towerofanimus | I've been crawling in the dark // Looking for the answer

Entry tags:

I've been crawling in the dark // Looking for the answer

Characters: Days!ku (

prayerless)
Setting: Somewhere in the tower; backdated to not too long after this encounter and a handwaved conversation with a certain Nobody
Format: Action to start with
Summary: Riku has questions in concern of all things Xehanort. Aqua hopefully has answers. Do the math.
Warnings: Certain Keyblade Masters may blow up upon finding out about certain old men having arrived, but other than that this should be safe. Hopefully.

[To say that the encounter with that elderly man - with Xehanort - hadn't unnerved him, would be plainly a lie. (With the way his gut had tightened through the whole conversation... even though, he supposed, he had gotten out well enough. Especially maybe considering his track record.).

Talking to Naminé about that hadn't exactly soothed his mind either, not when she had just told him that Aqua should know more... He's always known that she held some things back, had always respected that too, but that doesn't mean it's not frustrating every now and then. Especially now.

So here he is now, searching the tower for Aqua while putting together his questions. There is after all much for him to ask.]

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[And he'll find Aqua on the twentieth floor, sitting on the floor with her legs hanging over the edge of the tower. In her hand, she juggles small ice crystals between her fingers -- small enough that they could be snow, really -- briefly before letting them fall down over the edge, into the cloudy outside that's always obscured from the view of the Tower residents. Maybe on the fourth floor, they'll see her snowfall through the lounge windows.

She no longer carries Master Keeper with her. There isn't any need to now that Ven has returned her Keyblade and she can summon her weapon again. Save the magic dancing at her fingertips, she's unarmed for the time being. It will probably help this encounter for her to look nonthreatening.]

[Maybe probably? Though he's known already that she's not to be understated since the time the tower had folded itself together.

He hesitated a little in approaching her, though that has nothing to do with her being threatening and everything with the awkward of... certain memories that had reawakened. As well as the general awkwardness and maybe also unease that he feels around her. And it does look like she is maybe busy with something...]

...Is this a bad time?

[While she's not startled, the voice breaks the concentration required to channel the magic through her hand. As the flow of magic abruptly spikes out of its delicate stream of control, the snow gathers into a larger, unrefined mass of ice. She closes her hand around it so it doesn't fall into the unspecified abyss below the Tower.

Aqua turns to look at her visitor. Once she sees which Riku it is, she gives a smile and sets aside the icey lump so she can put her hands in her lap.] Not at all. Do you need something?

[Uhm yeah... sorry about that, he supposes. He takes a few steps closer, nodding after a moment of hesitation.]

...Yeah. There are a few things I need to ask you. [Now... just where to start?] ...Have you ever heard of a man named 'Xehanort'?

[Her response is almost instantaneous.

The smile falls from her face, replaced with something almost pained. It silently, plainly, asks why? Why would Riku know of that terrible man? Why does he even have to ask? Dread settles in the pit of her stomach. She actually turns away from Riku, something she hates doing -- she prefers to look people in the eye when she talks.]

He's the most despicable person I've ever met.

[She doesn't quite sound angry, but there's an unfamiliar edge to her voice, resonating bitterness and sadness. She's trying not to burden Riku with this. Her past isn't his problem.]

[That's... really a pretty clear response. Well, it tells him at least that she knows something and from the tone in her voice, whatever memories and feelings she is associating with Xehanort, they are far from positive. Not that he had expected them to be.

She might think isn't his problem, but that won't stop him from pressing on, not when Xehanort is in fact also his problem. In more ways than one.]

Who is he?

[Well. As much as she doesn't want to have to unleash this monster on Riku -- the whole next generation of Keyblade wielders that have ended up in the tower, really -- she has a feeling that if he's asking, the monster has already been unleashed.

Part of her wishes she could shield them all away from that darkness. Just take them to the Land of Departure and teach them as they should be taught. But the time for that has passed. Riku needs to be informed of exactly what he is dealing with, even though it's a truth that Aqua wishes she could lock away from the eyes of the young and hopeful warriors she's taken under her wing.]

In my time -- when you and Sora were both very young -- Xehanort was a renowned Keyblade master. He was one of three that I'm aware of. The other two were my own master -- Master Eraqus -- and the former master Yen Sid. Master Eraqus trained his apprentices to walk the path of the light in our journeys to maintain the balance of our universe.

Xehanort was different. Xehanort walked a path of darkness. He wasn't interested in protecting the universe, like we were. He had different plans. [She looks out into the clouds beyond the tower, as if trying to glimpse the details of the past that escaped her notice when she was actually experiencing them.] I still don't know everything about them.

I do know that he was leading my friend Terra down that same dark road. During our journey...Terra did a lot of things that he would never have done before. He stole hearts of young princesses...he lost himself completely, sometimes. [Absently, she picks up what remains of the chunk of ice that she created, running her thumbs over the small dips and ridges of it.] I eventually discovered that Xehanort was doing this to him because he needed a new body. He was getting too old to carry on. And he wanted Terra to be his new vessel.

