akashicmuses

[akashicmuses]

Well, Luke wasn't altogether sure if this was something he was supposed to hear or not. Anise had always seemed to like keeping things to herself—but he also didn't want to just eavesdrop without a word...

Hm.

"It sounds like you're always trying to take care of your parents." Now, Luke was no expert—his father had rarely given him the time of day, and his mother was always in bed.... But wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? "That sounds really rough, Anise."

"Ugh, these horrible, money-grubbing scammers going around! Just who do they think they are, anyway? I can respect a bit of playing dirty as much as the next girl, but this is just a new low!"

"I can hardly bear to watch. Papa's gonna fall for it again, I just know it..."

#thosetaleskids #slips luke in here cutely #hiiiii #c; luke.

[akashicmuses]

"You'll put up with me, huh...?" Luke muttered, mostly to himself. What was with that response? Did she not actually want to get that tour? Luke watches Edna start to walk, not moving until she looks back at him.

He takes the lead here, listening to her explanation about her home and the ruins that populate some of the places in Tir Na Nog. "An empty mountain? Why would you want to live somewhere like that?"

Luke begins to climb the steps that lead to the Cathedral, stopping to look up at the massive doors. "Your churches were for the Seraphim, right? I overheard Jade questioning one of you once. Auldrant never had anything like them. All of our churches were devoted to Lorelei."

It was strange to think that Lorelei was here, in this world, too. But unlike the Seraphim, Lorelei never had a body capable of interacting with the world.

Luke moves forward to push one of the large doors open, then swivels around to hold it open for Edna. "A couple of my friends used to live in this Cathedral, actually. Back on our world."

Nice to know that everyone equally finds Colonel Cranky Pants unbearable. ❛  I haven't talked to either of them,  ❜ she begins, positioning her umbrella just enough to shade her eyes, ❛  so I'll put up with you for now.  ❜ Anise seems hyper, but ultimately fine to her. Ion, though, Edna has only seen him and barely crosses paths with him, but he seems so... gentle? Pure? Probably even more than Sorey, and that's saying a lot.

❛  I don't think it's been exoflected yet. You might've noticed the absurd amount of ruins, and that's more of Sorey's fault—and probably Meebo since they grew up together.  ❜ She falls into a contemplative pause. ❛  My home is an empty, barren mountain. Even though there are some places similar to it, I know they're not actually from my memories.  ❜ They don't carry the same somber, lonely feeling—but that shouldn't matter anymore. Not here in Tir Na Nog, at least.

Edna takes a step forward on the path to start with, then casually looks back at Luke. ❛  My world has sanctuaries: churches, I suppose. Not sure if they're the same as the Cathedral, though. I only know of one and it's because Lailah lived there for centuries. She tends to play the part of 'friendly ghost' really well.  ❜

#ednaeflowers #c; luke. #v; rays. #comes back here like a month later like :3c

[akashicmuses]

Sync is watching Dist closely as the older man checks his body for the abnormalities that can befall replicas. He'd been told that he'd long since surpassed the threshold that anything would happen, but Van had been insistent that his tool be kept in good shape.

"I'm gonna live, huh?" What a shame.

Dist glanced up from the clipboard he was writing on, and gave Sync a look that hovered somewhere between disgust and pity. 

“You’re lucky,” he said. “Your composition is remarkably stable.”

The pen scratched away at the paper as he continued recording something, the usual dramatic flourishes of his handwriting devolving into illegibility. He knew he shouldn’t be so short with Sync, who was little more than a child, but the replica’s attitude was something that had not improved at all in the time they had known each other. 

“I would have hoped you’d be a little more appreciative of that fact.” For a so-called failure, Sync had proved his strength quite well. His existence was one that countless past replicas would be all too jealous of, had they lived to see the day. 

“Even the most lowly of beasts wants to live. Perhaps you could learn something from that.”

#SLIDES THIS ONTO MY BLOG.... #me breathing “hi” #saved.

[akashicmuses]

@iniquitousideals

The forest was so quiet, not only because of the strange lack of monsters in it but because Luke's current travel companion didn't seem to have a lot to say. He couldn't tell if there was something on the guy's mind or if he was just a reticent person.

"Are you really a swordsman?" Luke asked the other, turning his head to look down at him. He was kinda short for it, wasn't he? His sword would have to be pretty small, wouldn't it? That was a thought that Luke decidedly kept internal.

This was a normal question to ask, right? It didn't sound rude, at least. Luke always had a mouth on him, but these days, he liked to try to be civil. At least until the other person was rude to him first. Or if they were Asch.

Because Asch was always rude if you asked Luke. Whatever. Luke fidgeted with the decorative button on his sleeve idly and tilted his head to the side.

"How long have you been using one?"

#iniquitousideals #omg im so sorry it took this long to write this DX #anyway klsdjf i had this written and realized i didn't actually know how tall mithos is so i had to run and check #icb he's like 5'0" in his babyman form #if there's anything you need changed pls lmk by the way :3 #c; luke.

[akashicmuses]

It feels wrong to be sharing this, like Lauriam is exposing a wound that his enemy could drive a knife into. But Cineris wasn't his enemy. He had become someone that Lauriam trusted, despite how he had come from Vanitas. He trusted him enough to share this small home he'd made with him.

He only hoped that he wouldn't regret it someday. Behind his smiles and kind gestures, he was always watching Cineris. He wondered if Cineris knew that.

