towerofanimus | 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...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It takes a moment or two for him to register that she's talking. There's a vague buzzing in his ears, one he attributes to the rapid turnover of light and darkness in his immediate vicinity. He feels burned all over and his hand feels sticky, fabric clinging to skin due to burst blisters and leaked serum. He's only just aware of the pressure of her hand over it.

"Manageable," he says quietly, taking a long breath. "For the interim."

He's okay. She breathes a sigh of relief. He's okay. It worked. (She didn't entirely fail him after all.)

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.

For one brief moment everything is relatively stable.

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.

She is having a moment, thankyouverymuch, and probably to Xehanort's relief, his returning the hug shocks her out of it. She never expected him to reciprocate any form of physical affection ever, even in her subconscious, and the sudden contact almost makes her jump. At the very least, it seems to have brought her to her senses, as she's now turning absolutely red and retreating, pulling back until she's sitting on the cathedral floor and trying to hide under her hair.

"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."

It's something of a relief when she pulls back, as it means there's no longer the required pretense of physical comfort. He's more than content to give her as much space as she wants - if anything, her reaction is highly amusing.

"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.

"Okay." I'm glad to have helped, she thinks about saying, but decides against it. A more playful option of I told you I could help also comes up, but she casts it aside, too.

"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?

He rises to his feet, not nearly as gracefully as he would have liked. A chorus of aches shoot through his legs and once again he's reminded of the pressing need to find a new vessel.

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."

Without thinking, she takes his arm. It's become habit, now, and even if it wasn't, she still reached for him when he stood.

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."

He's leaning a bit more than he would have preferred, slow and careful steps that fall in time with hers as they go.

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."

"Then... Maybe... That's why I have a heart to begin with." Xion lifts her free hand to rest over her chest. "Sora..."

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.

"You are young, it's natural for your feelings to get the better of you. It takes a great deal of practice and discipline in order to keep them in check in difficult situations. As a Keybearer, often you may be forced to make difficult choices..."

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.

happy father's day, have a papanort

/sobs gently in a corner

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............................................ /joins you in that sobbing corner

/packs up tiny little suitcase sobbing forever

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