towerofanimus | dismiss (reprise)

Entry tags:

dismiss (reprise)

Characters: Aqua (

prayerless ) and Master Xehanort (

capax_infiniti )
Setting: Floor 13, the cathedral -- backdated to end of March
Format: Action
Summary: Aqua finally encounters the one responsible for destroying so many lives. She isn't very happy.
Warnings: Violence, magic explosions, darkness mutilation to a degree. Will edit if necessary!

[Her talk with Riku had been alarming, to say the least. In less than a month, her status in the Tower had changed dramatically. That mysterious broken Ventus had come back, years older than he was when she first saw him. Vanitas had arrived and fought her Ven. Terra was finally here, and the three of them were together again. And Xehanort, the man responsible for ruining almost every timeline she'd encountered thus far, was here too.

It's a lot to think about. And there aren't a lot of places in the Tower that Aqua really feels comfortable thinking in.

Honestly, she doesn't feel comfortable in the cathedral either. But at least it's large, and not claustrophobic. And the stained glass almost reminds her of home.

So there Aqua sits, in one of the pews close to the front, in an almost meditative state. No spells have materialized around her, but the magical energy is thick around her -- she's reaching for it, holding onto it, seeing how long she can keep it without having to cast it off in the form of a spell. It's therapeutic. Something else to focus on besides worrying about how she's going to keep everyone else safe.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The cathedral dampens sound and muffles footsteps. He strides forward, taking in the place, looking up at the gloomy arches and stained glass. It's familiar in some ways, reminding him of years past and looking up in a similar fashion. Hopes and ideals, the weight of years, ultimate responsibility. For that brief moment he lets himself feel his age...

There's magic about, potent magic with a vaguely familiar flare... and all-too-familiar light. Aqua. It would have only been a matter of time, of course... he hangs back, wondering if she knows he's there, if she can feel his oppressive presence even when he doesn't let his darkness show. What would she bring? How would she react? He would give her the first move, see if she took it.]

[It's a presence she can't pinpoint. But Aqua is too used to danger now, too used to never being alone to miss the signs of someone -- or something -- approaching.

Unfortunately, the church's habit of muffling sound makes it feel stifling in other ways, too. She can't tell in what direction the person or thing is. Her hold on her magic tightens, sharpening into something ready for an attack. She doesn't want to turn and look or she may lose it.

Despite being spiritually on the offensive, her voice is deceptively nonthreatening.] Who's there?

[There are so many ways to reply to that simple, loaded question, but in this case honesty is the best. After all, he has so very little to hide...]

Master Xehanort... but then again, we are both masters now. Just Xehanort will do, in that case.

[As soon as he answers, the magic spirals out of her control. Control has always been one of Aqua's strong points -- it's vital to anyone who wishes to specialize in the arcane arts -- but everyone has a breaking point. As it turns out, this is dangerously close to reaching hers.

The energy scatters, some of it rebounding in sparks of Thunder magic and drawing moisture from the air into pointed ice crystals, which hover and briefly conduct some of the electricity before falling to the ground. Aqua bolts to a standing position, Stormfall flaring to life in her dominant hand. It wasn't a conscious reaction. But it's clear from the look on her face that she feels threatened -- and she's angry. Very angry.]

You don't deserve the title anyways.

[A low chuckle, just vaguely threatening without any outright hostility. He makes no move to draw his own blade, simply striding forward down the aisle with his usual measured pace as the ice crystals hail upon the ground and shatter into fine powder. It lends the cathedral an almost atmospheric chill.

Highly appropriate.]

And who are you to decide that? Master you may be, but a neophyte at best and far too inexperienced with these matters.

[Aqua holds her ground amidst the pews. Her voice has an edge of fury that she doesn't usually allow herself.]

Do you even know how many people you hurt? How many lives you destroyed? It wasn't just us.

[Terra, Ven, and herself were a given. Eraqus as well. But there was also Riku. The Sora she passed the rite on to. Potentially the other Ventus, by proxy of Vanitas, from the sound of it. And who knows how many others that she was simply unaware of?]

