i am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know me.

[limitstorm]

Date & Time: January 1st, afternoon.
Location: Winter-Exsilium; some emptier fields away from civilization.
Characters: Riku; open.
Summary: Riku has always been shown and been told that his powers are nothing but destructive. He's never taken the time to think to think that maybe it's not true--not until now. Maybe things can be different from now on.
Warnings: N/A. Long post ahead, but tl;dr: dark castle, anyone's invited.

[ he shudders; the breath catches in the cold air, instantly white and foggy, and riku curls his hands around his shoulders, shaking his head.

it's freezing out here. he shouldn't be out here. he's way too away from the cabin for anyone to see--he's not sure if there's anything inhabitable around here. and... well, that's the point, isn't it? he looks back ahead of him, his back towards the city, and breathed in deep. slowly, he drops down onto one knee, then both, shivering as he does so, and closing his eyes. pulling his hood down, he grits his teeth against the brisk, snowy wind, and exhales low. ]

Time to live up to being a Master.

[ his words are lost in the wind, but he curls his hands into fists and presses them against his chest, lips drawn into a frown. peals of darkness start to emerge, but it's too fast--and in an instant, he's gasping and sweeping his hands out to his sides. ]

That's wrong. [ too fast, too strong. he breathes back out, brings one hand back to his chest, and shakily splays out his fingers. he listens to his heartbeat and the worry and tension fades from his face, and the darkness comes out in a slow but steady circle around him, perfectly controlled and membrane-thin. little strings of white light accompany it randomly--riku has never tried to control his light, it has never needed to be controlled, but his darkness has always needed to be kept on a tight leash. he exhales again, but doesn't open his eyes, shakily getting to his feet. the darkness trembles, like it's ready to rebel, but he keeps calm. ]

This is my power, my Darkness. It's under my control. I'll use it how I want to.

[ as if following orders, it relents, smoothing out like the surface of a pond. only then does he open his eyes, and looks up. the pillar of darkness around him is tall; it drops off about ten feet above him, and the scent and feel of the power is strong enough to overwhelm. the purity of both elements is extreme; there is little mingling in greys, but it is pure light against pure darkness, and they rub and grate against each other as if both elements know they shouldn't ever be in close proximity together--they shouldn't coexist, they shouldn't coexist in one body like riku. this should, by all rights, be impossible. for a moment, he staggers--the strength of both of them in tandem would make anyone drunk on power; it's doubtless one of the reasons he's still been used as a pawn and a tool. riku's been burned too badly to ever think of using this power as anything but for higher powers and greater goods; he swallows hard and narrows his eyes, letting his arms hang by his sides before he starts stalking forwards, and his power leaves behind interrupted snow in his wake, like blades cutting through his path.

it's warm. the darkness is, somehow, warm. at first, riku mistakenly thinks it's the light mixed in, but that's not all. shouldn't darkness be cold? after a moment, he thinks of nights under the covers, of warm summer nights, of a mother's embrace, and not for the first time does he think of the darkness differently. with one leg forwards, he focuses, and splays his fingers out suddenly, as if sprinkling powder into the air. in an instant, dark spots appear everywhere like black glitter, flit around like fireflies. warm summer nights. he can almost hear the ocean breeze.

what more? the paopu tree. he jogs a bit forwards, chews his bottom lip, and tries to imagine a paopu in his hands at first, shutting his eyes tight like he was wishing--to open one eye and let out a breathless laugh when it manifests in his hands, heavy as it would be. lifting his gaze, he disperses the fruit in his hands, and remembers days of sitting on the bent paopu tree, with kairi and sora beside him. it's slower, with so many memories to shift through, but it grows, blossoming before his eyes, and before it's even fully finished he runs towards it, plants his hands onto the bark and leaps onto the bark. maybe it's his memories keeping him warm. there's a calm in him now, and as he looks down at his hands, he thinks, and stands on the trunk, walking to the edge of the tree; leaves dip down low into the snow as he walks.

