Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

She was called out on her bluff and that made her just stare at Boreas. She gulped on the piece of toast she had snuck and ended up just staring down at the table. Qamar was trying to figure out how to word what she felt and what she wanted, but she was having a hard time in doing so. What did she exactly want from Boreas? She wasn't quite sure of that herself. Maybe it was because she didn't want to feel so alone and different from the others. Maybe she just wanted to have somebody she could ask questions about the Realm of Darkness from and it not sound like she was wasting their time. Maybe she just wanted to genuinely be a friend to Boreas and make up for her past transgressions in the Realm of Darkness. Whatever the case, she wasn't having a good time trying to put it into words. Finishing her toast, Qamar sipped her OJ while Boreas continued to stare at her. She looked at him a little more nervously and sighed. "I'm not sure, okay? There's a lot of reasons I can make up in my mind, but none of them end up being a good enough reason I think. You're intimidating and just sitting across from you right now is kind of making me regret this, but I know you wouldn't just eat my head off if I crossed you wrongly. Speaking of that, I'm sorry I interfered yesterday. I had no right to do so. I suppose my reasoning there was that I didn't want another person to die and I was helpless to prevent it." she looked down at the table, regretting her decision to talk to him now.

Qamar wasn't expecting him to start off by asking her that, so she was at a loss as to what to say now. All she could do was try to make up an excuse, but he didn't seem like the person that would want an excuse. He would want the nitty gritty and no sugar-coating on any of it. A deep sigh erupted from Qamar that made her look at Boreas and pour out a few troubles on her mind. "Ever since I was introduced to you and Torrin, I had this feeling that you two weren't exactly normal in the way my Master's all were. Sure Master Skia has dabbled in darkness before, but she didn't give me that same feeling. A nostalgic feeling that I sorely missed from days I couldn't remember at the time. Once I started to speak to you two and see just who you were, I realized that maybe I wasn't from the Realm of Light. That's why I showed you this picture randomly." Qamar produced the same photo she had shown him the last time they were here. She pointed at the woman in the photo. "That is my mother. Her name was Eifa and she was kidnapped just before I was born. The man who kidnapped her was named Ravana and he poisoned her when I was around 9. 5 years I was treated to him training me to be a thief just so he could live the high life. I was lucky I wasn't punished more, but I did get caught a few times. Once was by this man in his home. I was trying to steal this dagger when he caught me." She then held up the dagger that laid at her hip. The hilt was ordinary save for the blue gem at the end. On the blade itself was a trip that had some strange markings that were barely legible. Qamar focused a little darkness on it and a name appeared. "That is my last name, Zalam. I think that man in the photo is my father due to the way it's taken and because, well, I looked way more like him than Ravana." she looked at Boreas and realized this was probably unnecessary. She didn't keep things as short as she had wanted.

"What I"m saying is, I want to learn more about Orphic Coast. Torrin told me his Uncle is the Night Sovereign. He also told me a couple of small details about Orphic Coast, such as the war that is going on, but I don't understand why there is even a war. I was far too young to understand and now that I'm older, I want to understand. I want to know why Orphic Coast has a war going on and I just want to know more about the Realm of Darkness in general. It's where I'm from, I just know it. Torrin didn't want to talk about it. I was hoping you'd at least answer some questions for me and in exchange I'd answer some questions for you....if I know the answers, at least."

Qamar scratched her cheek, closing her eyes. "I also want to learn to control my darkness and anger more effectively, so I won't accidentally hurt my comrades. I was close to turning on my own comrades back in Heroic Sanctum. After Dentro killed Adalric, I felt extreme anger and I couldn't figure out a way to get rid of the anger. I would have ended up just like him if he didn't fall off that cliff. I don't want to be like him. I want to be in control." She said, her voice shakey by the end of this. She gripped her hand into a fist on the table. "My own Masters can't help me, Boreas. You're my only hope."​

 

​

“The original owner...?” Aria shakily lifted her hand with the LC’s bracelet on it, studying the simple golden band carefully. She recalled having to show it to Grandpa Gero and seeing him recoil from it as if it pained him. She furrowed her brow as she studied it a moment. It was sort of unsettling to her that this actually belonged to someone else. It wasn’t from one of the LC’s victims, could it? Did he kill anyone? She wouldn’t put him past it based on how everyone said how dangerous he was. She lowered her hand to rest back on the bed. “I want to know.” For some reason, Aria felt like she was treading in something she maybe shouldn’t know about. But if an explanation was presented to her like this, she didn’t see why she shouldn’t know about it if someone else knew what it was exactly.

