Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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Aria enjoyed hearing about Uncle Fost and Master Stamatis. Although Tinarah wasn't brought back to her friends and brother as promised, at least she was able to spend time with good people... at leas their alternatives. "... He probably didn't respond because of the dangers of the Light Chaser... It sounded like you guys had a hard time against him with even Master Statmatis, Torrin, and Grandpa Gero there. I don't know much about Boreas, but maybe he's strong too. So like... four of the strongest people we know facing the threat we were told not to underestimate not doing too great. And if the Uncle Fost there is as good as the Master Fost here... That probably would have been bad to pit all the more powerful people against the Light Chaser and leave the castle here vulnerable... But if the Uncle Fost there and the Master Fost here are the same... I bet he felt very guilty to not answer your call. I bet he wanted to badly but just couldn't because he needed to protect others in his care. Not that he doesn't care about you less," Aria quickly said while raising her hands to defend herself and what she was saying, "just that he needed to keep one of the few sanctuaries left untouched by the Darkness and out of the hands of the Light Chaser."

She then nodded her head to her statement about Grandpa Gero wanting to protect her and sighed out as her shoulders slumped. "I understand..." She didn't want to voice out loud how all of this seemed impossible now. If four of their strongest couldn't even stand against the Light Chaser, how were they going to hold up when the time came?

When Tinarah voiced about not wanting hot chocolate cause she would have to run into people, Aria smiled and titlted her head while closing her eyes. "That's alright. How about I make some then, and I'll meet you in my room or even your room if you want. You decide where we meet. That way, you can have a little break, get all freshened up, and then have a hot drink that'll soothe your soul. I make mean hot chocolate, remember?" Aria said with a grin as she gently nudged Tinarah in the shoulder with her elbow. "I'll probably make us some grilled cheese sandwiches while I'm at it since it's like, nearly lunch time I believe. But yeah..." She hugged the girl to her and then let her legs unfold so her feet were touching the floor again. "Pick a place for me to meet you, and we'll get you all comfy and nice again. You need it after the day we had."

~Kitchen Time~

Aria happily hummed to herself as she focused on making the hot chocolate just right. Unlike the gally back on the RC Legacy, the kitchen was full stocked with everything she needed to use, including cool whip... And rainbow sprinkles. True to her word, she even made some grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup with a tiny bit of basil sprinkled on top

She served up the hot chocolate in two mugs, adding the cool whip and rainbow sprinkles delicately. She then found some straws and placed them in the hot beverage, and then placed everything on a small food cart she found hanging about. She even found some fresh flowers and put them in a tiny vase, giggling to herself. Maybe she was being a bit too girly, but the flowers did cheer her up. Remembering that all of this could make someone more thirsty, Aria put some water in a pitcher and had empty glasses readily available.

With everything in place, and after cleaning up everything she used to cook in (saving the rest of the hot chocolate in a large thermos and leaving a note for everyone to take some if they wanted to, "With Love from Aria <3 cool whip is in the fridge" with the canister of rainbow sprinkles and a bag of marshmallows by it), she began to push her little food cart down the hallway, heading to the place where Tinarah told her to meet her at.

 

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For the second time today Chrono had been snapped at for asking a simple question. Was his timing that bad? That thought lasted for all of a few seconds before the realization that it had been Take who had lashed out at him this time. The surprise that followed lasted a bit after Chrono had responded with, "It's cool, don't worry." One thing was for certain, he wasn't okay. Standing there he listened as Take gave his thoughts regarding the Master of Masters.

Then came the more personal information and the only thing Chrono did was to stand there and allow Take to speak. Anything that he had to say could wait until after his friend was done speaking. When that moment came, nothing was said at first. Chrono wanted to make sure he had his own thoughts in order before speaking. "Emotions aren't exactly easy to shut off, they're what make us human." Having said that out loud, he didn't quite like the way it sounded. He meant what he said, but it sounded a little bit on the cheesy side.

With a sigh Chrono walked forward and placed his hand on Take's shoulder. "Look, I'm going to be honest. I don't know exactly what kind of training you had to go through to get rid of your emotion, nor do I know what it feels like to have to deal with dragons that feed off of those emotions." It had to be horrible. That much he could say for certain. "What I do know is that you're not weak for having those emotions. It's okay to feel emotions at times and we won't think poorly of you for feeling them."