the swirling membrane of darkness around him swirls tighter now, just an inch away from him. he crouches, and jumps high in the air--before he can even make it onto the ground, he swipes darkness underneath him to make a bridge, which continues on building, and as he walks up them with a growing sense of dread, walls come to life, sliding up air and snow like they were colliding with an invisible force. edges of trees are clipped and bent as it grows, snowy stones covered and disappearing in the darkness. riku focuses on his worst memories--of empty hallways full of dark monsters, of sterile white columns, of losing and gaining and loss of control.

two castles merge together like a lifeform all around him, leaving him standing in the doorway, large double doors of castle oblivion wide open, to stare right into a place he never wanted to see in hollow bastion.

it's warm. that's the first thing riku realizes, and the way he knows that this is his creation. the castles were always cold.

he walks in, and the doors stay open. ]

Comments

[chosenfake]

[Luke hasn't been there to see Riku do something like this before. Everything about it screams STAY AWAY, but he's curious. He can't help feeling like there's something terribly sad about this place. Whatever it is, it's been painstakingly crafted from memories, both good and bad. Even Luke can feel that.

Hoping he won't find an awful surprise, he steps inside, one hand on his sword hilt.]

... Hello?

[His voice feels so tiny in the dark, warm expanse inside the walls.]

[limitstorm]

[ riku stops sharply and looks back, frozen in place for a second or two. was that--luke? he feels a ghost of a presence at his back, and quickly shifts around it, back towards the castle doors. he slows when he sees him, a little out of breath. he can't see his breath anymore; it's too warm here for any instances of cold. ]

Luke--? What're you doing here?

[chosenfake]

[Luke is just as surprised as Riku is. His eyebrows nearly hit the top of his head. He lets go of his sword, sensing no danger.]

Riku? I... I was wondering where this castle came from.

[limitstorm]

[ he hesitates, and his shoulders slack. ]

Uh... I made it.

[chosenfake]

You... made it. [Luke repeats this with some skepticism. He reaches out and gently raps on the nearest surface with his knuckles.]

Well, I guess that'll make finding a new house easier.

[YEP]

[limitstorm]

[ wow, rude, luke. with a frown, he curls his fingers together, eyes focused on the wall the redhead touched--it warps and shapes into something more decorated, only pausing when riku flips his hand and keeps his hand still. ]

Yeah, I did.

This is too much energy to keep up, though. There's no reason to use all of it.

[chosenfake]

[Luke pulls his hand back, staring in wonder.]

It's really beautiful. [He pauses.] ... and sad. I don't know why, but... just looking at it makes me feel lonely.

[limitstorm]

[ he almost killed sora here. he was possessed here. he was here for months, alone, secluded, with only maleficent and her villain friends for 'company'--they more or less treated him like a pawn. because he was one.

it's suffocating; he feels like he's walking on his own grave, almost. he's not surprised luke feels the loneliness--there's so much of it that he can choke on it himself. he was alone for so long, in both of these places...

there's no way to tell luke this. ]

I... don't know why.

[ first lie of the new year. he is going in the exact opposite direction he wants to. ]

wow tl;dr sorry

[buttpunch]

[Tsubomi takes walks, sometimes. She can't spend all of her time underground, tending plants. She needs to tend herself, too, and she's been forgetting that a little, lately. Her recent conversation with Riku and the light feeling of a new year, even without a temple or the other traditions she can't do all on her own, had her itching to walk outside of the town's vague limits despite the warnings of yetis, some time after lunch. She's wrapped up in her coat and cloak, her scarf tight around her neck and her earmuffs over her still somewhat overgrown hair. Her Heart's Perfume is clutched tightly in her mittens, just in case.

The castle is a massive change to the landscape, and she gasps a little as she takes it in. This castle didn't feel like the one they'd called "Loki's", before Exsilium died. It felt like the castle where Sabark--where Professor Tsukikage--had made his home, where his wilted heart's flower had covered everything with the miasma of his hidden grief.