 

​

Take was impressed. Genuinely impressed. He never found himself annoyed by someone as quickly as he did with this guy. Take somehow went from an already weird mood to just straight up not wanting to have to deal with this. Especially since this guy just decided he might as well help himself to food without asking. And it was his food. And with the way this guy seemed to talk and act, it felt like an act he wasn't going to deal with this time of day. As his expression faded back into it's usual blank state he looked over at Torrin and grabbed the cookie off of his shoulder and said, "I'm... gonna go see if anyone's making breakfast... I'll see you around." and he walked over to his books and picked them up and just outright left without really acknowledging Enzo. Take's timing made it so he ended up walking past Illiana as she went outside but he didn't really acknowledge her either. Though that one was more by accident than anything.

As he started walking in he could kind of hear a lot of noise coming out of the kitchen area and he was prepared to just kind of walk past it since he used that as an excuse to get out of there (one Torrin would probably have noticed was a lie). He wasn't hungry at all, he was just eating, when he realized he wanted something to drink. But he was still conflicted cause he didn't know how much he wanted to deal with people today. Also every time he went into the kitchen he seemed to get trapped there for hours. Eventually, he decided to walk on in and he turned on a kettle to boil some water and just kind of waited there wordlessly, trying to stay out of the way. He probably didn't look out of it from the outside, it probably just looked like he was trying not to bother anyone. Secretly he hoped no one would bother him.
​

 

​

Aria laid there as she listened to the story, a small frown forming on her lips. She held up the bracelet to her view again, studying it carefully. This once belonged to someone the Light Chaser loved? She forgot such a foe could possess those kinds of feelings and was just as much human in emotions as the rest of them.

Her eyes lit up a little as memories flashed in her mind. "There was something else, with the nightmares," she said in a soft voice. She forced herself to sit up, wincing as her bone seem to groan in agony. She took her pillow and hugged it to her to help with the aching, taking in a few breaths to allow herself to adjust to the new position. Finally, she glanced up at the master. "After I got this bracelet, sometimes there would be a light in my nightmares... It would call out to me. Or it would make the darkness shrink away..." She tugged at the bracelet, feeling it squeeze against her skin as she stared at it. "It sounded gentle... yet fierce. Maybe... Maybe it was her. At least, that's what I like to think. And I guess she hasn't appeared lately because I have others to help me through this right now." She looked to the door, wondering if anyone else had woken up. She didn't think she would be able to walk very far if she tried to get up right now though. She would have to join the others later. She looked to the man again and nodded her head. "Thank you, for telling me about the bracelet..."

 

Chrys, perhaps predictably, was not particularly thrilled with her current situation. It was very much a... out of the fire and into the fire situation. There wasn't really any winning here, since both sides now viewed her as an enemy. They were very clearly about to pry for information. Information she couldn't tell them because her teacher had never really told her anything. This would likely be taken only as defiance and loyalty. What little she could tell them... well it was probably all part of her former masters' plan. She could be beaten or outright killed just for being honest.

It was something of a negative situation for her.

"Chrysanthemum."

