Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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"You gotta give yourself more credit than that. I don't think I'm as strong as you claim I am. Magically you got me beat and I've only just started understanding my drive as opposed to you guys who already have a good understanding on how they work. You've definitely gotten stronger." But that wasn't what she wanted to hear, she wanted an answer to her question. She'd asked for his answer objectively cause surely she knew how he would've answered otherwise. That didn't change how when it came to questions like these, he always felt that there was a third option as opposed to the given two. "Objectively the answer is the master, but even still there has to be a way to avoid making that sacrifice. I'm not saying that cause I don't want you to be the one to have to do it, but cause I don't want anyone to have to do that." Be it his sister, friends or anyone else, enough had already been lost those whole battle.

 

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"So you think she came here herself?" Aria asked with a raise of her eyebrow. "Huh..." She looked out the window to see if she could spot the Flammie, but she seemed to be off and about. "Anyways... I'm going to take a walk around the castle." She bowed respectfully to Master Choma before she straightened herself. "It was nice to see you Master Choma. Maybe we can spare sometime? Help me get my skills sharp and ready to go, you know." She chuckled and then waved, turning around and headed out.

As she walked down the hallway, her smile faded bit by bit. She sighed out heavily, and then lifted her head when she heard the piano music. Curious, Aria headed in that direction of the castle, wondering who could be playing. She knew Tinarah knew the violin, but she wasn't sure if she knew the piano too.

After a moment, she found her way to the room where the piano was to see no other than Illiana sitting there. Aria frowned a bit, not wanting to bother the older girl based on the way she treated her in the previous world. But the music made her want to stay. It was kind of jazzy and catchy, making Aria's heart bounce a little. She leaned against the door frame, quietly watching and listening to Illiana play the piano

 

Boreas smiled at the comment of not being used to asking for help. "You're not alone in this anymore." He assured his friend, he figured their friendship despite having taken a hit of six years would make it easier for Torrin to approach him if he ran into something he might need a hand with. He nodded in agreement with Torrin that it had been productive enough of a talk. Then Torrin addressed him significantly more formally and Boreas narrowed his eyes a little, looking at his friend. "Is that a hint of respect I hear Master Solus?" Boreas said returning the favour to his friend, he hadn't been there to see Torrin perform his Mark, nor had Torrin been there when he was promoted to Captain of the Emerald Company. Boreas thought for a moment and said. "Just one thing it isn't spectacular but just stay for a moment." Boreas held out his hand and concentrated closing his eyes in an attempt to summon his blade back again, he hadn't tried since the night before.

As Boreas felt his gauntlet take hold of the blade he opened his eyes again to look on it. "I tried last night before I went to bed and failed, but I'm glad to have it back again." Boreas said before continuing. "Captain Thessalian, won't keep you from your precious toast any longer simply for the sake of my own curiosity." Boreas said, as he opened the door again and headed out hearing the piano music fill the castle. "If you need me you know where to find me." Boreas said to his friend, he looked to his room real quick to see if he forgot anything, he wasn't entirely sure what to do now, but he'd figure something out.​

 

Illiana continued to play, letting the music dictate her next few notes. The song had a jazzy feel to it but had held a hidden emotion deep within. It was as if she was putting a peace herself within the piece. Memories floated into her mind. Memories of her distant past, her recent past, and her present, all swirling in her mind. She wanted nothing more than to remember the times she had shared with her parents, her brother, and her times after her war had ended......And for a few moments, a slight smile could be seen on her face. Her smile didn't last long when memories of the past two years had reemerged. Her smile melted away in an instant as she played out the last couple of notes. Her teeth clenched as a scowl had been cast on her face. As she hit the last couple of notes, Illiana's blank expression appeared once more as she opened her eyes. She sighed as she took her hands off the keys.