Of course this was coming from someone who would honestly make a crap solider. He would question orders and in some cases outright disobey orders if it was something that he completely didn't agree with. It was a good thing that he choose to avoid any career that had to do with the military prior to obtaining his keyblade.

 

Qamar was glad he finally decided to spar with her. She was bored of training against Adalric and the other masters. She wanted to spar against a master from the Realm of Darkness ever since she laid eyes on him and learned of his origins. His first attack was easy to block. She just raised her keyblade and resisted his pushing. Soon enough, he tried to kick her, but she hopped away. Qamar sustained a kick to her leg which didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

Taking her stance, Qamar held her keyblade in her left hand behind her as she watched Torrin take his stance. Her eyes flashed golden and a smile spread across her face as she started to hop around, using her speed to try and confuse Torrin. She finally stepped onto one foot in front of Torrin and unleashed a flurry of slashes from different angles, matching against his on keyblade.

Torrin was good, but Qamar didn't want him to think she was weak. She certainly wasn't weak. Torrin launched an upwards swing that she met with her own keyblade, to which he pulled and moved his keyblade to strike at her shoulder. She noticed this and quickly moved her right hand make a gesture. "Reflera." she muttered, the spell enveloping her body and taking the brunt of the pommel strike.

She then used that same hand to launch a strike at Torrin's main wrist, attempting to knock the keyblade from his hand.​

 

Boreas looked at the mountains and as Take mentioned imagined them being three times as big. He let out a low whistle. He listened as Take explained they fought dragons, and while fearsome of themselves having them with tactics was scary especially if they fed of one's emotions and it attracted them. Take couldn't be older than seventeen and if he had spent some years training with a keyblade then that meant he was really young when pressed into service. But with an enemy like that he understood, they'd need every able-bodied person, no exceptions to fight. "I can't imagine fighting fearsome oversized lizards, even less so when they don't behave like beasts but come in with tactics... Your homeworld doesn't sound like a great place..." Boreas said and that was coming from someone living on a world where there was a war raging and heartless incursions were a regular occurance. It didn't sound like a fight they could win against those dragons, but it wasn't like they could run either.

Boreas greeted Chrono with a simple nod as Take explained what was bugging him, Boreas wasn't under the illusion that it was because he was there, unless he perhaps was very open about it all and trusted him because of his position as Captain? No it was most likely because Chrono was there. "I understand your frustration, but Gero's also the one at the top of the pile. After being away for six years I imagine a lot of people would make a request for some of his time on top of all duties he already would have. And you're not a nuisance, you're a soldier even if you left your world, it's still in you, just like it's in me. I imagine he'll find a moment before we set off to talk to you..." Boreas said, the man might be busy but he had made time for Aria, should it be necessary he'd grease the gears a little or at least attempt to to get Gero to talk to Take as well.

Chrono had a point. "Your friend here is right, they aren't easy to turn off, but if those dragons are attracted to them I can understand the necessity to turning them off. When carrying out my orders I may not always agree with them, but I will push those feelings down and execute them anyways unless they are outrageous. I tell myself that doing what was ordered, showing my loyalty is enough. For example I inherently disagree with the strategy formulated in the council meeting, too passive for me and giving too much free reign to our enemy, but I don't think they would agree to any other course of action given how reluctant they seemed to even accomodate this minor change regarding Aria. There's nothing wrong with showing a little emotion when not on the field, everyone's got a breaking point even you, but as you said it's good that it ain't in the middle of a fight. Just keep working on your training and you'll get it, it ain't an easy thing to do after all. I'm not sure that I'll be able to help you, but should you need a hand I can try." He didn't have too much experience with the training of soldiers, unless his unit was reinforced with new recruits he didn't have to deal with that aspect, but he still had the memories of his own training to go on. ​

 

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After wandering down in the hallway for a while, Aria found Tinarah's room and rapped her knuckles lightly on the door. "Knock, knock~ It's me, Aria. I'm coming in." Though the door was partially opened, she felt it necessary to announce herself so she didn't catch the girl off guard. She nudged the door open more and came in backwards with the cart of food and drink. Once she was in the room, she moved it to be in front of Tinarah and then faced her, extending one arm to the cart while posing her other arm in the air. "Tadaaaa~ My Aunt Anja's famous hot chocolate with grilled cheese and tomato soup with a tad of basil on it. Aaaaand some water too in case we get thirsty." She then noticed Tinarah looked a little sad and frowned a bit while lowering her arm. "What's wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?"

 

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Takehiko was struggling to take any meaning from what the two of them were saying. Sure, he knew they wouldn't shun him for feeling emotions, but he was shunning himself for feeling them. It was a constant struggle he had for years before his last training session with them finally worked. And he knew they were trying to offer up assurance that it was okay. The Gero part, he understood that part and took note about it somewhere. But he processed it as them encouraging him to show emotion off the battlefield. He couldn't do that. His homeworld was a constant battlefield, he couldn't allow himself the mindset of a break.

They're outsiders. They wouldn't understand.

Hearing that thought break through everything else snapped him out of it. If there was anything he didn't want, it was to have that mentality going further into his training and mission with all of them. He finally sighed, and smiled a bit at Chrono, "Thank you." he looked over at Boreass after that and continued, "Both of you. I appreciate it." the boy backed away from Chrono's hand to look over at the mountains again and he crossed his arms and said, "Kind of wish those mountains were closer. I kind of wanna just... run up one right now. Though I'm probably horrendously out of shape to do so." he sighed and looked at Chrono, "Do you remember Atmos' first week of training where for the first three days she just didn't show up at all and I started just running around the castle? I haven't exactly been able to do any running like that since. Atmos made me soft." he shook his fist mouthing 'curses'.

 

Boreas simply nodded and said "No problem." As Take spoke about the mountains he looked toward them, they didn't seem too far off. "Well to be honest I came out here to go do my physical training routine for the day. I'll hold back a little bit if you want to come along, same goes for you. It's easier to keep going with some company." Boreas said turning to both Take and Chrono inviting the two of them along for a run. "It'll just be a short run, nothing too far. You two in?" The exercise might help Take a little clear his mind of what ws bugging him even if he was feeling better already. Boreas couldn't help but chuckle a little at Take's story of his first few days of training with Master Atmos. "Let's see if we can undo some of that softening up that Atmos has done to you two. If you want to come with that is." It wasn't exactly the same as running with his unit but the company was still appreciated and it would help building bonds with these people, perhaps get to know them better.​

 

Qamar felt the blade scratch her legs and she grit her teeth as she fell to her knees. Torrin didn't give up and she hadn't given up either. As he swung at her, switching his blade between his hands, she rolled on the ground, and ended up with him just barely missing cutting her stomach by deflecting the blade with her foot. Thank goodness for steel-toed boots. When Torrin looked like he was about to strike again, she jumped over him and turned to see he stuck the keyblade into the ground. While she had a chance for him to pull it back out, she did a quick Cura spell to keep her legs from bleeding.

Looking back up, she saw he now had a pole arm. "What in the first layer of hell...?" she muttered to herself. Though she wasn't unaccustomed to seeing keyblade transformations, she just didn't expect one like this from Torrin. His onslaught of poking began and Qamar used her speed to side step each one, just barely being missed. When the whole thing started to spin, she grumbled and watched Torrin to see if she could find the right time to strike. The spinning grew closer and closer. Her eyes watched and took steps back to keep the distance as he walked towards her. Finally, she had enough and ran forward. She reached her hand towards the polearm and focused darkness into her arm to take the brunt of the hit as her hand tightly gripped the arm of the keyblade. She moved in close to Torrin, close enough to feel his breath before she pulled her arm back and towards him in a stabbing motion. A smile drew across her lips as her eyes gleamed golden. "So this is what they teach Masters? How to make keyblades shape shift? I learned how to make a glider the day I arrived, making a pole arm probably won't be hard." she commented. "Show me." she said, stabbing her keyblade into the ground.​

 

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Spoiler: Tales of a Princess: Innocent Times

Age: Four Years Old

It wasn’t long before the small babe was not only talking, but walking as well. Her aunt let her help with small chores around the house when she was capable enough, and sat her down to begin early reading lessons as young as three.

Things were peaceful enough, and it gave Aria enough time to flourish, explore, and play freely. She was still a happy, easy going child and always seemed concerned for others’ wellbeing. Yet the nightmare she had an infant would come and go throughout the weeks and months. It was the same for a while; the creature with sharp fangs would be screaming either aloud or silently and then be pointing a long, clawed finger at her with that sinister smile. The good times seemed to outweigh those bad dreams though, and her aunt and uncle figured it was going to become a regular, normal occurrence she would grow out of.

Aria learned not only the basic fundamentals of education, but the ways of life as well. She helped on the farm where she was able to and learned that other creatures had to eat and be taken care of as well. They also became sick sometimes, and had to be nursed back to health like she had to from time to time. And around age four, she learned what death was.

It was late in the day when the sun was going to set soon. Dinner was made and staying warm in the oven, and Aunt Anja and Aria we’re outside hanging the laundry. Uncle Lanar made a mini clothesline for little Aria to reach easily, and Aria loved it so much. She was hanging her green summer dress when she saw at least two figures and a basset hound looking dog walking towards them from the setting sun. Recognizing the larger figure, Aria gasped and smiled big. “Uncle Lanar!” Aria dropped what she was doing and dashed off towards the man. He was dusty, and wearing a plaid red shirt and a pair of overalls with patches on them here and there. His work boots were muddy, and he was a bit smelly, but Aria could care less.

The burly man saw his niece running to him and dropped down to one knee with his arms outstretched. He grinned when she almost tumbled down, but then picked up the pace and crashed in his arms. He hugged her tight, almost making her disappear in fabric and muscles and lifted her up in the air and spinning her around. “My sweet niece!” He exclaimed as he shifted her to rest on one of his arms. “How are you today, my darling one?”

Aria giggled and pressed her hands on Uncle Lanar’s face to fluff out his dark, black beard. “Good! I made homemade bread today all by myself!”

Uncle Lanar gasped with wide eyes. “You did?” He then cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper to the little girl. “With that teaspoon of honey I like?”

“Yup!” Aria whispered more loudly.

“Excellent,” the man said with a deep laugh. He sat his niece on his shoulder and turned to his companion who came with him from the field. “Gerrit, I’m sure you can stay for dinner like always if you wish.”

Gerrit was a stocky older teen with freckles dotting his nose and cheeks, and dark red hair. He was wearing patched up jeans and a white shirt. He had a gap between his teeth when he smiled, and a ragged straw hat sitting on top of his messy hair. He was a nice boy that was hired for farm work since his family needed all the income possible. He was lucky to be hired by the Dorins; they were almost like a second family to him. “Thank you, Mister Dorin. That’d be mighty nice,” he said with a nod of his hat.

“Boy,” Lanar addressed Gerrit. He then took of his straw hat and handed it to Aria before ruffling his hair furiously. “How many times have I told you to call me Lanar? Mister makes me feel old, and Dorin sounds too proper.”

Gerrit laughed and hunched his shoulders as he walked along with the pair. “Many times, sir- I mean, Lanar.” After getting a playful stern look from the older man, his straw hat was shoved on his head and he was pat on the shoulder a few times. He then looked to the four year old and offered a toothy grin. “Do I get to try sum of your bread, Miss Aria?”

Aria giggled and covered her mouth in shyness with both of her hands. She nodded her head, and Gerrit pumped his fist in the air with excitement. The dog, who was Geron’s and respectfully called Brax, hopped up and down while barking along the three humans.

“And you will have scraps too, Brax. Don’t you worry about that,” Lanar said with a chuckle as he switched Aria to sit on top of his shoulders.

Aunt Anja was waiting patiently for the group to arrive closer. All the laundry was hung to dry in the gentle breeze, even the dress that Aria dropped on the ground earlier. “Welcome home,” Anja greeted warmly while hugging her husband. He in turn hugged her with one arm while using the other to keep Aria up, and kissed her on top of her head. “Is Gerrit staying for dinner?” Anja asked as she turned to the teen.

“If it’s quite alright, ma’am,” Gerrit said with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. Anja’s cooking was always the best after a long, hard day.

“Pft, of course it is!” She wrapped one arm around Gerrit’s shoulder and rubbed it affectionately just like a mother. “Shall we go in and wash up then?”

“Hold on, sweetheart. I have to check the Chocobos that were just sold. They’re heading out tomorrow.” Lanar looked up at Aria on his shoulders and smiled. “Do you want to go with aunty? Or uncle?”

“Uncle!” Aria exclaimed, raising her arms above her head and nearly falling backwards. Lanar laughed as he caught the girl before she even fell off, and held both of her hands to steady her on his shoulders.

Aunt Anja shook her head with a smile. “Well you two hurry up. I’m going to get Gerrit here started to he can head home to his family."

“Yes Ma’am!” Both exclaimed. Uncle Lanar kissed Anja on the cheek, and then trotted off with Aria on his shoulders to the Chocobo stables. He made noises through his lips, which made Aria squeal as they took off running.

—

After helping her uncle feed the chocobos and saying goodbye to the ones that were leaving with a big hug and kiss, Aria bounded out of the stable with her thick workboots on that were slightly too big for her.

Uncle Lanar followed after the girl, chuckling to himself as he watched her clumsily clunk her feet through the grass. He turned to lock the stables up for the night, only keeping his eyes off of her for a second. “So what did you and Aunt Anja make for dinner?” He only heard giggling behind him, which sounded farther than it was earlier. Raising an eyebrow, he looked to see Aria climbing a small hill that had a lone tree swaying in the warm air, picking various wildflowers that were growing around. Smiling to himself, he locked the large padlock in place and then checked it to make sure it was secured before following his niece.

Aria hummed to herself as she picked the flowers, greatly enjoying her time with her uncle on this side of the farm. Soon she reached the top and came face to face with the large tree and she took a moment to stop and stare up at it. It was so much taller than her, and her neck was craned far back before she lost her balance and ended up sitting on her bottom. “Wow,” she breathed out.

Her eyes followed the tree trunk back towards the ground, and that was when something caught her eye. Aria saw a stone sitting there under the shade of the tree. It seemed out of place, which only heightened Aria’s curiosity.

The little girl stood up, her eyebrow wrinkled as she approached the new object slowly. It was a rock, cut and smoothed in a shape of a large cross. There were three letters carved downwards, and two dates of sorts going across with little designs of butterflies and flowers here and there. Aria noticed dried out flowers placed at the bottom of the cross along with a white, burned out candle. Aria stood there staring at it, not sure what to make of it.

“That’s your little cousin, Mia…”

Aria looked over her shoulder to see her uncle standing there. His smile was sad, and his eyes looked lonely to her. She could feel the mood shift as Uncle Lanar walked closer and knelt down by Aria. “Why are you sad…?” She asked innocently.

Uncle Lanar forced a smile and carefully laid a hand on his niece’s shoulder. “I’m not sad… I am… missing someone.”

“Why?”

The man looked to Aria back to the memorial before him. He didn’t know how much she would understand, but he knew Aria wouldn’t stop bothering him about it until she had answers. He sighed out heavily. “Your aunt and I… we always wanted our own child, Aria.This was before you came to us. We were so happy when we found out Aunt Anja was going to finally have a baby. But the day the baby was to be born, something went wrong. The little baby did not cry, or breathe. She-”

Uncle Lanar sighed out as he struggled to find the words that Aria would understand. “She always stayed asleep and never woke up. And that’s called death.”

“Death…?” Aria looked up at her uncle and then back at the cross before her sadly. “Death is when you never wake up again?”

“That’s right,” he said quietly as he patted Aria on the shoulder. “And… when they leave you forever to where you can’t see them. But you will always feel them,” he touched his chest, “right here from time to time. It’s their way to say they’re looking out for you always and you will never be alone… even if they’re not here with you.”

“Mia…” Aria repeated the name softly. “Can we talk to her?”

Lanar was taken aback by the question. “Y-yes… but she won’t talk back…”

“That’s okay.” Aria walked closer to the grave and knelt down. She stared at the cross and then hesitantly hugged it with her wildflower bouquet grasped in her hand. “I love you, Mia.” She tightened her grip and pressed her cheek against the stone. “Uncle Lanar and Aunt Anja love you too.”

The large man felt a lump form in his throat and his eyes watered. Aria was innocent, yet she was an empathic and seemed to understand the world around her better than what anyone would assume. They were blessed to have the opportunity to raise her.

After a long moment, Aria let go and touched the stone quietly. “Can I give my flowers to her?” She asked her uncle.

Lanar sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye with his thumb. “Yes. We need to change out these old ones anyways.” He took the dried up ones while Aria waited patiently, and then watched as Aria laid the flowers carefully by the candle. Without saying a word, Uncle Lanar took out a match box in his left pocket and struck a match against it. The candle was lit, and the pair sat there for a moment, letting the sound of chirping chocobos and the summer air blow through the trees speak for them.

After a long silence, Aria looked up at Lanar with a twinkle in her eye. “I think she heard us,” she whispered softly.

Lanar smiled down at his niece. “I think so too… Come on, little one. Aunt Anja will get worried about us if we don’t go for supper soon.”

Nodding, Aria stood up to her feet again and smiled at the rock before her. She then kissed her hand and placed it on the stone, saying her goodbyes for the day to Mia before being lifted up by Lanar and carried to dinner.

The purple hair girl made herself comfortable by pulling up a chair and sitting close by Tinarah. She took her plate that had her soup bowl on it and grilled cheese sandwich, dipping the sandwich in the soup and nibbling on the parts that were soaked in it. It didn’t stop her from hearing Tinarah’s words though.

She hummed in amusement when Tinarah asked her how she knew Fost or seemed to know him anyways. Aria stayed quiet though, mesmerized by how much Tinarah was opening up now. Before, she would barely say maybe one or two words to her. Now she was speaking freely, and she was impressed by every moment of it.

A half-eaten grilled sandwich put down, Aria dusted the crumbs off of her fingers by rubbing her hands together and then finished chewing the bit of food before swallowing. "I just know your Uncle Fost based on what you told me. So I'm just going off of what you said," she said with a small smile as she set her plate aside back on the tray and pulled one knee up to her chest, hugging it to herself. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You've been through a lot. You haven't told me everything before you came to us at the castle, but I saw the scars. And I saw how withdrawn you were from everyone. I would have probably been the same..."

She rested her chin on her knee as an unpleasant memory flickered through her mind. She shut her eyes and pushed it out, breathing in and out slowly before fluttering her eyes open once more. "Knowing people, and yourself, will come with time... At least that's what happened with me. I kind of open my eyes to others and try to see how they might be seeing things verses how I'm seeing it. Sometimes it's accurate, and sometimes its not... But I still try to be open about other's situations and viewpoints. Even if I may be a bit slow or not understand it right away..."

Aria was kind of surprised why Tinarah wanted to go back into that strange realm, but understood why. "I know you're lost right now," she began softly as she watched the other from where she was. "Time has went on normally for me while you were thrown into a time that went on for five years in two days. You built relationships with people that seem to be the same here, but aren't... And seen how evil someone could be... Even though it's not really them," she referred to Torrin. "I won't stop you if you want to go back," she said as she pulled the other knee up to her chest and wrapped both arms around them, "but I would stop and think about it for a moment... The Light Chaser has the power and the ability to bring a world almost from being lost to the darkness back to the light. He healed your scars as if nothing happened. He pulled me out of the darkness when no one else could... And he took on the strongest people we know and even then it wasn't enough. He's the one that sent you to that realm. What if... he had the ability to manipulate what happened there? Make you distrust your own brother or... whatever else he need from you. As far as I know, Chrono was never there on that bridge. At least the Chrono I know here. He was so worried about you when you didn't show up and wanted more than anything to go find you, but didn't know where or how. He kept your violin safe, by the way," she said with a small smile. "But if anything... And... It's really grim to think about, and I'm sorry about it... But I think the Light Chaser would have the ability to manipulate the time in that realm... So no matter what anyone did, no matter how good or evil their intentions are... It would always end up with the same fate... It seems like so much power, but based on what we know he's... pretty darn powerful."

Aria sighed out heavily and grabbed for her hot chocolate, letting it warm her cold hands as she stared down at it. "... The battle has always been the same here since you were gone. At least finding the Princess of Heart, stop the Light Chaser, and save the worlds from darkness type same. Mika is gone, but you still have Master Choma and I here as a family if you want to take that... And Chrono will be more than willing to want to bond with you again and check on your well-being. I'm sure Take would love you as a friend, and maybe Illiana and Glyde as well. They're still the same as you left them. We're willing to work with you and help you recover from all that you had to endure," she said with a smile as she looked back up at Tinarah. "And I'm sure you can build a relationship with the Master Stamatis here. He looked really worried about you at the meeting. Like he wanted to get up from his seat and hug you and talk to you type worry... The Fost here? He sounds grumpy and a bit stronger-willed. Give him some time. I'm sure once he figures out what happened exactly, he'll want to come talk to you as well."