Not much else to do but follow along and try to enjoy the last few moments of peace before everything went to Cocytus.​

 

Illiana continued to walk toward the entrance leading outside. On her way there, she walked by Take as he kept going. Kid must be in a rush or something. Hmm...Illiana kept walking until she walked outside. She saw Torrin and Enzo discussing something. She couldn't tell what they were talking about but she just sat down on some steps and placed down her glass right beside her. She began to dig right into her breakfast. As she ate, she looked over to the two as they were discussing something to do with Torrin's jacket. "When did you get some new threads Torri?" She took another spoonful of her omelet and rice as she asked Torrin. She yawned a little bit before taking a sip of her wine. "Oh. You're here too ummm Enflo or whatever your name is." She scratched her head before taking another spoonful of her omurice. She continued eating her breakfast before striking up another topic. "Anyway. You guys get any of your daily dose of beauty sleep?" Illiana took a sip of her wine after she asked her question. "By the way, Tinarah is making breakfast in the kitchen if you want any if you already haven't eaten." She pointed her thumb behind her, pointing back inside.

 

​

Trailing behind Nini, Chrono had walked into the kitchen and was immediately greeted by the smell of food cooking. Naturally, he was curious as to what was cooking, not to mention that the smell of food was reminding him that he hadn't actually eaten anything yet. After that match, he had against Thallasa, some food going into his stomach would be a welcomed treat. As Tinarah was currently preoccupied with Master Choma, he decided against speaking and found himself a place to sit while he waited. At the very least, maybe he should use this time to figure out what it was he wanted to drink.

 

Boreas wasn't entirely expecting the reaction Qamar gave, she had seemed a tad nervous just bringing this up but to what extent he hadn't anticipated. She admitted he was intimidating and feeling like she regretted it which to him almost said that while she wanted to learn to control her darkness she didn't want to go through with it so badly as to tackle any obstacle in the way. She also admitted that she didn't want another person to be killed while being helpless to stop it. "This is war, whether you like it or not there's gonna be casualties. You can't save everyone and sometimes there's nothing you can do. Then you just accept you did what you could and go on." Boreas said, he used to have trouble with the idea too but that was years ago and sometimes he still wondered if it was the truth or he was just trying to calm down his own conscience.

He waited patiently to let Qamar find the words to express herself and drank some water. She mentioned a nostalgic feeling that she didn't get when talking to Master Skia, a tad strange but still and she explained why he showed him that picture randomly at a time when more important matters were at hand. "Well yes the way the two are holding each other would suggest the man might be your father. The armour is clearly of our make." Boreas started off, thinking of what else she said, he felt bad for her losing her mother like that and not having family left. "I am sorry for your loss." Boreas said even if it had been years too late for that. "Did you etch that name into the blade yourself or was that already there when you stole it?" If it had been there when she stole it she might have stolen from her own father. Stealing was still crime even under those circumstances, but with her mother poisoned she would have had no choice, not that it made it any better.

She then went on to wanting to learn more about his homeworld. "The war is a complicated matter, but how did you someone from the Realm of Darkness end up out here in the Realm of Light?" Boreas inquired he could understand why Torrin wouldn't want to talk of home, he hadn't been there for the last six years, five of which Boreas had resented him for it. Now that he was here with his friend though, even if his friend had significantly more responsibilities, he couldn't resent him for leaving and with what he had been fighting was just glad he was still here. When she finally came to the core of her issue after a way too long roundabout. "There you go." Boreas said as she finally answered his question. "Darkness and anger are seperate things although can be tied together, anger spilling from darkness or darkness following anger on the way out." Boreas explained, he could help with this even if he wasn't a master, his own Master had given Torrin and him the same lectures on the subject although Boreas received extra lessons to guiding his rage. "I might be able to help with this." Boreas said finally "I'll consider it, if I do it I'll need you to listen to exactly what I say."

He hadn't really paid attention to the conversation between Choma and Tinarah. Chrono however had walked in as had Take. "Good morning Take, Chrono." Boreas said looking to each individually. Take seemed to keep to himself mostly as did Chrono at that but Chrono had just sat down wheras Take was heating up some water and do his own thing.​

 

