Jo glared at Andrew for a moment, "Well jee, we were fine until you started shouting." Jo tried her best to hide her soldier training behind harsh words, but the fact that she hadn't jumped or even twitched when Andrew spoke, was going to become evident to the others sooner or later.
Neat. I never knew what our staff looked like. Except for Sabby. What an interesting Christmas present. ^^
To me it seems like Twilight has changed everyone's minds about vampires and made them obsolete. Its rather sad that it's become this way. As an avid lover of vampires and mythical creatures, I've come to find more and more people unwilling to hear a different story. Thinking it's not fair to the old legends that their reputation should be tarnished by a silly movie written by some woman that can be written off easily as a dream that went wrong. Opinions of Twilight shouldn't have an effect on the view of vampires or werewolves. In my personal opinion, I don't see what the problem is. If people are judging based on a movie they saw and think all of them are like that, they're very narrow minded. It's the open minded people that are willing to look at it and say "Yeah, that's a different way of looking at it, but it gets a bit silly for me, so I'll stick to the original." Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it does seem like now the more avid adventurers are turned off by the idea of vampires and werewolves in the same story because of Twilight. Some might say that it's helped the myths in popularity and it's been drawing much more attention to them from younger readers.
Jo's eyes cracked open in time to hear Ulrich's joke. It brought painful memories of Igneel. After all giant iguana and a Fire Dragon were nearly the same. In her head anyways. Pushing herself into a sitting position, Jo mumbled, "That's not funny. If you're being chased then maybe you're being chased for a good reason. You probably treaded through it's territory."
ooc: Thank you for saying that! jackdaniel0@ I'll get right on it! bic: Xenree lowered her arms and glared at Rat, "So many questions... Figure it out for yourself!" In the center of the circle, a figure with broad shoulders stood and the lights died down. "You called?" Xenree smiled, though her eyes were cold, "Yes, I need you to come back to this world and stand beside me. For old times sake, won't you fight with me?" Xemnas' golden eyes scanned her from head to toe and back again. "If you insist, my dear." Xenree resisted the childish urge to grin like a fool and twirl. She helped him out of the circle, gently touching his arm lightly and leading him out and towards a large guest room where he could rest. "Rest up and soon we'll get back to the plan." Sei's eyes opened and he shivered. Heartless... Pushing himself up, Sei checked on Carrie sleeping soundly and crept out the door, bolting towards the concentration of Heartless. He saw Poke and summoned his Keyblade, "Get down!" his tiny voice carried over to Poke well. Using most of his strenght, Sei jumped, twirling while he landed and tore apart a group of Heartless. His silver eyes took in their numbers as he stood in front of Poke without another word to him.
Xenree moved from the main foyer and down a hall, heading into a large circular room. It was pitch black with a single window staring out into the darkness. A large circle drawn on the floor with what seemed to be dark red paint? with a smaller circle inside it. The space between the circles was filled with different runes painted in the same dark red stuff. She stood on the outside rim of the circle and spread her arms, "It's time...once again, lets try this. The moon shines brightly down upon this ceremony. The spirits dwelling in the darkness rise out of the fog and into the clear. Let us first welcome...the Superior of the In-Between. My dear, beloved, Xemnas." Her eyes shone and the circle lit up with luminous purple light.
Her silver eyes smoldered for a second, "Never you mind that. We're going to do something much more interesting than collect sentiments."
Jo slept fitfully through the night and still into the morning when everyone started to wake. Exhausting her magic to the point of empting her reserves was dangerous and yet she'd done it. Thankfully, she slept a dreamless sleep. Her mouth hung open slightly as she slept and a quiet snore slipped through her lips. She curled more towards the ground, "Mmm...Igneel..." she mumbled.
ooc: sorry! bic: Xenree's silver eyes flicked to Rat emerging from a dark corridor and waved her hands at them, "You're not ready for a mission yet. You'll stay here and we'll get you fixed up. After all, I have a lot of work to do around here for a little while." She stared thoughtfully at the black rose in her hand and frowned, "We need to visit Hollow Bastian....tomorrow morning. Nox, take Nikolai back to Twilight Town and find me a sea shell." Silver crescents glittered as she glowered at Nox, "Do this and I'll make it worth your while." She turned her eyes to Rat, "You...your name?"
