Steel thought carefully about his answer, considering that calling it a 'magical reactor' would make it sound... dangerous. Granted it was pretty dangerous under the wrong circumstances, but... well... it was only a small piece of something much bigger so... Though he was momentarily thrown when she seemed to have had some sudden realization and started, he resumed when she made it clear she still expected an answer. "I guess you could describe it as a shard of a powerful magical artifact. It changes my eye color because..." He shrugged. "It's magic, and it likes showing off." He wasn't sure how else to explain it. (26/31)
"Thanks." He voiced his gratitude and took the ice cream, listening to her question as he did. "I do have another name. A couple of them actually. It's uh... sort of up in the air which is really mine at the moment... Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite 3/? "In this timeline, I was born into the Garden of Rivers as a normal citizen." Leonidas made something of a face. "Well, a relatively normal citizen... As per usual, I was born with Artisian powers, and it was not long after my birth that my sister entity, Alice, manifested within my mind. We quickly learned of this new iteration; of it's government and history. It is... quite different from the world we knew, even as it looks almost exactly the same." "How so?" The question came unbidden from Steel's mouth before he could notice, but he didn't really have any reason to regret asking such. He was curious. "Well... the city behind you is known as 'Fort Cleanth' for one thing: St. Carnelian is still alive, and he lives in the city." That was certainly a difference Steel had to admit. It meant that the timeline for the garden was likely shifted around in several possible ways. "The country is also ruled by a monarchy: the 'Light' family, and the only trace I can find of our battle against the sorrows is a legend about a conflict known as the 'War of the Absolved.' The legend also involves the nobles; something about a crystal that went missing not too long ago. A few years into our childhood actually." ...Sorrows?... Did he mean the Disturbed? Had Steel been so out of it that he had even given them some false name? Or was it that Leo's memory had equally been corrupted by this... phenomenon? Well, either way things were clearly far more different than he had realized. The legends were definitely of some interest, but he would hold his questions for now. The Leo image still clearly had much more to tell, and it would be best if he let it say its piece before he quizzed it too much. "As we grew up and learned the ways of this place, our own memories of our friends and a unique variation of the garden caused us to grow... lonely." 25/31
Perking up his ears at Ananta's muttering, he quickly noticed his own ice cream was gone. He could really go for more though. "Hmmm. Maybe I'll try of that sea salt flavor now..." (24/31)
Steel thoroughly enjoyed his Ice cream as he continued to recall the end of his journey through the Castle of Illusion. Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite 2/? In the black and rainy night, Steel approached the group of three on the beach. Gale and Winter were standing over someone in a lab coat, who on further inspection seemed to be Professor Griffon. He was kneeling down on the ground... crying? Maybe he was mistake- no that was definitely Griffon and he was definitely crying... or were they crying? Kneeling down to the wailing scientist, Steel cautiously drew attention to himself. "Hey, uh... Leo? Alice? You okay there guys?" Their head shot up with a jolt as a shocked look took form on their face. "Sors!" A higher sounding voice shouted with glee as the red head pulled him into a bone crushing hug and started sobbing even more fervently than before. "You're here! I thought we'd never see you again!" "Whoa! Alice!" So his suspicions had been correct. The Aquila 'siblings' were currently sharing the same body. Truth be told, it was their natural state. However, due to several variables that allowed for other options, it was something that they very rarely actually did. There was definitely something very strange going on here, but this was perfect. Griffon, or rather this illusory version of Griffon, would surely be able to tell him what was really going on back at his home world. If anyone would know, it would be them. However, he'd first need to calm down Alice, who was still sobbing quite hysterically into his hoodie, as well as shoving her tear ridden face into the decorative chains now fastened around him. That could not have been comfortable. Gale and Winter did nothing to placate her for their part, seemingly content to merely look on in concern for now. "Guys, guys, guys! Griffon, calm down, please!" His words fell on seemingly deaf ears. To be honest, Steel was more than a little curious as to why exactly they were so upset. Sure, Alice had mentioned the possibility of never seeing him again, but that wasn't enough to make her this upset. Leonidas wasn't even doing anything to exert dominance over the body either, which meant he was likely to be equally wracked with grief, though he was considerably less expressive of it. Grabbing the red headed body by the shoulders, Steel gently pried their face away from his torso to look into their eyes. "Griffon, I can tell something is wrong..." As if that wasn't the understatement of the year. "...but I need Alice to calm down a little, and let Leo explain the situation to me: I can't fix anything if I don't know what's happening." The look on Griffon's face slowly became subdued, though it was still tear stained, and the eyes still held an indescribable sadness. "Of course." The calmer, more centered voice of Leonidas Aquila began to come from the host mouth. "Though I'm not even sure where to start." "How about at the beginning?" Steel suggested, to which Leo responded with a small, somewhat forced chuckle. (23/31)
