towerofanimus | Time to grow [closed]

Entry tags:

[ou] shion

Time to grow [closed]

Characters: Shion and Riku
Setting: Floor 29, meadow beyond the hedge maze
Format: Either
Summary: Shion is ready, he goes to meet Riku for his first lesson on trying to control darkness.
Warnings:

A lot had happened since Elena's disappearance and Riku's offer, Xion had been caught up in the experiment mainly. And Shion had been concentrating on helping her. Then this last week... had been one of bad memories but he was trying to move on.

And in doing so had remembered the offer Riku had given him, a promise to help him try and sort out the darkness that only seemed to grow inside of him, the anger and rage that threatened to boil over every time someone close to him got hurt.

Which happened all too often in this place.

So he made his way to the twenty ninth floor. This was another reason he had been avoiding this. Maze's were not good. They brought back only painful memories, of the labyrinth and of Dark World.

So he wasn't in the greatest state when he finally found his way out into the meadow beyond.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He'll find Riku somewhere right in the middle of the gardens, sitting cross-legged with a small Dark Firaga-orb between his hands, blue black flames twisting wildly as if they were seeking to escape. Riku himself doesn't seem really bothered by the way his magic is acting, letting it grow larger or forcing it to condense by the shift of his hands.

He claps them together when he spots Shion though, immediately erasing the flames from existence, concern written over his face, because whelp... Shion definitely doesn't look good.]

Shion... What happened?

[He shook his head] I'm alright... Just a lot has happened

[An understatement if there ever was one]

[Well, Riku doesn't really like quite convinced.]

...Do you want to talk about it?

[With what he is about to attempt to teach, it's better to be aware of the things that trouble Shion, though he won't press much further if the other doesn't want to talk at all.]

[Not really, but he had come to the same conclusion, if he was to sort out these issues he had to be open about things] Xion was hurt, they turned her into a drone. And Hei...

[He nods, lips pressing together, he had seen what they had turned Xion into, he had promised that he'd find a way to help her and yet he had been helpless to stop it. To do anything about it.]

I know. But she's alright now at least.

[Physically anyways. And mentally too, soon at least. Or so Riku hopes.]

What about Hei?

Yes, for now. [Until they hurt her again, make her hurt others, twist her and change her. He starts shaking with anger again]

Hei was turned as well, he killed me but it was my fault.

[Well, hopefully it will be a while until then. And maybe then there will be a better chance of saving her.]

...Why do you think so?

Because I knew what they had done... but I still thought... I thought I could still get through to him...

[A nod of understanding; Riku had tried just that with Xion himself after all... though he hadn't been attacked thankfully.]

You believed in the bond you share. it might not have worked out this time, but that doesn't make it wrong.

I know... but I caused him guilt, unnecessarily.

[Another nod.]

Have you talked with him about that?

I haven't seen him since everyone came back...

[Riku nods yet again, considering to ask if Shion had checked Hei's room... or the graveyard, but then decides against it. No need to sink this lesson before it even gets started properly.]

Perhaps you should go look for him once we are done here... or tomorrow?

[Because now they should start to focus on what they have come to do, even if Riku has no real idea how to teach this to anyone... but he is going to try his best. But first of all...]

Is there anything else on your mind?

[Shion nodded, he would do, he felt bad for leaving it so long already. He shook his head at the question] No... I just... I wondered if you would still be happy to teach me...

[He'll get a faint smile and a nod.]

Of course. I did offer to after all.

[He gestures to the patch of in front of him, motioning for Shion to sit down.]

Thank you! [He smiled and sat down where he was told to]

You are welcome.

[He exhales as he straightens a little in his seat, frowning a little as he considers how exactly he should start this.]

First of all… I should warn you that while I have tried to teach this to someone else before, it’s never been anyone from a different universe than mine, so I’m not entirely how to go about this yet. Or if it will work for you.

I’m willing to give it a try anyways, if you are.

[Shion nodded] I'm willing to try anything... Even if it doesn't work, at least we tried and that's better than just doing nothing.

Right.

[He nods back, lips pressing together for a second as he thinks... he doesn't particularly want to teach Shion darkness magic, and he isn't sure if Shion could actually use it... but the basics of darkness control should probably help him.]

Alright then... I think what we should start with is identifying the underlying issue. You said you get angry more and more often, right? Do you remember the first time?

I... Not really... [He shook his head] It didn't happen a lot when I was a child, but it did a few times. I could never tell what I was angry at though it just all built up in me until I thought I would go crazy. [He looked down]

I remember the first time I attacked someone though.

[He nods thoughtfully. If this has building up since Shion was a kid then he doubts that they’ll find what they really need in his first attack, but… it could yield another clue.

Best they start there.]

Tell me about it. What happened?

