Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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"Don't worry," Aria said to Edna. "He broke my door too this morning. He just wanted to make sure everyone was safe." Aria giggled a little and then watched and listened to the exchange between Torrin and Master Thallasa. She noticed that Torrin seemed a little anxious and fidgety, and she looked over to see the crowd of the group all in one spot, and he seemed tired and worn out on top of that. Her eyes softened, and then she sighed out softly. "I have to make it, but you're more than welcomed to sit and watch if you don't mind." With that silent invitation, Aria nodded her head to the others and excused herself from the crowd of people.

She found the kitchen which wasn't... too hard to find. After shuffling around the cupboards and whatnot, Aria picked out some coco powder, semi-sweet chocolate chips, sugar, and whole milk. Soon she had a pot with water in it sitting over a burner that was turned on and then waited patiently for it to warm up to a simmer. She stared down at the pot, gently rubbing her forehead to try to ease away the headache and the exhaustion that was overcoming her gradually. There were still people who needed her, but she was wearing thin at the moment. It was a miracle she hadn't collapsed yet, or broke down and cried about what was going on. She was determined not to fall asleep tonight either. Or at least fall asleep very, veeeery late so the nightmares didn't have a chance to come into play.

 

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The door breaking conversation had turned to another mentioning of hot chocolate and to be completely honest, he was started to get curious about it himself. Since curiosity had gotten the better of him, Chrono ended up making his way into the kitchen a bit after Aria had. "I hope you don't mind. With all this talk of hot chocolate, I kinda got curious myself." He said with a sheepish grin, making his way over towards a nearby table and standing there. He'd never watched anyone make hot chocolate before, closest thing was when his mother made tea and even then he tended to show up just as she was finishing up by pouring the tea into a cup. Before pouring another one for him of course.

 

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Aria jumped a little when she heard a voice behind her and glanced over to see Chrono there. She hadn't really gotten to speak to him much since the beginning of the adventure, only once maybe when she was apologizing for not keeping a better eye on Tinarah. She smiled a little and shook her head. "Nah, I don't mind. I'm hoping this keeps me awake," she mumbled as she poured in the coco powder in the pan and began to whisk it. "But I heard warm milk makes you sleepy... Eh. Chocolate also will perk you up though, so it's a toss-up." She chuckled and continued to whisk until she got all of the lumps out and then added the milk. "Today's been one really, reaaaaaally long day... We deserve a hot chocolate break to finish it off."

 

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"Keeps you awake?" Chrono wasn't quite sure why she'd want to do that a first. After everything that they've been through, sleep was something that they could use the most. He thought about it briefly which was long enough for him to remember something he'd overheard Qamar saying to her. It was the full thing, namely the words 'somebody sleeping in your room with you' and 'nightmares'. "Is it about a nightmare you've been having." Part of him was unsure if he should have asked about it. Nightmares could be personal business and he didn't want to pry.

 

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Aria turned down the heat and then added in the rest of the ingredients. She paused a moment when Chrono mentioned nightmares, and she held back an exasperated sigh. Was she really that bad at hiding it?

She pressed her lips in a thin line as she stirred in the ingredients, being patient in letting the chocolate melt. This was Tinarah’s older brother though. Maybe she could open up to him easier. They hadn’t talked much at this point, but it was worth a shot. “I... used to have really bad nightmares as long as I could remember. It’d be almost the same one over and over again, but with little twists and spins that would scare me out of my mind as a kid. Everyone kept telling me I’d grow out of it, but... they’re still here. And last night’s nightmare was really... really bad.”


She paused a moment and then ducked her head a little lower. “I hadn’t had the best start today. And I don’t want to go to sleep tonight... I don’t want it to happen again.” She debated on whether to tell Chrono that the nightmare had physically manifested itself, but she didn’t want to scare him. Or anyone else for that matter. Yet she felt herself being urged on to speak. “Something different happened last night... or I guess early this morning since that’s when I woke up. And it scared me badly. I don’t want to worry the others though, because I don’t even know what I’m dealing with. I talked to Master Gero, and he didn’t know either... So, I’m a little lost right now. Plus after that meeting, every time’s been a bad time to bring it up anyways.”

 

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Takehiko was pretty excited by the idea of some of that hot chocolate again. But he had taken a minute to at least try to pick up the door and put it back in a space to keep anything from getting inside. Once he was done with that little escapade he went to walk into the kitchen and made it a few steps in before he heard them talking about something that seemed private, so the boy decided to calmly back out of the room to not invade.

Take went back towards the living room to hear Tinarah playing the violin. He looked over and took the time to listen to the music with his eyes closed. He didn't know why she was playing it or why it was that song in particular but it just made him sad. Maybe it was because of the way the instrument played but it threw him off a bit and he wanted to get out of earshot sooner rather than later.