You've done everyone more harm than you've ever done good. That's not what a Master does.

[He stops at a suitable distance, staring at her down the aisle. She reminds him of a spring, wound tightly and ready to uncoil at a moment's notice. Silently he pulled his own power to him, preparing in case she did snap and he would have to defend himself.]

What is the duty of a Master? To protect and defend the universe. [He makes a grand sweeping gesture, pulling one arm to his chest and clenching his fist.] I have done more for this cause than you could ever fathom, my dear girl.

What have you done?

[Xehanort isn't the only one amassing his power. Now that Aqua knows what she's facing, she's grasping for her magic as well, trying to gather up the scattered tendrils of it that escaped her before.]

Created a monster that you named Vanitas? Stole my best friend's heart from him? What about that-- that thing you made? The X-blade. What were you planning to do with that kind of power? Not defend the universe, I'm sure!

[One and three make sense, but he's not sure what two refers to. If she is calling him out, though, there is little point in trying to hide.]

And whose heart have I stolen? Ventus' was merely cleft in twain, to remove the darkness from within. I don't recall anyone's hearts leaving their bodies in my presence...

[not yet, at least. if all had gone according to plan...]

The X-blade is a key to unlock the door to ultimate power... a power that could save our shattered universe [he reaches out a hand and calls his keyblade to his side before bringing it up to point at her] far more effectively than you could alone!

[It suddenly clicks that he's from earlier along in the timeline than she is. But it doesn't matter. He would have been planning it anyways.]

Terra's! You took everything from him! We fought you together and still--

[She can't even say it. She can't admit that they failed. That she failed. She let her friends and her Master down by letting Xehanort go. And countless people paid for it after she was gone.]

The only thing wrong with our universe--

[She steps up onto the bench and launches herself into the air with a burst of Aero magic at her feet, concentrating the rest of her amassed energy into an explosive Fission Firaga, which is fired at Xehanort from the tip of her Keyblade.]

--was that you were in it!

[He watches the flames approach, wholly unconcerned, raising a shell of darkness around himself - a tainted mockery of her own barrier magic - just before they reach his skin. He drops into his loose stance, keyblade almost dangling from his fingertips, laughter escaping from him to faintly echo around the room.]

One life, two lives, three lives - in the scheme of the universe it's a pittance! Kingdom Hearts would have given the the ability to save all the worlds! As keyblade wielders it is our duty to offer our lives to that cause!

[The temperature of the room suddenly drops as he swings his blade towards her, channeling the frigid raze of a massive Glacial Arts spell.]

The universe was unbalanced long before you or I were born, Aqua! The difference between us is that I know how to restore that balance... while all you can do is cling to the Precepts and drive the wedge of the realms further apart!

[Aqua lands lightly on her toes in the aisle across from Xehanort.]

The universe would be nothing without individual lives!

[Her unoccupied arm comes out, a Reflect spell expanding from the palm of her hand to guard her from the ice. However, unlike Xehanort's barrier, as soon as the assault is over, the barrier explodes outwards as if shattered by the impact, the crystals flying towards her opponent. The neophyte has learned quite a few tricks over the course of her journey.]

You're the one unbalancing things-- no one is meant to have that much power!

[He narrows his eyes, deflecting the shards without even raising a hand or any sort of visible shield. She has some abilities he's never encountered, a rarity that's intriguing and annyoing all at once.

No time for that, now. He raises his blade to point to the ceiling like a lightning rod to call down a Thundaga, buffeting the area with lightning.]

So tell me, then, what lies in all hearts? Why is it that the light is given such supremacy while darkness is shunned as an enemy to be destroyed? I, unbalancer? You are too far into the light to see the truth of the shadows at your own feet!

[She dodge rolls out of the way of a bolt that almost catches her, firing off a Blizzaga in the elder Master's direction. His question is a bit infuriating. Because the truth is, she doesn't know. Is it darkness that's the problem? Or is it the person that wishes to misuse it?

She decides to go with what she knows.] Because people use the darkness to hurt others! That isn't what it's there for! [It's there because the world needs balance, right? Not to be used as a weapon.]

