Clear my head

[reversedestiny]

Characters: Sora (reversedestiny) and you!
Setting: Floor 25
Format: Starting in brackets, I will change to suit!
Summary: Sora's done a lot of thinking since his talk with Riku. He's still trying to sort a lot of things out, but right now? He's just distracting himself.
Warnings: None so far! Will change if things change!

[Sora had been unsure of what to think since the revelation that his so-called adoptive father had stolen his name. Given Riku's appearance that one time, and how he doubts Ansem is even a popular name, he has no choice but to believe him. The logic adds up. Ugh... Too much thinking, his head is hurting. He can dwell on the whys later. Right now he just... Needs to relax.

Which is why Sora is currently sprawled out among the flowers, eyes closed. He's trying not to think, trying to push it all from his mind for now. Ugh... This sucks...]

Comments

[prayerless]

[She's quiet, after a moment. And then...] Maybe we can visit it when we get out of here, if you'd like. Together. I think I'd like to see it.

[Not that a rundown castle filled with darkness sounds like a fun time, but she is intrigued in this world she's never even read about before.]

[reversedestiny]

...If it's still there.

[It was falling apart. How long until the Heartless finally end it?]

[prayerless]

I don't know. Castles are pretty tenacious.

[Even once they start falling apart.]

[reversedestiny]

...I guess.

[Then, a sigh.]

...Aqua, who did you think Ansem was? And... What can you tell me about him?

[prayerless]

[...oh. Well.

Guess there's no point in trying to be lighthearted anymore.

Her smile fades a little. She's quiet for a moment, and then eventually looks out into the meadow; her voice is calm, but there's a faraway look in her eyes, like she's not really seeing the beautiful spring floor in front of her.]

The man I mentioned to you is...or was named Xehanort. He was an apprentice alongside my mentor, Master Eraqus, when they were in training to become Keyblade masters. Xehanort called himself a master...but someone like him isn't worthy of the title.

Master Eraqus didn't really tell us -- Terra, Ven, and I -- much about their past together. Just that they trained under the same mentor, and were once like brothers. Whoever their teacher was decided to name Master as his successor, rather than Xehanort.

[Her hand moves to rest on Master Keeper, an ever-present weight at her side nowadays.] The Master's job was to protect the light. But...Xehanort was a man of the darkness. He didn't believe in our Master's philosophies.

I don't think they spoke much for a long time, until Xehanort brought Ven to the Land of Departure. He used to be Ven's master, until he... [A pause. The only perceptible indication of her anger is her fist clenching around her Keyblade and the minor furrowing of her eyebrows.] ...did something terrible to Ven.

He took the darkness from Ven's heart to create a monster to do his bidding -- a being of pure darkness, named Vanitas. Xehanort almost killed Ven in the process. He did it because he wanted to create something called the X-blade, which was a danger to our entire universe. He almost succeeded.

...The first time I really remember seeing him was when he brought Ven to our world, right after that.

[She calms herself a little, relaxing her hand again.] He was one of the presiding masters when Terra and I took the Mark of Mastery exam. I can't be sure, but...I think he may have done something to Terra, then.

Terra...he was a warrior of the light, but he had darkness in his heart. And Xehanort took advantage of that. He led Terra astray during our journey. In the end, he ended up stealing Terra's body, since his was so old.

When I found Xehanort in Radiant Garden after he had possessed Terra, he looked a lot like that picture you had put on the network of Ansem. Xehanort was in control, but Terra was still there, fighting. They both almost fell into darkness. So I followed him, and sent him back to Radiant Garden, to keep Terra's heart safe.

...I don't know what happened to him after that. It's been over ten years.

[End storytime?]

[reversedestiny]

[He listens, quietly. Thinking it over, what she says. So, Xehanort, who is likely his adoptive father, did a lot of bad things... but then, there's the mention of Radiant Garden...]

...Radiant Garden...? I think I read that somewhere in the castle...

[...Now it's going to bother him.]

[prayerless]

[She finally snaps out of her apparent fugue to look at Sora and smile a little.]

I'm not surprised. It's beautiful, and a very important world.

[Aqua peeks down at the ground then to touch one of the nearby flowers.] I met a very special little girl there once, named Kairi. I'd never met anyone besides Ven with so much light in their heart before.

[reversedestiny]

[All of a sudden, he's staring at Aqua.]

K-Kairi!? You know Kairi!?

[Riku had known her. She'd ended up on his island after she'd left him. But Aqua knows her? How? She'd always been at that castle...!]

[prayerless]

[Huh?

Her eyes go a little wide.] Yes. I only met her once. She was being attacked by Unversed.

Before she had to leave, I cast a spell on her -- if she was ever in danger, it would lead her to a light that would keep her safe.

Do you know something about her? [She'd really like to know if her magic actually worked. It...was kind of a special spell.]

[reversedestiny]

She was...

[...It's beginning to make sense, though, now.]

...She was there in the castle when I woke up...

[prayerless]

In Hollow Bastion?

[...wait...Radiant Garden had a--

Her hand comes up to her mouth in surprise, eyes wide.]

...Sora, do you know what was beyond the castle you lived in?

[reversedestiny]

...The Rising Falls, then... Nothing. The world was attacked by Heartless before I came, remember?

[When he said his "father" had lost his home to the Heartless. It's making sense now...]

[prayerless]

[...not really, no. She knows very little about the Heartless, honestly. Not many records of them existed in her time.

And she doesn't remember the Rising Falls, either, but...]

Radiant Garden was surrounded by water. There were a lot of fountains. [Maybe she could describe the castle...?] I was never actually inside the castle, but on the outside, there was a window where you could see a lot of the mechanisms. It looked like the inside of a clock. The walls were mostly purple, and there were a lot of points and spires coming off of it.

Does that sound a little bit like the castle you were in? [There's no way it would have looked exactly the same after ten years, especially if it was falling apart as Sora said, but it couldn't have been unrecognizable, right?]

[reversedestiny]

...Yeah. It does...

[...Ouch. He'd figured it would be that. But now she'd confirmed it.]

The Falls are the only water left, but that's because the rest of the world is gone.