The offer of power was tempting, but Markus had seen someone he knew let the darkness in, and he certainly hadn't seemed in control. Maybe some day, but today that dark portal in the sky only looked like the black hole he had narrowly avoided back in his own world. The black hole, with its keyhole. Markus thought back to that, when he had unlocked it. That man, Leon Nero had called him, said that his keyblade could unseal any lock.
"Nero," Markus called across to him, "Akira. All of you, do as I do," he commanded, as he lifted his keyblade to point at the heart. He imagined it as the keyhole, and willed his keyblade to emit that same beam of light. He hoped the others would heed his orders, as he didn't think he had enough power on his own.
Striking the sphere around the Heart, Akira's keyblade held it steady while the arm and hand of the heartless tried to pull it with fervor. Without knowing it, Markus opened a direct line from his heart to the captured one. Emotion poured from that Heart, pushing anger, pain, despair, sadness, and fear but also one more emotion far stronger than the others. Markus felt the loneliness inside that heart, a chasm of emptiness reserved for the void. Words would come to his mind. Why? was the most common, the context impossible to tell. This Heart questioned its self, but how could Markus even answer?
Asha quickly learns that that her usual strategy is useless on the huge armour since it is consist of separate pieces. Not only that, something is interfering with with her magic. She feels drained already although back on cocoon, Asha can manage to fight far longer than this. "Something is definite not right." says Asha under her breath. she looks around. The rest of the keyblade wielders seem not be as badly affect like her.
But the huge armour started to float above them. A voice gave a speech about the darkness, how keyblade wielder are cursed and blessed but can only bring despair and destruction to everyone they meet. This struck a chord in Asha's heart. From her world of cocoon, She heard of the l'cie, beings blessed with great power by the fal'cie(gods) but have a cursed fate worse than death. If a l'cie fails his/her mission, they turn into a cie'th, a mindless monster and so bringing destruction to everthing around them. But Asha also heard of lightning and her friends whom all become l'cie. But they made the choice to rebel against the fate set in front of them. They fought together against the fal'cie. They won in the end. Though hope and unity, they were able to overcome the toughest of foes. Asha givs a tear and a smile. Asha decided to rebel as well.
"You can take your damn offer and bugger off. I do not need your power of the darkness. All we need to defeat you is hope and unity. I reject your fate for me. I am the only one who can decide what my fate entails."
She heard one of the keyblade wielders command her to do as he does. She does what she is instructed.
The keyblade emitted light with Markus's. Her heart was connected and she would feel those same emotions, and the loneliness most of all. The depth of this Heart's despair would remind her further of her home world and those cursed by the Fal'Cie. However, the Heartless had a greater influence over all the sky. In every world they would show up one day, her world had merely avoided them until recently. She could at least empathize with that captured Heart.
Then something appeared to her mind as well, Markus's Heart was connected too. They would sense each other there, as if standing beside each other in the void of that Heart.
Leon could only watch as the keybladers tried to free that Heart. He knew there was nothing he could do but watch and wait. In many ways he felt powerless, as evident on his irritated face. Yet there was calmness. He trusted these children to free that heart.
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Fion went quite for a minute and began to think as the voice sounded familiar for some reason and he felt like the voice was just trying to trick them into doing something stupid. The keyblade couldn't be the power of darkness could it? It was light was it not it destroys heartless after all.
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Fion decided even though everyone clearly wanted to unlock it at the same time it could cause problems as the mysterious voice just said unlocking this is the first step to mastery of darkness meaning that it might do something unexpected and not something they'd want in the end.
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Fion then aimed at the hand holding the heart and focused the keyblade at it and shot a beam of light towards it similar to how they opened the door to the third district. maybe just maybe making the dark hand lose it's grip on the heart might do something.
Inside of Fion's heart the soundless voice spoke again.
The Keyblade's power is not light. Nor is the Keyblade's power darkness. It exists in between, following those with the strongest hearts and nothing less.
Fion joined the others, sensing them and the capture heart's emotions. However, Asha and Markus would feel less of that despair. It seemed that the more people who linked their heart directly, the less toil the capture heart contained, as if they siphoned it.
"I don't know what the voice meant," Markus grunted, straining at his keyblade, "But if the darkness wants this heart, I will keep it from it."
