Well then... Ok... So... He hadn't the slightest clue where to even begin with this chaos. Overall it seemed like people were just taking the time to get reacquainted, though there was also the matter of instructing the newer members. The latest episode of 'Karina' was on too. It looked to be especially dramatic... Ok, so maybe he was being mean, but he wasn't wrong. From the first day he walked in to this mess of an organization, Karina had been the one to sit in the corner pouting like she held the world on her shoulders... when she didn't even give a flip about anyone else in the room at pretty much any given time. Like she would even carry the world forward a single inch if it had been on her shoulders. Granted, he hadn't been much better until recently. He had been better though, and that was pretty sad. He could go on listing Karina's flaws, but none of it was really important because... He had to apologize to her. While it was true that Karina's behavior wasn't something he had to respect, his own actions had hardly been acceptable either. When it came down to it, he had been in quite a bad place himself, and he had taken those feelings out on her, even if he had started out trying to help. That didn't change the fact that his apology would fall on deaf ears though. When the argument had first started she had taken everything that was criticism and treated as a judges sentence. Stratos seemed to be having success though. Maybe... maybe he just needed some time to think through what he had to say to her... His tail twitched back and forth slowly as he considered- Shoot his tail. He had completely forgotten about that. No one seemed to have noticed yet though, so maybe if he- Then Darkness. Lots of it. He didn't like this witch. So now he was in... some kind of empty space? It... actually felt pretty roomy... but... it was also a bit boring. Sort of a nice scene, there were like... stars... or something. But after awhile of that, The space sort of just split in half, and the top sort of... opened. He peaked his head out to see that the group was in a large circular room, at the center of which was Mizrabel, whom they were fighting... and Karina. ...Right. Why not. So, what to do? Well, first he had been concerned about his tail; it was longer and... kinda furrier... than the average tail, and it was strangely semi-prehensile... somehow? Maybe he could try and wrap it around his waist so no one would notice? Nah. Not worth it. Besides, while a tail would certainly be questioned, it still didn't automatically mean that he necessarily had anything more than that. Really he couldn't imagine anyone would really think twice about it during a fight anyway, but he did imagine that he could just pass it off as non-existent later. Even if he could, it would be an exercise in futility. So on to something that... probably should have been on the top of his priorities list in the first place... "Thanks Princess." He stated it rather simply, not putting much emotion into it... or thought. It didn't really sound particularly grateful, but it wasn't horribly rude either. Third on his list was to attack the witch... because he really didn't know what else he could do at this point... so he pulled out the 'Artisian Shard' and... charged in, careful to watch for any oncoming forms of retaliation.
XXV Temperance The Story of Steel Part III: Truth ((*Note: If BGM is used, It is applicable for the entirety of the remaining contents of the spoiler tag it is associated with.)) Spoiler: I-Night of the Dark Dream The sounds of spring could be heard all around. Birds chirped, trees rustled, a river could be heard raging, and a trickling stream resounded as if only a few steps away. It only made the current location all the more unnerving. Despite the soundtrack, the backdrop was anything but cheery: though there were sounds of spring, the trees were all bare. What few leaves there were were all perpetually floating in midair, as if time had frozen whilst they were in mid fall. The ground was caked in mud, but in contrast to the other places in this world, no rain was falling from the sky. The sun was setting, and it cast an sickly grey color across the entirety of said sky. This place felt like some kind of purgatory. "You came back to play with me!" Panchito was shocked out of his examinations and looked over to see an elder grey wolf pup wagging its tail in excitement as it ran over to Steel. For his part, the Artisian King leaned down and began scratching behind the pups ears, petting him, and just generally interacting with the hyperactive canine. "Yes Mar." Steel gave a smirk and a chuckle. "I came back to play with you. I understand how it can be for you here." Steel's eyes took on a sad gleam, but the pup, Mar it seemed he was called, seemed unaffected. "Awesome!" The pup began prancing in little circles in front of Steel. You can help me prank my brother, and hunt for bugs, and prank my sister, and fish, and prank my dad, and...! Who's that?" Mar had abruptly stopped when he saw Panchito, and was now staring curiously at him. Steel gave another chuckle. "Mar, this is my friend Panchito. Panchito, this is Mar." Curious, the little pup crept close to Panchito and sniffed him a few times before giving a large, toothy grin. "Hi Panchito! You're a bird! I eat birds sometimes!" Panchito gave a mildly horrified look and Steel began laughing his head off. It was natural that a child wouldn't hesitate to say such things; especially with an upbringing like Mar's. He decided to interfere before things actually went south. "Why don't we go find your older siblings Mar?" The wolf immediately brought his attention back to Steel at that. "Right! They're probably over in the fields! Follow me!" Panchito could only follow confused as Steel and Mar made their way deeper into the trees. Frankly, the Rooster was flabbergasted at the cheerful attitude that Mar was sporting, given the... less than matching background. It was quite awhile of walking before he realized that Winter and Gale were nowhere to be seen. "Mi amigo! Tu familia!" Steel took a moment to register what the bird had said, and took a look back to see only Panchito. "Hmmm? Oh yeah... don't worry they're... around here somewhere." Panchito was confused and a little uneasy, but he decided that Steel probably knew what was going on. However, he certainly had some curiosities he would like addressed at this juncture, seeing as things were only becoming more confusing. "So... who exactly is your little friend Senor Hope?" Naturally Steel was not entirely forthcoming. "A local." "He... lives here?" Steel smiled in response. "If he's a local, where else would he live?" Steel seemed quite entertained, Panchito didn't really have a negative or positive opinion of his joke. "He just seems... unusually cheerful for this place is all." This time Steel finally gave him knowledge that was a bit more concrete. "Well, he isn't usually this excitable." He supplied. "It's rare that he gets to interact with anyone as... Tangible...? As us?" A lump grew in Panchito's throat as he suddenly felt as though he had a very good idea of what was going on. "No that's not right. They're all perfectly solid..." Now Panchito just felt annoyed. "Of course, interaction is still a bit of a challenge, but ultimately-" The Rooster abruptly cut him off. "Senor, be straight with me por favor: What is this place?" Steel didn't seem to give much thought to being interrupted. He just shrugged. "Valley Serendipity." Serendipity. 'Happy chance.' The very name seemed to send chills up his spine, what with the place seeming to be a world of anything other than it's name sake. He didn't even notice Steel once again curling his hands into fist at the name. He hated this place. -------------------------------------------------------- It took them all quite a bit longer than they all expected to find Mar's siblings. They actually weren't at the location he had originally believed, and in their continued search the young wolf wound up taking them on several side trips. Mostly fun and games with the little pup. Panchito actually enjoyed it, and Steel obviously did as well. The rooster liked the bug hunting the most, curiously enough. Perhaps it was because Mar started trying to convince him that he should try to eat the bugs, since he was a bird and all. The little creature seemed quite enamored with the possibility of getting to watch him eat the tiny insects. Steel on the other hand seemed to enjoy the fishing the most. He would look down into the poolx and stab his arm down into the water whenever he saw a fish. When he pulled his hand out, the fish would be speared on the tips of the unusually sharp fingers on his gloves. Needless to say, he wasn't going for catch and release. All three of them had quite a bit of fun, but naturally it couldn't last. The Valley seemed strangely devoid of inhabitants, but they did eventually come across another young wolf. "Hail!" Mar shouted as he ran to meet the slightly bigger black wolf. "Look, look! Steel is back! And he brought me a new friend!" Hail barely seemed to register the little pup though. "That's great Mar." 'Hail' barely looked up from the ground, which he seemed to be studying with intensity for some reason that Panchito couldn't fathom: there didn't seem to be anything there. "His name is Panchito, and he's some kind of bird! We all went fishing and bug hunting, and I tried to get Panchito to eat some bugs, but he didn't really want to do it, which made me a little disappointed cause it would have been really neat to see, if a little gross, and-" "Did you finish doing the things dad asked you to?" Mar looked vaguely put off, but didn't skip a beat. "Of course I did Hail! I'm not completely irresponsible you know!" Mar's muzzle was pulled into a huge grin, but Panchito could tell it was forced. Hail didn't really give much of a response. "That's good." He stated silently while still staring at the ground as if it was somehow more important than what Panchito realized was likely Hail's own brother. After that there was just silence. For the longest time, no one spoke a word. Panchito looked like he was going to step forward and say something, but Steel placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. When Panchito sent him a questioning glance, Steel just shook his head sadly. Mar himself was now giving a sad look of his own: his smile having slowly slid off of his face over time. He sighed. "I don't know why I expected anything different." He sounded older all of a sudden; like he had seen so much more than anyone should have at his age... or perhaps experienced something that no one ever should have to... Finally showing some actual form of acknowledgement, Hail tilted his head to the side, though still didn't look up. "I am inclined to agree with you." "Of course you are." With that, Mar turned around and began to walk off. Panchito wanted to follow; he wanted to comfort the child from whatever was troubling him, but Steel held firm. Perhaps he was right... Panchito was completely unaware of the situation after all. What could he possibly say? Was Hail just ignoring him? An older brother who was just annoyed with the younger? Or...? As soon as Mar was no longer in sight Hail's head shot up, and he darted his head back and forth looking confused. "What... just happened? Was... someone here...?" It was more clear than ever that there was something very wrong with this world. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Steel led him to Mar. Night had fallen by then, and the world looked all the more eerie. "It's probably about that time, now that I think about it." Mar was pondering in a large Indentation in the ground amid a clearing. It looked to have formerly been a large pond. "What do you mean nino?" Mar was silent for a moment, and then... "Awhile back... I had a dream." Spoiler: II-No Es Triste? "I didn't think much of it at the time... but really... I just didn't want to admit to myself that I knew... My fate was already sealed... The 'me' born here... was the second. A rebirth of a soul who met with a tragic end. The first... had already made his decision... The decision of what he would do when he was reborn... what he would do when he became me. There's no turning back from it now." "That was why...no one could interact with me... not really... they couldn't even register my existence effectively enough to even try... no one could love me. Not "Hail." Not "Summer." Not even my parents. They could only just realize I was there. Just enough so that... I could stay alive until the time came." "That time is now." Mar smiled. "I know you can do what needs to be done, so I can trust you!" Panchito was confused. He didn't get the chance to ask what the young wolf meant though. He froze when he heard an ominous, familiar clicking sound. He slowly turned around and saw Steel aiming his gun, his loaded gun, past him and at Mar. "What are you doing Senor Hope?!" Panchito tried to place himself between Steel and Mar, but found himself unable to move. Panicked, he waved his arms wildly as he shouted at his companion. "He is a child! One that's been left all alone! This is MURDER! Do you really want to murder someone? Aren't you close to Mar?" "Mar..." Panchito turned to the wolf at the sound of his voice. "...Hail... Summer... I chose those names you know. I made them up because... creating my own world, building up a paradise for myself... it was all I could do... to feel real. The name they gave me... the names they called themselves... I couldn't really talk to them at all... so those names had no meaning to me." "That name... isn't mine... because I was nothing but a tool." The air somehow became more stagnant, and a wind suddenly came from out of nowhere. Mar's eyes began to glow a deep blue. "The first me... he was 'lucky' enough... to be born as a sort of... temporal energy magnet. The darkness in him... it grew over time... it wasn't that he was evil... but he had a power that no one else had... and just enough darkness... to be used by HIM!" The