"I suppose you do," Lauriam replies, his voice soft. "Your relationship with Vanitas is complicated as well, isn't it?"

What would it be like, to be made of darkness and negativity? It certainly didn't seem pleasant. Such a heart would be wrought with pain--which was exactly why Lauriam had been so reluctant to regain his heart in the first place. He and Larxene had been united on that.

"...How do you see yourself in comparison to Vanitas?"

"I also doubt that." Cineris could take a shot at a guess, but it wouldn't be something he held enough certainty in to voice. It didn't matter, though, he wasn't here to debate Vanitas' more recent motivations with Lauriam, he was here to listen to him talk about whatever it was that bothered him.

It felt weird to be doing this. When did he get so soft..?

Cineris slips his hands in his pockets and stares at Lauriam, listening to his reasons, to the past that he'd kept locked within him, explanations on the behaviors that some days didn't make much sense for what he knew of him... and the remnant hums, a sound of thought and acknowledgment both.

"... Sounds pretty complicated, growing up like that. Makes sense, though." He shrugs and sinks into the couch, turning his head away, eyes closing. "I'm not gonna judge ya. I get it."

#voidedspirit #c; lauriam. #time to get some CINNY LORE

[akashicmuses]

In all honesty, Beat was leagues more confident than he'd been as a younger teen. The time he'd spent in the game with Neku had taught him a lot about himself, even if he didn't often think so. Accomplishing something that everyone had told him would be impossible for him had done a lot.

He'd chased after girls as a teenager, and he'd often come on too strong. His eagerness and excitement had been read as creepy and too intense—so he'd had to learn to cool down. It had been an embarrassing, yet necessary lesson for him.

Xion definitely wasn't like the other girls that Beat had tried to get with in early high school. She had this cool, distant air to her, something that made her look apart from everyone that Beat had ever met. There was a tension about her that he recognized, though. Everyone who had ever survived the Reapers' Game carried it, some more than others. Even Beat, for all of his laid-back nature, could not always avoid the instinct to stay at the ready for threats.

It was a tension that all of his friends had, so Beat didn't think it was particularly strange at the moment.

"Oh yeah," Beat's smile grew. "Rhyme and I are takin' on the whole world together. We started that place t'gether. I make the food and she makes sure the CEO stays real fresh."

He means SEO.

Content to start walking with her while they chat, he starts the journey that will take them to Spain Hill. In the mad bustle of people coming and going across Shibuya, it's something of a haven. Just as the name suggests, Spain Hill exists on an incline. It's a pedestrian-only zone, with a large cobblestone pathway that sets it apart from any other area in the city.

It has all the usual sights in Shibuya: shops galore, but also a few unique restaurants. A French bistro, an Italian pizzeria, and a large Spanish-themed restaurant with a fluttering Spanish flag at the very top.

"A'ight, so Kaie's a bit weird," Beat began to explain as they approached a shop set off to the side of the path. "When you get in, your phone is gonna beep at'chu. He's got some kinda thing set up that lets him text people who come inside. Rhyme told me that he ain't verbal—uh, talking out loud stresses him out?"

Pushing open the shop door reveals an interior that can be nothing else but an occult shop. All manner of estoric books are on display next to jars labeled with herbs and powders. Candles of varying size and color dot some shelves along with boxes of tarot decks. A man in a black, wide-brimmed hat sits behind a display case full of large crystals.

His chin-length hair falls around his face in black waves and his teal-colored eyes rise up toward his visitors. Beat waves at him energetically, bringing a small crinkle to his eyes and a faint smile to his lips.

He glances at his phone, which is donned with a bright pink phone case with a cartoon rabbit face printed on it. Xion and Beat's phones will ding and Beat draws his phone out to look. They will both have identical messages reading:

[text]: Welcome to my shop! ヾ(・ω・*) [text]: What can I help you with today? ( ❛ᴗ❛ )

Xion tucked her leg under her, her drink held in her hand by the lid. She draped her arm across the back of the bench and let her gaze fixate on Beat. Just shy of scrutiny, she let herself run into curiosity instead. She was listening to him, hearing what he was saying but she was also thinking. Letting the internal mechanism of her mind turn over so she could come to a conclusion.

He was handsome. That was objective, at least. Beat was tall and lean, with a natural, easy confidence in his posture. Like he was comfortable in his own skin. Xion theorized that he was smarter than he thought he was. He had dodged the conversation about technical magic so quickly, as if avoiding it. That didn't mean it was beyond his grasp. Only that he thought it was. She was wary ... but tentatively Xion thought, I like this guy.

But it was a different than it was with Roxas.

Odette had explained this to Xion once. She wasn't interested in Hayner because he was Hayner. Objectively, Hayner was good looking, but he was also Hayner. Xion, like Odette, couldn't name the feeling, but she recognized she felt that way about Roxas too. He was Roxas. But Beat was different, he was older, more mature, and she liked that. She liked that she didn't feel like she had babysit him or worry about him. It made her feel like they were equals.

It was different but she couldn't decide what to do with that difference.

She would have to think about it more.

"It sounds like you really get along with your sister," Xion mentioned, with just a wry smiles. "Rhyme, right? She runs a bakery in town. Roxas mentioned it but we haven't gotten to go yet. Maybe later you can introduce me to her."

Xion finished off her drink and stood.

"But if you think this shop is worth our time," Xion said, "i want to see it for myself."

