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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[At first there's nothing, just Riku's words echoing away into the empty space. The dream is too quiet, too still.

Then... something happens. Something goes wrong. The boundary of the dream wavers slightly, the edges warping a little bit as the entire thing goes unstable, threatening to drop Riku into the suddenly visible blackness all around as the setting flickers. All at once reality reasserts itself, the floor and walls and ceiling of the castle returning in stark, solid relief.

This time, however, Riku is not alone. Darkness creeps in, forming the familiar node of a Corridor of Darkness, revealing the familiar ruddy skin and golden eyes of the Heartless.

Ansem crosses his arms, giving Riku a cold, deliberate stare.]

You choose to call me out, in this of all places...
No matter. For all you struggle, it is in vain. My shadow will linger over your heart for as long as you live.

[Riku tenses, eyes narrowing as he glances around at the way his surroundings twist with darkness and even before the Corridor opens he is already feeling the so familiar, foul stench of the Heartless' Darkness wash over him.

While he might have felt angered, provoked, by that stare a year ago, he just returns it evenly now - there is really no love lost between them after all.]

Where else, if not here.

[Where, if not in this dream, at this time.

He has too much time trying to find ways around, had been driven to the point where had been just about accept his fate as castaway from the Darkness, but that was back home where the risk hadn't been quite as large, where it had been all for Sora's awakening.

But here Sora is awake and unaware to things yet to happen, to the things his done, to the reasons he acts the way he does. And that changes everything. He snorts, unimpressed.]

So you say. I haven't given up yet though.

[And at the end of all, if he hasn't given up, it will be his win.]

[The Heartless's expression doesn't change, though he raises his arms in a loose gesture, his voice taking on that droning pitch of a lecture, as though talking down to the young man before him.]

How foolish of you. You were the one that welcomed me in. You took all the gifts I had to offer and used my power freely. You were the one who let me - and thus the darkness itself - take root in your heart... and now you think you can expell us so easily? After all this time, we're still here, waiting. You can't escape from the darkness so easily!

Edited 2012-08-16 08:04 (UTC)

[It's not an unfamiliar tone, not when he is used to Ansem using it at any and every chance he gets. Thus, Riku is really rather unimpressed.

He's made mistakes, in Hollow Bastion and before that, but he's decided to face them, to take on the consequences. (It's not like there isn't an easy way out. Not with Naminé near.)

He'll face his mistake, and Ansem, again and again, if needed. No matter how long it takes to expel him or seal him so deep that he is even beyond Riku's reach.]

True, I welcomed you... and that's why it's got to be me, who shows you the door.

[He can't expect anyone to come and save him. He really doesn't anyways. Even if there were someone, he'd ask them not to like he did in Castle Oblivion.

This fight, he has to bring to an end by himself.]

I never expected any of this to be easy. If it were- [His right hand clenches into a fist as he slides his right foot back, changing stance, readying himself.] - where would be the point in it?

It's been some time since our last encounter. No doubt your own skills have improved and been refined. So too, have I grown stronger... the darkness that festers and wears away at your heart, that you lock away and deny... that is my true strength, the vice-grip I hold over you. The more you try to walk away from it, the stronger I become!

Or have you forgotten how close I really lie within you? That you could call me, into a place like this... this is more than a dream. This will be the end, and I will rule your heart once more!

[He glares at the Heartless, lips pressed into a fine line as he shifts even more, lifting his right arm and twisting his wrist as the air crackles and dark mist gathers to form the Soul Eater.]

We'll just have to see about that, won't we?

[Because no matter how much darkness Ansem throws at him, he certainly won't go down easily. Or really, at all.

This will indeed be the end, and Riku has no intention of losing.

And so he dashes forward, blade raised high as he launches himself up, air whistling as he slashes downwards at his enemy.]

[A shame. How many times has Riku done this? Although the last time, at Castle Oblivion...

He raises a hand, calling on the darkness and focusing it into a point to create a shield. If Riku is going for the obvious opening tactic, then it's only fair to indulge him by sending him sprawling on his face again.

Of course, if he does get through...]

[He's done this plenty times, he knows he has and that is precisely why it's his opening move yet again - because while the first move might seem obvious, the follow up has changed.

Riku has changed, since Castle Oblivion, since their last encounter (just as Ansem had pointed out before), has grown in height and speed and strength and experience. In Castle Oblivion, Ansem's block had sent him to the ground once, and he had just so managed to recover the second time, but this time, he's anticipating it, counting on it even.

He pushes right back against it when the Soul Eater connects, as if to challenge a match of strength, just until he finds his footing and twists away to push through beneath the shield and slide closer, his grip on his blade changing for an upwards slash.]

[Ansem is aware of how much Riku has changed, having ridden along inside his heart in fragments, slowly rebuilding himself from the darkness Riku keeps inside. It's been a labourious process, but now, here...

He's expecting trickery, and when Riku's weight shifts to come off the shield and duck under it Ansem is ready. Not being prepared is what got him cleft in twain last time. He's not about to admit defeat so easily. Not now. A lithe dodge, shifting himself away from the blade, and he winds up to blast darkness in Riku's nearby, unprotected face.]

[His eyes widen slightly as Ansem shifts away to counter and he can sense power being gathered, the bitter stench of that darkness on the back of his tongue.

A split moment's decision is all it takes to twist and push away to the side, and still he can feel the burn-freeze-sting of that attack just barely grazing his cheek, his jaw clenching as he uses what momentum he has left to take one more swing at the Heartless before he slides back and creates some distance between them again.]

[At this close range it's all that Ansem can do to to bring up his arm in order to take Soul Eater's blow. He charges darkness along his arm in an attempt to push it out at Riku and knock him back, but the boy himself moves, sliding across the room, separating them once more.