Xenree returned after she had her fill of the boy's peaceful aura and lifted a single black rose that had replaced the white roses in the corners. "No. Those Nobodies are practically worthless. What I need are soldiers of the dark that can move about the realm of light and do my bidding. Not," she glared at Nox, "That I need anyone to do my job. Revival...that's what I strive for. Revival of what you ask? Stick around and stay alive and I'll tell you." Sei shook his head, "I'm okay. I'm used to sleeping in small spaces. I'll...have a nice bed...when I find mom." he mumbled before shutting his eyes. A light snore escaping from his white lips. Riku followed after the little girl and his friends, Yeah I'm coming...right back into the darkness we go. The feel of the darkness sliding along his skin again, he felt a bit uneasy and yet the little girl in front of them shone with a brilliant light in the darkness. "What are you, Akii?" She grinned at them, "I'm the daughter of the Dark Queen. Once I find mama, we can be together again and find my brother. Don't you remember, papa?" He sighed, giving up with the conversation. "I'm not going to get anything out of a little girl that believes I'm her father.
Mithos' face twisted into a snarl and focused light formed in his hands. The door burst down leading further into Kingdom Hearts and Heartless poured out followed by another form of creature. They were armored soldiers but their faces and eyes were missing or spaced oddly on their faces. Mithos flew up to avoid a flying sheath being thrown at them and Nova unsheathed her katana. "Damn...Auran, Gexln, Genesis, Souichirou! We have a situation. Twisted have assisted the Heartless in breaking through the barrier. Push them back! NOW!" Nova lurched forward, her katana flashing as she slashed through the Heartless to get to the Twisted.
Sei nodded and left the table, curling up into a ball on her couch. He touched his nose to his knees and pretended to be fixated on the condition of his shoes.
Renee followed Keel closely. She felt nervous leaving Twilight Town but the chance to explore wasn't going to pass her up. "Mama calls me Akii." Akii sniffled and rubbed her eyes. The intensity of the blue of her eyes was like looking into the ocean. Like Riku's eyes. "Mama said...she said don't leave papa or brother's side...I can't find my brother...but this..." she looked up to Riku, "This is Papa. He has to be...mama said papa had silver hair and blue eyes like mine. She said I looked like him the most...but I couldn't stay with her." She immediately stopped crying and grabbed Riku's pant leg. "You want to go to a different world, yes? Akii will help!" Riku opened his mouth to correct her and tell her there wasn't a way when she lifted a pale hand and opened a Dark Corridor in the middle of the beach. "See?" Sei sighed, "When do we leave to go look for mom? Tomorrow?"
Xenree hurried to the Room of Awakening and couched beside the blond boy. She still had no clue what his name was. "Good...you're alright. I'm sorry...but the worlds will have to undergo a bit of hurt before they can be whole again and you can awaken. I await the day to see you awake." She stroked his cheek lightly, "Nox is such a cruel bully. Even though it's adorable how he tries so hard. Yes...yes, I'll remember to put him in his place later. After all, a cocky servant is a rebellious servant." Riku blanched and turned his wide gaze to Sora, "I don't know who this kid is. I don't have any children. I'm pretty sure I'd know it if Maleficent raped me while I was with her....and the kid would be ugly." Bending down, Riku picked up the child and stared at her, "Who are you, child?" The little girl giggled delightedly and patted his face with her cold fingers. "Akii, sillyhead. Papa, don't you recognize me? Mama would be mad at you if you didn't. She'd get real mad and say you were a bad father." Riku frowned, "And who is your mama?" Akii's wide blue eyes filled with tears, "You don't remember mama either?! You...you.....you forgot us? B-but why?! Why papa, why!" she started to cry and Riku suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Renee bit her lip and looked from the two boys and back. What had she gotten herself into. Suddenly she had two comrades and she knew nothing of herself. If they asked more than her name, she'd be screwed.
"I wonder if mom will want to see me... Without Akira...I'm not much a big brother." Sei glanced up at Carrie and mournfully looked away, rummaging through his pockets. He pulled out a ticket stub from a play a while ago, his Hollow Bastian Restoration Committee membership card, and a worn picture of a little girl with silver hair and blue eyes. She sat in a white chair staring at a brilliant butterfly on her finger.