wind picked up and a clap of thunder shook the ground. "He possessed me... and we called the resulting entity... Gray... Gray then proceeded... to use his newfound power... to absorb..." "...Everything!" The wind picked up, kicking dust from the ground and ruffling his feathers. The speeds were worthy of a tornado. "Before he knew it, everything he loved was gone! His family, his friends... Clair..." The sadness seemed to make the world's atmosphere even more stifling. "So many lives lost, but the evil one... it didn't care! It just wanted more! More to consume! More to Devour! So... it took the essence of the first one... and... he sent it away... to another time... another place... so that he could use him again... Use me again! He wanted to create an anchor... an access point. Once upon a time the day would come later, and I would merely leap from the top of a cliff when I realized the truth... but something changed at some point... Maybe Grey tried to stop me from escaping... maybe I thought I could give myself extra time. I'm not sure. All I know is that at some point... the day started coming sooner, and I wouldn't always remember in time... so the only way to ensure my continued existence... was to come back and take care of the problem myself. So... do you understand now? Why we have to do this? For the sake of this world... and countless others... Sors Alexander Hope Must Die! Another loud bang was heard, and at first Panchito mistook the sound for another clap of thunder. However, when he saw the blood on 'Mar' he quickly realized what had really happened. As the wolf pup... the child collapsed on the ground. He heard the sound of Steel's voice softly in his ear. "This isn't murder Panchito. It's suicide." Looking at the who had essentially just shot himself, The rooster was both horrified and saddened to see a wide, pleased looking grin on his face. "No es triste?" His smile quickly faded however. "This is all a lie though." His arms fell to his sides. His gun clattered to the ground. His eyes reflected his feelings to Panchito: that he had only encountered further sorrow since his death had occurred. "I... have memories of being Steel... but all I know for sure... is that one day I walked into the Land of Departure with those memories. Me though? I don't think... that I could be strong enough to face my own sacrifice head on like that... I'm not strong enough... I don't know who I am... but you though..." 'Steel' began to walk forward. He passed Panchito who turned around to see that the corpse left by 'Mar'... decided it didn't want to be all that still. A monster. That's what it was. Writhing on the ground, with the occasional patch of singed fur and, strangely enough, black feathers. It was larger than before, positively leaked darkness, and it's torso was wrapped in chains. It's eyes... It's eye was the same twisted identifier that Sors shared with his current siblings. It came to him suddenly. 'Hail' was Gale and 'Summer' was Winter. It seemed rather obvious now, he might have noticed before if he had bothered to pay attention. So what had happened to them then? How were they connected to this creature... unless... Ignorant to the birds musings, Steel stood over his ghastly doppelganger with a look of anger. "You knew exactly who you were. You were a true hero... so why? Why did you decide..." There was the briefest of silences before Steel quite suddenly drew his sword and made to run his counterpart through. "...That you should be allowed to play God!" Spoiler: III-Battle Against A True Hero Just as suddenly as he had made to strike, his opponent blocked... with a matching sword. The two creatures locked eyes for a moment before the monster shoved the more humanoid of the two back and crawled to his feet. "...And what gives you the right to judge?" The tall wolf creature gestured to 'Steel' with his hands causing a sickened Panchito (who had long realized he would be not but a spectator in this battle) to realize they were cut up and covered in blood. You could quite easily see the muscle tissue as well, and it was far from the worst place that the other Steel had been maimed or deformed. One of his hands was actually little more than bloodstained bones, though his sleeves prevented one from seeing any of the gory details beyond that. "Have you not gone on your entire journey merely entrusting your comrades to their 'fates?' To some high form of destiny that you seem so confident will work its ways in their favor?" Sors clenched his fist once more before running in for a quick slash at his head. This would not be an easy battle, and not for the usual reasons that a test of the mind would imply. He now had an inkling of what was going on; he could sense quite clearly at the very least his relation to this doppelganger. He was a shard of it. Not: It being the dark representation of him. He was the one who was a shard of It. It would seem that he was a piece of the original Steel's power, and in his hearts' need it had called forth the Artisian King himself to test him. The real deal. That meant that he was the one who was the shadow here. He was the repressed true self that the world never saw, except what Steel repressed was his kindness and love and his light, and that terrified him because he had felt those things in such limited quantity since he had arrived at the land of departure. A hack, a stab, a slash. All easily avoided by the monster that stood before him, and the shadow himself was all to easily kicked into a nearby tree. "I will not deny that I have many, many flaws." He began as dodged the fist that wished to embed him into the flora he had previously crashed into. "But is it so wrong to believe that others can persevere? That their lives can be improved? Even if it is..." Steel managed to dodge the myriad of blows and stab his sword into the monster's chest. Leaving the sword in place, he retreated quickly to a safe distance. "I would think it would be considerably more wrong to take those lives into your own hands!" He raised his index finger to the sky calling down a bolt of lightning that found it's mark as the hilt of Steel's sword, sending a jolt of electricity through his opponents body. He leaped back in to deliver an axe kick to his opponents head, but the man caught his leg and threw him across the clearing. It seemed that the monster had a thing for keeping him at a distance... Though he didn't have time to give that much more thought, since the next thing he 'distanced' from himself was the weapon that the Shadow had embedded in his chest. Pulling his sword from the rock it had cleaved into, Steel thought about how this terrible creature was Steel. The boy who at the time was so obsessed with doing the world some good that he had sealed away his own heart to keep it from being corrupted by the negative emotions that had begun to run rampant. Clearly a misguided and fruitless action. It was to expected really. The 'essence' Gray took had essentially been a form of clone. Everything that Gray had absorbed was basically placed into an alternate version of the young wolf that he had used to destroy the entire "River", with only Gray himself being exempted from Sors' mind. There was an entire universe inside that head. An endless ocean of voices that all screamed out all at once for different things. Without his own heart to guide him, was it really any surprise that he had degenerated into nothing more than a vengeful ghost? Looking at it now made it seem so inevitable, and now the resulting evil- well now the resulting evil was about to crush him with a vending machine. He barely had time to back flip out of the way to avoid being flattened, all the while wondering where the monster had even gotten a vending machine in this place, since the Valley hadn't exactly had modern comforts even when it hadn't been some purgatorial wasteland. He quickly decided that pursuing that train of thought would lead him nowhere though, so he instead turned his attention back to the fight at hand. "Do you honestly think I don't know whose blood is truly on your hands?" Steel queried whilst fishing among the wreckage for a soda. Having found one he popped the tab and took a swig rather casually. "Lord of Avarice you are a fool if you truly think your ways are better than mine!" "Oh really?" The monster mimicked a grabbing motion with his paws, causing the can in the Shadows' hand to crush spontaneously before being telepathically thrown aside. He was rather disappointed at that. "Dammi-" His lament was cut short as he blocked a lighting fast blow from the monster that pushed him up against a rock wall. "From what I can see, you've been of almost no help to your allies whatsoever: Mostly just taking opportunities to flaunt your supposed self-superiority and intellect. I on the other hand?" The Monster pushed harder to overcome the Shadow, and the two once again locked eyes. They locked each others horrible, horrible, eyes. "Everything I do, I do with a purpose. The blood of all who have fallen shall one day vanish to be replaced by my own: A final grand sacrifice that will undo all of that pain, and prevent the torment that I would have inflicted. The night passing, and giving way to morning; with the break of day sporting a crimson sunrise." "Get over yourself!" Steel shouted with a sudden push to put them on equal grounds. "You're not Jesus!" The Monster seemed merely annoyed. "I am fully aware of that: The divine made himself sacrifice because he was perfect: He was the only one who could remove the sins of the world. I sacrifice myself only to prevent myself from unleashing greater evil: For my sins cannot be removed." "Who gave you the right to decide that?!" The Shadow, eyes glowing a golden yellow, gave a second, stronger push, actually sending the Monster reeling for a second. He did not give him time to retaliate. Pulling out his gun and pointing it at the Monster's face, a pull of the trigger and a shout of "Vlastemalis" were all that were needed to shock the monster into dropping his sword during the fiery explosion that followed. ...And then it was the Shadow who was on the offensive. Dual wielding the rapiers, the Shadow aimed blow after blow at the Monster; and though every slash, hack, and stab was dodged, it was clearly not easy for the creature. "What about the innocent lives you took merely because they didn't realize they were in your way? That they were trying to stop you from doing something that they perceived as wrong? Did you even bother to take the time to explain your motives to them?" Suddenly stammering, the Monster grasped for an explanation as he continued to dodge the blows. "They'll come b-" "I don't give a Scions' Cheagle whether they come back or not: the fact remains that you killed innocents. Why? Because you didn't care; their wills couldn't possibly hold as much value as yours!" The Monster looked scared now, and it was obviously slowing down, just barely dodging the Shadow's attacks. "That's all the same 'supposed self superiority' that you were literally just accusing me of! You're just as bad as Aux! Just as bad as Gray!" Then the Shadow began punctuating his questions with particularly powerful strokes. "What made you think you could take people's lives? What made you think you had the right to decide who could live or die? That you were somehow better than them? Worth more than them?! Did you not take the name of 'Artisian' in order to separate yourself from that arrogance? Who gave you..." The monster backwards over an exposed root and found himself staring up at the intimidating figure of the Shadow, who had pulled back the Monster's sword in preparation. "...The right to decide..." A stab. A stab with the Monster's own blade to pierce through where his heart should be. The blade instead made it's way through a crystalline structure, though it still met his life force as well on it's way through. It pinned him to the ground, effectively marking that the Shadow had won, even though they both knew that the Monster wouldn't die. "...That you were beyond redemption?" Spoiler: IV-End of the Night of Tragedy The Shadow released his opponents sword and knelt down to look him in the eyes for the last time. "Don't you realize?" With the adrenaline of the fight wearing off, the Shadow felt himself hit with the complete and utter sorrow of the situation, and tears fell from his eyes. "You have a power that no one else has: A power over time, space..., and fate. Do you really think you were given that power... just for you to be erased forever? You can exist here, can't you? Shouldn't that be proof enough?" The Shadow's face grew determined. "I believe your fate changed a long time ago. You were just too wrapped up in yourself to see it... to see that you were more..." Neither of them spoke for a few moments, the Shadow merely letting his words to the Monster sink in before he eventually continued. "You can do it Steel: You can be with your family... just keep holding on. Have patience... have temperance... and you can be... a true hero once more. Isn't that alone so much more than Gray would ever let you be?" Steel, the original real live Steel actually smiled. "For some who's me... you're actually pretty smart, huh? I guess we'll see then." He whispered as his wistful gaze fell to the sky. "How much good your advice is... In the meantime..." The Monster reached out and grabbed the Shadow's hand. "I did what I was called here for. Congratulations, by the way." With his other hand the Monster reached for the end of his Sword's hilt and pulled off... A key chain? "Take this. It's important." The look in his eyes held deep meaning. "It's yours. So take good care of it." After that the Monster faded away leaving nothing but a hoodie, and the Shadow and Panchito were alone once more. Steel (for he was the only Steel now, so such differentiation as 'Shadow' and 'Monster' were no longer necessary) was examining the key chain. At first glance, it looked like the key chain for 'Llama Head.' Which made some sort of sense: it was a key chain he had used