Steel was lost in memory. Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite (1/?) As the light around him faded, Steel found himself back at Fort St. Carn. He was now on the beach, and the gate he had once tried so hard to force open now stood behind him. However, it now looked like a still image on a monitor. It cracked and sparked dangerously in such a manner that Steel supposed that there was likely no turning back that way. Closer to the shore, three figures stood. Two of them he easily recognized as Winter and Gale, standing over a third figure who was in... a lab coat? Curious, Steel began to approach. (22/31)
"Noted." Steel responded in kind to Ananta at both the mention of her glider and the Sea Salt Ice cream. He was actually fairly certain he had heard of and tried it before now that she mentioned it, but he couldn't really remember. It could be his mind just confabulating. "Well, with all that said I'm getting hungry. I'll just go order my own now." He headed towards the stall to get himself some rocky road, turning back to his more serious thoughts as he ordered. It occurred to him that if he forgot what he had learned in the Castle of Illusion so easily, he might need to take the time to go over the scenario in his head again and think about it more. (21/31)
Steel nodded along with Kaida as she spoke of her own thoughts on ice cream. "Agreed. I've never been all that fond of sprinkles in the first place to be honest. Though there are some other interesting toppings. I've seen some people use gummy bears. Those might be good with chocolate chip or cookie dough." (20/31)
Well, Kaida had said she wasn't the best on the subjects. It seemed they had asked too many questions too fast and overloaded her. Unfortunate. However, his only real response was to shrug ti Stratos as they both accepted what was apparently the inevitable. He had never had cake batter ice cream. It sounded relatively novel and it might be nice to try it some day. However, for now... "I've always been fond of most things with chocolate myself. Rocky Road, Mint Chocolate Chip, Fudge Brownie... there are other good things without it of course. Vanilla is quite delightful, as is Cookie Dough." (19/31)
"Hmmm..." Steel cupped his chin as he pondered. "What if we actually set the keygliders on the water like they were boats? Or is there maybe an alternate form for that?" Really, the keygliders were magical anyway, so just setting them down in water should realistically have no difference on their function. Though shape might be an issue for some... (18/31)
"I hadn't even thought of that bit." Steel winced in realization. "Yeah with the way bad luck follows us, or at least No Heart and his goons do, a boat probably won't last all that long." They really didn't need to be in debt to someone on a random world it might be hard to get back to later. (17/31)
"Alrighty then." Steel responded rather readily and began to walk with her. He didn't have much in the way of anything to say, but he did wonder if they really needed a boat. "Hey, our gliders still work, even if the lanes won't open right? Couldn't we just use those instead of asking about boats?" He shrugged. "Just a thought I had." (16/31)
Steel shrugged as Ananta and Stratos walked off. "Ice cream might be good, what do you guys think?" He directed his question to the other two, though he didn't figure Aux would be likely to answer. Really, he figured he already had a headache, so he might just order a ton of ice cream and get a brain freeze on top of it. Just to shake things up. (15/31)
Steel chuckled at the reminder of when he had first met Ananta before she joined in on the others' conversation. He didn't really get much of a chance to response to her or the others before they went off on several tangents like boats, the world walls, or armors. (Personally he had always used a cloak for protection, or stored light energy in the mask he wore on his shoulder before leaving to create a sort of barrier. He hadn't really needed it in the Realm of Darkness.) Though ultimately it left him to think through his answer to her question: Talking to the others more. It was something he wanted to do actually, but... well, what was his problem with it? Was habit holding him back? Or maybe the craziness and somber mood of it all. How did one even begin to explain about his eye? That he was basically some weird science monster held together with an echo of some memories and the shard of what was essentially a magic reactor from another dimension? Timeline