#perditos #c; beat. #c; kaie. #ayeeeee

[akashicmuses]

SCRUFFS LUKE N' SHAKES HIM VIOLENTLY... with affection. - Shadow <3

ASK RECEIVED!

He just dangles there. Helplessly. There's nothing he can do but glower.

#dichtomouskey #KALSDJF SHADOWWWW #the way i ran to make this icon as fast as i could #c; luke. #crack.

[akashicmuses]

Luke can't help the small pout when the stranger pulls his blade away. He'd barely ghosted his fingers over it! Still, it was so weird to see such a strange shape. And the name was pretty weird, too! "A Keyblade, huh? What's it unlock?"

Because...keys opened things, right?

"Whatever. I don't really care, actually." It wasn't like Luke had wanted to try out using it or anything. It's better to play it off now than admit he'd been interested in it. Besides... it was probably just another thing that everyone knew about, and Luke didn't. He was starting to get really tired of the looks everyone gave him when they had to stop and explain something obvious.

So, yeah, he didn't care. At all. There was probably nothing all that special about it.

The Rugnica—that was the name of the continent that most of Malkuth's territory was on, right?—Plains were such a pain to get through. A wild expanse of grassland that went on for as far as the eye could see, only broken up by the occasional growths of forest that sprouted up against the mountains.

Right now, they were on the edge of such a forest. It seemed like an old one, too. The trees jutted straight into the air, and the leaves and branches didn't start until way too high up the tree to climb. The ground was covered in pine needles that had poked at Luke's skin when he'd fallen over.

He'd never seen anything like it before, so he'd wandered over to take a little look around and see what had happened. The outside world was so much more dangerous than Luke had ever envisioned. It was scary...

A ways away, a single dirt road was barely visible through the fronds of the grasses. But it was there—it was the path that Luke had wandered off of.

"Roxas, huh? I'm Luke. Luke fon—" Against his will, the words of Tear echo in his mind. This was enemy territory. He didn't know who this guy was, but he was sketchy as hell, and Luke still didn't really know who he was. So, he hastily corrects, "Just Luke."

And Luke wants to say that he doesn't care what happened to the people of Malkuth. They'd kidnapped him when he was a child! They'd taken his memories. Who knows what they'd done to him to make that happen?

The maids had tried not to talk about it around him, but he'd heard the theories. Malkuths were the enemy; they did evil things. Had they experimented on the young master? Had they done something so unspeakable to him that the only thing Luke could do was forget?

Or had they done something even worse? Had they broken his mind in a way that couldn't be fixed?

Listening to them talk like that had been terrifying. He didn't need any of his old memories—how interesting could the memories of a ten-year-old be, anyway? But, the method of ruining him? That scared Luke more than he ever wanted to admit.

So, Luke wanted to say that the people of Malkuth were monsters. That they weren't his problem, that they could sort themselves out far away from him, thank you very much.

But...there was something much more pressing on his mind right now.

"Did you say that they turn other people into more of them?" That was probably one of the most terrifying things Luke had ever heard. And you want to go out and fight them? You're crazy! Wouldn't it be better just to get the hell away from them? There's got to be other people who have those weird weapons, right?"

Just what kind of monsters were they!? Luke looks around anxiously, putting his hand on his sword even though it hadn't done him any good. He just needed to figure out the right way to do it...

Wait...did that mean that those things he'd been fighting were people? Or were they only people once...?

Just what ....what was going on here? Luke hadn't ever heard about anything like this? Monsters that turned people into monsters? What kind of horror show was this?

Luke gripped his sword tighter and was unable to suppress the chill that had settled in his skin. Goosebumps rose up on his arms. Were there more of them here in the forest?

The heir to Kimlascia's throne bit his lip and glanced at those bizarre weapons.

Would he abandon Luke for saying that? If those things were the only things that could kill those Heartless, then maybe Luke should just do as he says? The part of his brain that has the same voice as his dad immediately shouts at him for that. A Fabre did not follow the orders of others.

Fabres had to be proud. Natalia had always said that they carried the nobility of Kimlacia. Which was something that Luke barely cared about, but he was supposed to care. Everyone expected him to care.

What would Master Van do?

He'd tell him that he should keep himself alive...right? Because Master Van cared about him and worried for him.

"Okay," Luke says, letting go of his sword and running his hand through his hair. His hair is a deep, almost blood-red in the shadows. But when it catches the dappled light that makes it through the trees, it changes.

The visual effect is most comparable to the iridescent feathers of some birds. It shines with a golden hue where the sun catches it just right in proportion to Roxas's position.

"Okay..." Luke repeats. "I kind of know the way to the nearest town. It's called St. Binah, I've been there before. Come on, and don't fall behind."

Luke starts walking past the cloaked boy, pushing his way through the long grasses and toward the dirt path. He reaches into his pocket and pulls a map out of his back pocket, slowing his pace as he begins to puzzle over it.

"I'll help you as long as you make sure that none of those monsters turn me into one of them, okay?"

☄. *. ⋆ ┈┈┈ Roxas thought after you saved someone you're supposed to get a high-pitched, thrilled ' THANK YOU '.

But this guy is quick to bunch up before him (defensively...? Roxas thinks blankly, surprised he recognizes this behavior so clearly... because he's like that all the time)--the boy before him bristles a little and has no such gratitude on his bitter lips.

The redhead snaps at Roxas instead, "Sure, thanks for taking time out of your busy day to save me." He scrounges about for that silly sword of his and adds: "Not like I almost died or anything."