She shifts her hands around the perfume, and she changes. She doesn't know this place, but there is sadness in it, and tending to heart flowers in the Heart Tree's place is part of her mission as a Precure. Perhaps this place is a cradle for something different--perhaps she's concerned for nothing--but she would hate to leave someone alone in a place like this if she wasn't. She can't feel the cold, once she transforms, which is a relief, and leaping to the black stairs isn't any effort at all. She runs up the stairs, urgent concern spurring her on. Who could be creating something like this, with these feelings?

The castle's doors are open and huge around her, and she stops before them, looking up at them with a nervous heart. But if there's sadness within, she intends on meeting it.

She steps inside, back straight.]

Is anyone here?

[Her boots click on the floor and join the slight echo of her voice in the hall. She continues her walk down the hallway, toward the center of the castle, ignoring closed doors but keeping an eye out for traps and suspicious movements.]

eeeeEEEEEE

[limitstorm]

[ he's already at the heart of the castle by then; where the keyhole used to be, and even now he can taste the bile accumulating at the back of his throat. he closes his eyes tightly and tries to shake it out of his head, bringing a hand against his head. he can feel darkness shifting underneath his feet, he can feel shadows starting to move on their own. it's only natural that where there's darkness, there is a whisper of ansem--of xehanort's heartless, and though he tries to push it back, he knows he has to accept it.

this is something he should do on his ow--

who is that? he sharply turns, looking over his shoulder, prepared for a fight at first before he focuses, closes his eyes again.

that bright light--it's-- ]

Tsubomi! [ oh no. that's one of the last people that should be here. he takes off in a run, skidding to a stop a few yards away from her. it's too far away for riku's usual.

after a moment of trying to decide what to say ("shouldn't you be at home?" is way too insulting, and "you shouldn't be here" makes it seem like he doesn't trust her to defend herself, and dear light, he's seen her powers, he knows she's more than capable) he finally, quietly admits; ]

I don't want you to see this.

[buttpunch]

[Tsubomi stands still, as she enters the castle's heart. She can feel it as she gets deeper inside, the heavy but peculiarly warm feeling of the darkness of this place, the way it centers on this room. She catches sight of Riku, surrounded in darkness, and brings her fingers to her mouth. This place... had he been trapped here, by the castle, or had he trapped himself? Her voice calls out loudly as the darkness swirls:]

Riku--!

[She readies to attack, to defend him, and then he breaks toward her. She goes still again as he stops, much too distant to be anything but strange, and then takes a careful step toward him. Her expression is both resolute and somewhat sad. She's sure to use his title when she speaks again, her voice steady but her hands in tight, small fists as her sides.]

Master Riku, what is happening here? What is this place?

[What could she possibly see that he is so afraid she would be frightened or upset by it? She's found love for monsters, before, and of all the people she knows, Riku is the least monstrous. Does he think he'll be hurt, and want her to keep out of it? But then he'd say she needed to leave, wouldn't he? Gently--]

What don't you want me to see, Riku?

[limitstorm]

[ at first, he wants to call it all off. banish the darkness swirling around him, banish the castle--but that hadn't been the point of this. he made all of this. wasn't it something to be proud of?

(looking at tsubomi, he doesn't know. he feels like his skin's crawling, his darkness all around her felt wrong.) his mouth goes dryer when she calls him by his title; he flinches and looks away from her. ]

I'm--

[ he shakes his head hard, hair flicking all around his face. ]

I'm just... fighting a few of my demons. It's okay. It's something I should do alone.

[ be firm, but understanding.

he takes a step back to her step forward, and gives her a thin smile. ]

I'm okay.

I tire of interruptions.

[ riku goes rigid at the voice, echoing off the walls and he jerks his head around, trying to pinpoint the figure. he knows who it is. he knows that voice well. he'd been expecting it, but--not so soon. he can't hurt her. he knows that, but there's still a sickening lurch in his stomach. ]

[buttpunch]

[Her mouth flickers down when he flinches, and her fists loosen, drawing her hands across her stomach to wind together.