fairly often after all. However, he still had the key chain for that keyblade in his pocket, and this one was glowing. "Bueno, eso paso." Steel turned to see Panchito looking down at him, hand extended in a silent offer of help. Accepting the hand, he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet by the (surprisingly strong) bird with a 'Muchas gracias.' To which his friend responded with a 'De nada!' "So... now you know the truth." Steel muttered as scuffed his boot against the ground, getting thick mud on it. "Yes, I do. I must say I never would have expected it. That's quite a secret to keep from everyone Senor." Steel merely stared at the ground. Didn't take a genius to figure out something was off. "Que esta mal mi amigo?" The bird was curious as to why his friend was acting so strangely when he had won. "It's just... we're not done..." "Que? How do yo-" Suddenly both of them were thrown back by a great amount of force. "Panchito!" Steel shouted as his lighter friend was thrown into woods in the direction of a cliff. He was given little time to worry however, as the storm that had faded returned, along with a slow, rather melodramatic clapping. "Excellent deduction old friend." Freezing at the sound of the voice, Steel turned his head to see... "You!" His fist clenched in anger at the sight of what looked like a palette swapped version of himself. The alternate's hair was white, and rather than the monstrous eye that Steel had, he merely had a horrifyingly empty grey orb. "Gray!" Steel's most hated enemy stood in front of a floating dark orb wrapped in chains. In the center was a metal cross plate with a keyhole in it's center. Steel could sense it; his truth was in there. "It must have been so hard for you to realize with all the action: you haven't even answered the third question yet... What are you so afraid of Steel?" The sadistic grin on Gray's face filled him with a righteous anger, but he knew that the cretin was right: He hadn't learned who he really was yet, only gotten some perspective on the original Steel. He hadn't even gotten a keyblade, so clearly something needed doing. Stepping forward, Gray stopped and watched amused as the boy scampered to his feet and took a step back in return. "I know it's not me... not really anyway." He resumed walking, grin growing as Steel continued to back away. "Could it be something silly? Like insects or water?" The man chuckled. "Hmm... no. You're far more afraid of what you'll do to them, aren't you?" Steel glared with bared teeth at his nemesis as he drew a sword. "You're afraid... of the consequences, aren't you? That you'll go to help someone, and make an irreparable mistake: Something you can never take back. Gray took several practice swings as he grew closer. "Let me put your mind at ease: Something terrible will happen if you go out there." He mocked as Steel fell backwards, much like the monster had moments ago. "Better you stay here." He went for a killing blow: The same blow that was used against the Monster, but one that would be far more permanent in it's consequences. Consequences. ...And then they were back by the hoodie and the root. As if they had never moved at all. Steel was still on the ground, but Gray's sword was frozen in midair. Confused, he tried to push it forward, but to no avail: there was a light surrounding Steel. A light that would allow the evil being to go no further. "You're absolutely right." Steel said as he picked himself up off of the ground. He grabbed the cloak as he rose; it's materiel transforming from the signature blue to solid black. "I'm terrified of consequences." He admitted as he began to wrap the hoodie around his waist. "You remember how my darkness was born, don't you? Fear. Fear of the consequences of a certain action. Fear that those consequences would ruin my life forever." "I was afraid of rejection." "I was afraid to tell Clair how much I cared." "It's the most stupid and embarrassing thing that will probably ever happen. To like, anyone. Ever. I essentially got an entire multiverse destroyed because I was too freaking afraid to talk to a girl. A girl who clearly cared just as much as I did. No, no, I had to be tied up in my 'what ifs?' The past may have reinforced my fear, but it also taught me something. So if you honestly think this was going to get to me Gray, let me ask you: Why the heck would I sit here shaking in my boots, when the consequences of doing nothing are so much more terrifying than anything else?" Steel shook his head in defiance and pointed his finger at the menace with his face. "You won't stand between me and my truth!" Gray gave a rather ugly looking sneer. "You don't even have the key to that lock!" In response Steel held out his hand in front of him. Suddenly Panchito was there, with the glowing key chain in his hands. Steel had realized why the bird was here, part of his test: This illusion was made from his own memories of the bird. In essence, that meant that Panchito had really been a part of himself all along. It had been necessary. Necessary for to work out for himself that he had made friends on his journey. Made family on this journey. Even if he had only seen them for the briefest of moments. Your heart will always remember the connections you've made. Panchito vanished; reduced to spark of energy that was sucked into the key chain: The shard of the Monster's power that had given birth to him. A keyblade appeared. It was entirely unique to any other he had ever seen. Grabbing the hilt, Steel could feel that this blade at it's core was him. "Artisian Shard" ...And he changed. He grew taller for one thing, slightly bulkier as well. His clothes seemed to grow with him, allowing for the same baggy look his clothes always had. He grew fur. His mouth extended into a muzzle. Quite simply he became a wolf; a callback to his first self. There were other changes as well though. The belt he wore, formerly decorated with six cross charms, was now compete with a new set. Each one seemed to be some kind of vague outline of the prominent features of certain animals. He knew the creatures well: the Mythos. Fantastic creatures his former identity had been built around. His gauntlets and boots changed from protective wear to a form more like armored covering, with the claw imitations stretching over his newfound actual claws, and leaving his paw pads completely bare. Chains wrapped around his torso in the shape of an X, held together in the middle a cross emblem and binding his old hoodie jacket to his frame. "I believe I am the key to that lock, thank you. ------------------------------------------------------ Gray darted all around him sending deft strikes to every part of his body that he believed was even somewhat exposed. It was useless though. Whatever he tried, whichever direction he came from, Steel would always block it. Gray was clearly distressed by this. He had long since started sending out souls with his attacks. The souls of those he had absorbed in the River of Omega, would be a problem for most people, but Steel was apart of this entity: So Grays amount of thought on the subject was made quite clear between this and his constant taunts. "What happened to all that confidence? You seemed all ready to go before? Now you're scared all of a sudden?" Steel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The man was a buffoon. Powerful, but a buffoon. He had no self restraint whatsoever. He had long been trying to rush the Monster to his demise, and that hadn't exactly done the evil one any favors. If he had actually been paying any actual attention he would realize that Steel was gathering the souls that were being thrown at him with every blow. They would only do him any good against Gray... but that's all he needed them for. Gray's lust for power was his biggest weakness, and Steel was about ready to use it to kick him in the teeth... The villains sword slammed against his keyblade with a loud clang. It seemed that Gray had decided that he wanted a blade lock. Perfect. "So, this is just the slightly less terrifying option for you, is it?" Steel raised his brow in question: he had no reason to do anything than maintain the lock, since Gray's power was flowing into him. Just a little further, and this would all be over. "You chose to take action because doing nothing is worse, right? So..." Oh here he went. "Why not just end it all? Why not just vanish? You're not like the Monster: you can be killed before the appointed time. So why not? It would be so easy?" Steel shook his head. Just a bit further. "Because I have responsibility." This time it was Gray who raised his eyebrow. "I care about my family. I want to be with my family. I'm afraid of the consequences. When I awoke in this river, all I had were my memories of someone I wasn't: at this point it's not unfeasible to think I have no family here it all..." But from my earliest memories, the SoS has been apart of my life. They included me, even when I didn't particularly want to be included. They're all idiots in their own way, of course; from Hikaru to Karina, but isn't everybody? Doesn't everyone in every world... have at least one flaw? In the end, they've been with me since the beginning, and in this short period of time, we've all grown so much closer. I haven't been the best family member in return..." It was time. "I owe it to them to at least keep going." Gray was quite surprised when dozens of tiny white hands held him in place... in front of the key hole. "You'll never understand what that feels like: fool that you are." Steel spoke from some distance off as he raised his keyblade, a white orb of light forming at the tip. "You are a glutton who has grown fat and drunk of your glorious power, and you refuse to seek anything else... you have no temperance." He scoffed "Or even the most basic forms of patience really. Your fate has long been sealed... because you refuse to change." The charms on his belt began to glow; Griffon, Kitsune, Dragon, Cait Sith, Unicorn, and Jackalope. Resonating with his power, they all began to shed light. "Me though? Well... the more things about me change... the more they stay the same. I was once a cold and merciless blade, passing down judgement foolishly when I had no right, tasting the blood of innocents on but a whim... now..." As he spoke, the light gather around Steel's emblem and it began to change. "Now I am a blade tempered in the hottest fires of fate. A weapon of Justice not of my own fashion, but for the sake of others. I have regained the flame that burned so bright when the Monster's journey to stop you first began. However, whichever way you look at it, Ultimately..." The cross that had been there for all of a half hour vanished. It was likely for the best: He was no God. In its place was formed a golden heart token, like those worn by keyblade wielders. "I am still Steel." A beam shot of the keyblade and pierced through Gray's body. A horrifying wail broke through the clearing as Gray's heart, along with the collection of souls vanished in return to the river whence they came. Only his white hoodie was left behind. Gray was not finished: He was the Monster's greatest enemy, and he would not go down after nothing more than a fight with a mere shard of the ghost of time. Still, he would never haunt this Steel or his family, ever again. That was more than enough for him. The darkness vanished from his eye. It tapered off slowly until it was no more, leaving both eyes to be... more normal looking than before. Both now displayed a sparkling blue iris each, but the pupils... The pupils were grey. It was such a slight difference, it was likely no one would even notice. Picking up the hoodie along the way, Steel walked into orb to find what lie beyond. He could sense that Gale and Winter were already there. Steel went to his truth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- XXV Temperance The Story of Steel Epilogue: Implied Knowledge Spoiler: Missing Action Steel pushed the doors to the twenty fifth room open. He was a bit worn out if he was honest, though pleased as well. He finally knew the truth, and he didn't think he had ever been quite so happy. He frowned though as he looked back at the doors. The nameplate now read 'Tracy Steele.' "Screw you Noah." He hadn't meant it as anything more than a comment to himself, but he could feel the amusement that emanated from... somewhere. "Right, he's watching me. I suppose I should have expected that." Steel didn't really care all that much about what Noah decided to notate him as in the records, it was just... another new alias to get used to. It wouldn't matter though, since the only one's who would ever use it would be other shards and river guardians. To himself, he would always be Sors Alexander Hope first. Plus, to others in this realm, he would likely always just be known as Steel. Seeing the others walking about, Steel took a moment to appreciate his newest hoodie: It was strangely large despite the fact that Gray's form had only been the same size as his old one, and the whole thing draped over his new form rather easily, as if it were a small cloak. Between that and his scarf, you couldn't see his face at all. Perfect. While on the one hand he had resolved not to hide himself from the others any longer, the fact remained that he was at least humanoid before. The complete change to a anthropomorphic wolf would likely require some easing into. It was quite lucky then that he was generally covered from head to toe: anything that could even remotely be considered an abnormality in his outfit would likely just be attributed to his past eccentricity with said outfit. Sure he was a bit taller than before, but the only way you could currently tell he was really any different was if you shook his hand and felt the pads. He was Steel though. Who was going to run up and shake his hand without at least some kind of permission? There were a few neophytes scattered among the older members as well he noticed. Well then. He knew who he was, and he knew his path, now.... it was time to see what lie along it.
XXV Temperance The Story of Steel Part II: Beginnings and Guidance Spoiler: I-Cancer He had just the best luck, didn't he? It just had to be him. Winter and Panchito had found, what? A few dust bunnies? Tyson's "Magic" cards? Robspear's freaky collection of guillotines? Nothing really major, and the two had apparently reconvened in the Ghamu Cera town commons, where the three had agreed to meet up. Him though? He was sent careening past them at break neck speeds, and smashing into some poor Artisians' house. For it was him who had been lucky enough to walk into a room and find Cancer. Freaking. CANCER. True, far from the most powerful of Disturbed, but certainly not one you expected to be hanging out in a random closet in some guy's house. For crying out loud it could have eaten the house, how the heck did it even... you know what: no. That wasn't important right now, what was important was fending of the giant crab that was currently trying to snatch him from the latest pile of debris it had created. That was actually kind of a new development: Having been a materialization of some of the innermost fears of his head scientist, Leonidas Aquila, Cancer had originally done battle against Steel and his friends by possessing said scientist. Certainly the Professor had exhibited some crustacean qualities during the fight, but Steel wasn't sure if he remembered seeing an actual giant crab before or after that skirmish. Then again... he had been a bit preoccupied at the time... wait, he wasn't even in that fight... was he? A swing of a claw and a few shots of water reminded him that he really didn't have the time to think about his train wreck of a memory. Having barely dodged the blows, Steel pulled out his sword and tried to deliver a quick counter strike: only for the blow to bounce off of Cancer's shell, along with two ricocheting bullets delivered by his arriving companions. Ricocheting bullets that quite nearly hit him. He sent a look to Winter and Panchito, who both had the good grace to look sheepish as they began making their way down. Turning back to the monster, Steel couldn't help but recall how they got here; he had woken up outside the walls of Nwahs Moridi with Panchito and Winter. He had been worried about his sister, but she didn't seem to have been aware that he had ever been in any danger. He dropped it pretty quickly, what with the whole illusion world thing. Panchito had been formally introduced, and the three had decided to explore the castle... but they needed the freaking key. Flipping out of the way of Cancer's claws, the resounding *thud* that resulted pretty much summed up the cruel irony of the situation. To add insult to injury, it was actually a magic key: Steel had enchanted it so that it merely had to be held up to the gates in order to lift the lock. This would all be so much easier if he had a keyblade. Panchito slid underneath the monster and fired a few shots at it's underside, having come to the conclusion that such would likely be a more viable strategy. Sure enough, Cancer was none too happy about being shot in the stomach. It let out a piercing cry and attempted to impale the rooster on the spot. The bird quickly rolled out of the way, and Steel sent out an earth miracle to follow up said bird's attack. "Kalqemalis!" A spire of rock shot out the ground, but it only managed to knock Cancer off balance, rather than impale him as he had hoped. However, it did tip the Disturbed over, ultimately giving him and Winter a rather grand opening for attack. Reaching his sister, the two of them joined together one hand each, extending the other towards the giant crab before them. They spoke with a resonance that sent chills down Panchito's spine, and their eyes glowed with a blue-white aura that conveyed an intense level of power. "Frismalis!" A thick sheet of Ice surrounded Cancer, rendering him completely immobile, and leaving his underside completely exposed. Whipping off his cape, Steel wrapped it around his arms, creating a strangely large (and somehow unconnected) pair of gauntlets. He jumped onto the crab with a shout of "Staphmalis!" In response to which a bolt of lightning fell from the sky. However, rather than let it strike Cancer, Steel caught the bolt in his hand as he landed on the large creature before using an entirely different skill. "Aqo!" Rain water began to collect around the lightning bolt, crackling with it's electrical energy. He took his new makeshift magic spear and stabbed it deep into Cancer's core. He was met with slight resistance, but he continued to push it deeper until it reached the creature's core. Then it was gone. That was awfully suspicious. Normally, Disturbed like Cancer, that is "Source Codes" that personified a Fates' greatest weakness and generated other Disturbed, were generally much harder to kill than that. Yet the key merely lie right were the crab had been slain. It was easy. What was the point? Was he supposed to be learning some deep lesson? Perhaps about the hardships others faced while he cruised on through with the keyblade? Why was he even thinking about this? Why did he care whether or not he had a keyblade? In the end, wasn't it just a means to an end? True, it was semi-sentient, but his "end" was good, and it was hardly as if it talked to him on a regular basis. Wasn't it okay that he only thought of it as a tool? Just like ... the others? Suddenly he was quite sure he had answered his own question. --------------------------------------- "I don't get it." Steel sent a questioning glance to his fowl companion as he held the key up to the door. "I just still don't understand... what it is you're doing all this for. I get that you want to stop the Disturbed, but what is in it for you? What is it that you care about so much?" The only thing that met his question at first was the sound of the doors opening up before them. Winter seemed to be rather uncomfortable as they endured Steel's silence, but he couldn't imagine why. What was it that she knew? What was with the two of them? "What I want..." Panchito started as Steel began to respond. "...that's an interesting question. I once answered a very similar one by merely saying: My goal. It was a cop out. A vague answer concocted merely so I could avoid talking about a painful past. However, what I really care about... Is my family. I would do anything for them." Steel paused to give a small chuckle. "I have done anything for them. The truth is, my family is all I really care about. Everyone else could wither and die for all I care." "Me included." Steel's answer only seemed to make Winter all the more uncomfortable. -------------------------------------- They had barely walked into the courtyard when a voice greeted them. "It's about time you showed up." Steel and Winter both gave an audible sound of surprise. Standing there in the center of the area was a young man with black hair about the same length as Steel's. He wore casual clothes underneath a white trench coat that served as a contrast to Winter's black one. However, the most prominent feature about him was... ...His eye. "Gale!" Both Steel and Winter rushed towards the newcomer, embracing him. Panchito watched in silence as the Hope siblings (For this "Gale" was surely a sibling of theirs) had themselves a small reunion. It was even complete with small jokes and laughter. Watching them, Panchito could definitely believe that the only thing Steel cared about was his family. He had never looked so happy. Spoiler: Interlude: A New Hope Gale Hope was the oldest of three of them, and he took that responsibility very seriously. He had never held it above their heads, merely served as their protector. Anyone who dared to threaten his dear siblings would suddenly feel as though they had been hit by a train, and heaven help anyone who actually hurt them. Then he would turn around and present to the two of them the most gentle demeanor possible, doing anything he could to help. He also always did his best to ensure the balance between the two never fell flat, what with Winter being slightly more impulsive and Steel tending to over think things. The two wound up arguing a lot, back at the beginning. They would always listen to him though. He was a strong hand of Guidance. They adored him. ------------------------------------- Winter Hope was the middle child. She was certainly a bit more impulsive than her brothers, at least in the beginning, but she was also quite intelligent. While she certainly rushed into things, she wasn't one to go in without a plan... Granted it was usually an underdeveloped plan, or one made on the fly. She may have started many an argument, but she was not unkind. Honestly, she didn't even look like they type of person who you would expect to be any type of reckless. She held the same gentle demeanor as her older brother. Even as she could be a bit harsh, she was the voice of wisdom. She was particularly close to Gale as well, and enjoyed many conversations with him growing up. They shared similar interest, and both wanted very much to protect their younger brother, even if Winter sometimes went about it a bit differently. They both regretted they could never have such a bond with him. -------------------------------------- Sors Alexander Hope was the youngest, and he was completely unaware of the concerns of his older siblings. He was far too busy with his own regrets. He hated that he had dragged them into this, his mess. There was a feeling of a sort of brokenness; like there was a wall there now that separated him from the siblings he held so dear. Nevertheless, he was eternally grateful for their presence. At some point along the way, Clair had lost her memory and stopped caring about him. The two of them were all he had left. Still, he would die for all three of them. They were his family. Spoiler: II-The Winding Road "So..." Gale began. "What do you intend to do now?" The four of them were climbing a particularly long staircase. After having introduced Gale and Panchito, they had all headed into the castle, where Steel seemed to be leading them up to the higher floors. "We're going to the throne room. There should be... well, something... there." Naturally it was Winter who responded. "Something? You're not even sure what?" Steel could only sigh. "Winter, in case you hadn't noticed, nothing is making much sense right now." He paused on the steps to face them and shrug. "I know what's supposed to be there, but I don't know if it will be there, or if we'll just find a giant Disturbed in it's place." He turned around and continued climbing. "So, you know, be ready for anything and all that." Gale and Winter shared a look as they continued after Steel. You hardly needed any hints to tell that they were having a silent conversation. Yet they didn't speak a word aloud, and the group continued climbing. While Gale and Winter seemed content to stay silent, Panchito still seemed quite curious about Steel. "So... tell me something mi amigo." Steel gave a slight 'hm?' but didn't bother to look back again. "I understand that what you care about most es tu familia..." He glanced at Winter and Gale. "Well... really that all you care about es tu familia." Steel chuckled a bit at that. "I still don't really understand though, que is it that you are trying to do?" Panchito crossed his arms as he kept walking. "Que es the endgame here hombre? Why do you have to go through all this? What do you want out of life?" "Well, I want to protect them." Steel responded without skipping a beat. However, Panchito wasn't done yet. "Your family?" Panchito took a good look Steel's brother and sister, as well as the weapons at their sides. "They seem to be able to take care of themselves Senor." Having noticed the looks the two would often send to each other and steal of their younger brother, Panchito commented further. "In fact... I'd say they are more worried about you." That finally seemed to grab Steel's attention. "Why would you think that?" The boy seemed genuinely confused. However, seeing as how Steel already knew his own backstory, Panchito figured that even if he wasn't entirely sure what the source of his siblings woes were, he was ultimately stalling for time. "Senor Hope. What would your brother and sister need to be protected from?" Steel still didn't look back or stop walking. "You don't need to know, okay? It just has to be done." At this point Steel had finally stopped and turn to Panchito. Winter and Gale just watched. "Alright, bien... So what did you want?" "To protect them!" "That seems to be more of a short term goal hombre; surely you have more to do with your entire life than watch two other people live their own. Last I checked, you were not a Guardian, so what is it you want out of your life?" It had become apparent to Steel at some point that Panchito was part of whatever test was going on here. It wasn't exactly being subtle anymore. Then again, hadn't he already determined he shouldn't withhold information? It was a figment of his mind for crying out loud. It's not like it didn't already know. It was there to force him to think about and acknowledge the truth. So maybe he should just let it do it's job. "To be with them!" He shouted in his anger. "To be with my family! I just..." His anger was gone almost as soon as it came. "I just never figured that I could be with them... Not at the end of it all..." Panchito loosened his stance. "Por Que?" Silence. For awhile that's all there was. Steel and Panchito just stood there staring at each other. Panchito's gaze confused, and Steel's sad. He didn't want to. He just didn't. If he didn't though... what would change? He would never find the truth. He wanted to know, but... those words were still hard to say... by himself anyway. Abruptly, Steel turned and began walking up the steps while motioning for the others to follow him. Suddenly he was a lot more sure of what waited in the throne room. "I'll show you." He stated in a resigned voice. ------------------------------------ Panchito had not expected the throne room to be an entire dimension in of itself.
XXV: Temperance The Story of Steel Part 1: Awakening (2/2) The Illusion of Power It had actually been quite the challenge to get there though. It hadn't been all that far from their starting point that the two had encountered the first of many Disturbed. Seeing as Panchito had only his long range weapons, Steel had taken the initiative to dart in and distract the monstrosities while the rooster picked them off from afar. It wasn't a perfect plan, of course: New Disturbed often would join the fight, and Panchito was often a prime target of theirs. They had both taken quite a few hits by the time they reached their destination, and Steel was more tired than he would like to admit. "They're everywhere!" Panchito had exclaimed when they finally reached the other side of town. Steel didn't have anything to say to that though: He was far to busy impaling another one of the many wolf shaped Disturbed that had crawled just a bit too close. The rooster was correct in his observation though: It had been strangely peaceful when they first arrived, considering the number of monsters that now shambled about all around them. However, they only really needed to defeat enough of them to clear the path. "That Gate! Right over there! You see it?" Panchito nodded to Steel as he fired a few shots at an incoming monster. Satisfied that Panchito knew where they were going, Steel turned his attention back to the battle. Seeing that another of the wolf shaped creatures, a Lycan, was leaping towards him, he quickly moved to intercept it in midair. He caught it by the throat, and it barely had time to begin thrashing before he brought forward his other hand and grabbed onto its head. He ripped it in two. It wasn't a particularly gruesome sight: simple shadows seemed to serve as the creatures' insides, the same as any heartless. Between the two chunks of Disturbed in his hands, Steel could easily see more, bird shaped ones, incoming fast. He smashed his hands together as the creature flew between them; crushing it and the Lycan's remains. Next, he made a back flip while extending his leg so as to kick the next oncoming target. He drew his sword mid-flip and let gravity do his work for him as the blade came crashing down on his opponent. With those four out of the way, Steel began slashing his way to the gate. Upon reaching it, he quickly spun to strike the surrounding creatures before turning to it and making a prompt note of what was on the other side. He froze when he registered the sight. There, standing quite a distance away from the gate, were two figures doing battle amidst the endless horde. The first was a woman with long, platinum blonde hair. She had a sword similar to his own in shape and functionality, though the colors and patterns were different. Where he had black, she had white, and the blue flames were replaced by snowflakes of the same color. The woman blocked every attack her opponent sent at her, leaving shards of ice to mysteriously crystallize wherever the two swords met. Despite the skill with which she did this, one could tell by the look on her face that she was getting tired. No, not her face... Her eye. A ghastly sight. It was just like his. This woman was Winter Hope. His dear sister. Her opponent on the other hand... his blood boiled at the very sight of the other woman. The scarlet haired individual had long been the cause of much grief for his organization. Having first truly hampered them in "Wonderland" the menace (who was somehow aligned with the usually mindless Disturbed?) fancied herself "The Red Queen." She was winning. Winter was clearly in no state to continue, if the cuts, bruises, and general demeanor were anything to go by. Her opponent was winding up for the final blow. Winter was about to collapse, she could barely lift an arm. Time slowed to a crawl. As he saw his sister about to be slain before him, Steel quite simply forgot that this was merely a world of illusion. He sought to help her, but there was a barrier between them. His hand outstretched past the iron bars, as if he were a prisoner spectating the end of a beloved life. He did not want to lose his family. "Nemi!" The word left his mouth in a breath of desperation. It was a stupid thing to shout. Even if he hadn't lost all of his power, it had become apparent to him that the particular power he sought to use had never been wielded by him in the first place. Yet his stupidity was rewarded when an aura of green veiled his sister, restoring her energy and allowing her to block the Red Queen's blow at the last possible second. It looked an awful lot like a cure spell. That was impossible though, wasn't it? As Panchito reached him, battered and bruised from fighting alone while Steel had been distracted, the Artisian King decided that he didn't really care. Whether or not it was an illusion, it was power; power that he would have to use to carve out this path. He knew Winter had never been in such danger when the actual siege had happened. Shaking such thoughts from his head, he placed one of his hands on his comrades shoulder, and the other on his own chest. "Nemimarci!" A much brighter, larger aura enveloped the two, and in an instant all of the wounds that they had sustained were gone. Panchito gave a confused cry of "Que Pasa!?" As Steel grinned maniacally at the monsters that had surrounded them. He had reached within himself and found them: Powers of earth, water, wind, etc. They were all there. It seemed that these Disturbed would no longer be much of a problem. Thrusting his palms forward, he reached for the power of fire, and... "Vlastemalis!" ...there it was. Fire. All around them, burning every disturbed within sight to ash. Several of them even made noises akin to dying screams, which caused Panchito to give nervous, somewhat horrified glances, but only made Steel's now sadistic looking grin grow wider. When the fire cleared, the Disturbed were almost completely gone; with most of the remaining being newcomers to the scene who had only just arrived. Realizing that they had little time, Steel turned back to the gate. "Ialmalis!" He moved both of his arms into a lifting motion as he cast the spell, which caused a large and powerful gust of wind to burst into existance around the gate. However, rather than be blown clean off the entryway, the door stood firmly in place. Surprised, though undeterred, Steel kept the gale going; doing his best to lift open the gates. He added more power to it, causing the area of effect to grow. Any Disturbed that strayed to close to them was quickly blown away by the veritable tornado, shortly to be destroyed as they were swept away into the unending torrents. The gate began to lift, if only ever so slightly, and just as it did, a small pale light began to glow in the very center of the obstruction. Seeing that he was making progress, Steel increased the power even further. Another budge. Steel continued to pour more and more strength into the spell; Panchito now had to shield his face from the wind. As the gates inched open, the light slowly began to grow brighter, until with one final shove Steel forced the gate open... Only for the light to completely envelop them. Unable to see anything or even properly move, Steel heard a voice fill the silence that had previously been held at bay by constant sound of rain. Hold on, you can't open the door just yet. First... Tell me about yourself.
Story of Steel Temperance Part I: Awakening (1/2) Moonlit Tears "Hola Senor Hope!" The rooster named Panchito responded to his appearance with his usual gusto, though also with surprise. Steel didn't blame him: The water droplets he had run into on his way down were now falling all around him, and the resulting puddles allowed him to see his reflection... he appearance was once again rather... shocking. It seemed odd that his appearance continued to fluctuate with almost every world, but this was the time from his memories, so it made sense that it had. He hadn't changed much: He had never pulled his scarf back up to cover his face, so his needle sharp teeth and the dark smoke that shrouded his lower face were clearly visible. That was not even mentioning his rather dramatic entrance. He himself, however, was more surprised by the location in which he had ended up. The two of them were on a high wall overlooking a landscape filled with forestry and a single river snaking through it. On the other side of it were countless buildings: the closer ones appearing to be mostly military in nature, but there were several in the distance that appeared to be civilian residences. Throughout the city, foliage could be seen everywhere, and there seemed to be quite a few parks. There was as much nature inside the city as there was out. "This is Fort St. Carn..." He couldn't figure out for the life of him why he would appear here of all places. Why not Nwahs Moridi? Why not Ghamu Cera? Heck, why not even... Valley Serendipity? His hands clenched into fists at the very thought. "Que?" Steel wasn't quite sure why it was Panchito who had come to him in this illusion, but he wasn't going to hold any information back now. "Fort St. Carn. It's a large city by the ocean, and surrounded by walls. It gets it's name from a man who lived around the time the fort was founded. Carnelian Ellis, widely considered a saint, was a man who aided in hunting the local eldritch abominations. It was his idea to train the nearby wildlife to cooperate with locals for said hunting. It wasn't long before that cooperation spread beyond martial use. Since then, the city has become known for it's close ties to the local wildlife. The fort keeps out monsters, but animals are free to come and go as they please. There are caves and vegetation scattered throughout the town, as well as several wildlife parks, and many houses are built in trees. To many a creature, this place has become home; one that many of them would die to defend." Steel's explanation only seemed to leave Panchito confused though. The rooster scratching his head as he asked: "Eldritch... Abominations?" Steel's gave a slight scowl as the bird simply stood perplexed. "An Eldritch Abomination is a type of creature that defies science as a single world knows it, though it might make sense in the grand scheme of the multiverse. Or alternatively, a creature that serves as an exception to that worlds science, having been born through some twist in logic." Despite his seemingly sour attitude, he gave a mere wave of his hand, as if brushing them off as insignificant. "The exact definition is a little loose really, but the Heartless and Unversed can both be credited amongst their number." That particular piece of information seemed to make it much more clear to Panchito, though it also seemed to make him curious. The bird crossed his arms as he seemed to puzzle out something about this latest development. "So, when you say 'local' you are telling me that your world has it's own kind, si senor?" His question was met with silence. "Senor Hope?" Panchito still received no answer. Steel was staring up into the sky vacantly with his arms outstretched. Raindrops pelted his face, but he continued to gaze upwards, eyes unblinking. His thoughts were brought back to earlier when he had shed a tear. It had been so strange to him, because... This was how he had cried, for the longest time. The rain that fell in this world had never been made of mere water. Even though this was an illusion, it was still crafted from his own memories, and he could sense that these raindrops were just the same as the real thing: filled to the brim with his sorrow. The downpour was not just rain... these were his tears, crashing down from the celestial body in the sky. The Moon. It was exactly above him. It was where he had fallen from. "Hola! Es Senor Hope en la casa?" Steel gave a start as he looked down at the companion who had been trying to get his attention. "Is everything... bien...? Do you... have something?" Seeing that the rooster was expressing concern for him, Steel struggled to give some form of positive response, but in the end just sputtered out... "Tengo hambre." For a moment, his comment was met with silence, the rooster merely raising his brow in surprise, and then... laughter. The bird was doubled over in laughter. Steel himself gave a small smile and chuckled. As the to stood there, Steel realized that they had been standing in the rain for quite some time now. Panchito was not wearing his sombrero, and had therefore not been spared the waters onsluaght. "We're tottally soaked." He commented mid chuckle, which only made Panchito laugh harder. They stood like that for quite some time, listening to their laughter echo off the walls of city and into the streets below them. It hadn't been all that funny; but the two found themselves rolling with laughter anyway. Enjoying the moment, the two took quite a bit of time before they had calmed down enough to stop. Sitting there... listening to the rain and merely enjoying his friends company (Illusory or no)... to Steel... The world felt a little less empty just then. After the moment had finished, Panchito repeated his question, and Steel provided him with an answer. "Our local Eldritch Abominations take many a form and come in a wide variety, but as a whole they are known as "The Disturbed." "Disturbed...?" Panchito parroted in a rather confused tone. Steel could hardly blame him: The name was rather... unique. He gave a slight sound of amusement. "A rather base name, for rather base individuals, and all the more fitting for it." Steel turned to face the outside of the city, staring into the distance at something only he seemed to know. "The Disturbed are the twisted fragments that spawn from within the minds of a group of Artisians known as the Fates; the insanity and blood lust they hold within their hearts." Panchito frowned and crossed his arms. "These 'Fates' do not sound like a particularly nice group Senor Hope." Steel chuckled as he turned back to face his friend. "Well no, I suppose they are not. All the same, the Fates despise the Disturbed, quite actively even. Which has only made the creatures react violently to them. Their leader has long hoped to rid this world of them; he uses his fortress to the Northwest of here as a base of operations, and all of the other known one's have made their homes in the nearby town." Steel turned his back once more, with Panchito now realizing the significance of the direction he had turned being northwest. "Many a person in this world consider him their king..." He almost whispered the sentence. Curiosity piqued, Panchito asked of him: "Que es en Artisian?" "They are something of a counterpart to Eldritch Abominations; they exist throughout all space-time..." Panchito waited for further information, but it seemed his friend had gone silent. "Si...?" The rooster began in an attempt to spur more information out of the man. However, in return, Steel merely shifted his eye to stare silently at the bird. The two of them stood silently for several more moments before Panchito accepted that Steel was not willing to offer anymore for the moment. Latching on to another curiosity from earlier, he asked a new question. "So who is this king of theirs then, Hombre?" To which Steel responded without a second thought. "One Sors Alexander Hope." Panchito reeled back in surprise. "Que?! This worlds monsters... they come from you mi amigo?" Steel turned back to the bird with a small mischevious smirk. "Why Panchito, didn't I just say as much?" Panchito didn't seem quite sure what to make of that, but before he got a chance to formulate a response, a loud scream penetrated the silence. Having their attentions both been drawn to the sound, Steel instead was the one who continued. "It seems that my memories have formulated the siege of not long past. I hope you plan to use those guns of yours." Both drew their weapons: Panchito his Pistols, and Steel, knowing that calling the keyblade wouldn't be of any use, instead drew a thin sword with dark colors. The blade was black with what looked like blue flame designs, and it had a silver hand guard. Steel turned to give one last look at the view beyond the city. Though only one river could be seen from their current position, the man knew that there were in fact countless others. Numerous rivers watered the lush foliage of the world, eternally fed by the endless downpour. The land had adapted remarkably well to such an unnatural phenomena... Yet this land was a mockery. It was a paradise haunted by creatures of darkness, creatures of which he was the source. It was a symbol of all that he had failed to be; all of his mistakes. The fact that he was considered the world's ruler only cemented this fact. 'The Castle of Shattered MYTHS.' A name he had devised for his home long ago, using his fortress as the key point, and centering the lands reputation around it's tendency to become home to alternate versions of the creatures one would normally only find in fairy tales... but the truth was... he had only been trying to distract himself from what was really the most notable thing about his home. Each river was... different. They each had their own stories; their own heroes and villains. Each of them was another time. Each of them was another failure. A world drowned in mistakes, and choked by his tears. A perfect image of the world he could never achieve... not while he was alive anyway. A spark of memory ignited, recalling the words he had spoken to Karina: With a defeated sort of sigh and a clenched fist, Steel turned back to Panchito, and the two made for the shore. It was time to learn the truth about The Garden of Rivers.