No matter. Darkness already stitches together any wounds inflicted upon him. Rather, he brings his arms in close, summoning a vast amount of darkness, which he then unleashes upon Riku in a large blast attack to bridge the gap between them.]

[The Darkness may mend him back together, but the first damage has been dealt on both sides - hardly enough to be worth talking about, but just maybe significant on the long run - which Riku supposes makes this first clash a draw.

Not that he really has any time to think about it right now (though he will have plenty later), not with the next blast approaching, like a huge wave threatening to swallow him as a whole, but he's been up against this plenty times in Castle Oblivion with only his arms to shield himself. He isn't quite as defenseless now.

All it takes is a shift of his weight, a stretch of his left arm, magic and darkness twining as he gathers and forms them at his palm, creating not a point shield, but a barrier that covers all of his front, protecting him from the blast. At the same time, he lifts Soul Eater back up, preparing to attack again, the moment his shield goes down.]

[Shielded. A shame, really... although this fight isn't quite properly joined. He's down the Guardian, for whatever reason... it won't heed his call. Troublesome.

He still has quite a few tricks up his sleeve, and when he sees Riku going into his attack stance again he powers up the discs, unleashing them along with a fast thunder strike in order to keep Riku at a distance.]

[He keeps his shield up to deflect the incoming attacks, jaw clenching as he feels it drain on his magic - he can't keep this up much longer. He doesn't want to either; this is keeping him locked in place and the longer he stays the more vuln-

It's that moment thunder strikes down, too close, too fast, too unexpected to be blocked, and he can't help crying out as electricity races through his nerves, making him flinch even as he shakes off the effects and abandoned his efforts at defense and darts forward again, ready to strike away whatever Ansem will throw at him next. He won't be stopped.]

[The Heartless is all too ready for Riku's incoming attack, holding out his arms in a welcoming gesture before charging up another brace of darkness to hurl his way...]

[... and then a strikingly familiar-looking girl darts out between the two combatants, arms outstretched as though attempting to intervene.]

[He is ready to strike, to cut through any and all that Ansem may throw at him, his left hand reaching over to steady and strengthen his grip on Soul Eater even more; this will be it, this is-

His eyes widen in shock when Kairi's familiar figure appears before him, face paling and he just barely manages to stop his own momentum and to slide into halt before her, to use the his left to block himself instead of as support - even though she shouldn't be here, even though it doesn't make any sense for her to be here, it's Kairi and he just can't swing his blade at her. Not her.]

Kairi! What-

[From behind her, Ansem's eyes study first Riku, and then the girl, but he doesn't make a move yet. There's something going on here...

Meanwhile Kairi holds her ground, giving Riku a look.]

Riku, what are you doing?

[His eyes are only on the girl before him - even though he knows it's dangerous, even though Ansem is so close - he's still trying to figure out how this can be, how she can be before him when he can't sense her light, when all around him is foul, foul darkness...

...He has been in this situation before. Or in one rather similar at least. Only that then he had faced Sora.

His lips are pressing together as he tries to catch himself again, his grip on his blade shifting as he shakes his head and schools his expression into a frown.]

...I could ask you the same thing.

[Is she real? Is she illusion? He is almost maybe sure that she is later, but even so... just how can he bring himself to lift Soul Eater against her, when-]

This isn't the way to do this, Riku! [She shakes her head, closing her eyes in determination.]

[There is still no telling, if this is real or not, if illusion or dream - but real or fake is not so much the question as just how. There are only two people in all worlds that Riku can't bring himself to raise his blade against.

Illusions have the unfortunate attribute to look, to sound so very much exactly like the real thing, but they can't be trusted under any circumstance - Riku's learned this already while confronting Zexion. And yet he isn't moving, isn't doing as he had learned back then, isn't searching for the source, and moving to cut right through to the truth. He is hesitating still.]

What do you mean?

You've done this before. All of it. It's just going to keep repeating over and over! Vanquishing him won't get rid of him... it won't change anything.

[Her stance, the way her hands fell to her hips, her expression... it was all that determined fire, her eyes adamant.]

[He's done it before, true, and it had driven Ansem back and held him sealed for over a year, but it hadn't been complete, hadn't locked him out fully; just enough for his mind to be too far to touch Riku, and for their powers to continue to mingle.

The repeat might only serve to reset this, to dis-tangle them again to the point they had been at when he had left Castle Oblivion, but that alone Riku would already consider success.

He almost dreads the answer to the only question that can follow to this.]

...Then what will?

[While he's smiling inside, he only shows a fierce determined scowl, more suitable for the fiesty girl he's attempting to emulate.]

You have to acknowledge that he's a part of you, Riku! Open your heart, not just to the darkness...

[It's not had to complete that sentence.]

...but to him too? 'Become Darkness itself'?

[He falls out of stance and relaxes his grip on his blade, head tilting slightly as his bangs fall forward into his eyes, lips curling almost as if he was considering as he takes a step forwards to her, hand lifting to her cheek as if to caress it.]

I guess that would be worth considering... I'm sorry...

[Kairi is and always will be the first girl he was in love with, his best friend for all times, someone he will always be protective and fond of, no matter what. That is why dealing with an illusion of her is so much more difficult than dealing with Sora's ever was, why he can't just blast Darkness on her without being absolutely free of any and all doubts... which he can be now - he has promised her, the real Kairi, to be all right and Naminé not to lose himself, not to give up... on himself, on his path, never never.

And so there isn't any indication on what he is about to do next, none aside of the flash of steel in his eyes, half-hidden by his bangs as he suddenly flips Soul Eater and slashes it upwards, right across her front.]

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM WITH ME

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