Tsubomi knows a thing or two about fighting your demons, and needing to do it yourself. She's reminded even more keenly of the test, when she and her friends had been proving themselves to the Heartcatch Mirage.

If this is anything like that, she thinks she can understand why Riku would want to be left alone.

She echoes his smile, but when she opens her mouth to speak she's cut off by the echoing voice.

She looks around herself, body pulling taut like a bowstring. But if this is like the Mirage--if the only person being tested here is Riku, and he seems so sure that he is--then this comes from Riku. And she trusts Riku not to hurt her. Her body relaxes, and she straightens up.]

I'd like to stay.

[She ignores the voice, staring straight at Riku.]

If you don't mind? There's no need to be alone, if you don't have to be. I won't get in your way!

[limitstorm]

[ he looks to tsubomi, really looks, and he knows his resolve is crumbling. it's strange--she's nothing like sora, she's not even like kairi, but... she has such a profound effect on him.

he's still not sure why. he exhales slow, looking at his feet instead of her, before raising his head. ]

... the minute I tell you to run and don't look back, you do it, okay?

[ he reaches out to take her shoulder--not forcefully, but with a gentle, firm grip that speaks at length of worry and protectiveness. ]

I mean it.

Quaint. Very well, your guest can see to your demise, as well.

[ the shadowy figure that appears before them both--riku shuffles in front of tsubomi, an arm outstretched before her to protect her--is tall and imposing; he is translucent, but radiates uneasiness, like hair sticking up on the back of your neck. ]

[promises_to_keep]

[Lea spent most of the afternoon playing gofer for one of the vendors in town. Corridors make for quick delivery and restock runs, after all. The daylight is fading when he gets home, and as he steps through the door he notes that there's a distinct lack of Riku. He can tell who's in the house at any given moment, after all--even Sora has a little darkness to him, and Lea can still sense it easily as he could when he was mostly darkness himself. There's definitely no Riku in the house.

[Well, no big deal, he knows Riku's a busy guy. A little too busy, if you asked him, but nobody ever does. Eh.

[He'll spend the next couple hours putzing about: reading half of a book from the shelf upstairs, beating his high score in the game with the pissed off birds, and even grabbing a power nap. When he wakes up and it's after 7 and there's still no sign of Riku, though, he gets a little concerned. It's not like Riku to miss dinner, after all, and certainly not without indicating it was someone else's turn to cook.

[Meandering back downstairs, Lea pokes his head into the kitchen and spies a couple of covered pots on the stove, ready to be reheated as necessary. ... Riku made food before he left? He was expecting to be gone for dinner? Now that's a bit unusual. Maybe it's time to go see what the hell he's up to. He did promise Virgil that he would make sure Riku stopped skipping meals, after all, and Lea never breaks a promise.

[Donning the hat and jacket he got from Sheena, he heads out in search of wayward SO. Hopefully there won't be call to drag him home unconscious this time. Lea's getting a little weary of that.

[It doesn't take him long to figure out where he's gone: there's a pretty heavy concentration of darkness somewhere outside of town.]

The hell are you up to?

[When he comes upon the structure in the field beyond the edge of town he's a bit flabbergasted. He recognizes bits and pieces of this castle... the great tall doors of Castle Oblivion, the uneven spires and spiraling towers of the phantom castle of Hollow Bastion. There's so many memories pumped into this peculiar fusion of light and dark and stone and steel, pain and grief and beneath them, wistful fondness and nostalgia. Did Riku build this? From darkness?

[The front doors are wide open, and though everything in him wants to stop just outside the doors, to keep out of this bastion of haunted memories, his curiosity is too strong, and his concern for just what Riku might be doing in a place like this drives him through the ingress. So help him, if he has to drag Riku home on his shoulders again...]