[He shifts slightly, teleporting away from the hurtling ice and reappearing behind her.]

And those who use the light to further unbalance the world? Are they to simply be dismissed for not succumbing to the so-called evil of darkness?

[He bears down on her with his blade to lash out in a flurry of rapid strikes.]

[She can't speak. His sudden change in location is enough to throw her, and the abrupt barrage of melee attacks cripples her verbal abilities. She's struggling to parry them; the scraping of metal sounds deafening even in the muted cathedral.

His blade finally catches her across the arm before she pushes back, barrier magic inadvertently surging to life in front of her Keyblade. She uses a mighty shove against Xehanort's weapon as leverage to jump back, and the rebound swing resulting to summon spikes of an Ice Barrage beneath him.

She's bleeding now, of course, but she needs distance to heal herself. Even though she's quickly realizing that she'll probably need to take Xehanort head-on to win this fight.]

[He goes to block her swing, but the spell erupting at his feet has more than enough force to fling him into the air and he's sent flying, a quick surge of darkness running through him to render himself flexible enough to twist around and land on his feet. The jolt of landing jars his ankles and hip, reminding him of just why he needed to find a suitable replacement body.

She's distracted, wanting to find a moment to recover. He simply presses on the attack, targeting her with a fast Thundaga Shot while he moves stiffly, going back into the circling pattern of spellcasting from before.]

[The Thundaga Shot startles her just enough for her to put out her hand and summon her ever-faithful barrier. The impact is enough to shatter it into projectiles again -- she doesn't expect them to connect, of course. The trick is too predictable. She's just hoping they'll be enough of a diversion while she casts a Cure on herself to stop the bleeding of her arm.]

[Again, he dismisses the shards of barrier without any obvious method. He takes a split second to note the distance between them before winding up and striking the ground with his blade, sending a ripple of displaced boulders bursting out of the ground in a Quake headed straight for her.]

[The wound has just closed when she has to propel herself into the air to avoid damage from the Quake.

She needs to start thinking. Exhausting herself on attacks isn't getting anywhere, and she's so angry that it's all she wants to do, but at this rate, she's going to tire herself out. And then she'll probably die.

Aero magic sends her into a Doubleflight, bringing her higher into the air. She swings Stormfall once; the magic doesn't bloom at its tip this time, but around Xehanort, in the flat lavender spirals of Stop magic.]

[Oh Aqua. He releases his hold on the darkness within him but it's not fast enough. He can feel his fingers and toes losing feeling as his limbs lock and he freezes in place. While his body can't move, he does watch her with his eyes, and he starts to put into motion just what he's going to do with her when the spell wears off...]

[Aqua doesn't even allow herself the satisfaction when her spell actually connects. She just moves straight into a Zero Gravity, creating a field around Xehanort that will then proceed to bodily hurtle him around inside of it -- Transcendence, one of her books called this one.

She lands behind him after casting, but Aqua is smarter than to stay put. She darts along the front of the church to place herself on the opposite side of the pews from Xehanort when he's inevitably freed from her clutches.]

[Locked away from the passage of time he can't even react to the assault as the spell throws his frozen form about. And then with a sudden lurch feeling floods back into him and he's sent flying back, landing roughly and skidding across the foor.

Another concentrated burst of darkness has him on his feet, although there's a slight lean to his stance due to the rough landing on his hip. What he has waiting for her doesn't need him to stand straight, however, and he merely grasps his keyblade with both hands. He narrows his eyes and focuses on her intently as the darkness wreathed around him flares to life... and begins to emit large spheres that immediately home in on her location, zipping across the space between the two rapidly.]

[Her barrier doesn't come to life fast enough by the time she realizes what Xehanort is doing. The spheres of darkness catch her straight in the chest and slam her against the wall across from him. She lets out a pained sound at the impact.

Her arms come to cross over her front to guard from the other bursts -- she tries to erect a barrier, but they come too fast, driving her relentlessly against the stone wall and burning icy hot across her skin with every hit. As it is, she's pinned.]