Now that they're both clearly face-to-face, Roxas gets the impression they might be around the same age--in fact, the blonde finds the other boy rather obnoxious and he really hates all the reasons why...

It's like seeing himself on display in someone else's skin, which Roxas assumed he'd be used to that by now...

Roxas visibly tenses, a bit rigid as the boy continues to needle him rather pointedly.

( Uhhh... when is the ' thank you ' part supposed to start...? )

Because if this is how everyone acted when Sora saved them... the brunette truly did have the patience of a saint. Roxas isn't sure if he wants to merely turn on his heel and march off or push the guy in the dirt--he knows the latter does seem more appealing to him, while the former is likely what he should do...

He presses his lips with indecision and frustration.

"What? Are you late for your next hit? You look suspicious as hell dressed like that," the boy goes on and Roxas quirks an eyebrow at him curiously, a little amused this is the ammo he's chosen to fire at him.

( Well... the Organization thought this was a good disguise for pretty much... everything...... )

"An assassin?" Roxas echoes, lifting a gloved hand as if considering the notion lightly. "Sure, let's go with that..."

And here Roxas makes quite the show of tilting up his face and rolling those bright blue eyes of his just barely visible beneath that dower black hood. As if to add on silently, ' Really? That's the best you got? '

Now, however, this rather loud stranger is staring at Oblivion, as if trying to puzzle out what the hell it is... Roxas has seen this quizzical, bemused expression on many locals faces on other worlds. When he was in the Organization, Roxas preferred to divulge as little as possible to any prying questions, because he never knew with certainty what tiny detail might piss off his Superior or not. It was better to trust no one, especially those outside of the Organization...

Yet, since he's been traversing worlds on his own in search for Sora, Roxas has taken on a different approach with the matter.

When the boy walks over and leans down, this warrants a huff of annoyance from Roxas. The boy is squatting right next to his weapon just... staring at it.

( ' Hi, my name is Roxas. What's yours...? ' is how this should go he's pretty sure... but no, no, please admire the weapon instead... )

Roxas is staring at him, drained by how... exhausting this guy is. He's been with him here... what? Five minutes...?

"What's with this thing, anyway?" And the redhead reaches out a hand to gloss his fingers over its edge--Roxas has a terrible desire to swing the blade into his face, though he's able to resist by exhaling through his nose and glancing briefly away. "How come it was able to kill those things so fast?"

"It's a Keyblade," Roxas replies tersely, more or less yanking it away and tucking the blade behind him instead. "It's effective against Heartless, because it's a weapon designed to kill 'em or somethin'..."

He shakes his head... he doesn't know a lot about Keyblades... it never seemed important to study those sort of details before... Roxas knew what he was told directly by Xemnas (laughably little overall) and what he could glean from Sora's memories... which also didn't help him much.

Whatever, right? It kills Heartless easily, that's all he really cares to know.

Now that everything seems to be wrapping itself up neatly, Roxas is hoping to skirt far, far away from this boy and his loud questions--it seems apparent to Roxas there is a stray Keyhole to find somewhere around here or (worse yet) the Heartless are spawning from a more sinister source somehow...

The stranger is saying something else, waving his hand in the air.

"Please, as long as I don't run into any of those weird monsters again, I'll be fine!" He replies to Roxas' question if he would be ' okay ' from here on his own. The blonde's expression twitches at his statement--impossibly, he's more annoyed, as the other's confidence does little to assure him. "I just have to figure out which way the town is, and I'm all set. I doubt it'll be all that hard."

Roxas' gaze (and thoughts) had been drifting, but when mention of ' the town ' crops up, the former Nobody stiffens rather dramatically, lurching up his Keyblade instinctively after the terrible flash that blooms up into his thoughts... a town... that means a lot of people... a lot of hearts......

( Internally, silently, Roxas groans. )

With a low sigh, Roxas mutters at the stranger as he steps away from him, "Is there a town in this area? Is it nearby?"

Now Roxas is notably hovering among the edge of the trees, skirting his gaze over a field of grass before him--he doesn't see any smoke from here, nothing distinct that says a clump of people may have traveled this way over time... but the dirt road above...! That could have been leading to a town!

Roxas seems to be all business now--he's shed the frustration and looks over to the stranger coolly, almost frigidly.

"If there's a town around here, take me to it. It's the least you can do since you owe me your life, right?" Despite the sneering tone, Roxas' face is completely impassive. "And we need to go right now--look, if the Heartless are here, any others of their kind will spread to a place filled with people first. They need to spread their darkness if they wanna take over this world completely. So... they'll infect the hearts of everyone around us first, turn them into shadows like themselves..."

Turning around, Roxas ducks his face away, looks beyond into the gleaming trees and whispery grass.

"If things tip in their favor... then, yeah, your world will either be consumed by darkness or simply destroyed."

And here Roxas stares at him, standing like a worn statue getting ground into ash.

"I'm not trying to scare you, I promise. But things might be escalating faster than I thought when I arrived here first..." His free fingers of his right hand drum over his side in thought, in urgency. "I'll need your help--for now--navigating to the town and probably to get inside... I gotta make sure none of the Heartless are already there..."

Shaking his head at this seemingly inevitable situation, he adds, "I'm Roxas, by the way. I guess you can thank me after I get to a nearby town. Look--I know this is a lot, but we can talk as we go, right? There's a dirt road up ahead and to the west--that lead to any town...?"