Riku? [His voice echoes off the high ceilings, the smooth walls, the strangely familiar yet completely alien mashup of castles, neither of which he has terribly good memories of. His throat tightens a little.] Hello? Olly olly oxenfree~

[Seriously, this place is giving him the heebie jeebies. There's such a cacophony of feelings thrumming through the walls: fear, sadness, joy, loneliness, confidence, all mashed together. It's almost deafening even in its silence. What are you doing, Riku?]

[limitstorm]

[ riku heals himself as he breathes shakily, shoving his keyblade down to stand up. injures start to melt away as the spell washes over him, and he's momentarily stunned by focusing on his spell that he doesn't notice the shadow of xehanort's heartless disappear from in front of him.

he reappears in the entrance of the castle, at the end of the hallway lea walks in. he looks transparent, tinged with darkness, more of a ghostly silhouette than an actual person. ]

There's no need for you here.

Lea!

[ healed up and keyblade out, riku races towards the hallway as the ghostly xehanort disappears, flashing behind lea. he has his arms crossed, floating above the ground, making no moves. ]

[promises_to_keep]

[The look on Lea's face is almost comically horrified when he recognizes the translucent figure in the hall. It can't be... Wasn't the heartless destroyed? Like he knows Riku was possessed by him at one point, but when Riku comes careening down the hallway it only adds to Lea's confusion. How can the heartless even exist independently of Riku?

[Bro you got some 'splainin' to do.

[He whirls when there's a rush of air and a swirl of darkness behind him. Guarded, his expression drawn tight in something between anger and confusion, Lea flexes one hand. Come on, you jerky Keyblade, don't give me a hard time now.]

No need for me? Come now, you'll hurt my feelings that way. [Ah! There's the Keyblade. Quit taking your sweet time! He lets it rest by his side, though admittedly he's still a little unsure what to do with his other hand; he's used to having them both occupied by a weapon. Oh well, he'll figure something out.] Is that any way to greet an old colleague?

[Well, he never worked with the heartless version, but close enough right?]

[limitstorm]

Feelings from a fledgling heart matter little.

[ xehanort's heartless remarks with a scoff. ]

Ignore him, your attacks'll phase right through him. [ riku's out of breath; he walks near to lea, but not near enough to be in arm's reach. with some hesitation, to lea-- ]

Did something happen?

[promises_to_keep]

[Eyeroll.] Oh, right, because you're the leading authority on feelings in the first place.

[He turns to Riku and makes a face.] They will? [Okay now he has to try. He snaps the Keyblade forward and attempts to prod at Xehanort's abdomen. ... Huh.] Well I'll be damned. [He scrunches up one side of his face and looks back at Xehanort.] Are you a hologram or something? [This is so bizarre.

[He turns back to Riku then and puts his free hand on his hip, the Keyblade falling back to his side.] Yeah, something happened: you were gone all day and didn't even leave a note. Rude. I can't believe you actually trusted Sora to reheat things for dinner.

[limitstorm]

He's part of the darkness inside of me, so if I use it, sometimes it'll...

[ he hesitates, and then exhales, shaking his head. he ends up smiling at the remark about sora. ]

What, are you telling me he burned it? Sheesh, you had me worried. I thought something bad happened. Only half of it is on the stove, there's some tucked away in the fridge. You could always--

How long do you plan to continue this?

[ riku narrows his eyes at the interruption, glancing back to the shadow. ]

I thought being evil didn't mean you didn't have manners, but I guess it does.

You conjured this castle to face your own demons, but you're quick to ignore them when faced with...

[ he looks to lea. ] distractions.

Who wouldn't need a distraction after looking at you for hours?

How long do you intend to use him as an excuse--as a crutch for your inability?

[ funnily enough, riku doesn't have a snappy comeback for that--he's so jolted by the idea that he twitches like he was struck, and his brows furrow, like he's trying to understand what he says. he understands it, but...

trying to not believe it is hard. he knows he should, but... what if he's just impeding lea's process? what if he's being more of a hassle than he should be? he's caused lea a lot of setbacks and pain and negative feelings, maybe he should just... leave him be? should he have told him in the first place? ]

[promises_to_keep]

[Lea starts to argue back that Sora managed to burn water, and of course he's capable of burning food. Even if he didn't. At least as far as Lea could tell. Point is there was opportunity. But then he's interrupted, and Lea turns to give the heartless a frown. Oh, a distraction is he? He gives an exaggerated wave.]