Xenree jerked her head towards Nox and snapped, "Screw what up?! My plan?!" Taking a breath to steady herself, Xenree calmed and the Castle stopped shaking along with the spears disappearing from around Nikolai. "Ah...that was rude of me. Nox, this is Nikolai, he's collateral for the Heart of Twilight Town. After all, I didn't see you around fending off stupid children wielding Keyblades. This is becoming just like all those years ago..." She trailed off and stood, "You two get to know each other. I'll be back in a few." Her feet quickly carried her towards the door off to the side, her heels of her boots clicking rapidly as she moved. Her longing to see the blond boy made her anxious. Her thoughts stayed with Nikolai's words. Maleficent and her...get along? Never. The woman could rot in the darkness for all she cared. Riku sighed and jerked as cold hands wrapped around his wrist. "What the--!" Glancing down he saw a small, silver haired girl with bright blue eyes staring up at him. Her white skin blended in well with her hair and the dark purple of her dress made her stand out like a ghost wearing a cloth stained with grape juice. "Papa?" He stared, slack-jawed at the girl calling him papa. Words failed to come to his mind. "Oh..." Renee didn't have any words for her new comrades. Sei buried his face in his arms folded on the table. "I wonder..."
Renee chased after Keel. "Oh, wait for me!" She didn't want to be alone again, but tagging along with a stranger wasn't her first choice in seeing the other worlds. After all, she could barely remember her own name. "Oh...um...I'm Renee, by the way. You have a name don't you?" Sei frowned at the name, "Sora...hmm..." Taking thoughtful bites out of his pizza, Sei hadn't realized the food started to taste odd to him. He swallowed and made a face. "Your food doesn't taste very good...you must shop at the same store Aerith does..." Even though the food was fine, Sei pushed it away from him and shut the music box. "I think...there's something wrong with me. Nothing I eat tastes good...or normal. It feels like it's moving in my mouth and it ends up tasting like dust or dirt." Xenree popped her neck and licked her lips, trailing a pink tongue along her bottom lip. "Maleficent...?!" Narrowing her eyes into silver slits, several spears of pure darkness manifested around Nikolai as her temper boiled, "What do you know about Maleficent! That old hag nearly had me scrambling for a new plan! Worthless old witch! She couldn't follow orders even if they were hers. Everything was interesting to her!" she spat and snarled. The Castle very nearly trembled as her gloved hands gripped the armrests of her chair.
Sei blinked at her, his silver eyes shy and timidly flicking back to the music box he'd set on the table in front of him. "Huh? Oh...I'm alright. Wh-what were we talking about?" Flipping open the music box, Sei smiled a bit as the music tinkled out. "Your friend...has a different name than Axel does. Yet they smell the same. Did your friend become a Nobody?" Lifting his eyes to Carrie's, Sei poked the little black upside down triangles under his eyes. They were stark black against his white skin. "Do you ever think...that what they say about the deaths of Nobodies and their Heartless...will recreate the original body is real?"
Sei nodded greedily. "Yeah!" Just like the child he was, he bounced up and down, waiting for his pizza. One eye closed and he flinched in the most dramatic way. Jerking his head and entire body to the left, Sei twitched and stood straight again. "Well that hurt... Hey, hey, hey, hey, Carrie! Do you think your friend is with my mom? You think she's alright? That she hasn't given into the darkness?" He yammered on before another twitch controlled his body and he clamped his mouth shut, slinking back to slump into a chair. Xenree pushed Nikolai out into the empty new black foyer of Castle Oblivion. "Welcome to my Castle...Nikolai." She walked around him and tilted his chin up with one slender finger, "Your name is lovely. Your personality is charming. However did you end up on the side of light...?" She rubbed her forehead and stalked to her chair. Curling into it like a cat, Xenree rubbed her eyes, "I'll give it a minute before we head to Radient Garden."
Riku turned away from them and hid his embarrassment, "Ah, we haven't exactly figured that out yet...Sora, do you think Donald and Goofy would come?" He considered the door in their secret cave, but tossed it aside. He didn't really have an idea on how to get off the island again. Another raft? No, that was stupid. Xenree's temper stayed simmering as she regarded Rat carefully, "We don't have time for questions. Come!" waving her hand, Xenree shoved Nikolai into the dark corridor and followed suit. Leaving the harsh black hole standing in the middle of Twilight Town. Sei watched Carrie's tears fall and picked up the scarf in the drawer. "This has Axel's scent on it." he sniffed it cautiously and again more determinedly. "I remember....momma said she met him...she said...um...that he remembers..." Sei screwed up his face as he tried to think what it would mean and came up empty. "We should look for mom. I think she knows your friend."