#keyofhearts #c; luke. #YAY I GET TO DESCRIBE HOW LUKE'S HAIR WORKS IN MY HC.... #luke's hair is so gd pretty in my mind i couldn't resist including it #ALSO ROXAS?? PLS????? #im sorry that luke is so difficult but as you know he is nothing but a luku #also you know... less sympathetic to the country he thinks gave him brain damage so #XD #me remembering when he didn't care if ligers chewed on engeve like damn man ok

[akashicmuses]

@dormivegila

"Don't look!" Luke shouted, hunching forward over his journal. He was currently trying to record his day: how he had met this strange, spikey-haired kid, how the guy had offered to help him find the closest civilization, and how his weapon was oddly effective in spite of its' weird shape. Then again, getting beaten with a giant piece of metal had to hurt, no matter how it was shaped...

His hand is now pressed on the pages, trying to hide all the whining he'd been doing. His cheeks are a bit warm.

"L-look, it's not a big deal, all right? My doctors told me that I had to do this. Don't laugh at me!" Because it really was kind of laughable that he had to do this, wasn't it? Luke was the son of House Fabre, and yet, he was apparently so fragile that his memory might escape for him just like that?

He was a man, and a man had to be strong. A Fabre, especially, had to be strong and independent—though Luke barely understands what that really means. Relying on a diary to keep his mind in check was anything but strong and independent.

The campfire they were sitting in front of crackled and threw up sparks into the night air.

#dormivegila #c; luke. #eyes emoji.......

[akashicmuses]

"Yeah, it's not hard to be more personable than Jade," Luke laughs a little, casting his gaze back to where the statue of the man is. Just for a second. He quickly looks back at Edna.

Luke doesn't think he'd ever get used to talking about the exoflected versions of his home. Perhaps his own nature as a replica makes it feel a little more complicated to him. It makes him feel a little awkward, but he tries to stay a good sport about it.

"Anise and Ion probably know it better than I do. They grew up in the original Daath. But I can show you a couple things, I guess. I think a lot of people think the Cathedral is impressive," Luke says. Luke's method of exploration tended to be to wander toward the weapons shops and admire the swords on display.

"Gardens just remind me of home." Well, more that they reminded him of someone from his home. It was hard not to miss Pere. "What about you? Which place from your home ended up getting exoflected?"

❛  I know. Guy and Tear sometimes mention you at my tea parties,  ❜ she replies calmly, not apologetic at all. And maybe Jade did too, but she always prefers tuning out Colonel Cranky Pants. Ugh, she hates thinking about him. ❛  I felt like changing it up a bit. You're certainly more tolerable than Colonel Cranky Pants on a good day. Humor a lady once in a while—  ❜ She deliberately gives him a flat look. ❛  —Luke.  ❜

Oh, so this place is from his memories? Edna will admit it's a pretty garden. ❛  This place looks fancy. You seem to know this place better, so you might as well take on the role of my escort today.  ❜ She'd rather cajole Alisha into doing it since Alisha is always such a good sport about humoring her, but alas, she's been busy with her patrol group these days, leaving Edna rather bored. She can't even find Meebo to make fun of because he's off somewhere too. Ugh. Boring.

❛  Daath, was it? Very well. It'd be a change of scenery for once, at least. Didn't know gardens are your thing, though. This place looks exoflected in great detail.  ❜

#ednaeflowers #c; luke. #v; rays. #edna's little pouty face hehe

[akashicmuses]

Luke huffed under his breath as he sat in one of the few public gardens in the exoflected version of Daath. With the defeat of Emperor Demetrius, the Asgardian forces were forced to let go of their claim to it. Which meant that Luke could now come whenever he wanted to laugh at that stupid Jade statue.

Still, Luke's lips are set in a firm line when he spots Edna. Wasn't she the girl who hosted those tea parties Guy sometimes went off to? The No Boys Allowed ones?

He lets out an aggrieved sigh at the nickname. "Apple Boy? Seriously? Did you forget my name, Edna?"

"It's Luke. If you're lost, I can show you around Daath. It's pretty similar to how I remember it." He reaches up to take a bite of the apple he's holding.

starter call ❀ @akashicmuses / luke

She is confused how he can see her, but the more important matter at hand is that this place is not her mountain. Edna, having been idly wandering around, looks over her shoulder to regard... whoever Orangehead is. This place seems to be a garden of sorts and he even has fruits on hand, so maybe it belongs to him? If he called out to her, then he's already a special case...

❛  I'm not low enough to consider thievery,  ❜ she begins, calmly lifting her umbrella just enough to peek her eyes out, ❛  so I'm not trespassing.  ❜ She pauses. ❛  I am, however, lost, Apple Boy.  ❜ Those are apples he's holding, right?

#ednaeflowers #thank you for the patience! #i am very slow sometimes #c; luke. #v; rays.

[akashicmuses]

@mcgilou in response to [x]

Luke doesn't even know what to say as he hands over the woman's groceries. The more he thinks about it, the more he feels kind of... bothered. But he takes a deep breath and tries to keep a pleasant look on his face.

At least it hadn't been that expensive.

"So, what kind of potion is it going to be?" Luke asks, crossing his arms and idly shifting his weight to one side. "I didn't think witch potions required strawberries. Is it something special?"