Then there's our other friend, Ventus. Ven actually trained under Xehanort for most of his life before he came to the Land of Departure to learn from Master Eraqus instead. When Ven first came to us, it was like he wasn't even there. You could see, when you looked into his eyes...they were hollow. Xehanort had done something terrible to him, because he needed Ven to create a weapon called the X-blade.

[She holds the ball of ice out over the edge of the Tower and ignites a tiny spark of Fire magic over it. Gradually, it melts away, dripping between her fingers and soaking her gloves to create a small rainfall in place of her tiny snowstorm earlier.] I don't know much about that either. But I know it was extremely dangerous. To help create it, Xehanort made a creature that he named Vanitas out of the darkness in Ven's heart. I think that's why he was so...broken when he came to us.

When I fought Vanitas and destroyed the X-blade, it caused an explosion unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I'm sure that if Xehanort had been able to use it, then the consequences would have been disastrous.

[Aqua pauses after that. She wonders if she should tell him what she's learned since she came to the Tower. Because, ultimately, it's all her fault. It's her fault for not keeping him confined to the darkness, even if it meant she might lose Terra.

She draws her knees back onto the leg so she can wind her arms loosely around them.] I don't think I was able to stop him. He took control of Terra's body, and...I tried to free Terra's heart from him. We both fell into darkness. I couldn't save both of us. So I chose to save Terra. I hoped that what we'd done was enough to keep Xehanort away from where he could hurt anyone else.

[From the look on her face, it wasn't.] Ten years passed...then, when I came here, I met the other Sora. The one that lives in darkness. His "dad" looked exactly like Xehanort did after he possessed Terra. ...we think they might be the same person. Except he goes by the name "Ansem".

[Aqua's voice gets quiet.] ...I wish I'd known. [She thought they'd locked away the monster, when really, all she accomplished was setting it free. And innocent people paid for it.]

[Despite his own (maybe slowly shrinking) uncertainties concerning her, Riku does rather appreciate her telling him all this, ultimately. Because, unlike what she thinks, he does need to know... it's already long too late to shield him away. That moment had passed long before he had set food into the tower.

If she looks at him once she is finished, she will find that he has paled a shade or two as he processes her words, as he starts connecting some of the dots and realizes just who he must have been facing just hours earlier.

...Looks like he had gotten out far better than he had initially assumed. Of course, it is just a question of how long that will last.

He presses his lips together as he swallows, trying to chase a way the tightness of his throat. It's time for him to share some part of the story as well now.]

You are right with that assumption. I don't know all the details, but so much is certain... in my time Xehanort is widely known as 'Ansem'.

[He takes a breath as he tries to get those new memories he has now thanks to Naminé into line - they are few and fragmented and yet with all the things he's already known and what she has just told him, the certainly help to create an a little more complete picture.]

A little less than eleven years ago... a man named Xehanort arrived in Radiant Garden, lacking all memory aside of his name. He was taken in by that world's ruler Ansem, the Wise, who was king and scientist alike.

It's unclear where or how it started... who started it... but soon after Xehanort arrived, he and the other apprentices started to experiment with the darkness... with the hearts of the people... until they stumbled across the Heartless.

About a year after Xehanort's arrival, Radiant Garden fell to Darkness... overrun by the Heartless and those that fancied themselves able to control them.

By that time, Xehanort had taken Ansem's identity... and lost his heart to the Darkness as well... forming a Heartless... and a Nobody.

Ansem and Xemnas.

[Aqua eventually brings herself to look at Riku, even though she doesn't want to have to face what she inadvertently enabled. The connection she makes to every piece of information that Riku gives her is immediate. Her own complexion -- already fair -- pales too, magnified by the growing feelings of dread, guilt, and helplessness as he goes on.

She doesn't recognize the name Xemnas. But she knows all the other names.] Ienzo said he was taught by a man named Ansem. [She's figuring that the true Ansem the Wise is the one who taught Ienzo -- and Xehanort. And then Sora's dad...]

Then Sora mentioned that the castle he lived in was destroyed and that only Heartless lived there...from the way he described it, it sounded like the castle in Radiant Garden. [If the Heartless had taken over that world, then it makes sense for it to have been demolished. All the pieces are coming together and the full picture isn't turning out too prettily.

She averts her eyes with a pained glare.] Why would anyone do something like that? [She knows who would do it. And maybe, deep down, she knows why. But she wishes she didn't.

Suddenly, despite all the negative feelings gnawing at her, she manages to fish her curiosity out of the pit of guilt. One thing is jumping out at her.] I know about the Heartless. But...what are Nobodies? [That's the only part of the story that she doesn't know anything about, and it seems strange that she has been here so long and heard nothing about any creature called a Nobody before.

She has a feeling she needs to know. Because she wants to know what that means for Xehanort -- or what's left of him.]

[He presses his lips together when she asks 'why'; he knows at very least part of the truth - he's seen the door, he's seen the moon far above the World That Never Was, but... what Ansem... Xemnas... Xehanort truly was striving to achieve through Kingdom Hearts is beyond him. He suspects it's one of those things one most likely would be better of not knowing too.

