Kross cautiously sat down when everyone was close to borderline volatile. He was about ready to leave when the others stood and deserted the room. He frowned with worry, slowly settling back in his seat. Not only were they ignoring him, they deserted the room when he entered. He blinked, did he do something wrong? He frowned and forked at his salad, feeling lonelier already."...Well, nice to see you guys again."He said to no one in particular. He heaved and eyed his plate, all that aside, he had more questions than answers, even Yen Sid's sagely council, he still had concerns.
Kross glanced up to Etrius as the male voiced to let Kross go and eat something. Sheepishly, he rubbed his arm and smiled nervously."Thanks Etrius! Come on down soon too, okay?"He said, after all even a power house like Etrius needed to eat. Hurriedly, he went tot he kitchen, passing by Karina on his way to the dining room. He gave her a brief regard before deciding on salad and sat down, putting the vegetables on his plate and grinning at the others, some of them looked a little ruffled, but he wanted to alleviate the mood."Hey guys"He greeted."We don't get a chance to eat together like this, let's enjoy it."
Kross watched Etrius in silence, his eyes furrowed with concern, this was one of many reasons that he could not tutor Etrius on using the darkness. It defied everything he stood for, he was scared of the darkness, plus Etrius's temper, he didn't want to lose Etrius in the darkness but he wanted no part in teaching him how to control it. As he made conversation with Kel, Kross's eyes wandered to Karina's room, was she still angry over him disappearing? He felt his stomach tighten up and then rumble. He blinked and looked ahead."Oh..! I haven't eaten anything since I got back here.."He trailed off, putting a hand to his stomach.
Kross was surprised when Etrius opened the door to reveal Karina and Eon. He couldn't meet Karina's gaze, even when she saw the two. Her less-than-thawed welcome was frosty, but expected. He looked up abd saw Etrius, poised to strike but thankfully restrained himself. He hurried and grabbed on Etrius's arm, trying to pull him away."Etrius, forget about it, let's just go!"He shouted out, worried for the worst, he was powerless to stop the raging man. As Etrius finally relented, storming out of the room and Kross looked at the two, then lowered his head."I'm sorry, we'll leave."He said and turned, quickly going to Etrius and frowned at him."..Etrius, that wasn't necessary."He said.
Kross blinked and stroked his chin, it was coming from the Guild hall? How unusual.. Quietly he followed, passing by a few rooms, even his own room. The haori around his waist flowed behind him, giving him a sort of mystic grace. As he followed, he eyed Etrius's back."Somewhere as pure as the Guild Hall? Are you sure?"He asked Etrius, stopping when he stopped and knocked on a door. He wondered who he was asking, but he didn't speak up, bothering to stay quiet than to do anything.
Kross went silent at Etrius's response, the fright silencing him better than anything. The power of darkness was a turbulent one, but he wanted no part in teaching how to control it. It wasn't like he said..heck it wasn't even about Etrius or his teaching ethics, it was nothing like that..The charge of topic was much appreciated when Etrius sensed something in the distance, calling it a 'disturbance'. He looked up, trying to extend his senses but..nothing. He looked at Etrius with concern."I don't sense anything, want to check it out?"
Steel was an excellent candidate, considering how well versed he was in teaching others and socializing. He didn't know that Steel used darkness and it surprised him, or caught him off guard, either or. He glanced over at Etrius as he explained why the boy challenged him, it cleared things up immensely and he was relieved of that. That apprehension soon came back when Etrius asked him to tutor him in controlling the darkness. Kross tensed up, eyes widened, he didn't expect that and it scared him. He quickly backed away from Etrius, lips parted with a silent gasp with a hand over his heart. He stared at Etrius for the longest moment before lowering his head shaking it."I..I can't do that!"He said aloud, a little more angrily than he meant to. Teaching someone how to control the very thing that killed his family and swallowed his world made him feel sick."I can't do it."He said a little more softly, his gaze away from the other male.
Kross grinned with a slight blush at Etrius's words and the compliment of his world. He chuckled a little and paid close attention to his story, listening and mulling over. He furrowed his eyes and his smile faded, this guy lost his...too? How many people will the darkness hurt? He felt a little fire of anger rise up in his stomach."..My condolences, really..The hatred you feel must have been what awakened your dark powers."He said calmly. He stroked his chin for a moment, then he thought of something."Have you thought about taking a tutor to help control that power? If you could control it better, you could probably bring it out whenever you needed it."