even? It was all rather stupidly complicated to boot. He didn't really like being alone with his thoughts all the time, but... it was hard to talk about. Time passed by as he tried desperately both to pay attention and think about his own thoughts, though Ananta seemed to have moved on for now, and there was no way he was grabbing everyone's attention by giving her a response in front of them now. Still, he clearly didn't have the brain power of his predecessor, because it was all just getting mixed up in his head. So when the words "Land of Departure" stuck out to him, he sort of just set aside a lot of the other things including his conversation with Ananta. She had let it drop already, so they could continue in private later. "Hmmm... The land of departure... it was much more temple-like than Central Haven. It had a supernatural level of balance between Light and Darkness as well." He crossed his arms in thought. That place was definitely special. (14/31)
Chrys gave a sharp intake of breath at the sight of her friends keyblade. Of course, she couldn't afford to really dwell on it for too long since it was a weapon being used against her. Instead she found herself thinking about her masters question... as she was frantically dodging to the side of his blow and preparing her own counterattack. What would she do for her brother? How far would she go? Her master spoke as if she needed to be single-minded and desperate. But Dentro had rather thoroughly disproved that, hadn't he? The person who had owned the weapon that her master was wielding had been taken by darkness, all because of his obsession with destroying it. There was more to her goal then her single minded pursuit of it. It was just as important to think of what effect her actions would have towards her goals and those around her. Yet she knew thinking wasn't always enough. Sometimes it only slowed you down. Hesitation as the master had said. There were plenty of times thinking did nothing but slow her down and prevent her from doing her best. One had to be in the moment as well, not just in ones own head. Now was a good example. As her form came with defensive countermeasures, she rushed towards her master to deliver a string of blows with little regards to defensive tactics. After a quick series of blows she finished with a broad sweeping slash. "I will do what I must. No Less..." She trailed off as she motioned to a floating flower petal, guiding it into her hand before she crushed it. "...And no more." She finished with a determined glint in her eye, and a burst of light erupted forth from her palm. The sylvan charge had been focused into a Sparkra spell.
Steel just awkwardly rubbed his neck; a response to the near pun, sudden praise, and curiosity about his eye all in one. He wasn't really sure how to respond to the question. It was quite a lengthy subject to discuss, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to at the moment. But then, they had only asked if it was okay, not for a detailed run-down of any sort. "Oh, yeah, you know: eyes." He paused to make little finger guns. "Windows to the soul!" As well as whatever shards of eldritch ghost of time might lie within. "It likes to sort of show off every now and again but its normal really. I just... forgot to turn it off." For some time... which apparently no one noticed until now. (13/31)
"You're right of course. I didn't mean to imply you would make such a promise without proper thought due, I just..." Steel crossed his arms as he stared out at the ocean, a rather uncomfortable gleam in his eyes. Yes, how easily he tended to forget. His eyes themselves were the proof. Without even realizing it, he had called out to the power of the eye, despite the fact he was no longer bound to it the same way his original was. He had subconsciously called out who knows how long ago and re-inflicted that curse upon his body and mind, but he didn't need to. He let the black miasma drain from his eye, returning his eyes to blue and his pupils to grey as he thought of his first major promise. Saving Clair... and the world too, he supposed. It was Clair that had stuck with him though, that had continued to motivate him as he had slowly gone insane. He had utterly lost his mind in his desperation to see her away from the conflict that would determine the fate of her and everyone else on his world and the results were probably best phrased as 'murderous.' Promises were important. Promises were dangerous. Oh, he supposed it might not have been so bad if he hadn't had a good billion voices shouting in his head at the time, but... "I suppose I just don't know what to say. It's not uncommon for me actually. I guess, a part of me just feels ticked off." Everywhere the group turned they just kept losing things, and most of the time it didn't feel like he was contributing anything but another sword arm, one of the weaker ones at that. But he knew his leaving wouldn't solve anything. Just because he wouldn't be around to see their troubles anymore didn't mean they would go away. It would only stand to serve as an unknown variable looming over whatever troubles he ran into back home. The rind on his finger stood as one of the last remaining symbols of someone who had been like him. Someone he had never really bothered to actually get to know. Someone who was now dead. And here he was acting like an attention starved puppy. So what if he was concerned about how the darkness of loneliness would affect him? That didn't change the fact that there were bigger problems at hand. He could take care of himself later. He gave a sad smile at the thought: For all he tried to think things through; it seemed he was rather doomed to act impulsively. "I just... had another promise to keep. I almost forgot about it. I guess I needed to remind myself." He placed a paw up to his scarred eye, placing his ring against the fibrous tissue. 'Your heart will always remember the connections you've made.' "I'm not done yet." OC: (12/31)