But before he did, he ended up turning around and seeing Thalassa right nearby. Take was gonna just walk by when suddenly, Atmos' training kicked in and the boy asked, "So... where were you the whole time you disappeared? I'm glad you're alive but I'm curious is all... I know you said the council told you to go into hiding, but I was wondering where?"
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Chrono must have hit the nail on the head when Aria had explained herself and well, he could understood how she felt. He never really told anyone about his nightmares, so there was no 'you'll grow out of them' talk for him. Even still there was a brief moment in which his nightmare did cease, only to resurface much worse than the last one. He was grateful that he's hasn't had any recently though. Chrono continued to listen to Aria, actually becoming a bit curious as to what had made things worse.

"I don't think it does." Torrin had walked into the kitchen and thrown in his two cents. "Well what exactly happened this morning? Sounds like it was pretty bad."

 

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“Games?” Aria questioned with a wrinkle of her brow. Before she could really answer Torrin though, Chrono chimed in with his own question. She glanced at Torrin as if to look for confirmation at first, and then looked to Chrono. She stopped stirring the pot as the remaining ingredients melted away into a creamy liquid and turned around to face the other. “The nightmares have always been the same; there’s some kind of person dressed in a tattered cloak. Except, it’s not a person. It has sharp teeth and claws... and it’s eyes are always covered. Sometimes it’ll attack people I don’t recognize, taking their heart from them and eating it...” Aria hugged herself as shivers went down her spine. “At first, it used to just point at me and smile creepily... and gradually it’s gotten closer... and closer... until finally it’s finally face to face with me. It grabs me with darkness, and sometimes I actually feel the pain. It always makes a move to seriously hurt me, but I wake up before that. But this morning, I thought I woke up. I was still asleep and I was still dreaming. It was on my bed, smiling creepily like it did when the dreams first started. And it attacked me.”

Aria took in a shuddering breath and looked down at her arms. “Except this time, I was actually hurt. Torrin heard me screaming and woke me up. When he did, there were bruises on my shoulders and nasty scratches on my arms.” The girl was actually shaking a little at this point. Talking about it out loud sounded crazy to her, and she wondered if anyone besides Grandpa Gero and Torrin would believe her with the proof that something happened was gone away.

She lowered her arms and kept her head down as she moved around Torrin to find some mugs, and look in the fridge for some cool whip. Lucky for her, it was already in a can and she didn’t have to make it. “That’s why I’m scared to fall asleep... I really don’t know why I’m dreaming about this thing. I mean, if I’m a true princess’s of heart, shouldn’t I be dreaming of sunshine and rainbows instead of having these messed up nightmares?”

She bit her lower lip as she paused in front of a cupboard that had rows of mugs in it and took some out at a time before looking for a tray to put the rest on. “And that’s why I haven’t really brought it up, because I don’t know what’s wrong with me. And I didn’t want to worry anybody with things that we don’t understand yet. We already have enough to deal with the Light Chaser, what happened with Tinarah, and saving the worlds from the darkness thats been spreading around and all.”

Aria still didn’t make direct eye contact with either of the boys as she found a laddle and started to serve up the hot chocolate. She made sure to top each cup with a generous peak of cool whip before dusting it lightly with cocoa powder. She trailed off to silence, not sure what else to add on the manner anymore. She handed Torrin and Chrono a cup of hot chocolate instead. “Here... I’m, um, going to serve up the others. Be right back.” With that, she picked up the tray that mug of hot chocolate in them and walked towards the living room. “Hot chocolate is ready!” She called out to everyone. “Come and get it before it gets cold!”

 

Boreas got the directions from Thallasa as Take and Torrin discussed some things about Heartless he was too focused on getting the proper directions. After he was done and memorised them he gave Torrin the benefit of the doubt that he was able to keep up and Boreas showed them the way. Arriving at the place itself it didn't look like they had fared much better here than they had. Being on edge fearing further ambushes Torrin summoned his keyblade, Boreas following suit and they forced their way in in classic Torrin fashion by defeating Torrin's nemesis the false-mimic.

After a rather irritated home owner got out of their hair and everything was settled Aria suggested hot chocolate, there was that beverage again. "I must say... I'm intrigued I can't say I have had it before and seeing everyone here seems to like it if you don't mind I'd like a cup too..." Boreas took Aria up on the invitation to watch the hot chocolate being made, even if he wasn't entirely sure if it was extended to him as well. He felt a bit better when Chrono joined them as well. He had to laugh when Aria said it was a toss up whether it kept her awake or not. "I wouldn't bank on it to keep you awake then if it ain't a surefire way to do it it probably is going to inconvenience you at best." Boreas said "Best way to stay awake is to stay active, keep yourself busy, makes the time go faster too."

