towerofanimus | DREAM A LITTLE DREAM WITH ME

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM WITH ME

Characters: all the characters involved in the Dream Event
Setting: various dreams, various locations
Format: any
Summary: Xehanort draws a large amount of the tower into worlds constructed from their dreams in an attempt to learn about everyone en masse
Warnings: ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING

[Tendrils of magic wound their way around, lines of energy flickered into existence, forming a large shape on the ground around where Xehanort sat with his back straight and legs tucked neatly beneath him. Perfect. It was a bigger scale than the one he'd done but a month before, already he could feel the flickers of connection, the shape getting brighter and more defined.

More participants. More mental drag. There was little to worry about. With Xigbar on guard duty, his sleeping body would be quite safe. No, it was time to dream... and see just who would follow.

Darkness shrouded his hand, keyblade flaring into life, and he gripped the handle in both hands, aiming it at the ground, at the keyhole defined by criss-crossing darkness responding, resonating...

drowsiness laced through him, the blade in his hands sagging downward until the tip touched the ground, his posture slacking, head and shoulders slumping slightly

in slumber, the dreams of others awaited

the Master was asleep.]

OOC NOTE BECAUSE I CAN'T EDIT THE POST IT'S ON ANYMORE AND NOT REDOING ALL OF THAT: Dreamers should post to their REAL WORLD thread explaining where their character is, if they made it to a bed or if they're on the floor somewhere or wherever.

If you have questions for me, put them in your base character thread!

If I missed you somehow, let me know and I'll add you to the appropriate section!

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"That's impossible though, isn't it?"

His voice remained downright upbeat and cheerful, but there was an air of something a bit more sinister underneath.

"When their dreams are so far out of reach, they have absolutely no chance of realizing their full potential, of reaching their dreams the way they are now. Everyone dreams of the impossible so how can they be happy?"

"I think they do. I just think they can't see it. I believe in people. Even through everything, through the darkness and the sorrow, there's a spark there. I... I think they'll be able to come through. They have to."

If they don't... then he'll end up killing everything. He doesn't want to hurt anyone... so he has to believe in them. Even if he doesn't quite believe it himself, if he's terrified that they won't be able to make it, he can try to make it a reality by at least saying it.

"You can believe in the spark-- and I'm sure that there are a good handful of people that believe in it too. But at this rate, humanity doesn't have the means to ignite it into a fire."

He released Ryoji's hand, bringing his own up to hover above his mouth as he let out a chuckle, and his voice took on a more sinister undertone. "Anything you do to stop that spark from going on will probably amount to nothing. What a wretched life."

"I don't have a choice but to believe in them. I can't... I can't accept the idea of me killing everything. I didn't ask for this - I didn't want this. I don't want to hurt anyone..."

It was getting harder and harder to believe that this would end out well at all, though...

"Fate's a cruel mistress, as they say. We trust with all our hearts in the people that are closest to us, and all they do is end up disappointing or betraying us." His voice remains as poisonously sugarcoated as ever, but there's a bit of an extra sting to that bit.

"No one would blame you, really."

Ryoji seems to shrink back a little, putting a hand to his face.

"I... I can't... please... don't make me..."

Why shouldn't he give into it? He didn't have any time left, none of them did, and to just lose himself in rage and bitterness would be so much easier...

"I wouldn't make you!" The voice sounded both accusatory and incredulous-- it was hard to tell with the ever enroaching edge of insanity.

And even with the clear madness become more and more evident with each word, his voice still somehow softened as he continued speaking. "Only you can chose your dreams. All I've done is tell you humanity's true nature. I'm just trying to make things easier for you... wouldn't allowing your true nature be so much easier...?

"People fight against what's seen as their true nature all the time, though. People are really just animals, technically - but by fighting against that instinct and helping others, doesn't that make us better?"

He's scared, but he's still struggling. He doesn't want this, doesn't want any of it, doesn't want to hurt anyone. He wants to just help people, or at the very least avoid hurting them, but it's hard when he knows what's inside of him.

Death comes to call. He can't stop it. To try to stop it is impossible. But... that doesn't mean he shouldn't try.

Right?

"Animals yes; but in the end, everything that humans do is motivated by their very basic desires and instincts, whether it's to protect people they care about, or to save their own lives."