Hi, hello, yes, I'm standing right here you jackass. Don't talk like I'm not here. You're the one who's not actually here, so could you just buzz off? Substantial people are talking.

[But when Ansem expounds on what he meant by distraction, Lea bristles with indignation.]

Excuse you. I am not a crutch, thank you. [He didn't miss Riku's flinch, like the words might have literally slapped him. Come on, this is so not what Riku needs. They've just made progress, okay? Quit trying to drag him back down, you asshole. He turns to face Ansem fully, dismissing his Keyblade now and folding his arms over his chest.] The whole point of keeping somebody in your life is because you stand to gain something from them--the ones who are really worth keeping? It's cuz they make you happy. Not that you know anything about that. [He rolls his eyes again.] Besides, you don't even exist without Riku around, so I'd say you're the one with a need for a crutch.

[limitstorm]

[ there's--almost a comforting wash of relief coming over him, as he listens to lea. it's like a cure spell for his heart. (man, that's corny. he can't say that aloud.)

standing up straighter, he raises his eyes and takes a step forward. ]

I can stand on my own without Lea, but I can choose to stand with him if I want to. And I do. [ riku furrows his brows and jerks his head forward some, as if challenging xehanort's heartless on that. ] You aren't going to change my mind.

Insolent child. You've made this castle on your own. The interference of anyone else only serves to weaken your resolve.

[ riku straightens, glancing to lea. ]

But I made this because you helped me think of using my powers as something other than destroying, or fighting. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even know I could do something like this.

[sorrowfulcry]

[He was used to being indoors or underground for extended periods of time. Sometimes, the Vanguard would attempt to lay siege to the Embryon and those days were dull and taken in shifts. So... Not hard. But Heat got bored now and irritating snow or not, he needed to get out and stretch his legs. He needed to go somewhere else so people would stop glaring at him when he snapped at them for staring in the first place. You would think that the Karma Society would have conditioned him to that treatment, but Heat refused to just put his head down and carry on.

... And you have to admit, a dark looking castle in the middle of snowfields? Not the most inconspicuous thing to run across.

Heat's seen a lot of fortresses; Sahasrara had been built like a well guarded stairwell to Nirvana, the Solids' Citadel had been an 'impenetrable' fortress and even the strange building that had appeared in the Brute's territory had been fortress-like in it's size and twisting hallways. But this castle that had appeared in the snowscape didn't quite feel the same. The other locations had been cold and aloof; places of fighting and of reverence.

This place was more akin to Coordinate 136. Still fortress like, but with a touch of whimsy and an almost palpable sadness. It was one of the last standing monuments to Sera's loneliness left in the Junkyard. Heat hated the place.

He has a feeling he'll hate this place too. But that's partly what prompts him to walk straight through, if only to give a solid punch to whoever decided to make this thing. There were memories that were better left alone. This was one of them]

sorry about this late reply! work

[limitstorm]

[ riku certainly hadn't meant for it to be inconspicuous, but he had meant for it to be imposing and alienating. of course, some people saw that as a challenge, and that, he didn't account for.

he exhales as he reaches the heart of the castle, only straightening when he feels the presence of another nearby, turning.

who was that? he didn't know the presence enough to know off the top of his head, and with a deep breath, he turns to go back towards the foyer. he has to stop them before they go in too deep. sheesh, who walks into a darkness castle? ]

no worries!

[sorrowfulcry]

[obviously the people who don't care about darkness. He's a Demon, what's a bit of darkness?]

[for the time being, Heat doesn't wander any farther than the foyer. Not out of fear, but because the architecture was different from what the red head was used to... And maybe, just maybe, he had been expecting some sort of announcement to sound over the PA system]