002

[justabignobody]

Characters: OU!Riku and OPEN
Setting: All the floors, Night time
Format: Gonna go with action; but if you are more comfortable with prose, go for it!
Summary: Riku decided to go out at night and take on a private fact-finding mission. Someone has to start taking notes on the different monsters after all, right?
Warnings: Some violence, will update as needed

[Ever since the Tower had folded itself together into one room and almost overwhelmed its residents/prisoners with that army of monsters, the floors have become far more unsafe... at least, as far as Riku had noticed.

He is used to the constant threat of being attack, has gotten used to it long before he had been drawn into the tower, but the constellation of creatures it has thrown at him so far... is interesting to say at least. Some of them he knows of course, but there are many, far too many, he thinks, that he knows nothing of, that don't feel like Heartless or Nobodies or anything else he's ever encountered and he's pretty sure that only some of them are creatures of the tower.

Tonight he has assigned himself a fact-finding mission in that regard - to find out just which Heartless have made it to this place, just how many other creatures aside of them, to get an idea how to fight those he doesn't know.

He is wandering the floors in silence, head slightly bowed, his hand gripping tight around Soul Eater as he stretches his sense the best he can - he prefers not to be surprised if he can help it. While he won't ask or even accept help if offered aloud, he most likely won't stop anyone from helping out either, if he happens to be in the middle of a fight. He won't hesitate to come help out, should anyone find themselves in trouble either.

Help/bother/distract/talk to him?]

[ooc: If you haven't, please take a look at his permissions post!]

Comments

[keybearer]

[Well, once they get there, maybe they can relax. Either way, Riku's gonna dismiss his Keyblade for the time being, placing Kairi's good luck charm back on his belt.

He's got about a million questions to ask this guy, but where to begin?]

[justabignobody]

[Though it would only take a second to call it back again, Riku keeps Soul Eater by his side; just to be safe. There are no more monsters waiting for them though, not on the stairs and not even as they enter the spring floor.

He stops walking when they finally reach the middle of the floor, finally dismissing his blade as he sits down on the ground, shooting his double an expectant look. Should he have questions, now would be the chance to ask.]

[keybearer]

[Well, he might as well sit, too.

And... hrmmm.]

So, what's with the sword?

[Sora's sword... but it must be different, wherever he's from.]

[justabignobody]

[Okay... not exactly a question he would have expected.]

...Soul Eater? It's mine.

[He frowns.]

What about it?

[keybearer]

It's just...

[He sighs.]

That's Sora's weapon. At least, the Sora I know used it.

[justabignobody]

[...Oh.]

...Alternate Universes. Where I'm from, Sora is the one with Kingdom Key.

[Though that phrasing does raise a question.]

Have you met either of the Soras here?

[keybearer]

One of them, but there's no way he's from my universe.

[He winces.]

Not when my Sora's... just a Nobody now.

[justabignobody]

'Just a Nobody'?

[He frowns at that.]

What happened?

[keybearer]

He released Kairi's heart.

[Which obviously created a Nobody.]

[justabignobody]

[Well, that sort of figures he supposes.]

And his Heartless?

[keybearer]

[His... Heartless?]

Same as any Heartless, I'd guess. There's no way to tell them apart.

[justabignobody]

I didn't see it, but... Sora's Heartless should be a Shadow. One that still has some reasoning left.

Kairi should be able to recognize him. To turn him back.

[At least his Kairi had been able to.]

[keybearer]

But how will we know it's him? All Shadows look the same, and we haven't been to the castle since I sealed the Keyhole.

[Needless to say, he looks a little distraught. What if he...?]

[justabignobody]

...I don't think it's something you know, but more something you feel. Something you need to believe in.

[He frowns, gaze drifting away for a second. Kairi would be so much better at explaining this. Especially since she was the one to actually live it instead of hearing it through second hand accounts.]

[keybearer]

I guess I shouldn't give up too soon. It's just...

[Well, for one, they're both stuck in the tower. And secondly...]

I'm still worried about his Nobody. His memory's a train wreck, and I'm sure the Organization's got something to do with it.

[justabignobody]

[He just nods, because he understands - there is nothing his double can do about it. Just like there is nothing he himself can do to make Sora wake up back home. Aside of trusting Naminé's words... which he supposes are enough for now.]

It's rather likely. The Organization tends to use lack or manipulation of memories to control others... or to try to anyways.

[He remembers Zexion's illusions with their home's memory only too well, it's been close ever since the schemer arrived in the tower, if only to serve as reminder of just how dangerous that particular Nobody really is.

He can't assume that the other has made the same or at least a similar experience though, not with all that the other has told him already (and considering his scent it seems unlikely).]

...Have you ever been to a place called Castle Oblivion?

[keybearer]

Castle Oblivion?

[Huh, that's a new one, but the name doesn't sound particularly encouraging. Riku takes a moment to mull it over, and then he slowly shakes his head.]

Can't say I have. What is it?

[justabignobody]

[Well there is nothing particularly encouraging about it, especially if Naminé is still held captive in his double's worlds. Having your heart and memories messed with is never fun after all.]

It's the Organization's secondary base. In my... universe, they used it as a trap for the Keybearer.

[keybearer]

I never heard anything about a secondary base, but DiZ tends to keep me in the dark.

[Which is... part of the reason why Riku doesn't trust him one bit. He's way too shady.]

To tell you the truth, my only interaction with the Organization has been with my Replica and Sora's Nobody.

[justabignobody]

[Sorry, but he can't help the snort; this does sound rather much like the man he's been working with for the better part of the last year.] He likes to do that. Along with pushing decisions on people.

[Though that was just a matter of rising to the occasion; while DiZ usually laid out several paths that could be threaded, those were usually not the only possibilities - the road to dawn (as far as it might seem to him right now) is the best example for that.

He nods thoughtfully.]

And DiZ hasn't given you any information on any of the other members.

[keybearer]

Oh, and he's tried that plenty of times.

[His attitude towards Sora's Nobody comes to mind. Thinking he should just be destroyed now that he's lost his heart... How could anyone think that way? Gah.]

And he hasn't said a word. The only other member I've encountered was some guy who showed up before I sealed Hollow Bastion's Keyhole. Ended up fighting him for a while, and then he just... disappeared.

[justabignobody]

[Riku wouldn't be particularly surprised to hear that, considering just how much he's pushing him to bring Xion and Roxas to Naminé - with force if needed. In Xion's case he almost had found a different solution... Roxas on the other hand... well, that most likely be a different story.]

Surprise, surprise. [He frowns slightly.] ...What did he look like?

[keybearer]

I never did see his face, but he was... tall. Kind of bulky.

[He pauses, just trying to recall this man. Given that he hid himself beneath his coat, that's easier said than done. But... hm, his fighting style was pretty distinct.]

He fought using lasers, barriers, and these bright red blades. I think they were made out of some kind of energy.

[justabignobody]

[He continues to frown, trying to place that description with what he knows about the Organization. Considering what he knows about it's members, or rather the ones he doesn't know much about, that leaves...]

...That might have been Xemnas. He's the... 'superior' of the Organization.

[keybearer]

So their leader attacked me?

[Hmm, now that's interesting. Very, very interesting.]

I never did get much out of him. He said that he wanted to test my power and that I should... bring him more hearts. After that, he just left one of the Ansem Reports and disappeared.

[Also, I got the canon point wrong for the fight. It's post-Keyhole, oops.]