Steel was as silent as ever as he listened to what the others all had to say. If he was being completely honest, this was all hitting pretty close to home for him. It hardly took critical thought for him to notice the rather glaring similarities between him and Hikaru. His body was a copy, and for all his soul might be real enough, even that was an echo. The original him was just a shade from another dimension, he was the only real tie that the creature had to this realm. So what would happen if he disappeared? Would all traces of him outside of his home world slowly vanish like what was happening to Hikaru? Would any of them remember him? What was there to remember exactly? Steel stared out at the explosion as he considered Kaida's words, his back to the others. He honestly didn't know how his stony silence and wandering mind could have possibly helped her process anything. As much as he hated it, ever since he had come to earn him mark of mastery at the castle of illusion, little about him had changed. He may have abandoned the greater aspect of his arrogance, but losing that he had slipped into an entirely different sort of unfortunate habit that the original storm shade was so fond of; a shell. It was hardly intentional, but that didn't really change the fact that it was happening. Ananta had even once mentioned that he needed to approach others more, and yet the few times he had, nothing really had changed. He had gone just as unnoticed as before... Why was he even here? It may have seemed petty, but he knew that loneliness was as much of a darkness as any other form it took. It had caused him quite an unfortunate amount of problems back home. Was going through all that again something he really wanted? He raised his paw to get a glimpse of his own SoS ring. Having ceased celebrating birthdays long ago, it was perhaps the first real gift he had received in... well actually his status as a copy meant he had never even had a birthday, having been born only months ago. So this was pretty much the first gift he had personally received ever. "Since the earliest I can recall you've stuck with this group even when you didn't have to." Those were the words that had been said to him, as well as Kel and Luna. At the time, he felt that he was been rewarded and acknowledged for his loyalty. It was something that had actually made him incredibly happy at the time; he craved recognition a bit too much perhaps. Still, thinking back on it now, he wondered if perhaps he didn't really deserve it. Had he really been loyal this whole time, or had he just not felt like there was anywhere else to go? He had said himself during the exam that he didn't even know if he had any family in this realm anymore, but now he did know. Were his thoughts too busy with them now? In spite of what lay in front of him? In spite of the promise he still had to keep? "Promises are important." He said aloud. It was to himself, as much as it was a response to Kaida. Oh how easy it seemed to be to forget his own words and slip back into the familiar. (11/31)
Steel had done as he was asked and wrote Hikaru's name on her arm, falling back into silent thought he did a quick search of his own memories. It seemed as though they hadn't been altered too much... yet... as far as he knew. It stood to reason that his memories might disappear a bit more slowly due to his nature as... whatever the heck he was. It seemed Kaida was really beating herself up about it though. Crying on the ground sobbing about how she wasn't going to let Hikaru go. Not that she was actively doing much at that point to act on her loud proclamation. Aux seemed to be of a similar mind telling her off before Steel himself could say anything. Seeing that, he merely turned his thoughts inwards once more.
Steel found himself looking at Kaida with no small amount of concern. "Hikaru... Kaida, are you all right?" It could be that she had taken a blow to the head during that last fight, but he also wasn't going to dismiss the possibility of something more sinister being at work. (9/31)
So the cops showed up, they got an evil experiment as a souvenir, and sealed a keyhole. Now all they needed to do was find a way to get off this world. Then there was a sudden disturbance. Steel raised his eyebrows as Kaida, clearly panicked, stated that she did not remember anything about one of her best friends name. It seemed she was talking about... "Hikaru? You can't remember his name?" That was strange, and rather worrying. (8/31)