Aria explained what exactly had caused her to scream out that morning. They sounded rather unpleasant sure he had his nightmares here and there like everyone did, but nothing like that. Even the Master of Masters was at a loss. "I'd advise against sleeping little given the situation we're in. Especially in your case Torrin, you should get some sleep tonight after how much you strained yourself but that's all I am going to say on the subject." He wasn't gonna hound them on it.

Aria explained in more detail what the nightmares were about. And he had caught a glimpse of the bruises that morning before being sent off it was strange what happened in nightmares stayed there and couldn't affect the waking world atleast that is what he had always believed, it had turned out he was wrong. She also explained why it hadn't been brought up before. "Well not talking about it isn't magicly going to make it disappear and it affects you which in the grand scheme of things needs to be considered. Sure we got a lot on our plate but we're spread thin we need everyone at their fighting best." Boreas said before Aria handed out the two prepared mugs. Boreas insisted that Torrin and Chrono take them first that he could wait on the others to be served.​

 

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"I just wish the council told us sooner. We went out at first to look for you. I don't know why the council didn't tell Master Atmos and Choma before we left..." Take looked particularly distressed by that part, but when Aria mentioned hot chocolate. Take's eyes lit up and he bowed his head towards Thalassa and said, "Excuse me for a second." before he quickly scurried over, containing his excitement as he said, "Thank you thank you thank you." before he took his hot cocoa from the tray and began sipping it slowly. Getting a little bit of whipped cream on his nose when he lifted his face, "It's very good."
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Qamar gave up on talking to Tinarah just as quickly as she had approached the girl. Apparently it was still a lost cause, so Qamar headed towards the front door to find the others already departing for the kitchen. Qamar stopped next to Adalric and glanced at him. “He's very tired, isn't he?” she mused, looking off towards Torrin. “There's something else but I dunno what the heck it is…” she shrugged and patted Adalric on the shoulder. “I'm glad the trap didn't kill you.” she said, waving to him as she made her way to the others.

Once she reached the kitchen, she stopped outside the door to sort of spy on the three as they talked. Aria started off by describing her nightmare in detail. That certainly explained a lot of things. Though not wanting to sleep was cause for alarm. At least Torrin confirmed that he didn't sleep. Qamar knew these two were odd but sleep deprivation was not fun.

Aria continued to tell what the nightmare did and Qamar bit her lip at the thought of how bad Aria's situation was. The girl was plagued by an unknown beast that wanted to cause harm to her. Of all the people in the group, Torrin probably could help her the best. The creature sounded like a heartless and if anybody could deal with it, a Master from the realm of darkness would be their best bet. Suddenly, Aria appeared and handed her a cup of hot chocolate. Qamar took it and sipped it a little before making her way to the living room again.

Qamar stopped near Torrin and looked at him. “I heard about Aria's problem.” she commented. “Sounds like a heartless or something worse to me. And since you're a master...I take it you've got some kind of idea on how to fix it?” she asked, speaking lower to keep others from hearing. “Sorry if I'm poking my nose into this stuff, but if you do plan something, I'll help you as best as I can. I'm good at keeping secrets, believe it or not.” she chuckled, remembering how she kind of spilled her story out to him earlier. She started to think about her childhood, but soon she stopped. For the longest, she hasn't been able to remember her childhood. All she can ever remember is her mother dying and the day she got her keyblade. That's it.

“I'm sorry I intruded.” she said to Torrin. “I'll leave you alone if you want…?”

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Having had his thoughts on the day's events dismissed until a later time, Glyde withdrew further comment. He kept to his own mind, mulling over his interpretation of the situation while he assisted the effort of clearing up the mess left in the wake of the battle. He remained in the living room even as other departed to their own tasks. Eventually, he managed to push his suspicions to the back of his mind. Although he still felt unnerved by the preceding incidents, he ceased, for the time, with concerning himself over the thoughts of sabotage.

He was ripped from all thought on the matter, however, when the sound of the front door being kicked in cut through the relative lull of the encroaching evening. Converging with the rest of the house to the entrance, he found that it was the doing of Torrin, Boreas, and Take, all having returned alive and relatively well from their mission. From the sidelines, Glyde caught the tell of their falling into a trap; the suspicions he had nearly put completely to rest returned in full vigor at its mention. More and more curious, he considered sourly. We're vulnerable here, more than we were before.