#mcgilou #c; luke. #lksdjfhgsag #local luke tricked into doing a sidequest for a witch

[akashicmuses]

EPHEMER TO LAURIAM: Ephemer blinks open his eyes and the very first thing he sees--nearly the only aspect that drowns his sight entirely--is the color white. He stares at the far flung ceiling above him--pearly smooth and blank--confused for a moment until he remembers: ' that's right... i'm still dreaming... '

He sits up and, yes, more white--he's sitting in a spacious hall smothered in the lack of color. It feels... cold and eerie here... like he's been slapped into a blank canvas, yet the artist no longer feels compelled to fill in the background and story surrounding him... he rubs his exposed arms that are suddenly rippled with tiny goosebumps.

"What a strange place..." Ephemer murmurs, climbing to his feet and peering around--he wants to touch on something specific here, a nice colorful detail to distract him from the frigid lack of one... the walls have pillars nestled in the corners and a few marble stairs leading to white-washed doors, yet otherwise there's nothing notable here. "But who could have brought me to such an odd dream anyway...?"

Because he had to have a connection to someone to wind up here--

Those large doors fly open before Ephemer quite abruptly and the Keyblade Master goes rigid as a splash of light silhouettes a tall figure trotting to him neatly, confidently...

And the moment the light settles around the other man across from him, Ephemer freezes, a stunned, panicked gasp rips from his throat--

"Lauriam......?!" Ephemer half-cries, half-whispers, so stunned all he can do is stare wide-eyed at this old friend across from him. "Lauriam...." He says again, as if both relishing the chance to say the name and finding it so strange to ever say it now.

Lauriam appears as Ephemer remembers him last--a youthful, sharp face and bright blue eyes. The same outfit he wore as he climbed into the Lifeboat... that same buzz of confidence radiating off him, Lauriam had always worn it much better than he did...

Ephemer takes a sudden, aching step towards him, his hands before him as if he might rush forward and embrace him, yet Ephemer finds their past is wedging itself between them too stubbornly and he isn't sure how to wade beyond it to reach his friend now.

Instead Ephemer manages to relent, however his face is flushed in shock and bemusement, eyes watery--he straightens now, a quivering smile dancing onto his lips.

"I've looked everywhere for you...." Ephemer whispers hoarsely. "After everything that happened I tried to find you through connections--and now... after all this time... you're here! It's--it's really you, isn't it....? Lauriam from Daybreak Town...?"

He asks as if he expects this to turn out to be some elaborate hoax--which, to be fair, they are in a dream. The Keyblade Master is finding it very hard to discern between reality and dreams these days... he's been lost within the latter for so long.

And his weariness suddenly begins to show--Ephemer is crumbling--there are dark rings under his eyes ( ' but how...? i've been sleeping forever... ' ) and he's slightly shaking, his smile tumbling down as easily as his former bravery before a supposed stranger... when it's one of his dearest friends in front of him it's so hard to act brave all the time...

"I've wanted to see you for a really, really long time now..." He admits, a rough, sorrowful chuckle sliding between them like the loneliest of truces--it is truly all he has to give this boy before him that has lost everything just like him....

ASK RECEIVED.

'This place is hideous...' the boy thought as he walked the halls of this empty castle. Colorless, void. It was as much of a sham as the person that he'd become now. An empty husk without a single thing inside of it to give it any meaning.

But there was no way to fix that right now. He had tried to reach himself, to do everything to repair the damage that the lifeboats had done to his heart, but there was just no way. The boy was starting to become discouraged. Maybe he should just give up.

It was strange, though. Here, while his waking self was in the Castle, he felt stronger than ever. By all rights, he should be fading more and more over time, but something was holding him here. Just a single memory that he had managed to push through.

Strelitzia...

And so, thinking of nothing but his own predicament, Lauriam descended the stairs.

That was when he saw him. At first, he seemed to be nothing more than a hazy being; his eyes refused to focus on him. It was only when he heard his name passing through the other's lips that everything clicked into focus with startling clarity.

It was him.

"Emphemer..." the name leaves him almost breathless as he all but runs down the rest of the stairs. But before he can reach him, the floor falls away between them. A roaring abyss of darkness separates them, thick black and purple mist rising like a toxic miasma.

Lauriam has to skid to a stop lest he fall into it. A sick feeling rises in his stomach as he looks down into the darkness. Is that what his heart looks like now? Is he unable to escape from it even in his dreams?

He looks across the gap at his friend, chewing on his lower lip viciously. What is he supposed to do now? How can he fix this? How can he fix ANYTHING?

"Ephemer, it's me!" he calls back to him, trying fruitlessly to will a bridge into existence. But he needn't have even bothered. There's no point to attempting the impossible.

"How are you here? How have you breached through my dreams like this?" A sudden discomfort grows on his face. Is Emphemer here now, in the castle? Oh no, please, no... He can't...

"You shouldn't be here." He says, his voice growing firm. He pushes a careless affect as hard as he can even though it feels as if it may break him. "I hope you haven't come to me in person. It... it's all gone wrong, Ephemer."

He shakes his head, flower blossoms flowing down from the stairs to swirl about the two of them. They cross the gap so easily that Lauriam feels nothing but jealousy. He reaches his hand out to catch one, holding it delicately.

"Please tell me that you aren't here." He says, his head tilting down.