[He grins, pointing his keyblade to the roof before swinging it in a wide arc in her direction. With an ominous rumble a large flaming boulder appears, streaking down from the ceiling of the cathedral straight at her.]

[Aqua crumples to the ground once the assault is over. The rumbling is what causes her to stir, just in time to see what is practically a meteor bearing down on her.

Before she realizes what she's doing, she's grasping magic from every which way and throwing it out in a mercilessly destructive Mega Flare. The force behind the Fire magic shatters the boulder, adding more fuel to the existing flames.

Blazing rubble rains down on her side of the church, splintering pews and cracking off decorative protrusions on the walls. The broken rocks are small enough that her Reflega guards her from them, but it's a strain to keep it up. She just barely manages to stand.

She quickly conjures up an Aero spell to surround Stormfall, and just as a piece of flaming debris closes in on her, she swings, propelling the fiery stone towards Xehanort.]

[The corners of his mouth curl up in a rather cruel grin, and he simply raises his hand. A massive stone pillar rises before him from the floor, taking the brunt of the boulder's impact and sending even more shrapnel flying everywhere. The larger pieces smash into the cathedral walls, mottling them with impact craters. He catches the bigger pieces, starting to hurl them back at her quickly with little more than the twitch of his fingers.]

[She can feel her spiritual constitution weakening. She wasted too much power on her initial assault without coming up with a proper strategy and now she's paying for it.

She places the bottom of her foot against the wall, and with an Aero boost, launches off of it into a Barrier Surge. The Reflect shield pulses dangerously as she shoves past all the projectiles he's flinging at her until she's right in front of him.

At that point, the barrier dissipates so she can begin a melee assault with Stormfall -- one of the few options left to her, and hopefully one he won't be predicting while fighting a magician.]

[Her rapid approach can only mean that she wishes to bring the fight to him in order to preserve her spiritual reserves. He releases his control on the projectiles he's been throwing, trying to bring his focus back to the young wielder in front of him before she can attack him in his moment of distraction...]

[He'll have to focus quickly, because she's absolutely merciless in force and speed. Physical strength has always been more Terra's forte, but one should never underestimate the wrath of a woman. Especially one wielding magically-charged metal. She's already stringing together combos at him, regardless of if they're connecting or being blocked.]

[The first combo connects and he staggers back, not catching the choked cry of pain before it escapes him. Her blade leaves long gashes across his chest and he wheezes, eyes narrowing as he brings his own up to block hers, allowing the darkness within him to pool and rise to the fore to grant him the strength to resist her blows until he can heal himself.

He watches the pattern of her strikes before shifting his grip, using the momentum of her attack against her in a retaliation strike to send her reeling back.

Just a split second is all he needs, clutching a hand to his bloody chest in a fit of concentration, pulling the darkess through him to summon several shadows, which quickly dart over to attack.]

[And reel back she does. Though her Keyblade hand is occupied, her other one isn't, and she's been practicing casting spells without a weapon. While she stumbles back, off-balance, she quickly throws out her free hand to shoot a Fire spell at him (it's all she has the concentration for at the moment).

The shadows take her off-guard, though; two of them have already gotten into attacking range by the time Aqua summons her barrier to ward off the rest. Even then, it flashes only briefly. She can't take much more of this, and the Heartless are closing in.]

[He catches the flash of the fire as she casts it, teleporting to the side to avoid its trajectory. The Shadows buy him enough time to summon the energy for a Curaga, the slashes on his chest closing and the other pains from his falls and the Transcendance fading away.

He turns back to her now, watching the shadows lunging and her barrier flicker. It's only a matter of time, now. He takes a step towards her, pooling more and more darkness to summon some Neoshadows, pointing at her with a leer to send them in to join the Shadows.]

[Despite her overwhelmed state, the arcs she swings Stormfall in are nothing but graceful, if a bit desperate. Most of the Shadows are totaled easily enough, but the Neoshadows pose more of a challenge.

They're too close. She can't handspring out of the way. She can barely swing her weapon. In addition to the claws and spry, rubbery bodies that assault her, she can feel the sheer darkness closing in. She hasn't felt this close to it since she was surrounded by it.