She sat up straight and tightened the ropes around her robe. She sighed before calling out. "You can come out little mouse. You're not hiding that well if you were trying that is." Illiana turned around and saw Aria at the door way. "I don't play for audiences...at least....not anymore. But that's a different story." Illiana stood up and walked over. "That's a new outfit. Looks good. Speaking of which, I probably shouldn't be in my robe for much longer." She sighed as she pushed her hair back. She walked past Aria and started her way back to her room before stopping. "I assume you're probably wandering around so amuse me for awhile won't you?" With one motion of her head, she motioned Aria to follow her back to her room. "This is actually pretty good timing. Once I get changed, I got something to show you. Just follow me for a bit, alright?" Illiana started to make her way back to her room once she finished her sentence.

 

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Take didn't feel like a break was necessary, but he went with it anyway since Qamar seemed intent on it. And from what he gathered, she was just curious about what happened on their end of things. The boy rubbed the back of his neck as he let his keyblade disappear and he also sat down."Um, I'm not sure what you mean by 'better' but we did help them by keeping lookout while the city was rebuilt. There was a random duck who showed up claiming to be a superhero, there were some hats that did mind control stuff... I'm not entirely sure if their whole plan was well thought out... then we had to go deal with some heartless that got into the core of the world and I mean, I don't know what happened with Torrin and Boreas but Chrono, Tinarah, and me got to square off against the clown. It wasn't fun but we did it, and then we went to bed. Then we went to find you guys. The only other thing I think is important to note is the fact that Torrin got sliced out of the sky by the guy with the hat and the swords. But I figured you figured that out." Take pulled a water bottle out of his bag and took a sip before saying, "Probably more detailed than you wanted but trust me, I cut out the unnecessaries."
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Qamar listened to Take give a summary to what happened on their end of things. He mentioned the clown and she gave a thumbs up. "Yes, I hated that clown, I'm glad I gave him a drop kick of sorts." she said, smirking. As he continued, she heard about Ardyn knocking the **** out of Torrin. "Yeah, Ardyn was the one that killed Glyde. I had my suspicions, but I didn't really voice them...since they were only suspicions." she shrugged and watched him sip his water, wondering how she'd describe their experience. She ended up leaning back.

"I guess our world went ok. Illiana and I had a fight and I ended up choosing Aria over her when Thallasa told me to stay with Illiana. Illiana can take care of herself, I thought, so I followed Aria. My main goal is protecting those with pure hearts of Light." she started off. "Then we ended up finding this captured bard and saving him and met back up with Illiana. She found the pure Heart of that world and we ended up with Thallasa again. Soon enough, we fell into this lake with some fairies who told us to find this Black Cauldron and destroy it. So we found it and that's when you guys came and helped us destroy the Horned King.." she laid back and stared at the sky. "Hey, Take, why'd the Light Chaser try to grab you? You're not a Prince of Heart, are you?" she asked, sitting back up.​

 

Chrys was not amused to say the least.

Liar.

She supposed she should consider the bright side; he knew she wasn't a threat to them. It didn't do much for her situation though. "'Where I came from' Isn't really an option." Chrys moved to sit on the bed with her knees bent and arms wrapped around them. She looked anywhere but at her current host. "A part of me wants to do what Chryssa asked of me, and maybe keep on..." She shook her head, cutting herself off before she could mention her brother. "Yet, the way things are... I'm not sure what I can do."​

 

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Chrono knew that she was right, both in regards to them almost losing Take and that she wouldn't be able to rely on him forever. It may have been slightly relieving to hear that she wasn't looking for death, but the willingness to sacrifice herself so that others would live was what bothered him more. Not that he could say anything about that to convince her. He was guilty of having the same kind of thoughts, not to mention his hypothetical third option was not one he had right away. " I can't really say since any help I could offer would only be a temporary solution to things. Though I suppose you can stay here, with this Stamatis. I don't know what's your standing with him, but I assume its a good."He wasn't sure how willing she would go for that, but it was better than nothing as an alternative, as far as this realm when anyway. Naturally, he would still be there for whenever possible, but part of her healing would be Tinarah standing on her own two feet, without 'big brother' to help her and despite the detour that it took, it was still something Chrono wanted to see his sister achieve.