He closed his eyes for a prolonged pause, and then opened them again before speaking.

"In the end, no one can really run away from who they are on the inside."

"... And who are you on the inside, then?" He was feeling a little more bold. He knew this mask couldn't just be the whole person.

People were more than their masks... hadn't this last year taught him that, at least?

"Me....?"

There was a sense of wistfulness to his voice, though it and his face remained cheerful as it always had been.

As if on cue, the mask grew to cover his entire face in a permanent, demented grin. "I am the Joker. An agent of Chaos here to help you poor, wretched souls."

"... No you're not. There's someone inside of you, just like I'm not just the Nyx Avatar."

He takes a few steps forward, reaching out to touch the mask. "Under here... there's someone like me, isn't there?"

Ryoji's hand wouldn't reach the mask; once he got close enough, the Joker swept up a hand to grab Ryoji's wrist, maintaining a vice grip and moving it away from his face.

"A cute thought," He said, his voice falling more ominous and not even bothering with its sugary facade. "I am not such pathetic creature like you. You are mankind's destruction, while I am their salvation! Their dreams come true. I am what's 'underneath.'"

"No. You're not, are you? I saw it before. You're a person. Someone with dreams of your own. Why are you hiding?"

The feathers start to melt away, his features slowly starting to shift towards a more human appearance.

In conjunction with the feather's melting, the white detail and the rest of the costume began filling in, until the entire Joker ensemble was complete.

He let out a laugh that seemed to echo on invisible boundaries, and his grip on Ryoji's wrist tightened. "Dreams are but unachievable fantasies. It is I that makes them a reality; and it is I that was being hidden away, buried deep into the dark heart to try and shut away the shame. Until now, of course."

He winced, trying to ignore the pain. Who was this person?

"You're a mask. There's someone behind the mask. You might be a true self, but I doubt you're the only one. Show me your other mask again."

"Heheh... You're not very smart, are you? I'm not the mask! This 'true' face you're looking for... it's a flimsy excuse for a human being. All that's left is me!"

He finally released his grip on Ryoji, by way of yanking his arm and throwing him against the wall.

Ryoji tumbled to the ground after the impact, looking up at Joker. Even through all of this... he had to try, didn't he?

"... I used to think that a lot of people were flimsy excuses for human beings. So many people had hurt us, whether it was on purpose or by accident. But the people I've met this year... they've showed me that there's more to everyone. And so I know there's more to you than just that face you're showing now."

"And what happens when those people turn around and hurt you like the others? It's inevitable, really; they'll finally betray you, do away with you when they grow tired of you or have no use for you."

His voice retained its lighthearted malevolence, but there was an extra bite behind it that sounded... almost angry and bitter, if you could hear it through his distorted voice. "Don't think they won't; everyone does eventually. People change. They grow up, and move on."

It's a thought he'd had often enough. It was enough to give him pause, leaning back against the wall, eyes closed, before he finally spoke.

"Then you find people who won't. There are people who will stand by you, no matter what."

His tone was unconvinced, though. He'd had too much evidence to the contrary. Too many kids finally seeing what was under his scarf and shrinking away, too many adults moving the three of them when they had said they would be able to stay, too many broken promises, too many cold stares...

And there came that corrupted laugh again, as the rest of the scene seemed like Chaos was crawling from the cracks.

"How do you expect anyone to believe that when you hardly believe yourself?

"...Like I said, people change. They outgrow those around them, and they move on."

"... I don't know."

He was weak. He wasn't strong enough to save the people who mattered to him from harm, and he wouldn't be able to save them from himself.

As for everyone else... he had no doubt that they would turn on him, seeing what he had carried for so long and what he was becoming.

"That's what I thought."

No laugh this time, just the dripping arrogance of the knowledge that he was indeed right. A yellow Iris appeared in his hand and he threw it at Ryoji's feet.

He didn't have anything else to say.

"... I don't know what to do."

He was terrified. There wasn't any path that didn't lead to horrible things. He didn't want any of this... he didn't want people to hurt him, but he didn't want to hurt other people.

There was no solution, nothing that wouldn't end in pain and tragedy.

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DREAM A LITTLE DREAM WITH ME

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