without his input.

When Tsurumi told him of two people coming forward, he didn't respond; in fact, he barely even nodded in acknowledgment. Indeed, the two entered shortly thereafter.

"Welcome, milady," Vereor responded, taking a spare cup (unlike the others, this cup had no roman numerals on it) and pouring her some of the tea. "I half expected you to ask Zekvyr more questions before coming along, but all the better, I suppose. Take a seat."

"As you've all heard amongst yourselves, there are many legends surrounding the Keyblades. Some are fact, and some are myth," he explained, placing his empty teacup down on the table. "There is, however, a very important fact you should know first and foremost, and Masenko has brought it up. There are two types of Keyblades... False Keys, and True Keys."

"False Keys, often called Mortal Keys by many masters, are Keys crafted by mankind or other mortal entities, and though they do have interesting qualities, they lack the main components that make the Keyblade a legend," he continued, keeping his golden eyes on the table as he spoke. "Namely, they do not hold the ability to lock or unlock anything. The hearts of men, the hearts of worlds... not even a simple locked chest. And there are many of these False Keys."

"The True Keys, sometimes referred to as the 'Divine Keys', or the 'Keys to the Kingdom', have such powers- supposedly. Yes, according to legend, you must have a strong heart to wield one, but even then you must be chosen. Who or what chooses you is unknown. Gods? Kingdom Hearts? Random chance? None know, no more than they know that the True Keys are even real."

"As for what defines strength of heart... well, many would have you believe that a heart's strength is determined by the Light it yields," he mused, a slight smile curving one corner of his mouth. "But, of the most common legends, one states that the Keyblade was used to save the world... and another claims its wielder wrought nothing but chaos and destruction. So, really, who's to say?"

"Now, before we go any farther, I believe it's time for introductions," Vereor said, and his tone was now much lighter than it had been; he turned to face Nymira with a gentle, welcoming smile, his golden eyes and pale skin being contrast by his jet-black hair. "I am Vereor, and we-" he seemed to stress the 'we' for a moment, implying all before her. "-are the Conclave of Ruination. You would be?"


[[THIS IS POST 1337!!!! 8D]

~Window~

[Traverse Town::First District]

Window was getting used to being unsettled when he was around Merlin. It hardly fazed him when, in the matter of a few seconds, he found himself in the area in which he first awakened. Something niggled at the back of his brain as he thought about his initial arrival, and for a strange reason he also thought about the dream that he could no longer remember---only the darkness, and his disappearing form. Window repressed a shiver and turned his focus to marvel again at Merlin's magic. Ah, he lamented, if only our journey had been that quick in order to reach Merlin in the first place. At least this time he had proper clothes on.

The man looked around. Unlike yesterday, the district seemed teeming with life. The restaurant abounded with patrons of all sizes, shapes and colors. Peering past this into the courtyard, Window saw a huge, strange construction that Merlin began to work on, and most people around did not take much notice of it. It must be the 'gummi ship' he deduced, although it looked nothing like any ship he had ever seen. There were a number of people milling around, and of course Window had to take in all the details. A vivid blue caught his eye by two large double doors at the border of the district--a lean young man in blue and black, with blue hair. That was something he hadn't seen before. Eyes sweeping around, he saw movement on the porch of a shop as another young man came out, carrying a plate a food. He had feathers in his hair, another oddity in Window's perspective.

Over by a lamppost was someone familiar...oh! It was the teenager who had aided in the fight yesterday! Window glanced at Nalo and Artemis to see if they noticed, but before he got a chance to say anything or head over, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down at the hand pulling on the cloth, and following the line of the arm upward, Window's eyes came to rest upon the extremely shy Solaris. If anything, he seemed more introverted and quiet today; at least yesterday Solaris had made a rather nice speech welcoming them. Ah, well, maybe something about Window intimidated him today? Had he made a bad impression prior? Window couldn't be sure of how his actions would be interpreted by all these people from so many different cultures.

Window gave one last apologetic glance at the man under the lamppost, in case he had noticed Window too, for Window knew he was being rude by not saying hi. However, his attentions needed to be focused on Solaris, who seemed to be of a more delicate nature. Besides, Window felt a tie to the purple-headed youth by his side; no one else had demonstrated the same level of formality Window displayed other than Solaris. It wasn't that Window required such politeness from others, but when one saw it in a stranger, one felt an instant bond, knowing that they shared some kind of cultural value.

"Of course, Solaris Teodolis. It would be my pleasure to accompany you for the morning meal." Window's eyes softened, matching the quality of his voice. Any previous irritation disappeared as he began to fall into normal routine. "Shall we?" he gestured toward the doorway of the restaurant, taking the lead. A young man with messy, light brown hair with turquoise eyes exited the restaurant as Window headed in. Their sleeves brushed one another as they passed by. A pulling sensation ran through Window's body for a split second, and his head whipped around to look at the passerby. But, the back of his head seemed normal enough, and Window worriedly attributed the feeling to the odd happenings of late. This world must be having some kind of effect on him, he supposed. But, the thought was simply a patch to put over a gaping wound, and Window knew it; there was something terribly wrong going on with him. Later. Deal with this later.

The smells of the restaurant were absolutely wonderful, and once again Window marveled at the new aromas as well as the incredible array of people. He managed to find a large table off to the side, hoping there would be enough room for them all. Window gestured for Solaris to take a seat first, ever being the gracious man. "Please, choose wherever you desire to sit."