 

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Take listened to her side of the story and getting into a scuffle with Illiana sounded about right. At least from what he'd known from her if people weren't prepared to handle her... quirks. But when she got closer to finishing her statement she asked him if he was a prince of heart and he sighed and said, "Well, apparently I am. It was news to me. Thinking about it longer it made sense but it still feels... off." he took another sip of his water and shifted his sitting position and said, "You really shouldn't be worried about Aria. She can handle herself fine, and from what I can tell she definitely doesn't like the coddling. I know I wouldn't have liked it, and I still don't like it. Now I feel like people are constantly looking at me." he looked around for a moment and said, "Could be paranoia. Or the Flammie stalking in the clouds or something." Take looked up nervously before looking to Qamar, "I mean I guess I'm just assuming you're coddling her. You might not be, but the people who tend to worry the most about Aria usually are the one's who do it. Ya know who needs to be coddled? Tinarah." he chugged his water this time quickly before wiping his mouth and looking at Qamar, "And by coddle I mean that girl needs a hug. And by a hug I mean don't run up at her hugging cause I said that."
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Take gave his opinion about being a Prince of Heart. He voiced how it felt off, but that was honestly because he never thought about being something like that. Qamar sat up and gave Take a good look. "You seem the same to me. You just got given a heart of pure light or whatever is all." she commented. Take pointed out coddling Aria and Qamar was reminded that Aria really didn't like the coddling. She was pretty sure the girl even mentioned it herself, but she couldn't be quite sure. "No, no, I know. I understand. It's just, I was trained to go and find these Princes and Princess' of Heart and was told they were pretty much almost always...in need of help. I'm glad she can protect herself, though, so I don't really think I need to protect her anymore. Besides, her boyfriend is almost always there to protect her anyway." Qamar rolled her eyes. "And just so you know, I'll only jump in front of you if I see the Light Chaser trying to get you again. And that's only because I know I can probably distract him long enough for you to get to safety." she added. She looked at Take and heard him talk about hugging Tinarah and that made her smirk. "Oh, you want to hug Tinarah?" she teased. "Or do you want a hug? I dunno, would you be okay with a hug?" she asked. Qamar ended up giving Take a gentle hug. Though she still put a little strength into it on accident. She let go and gave his head one little pat and smiled. "There we go,feeling better? I bet you are. MOSQUITO." she yelled swatting at the air. "Hah, kidding, those don't exist." she laughed.

"Ready to go back to sparring? Or would you rather do some stretches or jogs?" she asked, hopping back up. She summoned her keyblade and a thought struck her. "What if I used a little darkness this time? Just enough to make my attacks hit harder?" she asked, not wanting to release too much. She was wary of what happened last time she tapped into her darkness and she certainly didn't want to shove Take off a cliff like she did with Dentro.​

 

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"No I didn't mean it like-" Take realized he was pretty defensive over a fairly innocent comment but cut it off as soon as she decided to start hugging him. Which just made him react with a blink as he just kind of let it happen. He was starting to get a bit used to the hugging he supposed, he was getting quite a few of them lately. When she mentioned the mosquito he shifted to go and look only to not see anything, as he expected. He did miss Qamar's comment about them not existing and just kind of kept staring in the implied space as she stood up and summoned out her keyblade and mentioned sparring. He didn't quite get the whole gist of the conversation as he summoned out his keyblade and responded, "Yeah sure, I don't see why not." unaware of what exactly he just consented to as he got back into a defensive stance and refocused from the invisible mosquito to Qamar.
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"I’m not hiding," Aria piped up. “I’m just quietly watching and trying not to disturb you. It was nice playing,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “And thank you...” Aria was prepared to leave the girl in peace, but Illiana asked her to tag along. Raising an eyebrow, Aria trotted after her, walking one step to the side of her. “Okay...? Not that I don’t like adventure and mystery, but where are we going?”