She paused and sipped some of her hot chocolate, and then took the straw to make the cool whip dissolve in the chocolaty liquid. "You always will belong with us. No matter where you go or what you decide to do, you always have a place with us. Nothing here has changed since you left when you were 12 years old... Well... You might have changed, but we haven't. We still care for you and love you. And if you believe it's not true with anyone else, believe me. Cause I was worried sick about you the last couple of days. And when I heard what happened to you, I wanted to march back to the Light Chaser and seriously punch him in the face." She pulled her straw out of her cup, pointing it to Tinarah to make a point. "And you know I'm not usually the punching type, so you know what he did to you got me really upset." She then ran her mouth over the straw before putting it back in and sipping some more of the warm liquid down, finally pausing to give Tinarah a chance to let all she said sink in. "I'm sorry if I overloaded you at all," she said as she let her feet touch the floor again. "If I talk too much for you, feel free to tell me to shush already." She winked and then giggled at her friend, bringing the bowl of soup and bread back to her again so she could finish it up before it got cold.

 

"Hard to keep it that way, huh...?" she said, crossing her arms. She looked at Torrin and saw the wince. "Do you need some healing or are you good? And uh, yeah that whole sparring thing got changed because, honestly, I do want to be strong." she said. She placed her hand on her keyblade and began to focus. She started to think of something that wasn't as clunky or heavy as her keyblade originally was. She liked how it looked, but she wanted something easier to hold...easier to swing. She placed her second hand on it and gripped tightly, channeling darkness into it to try and speed things up.

It didn't work.

Sighing, she stood there, fists clenched. Her eyes glanced over and met Torrin's. Instead of using her keyblade, she ran towards him, focusing her darkness into her hands. She swung her right hand in a fist towards Torrin's body. Her left hand tried to scratch his face. When she found that enough, she went to connect a roundhouse kick onto Torrin. "Hand to hand isn't preferred, but it's good practice." she said.​

 

Her body hit the wall hard and knocked the wind out of Qamar. Black chains wrapped around her and she was unable to move. "Exhilarating!" she exclaimed. "So this is what somebody from the Realm of Darkness can do..." she muttered to herself, watching Torrin with a smile across her own face. Sure it hurt, but she was more happy that she got to taste even a little bit of Torrin's power. When the chains disappeared and he started to walk off, she was happy to hear that at least the match was good enough, but she wasn't happy he wouldn't even stick around to talk to her some more.

Qamar hurried off towards Torrin, slowing to walk beside him. "You're right, that was a good match. And yes, I'd like to really learn how to transform my keyblade more. Now's not the time, however, seeing as...well that ended sour." she said. She walked and thought of what he said about being taught how to use darkness and being born within it. That brought back the memory of the story once again and Qamar frowned to herself. "Torrin, I don't think you understand. I wasn't merely taught how to use my darkness. My mother told me a story a long time ago. I don't remember how old I was, but I remember the whole story. A lady married a general in the army of darkness. She got pregnant and fled to the realm of light to run from the war. But she had to return to the realm of darkness, since she feared the baby wouldn't make it being born in the realm of light. She returned and had a baby a little later..." she stopped and glanced to Torrin. "I have this feeling my mom told me this story because it was her story."

Qamar scratched her head. "My oldest memory is looking up at a guy with black hair and yellow eyes like me...but that's really it? Because the next part I remember from before my "father" took control of me was being told the story. So I'm not sure exactly, but I had to have been the baby in that story. I mean, look at this picture. Boreas says the armor looks like the kind found in the armies of the realm of darkness." she pulled the picture out, showing it to Torrin. "I don't know why my mom was so against this war that was going on or whatever, but I do know that this darkness in me is....hard to control sometimes. It just comes out and wants me to use it."