[note: okay, I think I mentioned everyone who's active and in the First District--that is, Core, Vain, Rasxa, and Baitos. If there's anyone I missed, let me know. If you want to join us, just come over and talk, either to us in the restaurant or Merlin at the gummi ship. ^^]

[*~Youni~*]
"...."
[First district: Merlin's Hut]

....Everything started with an empty space-
Shards of memory and feeling make their self known,
And their absence obvious.

Like looking into a dying fire, the embers glowing against ash and blacken wood, the smallest light below the listless surface of the girls expression gave voice to the undefined emotions that were struggling for validity.
“…an ache?”
She brought a hand to the front of her chest, as if it was possible to grasp her heart for inspection.
Window, he taught Youni something very important. It seemed important at least. He planted a concept inside her mind which was profoundly impacting her in some way. If Window was gone, if he left to go somewhere far, far away…

There!

There was a gap, a dark void inside that she noticed when the prospect of never seeing Window was realized. This gap divided other parts of her, images and faces and voices where silent in this vacuum…

And yes, it ached.

This ache- what could it be? Why was it there? Should it be there?

She thought about seeing him again as Aerith instructed, and suddenly a sensation welled up from within the vacuum. It glowed dimly and the faintest warm filled the gap, creating a resonation between the images, faces and voices.

What was this sensation? What’s its name?

“Yes. Aerith, there is something inside Youni. When Window’s face fades, there is this deep …ache. It feels, empty. When Windows face returns… this ache is filled with something else. Aerith, what should Youni do? What is this feeling?”
Without realizing her fingers clenched the fabric of her tunic.
“Window is leaving Youni with this empty ache.”

[Shade : Castle Oblivion : Kitchen]

Shade's eyes twitched slightly at the chill she felt when Vereor spoke to her, but the ninja remained otherwise emotionless. The ninja remained where she was standing, as they were speaking of something called Keyblade. Whatever the object was, it seemed important for them all to be conversing about it and asking questions. As Shade was listening, she soon turned and glared at the woman Tsurumi, who spoke to her as her pet once more.

"I have no desire for tea," the ninja spoke to the woman in a chilling voice of her own.

Shade appeared as if she was going to say more until two more people entered the room. It seemed too crowded for her liking, but Shade remained where she was standing. She wanted to learn all she could about this group and the weapons called the Keyblades.

[♫∽ მ ჩ ⁞ ძ ∽♫]

№ Ѷ -{Let's finish this up quickly, I wanna sleep.}- № Ѷ

[Castle Oblivion :: Kitchen]

Kyozuto...

Aria continued to sip at her tea, always the one preferring to remain silent, allowing others to do the talking. Lest they say something stupid and ridiculously absurd. In Aria's opinion, many of the Conclave members could learn a thing or two about the value of silence. She for one wouldn't mind the Conclave remaining small to a select few, but she would abide by Kyozuto and Vereor's plans should they decide to continue expanding. Which was evident in with the recent influx of new members. Either way, traitors could easily be dealt with, as shown with yesterday's exhibition.

The nobody glanced to the side. having heard something from the hall. A series of footsteps, one she recognized as Zekvyr's, the other two... she was unfamiliar with. Aria watched with mild interest easily masked by her facials as Nym stepped through the door with a walking corpse. She had a certain air around her, aside from all the rotting flesh that surrounded her... she would be considered pretty by human standards, the nobody would give her that much.

Aria returned her gray eyes to her cup before they flickered to Vereor as he talked about the keyblades. She sipped again at her tea, keyblades... what an interesting device... relying on the strength of a heart. Aria placed her hand over her chest momentarily before her fingers once again curled around the warmth of her cup.

Kuroda

{Traverse Town ~ First District}

As he waited for his food, Kuroda scanned the cafe, taking note of the comers and goers, two men leaving before the waitress finally returned. "Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate your timely response." The waitress looked at him strangely, unsure of why the man was being so polite. Nodding in confusion, she left the bill on the table and left to take additional orders.

Finishing his soup, Kuroda barely tasted it, only acknowledging that it was providing him with the energy to get through the day. Leaving the correct amount of munny behind, Kuroda stood up, donned his cape and sword clasp, then left the cafeteria. As he got outside, he noticed that more people had appeared in the area, including an elder gentleman who seemed to be attempting to move the stray gummi ship.

Walking up to the elder man (Merlin) Kuroda stopped just before him, ignoring the other man who was there. "Pardon me sir. While I do admit that it is rude and impolite to leave a gummi ship in the middle of this area, it is also rude to simply move this ship without notifying the owner. If you still plan to move it, I insist that you leave a note or something of the kind so that the proper owner will be able to find his ship afterwords."

"... Lovely. Wonderful. There's always one who waltzes right in and flashes their power in the hopes of establishing a strong position. Thank you, Nymira, for providing a perfect display of how to lose not only the element of surprise, but also some of your dignity."

"Good morning, Zekvyr. And nice to meet you, Nymira," Aiko smiled politely, noting the ease with which the Elf seemed to have disarmed the Drow; though in practice, the truthfully, a Drow was only 'disarmed' when they were pushing daises.

But an Elf indulging in the art of Necromancy? My oh my, how curious. Of all the races Aiko had encountered, the Fair Folk had been the most interesting to watch; hauteur and vain to a fault, they were the perfect paragons of narcissism and stupidity.
But that was just Aiko's opinion.