Markus could feel Asha and Fion, however only Markus was perceptive of something happening inside of Fion's heart. He knew someone was speaking to Fion but didn't know the words. Asha would remain unaware of the conversation at all.
Nero winced slightly in anticipation, perparing himself for the attack launched his way. Clenching his teeth and closing his eyes, he had prepared for the worst, but when that never came, he slowly opened his eyes to see the figure of Leon before him. As the dark cloud began to disperse around the swordsman, Nero gave a relieved sigh as he stood.
"Thanks, Leon." His remark sincere as he made his way to stand beside the warrior, eyeing over the heartless as he began to steel himself for the oncoming battle... Yet as the Heartless began to change to it's new daunting visage, Nero could only shudder as he gripped his keyblade tighter, "What the world is that?" As he attempted to step forward, Leon blocked his path, causing the boy to narrow his eyes at his mentor, but abide by his command. Only when the heart was exposed, did Nero full grasp the situation. This truly was someone's heart... The heart of a kid as the voice had put it just moments before. As the voice began to speak upon the darkness, he noticed Leon's strike had no effect... But even that didn't garner his full attention. His eyes now lingered upon his keyblade.
"... This? This is what calls the heartless? Were Akira and I the reason that the heartless came to our world? Why so many had to suffer at their hands," Though merely speculation, the thought haunted the boy, gripping onto his keyblade with a renewed mix of fear and hatred for the device, "Darkness lingers in all hearts, I know... But can it truly be used to stop another world from being lost." It was then he noticed his allies all attempting to free the heart, but still his thoughts were clouded.
"Maybe mastering the darkness is the way... If it'll keep any more people from suffering..." Idly, he'd begin making his way forward, attempting to bypass Leon as he now held his keyblade aloft at his side.
Nero's Keyblade connected with the others, and he would feel far less than the others. However, the loneliness inside of that Heart was still apparent. He could sense those who were connected, this Heart felt like a room now, instead of a void. The walls of this room were the walls of the heart. However, it was expansive still, reaching outwards without the visual range to see any one wall.
Akira gripped the handle of his keyblade tighter listening to the voice.
"No....No I won't let Darkness take anyone else!" Akira said flourishing his keyblade and aiming it at the heart focusing all of his desire to free the heart from the darkness and channeling it through the weapon. It manifested in the form of the white beam of light described by the computers back on Hollow Bastion.
The beam of light connected with the heart, the room now smaller. The keyblade wielders would realize that this heart was filling with their emotions, the loneliness had nearly vanished and the other emotions were far too weak for Akira to even notice. The walls were almost in view, obscured by the darkness remaining in the Heart.
As Niinii defeated some of the smaller Heartless, something inside him swelled, he had no idea what this feeling was, it was if fargone memories had seeped back into his mind, memories of hearts flying up to the air and suddenly vanishing into nothing. But to his horror these memories seemed to be repeating right before his eyes with the dispersing reminds of the heartless letting loose Hearts and too like his memories vanished.
What is the meaning of this? Has the Heartless been taking these hearts from people they kill? Has he been destroying the Hearts the Heartless has been taking by defending himself? Niinii silently stood in fear looking at the Keyblade in hand. Is the Keyblade responsible somehow?
But his scary thoughts were interrupted by the voice coming out of the armor Heartless, Niinii listened in horror as it spoke. Of being chosen for their role to fight the Heartless but they caused Darkness everywhere they go. Was. Was he why everyone and everything he loved was ripped apart and plunged into darkness? Did he destroy his home? Is he only meant to spread darkness?
Niinii was being overwhelmed with guilt, his eyes started to swell with tears and it started to fall down his cheeks, he tried to wipe them away with his arm but it only made his tears fall harder and made his sleeve wetter.
But his tears slowed when he heard several of the group speak up, wishing to deny the Darkness from getting to this heart, but one of them wondered if Darkness was the right away. No. You can't fix something by using what broke the thing in the first place. But suddenly as a large dark hand grasped at the Heart. Something inside Niinii sparked, Niinii suddenly ran past the group and used his heighten jump to jump up to the hand and held on tight to the hand while swinging his Keyblade madly and furiously at the hand until either the Heartless let go, or he be taken to the other side with the Heart where he will protect the Heart no matter what.