Kross crossed his arms over his chest, blinking once, more key wielders, a whole world's worth was really something. Etrius's world would definitely be worth visiting one day. At his question about his family and world, Kross mulled it over, his world was swallowed up by darkness before he came to be Yen Sid's pupil in the ways of the keyblade. It was a tragic end, one that haunted his memories and dreams, but he could lie about that, couldn't he? At least for now.."I think you'd like my family, we have some extended family but I generally lived with my immediate family before I came here. Dad's really nice, I think you'd like him. Mom...is a little less thawed but I think you could get along with her."He said, stroking his chin to consider his question about his world."Hmmm, well there is a lot of plant life and space where I come from.Pepper Island is known for its distribution of spices, it's our only source of economy so naturally I was a little poor growing up. The Struggle matches didn't help much but the mayor sacrificed a lot for us. Most of the people who live on my island are very kindly, and they enjoy getting to know other people."
4 points on Power please
Kross breathed in sharply, the potion felt like fire on the sensitive place, feeling the potion sizzle before restoring most of the lost flesh. He listened quietly to Etrius. A test huh? He frowned a little bit."There's always next time I guess.."He murmured a bit and looked back to Etrius, listening to his last part which worried him more, controlling such a turbulent power would prove to be very troublesome, even for someone as strong as Etrius. He nodded at his advice once and slipped on his sleeveless, sitting up and stretching himself."Thanks doctor."He teased slightly with a grin at him."You're really good at healing, you know that?"
Kross breathed heavy and stood straight, his keyblade still in hand as Etrius returned to normal. He watched as Etrius strolled over and he turned, removing his sleeveless to reveal his heavily scarred back, with that one glowing purple gash still as lively as ever. He furrowed his brows with concern, what he saw earlier was was disturbing..but he could trust Etrius now. He looked to the side."You gotta be careful with that kind of power."He said, it concerned him, what if that kind of power completely consumed Etrius? He breathed out and sat down slowly, letting Etrius work. Poisoned!
Kross watched on as the lightning spell hit, stunning his ally for a brief moment and damaging his armor. some of it broke but he had no notion that Etrius was out yet and this one moment was more than enough. The smoke unnerved him a bit, sensing a sort of cold dread come over him at the appearance. He saw as Etrius sped around him, he didn't bother to try to look for him as he still couldn't move properly, but once the time field died down, white filled his vision as he was struck in the back, purple gash marks across his back as he staggered forward, turning to Etrius slowly. His vision started swimming as his joints felt like they were on fire, he was poisoned. He grit his teeth and held his keyblade tight in his hand, looking up to meet eyes with Etrius."You're...you're good.."He murmured, his arm straining to hold his keyblade up. poisoned!
Kross's brows rose as Etrius busted through his ice spell like it was nothing, though he did note a momentary grimace of pain coming from his opponent. He slid his keyblade up as Etrius crashed his keyblade into his own, feeling like he just collided with a speeding boulder. He grunted and managed to ward him off, only for him to stand a few feet back and raise his keyblade to cast a spell. Kross's eyes narrowed, recognizing the grey colored tint and the flash, a time based spell, it was one he had used before. Instantly, he raised his keyblade just as the time field had hit him, making him slow down by half. He grit his teeth, he was in range so it was all the requirements he needed. His hair started to bristle as the air became super heated momentarily, followed by a streak of yellow lightning crashing down where Etrius was standing. The thunder spell, Lightning was nature's most powerful weapon and it was Kross's most powerful spell. This spell might have been relatively small but size does not always equal power.
Kross did expect him to put up some sort of defense, though when he went flying, for a split second, he saw it, a light surrounding Etrius's form to form parts of armor on certain parts of his body. Strange color scheme too. He didn't have his armor yet, so he was naturally kind of jealous. He grinned a little bit as Etrius complimented him, then playfully challenged him to a speed off. He took his stance and bent kind of low, looking at him dead in the eyes."I plan to!" He quipped back. challenging him. As Etrius sped at Kross, Kross took his stance and focused himself, a bright blue aura surrounded the tip of his twitterpated and a blue light launched itself at Etrius."Freeze!" He commanded in a firm voice, launching his Blizzard spell at Etrius.
Kross was very glad that the male didn't push it, at least he could feel a little bit more comfort knowing that. He rolled his shoulders a bit and stroked his chin, that was strange, He seemed perfectly attached to Luna, was Luna distancing herself from others? It didn't matter now, as Etrius brought up something else, his fight with Karina. He blinked a little bit."That's only because she kept me on my toes!" He lied, rubbing the back of his head, he had gone easy on Karina in truth, he didn't want to shoot down her ego and her pride, large as it was. There was a reason he stated this, seeing him spin his keyblade and got into a stance. It was confirmed, he wanted a friendly spar with Kross. He grinned big, He hadn't a fight in a while, particularly against a fellow wielder. He raised his palm and summoned his Twitterpad keyblade, flashing in a burst of light and petals, then held the keyblade behind him and stood straight, palm out, a basic mage's stance. He looked at Etrius."Let's do this!" He said, flashing forward, the haori around his waist flowing gracefully behind him. He went for a horizontal strike to start the battle.