In a last, desperate bid to free herself from their clutches, she gathers the substantial rest of her magical reserves. Huge, dangerous crystals of ice absolutely explode from the ground around her in an Ice Barrage that sends stray frozen shards flying and settles coats of frost along any nearby surface that will accept them. Most of those Heartless are probably toast. Or she hopes they are, anyways.]

[The Neoshadows are much stronger than the Shadows, and most of them go down easily enough to the frozen assault. However, a couple manage to avoid the brunt of the attack and rush in amidst the shattering of their comrades, but instead of attacking they simply grab onto her arms, jerking them back in an attempt to hold her in place.

Xehanort simply watches in amusement, letting her burn herself out struggling against them.]

[A few weak flames flare up at her fingertips when the Neoshadows grab her, but that's all she can muster. She's spiritually drained, and without her magic, it's much easier to feel the physical effects of the fight setting in.

The sheer anger of being trapped like this provokes some ferocious wrenching of her body this way and that to escape the hold of the Heartless. They don't seem to be relenting, though, no matter how much she kicks and claws like a lion.

Her struggling eventually tapers to a well-placed yank of her limbs every now and then. She kicks out with the blades on her boots every now and then, but it's not enough to eliminate the Heartless binding her.

So she's forced to wait. There's only so much Xehanort can do in this tower. If he kills her, she'll come back to life. And he has no use for her heart, does he?

She might be humiliated if she wasn't still so furious.]

[A low, drawn out chuckle that slowly builds into full laughter. He begins to walk towards her, almost casually, looking her right in the eyes.]

Certainly we would have clashed at some point. You're far too formidable for someone such as Braig to have taken you down... ah, but this is not that time. It reminds me of something else, similarly foolish... perhaps a similar result is required.

[And he stops, raising his keyblade to point directly at her.]

Remember, Aqua, how little you truly understand...

[Darkness gathers at the end of his blade, bursting forward into a small arcing shot of darkness that streaks towards her. And another.]

[She doesn't want this to hurt. Just because she doesn't want to give him the satisfaction. Despite her last-ditch attempts to pull her limbs free, Aqua keeps his gaze steadily, eyes narrowed into a fierce glare.

She doesn't want to hear what he's saying. She just wants it to be over with.

And soon it seems it's going to be.

But the darkness doesn't take the course she thinks it's going to.

The first rips upwards from her jawline into her cheek, and she lets out a pained cry, squeezing her eyes shut -- which is probably the only thing that protects them from the second blast. That one takes a course vertically from her cheekbone to her brow, leaving marks both above and below her eye.

It hurts a lot more than she thought it would. The darkness festers and burns in the open wounds, that awkward temperature where she can't tell if it's scorching or frigid. The pain is so distracting that she doesn't even open her eyes to watch for the finishing blow.]

[The scene is almost too close, too similar... Eraqus, on his knees, screaming through the pain, his voice laced with anguish while his face too burns...

laughter rips through him again. Like Master, like pupil. Beautiful, poetic justice. He lowers his blade, his smile malicious as he studies his handiwork.]

How fitting.

[And he simply turns, walking away, walking down the aisle through the ruined remains of the cathedral, out the door. Only when the boom of the door closing rings through the cathedral do the Neoshadows finally release their grip, scampering away and disappearing into dark puddles to go terrorize others elsewhere.]

[She's forced to hear the words, but she doesn't process them. She can't process them past the darkness that sears twice as badly because of her affinity to the light.

Once the Neoshadows release her, she rubs the fabric of her sleeves over the wounds experimentally, but that just makes it burn even worse. The young Keybearer reaches, stretching herself as far out as she'll go, trying so hard to grasp even a tiny bit of magic that she can use for a Cure spell, even if deep down she knows it will be futile to reversing the damage that has been done.

She's crumpled in the aisle of what remains of the church with her face in her hands, with only the crackle of the blazing, smoldering debris to keep her company. And that's where she stays, her eyes hidden in darkness between her fingers.

She can't bear the shame of facing the light.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

dismiss (reprise)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject