Master Xehanort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
capax_infiniti) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2012-06-17 04:21 pm
capax_infiniti) wrote in towerofanimus2012-06-17 04:21 pm
Entry tags:
happy father's day, have a papanort
Characters: Master Xehanort (capax_infiniti) and YOU!
Setting: Your choice!
Format: Action, but will match
Summary: Xehanort's lack of inconvenience for the entire month. Eating monsters, doing the usual routines, hiding out and monitoring what he's got going on... and then the dawning realization that maybe some things are a bit beyond his control.
Warnings: Xehanort.
[For those with magical perception, there's something there not far from the stairs... a spell of sorts, a pricking at the back of the neck due to magical residue. It's hard to say how long it's been there - especially given the fauna of the forest - but it's quite potent. Those who can determine the type of spell would be able to note it's for detection.
Further in, to the untrained eye it's nothing more than just bushes, but those who can see details will notice that the bushes don't seem to be rooted properly... it's not quite right... it's a blind, large enough to hold a couple people and a little more, or one person quite comfortably.
Do you enter and see what is there?]
[Being in the dark and without power hasn't limited Xehanort in the slightest. He glides easily between floors silently, relying on mental maps and seeing in the dark to ensure he's getting where he needs to be. Of course, stopping to watch the others in their moments of confusion is always amusing. Perhaps he'll even help out. Positive reputation is a good thing to have in a place like this.
Perhaps he's going down the stairs, or gliding down the hall. Maybe he's stopped on one of the "safer" floors to see who's still around. The tower is rather empty, after all...]
[Even in the dark, the monsters there don't startle him. One lunges to attack, but he teleports out of the way, reappearing behind it and casting a spell that encases the creature in solid ice for a few moments. With a few careful whacks, the limbs are easily snapped off, leaving the beast to be quite helpless once it finally defrosts and flops limply to the floor, roaring in fury and pain.]
[[OOC: please contact me before posting to this particular part! Due to the nature of what is going on, I'm controlling just how many tag into it. Characters who can sense darkness feel free to have your detectors go off all you want though.]]
[It's a slow process, losing control. Not having a collar checkup hasn't really even occurred to him. There's enough in a day to keep him busy. Now, though, magic doesn't seem to come to him when he calls quite as reliably... a sign that something isn't right. He's never had that problem before.
There's no animals around, either.
And something else, something far closer, stirs within him and for a moment he concentrates, frowning in the effort, wrapping himself in that iron will he's so proud of.
But this time it's not quite enough, and that stirring grows, intensifying, pooling beneath his skin unbidden before surging forth, wreathing him in an aura of darkness that slowly begins to intensify.
His breaths choke in his throat as his hands grasp at the ground, for something solid to focus on as he attempts to rally himself, to push it all back down under his control where it belongs.
Yet, the aura still grows...]
capax_infiniti) and YOU!Setting: Your choice!
Format: Action, but will match
Summary: Xehanort's lack of inconvenience for the entire month. Eating monsters, doing the usual routines, hiding out and monitoring what he's got going on... and then the dawning realization that maybe some things are a bit beyond his control.
Warnings: Xehanort.
[For those with magical perception, there's something there not far from the stairs... a spell of sorts, a pricking at the back of the neck due to magical residue. It's hard to say how long it's been there - especially given the fauna of the forest - but it's quite potent. Those who can determine the type of spell would be able to note it's for detection.
Further in, to the untrained eye it's nothing more than just bushes, but those who can see details will notice that the bushes don't seem to be rooted properly... it's not quite right... it's a blind, large enough to hold a couple people and a little more, or one person quite comfortably.
Do you enter and see what is there?]
[Being in the dark and without power hasn't limited Xehanort in the slightest. He glides easily between floors silently, relying on mental maps and seeing in the dark to ensure he's getting where he needs to be. Of course, stopping to watch the others in their moments of confusion is always amusing. Perhaps he'll even help out. Positive reputation is a good thing to have in a place like this.
Perhaps he's going down the stairs, or gliding down the hall. Maybe he's stopped on one of the "safer" floors to see who's still around. The tower is rather empty, after all...]
[Even in the dark, the monsters there don't startle him. One lunges to attack, but he teleports out of the way, reappearing behind it and casting a spell that encases the creature in solid ice for a few moments. With a few careful whacks, the limbs are easily snapped off, leaving the beast to be quite helpless once it finally defrosts and flops limply to the floor, roaring in fury and pain.]
[[OOC: please contact me before posting to this particular part! Due to the nature of what is going on, I'm controlling just how many tag into it. Characters who can sense darkness feel free to have your detectors go off all you want though.]]
[It's a slow process, losing control. Not having a collar checkup hasn't really even occurred to him. There's enough in a day to keep him busy. Now, though, magic doesn't seem to come to him when he calls quite as reliably... a sign that something isn't right. He's never had that problem before.
There's no animals around, either.
And something else, something far closer, stirs within him and for a moment he concentrates, frowning in the effort, wrapping himself in that iron will he's so proud of.
But this time it's not quite enough, and that stirring grows, intensifying, pooling beneath his skin unbidden before surging forth, wreathing him in an aura of darkness that slowly begins to intensify.
His breaths choke in his throat as his hands grasp at the ground, for something solid to focus on as he attempts to rally himself, to push it all back down under his control where it belongs.
Yet, the aura still grows...]
no subject
"Sh...sh..." he murmurs, the owner of the voice springing to mind unbidden, and he grits his teeth for a moment, a hand reaching up to clutch at his chest in concentration. "Xion..."
The aura of darkness around him deepens for a moment in response to the proximity of the light radiating from her and he groans deeply, trying to keep it in check. It had never bothered him before, but then again he'd been able to keep the darkness well below his skin where it belonged. Now, she seemed impossibly bright and he wanted to wince, to shy away from how hot she made the air around them feel. As though there was resistance, their own atmospheres burning each other away.
It's fascinating just as it's unpleasant. He takes a quick breath, managing to form words. "You shouldn't be here..."
no subject
It's hurting him, and she can't just leave him like this. She can't.
"I'm -- " Her voice wavers, and she clears her throat so she can speak firmly. "I'm not going anywhere. There has to be something I can do to help."
no subject
It's mesmerizing in its own way and he has to pull himself back to realize just what is happening, that he has to keep from falling into that pattern of thinking.
It's hard when the light is burning at his skin, as though it's cracking and falling away into ashes, leaving nothing but emptiness and hollowness that darkness is filling. Where the darkness ends and his own thoughts begin is indistinct, unclear. He can't follow it very well anymore... a frightening thought.
It doesn't matter what it does. So long as his heart is safe...
Of course, she may be a tempting target. She should escape. Better that she not be frightened off or damaged. She's still important to the plan, no matter what.
"S-such as...?" He manages to mutter, keeping his focus where it belongs.
no subject
"I..." She doesn't know. She doesn't know what to do. Her mind is so muddled right now... She needs to calm down so she can think. She takes a deep breath. Come on... Everything's going to be okay. But I need to focus. Think of it like a mission. Objective: Help Master Xehanort regain control.
It's as if a switch flips in her mind. Mission has been issued. No time for dilly-dallying. Now, think!
She thinks she knows what would help her if she was losing control. Having Axel or Roxas or Riku there with her, letting her know she isn't alone... But Master Xehanort doesn't seem to think like she does, especially not like that. Changing her focus like she just did helped, looking at it like a mission instead of a crisis. But that's how Master Xehanort thinks all the time, always with focus on the big picture, on the end goal, so if that isn't enough this time...
What did she do to help bring the light under control again? It reacted to her very thoughts, to the beating of her heart, to the briefest flashes of instinct. She had to be careful and make sure she was actively directing it to something whenever it flared up, otherwise it would go wild like it had a mind of its own.
"Maybe -- If you had something to focus it on, so it had something to do, instead of stewing... I could lure some monsters in here." But how many monsters would it take to bring things back down under control? "Maybe that'd let off enough darkness to where using a corridor to travel to another floor where there's more of them would be safe..."
no subject
Though she does have a point. Burning it off, using it in some fashion will help bring it back down to a level he can control. It's just a matter of how to do it without disrupting his concentration too much.
It's too bad there isn't someone else here he could simply just shove it into. Her light is necessary, even as it burns at him imperceptibly. He's trying to foster it, not quash it.
"I cannot focus on anything else," he finally states, in order to explain the situation. "The merest lapse in my attention..."
no subject
What if there is something I can do I just haven't thought of? What if there's something I can do to help, and I just leave? There has to be something else. Come on, Xion, think!
She's silent for a long moment, brow knit as she circles around ideas in her mind. If he can't focus enough to externalize it like that, to fight, is there some other way to siphon it off? Is there something he could channel it into? Briefly, foolishly, she wishes there was some kind of magical bottle that could hold darkness. That would make everything so much easier...
"I wish I could just make it go away," she finds herself mumbling, but then she frowns at herself. That's... While it's true, it doesn't help anything right now. It's not like she can just take it herself. She doesn't know if something like that is even possible, and even if it was, she doesn't have a clue how she would go about doing it.
... she really doesn't know what to do. Helplessness and guilt rise in her. She can't... Why can't she ever actually help when she needs to the most? Her hands ball into fists on her knees and her head drops. (Her light fades, weighed down by these emotions.)
"I'm sorry," she says after a moment. "If I'm bothering you, maybe I should just leave."
She doesn't want to give up. But if leaving is her only option for helping him, then it isn't really giving up, is it?
no subject
Thankfully, it never contacts her, as it jerks back against the force of her light. Even her dulled light is still strong, and he winces loudly as the darkness burns away, nullified by the light...
Or maybe there's a solution present, right under one's nose...
Hardly a pleasant option, but if it works well enough to eliminate the surplus, the rest could conceivably be controlled or burned off before it becomes a problem. Gathering darkness is not difficult in the tower, after all.
His lip curls just slightly at the thought of what he's about to say, before he just grits his teeth, preparing for what he's sure will be a most unpleasant experience. If their hearts were pure, it would be a simple matter - and he would already have what he sought. Instead... perhaps an active demonstration of the opposing forces of the universe.
"Muster your hope, your faith, your strength. Fix those who mean the most to you in your mind. Believe - in yourself, in others, in whatever higher power you hold dear. Bolster yourself, wreathe yourself in radiance. Let these forces themselves do the work."
TEAL DEER CROSSING AHEAD
She's surprised when he starts speaking. It's back in his normal rhythm, and it takes her a moment to realize what he's saying. At first, she doesn't understand why he's telling her to do those things, how it would help. It's clear that he has some kind of idea, because it strikes her almost as an order, despite the elegance of the words. And then it strikes her.
Wreathe yourself in radiance. Let these forces themselves do the work.
Radiance -- Light.
Wait -- That's it. I get it!
Xion nods firmly as her confusion clears, and she takes a deep, steadying breath and closes her eyes. Why didn't I think of that? a small voice in the back of her mind berates her. I let myself get carried away again. I lost my focus. I can still help, but I still failed. She shakes her head quickly, furiously, as if to dislodge the thoughts. That isn't light, she scolds herself.
The first images that come to her mind are of sunsets, of a sleepy Twilight Town, of the trains making their ways along the tracks. The blue of the ice cream stands out sharply against the red and gold light. It matches them, Xion thinks. Red and gold, just like their hair. She looks so different, with her tame dark hair. Or... She used to. She supposes that now she matches a little better, with brown being closer to the colors of sunset than black and spikes to rival Roxas and Axel's. At least her eyes have always matched Roxas', and if you combined the color of their eyes with Axel's, then you could probably get the color of sea-salt ice cream. Still connected. She places one hand over her heart.
My friends are my power! Sora's voice rises out of her -- his memories, like an old familiar ghost. (There's a strange echo there, like someone else said that, too, a long time ago, but she must just be imagining things.) She knows that it applies to her, too, just as much as it does to him. She wonders if it's because she's his replica. Well, if it is... She doesn't regret it. She needs to thank him for it. Of all the things she wants to fix, to do over, that... is not something she would ever, ever change.
Her friends... She doesn't know what she'd do without them. Without any of them. Roxas, Axel, Riku... her otherself... Master Xehanort... And even the people she didn't know terribly well, but had been kind to her, like Naminé and Reno and Princess Zelda. She feels like she owes them so much, so much, that whatever she does, it will never be enough to pay them back.
That's why... she was willing to give up everything, even being remembered, in order for Roxas to be himself a little longer, to come to terms with everything, to hopefully come to peace with what was to come... And why she was going to give up more than everything in order for Sora to wake up. She'd been living on borrowed time, even though she didn't know until it was almost too late. But that time that was given to her, his memories that she took from him... Because of all that, she had the chance to meet Axel and Roxas. She was able to be herself, even for a short year. Even if that year lasted too long, stretched thin to carry her to the Tower, to where she could meet even more wonderful people. Even though she ran away when she should've run forward, even though she made so many mistakes she could never undo -- Her time with them has made her life worthwhile.
She has understood why Sora took the Keyblade of People's Hearts and plunged it into his chest for some time, now, but it has never rung more true than this very moment. She knew that he would do it again and again and again to save his friends, and she knows that she would, too. Her mind and heart have never felt so clear before, even when she made up her mind to go to Roxas that final day on the Clock Tower.
I wish I could go home, truly go home, she thinks. If I could, I would set everything right again.
Xion opens her eyes. She isn't aware of the light positively radiating from her heart, from the memories that form the foundation of it, from the echoes of other hearts within her own. She hopes that it's working, because she can't stand to see someone she cares so much for in so much pain. Master Xehanort, he -- For all the doubts she's had, at the very least, he has given her this moment. He's helped her, he's taught her, and while she knows she still has a lot to learn, she knows he's guiding her to find her purpose again. Maybe she can't go home, maybe she can't return to Sora, but... That just means she has the chance to find a new path, one that she chooses to walk, not one that she has to because of the circumstances she's in.
Saying "thank you" right now would be... odd, she knows, so she doesn't. Instead, she just smiles (and it's all her but there are echoes of Sora and Roxas and... and someone else there, too), and she reaches out to gently cover one of his hands with hers.
She's glad she didn't give in to that moment of weakness, that she wasn't allowed to dwell on it. She's glad she didn't leave. Now... She can only hope that it's working, like he thought it would.
oh my god I'm dead I'm actually dead
While there's still a great deal left, it's manageable for the time being. All that remains is the scent of ozone in burned-out air and the prickling at the back of his neck that he usually got when around those with strong light.
For one brief moment, he lets himself feel as old as he actually is and sags slightly, awash with sundry aches and pains from the experience. He's not entirely sure he wants to risk casting a healing spell, with how unreliable his magic has become.
/casts full life
"Are you... okay now? Master?" she asks tentatively, still not pulling her hand away from his.
/sobs gently in a corner
"Manageable," he says quietly, taking a long breath. "For the interim."
no subject
There's something welling up inside her, now that fear and worry are subsiding, and it's bright and clear and... happy. It worked. It worked. All at once, that something bursts and she can no longer sit still.
"Good!" she finds herself crying as she throws her arms in the air in a celebratory fashion. The next thing she knows, she's hugging him in sheer joy.
no subject
And then suddenly there's a Sora clone radiating light latching onto him and he's very grateful that the surplus of darkness has already burned off because judging from the results of the small contact it would have been very unpleasant indeed. His skin is raw and sore and chafes where the fabric rubs against it, and he's vaguely aware of the throbbing heat being drawn out by contact with another living creature.
She's having a moment. He considers briefly before finally deciding to play along. In a manner of speaking, perhaps, he does owe her that courtesy. He settles his arms loosely around her, wryly wondering to himself just how long it's been since he's done this, whether imitation or genuine.
If there's one good thing that will come from this, it's that the secrecy of the event would be secure. She's been bound to silence... breaking that oath would lead to rather dire consequences.
............................................ /joins you in that sobbing corner
"I -- uh -- S-Sorry." Why is she apologizing? He hugged back, so that meant it's okay. ... Right? "I -- We should get moving, right? You said it's okay for now, so we should find some monsters, and... Sorry."
/packs up tiny little suitcase sobbing forever
"For the time being, I will retreat to where I have been staying and recover appropriately. Then perhaps I will deal with what remains, if necessary." After all, Braig would be quite useful in gathering some supplies, and a poultice didn't require any magic to make.
no subject
"Is there anything else I can do?" All things considered, she... didn't actually do much of anything. And if there's still something that he needs, then why shouldn't she get it for him?
no subject
There's far too many things to do, but the rest of the tower needs to be back before they can really begin. He closes his eyes in contemplation for the moment. Perhaps some good will come of Ganon's scheme, in that perhaps the rest will be drawn back.
... they were to have some sort of lesson today. He shifts slightly, holding out an arm. "You may escort me back, while giving a verbal report on what you have learned from our activities today."
no subject
His words catch her entirely off-guard. "Wha -- I -- uhhh..." She probably shouldn't be terribly surprised by this, she knows. He's a vigilant teacher. "Well... A person's light can fight off another's darkness, even if their hearts aren't in direct competition..." That much is obvious, though. She hesitates, but then ventures, "And I tend to... Well, thinking of dilemmas as missions helps calm me down. It's funny -- For so long, I thought I didn't have a heart, and I wasn't sure if I had one, but, when I think about it... There's no way for me to not have one."
no subject
It's an impromptu lesson, but one that will still bear some fruit even if it's not what he'd been planning. "Of course. That's a simple fundamental. Light and Darkness are always in opposition regardless of circumstance."
What she says about herself is curious and he files the information away for future reference. It's a good way to keep her compliant, if nothing else. "Finding the right motivation is essential. There are often many duties one must do of an unsavoury nature, but they are still essential. A framework to fall on even when one must get their hands dirty ensures that one does not wither or fold regardless of what comes.
You have memories and emotions, do you not? The heart is the seat of these things."
no subject
She really does have so much to thank him for, doesn't she?
Anyway -- Back to the rest of the topic. "Motivation isn't really my problem, though. It's more like... Emotions get so overwhelming, sometimes." She can't help but wonder exactly what he's referring to, though, when he talks about getting one's hands dirty. To her, it implies doing something bad. But, what she did just now... It wasn't bad, right? It was helping a friend. She'd never consider that "dirtying" her hands.
no subject
Of course some reinforcing training would take care of that... but for the time being, having her emotions as wild and free as they were would be useful. Until it was determined what exact role she would play in things, at least.