#c; lauriam. #key of hearts #smacks lips #suffering time for lauriam and ephemer #my idea here is that emphemer is talking to like... the manifestation of Lauriam's Keyblade #the shard of his heart that maintained awareness but was lost inside of the tangled chain of memories #and that namines powers are keeping him alive in someway #it's Lauriam but Not Lauriam

[akashicmuses]

The young girl doesn’t know what to think of this strange boy with his strange scent. She blinked slowly at him from her half-slumped position. Her brother raised his lip at the boy, paws stretching against the dirt below them.

The things that he’s saying sound very complicated to Arietta. But she sniffles hard and rubs at her eyes with the back of her hand. Then, she takes a handful of her brother’s fur. The liger looks back at her, then the aggression slowly melts out of his posture.

“I’ve been trying to change it, but things never go the way they should,” Arietta says, releasing her brother and gently petting where she’d grabbed him. She doesn’t know why she’s saying all this when it doesn’t matter…

Maybe it’s just because he’s the first person in a very long time who seemed to care. Most people just told her to shut up, to stop being so gloomy, that she should keep her feelings to herself.

Unfortunately for Arietta, that was a skill she had never been able to learn. None of the God-Generals had much camaraderie with each other. The only person there that Arietta cared about was the Commandant.

After all, she owed him everything.

Everything.

But even Arietta had her limits for listening to him. Dangle the right piece of bait before her, and she would show everyone why wild animals could never be truly tamed.

“But you’re wrong. Sometimes you have to fight to get what you want. When you fight, someone always gets hurt. I’m not afraid of hurting others to get what I want.”

Because that was how it worked. That was how it always worked.

“The most important person in the whole world to me was stolen away. And the people who did it… they murdered Mommy. I won’t forgive them for that. They took her away from me and my brothers and sisters forever.”

She looked straight at the strange boy as she spoke. In spite of her tears, there was a powerful anger in her eyes. A grief so powerful that it had overwhelmed all of her other feelings. A grief so potent that it had sharpened itself into hatred.

“Remembering the good days those people stole from me is the only thing I have left. But I have to punish them for what they did.”

She let go of her friend and took a step toward the odd boy, her head tilted back to look up at him. She inhaled deeply again and wrinkled her nose. He smelled salty. Like the ocean, but there was something strange about it…

Arietta buried her mouth against her plushie again, staring at him with eyes so dark pink they were almost red. “You aren’t my enemy, though, are you? You weren’t with the Fon Master when they…”

She blinked rapidly and dug her nails into her plushie.

“I know that even after I get revenge for Mommy, she won’t come back. But I can’t let them get away with it. Would you? If it was your Mommy they killed?”

@akashicmuses | continued from here!

☄. *. ⋆ ┈┈┈ "Don’t tell me to calm down!" The girl across from him shrieks so viciously despite her very small stature that Sora finds himself taking a panicked step back, blinking hard, far more struck by the wrathful girl than the looming beast that hovers beside her and growls low, threateningly.

It seems the Keyblade Wielder has stumbled upon an especially brutal aftermath--he'd wandered into this bright forest curiously enough, attracted to its mouth of glimmering, large trees and the chirping of a thousand nameless animals... however, as he pressed deeper into the rich woodland it became eerily quiet--as if the trees were trapped in mourning or anger or... something else awful he could never name--and eventually Sora found this pink-haired girl clutching her doll and surrounded by these enormous, feline-like creatures...

Now the looming feline beside the girl takes a pointed step toward Sora. He raises his hands slowly, spreading out his fingers to show he's not a threat--he's just really concerned... he hopes his heartbroken blue eyes can relay as much to the animal.

"You don’t know what it’s like, to be separated from someone you love!" She shouts at him and this stifled, broken sob escapes her roughly--she pushes her plush to her face, but even so her cries are haunting to him still.

( You don't know what it's like, to be separated from someone you love! )

And Sora flinches hard at this statement--a flush he doesn't really know creeps up his neck, his cheeks blotch a funny scarlet...

He doesn't know... what it's like to be separated...

How can she just assume something like that about him...?

He must know what that's like if he can care at all about her circumstance... that's the only reason he's still standing here despite every instinct of his telling him to run away quick.

Sora is breathless for a moment, openly struggling with a storm of emotions rioting inside his heart--Kairi and Riku flash into his thoughts too roughly, he pushes them aside--' this girl needs my help... self-pity isn't gonna get to her! '

"No one will explain why..." She presses on and the creature bristling before Sora returns to her instead, slopping her face in concerned licks. Once the girl has pushed away the animal halfheartedly, she finishes in a watery, loose voice: "It’s not fair. Why do things have to change…?”

he stares at her and wonders why he's been asking the same things lately.

( no, sora reasons quickly, internally laughing at his silly doubts that simply have no place here inside his whimsical heart. no, this is how life is. things have to change... because... the worlds around us are always moving ahead, right...? i'd like to just stand still too... but... i feel guilty for that... )

"You know........ I don't believe in saying things aren't fair, because people only say that when bad things happen," Sora says suddenly, a swell of growing resolve and strength warming his tone despite his oddly glinting, sorrowful expression. "Bet you never say that when the weather is perfect and you get to do whatever you want for the day... did you ask why the world wasn't fair then? Or when you got to eat your most favorite meal ever... tell me: was the world fair to you at that moment.....?"

He clenches a hand into a fist and presses it to his chest.

"I don't know exactly what's happening here, so I'm not tryin' to say there's no reason to feel this way... just... I wanna know if you're rememberin' all the days of your life together when you say life isn't fair--not just the bad ones," Sora tells her, shaking his head slightly and chuckling just a little, a breathy sort of sound. "Because I wonder if there's still some good out in this world to fight for--I'm sure if you really think about it... yeah, I bet there is."