Steel was a silent fixture in the background, merely observing as everyone else went about their business. Karina had been... fair, but ultimately he had still gotten no where. Not anything new really. He was generally still ignored as everyone who gathered went about discussing... things. Even if they didn't necessarily care about him, he would have expected to draw a few glances at least; especially considering his condition. True, he wasn't beaten horribly as Karina had no doubt expected, and he still wasn't showing any signs of blood, but... well... actually maybe the inky blackness emanating from him (again) was blood. Whatever the case, it wasn't long before Dreamer popped in. He tried talking normally to them all, he had an awkward time of it. They all got to meet Bianca and Bernard (The two of whom Steel personally thought were just the most adorable things he had seen in a long time, but he wasn't going to say that to their faces.), and they finally learned the meaning of SoS. "Servants of Sanctuary." Steel mused to himself. Dreamers words had some rather... interesting... implications. "Yen Sid was 'familiar' with these keyblade wielders?" Then what did it mean that all of them had been called? Were they merely the new SoS? Or... did this have to do with the time travel stuff again? He shook his head as he came to the conclusion that thinking along that line would not lead anywhere right now. More to the point was the title he had unknowingly been bestowed. He had certainly always had the intent to be a 'Servant of Sanctuary', but he doubted that he had really done his best to protect any sanctuaries recently. One by one, keyblade wielders left for the castle halls. With several of them gone and others trailing behind, it wouldn't be long before everyone was off traipsing through memory lane. He supposed he might as well go next. Even though he dreaded it. Opening the doors of the castle, Steel walked down the hallway, observing all of the numbered doors that lie along it. Passing numerous into which his allies had already disappeared into, until he came to one marked with a large XXV. It was pretty easy to tell it was his: It had his name emblazoned underneath the number on the plaque in bold blue letters. His real name. Not the name he gave to everyone else. Sors Alexander Hope He didn't open it. Finally becoming overwhelmed with all that had happened, Steel turned around and slumped against the frame instead, slowly lowering himself to the ground. He sat there and tried to just think. "Is that really me anymore?" He had already discovered that his memories weren't exactly the most accurate depiction of himself at the moment. He was quite sure now that he had been delusional: living a lie about some life he remembered, but never actually happened. What lie beyond that door? Dreamer said it was a memory of their home world, but... what would appear if what he remembered was not his actual home? What if the person he was... wasn't the person he remembered being. A tear rolled down his cheek. Steel gave a start and reached up to feel his face. It was wet: that was an actual tear. When was the last time he had actually cried himself? From his physical body? With, like, his actual eyes and everything? It had seemed like such a long time... but he felt like... whatever lay beyond that door... he would find the place covered in rain. He would come across the world drowned in a never ending torrent from the skies; a torrent brought about by the sorrow of it's ruler, and forever bound to him as well. Thus fated to disappear. A world choked by his tears. He didn't want to go, but he knew he had too. He remembered what Dreamer had said. "Your heart always remembers the connections you've made." That gave him resolve: It didn't matter what he remembered, or what he saw beyond those doors. In some small corner, his heart knew the truth and always would. That meant that there was the potential for him to know it too. Even if he died without ever finding it, wouldn't it be better to look? He needed to know. He took one less breath to gather his thoughts: to remember his words to Karina, and to prepare all that he was for what lie beyond. He wasn't going to be like her. He wasn't going to delude himself anymore. He wasn't going to run from the truth that was before him. He opened it. Beyond was darkness. An infinite darkness that seemed to stretch endlessly. Gazing into it, he somehow knew it was a gaping chasm that he would have to leap into. So he leaped. -------------------------------------------------------- He plummeted through the depths for what seemed like forever. Falling, fading, faster than he could fathom, yet somehow he was bored. Eventually, He began to feel droplets of water touching his skin, and saw that he was surrounded by them. With each soothing touch of the water, he felt some sort of strange power. A power that seemed to search through him and seek out all that he was. He saw land beneath him. Righting himself in the air, Steel braced for impact and landed with knees bent against the cold, hard ground in a quite audible manner. The material beneath his feet had formed cracks, and the sound echoed briefly before dying off. Looking up to observe his surroundings, Steel was slightly surprised at where he had found himself.
Location: Hyrule Castle Timeline: OoT (Adult) Anomaly: NA Noki Noki was found himself caught by surprise: he hadn't considered that there might be others like him. Seeing Myrrh's own surprised reaction confirmed that he too was from a different time. "Yeah! I mean... I don't know about how different the timeline is, or even if it's different at all..." Noki shrugged. "...But the time me and Mayli come from is about 7 years ago." The fairy child looked to his elder as to question his own origins. The look was all the prompt that the Skull Child needed. "I am from a time far into the future" The other boy seemed to be at least partially musing to himself. "Much can happen in that time, and yet... I do believe the events that set that future would have already happened if this were the same timeline I am from."
Steel listened quietly as Karina explained her predicament. So she was running away from home. He really didn't think very well of her father at this point, but he was sure no one who knew of him did. Nevertheless, it wasn't as if the man mattered all that much, so he could probably just shove thoughts of him to the side. So that left the Fiance. There always seemed to be one of those, be they evil or good. Really though, Steel was just honestly surprised that Karina was basically showing a form of care for a life form other than herself so openly. "If that is the case, than I simply must ask... How exactly is it, that if all you wanted was to run, you have found yourself with no purpose? Why can't you keep running? I'm being sincere; you've actually made a lot of progress just plowing on through, and to be honest, that's really how it is for most of us." Steel shrugged. "We're all pretty much here mainly for our own benefit, and helping others is really just a nice little feather in our caps." Steel took a deep breath, knowing that if he kept going this way he wouldn't get his point across, and that whatever held him together probably didn't like being tested. It was probably best to say it plainly all the same though. "You're right." He said recalling to mind what she had said earlier. "I don't understand, and I never will. I'm far to self absorbed for that. The truth is, I kinda hate you; not because you punched me, but because I'm so focused on how we're similar, that I completely ignore how we're different. I look at you, and all I see is my own mistakes. There's so much more to other people than that, and yet... " "... I don't give a flying shoopuff." "Because everything I ran from is gone, and that's not a good thing. Everyone I hoped to keep safe has vanished into oblivion, but I'm still here... and you know what?" "Who freaking cares?" "Boohoo, poor Steel, all his loved ones are gone." He brought up his hand and did an impression of running mouth. "...If any of them even even existed in the first place." A simple shrug, as if he wasn't talking about living breathing people, but a simple batch of cookies that he may or may not have remembered to pick up from the store. "Well, they might actually be around the multiverse somewhere. It's not like any of them will give it much more than a second thought. Believe it or not there are happy endings; it's really as simple as the fact that not everyone is going to get them. Giving up though?" He snorted. "Well, then it will have been worthless. Nothing more than wasted potential." Steel clenched his fist tightly. "I hate wasted potential. I already have enough to last me several life times. For example, I'm apparently no better than your loser of a father: I can't seem to get enough of putting people in little roles like life is some sick play and then getting all upset when people don't follow them. Then there's this: This is basically just a rant at this point and it is far from the first time I have done such a thing. In the end though, what it ultimately comes down to is that I have a ton of experiences that have to be worth something, and it'll be damned if I just toss them all out the window because- You didn't ask me a damn thing about all this." Steel cut himself off quite suddenly to take a much longer, and deeper breath. Feeling he had perhaps more than made his point on his own self centered behavior, he moved on to something more relevant. "I can't tell you how to live your life... heck, I'm not even good at living my own... if you can even call it a life." He winced as the thud echoed in his mind once more. "Maybe though, if you look in a few more places, or just a bit harder, you might actually find something you want to keep going for, or maybe, you'll just decide you don't need a reason to keep going. That's all assuming you eventually decide you want to keep going of course. The choice is yours in the end." Steel crossed his arms as he looked up the hill. "If you do decide you want to look for something though, could you drag me along? I have some stuff of my own that needs finding... and frankly, doing so without company would be frightfully dull." He really didn't want to hear Karina belittle his offer, but he wouldn't get anywhere with himself if he didn't put it out there. "We can stay here as long as you want, but I'm ready when you are."
Context. Right. She'd need that. "I mean... well... what did you hope to accomplish by answering Master Yen Sid's summons?" He honestly had a few ideas. She had dropped enough hints that he could easily put together on his own. Still though, those were just guesses. Even if he got it right, it didn't mean much without some form of confirmation. Of course, some things were obvious. For example, she definitely didn't come to make friends. He was pretty sure that she was here to prove something, though he could be wrong about that. After all, her world could've been destroyed for all he knew.
Steel stayed silent as Karina got to her feet. He wasn't really sure if he should bother to say anything about the punishments... well actually no, he just shouldn't, she wouldn't listen to him anyway. Besides, it would seem in rather poor taste to encourage her behaviors with the negative reinforcement that so obviously created it. "Well I didn't mean we had to work out all of your problems..." He chose instead to respond to her comment on her personal troubles. "I doubt anyone would have the time, or endurance, to punch a rock until all their personal issues are solved. Nevertheless, if you would have us move on then I suppose that's that." So he started after her. The two walked in silence for a bit longer, Steel considering his options. He knew from the beginning that there was no way this could have gone positively. Now though? He was aware of just how wrong it could go. Not just because she punched him; whatever was holding together was doing a very good job of it. Not a drop of blood on him even. No, the reason was actually much simpler. She was like the personification of everything he despised. Reason had done no good: The others he knew had tried and failed. Still, if he had paid more attention to her, to everyone really... well he didn't even know. Not really. When it came down to it, he had pushed for almost no reason other than to see how far gone she was... and in the process had found out just how far gone he was. It wasn't as if he had expected the conversation to go well, but in the heat of the moment, it was him who had caused the most trouble. How long had he been this sadistic, really? If he interacted with the others more extensively, would his actions be equally as provoking? Equally as cruel? Though Karina was something of a minefield to begin with, it still didn't change the fact that he also had reacted badly to a single sentence, and gotten so worked with his speech that he hadn't even asked the question he had meant to in the first place, completely having forgotten the point of his own rant about selfishness. "What did you even want?" The question slipped out without much thought. He could only hope that he said what he really wanted to this time; regardless of Karina's response.