He will not be used by Darkness.
His strikes beat the hand away, harming it -proved by its weakening grip. It seemed Niinii would not connect with those who's hearts were linked. But his influence would clear away some of the darkness inside that Heart.
Those connected could see the walls of the heart, a large room big enough to fit the third district. But a haze remained and figures appeared in the darkness. Light didn't shine in this place, instead those who were inside illuminated it with their hearts' strength.
As Tera finished her quick scan she closed her eyes. Inside her head, her brain archived what she'd seen and processed as hard data, similar to recording a video onto a memory card.>run catalogue.exe
>archiving data...5%
>...15%
>...46%
>...64%
>...87%
>...100%
>data archived
The process took only a second or two and her eyes shot back open as her companions fought the monsters. Suddenly the huge armoured thing began dissolving, even as her companions destroyed the smaller cannon things behind it. As she watched hearts slowly rise into the sky, the huge monster broke down, its parts dissolving into darkness. From the smoke appeared a large heart, surrounded by smoke and pierced by thorns. Leon fought it to no effect, but the mysterious, dark voice bade them to give in to the darkness?
She'd seen firsthand the effects of that dark force when her world was devoured by it. And she would not let that control her, much less use it for her own ends.
"Accept the darkness..."
Tera gripped her Keyblade tighter.
"No. Never in a thousand cycles. I saw my world die by the darkness. I won't let it control me."
She nodded and walked forward to where her companions were. She passed Nero, but heard him muttering, doubting the Light. Tera stopped.
"Listen, uh, sir. Put it behind you. These keyblades were given to us by the light. If it attracts darkness then so be it. We just have to fight it every step of the way."
That said she joined Markus, Asha and Fion, standing by their sides as she too raised her key up at the shrouded heart. A beam of light burst forth from its tip and shot straight towards the heart. As she held her key steady, she saw Akira join the lineup, and the cute moogle Nii leaped onto the hand to give it a deserving beatdown.
Perhaps they could save this child's life after all.
When Tera joined inside the Haze seemed barely a problem at all. Figures were people locked in a single moment of time. At the center of this room was a young boy standing still, looking down at his hand which held a toy robot. As the keyblade wielders looked closer they would see something begin to glow from that young boy. Another light rose out from the young man, illuminating the room.
Color was painted across the room, showing the world of Radiant Garden. They were in the court yard and this young boy was enjoying a festival. Behind him was a stand were the prizes were toys and this young one had won something for himself. However, when they noticed the shadow behind him, they realized it didn't belong to him for its shape was that of a monster.
However, Niinii's continued attacks on the arm loosened the captured Heart. The room moved, as if time unpaused.
They could see the young boy walk through the festival with the fake shadow underneath him.
It jumped out, a small creature no bigger than the boy. Those who knew the Heartless would understand this was among the weakest of heartless, a shadow.
Then just before the Heartless could scratch the boy, time froze again.
"To save this Heart is to accept the darkness into one's body. For it is not that this mere Shadow only stole this boy's heart but that this heart is one with the darkness. It has been plunged deep into the abyss and lost all of its bonds yet here you are connected to this Heart, forging your own Bonds with it.
If you wish to save this Heart then you must also purge the darkness from it.
Will you master the darkness and command it to flee or will you try to remove it by force?
Answer carefully with your actions, children, before the darkness manifests.
The Keyblade Wielders stood around the boy. He remained frozen however, the shadow seemed to move. Its claw pulled back before it attacked. Looking around it could see the keyblade wielders surrounding it on all sides.
It wasn't attacking, only waiting for them to act.
[This is a critical moment in which your attempts must be short. I have a lot going on with these scene. You don't want to miss a single part of it! Markus, Asha, Fion, Nero, Akira, and Tera will undergo something that Niinii will just have to do on another occasion ;) ]
On the outside, Niinii's strikes were brutal. The Arm seemed to be leaking darkness but its grip was still there. Noticing his surroundings begin to fall down, he could see the portal above him come closer. It was actually him who was moving, and it was toward the portal!
Leon tried to assist Niinii, instructing him to hit the fingers instead of the arm.