He nods to the creature right beside her, still fretting over her tears.

"All I'm sayin' is--if you do put all your life together and it really isn't fair, then yeah, you have to change it, even if that's scary. But you don't have to scream or hurt others to make that change. What I do when I feel like this is remember somethin' I really cherish and think how I want the world to be the way it was then. Sometimes change is necessary to make things better... so whatever happened here never happens again."

#keyofhearts #WOOOPS I HIT THE WRONG REBLOG BUTTON JDJDJDND #hold up I gotta write this real fast now #Arietta vc: murder is the only way #OK ITS GOOD NOW

[akashicmuses]

”I’m not hard of hearing, I’m confused.” Luke fired back, irritation sharpening his words. Just who did this guy think he was, talking so rudely like that. He put his hands on his hips. “This is my first time hearing about any of this.”

If they'd known that so many people were lost inside—well, Luke can’t say that they wouldn’t have gone inside. But they’d definitely have been far more cautious!

“Anyway, you aren’t getting rid of me until I’ve found the others. If so many people are getting lost, what’s keeping you from getting lost, too?” Even if traveling with this guy seemed like it would be a pain in the ass, he’d feel bad if he got lost.

“I’m traveling with five other people.” Luke then proceeded to describe the other members of his party to him, including their names. “I have no idea if they’re still here.”

But considering that Luke had gotten himself lost, probably. A bit of guilt rises up in him.

“Oh, and my name’s Luke. Luke fon Fabre. What’s yours? And who are you that you’d be sent out here to search for people?”

"Are you hard of hearing? Yes, other people have been getting lost here. Have been for weeks, and yet new people continue to show up, thinking they'll be the exception." Including this guy, presumably. He looked too put-together to have been one of the earlier missing people, so he must be one of the recent ones.

The mention of monsters wasn't much of a surprise. The forest was known for its rare animals, after all, and monsters dwelled wherever there were both animals and lens – which is to say, everywhere. Leon crossed took back the waterskin, letting out a sigh.

"I've been sent to retrieve the missing people, and I don't need your help. Just leave this forest, don't come back, and stay out of my way." God forbid he loses the one person he'd found so far if they go in together. Leon turned around. "Now, if you–"

Proceed that way, he'd been about to say, but...the undergrowth is honestly looking kind of unfamiliar. Where's that tree he'd marked?

"–You said you were looking for your friends," Leon says instead. While buying himself time, he's trying to scan over their surroundings as subtly as he can without giving away the fact that he might also have lost his way. "How many of them are still in here?"

#unwaveringblade #Me counting down until Luke realizes he’s in a different world all together #Or Leon realizes it for him LOL

[akashicmuses]

FROM SORA TO ARIETTA: “it doesn’t do any good to get worked up."

( from more random dialogue prompts )

Ask Received!

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Arietta snarled, her lips drawn back to expose her canines. Dull, human teeth that would never be as sharp as those of her friends. But that didn’t make the gesture any less fierce. Her fingers dug into the monster plushie Ion had once given her.

At Arietta’s side, a liger monster turned to look at Sora. It growled low in its throat, stepping forward threateningly. Arietta either didn’t notice or didn’t care that it was threatening someone who was just trying to help.

“You don’t know what it’s like, to be separated from someone you love!” Oh, how she hated Anise for taking Ion away. How she hated Luke, and all of their friends for taking Mother Liger. All they did was take and take and other people got mad at her for trying to take things back!

It wasn’t fair!

A stifled sob left Arietta as she buried her face in the plush. The fact that she couldn’t hold it in just upset her even more. Anise would just call her Gloomietta if she saw her like this. Sync would pick on her, too, and Ion would be disappointed…

“No one will explain why…” Arietta sniffled loudly, drawing the Liger’s attention back to her. It made a sound of concern before it began to lick her head over and over.

Arietta made a sound of protest, putting her small hands on it to fruitlessly push it away. Eventually, her shoulders fell and she let herself fall against her monster sibling, surrendering to the comfort it provided.

The girl turned to look at Sora with puffy eyes.

“It’s not fair. Why do things have to change…?”

#keyofhearts #jumps on this like a beast #ARIETTTAAAAAA #c; arietta.

[akashicmuses]

@voidedspirit

"—!" Luke let out a gasp as he stumbled upon the sight of the figure across from him. He...he was bleeding...! How many of those shadowy monsters had he been killing!? Luke felt like he was going to be sick just looking at him.

He saw the stranger start to sway, and before his mind fully understood, he was running forward to support him. His arm went around the smaller boy, and he grunted as his weight fell fully against him.

"Hey, are you all right!?" Luke said. He looked down at the blood soaking into his shirt—his white shirt, and felt sick to his stomach. This wasn't normal blood; it was strange, black... He looked at him, inclining his head.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here," Luke started trying to help him walk. It started out all right, but he eventually felt a shudder down in his core. Hair on the back of his neck rose and he turned around, seeing the shadows starting to move.

"We have to get out of here now," Luke shouted, speeding up. Then, when he realized that no speed would be fast enough to escape like this, he reached down to scoop Cineris up into his arms. He was a little unsteady, but now he could really run. "Jeez, you're heavy! Don't you dare let go!"

#voidedspirit #c; luke. #he's here #the boy