​

Take heard Tinarah speak and looked over at her and did a bit of a wave to say good morning, and he thought about the offer of breakfast and was conflicted. He already ate, but he'd already cooked himself something instead of eating her food before and felt bad about it. He didn't wanna overeat past what his diet should have allowed but he also didn't wanna reject her food again. He eventually decided he'd eat it and just would exercise more today. Take finished boiling the water and started making himself hot chocolate. He was pretty sure he rememberes how Aria made it. He shifted to look for cocoa powder and found packages that had different flavors and looked at them curiously. The caramel hot cocoa sounded really good to him. So he opened it up and mixed it all in and added a bit of milk and some whipped cream. He shifted to take a sip of it and made a noise a bit in disgust before he grabbed two more packets of the cocoa and poured it in. He started stirring it endlessly as he sat at the table focused on that before he said towards Chrono, "If you make cocoa with those packets, use two or it'll taste like chocolate flavored hot water. But like... barely any chocolate taste. i think these cups are a bit bigger or something..."
​

 

Qamar knew she couldn't save everyone. She knew that better than she wanted to admit. It was just hard losing Adalric. Boreas asked her if the name was already on the dagger. She nodded. "Yes, it was already there. So I guess I stole from my father. A crime, for sure, but not one I wanted to commit. Being a child, I had no power to say no to Ravana. He could lock me up and not give me food like many times before. I'd rather steal and possibly go to jail than go hungry." she admitted.

Boreas had asked her why she was in the Realm of Light. Qamar thought for a second, trying to remember if Granny had told her. "My previous Master took me here after I ran from home. She took me here, saying she initially left of her own will, but she had supposedly spoken to King Joch about it. I'm not sure if she did or not, but I'm hoping she had. If no, I take responsibility for it." Qamar stated.

Her answer was finally sufficient enough for Boreas to seemingly agree to helping her. Darkness and anger....seperate, but able to be tied together. One always following the other. Qamar could tell from previously watching Boreas that he seemed to be able to use his anger and darkness in unison. One feeding the other while also giving the strength to overcome obstacles...that was what Qamar wanted to learn to do. She had bouts of anger that meditation helped, but even now, mediation was starting to be unable to remedy her. "I would greatly appreciate that. And don't worry, when I train, my trainer has my undivided attention." she tried to assure Boreas.

While they were talking, Take and Chrono came in. Qamar saw Take was lost in his own world. She already said morning to him, so she focused on Chrono. "Morning Chrono." she waved.

She watched Take attempt to make cocoa and she chuckled. "The cups are like 14 ounces or something? I dunno, Master Stamatis had to get them replaced when Master Skia decided to make a joke about invisible ants..." she shrugged.​

 

Illiana kept eating her omurice as Torrin explained the origin of his new clothes. He then half-jokingly expressed his discomfort over his new nickname. "Oh please. You'll be fine General Emo....My bad, Torrin. Better?" She chuckled as she took one of her last sips of wine. Torrin had then looked over to Enzo. He decided to fill him in on everything that they knew so far. Illiana continued to eat the rest of her breakfast. Hearing of the Light Chaser's plan and its repercussions, her worry over her dear little brother grew. Koa....Why can't you see the consequences of his plan? Open your eyes.....Please. Before it's too late...Illiana closed her eyes as she finished her breakfast.

"Anyway...what's up Illiana? Got a reason you wandered this way?" Illiana looked up as Torrin had addressed the girl. She thought about it for a moment before remembering her true reason. "As fun as our little rare chitchat is, unfortunately for you I do have an actual reason. Though we are missing someone." Illiana finished her glass before looking around. She felt something soft rubbing against her. She looked down at her side and saw Nini. "Found her. Alright we're good." She picked up the cat and her dishes. She walked over to Enzo with said dishes. "I'm borrowing Torrin for a bit. Mind bringing these dishes to the kitchen? Thanks." She placed the dishes in Enzo's hand before turning to Torrin. She pointed to him before pointing to the cat. "You two....You're gonna be following me for a bit? Cool? Great." Without leaving time for Torrin to respond, Illiana started to walk ahead of Torrin with Nini in her hands. She stopped before turning back to the young man. "Well? You coming or what?"

 

​

“I figured as much,” Aria mumbled under her breath in response to Master Kaio explain his seemingly tough word to her. She resisted rolling her eyes at him as she shifted on the bed. She didn’t agree with him on his theory with the Light in her dreams. It felt just as real as the nightmare’s physical manifestations. Still, she wasn’t going to explain herself to this guy. She didn’t feel like he would get it.