Still racing through his conspiracy theorizing, he followed suit with the migration into the kitchen, finding himself a slight comfort in a fresh cup of hot chocolate. This much, at least, he told himself, I could get used to. Immersed in the tracks of multiple conversations, he shifted the bulk of his attention to Master Thallasa and Take. "We might not have had to venture out so suddenly as we did either, it seems," he added, tagging into the dialogue. He scowled at the idea that he might have, in hindsight, been able to get his feet under him before they had departed Atmos' world, and possibly have gotten some more comprehensive training. "Or would we have had to leave anyways? Would the council have made that call?"

 

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Boreas was right about not telling others wouldn't make it magically disappear. Still, it was hard to accept the help from others. She always helped out, even when her help wasn't needed or wanted. As for herself, she would mentally beat herself up if there was something she could do about the situation and make others needlessly worry about here. However, this nightmare thing she could make an exception for.

Aria smiled when Take took the hot chocolate happily. "You're welcome," she said with a smile and a giggle. She then saw the fluffy whip cream sticking to the boy's nose and tried to hold back a laugh. "Uh, you got a little something," she said, pointing to her own nose where it was at on his, "...right there."

She was then approached by Tinarah, who seemed to be coming down from her state of panic and wanting, or at least trying to, socialize again. "Nah, I don't mind if you have some too," Aria said with a smile. She then handed her young, yet older friend, a cup of warm hot chocolate and then stood back a moment. The friends she wanted to really talk about the whole situation were right here in front of her. Already at least three people knew about it, Aria noticing Qamar on her way out to the living room. She didn't know where to start though since Take seemed to be in the middle of a conversation and Tinarah wasn't doing too well.

She cleared her throat and set down the tray that had five mugs of hot chocolate left on it; each being for Illiana, Aldaric, Master Thallasa, Miss Edna, and Boreas. "It's been a... long day," Aria started out. She looked at her two friends and chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously. "I need to talk to you guys about something," she said, dropping her voice. "I wanted to talk to you guys earlier, but things kept popping up. S-Stay here, I'll be right back." With that, she quickly took two mugs of hot chocolate off the tray, handing one to Ms. Edna, and the other to Boreas before hurrying back to the Living Room to where her friends were. "I kind of already told some others... Well, more like I was trying to tell one, and others overhead it, but I need you guys to know about it too," she began again. "And I know you've been through so much already," she said glancing at Tinarah, "And you are still getting better," she said, glancing at Take and his arm, "and there's so many other things to worry about right now, but I trust you two more than everyone else here."

Aria paused and took a deep breath in before sighing out. "So I've been having these nightmares since I was little, and it's always the same. A strange creature in a tattered robe that almost looks human but its not with sharp teeth and claws. It always attacked others I don't know and takes their heart and eats it, or it tries to come after me, taunting me and hurting me. It never says anything, it just makes weird noises and it's creepy." She twiddled with her bracelet on her wrist, feeling anxiety creep up again as she pushed on quickly. "Everyone said I would grow out of it, but I didn't. And I still have nightmares of that thing up to this day, and they keep getting scarier and creepier. And this morning..." She stopped as she swallowed a lump in her throat. You already explained it before, it shouldn't be hard, she mentally scolded herself. "th-this morning I had that same nightmare. Except I pushed myself to wake up. And I thought I was awake, only the room I was staying in was dark, and there was no light at all... And that thing was on my bed, staring at me a moment before it smiled, and then it attacked me."

She held her hand to stop herself from fidgeting and forced herself to look up at her two friends. "And then Torrin heard me scream and woke me up. I was still dreaming... But when I came to, I had actual scratches on my arms, and nasty bruises on my shoulders... Like the nightmare actually caused me physical harm. I told Grand- I mean, Master Gero about it, but he didn't know what was going on either... So... If I seem out of it in the next few days, I'm going to try to force myself to stay awake. I'll still get sleep, just not the usual healthy dose of eight hours," she said with a nervous chuckle. "I just... needed to let you guys know what was going on. Cause like I said, I trust you two..."

 

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So it was pretty bad. Chrono didn't know hat exactly to say at the end of her tale. The nightmare itself already sounded bad enough, but for it to have an actually effect on her in real life. From that alone it had to be serious. Not many things seemed to add up as of recently. Chrono had no idea what he could say in response to all that and just took a casual sip of the hot chocolate that was given to him as everyone else started to file out of the kitchen. Despite all that he was just told, the hot chocolate was pretty good.

 

Chrys giggled at Dentro and Avra's antics. Though the sound came out wet and strangled due to the leftover tears, her spirit felt considerably lighter. She was truly fortunate to have met the Light Chaser and made friends with the people who sat with her now. They were right of course; she needed to keep moving forward. She had all of them beside her, and together they would make the worlds a better place. A better place for all of their friends and families.

"Yeah. Thanks, guys."​