This was Kross's fault that Karina seemed so broody, of course she was always like this for as long as he had known her(A couple of days, give or take, they had only been on one mission together) But he couldn't help but feel he was responsible. Was it because of his past? His inability to get along with his mother. These were the thoughts that plagued him as he practiced. It seemed he lapsed somewhat because he didn't pay any mind to his silent companion, who was currently watching him practice. It was only when he spoke up that he paused and turned his head to regard the addresser. He blinked his eyes, lowering his arm and unsummoning his keyblade, the weapon vanishing in a spear of light before he turned fully to him."Hey"He greeted, a tiny smile on his face, he remembered him, the man that had gotten angry at him over a hurt Luna. His smile faded."How is that girl? Did you manage to talk to her?"He asked, meaning Luna, but when Etrius asked about Karina, Kross looked momentarily startled. He went quiet for a moment and turned his head away, his expression blank."...I don't know where she is.."He answered in a monotone voice, she didn't want to see him anyway..
Kross had gotten down with his shower and he had headed out, ruffling his hair with the towel to dry it out and wrapped it around his waist. He went into his closet and picked out the clothes, dropping the towel as he put on his sleeveless top followed by his hakama and sandals. He last tied the flowing haori around his waist and put his gauntlets on. With his sanitation taken care of and his clothing handled, he made his way out of the bathroom and went down the hall to the outside world. He couldn't talk with Karina now, there was just no way.. She would just send him away. He hurried outside to the courtyard and decided to practice for now. Summoning his keyblade, he started going for one handed swings, vertical, then horizontal. then rising back up in an 'uppercut slash'. He breathed out, not bad, he didn't rust a bit. His mind was on Yen Sid's advice to him too, on those three dark beings too, he couldn't let his allies get hurt though. "I wonder what our next mission will be."He said.
Kross heard only silence in reply to his call. He slowly came to a stop, hearing a boy's voice. He paused and tensed up, turning."Sorry!" He said, his eyes wide and his face red as he hurried up to his impromptu room, it was a couple of doors down anyway, he quickly got in and shut the door, pressing his back against it and his eyes widened a little more. "..I didn't know she needed that kind of time to herself.."He whispered. He sighed and ruffled his hair. He winced, when was the last time he showered? He smelled like a used lawn mower. He sighed and made his way into the bathroom, starting the shower up and closed the bathroom door, locking it for good measure and undressed, going under the cascading cleansing trip of the warm water.
Kross's smile faded as he saw her, her blank expression, strolling past him without even a second glance. He could tell she was angry at him though, angry that he couldn't complete the mission he was given, angry that he had let her down. His face fell, eyes furrowed. "I'm sorry" He whispered softly. Her silence said it louder than words ever could. He was hated by her now and he didn't like being hated or neglected. It made him glad to get away from home. He had a great father, he was kind and gentle, and loved to play with him. His mother on the other hand, wasn't so tender, in fact, Karina's current attitude towards him reminded him a lot of her. Most of his life, his mother ignored him, strolling past him and not even look at him. The dinner table would be eerily quiet, save for a few spare glances by his father. Kross was an incredibly shy young man growing up. It wasn't his mother's anger that irked him, hell her anger was the only way to get her to notice him, it was her negligence of him that hit him hard. Did she not love him as her son? He knew his father did, his playful loving father was always with him. Mother's silence when she came in from work drove Kross to crying, his father comforting him afterwards. He knew she hated him, he knew it, her silence said it all and it was agonizing, more so than any hell fire could bring. "It'll be okay." His father told him. It was a small comfort for now. He was more than happy to have a loving father, but his mother's negligence left him always depressed, desperate to at least get her to notice him. He always messed up, even at school, at Struggle, at everything. "I wish I had a different son.." His mother would say, she called him weak, she called him stupid, undertrained. How could his father bear with that? "Just smile and go on! It'll be all right!" He would tell Kross, over the years he worked even harder, his mother even noticed, at least a little bit but he could tell he had her attention. He was happy. When he gained his first keyblade, his beautiful stoic mother said her goodbyes."Never forget your kind heart..but be warned, there will be those in your peer group who cannot be saved from the darkness.." "I have to find Karina.."Kross decided, there was no use running from his problems. He walked into the castle and made his way to the upper floors."Karina! We need to talk!"He called out.