Steel had still been cackling as he received blow after blow, disregarding the pain as his thoughts grew darker. He hated being ignored. He hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated- Spoiler: One Fleeting Moment -Hated, hated, hated, hated- The thought continued to stream endlessly as a small form plunged over the edge of the cliff. The wind on its' face as it plummeted, the young being had not expected the fall would be quite so long. It was almost peaceful. He never would of thought that if he had known of the life to follow. But it wasn't his only thought. -Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated, HATED being IGNORED. That thought followed him all the way d- He wasn't sure if the resounding thud came from within the memory (Which he was pretty sure at this point wasn't really his), or from Karina giving him one final punch to the face. He both deserved and needed that. What the heck was he thinking? 'Waste of breath?' Maybe she was... but so what if he was right? The very fact that he had spent his life wasting his breath was exactly why he couldn't afford to be silent now. It wasn't like that anymore. He wasn't like that anymore. He had a real voice. One that people could actually listen and respond to, instead of just going: "Oh, yeah ok, I guess, since we don't really have any better options, we'll do that." So what if Karina was a self absorbed pup? Hadn't he just gotten done talking about how they all were? The punching had stopped. So had the laughing. Karina was just sitting there looking like her goldfish (He couldn't see her owning any of the more playful kinds of animals as a pet) had died, and he was just staring up into space; looking but not seeing. Nothing new on his end. It was pretty silent for awhile, and Karina didn't look like she was going to say anything, so... he opened his own mouth. "Well, that was quite the diversion, wasn't it? Cathartic I would say." He gave the empty sky a thoughtful look. "Maybe we should have done this a long time ago. Perhaps we both would have been more productive with clearer heads. Ah, but here I go assuming you actually got anything off your chest." He gave a chuckle- breaking the flat monotony with which he had been speaking- and rolled his eyes. "Self~ish!" He sang out before he continued in said monotone. "So is there anything else you need to work out before we go to our possible deaths? I think I saw a rock awhile back. We could both go and pound on that for awhile. It won't laugh: I promise." He considered that for a moment. "Though maybe I shouldn't, considering where we are. Tell you what; if it does, you can just go back to punching me... cause that would be a little less creepy at least." "Hey, you okay up there?" Steel inquired when Karina didn't immediately respond. "I'd offer to help you up, but I doubt you'd accept the offer, and I'm not really in the position to do it right now anyway.
This was so ridiculously Hysterical. So he laughed. No intent? No idea? Then by whose self righteous anger was she punching him into the dirt? What fury had provoked such a thing if not hers? Not to say that it didn't hurt. It most certainly did. She may not have near as much power, but he hardly had his magical defenses anymore either. Still, whatever was holding him together seemed to stand fast against her blows. He didn't really feel any particular injuries over time. Come to think of it, did he even have bones anymore? That was another topic altogether though. What was on topic however, was that Karina had done naught but prove him right. Because she hadn't listened. She ignored reason and fact altogether, and focused only on what insulted her. She had completely disregarded his blatant acknowledgement of selfishness and continued to think only of herself. She took the fact that everyone single other person, namely their comrades, had been just as selfish as she had, and traded it in her mind for the continued maintenance of her sparkling shrine to "me." Mayhap if he had used the word "action" he would have been more clear, but he doubt it would have helped. Because whatever this girl said about how much nothing she had, she was actually quite determined. Determined to be a waste of breath. She could not accept praise, and criticism was met with a know-it-all attitude. Clearly however, she didn't know, otherwise she wouldn't be in her situation. She was impossible. Steel had spent his entire life wasting his breath. He really should have learned from everyone else's mistakes and just let her be... for her sake. For if he had stayed silent, he might actually have some respect left for the girl. But no, she was just the same as everyone else. She said otherwise, but despite her words, she actually thought she was special. Otherwise she would not look down on all the others. Otherwise she would not run away to hide because of what ultimately came down to the fact that others did not bow down and worship her. Others might look and see what was sad, but Steel only really saw the figurative punchline (Though the literal one was quite hilarious as well). Not a single thing he had said, had actually made it through her thick skull, because otherwise, she might realize that she was only making his point for him. So he was done wasting his breath. Heck if he hadn't had a fun time with it though. So he kept on laughing between punches.
Steel's smile did not falter. Why would it? This was hilarious. He brought a hand to his chin as he looked on at the angry young girl in front of him. So freaking worth it. He should have done this ages ago. His smile did waver briefly then, however. When had he become this? Now that he was whole he was sadistic... Shaking that thought aside, Steel responded to Karina's latest outburst. "Are you really so Naive? So short sighted? You would truly argue to the last breath even with someone who so clearly shares such a similar view? Very well then. Before we go on, I would ask you a new question. How would you define goals?" Despite his statement, he didn't actually wait for her to answer his question. "Are they great accomplishments that one can only attain with years of training? Are they a destination that you seek to go towards? Are they the person you wish to be like?" He shook his head. "Nay, it is none of those things." The two had long since stopped walking at this point. "A goal, in it's simplest form, is an intent." Steel took a moment to brush aside his hair from his eyes. "Now, I must ask, as you speak your words of hatred, are you really so ignorant, so pathetic, as to go against them and say now that all intents are pure? For to harry, to steal, and to kill, these are all goals." "To die in darkness is still a goal." "A desire of your own. The story you read does not take to the course you would prefer, so you seek to rebel in anyway possible. Even if it your own demise: to you it is simply not an ending if it is not for you to decide. A goal, does not need a goal. People are all selfish Bastards. So what does that mean exactly? It means people don't care about what they need, they all just do what they want. Even as the shiny bauble they craved burns their flesh and devours their soul. None of them care. None of them." Steel turned to the dark abyss and threw his arms into the air to gesture towards it as if it were a grand sight to behold. "There are those who would dream of shining cities built upon their ashen corpses!" His toothsome smile had returned in full force, and he looked to be absolutely enraptured with pure glee. He looked mad. "it reminds me of something... I believe you said something... not too long ago... I believe it sounded something like..." "Self Destructive Behavior." "That's right 'Oh Mighty Karina.' The world already has that category down pat. You got that? It's not what makes you special hon. Thanks for playing, but you lost the grand guessing game; and unlike me, life won't give you points for 'Close enough.' Because you're not the only one." His smile left entirely. His maniacal gaze and gentle knowledge both gone, only to be replaced with a cold and empty monotone. "You're not the only one to push others away." "You're not the only one to hate." "...And you're most certainly not the only to argue till you're blue in the face to ensure you get the last word, or to give up halfway down the road because it's secretly a pathetic bid for your own future: you're own little pot of fool's gold at the end of a dark rainbow." "I may or may not have done these things. It matters not. Yet I need not 'Understand' as you claim I think I do. I don't have to because we all have the same base desire. Something that reaches through even in our darkest despair: and that something is the all consuming concept of 'Me.' Steel made sure he was facing her directly before bending over with his hands on his knees. "I'm going to tell you a little secret Karina. You'll love it. About two in sixteen people will be drowning in their own tears as they die in a simply fantastic explosion, the fuse of which was lit by their..." "...own..." "...selfish..." "...actions." "Not the least of which is forfeiting." "...And unless my arithmetic is grossly wrong..." Steel started pointing back and forth between himself and Karina and mumbling to himself in a mock fashion as if to convey counting. "Between all of us, there should be about two people here." He allowed for a brief silence following his words, merely pausing to let them sink in. After a brief moment, his more... jubilant... smile returned. "So. You, me, that giant pillar of light that may or may not be a trap?" He opened his mouth and gave to very noticeable stage winks' before turning around and walking off, not really caring if she followed her not. If she spoke up, he'd reply.
Steel did not bother trying to hold back his laughter. "We're sorry, but that wasn't the answer we were looking for." He smiled "But you do get points for the nature of your response. I'm sure you're so thrilled." The last bit was obviously sarcastic. "As for the proper answer; you may have noticed, as we go from world to world, that everyone tends to get these sad little looks in their eyes. How they get determined every now and then and suddenly rise to the occasion, kicking buts and taking names all in the name of..." He paused just a second as he neared what had apparently been deemed by his companion as something akin to the deplorable word. "...Friendship..." He shrugged as if admitting that yes, that was a thing here, before moving on to his real point. "...as well as their lost loved ones." He gestured to imply the importance of one over the other. "Do you see?" He continued. not really giving her the chance to respond. "We each have something else in our hearts and minds: something other than our pretenses of the world around us: Goals. Something to shoot for." His excited manner became more calm over time. "Something that pushes us to do better, whether it be a memory, person, or simply wish." his smile had gone from full teeth to closed lips, and his mouth was not stretched near so far. He almost looked to be a serene sage imparting wisdom to one who had come to seek it. "Each of us strives for something. When faced with danger, that something pushes us to great lengths of bravery and allows us to perform heroic feats, and that's why..." "...We're all just selfish bastards."
Steel thought carefully on Karina's words. She was afraid of getting hurt. She was afraid of others getting hurt. She was sad. Yeah, being careful was going out the window. He was just gonna say what was on his mind now. It was clear enough that nothing he currently had to say would set her off. Which actually made sense: He had yet to mention "friendship" once, so maybe as long as he stayed away from that one word... "Karina..." He began. "...Imagine with me, if you would, the most foreign of concepts: Other people." He gave a slight shiver in jest, though he doubted she would find it amusing. "In fact..." He continued. "...Let's think of a very specific group of other people: Our associates. Call them to mind: Kaida, Kel, Hikaru, Glen, D'daear, heck even me if you want. Everyone." "Now really think about them." "Can you find anything that they all have in common?" "I bet you could if you really tried." Steel became silent so as to allow her to think clearly. He awaited her answer.
Steel actually smiled. His lips parting to reveal the rows of very sharp teeth, with his eyebrow raised in a manner such as to convey his amusement. "One would think that I could decide for myself that which is a loss and which is a gain." He really shouldn't be pushing it. If he wasn't careful he would screw up and cause a fight, and he had already told himself to avoid that possibility. It would probably be best to just concede the point before it became an argument. After all, his statement didn't have much truth to it. "Then again... I'm hardly the person to know what is best." His smile became sad as his eyes wandered to the vast and empty distance beyond them. "Most people don't, really."
"Alright, lets go. No use standing here. Quicker we get to an exit, the quicker you can ditch me. I am sure you don't care to hang around any longer than you have to." There it was. The self depreciation. That was supposed to be his shtick. Really, too much had changed with that letter. Now he knew. He knew why Aura had always been mad at him before... But he'd opened too many cans of worm's already. The point was it was just annoying to hear. Perhaps it would be better to just be silent. Nearly anything he said would likely only lead to an argument. Infuriating his partner wasn't on his list of things to do right now, and hadn't he already gone over his own faults? Yes, they may have different stories and different coping methods, but they were similar. He had no right to talk. So he took a deep breath, and he sighed rather audibly. He simply kept walking as he calmed himself. He would be silent, because he didn't want to waste any time on an dispute. In the end however, he couldn't stop the sentence from slipping out. "Be careful, or I might possibly stick around just to spite you." Sarcasm. Brilliant. Maybe he could pass it off as a joke.