She felt a lot warmer now than earlier, the magic working well for her. There was still an ache in her being and she felt weak, but it was an improvement from being unconscious and almost dying... again.

When Master Kaio said he would tell Master Gero what was going on with her, she frowned a bit. Then she remembered how different he was with her not that long ago. He wouldn’t always have time to talk to her personally, or spend time with her. He wasn’t the same man she grew to love growing up. “Thank you, I appreciate that,” she said as she rest her chin on her knees. “And thank you for staying with me. I’m feeling a lot better now.”

 

Qamar followed his train of thought regarding the dagger it was possible that she stole it from her father and what she mentioned about the person that had abducted her mother made his blood boil. Not only did that man tear a family apart but also forcing her to do his dirty work, the mention of instead gambling to be imprisoned was understandable as it also meant to be away from that man. "So was he always observing you when you did your handiwork? Saw no chance to disappear? If he poisoned your mother I'd see no reason to keep going back to him even if he fed you." Boreas asked, he knew it was a bit insensitive to ask it but it made no sense to him.

So she left the Realm voluntarily leaving with her previous master. "I personally doubt that the Master would ask his Majesty for permission. After all we have perfectly good Masters in the Realm of Darkness to train someone to wield a keyblade." Boreas pointed out. She seemed to be incinuating that she belonged on the side he had been fighting against for the past 5 years. The people that wanted to leave the Realm of Darkness, but their departure would cause an imbalance between the realms with all the consequences attached to it. However Boreas understood that she never had an actual choice in the matter. That master though was responsible for the journey, as she never could have gotten to the Realm of Light without them.

She made a comment about giving her teacher her full attention he'd wait and see how that would play out, when it would come to that. He chuckled at the remark about Master Skia joking about invisible ants. He had been convinced she was pulling his leg when talking about the invisible fish, but they actually existed as he could still feel the slimy slap to his face from one of them. He considered making a cup of hot chocolate for himself but decided against doing so this early in the morning and with Tinarah mentioning breakfast was nearly done he decided to just wait for that to be finished before finding Torrin.​

 

"Much better." Torrin nodded at her question. "Alright. Not sure what you need me for but I've got some time to kill." He looked over at Enzo. "Get yourself some breakfast. Follow the scent of food and try to make some new friends. We can talk later, alright?" Torrin waved at Enzo before following after Illiana in a quick pace to catch up with the girl.

“Alrighty. Let’s head out.” Illiana, with Nini in her arms, set out with Torrin. As they were walking Illiana spoke up, “This is more of a show and tell than it is you doing me a favor.” She looked back at Torrin and then petted Nini’s head. “It’s....something that you two would appreciate....something that I couldn’t help but notice.” She moved her head back forward as she was explaining her reasoning without divulging too much.

"I've heard of show and tell before. Never really did that as a kid. Not much point when you have your own private tutors. Probably for the best. Telling other kids that I have a keyblade would get dull fast." Torrin scratched the back of his head. "Um...alright. That's awfully cryptic of you. Though I'm not sure what both Nini and I would both appreciate..."

Illiana stopped in her tracks. “Whoa whoa whoa hold up.” She paused placing her hand up beside her head. “You had private tutors??? What are you? Some rich kid??” Illiana was a bit curious before shrugging her shoulders. She continued walking. “Hey. Give me some credit. I’m not usually this cryptic. I do have my good days.” She paused before continuing. “You’ll see once we get there.”

"Well I thought the cat-no not you Nini-was out of the bag. Back in Prydain the Light Chaser already called me out on being a prince...I wasn't exactly rich. Didn't dine with fancy utensils and ridiculous delicacies. I didn't live in the castle though. But some of my cousins did. Um...not sure if this is helping my case..." Torrin sighed. "Alright. Well I guess I'll just keep wondering until we're wherever we're going."