Placing her hands behind her head, Qamar sighed deeply. "It's just all coincidence at this point, though. So I'm not even sure that's true, but I do know my "father" in the realm of light used my darkness for his own gain and forced me to help him. Experiments and whatnot were his forte, so he got what he wanted and I got to live and eat another day. Now that I'm older, using the darkness all the time is kind of something I want to not rely on. I want to learn better ways to control it. Your eyes didn't even change when you used those chains. I want to control my darkness and not let it go out of control." Qamar got in front of Torrin as they stepped back into the castle. "I'm sorry I got in your face when we first met. Your initial reactions rubbed me the wrong way, but I can't stand hearing Master Gero speak to you like you're some second class person. Please accept my apology for my actions earlier....and for your cheek." she said, giving Torrin a bow.​

 

​

The idea of going for a run definitely hyped up Take a bit. He stretched a little more and said, "That sounds great, actually. I think other people might need that too. So I'm just gonna... run around and find people." he gave Chrono a pat on the shoulder and said, "If you don't wanna go you don't have to or anything."

Take began a quick jogging pace as he ran around the castle. Everyone he could find, he greeted and said, "Hey, some of us are going for a quick run. If you would like to join us we're leaving soon." and he continued on towards the next person.

Once there, he was jogging in place saying, "Well I'm not sweating yet, that's a good sign. Others said they'd be on the way. I told them not to take too long if they were coming."

 

Illiana listened to the council as they spoke. After a little, she had started to zone out. She would find herself falling asleep but would try to wake herself up. After the council finished speaking, Illiana finally paid attention as the council dismissed everyone. She turned around and walked out the room. She walked for a little bit before finally sitting down on the windowsill. She brought up her knees onto the windowsill. She looked out and try to recall the contents of the discussion that had just occurred. The seven....They're actually real...not some children's fairy tale...Though I'm not surprised. The keyblade should've been all the proof I needed but I guess I was still doubting it. As if to pull Illiana away from her thoughts, Take had run up to her and spoke. "Hey, some of us are going for a quick run. If you would like to join us we're leaving soon." With that, Take ran off to let another person know about the current plan of action. She swung her legs back into the hallway. She got off the windowsill and shrugged her shoulders. "Not like I have anything better to do." Illiana started to walk over and had saw Torrin just up ahead. She decided to keep quiet and continued walking. She still was unsure what to think about Torrin so she decided to keep a neutral opinion about him. Illiana continued to walk and as she approached the stairs, she stopped. "Gotta shake things up...." She recalled her words earlier. Otherwise, my problems will catch up.... She looked at the stair rail and walked up to it. She sat on it and then began sliding down the rail. She got off the rail as she reached the bottom. She looked around and saw Chrono, Take , and the man she saw earlier with Torrin and Aria. "So...What brought up this run exactly? I'm quite curious." Illiana looked over to the three as she placed one hand on her hip.

 

Qamar didn't push Torrin to respond to her. Honestly, this was just a way for her to vent some stuff she'd been thinking about all day. His idea of trying to keep her darkness in line was meditating...she already did that and, well, that helped now that she thought about it. Qamar walked with Torrin absentmindedly, not meaning to follow him. She wandered with him to the kitchen and suddenly realized maybe food was a good idea after a good spar. She thought back to the comment Torrin made about "his" people and she understood why he didn't say "our" after all. She wasn't raised there. Just born as far as she knew. Glancing at the counter, Qamar saw the thermos Aria had left with a cute little note. Torrin soon removed the note and Qamar blinked. "God, that girl is adorable...." she whispered to herself, reaching into the fridge.

Take came running in and asked if they wanted to run. Torrin seemed to agree, so Qamar thought it'd be a good idea, agreeing to do the run. "Gimmie a sec and I'll meet you guys out there." she said to Take as the boy left. "Since we're gonna be doing a run...a picnic after may just be a good idea." she said, reaching up above the fridge and grabbing a picnic basket. "Mind helping me real quick? I'll gather sandwich stuff and you get the plates and forks. Then put them in th-" she stopped talking when she saw Torrin was already out the room. "Ah dammit..." she grumbled, beginning to gather the things they needed. Plates, forks, napkins, cups, bread, meat, cheese, tomatos, among other things you need to make sandwiches. Last but not least, she brought the thermos of hot chocolate and placed it gingerly inside the basket. The mountains would be fine to find water if hot chocolate was not anybodies' thing, she figured. After the picnic basket was ready, she strapped it to her back and made her way outside, finding the other runners gathering.

"So where will we meet up so I can leave this there safely?" she asked Take and Boreas.​