Instead of answering immediately, he takes a step back and leans against the wall of the tower, arms crossing over his chest.]

...When a Heart falls to Darkness, it becomes a Heartless. But... when a particularly strong Heart falls to Darkness, it leaves behind a shell... a Nobody.

[For a moment he tries to find a way to describe them, the white, twisting shape of Dusks and Creepers when he remembers... he knows she has seen them before, actually.]

A few months back, when the tower folded into one room... the large, white monsters you helped me out with... those were Beserkers, I think... just one kind of lesser Nobodies.

In very rare cases, when the fallen Heart was exceptionally strong, the Nobody retrains their human shape and memories. Over the years, most of those Nobodies gathered to form a group... the Organization XIII.

[He hesitates a moment, wondering if he really should add that last piece of information... but... given who the tower has brought in the recent days, he probably should, he thinks. It's best if someone outside of himself, Xion and Naminé is able to spot their members.]

...You can usually recognize them by this cloak- [He unfolds his arms and reaches up to tug slight at the cloth of his own.] -and by the 'x' in their name.

[Aqua has always thirsted for knowledge. Knowledge helps foster understanding, and she wants so badly sometimes to understand. A Keyblade Master has to be wise -- wisdom can't be achieved through ignorance.

So, she listens dutifully. As Riku explains, she begins to piece this information in with what she already knows and what she has just learned. Xehanort was split into two beings, one of which lacked a heart.

She seems to come upon some startling conclusion in her moments of silence following Riku's explanation, if the widening of her eyes is any indication. If this Xemnas man had no heart, then could it be that Terra's body had finally been freed from Xehanort's clutches? She wasn't sure how to ask Riku for confirmation of something like that, though.

So she follows a slightly different thread of conversation, more relevant to what they're discussing.] Are the Organization XIII a danger to us? [More important than finding out the fate of a friend she couldn't help was ensuring the safety of the ones that were actually here. If this Organization was an enemy, she needed to know what she was facing.]

[Riku pauses as he considers the question... after his first brush with them in Castle Oblivion it had never been one, not to him at least - not with Sora asleep, not with what he and the King discovered after months of tracing their tracks. Not after what they did to Xion.

By themselves, the Nobodies probably weren't a thread - Naminé is the best example of that, as is Roxas (and maybe even Axel?); despite all the things DiZ says about them never having a right to exist in first place (Because while DiZ says many things, is knowledgeable and maybe even right about most of what he says, in this? In this he is wrong.)

But even though this isn't about Nobodies in general, just the Organization... which would be easy to answer, if it wasn't for certain people to consider...]

It depends, I guess... A few of them, I wouldn't consider a danger... or an enemy... But overall, yes.

The Organization is a danger... and a threat to the worlds. Maybe not in it's general existence, but certainly in intent.

[He might no know what Xemnas is really planning, but anything involving Kingdom Hearts likely spelled no good for them.]

[So they were people to be wary of, but not necessarily to attack on sight. She doesn't recall encountering anyone by Riku's description as of yet, so she supposes she'll trust her instincts when it happens.]

I see.

[Part of her wants to ask him. The other part knows he couldn't possibly tell her anything new. But she wants to know, so badly.

So, eventually she asks.] ...would you happen to know anything about-- about Xemnas and Terra? [Her voice sounds younger then, though she doesn't mean it to. Younger with the hope that somehow, more than a decade away, Terra made it out alright. That at least one thing she did had a happy ending for somebody.]

[His lips press together as he stays silent for the moment... he's been avoiding thinking too much about the fact that Terra had been possessed as well. About the implication that connection might carry for him, for the way he had met Ans- Xehanort the first time. That night at the Islands when he...

He pushes that thought away, and that of the realization that it must have been more than ten years since Terra was possessed rises, and just the horror of that thought makes him pale a shade again for just a split second, makes his stomach twist and really, if he had just been by himself he might have thrown up. It had only been a week for him maybe, and most of that his heart had spent first drifting then wandering the Realm of Darkness, but... Those moments of helplessly watching as Ansem moved his body, used his voice and that dark, unnatural Keyblade, as he stabbed Maleficent and unlocked her heart, as he attacked Sora with every intention to do the same to get to Kairi's, as Kairi finally awoke and he finally managed to grab enough control to allow her to escape and then-

He doesn't like to think about it all too much.

Yet, the memories are close to the surface now and later he will go and channel the horror of it by taking it out on the one or other monster. Now is not the time to deal with those particular demons though. Certainly not in front of Aqua. Or really anyone with maybe exception of Naminé.

Eventually, when he trusts his voice again, he finally answers.]

No. I admit... I have yet to deal with Xemnas in person. Or so much as see him. But... there is no doubt on my mind that he is the one pulling the strings behind the actions of the Organization.

[Not with all that he knows from Xion. From Naminé. From what he's found out while keeping tabs on the Organization himself. Not when he knows how hard it had been to fight the possession just hours after it had happened. He doubts that it gets easier as time passes... and ten years...

He shudders involuntarily.]

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I've been crawling in the dark // Looking for the answer

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