“Oh right.....Forgot about that already. Oops.” Illiana shrugged as she walked. “Don’t talk about it if you don’t feel comfortable with it. It’s kind of like a pet peeve of mine but meh. It’s your past and you’re free to talk about it however you please but if it makes you uncomfortable then don’t.” Illiana was trying to be understanding of it but wasn’t entirely sure if her words came across like that. She petted the cat’s head while she walked. “Alright. We should be close.” She walked a bit more before coming to a stop. She turned around and passed Nini to Torrin. “Alright. I need you guys to close your eyes. Trust me.”

"Hm...alright." Torrin spoke quietly. He took Nini in his arms and tilted his head as the cat twisted around him and immediately began to sniff him. "Yeah yeah...I know..." He whispered towards the black cat. "Hm?" When Illiana asked him to close his eyes he looked at her with scrutiny. It wasn't something he wanted to do but he reluctantly obliged and covered his eyes, putting a hand over Nini's face only for the cat to paw at his fingers and sniff his hand which began to tickle.

Illiana waved her hand in front of both of their faces. She nodded her head before going behind him. “Alright. I’m gonna lead you from here. And no I won’t lead you into a wall.” She lightly pushed Torrin leading him and Nini into a small little garden. Illiana stepped in front of him, looking around to make sure everything was alright. “Now, when you open your eyes, don’t pay attention to what’s around. Pay attention to what lies in here in this small...we’ll call it a ‘sanctuary’ of sorts.” Illiana looked over to the stones and nodded head before taking a deep breath. “Alright. Open your eyes.”

After opening his eyes his heart sank. Nini jumped from his arms to sniff the four stones laid out in front of him. "I'm...not sure what to say..." Torrin muttered as he knelt down in front of the stone marked with Mika's name. "You shouldn't have been in this fight..." Torrin whispered, watching as the cat curled up by the stone and gazed up at Torrin. He cleared his throat and looked around at the scenery. At the very least it had a view. "You picked a good spot." Torrin spoke after a while. "She would have liked to have seen this place."

Illiana looked over as Torrin and Nini gaze at Mika’s stone. She remained silent as the two sank in this moment. She walked over to Torrin. “Thought this spot would give them peace. Back in Atlantis...” She started then paused. “Couldn’t help but notice this look in your eyes when you spoke to Mika. She must’ve been someone really special to you.” She looked over at the other stones. “Nobody should’ve had to die over this stupid fight....No one...” Illiana fell silent for a bit.

Torrin nodded slightly and glanced over at Illiana. "Yeah..." He stood back up and turned towards her. "Only one person needs to be brought down to end all of this. I've failed before but the next chance I get, he's going down." Torrin spoke with heartfelt conviction. He glanced over at the graves for a moment and took a long deep breath before walking away. "Thank you for showing me this, Illiana." He spoke as he headed back towards the castle.

She nodded her head as Torrin spoke. So many thoughts ran through her head. Hearing Torrin speak with such conviction, Illiana almost felt hopeful but she remembered the reality of this whole ordeal. Torrin thanked Illiana for showing him the graves. Illiana spoke out to him one last time. “Torrin!” She called out. “Even if you take him down.....He won’t be the only one.....There’s a balance to everything. My brother....He told me something that left me thinking a lot about....” She paused before looking at Dentro’s grave. “‘The balance has already been broken’ that ‘It’s too late’.....something along those lines. I....I just feel as though the Light Chaser won’t be the only one to go down....Just some food for thought. Stuff like that.” She turned back before walking up to him. “Thought you and Nini should be the first to see it. But you should know I don’t intend to stick around. Until my brother comes back home with me, you and the council have the dishonor of dealing with me. Got it?” She winked before chuckling. Illiana walked back to the graves to watch over it for a little longer.

"I'll find a way to fix this. No matter what. And as for whatever happens after? Hey," Torrin smirked, "I'm still young and I've got plenty of fight left in me. If anyone rears their ugly head threatening to push the balance one way or the other, I'll be there to fight them. And I know I won't be the only one there." With one last look over towards Illiana he left her to be alone with the graves.

Illiana looked over at the graves once more before whispering to herself. "I know you won't.......But I won't be there. Not after this....." Illiana squatted down to pet Nini before the cat went back over to Mika's grave.