towerofanimus | Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

*Enoch found himself backing up, backing away as Riki struggles for his life, adrenaline still clouding what he's seeing, his pulse still pounding in his ears, even if his blood does not flow through veins in this body.

The blue light of his Arch's beam catches his attention, and he goes to retrieve it, numbly, the finality of what had just happened settling in as he straightens up with it to see Riki's hand fall at the door.

He lets out a breath, unable to feel relieved at such a horrific death, but unable to feel properly horrified at the end of such a battle, his mind still coming out of that mode.*

We...

[Riku slowly lowers his arms (and the barrier) as Riki struggles for his life, feeling tense with anticipation while watching him die. It's unlike any other death he's ever witnessed, there is no despair or grief or regret left in the wake of it.

Just numbness and relief.

They've done it.

Riki is dealt with.

He doesn't dare to fully relax or to dismiss his Keyblade just yet, but his shoulders slump just a little as he releases a shuddering breath before replying to Xion's question:]

...I think so.

[Honestly he hopes so, because if Riki gets up now he has no idea just what else they could do to take him down for good. Anyway... the battle isn't over for good just yet, there is still Ruana, but...

Well, for now they can take a moment to pick themselves up again.

He moves around the spikes to get to where Xion collapsed, quietly casting Curaga once he's by her side and offering her a hand to pull her up.]

Are you all right?

[The tower doors creak loudly and slam shut.]

[...This isn't good.

The moment those doors shut, Riku's whole body stiffens. His Keyblade shakes in his grip, and his eyes dart around the room, half-expecting something else to appear. Retrieval units? Ruana? Monsters?

He clenches his teeth, once again wrapping himself in wind and turning in a circle, bracing himself for whatever's coming next. Because there's no doubt in his mind that something is coming.]

...Guys, we should stick close together. I don't like the look of this.

[His dragon's already flopping down at his side, sniffing the air.]

I think so... I think just I landed wrong, when the elevator did...

[All the same, Xion takes Riku's hand and lets him pull her to her feet. The Curaga helps, and she's able to stand without her leg shaking too much or being too painful, though she still isn't sure how much walking she should be doing this point. For that reason, she doesn't let go of his hand after he's done, even reaches her other hand out to grip his forearm, if he'll let her.

At that moment though, the doors shut, and like the other Riku, Xion freezes.]

Me either. Maybe... we should try to figure out a way back up.

[And more importantly, out of here. A quick glance around tells her there were no stairs, which was a problem in and of itself, with the elevator destroyed...]

Edited 2014-07-14 08:12 (UTC)

[The sight of Riki's death is far more disturbing than Kyoko cares to admit, but she barely has time to process the sight before the tower doors are slamming shut once more.

That one movement makes every hair stand on end. Kyoko grips spear, scanning the area cautiously as she moves out of habit, as much to keep herself from being distanced from the rest of the group as to keep from being a sitting duck. She huffs out a breath, trying to brush it off, but there's a clear wariness to her tone.]

Tch. It's just one thing after another...

[To Xion's statement, she nods.]

... Better find one fast.

[Unfortunately, she's having the same problem of not being able to immediately sight a solution.]

*The doors closing makes Enoch jump, and he's back in battle mode, both hands on the Arch, ready to swing, block, or dodge as necessary, as he backs towards the group.*

Do we have some way of lifting the elevator? Or scaling the shaft? Or-...

*His eyes go to the dragon. How many could that dragon carry?*

[There's a sound like nails clawing a chalkboard outside but far up the Tower. Then, in a rhythmic pattern, the sounds grow closer. It's impossible to see through the stained doors of the Tower, but something lands just outside.

Then there's the sound of crunching, tearing metal just outside the closed doors.]

[Riku is happy to let Xion use him as a crutch; at the first sign that she needs to, he crouches slightly to slip one arm beneath hers and around her waist to help support her further. it's probably not exactly ideal given their difference in height, but they'll make due.

He flinches faintly and tenses again when the doors slam, nodding in agreement to the general assessment that they need to get out, but...]

I don't think we should attempt climbing the shaft until we are sure there's no alternative.

[Especially considering how that had ended the last time around.

He shivers at the sounds on the outside, alternating glances between Xion and the door. There is little doubt about who is currently outside and as they are now they are very ill-equipped to fight. They really do need to get further up again. Right now.]

[The sounds outside make Xion shudder and look away, eyes closing tight with frustration and anguish. She was going to take his powers away wasn't she. After all they'd done to try to keep them away-

She swears quietly under her breath.

They can't focus on that now. They have to get out of ehre before Ruana comes to call. She lifts her head, opening her eyes]

Agreed. There's too much of that... psychoradiation stuff. We'd have to be protected from it somehow.

[The only other thing she can think of is teleporting, but they don't know if that's okay to use yet]

*The sounds from outside...that couldn't be...*

He was...no, he was...we destroyed him...

*They couldn't let her have control over the tower itself on top of everything else. Enoch rushes towards the door. If he can just interrupt her, find some way to keep her away, even if it means passing through that terrible light...*

Enoch, stop! You'll die out there!

[In fact, Riku swiftly dashes for him, attempting to grab his arm and pull him away. Still, the sound of crunching is foreboding. Opening a corridor runs a collosal risk, but what other choices do they have? Do they fly up one at a time? But Ruana's there, which spells certain doom. Do they hunt around for stairs in vain?

Gulping, he does the only thing he can feasibly think of and pushes the darkness pent upside him to the very surface of his heart. Or soul. But rather than make a full-blown corridor, he opens a small tear on the other side of the room, no bigger than a mouse hole. Its destination? The cafeteria. His quiet hope is that the distance coupled with the small size will give them a hint at the potential dangers. He'll only keep it open for a second or two, and hopefully that'll be enough to clue them in.]

[The tear opens wide, as if it had a mind of its own. Impossible to close, those in the bottom floor of the Tower find themselves staring into the unforgiving light that destroyed Riki.

It strikes everyone in the room. The fluid beneath their film skin begins to bubble and broil as it grows tainted and pain stabs through them as their souls begin to die.]

[Cu Chulainn disappears in a brief flash of blue light, barely visible in the harsh, bright light. Minato keeps his grip tight on his filmy evoker, but he almost keels over and clutching his head from the pain.

It's unlike any pain he have experienced in the past, not even when his connection to his Personas getting struck would compare to this.]

[The pain in her knee a scant few minutes ago, couldn't even begin to compare to this. Light, even the pain of most things she could remember in the Tower were nothing.

Maybe because there was something real behind it that there wasn't behind anything else. This wasn't just an injury. This wasn't just torture. This was real. Almost everyone who'd been in the Hidden Floor when the plan had been formed had been warned about the light.

And it terrifies her. She's crying in pain and she's clinging to Riku harder than ever and she's so terrified. She'd fought so hard and won so much, she can't die now please. Please.]

Edited (forgot to close the bracket AND NITPICKING SORRY) 2014-07-14 09:27 (UTC)

N-no...

[It comes out in a whimper, and he falls to his knees. No, no, no! This can't... he can't...

But he did.

Just when he thought he'd finally done something right, he just sentenced the others to their deaths. Just when he thought they stood a chance at turnings around, he went and blew it.

And now, all he can do is suffer the full brunt of the pain, even as his dragon staggers close and tries nudging him back on his feet. He can't even look the others in the eyes as shame washes over him.

This is all his fault.]

*He's tugged back when Riku grabs his arm, and then-

Then blinding light and pain, unimaginable pain that pulls a strangled cry from deep in his throat. He had been mentally prepared to go through that light to stop Ruana, but he looks down and the fluid in him is changing, darkening, coming to resemble-

Panicked, he attempts to purify his own arm, but it's not on him, it's in him, and it's not even vileness anyway. A piercing shriek escapes him as his willpower gives out against the pain, and he staggers, a half step towards the elevator and his knees buckle from the pain. He sprawls on the ground, gasping to catch a breath he isn't choking on. Miraculously, he's still holding his Arch, but it won't do him any good.

This pain...that's his soul under there, right there under the film. He's going to be completely and utterly destroyed.*

Lucifel...

*He's failed everyone. And he can't even say goodbye.*

[Riku knows pain. Be it physical or even on meta-physical level; he's spent the last few years experiencing pain on various levels and to various degrees, has experienced seven death (none of which were pleasant) and still, until now he's been of the opinion that there can't be many things more painful than having one's heart ripped right out of their own body and discarded into darkness.

Until now. Because this? This may very well be worse.

It takes all of his willpower not to buckle under the strain of it, even with the pain nearly blinding him, he can feel Xion clinging to him and his own grip tightens around her waist; she is depending on him, he can't let her down and that's the only clear thought he can grasp at outside HURT.

At his shoulder, Highwind whines in similar pain, and the crying and screaming in his ears may not just be the others, may be also his own, but he can't tell for sure. They need to get out, they need to get away, they can't let it end like this – Riku refuses to die like this, but all he could do would be to open a dark corridor and that has just proven to be more than a bad idea.

There really isn't anything he can do, is there? They are lost. They will die.]

[It all happens before she can even begin to process it. One of the members of the group (Enoch, she remembers,) runs towards the door. It sweeps open just as quickly as it shut and the next thing Kyoko knows she's sinking to her knees with her arms wrapped tightly around her torso.

The pain that courses through her body overwhelms all thought as she curls in on herself, terror and agony taking it's place as she makes a desperate attempt to somehow hold herself together when it feels like everything that makes her up is rotting out. It's real, not filtered through her Soul Gem, not numbed by magic or any other number of things. It's real and it hurts and she can't stop it, can't dull it, can't even move in the face of it.

She wants it to stop. She's dimly aware that she'll die she doesn't act (a, but the pain is blinding. It holds her in place, and all she can do is tremble and heave as the sharp cries and hitching breaths are torn from her.]

[Nesir had watched it all silently, the gore on the door didn't bother Nesir, nor did the corpses. She made sure she was out of the way as Riki was pushed towards the door, not wanting to be caught up in it and be pushed out too.

She was proud of the fact that she barely blinked when the doors slammed shut though the sounds were worrying. She didn't have much time to think though, she had taken a couple of steps towards the others as they tried to figure out what to do next when the tear appeared.

The moment the pain began she fled into the emptiness, which shattered within seconds. Barely anything could jolt Nesir out of the emptiness, anger yes. Pain, barely ever. This was worse than anything she had ever felt, worse than losing her fingers. Worse than being set on fire.

She realised she was screaming but couldn't work out how to stop, all she knew was pain as she crumpled to the floor, wrapping her arms around her like she was physically trying to hold herself together.

She should have known, the only thing you ever got from helping others was pain.]

Edited 2014-07-14 20:27 (UTC)

[Though it's safe to say everyone in the room is rather distracted, the doors fly open. It's difficult to see what's happening through the blinding light striking Ruana, though it seems to have no effect on her. She shines like a fallen angel, smiling with oil smeared across her mouth.]

You took my cute, loyal puppy and you snapped his neck. [Her voice is thin and angry, but still she smiles.] But I'm merciful.

[She waves her hand and the boiling calms, fades. The tainted fluid will have to come up, and nausea sets in, but it's rapidly being replaced with untarnished fluid.]

I helped save all of you, after all.

[If any of them collect themselves enough to attempt to approach Ruana, they will find they can't move toward her. They can, however, speak.]

[When the pain fades, Riku finds himself with one knee on the ground, shivering faintly, because while the pain itself is gone, the memory of it still echoes through his body and he needs a second to process the things that Ruana said, that she's in the room with them in first place.

They've gone straight from the frying pan into the fire after all, eh?

He keeps his arm tight around Xion as he fights his way back up to his feet, struggling to get his thoughts clear (and still the first thing that slips past his lips is a snort and a quip – he isn't in any state where he can actually consider approaching Ruana even if it was actually an option, but verbal sparring? He'll have to be deader than dead before he'll stop engaging that when need be.)]

Cute, eh? You might want to talk to somebody about your definition of that.

[Eye of the beholder or not, cute and Riki just doesn't go hand in hand, and that Ruana considers him such probably says a lot of things about her.]

[The pain faded eventually though it took a moment or two before Nesir risked pushing herself up off the floor. A shorter time than she would have perhaps taken in other circumstances but she would die before she showed weakness to Ruana.

To anyone really, but Ruana is top of the list by far. It's another moment before she finds her feett, taking deep breaths to try and fight the nausea. She entered the emptiness having changed her mind, Diarmuid was an idiot after all. She didn't want to feel this.

She found she couldn't step forward though, she didn't even attempt throwing a knife. She wasn't stupid.

She's wary. Why had Ruana let them live? It had to be more than just what she had said, they had been saved so Ruana could play her games, but if this place was going to lose power in a day, what was the point in letting them live?]

That do be being the problem with loyal puppies. They do be being easy to be breaking, you should have been taking better care of him.

[At first, Riku says nothing. He's too overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the pain that seized his body. Overwhelmed by his actions, and the way he'd nearly led the others to their deaths. Even when the pain lets up and the fluid returns, he barely moves, though he does at least stand.

His arms hang straight and rigid at his sides. His hands curl into tight fists, and he glowers at the ground.]

Saved us, huh? Right, and that's exactly why our worlds got destroyed...

*He can't speak at first, can't speak through the tainted artificial lifeblood that he's choking on. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks it's ironic. He helped Armaros through a similar purge...

When the nausea subsides, and his fluid is regenerating itself, he raises himself up to his knees and looks over his shoulder, panting lightly, a look in his soul-projected eyes that was odd in its lack of anything strong but hurt.*

Saved...from destruction you wrought...

Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

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