Spoiler: Fantastic Failures, and Where to Find Them Steel clung tightly to his ward as he tumbled through the darkness. He had long ago ceased his cackling in favor of trying to make sure he and D'daear weren't separated. Though as he spun and collided with various debris, it quickly became apparent that his aims were simply too high. Steel cursed his formless self as he collided with a particularly large chunk of... something, and he lost his grip on his companion. "No!" His shout left his mouth rather garbled as he quickly reached out with his hands and grabbed D'daear's own. Now spinning out of control, he tried to pull the younger boy in closer, but to no avail. There was chaos all around them as the world threatened to rip them apart, just as it had all their friends. It was succeeding too: Steel could feel the black sludge that currently made up his feet start to blow away, and the sensation kept crawling up his legs. He couldn't keep himself together for much longer. Sebastian would have been able to; he was solid at the very least. He probably wouldn't of screwed up like this. Steel though? At this point all he could do was be flung about in the void. If darkness was like the water, than he had managed to leap into a whirlpool: a raging current that seemed to want not more than to toss him in circles as it dragged him downward... along with his friend. Whom was likely to be torn from his grip at any moment. D'daear was probably terrified. Or feeling Hopeless. Or Both. "Hey!" He called out above the noise to ensure he had the others attention. "It looks like... we're gonna have to split up for a bit." Steel could feel himself fading a little faster now. He'd have to end this quick. "We'll get through this, so hang on to hope alright? I know it can be hard sometimes; even a bit scary. All the same, you'd have a pretty hard time saving the world without it..." Steel squeezed D'daear's hands tighter for just a moment. "...You'll need something to pick you back up when you're inevitably kicked down." He let go. Steel closed his eyes as he flew away, not wanting to see D'daear's face as he disintegrated into nothing before the other boy's eyes. He had failed. -------------------------------------------- Spoiler: Guess I'm Walking Steel was surprised to wake up. Despite his words, he had very little hope that he would be included in the "we" he spoke of. Groggily, he sat up and took a look at his surroundings. There was a path, that much was clear. Other than that, things were... uncertain. He could see perfectly fine, despite the lack of light. It was as if somethings had a sort of outline or color, even without the light. Likely because it was the Realm of Darkness, and it presumably had it's own laws, just like every other world. He took a quick look at himself: solid. His old plated gloves and boots were back even. He ran a his hand over his mouth and pulled it back for examination. Clean. No darkness there. His scarf fluttered despite the lack of a breeze, and he tried to understand what was going on. Was something... holding him together? With a brief sigh, he decided that it didn't matter. For now, he was still here. "Guess I'm walking." He muttered as he stuck a hand in the pocket of his hoodie jacket. He picked a direction, and headed off. -------------------------------------------- Spoiler: I Should Have Known... That had been quite a while ago now. He didn't know for how long he had been walking, but he didn't really have a reason to stop. Nothing had really happened so far... other than that he had way too much time think. About everything. Including his meager base of existence. He had been such an idiot. His own irrational behavior combined with his knowledge of space time distortions and memories of his own nature should have made him realize long ago... ...That he wasn't Steel. Or at least, not the River Guardian of Alpha Pison. This was a... different him. He was having a hard time figuring out the exact point of deviation though. It likely happened before the letter; the world outside of his was filled with keyblades and other forms of magic that... well, knowing what he did now, it seemed unlikely that they existed in his Alpha timeline. For much a time, his mind was filled with puzzling and figuring, attempting to make better sense of this mess. He wondered if the alternate Base and Horace were the keys. They were still there, though they were being silent, and he couldn't help but wonder if these were just new forms and additional memories for beings that had always been there... Steel laughed. Had anyone other than those two ever actually been there? Or was he simply delusional? Acting on memories of a time that had never been? Yet he had still done all these strange things. Things that logically would have only been possible if he were at least a little like the Guardian. The question was: In what ways? -------------------------------------------- Spoiler: Twisted Amusement Eventually he had come across Karina. It just had to be her. He'd be honest: He found her annoying at times. Though he had nothing against her personally. All the same, he was just not looking forward to finally having to interact with the dreaded Karina... and having every word spoken thrown in his face. Still, hadn't he done far worse than her? Than simply pushing people away? Hadn't he murdered? He had always had a soft spot for her anyway. She reminded him of Aura. So he lent a hand and... was surprised at the result. She was apparently the exact opposite of Aura; the girl who followed him only verbally, and was dragged kicking and screaming the entire way. she only trusted him because everyone else did, and even then she wasn't entirely sure he hadn't mind controlled them or some such nonsense. Then here was Karina, who actively hated pretty much everyone... ...And she was following him. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. First real interaction. No words. Was that the secret? No words? He supposed they could be annoying sometimes, but... He wasn't delusional enough to believe it had anything to do with him. She was without hope. She had made that clear before she had left for the darkness. It was actually interesting, now that he thought of it: the only two people who jumped into the darkness with almost no hesitation, without giving much thought to fighting, had ended up together in that darkness and were now silently walking through it. Everything about this situation was just so freaking hilarious. Humor. Steel thought he was just pretending all this time, but no, OK he just really did have a super freaky and twisted sense of humor. --------------------------------------------- Spoiler: Further Observations It was pretty silent. The only difference between now and earlier is that there was another person there. The two had been walking for awhile when the beacon appeared. Surprisingly, it was Karina who spoke up. "Light? Where do you suppose it's coming from?" Steel silently stared at the pulsing light. "I don't know." Could it be a trap? No... Their enemies weren't that... weren't that what? Arrogant? Dishonorable? Deceitful? It could definitely be a trap. Still though, they probably thought of light as beneath them, so their arrogance was actually a little reassuring here. It was entirely possible this was their ticket out of the dark realm. He turned silently to Karina, who was staring at him silently. It seemed that she was waiting on him to make a decision. He stared back at her silently for a few minutes as he considered the options. There wasn't much more than a straight path. Any other roads that would come up would likely only lead them backwards, or in circles. They didn't have keyblades anymore, so they couldn't fly out obviously, and that honestly took away a lot of different options in a place like this. Where else did they have to go? Honestly, they had already been walking forward for so long. If they ceased now because of the possibility of it being a trap, that only left either waiting here, or going back. Neither option sounded appealing. "Well..." Steel said as he broke the prolonged eye contact. "We don't really have anywhere else to go. I mean, with this path, we we're probably just going to wind up over there anyway, right? Only difference now is that there might be a trap and/or exit over there." He also briefly considered that whether or not it was a trap, the heartless could always wind up getting them first, but he left that thought unspoken. It was also surprising that the heartless hadn't already attacked, but he wasn't complaining. It did however, make him take a quick suspicious glance at their surroundings before he continued walking. This Job was gonna be the death of him.
Location: Castle Town Timeline: OoT (Adult) Anomaly: N/A Myrrh The Skull Child looked on silently as his new charge (for he would most certainly be taking care of this Kokiri from now on) shook hands with the stranger who identified himself as "Somber." He shared a glance with Mayli as Noki introduced himself. Her look was no doubt the same as his: They would fight to defend the child if they had to. It was strange how fast they had come to the same page, having not even actually spoken to each other yet. Though perhaps its oddity did nothing to make it surprising. For Mayli, it was simply a fact of protecting her Kokiri: She likely hadn't been to keen on any stranger since she and Noki left the forest, with the exception of Myrrh. If he hadn't been a skull child, she probably wouldn't be fond of him either. As for Myrrh himself... suffice to say that Skull kids have a certain distrust of individuals that society labels as "Adults." It wasn't really something he himself could describe, having never actually interacted with too many adults himself. It was just an odd, angry feeling he would get around them. He once considered that it might be that it was because their kind were universally seen as children, and Adults were supposed to be an authority to children. More than one adult he had met in his travels had treated him rather arrogantly, assuming they were of greater age, wisdom, and importance. Myrrh had been a "child" since before they were born. He had plenty of time to learn things, including the difference between knowledge and wisdom. He also didn't really care what rank the adults were in their modern society. He had no part in it. But that was still just speculation, and it would seem rather odd that an entire race have the exact same reason for disliking adults. Especially seeing that he was the only one that even left the forest. When it came down to it, neither he, nor the fairy had anything personal against the taller figure, but he had shied away from his hand all the same. He would give the man the benefit of the doubt, and not bother showing undeserved hostility, but he kept close to Noki all the same. Having sheathed his blade, Myrrh was ready to draw it again at a moments notice. It was okay though, because Noki had enough enthusiasm and trust for the both of them. Though, he was a little disappointed he would have to wait to get to know his new friend better. "-And this is Myrrh and Mayli!" The younger boy motioned to them excitedly as he introduced them. "It's a pleasure." Myrrh took the effort to make the greeting sincere: After all, despite his doubts, this could be a new friend. Though looking at him again, the man's strange clothes had symbols that were somewhat reminiscent of... Myrrh had to keep himself from clenching his fist too tightly when the recent of events of his home time came to mind. He once again convinced himself to look past his species inclined prejudice and give the man a chance.
Location: Hyrule Castle Timeline: OoT (Adult) Anomaly: N/A Noki A dull thud echoed through the air as a small throwing knife embedded itself in the head of a small, hay stuffed dummy. It was only one of many that had been set up in a small circle near the road between Hyrule Castle and it's nearby town. Giving a brief sigh, The Kokiri named Noki went to pull his new throwing knives out of all the dummies in his makeshift arena. He had already known from experience that he was pretty accurate with ranged devices, but he had also known that he would likely be dealing with much more... lively targets on this little adventure of his. He couldn't really set up the dummies to move, and the people didn't like him using his knives at the games in town. So instead, he had taken to running around as he threw his knives, trying different targets and angles relative to his position. It appeared that it was a good thing he had thought ahead. Most of his projectiles had landed just a bit too far off target with only a few finding their exact mark. Overall his shots were still pretty good; but would they be good enough? The thought of not being of any help to the Queen, as well as essentially the world, in such a time of great need was unsettling. He looked over to where Mayli was waiting by a tree. She sat on a branch and stared quietly back at him, her turquoise glow barely visible in the daytime, though slightly highlighted underneath the shade of the tree. He was readying to ask for her opinion on the subject when a different voice broke the silence. "What have we here?" Noki jumped at the sound, and Mayli zipped to his side. They turned to face the newcomer; Noki holding a knife ready. He instantly relaxed however, when he saw what it was that they were faced with. Glowing yellow eyes looked back at them from underneath a red hood. To most the eyes would perhaps seem menacing, but to the Kokiri they were something of a comfort; the other beings eyes were that of one far older than him. Like all that lived in Kokiri forest, this was indeed a child at heart. However, the look in his eyes also conveyed wisdom, as well as a sense of responsibility. To Noki, this was something of an elder; an adult figure whose knowledge and presence were comforting in a strange world. "It seems the rumors were true. What, if I may ask, is a forest child doing all the way out here?" Noki gave a wide grin. "I could ask you the same thing Mr. Skull Kid!" Said Skull Kid only chuckled as he drew closer. "My name is Myrrh." He introduced himself rather formally. "Might I ask what your name is?" "I'm Noki! ...And my Fairy guardian here is Mayli!" He extended a hand to his new friend in greeting. Myrrh extended his own, and the two shook hands rather enthusiastically, quickly turning it into a small child's game. After their laughter had subsided, Myrrh made to speak. "So-" Something was coming. Fast. Both boy's turned their eyes to the road and quickly drew their weapons once more: Noki still wielding a Knife, with his shielded arm raised in preparation, and Myrrh with a small, rune covered rapier. These two wouldn't be caught unawares.