 

Illiana shrugged her shoulders before chiming in. "Felt like hiding but okay." She nodded her head as Aria gave her thanks. She walked up the steps as Aria walked to the side of her. The two kept walking until Aria had asked a question Illiana just had a gut feeling she would ask. "Okay...? Not that I don’t like adventure and mystery, but where are we going?" Illiana kept walking up the steps, leading to her room. She then answered the girl's question. "Well first I have to change out of my jammies and into some actual day wear. Then we're going to our actual destination." She pointed to her silk robe as she spoke. The two finally reached her room. Illiana opened her door and gestured her to enter.

"Feel free to sit where you like. Just don't break anything." In her room, her dresser had some old photos on it and her locket. Her umbrella had sat next to her bed. On her nightstand had laid a photo of her and her family and a notebook full of composed songs. Illiana closed her door and went to her drawer to grab her outfit. She opened up the bathroom. "I'm just gonna change real quick. Don't break anything." Illiana entered her bathroom and changed into a grey dress with a belt around the waist, with grey thigh-high socks and some grey ankle boots. She opened the door as she started to put up some of her hair into two buns while the rest had remained down. "I'm just gonna put this out there but I haven't played piano in two years." She paused. "Until I couldn't sleep last night so I may have been playing it since the very early morning." She scratched her head once she finished her hair and had put on a little eyeliner. "I didn't think anyone would hear it but here we are now." Illiana walked out of the room and went to her dresser. She looked in the mirror of the dresser as she looked for some gloves.

 

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Since Aria was told not to break anything at least two times, Aria chose to sit in a chair and fold her hands in her lap. “It sounded like you didn’t take a break,” Aria chimed in with a smile. She looked around the room at the various photographs. She didn’t have any photos herself of her family. She didn’t even have one of her birth parents. “If you played early this morning, I really didn’t hear it...” because I was having a nightmare Aria wanted to say. But she decided not to bring Illiana into her personal problems. “I play pan pipes, and the flute! I haven’t played them in a while though...”

 

Qamar was given the consent and she was a little unsure of what he agreed to. "Are you sure, because uh....I dunno if that'd be a good idea...but if you are sure..." she stood there a moment and took a deep breath. Her left hand stretched outward with wisps of darkness flowing around. From the ground, a single chain gripped at Take's leg, distracting him. The chain was nowhere near as strong as Torrin's, so it broke easily. "I thought I could do them just as good as Torrin, but I guess not." she shrugged, running towards Take. Qamar began to swing down on Take, their keyblade's locking against each other. She took her hand and made a fist, aiming it at Take's stomach. The darkness dissipated once she hit Take, Qamar looking like she was going to use too much if she let any more out. "I can't." she said, her keyblade disappearing. "I can't do any more darkness. I don't want to hurt you." She looked upset. When Take let his guard down, she took advantage of it and swept her leg underneath him, trying to knock him down.​

 

Illiana put on a pair of half palm finger-less gloves. She went to her nightstand and grabbed her locket. She looks at it for a moment before putting it on. As she does this, Aria had chimed in with a smile. "It sounded like you didn’t take a break.” Illiana looked back at the girl before she shrugged. "Didn't feel like it. It felt like it was only a couple of seconds." She looked around the room for a jacket. She walked around the room when Aria spoke up again. "If you played early this morning, I really didn’t hear it..." Illiana looked back at her sensing something was a bit off but didn't want to press her about it. She found herself a black jacket. Aria had then mentioned that she could play the pan flute as well as the flute. "Interesting. Not surprising but interesting to say at least." She looked back at the photo that was laying on her nightstand. "Our family was more musically inclined so to say. But that's not important. Alright. All done. Let's head out." Illiana opened her door and motioned for Aria to exit her room so they continue on to their destination.

 

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"N-No, I meant that it sounded like you've still been practicing over the years and hadn't forgotten how to play." Aria stood up when Iliiana told her it was time to head up and followed after her. "I think it's very important. I don't even know my own family. I mean, I know my aunt and uncle, but they're not really my aunt and uncle... I still love them like family. I know I have parents, but I never met them." Aria instinctively felt the family ring on her finger. She wondered where they were going to go or what they were going to do, but she figured she would know once Illiana took her there.