I... [He looked down] It was in my world, I was in a meeting. Someone insulted my friend and the next thing I knew I had leaped over the table and had my hands around his throat...

[Another nod, before Riku looks straight at Shion. It's a start definitely, but he needs to know as much as possible so he can even start considering what they are looking at here.]

Shion... I need you to tell me everything that happened during that meeting. As much as possible at least. Don't just summarize things for me... tell me what you felt. Tell me what that person said to set you off. Tell me about your friend.

I know it's hard to open up about things like that, but... please, I need you to try.

[He blinked, not sure why Riku would want to know all of that, but he nodded.] Nezumi... My friend is called Nezumi, we met when we were younger and then a few months before I was brought here he rescued me from my city. He saved my life- he removed a parasite bee from me, which is why I have this colouring, I was living with him, we had gotten word from my mum that we were to go and find a man named Rikiga, who used to be a reporter, she thought he might have some insight into what was happening in the city, and the bees.

[Riku had said as much as possible, but if Shion tried to explain the background he would be here all week he knew so he focused on the meeting.] He knew Nezumi, sort of. Nezumi was an actor and he went by the stage name Eve. Rikiga claimed to be his fan, we explained to him why he was there. He had known my mother and was fond of her.

He took us up to a hidden room, where he had a lot of luxurious items, things like alcohol and such that were hard to get hold of in the West Town, which was where we were.

Nezumi was... well he wasn't very polite. To anyone but he made some comments about it being obvious that my mum had rejected Rikiga. They had met when my mum was writing a column about No. 6. Rikiga had began investigating and became despairing by what he had learned.

He got annoyed by Nezumi's attitude. Nezumi told him not to take things such seriously. He then told him that he knew that Rikiga had been... [He paused and looked down, blushing slightly] He had been finding women to give to corrupt officials of No. 6. That was how he could have such luxury. I know now that Nezumi was threatening him, letting him know what he knew. [He took a deep breath, even the memory of it made him angry.]

Rikiga suggested that Nezumi sollicit. That he would earn more money than from acting... that he had probably done it before. [Shion shook his head] I threw a mug at him, my hands were round his neck before I realised, I would have killed him if Nezumi hadn't pulled me away...

Edited (without switching format half way through this time!) 2013-11-02 22:49 (UTC)

[Riku sits back and listens, eyes drifting off as he processes the story, his hands clenching, he can sense Shion's anger and he understands it... and it's not just an attack over an insult, is it?

Still, it's too early to pin point anything yet.]

...You said, you also got angry as a child. Can you describe those situations for me?

That was a bit different... I didn't attack anyone then I just got really angry. I had no reason to be, the city I lived was meant to be a perfect city. But I would get angry and everything and nothing, and not know any way to channel it. So I usually just threw myself into my work... [Gaining knowledge was a good distraction]

Or I would just scream at nothing, it had to be secret though, I wasn't supposed to feel any dissatisfaction with my city.

[Somehow this nudges at something in Riku; there is something about this wording...]

That city you lived in... was it really 'perfect'?

Is anywhere really perfect? [Shion blinked] It was very far off, but people believed it because they had nothing to compare it to, lies were all they knew so they had no choice but to believe it as truth.

[Riku chuckles lightly.]

Fair enough.

[Riku at least doesn't subscribe to perfection, never really has. And when there's something like a city claiming as much for itself and people are being pushed to believe it... well then he can't help but feel wary of it.]

Were there any consequences for doubting it?

People disappeared. There was a place called the correctional facility. [He closed his eyes for a moment before pushing forwards] Not many people ever returned, and most disappeared from all records.

[Well, that sounds as far from perfect as it gets. And something to get angry about, no doubt.]

Were there people you knew that disappeared?

[He nodded] The latest was Safu... my best friend.

I was trying to rescue her... when... [He made a gesture at the air around him]

[Riku just nods; Shion doesn't have to say anymore. He gets it.]

I'm sorry.

[For asking, for making Shion remember, for the friend he lost no matter how long ago.]

You don't have to be.

I just wish I knew. [He looked down] If in another world we saved her...

[He leans forward, carefully extending his arm to reach and touch Shion's shoulder in reassurance.]

If this place proves anything, then it's that there's a whole lot of universes out there, where someone made a different choice and everything changed according to it. I'm certain... somewhere there is a place and a time where you managed to safe your friend.

[After all... there is a world where he never lost himself to the point that Kingdom Key abandoned him. If there's that, then anything is possible.]

I hope you are right. [He nodded] As... big and terrifying as that idea is, that there are so many different universes. I like it, it means somewhere things did not go so wrong.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Time to grow [closed]

/the absolute latest, I'm so terribly sorry orzorzorz

don't worry about it!

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