Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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Take had not admittedly expected Aria to begin speaking about something urgent so suddenly, nor did he expect her to say he was one of the people she trusted the most here. He appreciated it a bit, but that wasn't his main thought. Instead, he listened to Aria telling about the nightmares and kept nodding throughout the conversation so she knew he was listening. When she finished speaking, he looked very concerned and said,"I know it's having physical effects on you.. but it's dangerous to not sleep. Especially with this magitek business going on. Are you sure there isn't another way?" The boy sipped his cocoa again to give the conversation a natural pause, finally reaching up and wiping off his nose before he continued, "Have you tried taking medicine so you have a dreamless sleep? Or... hm... idol carrying? That.. might be something specific to my homeworld."

Take held his cocoa in his hands to feel the warmth for a little while before he explained, "In my homeworld, we need to keep the dragons from sensing us by limiting out emotions. But one of the hardest ways to hide it is when it's in sleep. When you're scared and in your head, you don't have people to help you out. But my older brother taught me idol carrying. Before you go to bed, you pick an item into your bedroom to focus on and say that item is coming with you and is going to protect you..." the black haired boy paused briefly before reaching into his pants pocket. He pulled out a small rock with a swirl carved into it. The swirl was painted red, "I bring this with me. I think of it like a good luck charm. One time I had a dream where a man came at me with a sword and tried to stab into my chest. But the rock made a protective shield around me. Or another dream I had where I fell out of the mountain and I saw the stone and remembered it was a dream and snapped myself out of it... ya know that feeling when you wake up and it feels like you fell a thousand feet? Well, I couldn't avoid that. But it kept me from panicking too long."

He put the stone away and sipped the cocoa again, then continued, "It probably sounds odd. And... I don't know if it'd work in your case. But, it couldn't hurt to give something else a shot, right? Anyway, what you do is your choice. But we're here for you. Well, I shouldn't speak for others I'm pretty sure they're here for you. But I'm here for you." he gave her a reassuring smile, but stopped a little after and said, "I think I made that a little more confusing than it had to be."
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“My aunt and uncle used to make me Valerian Tea, but that was to get me to sleep... it didn’t help keep the nightmares away.” Aria listened to idol carrying tradition that Take practiced in his home world. She never heard anything like it, and it sounded interesting to her. “No, it’s not confusing at all,” Aria assured her friend with a smile. “It actually sounds kind of nice... the idol carrying I mean.”

She shifted in place and glanced down at her bracelets. “Honestly, I’m willing to try anything at this point. I used to stay up late as a kid and just sleep two to five hours... I mean, it’s not ideal, but the nightmares can’t usually happen if I get little amount of sleep. Idol carrying might help out... I think it’ll take some practice, and I have to find something... but maybe it’ll work.”

 

Qamar nodded at Torrin. If it truly was a heartless, why would she be haunted by it if she were a princess of heart? Qamar tapped her chin and took one giant gulp of hot chocolate to finish it off. “Look, I'll keep an eye on her while you do your things.” she assured him. Once he walked off, she moved back towards Aria and sat her mug on the tray. She caught the end of the conversation and that made a light bulb go off in her head. Qamar got excited and jumped a tiny bit as she stepped next to the two.

“So you were talking about things to help you sleep, right? You've got that covered, but have you tried to meditate to help clear your mind and maybe figure out the source of the problem?” she asked, clasping her hands together. “I do it every day and honestly, it helps with my own nightmares. I could help you with it if you don't know how.”

Qamar then looked at Take and smiled. “Though I do want to know more about that stone, it looked pretty cool to me. Also..” she looked back at Aria. “Is there any more hot chocolate?”

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Illiana zoned out as one thing kept occurring after another. As the others were conversing with one another, Illiana had decided to leave the room. She decided to head up to the roof of the mansion. As she reached the top, she took out the bag of Valerian root that Aria had given to her earlier. She took out a small water bottle she had on her and some matches. "If it wasn't for this damn magitek, this would be a much faster process." Illiana had then found something to rest the water bottle on and began boiling the water a bit. After some time, she put in the Valerian root and held up the bottle to mix it a bit. Once the tea had cooled down a bit, she began to take a sip of tea. A sigh had left her lips as she looked at the sky. "Much better." She felt her headache slowly die down as she drank her tea. As she looked at the sky, she saw Torrin and Thallasa walk out of the mansion. "What are those two up to?" After a few moments, she shrugged her shoulders before sitting down, with one knee up and looking back at the sky. "Meh. Not my problem. So no need to worry about it." Illiana took another sip of tea before talking quietly to herself. "The council.....tch." She took another sip before continuing. "They're all the same. Nothing good comes from any council, regardless of what they were formed for. Nothing but secrets and potential lies." She let out a sigh before taking another sip of tea. She closed her eyes and took a couple breaths of fresh air. She then spoke as she rested her hand on her knee. In her hand, she had held her necklace and then spoke once more. "I really hope she's wrong.....If she's right...then once I see you...." She paused then continued. "We're gonna go back home and let the council and the Light Chaser have their stupid fight. Their fight has nothing to do with us so why continue to fight for them? I'm not coming out of hiding to fight for another council." She slowly closed her eyes as she continued to hold onto the necklace. Within a few moments, she was out like a light.

 

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Aria was now getting suggestions from all over, which was overwhelming, but they we’re all helpful. She then quickly waved her hands to Tinarah when she was apologizing for not picking things up sooner with her. “No, no! It’s okay! Really.” She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. “I didn’t let on what was going on with me anyways. I wanted to try to figure stuff out before I talked to anyone, but... music would probably help,” Aria said with a little smile.

She then looked to Qamar who was excited to share her ideas. “No, I hadn’t tried meditating before,” she said with a small shrug. “I guess that’s worth a try as well.” Aria then grinned and nodded her head. “Yeah, there’s more hot chocolate on the stove.”

 

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Takehiko was not expecting to be addressed and blinked a minute before saying,"The stone? There's... nothing particular about the stone itself. But the markings. My brother Iwao made one for all of my brothers, himself, and me. It's the only thing I really carry... around..." Take looked over and saw Torrin speaking quietly with Thalassa before they both seemed to leave the mansion to speak. Take was... curious why they were talking in private. Did they not want to kill the mood with something important? The green eyed boy sipped the rest of his cocoa before he placed the empty cup on the tray that all the cups used to be on and he said, "Excuse me a moment." and the boy walked towards where Torrin and Thallasa had gone. He tried to keep hidden though, cause he did not want to get caught or anything like that. But he felt he should be kept up to speed on what's going on even if they did not want to worry, say, Aria with something while she was focused on her nightmare.
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"Meditating is a wonderful way to wash away your worries and clear your mind. Maybe it'll help with...ya know, getting rid of it." she said, crossing her arms. Take explained the stone and Qamar nodded her head. "I wish I could say I had a momento of my mother, but...honestly, I don't? Other than an old photo, I have nothing to help with my childhood. I don't even remember it..." she mumbled the last part as Take ended up wandering off.

Qamar shrugged and scratched her arm as her eyes scanned the room. "Aria. I know I'm annoying and pushing myself into ya'lls group, but I really do want to help. I don't have any friends and I just want to call you guys people I can count on even just a little. I know I can't say we're friends yet, but...." she shrugged. "I just hope I didn't start things off badly with everyone. I mean, heck, look at poor Tinarah...I scared her half to death. Because of that, I am truly and deeply sorry." she said and bowed to Tinarah. She stood up and looked at Aria a moment before turning her face away. "I don't know why I'm pouring all this out, you just seem like a nice person who just wants to help people...."​

 

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Aria was caught off guard by Qamar's outpouring of words. She wasn't exactly sure what happened between her and Tinarah, but based on how her friend was acting, she figured there was a misunderstanding when Aria wasn't around. Qamar seemed like the person who didn't have much people skills, which Aria picked up on based on what Qamar told her and how she acted around others. "It takes time," she said with a small smile. "Not everyone will be your friend instantly. You just... kinda gotta see their point of view on things and work with that. I mean, I try to get to know others first before I talk about myself. And if the opportunity does pop up, then I will say a little bit about me, then let them talk about them... And if they're not the type of person to open up, then... Don't push them to talk, and just... Yeah. Like I said, it takes time, and a little bit of work."

She then looked to Tinarah, smiling gently at the girl in understanding. "... I guess it's time to get settled in for the night. I'm going to head back to the kitchen and clean up." She nodded to Tinarah and Qamar, and then picked up the tray with some of the empty mugs, heading back into the kitchen.

 

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Take had only managed to listen to a brief part, and Torrin's revelation over why they wanted him involved, in order to get the realm of darkness to fight the Light Chaser. That seemed a legitimate reason in his eyes for Torrin to be annoyed, not liking the idea of being used. Heck, maybe even being cannon fodder. But what ended up really getting his attention was Torrin's sudden annoyance over a second... pure light?

There was another princess of heart with them? That surprised him immensely. He could just look at Aria and tell there was something bright and pure about her heart. But another? Who was it? No. He couldn't take the time to speculate. This wasn't his job. It was clear that Torrin and Thallasa wanted to keep this information on the down low so no one learned about it that shouldn't. Before Torrin got back, he quickly snuck back into the house.

The boy walked into the kitchen quickly and grabbed himself some more hot chocolate, he dished it out with no problem. But the boy seemed to be struggling with getting the can of whipped cream to go on top of the cocoa and he looked a bit distressed but refused to ask for help.​

 

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“So, how are you liking your hot chocolate?” Aria asked Chrono as she headed to the sink to start washing some mugs. It wasn’t long before Take seemed to appear out of no where, very quiet and somewhat distracted. “H-Hey Take,” Aria greeted while she rinsed out a mug.

She then saw him struggling with the canister of whipping cream and smiled a bit. “Here.” She dried her hands on a towel and then carefully took the canister from him. “Lemme help.” She then made a nest peak of foam and smiled at Take. “There. Do you want more...?” She offered.

She was about to open her mouth that he looked stressed, and then memories of when it was pointed out he was smiling flashed in her mind. She held back the observation and thought of a different approach. “Do you... need to talk?” She offered.

 

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Take was grateful that Aria helped him out but he kind of wished he could have handled it himself, it was a tricky thing. Some day he'd master it. But when she asked him if he needed to talk. He did need to talk, he just knew he shouldn't. He sipped his cocoa and looked around and saw Chrono. He felt comfortable explaining the situations to Chrono. But then Boreas was here. How would Boreas feel if Take admitted to eavesdropping on Torrin's private conversation. He felt like it would just end badly if he tried talking. It only helped stopped the situation when Torrin was about to walk into the conversation and Take shook his head, "No. I'm fine. I think this magitek stuff is just wearing me down and the fact it's still out there is keeping me on my toes..."
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Qamar wiped at her eyes once Aria talked and she smiled. She teared up a little bit due to not being pushed away for once. After Aria left, Tinarah had managed to accept her apology and explain why she was acting the way she was. Qamar understood and nodded with Tinarah. "I won't ever understand the pain you went through, but I do want to at least help you cope. I've had to learn my own ways of coping after what happened to me...." she said this and felt a twinge of pain in her head. She held her head and shook it.

"A...Anyway, I think it'd help if you just sort of, didn't worry about trying to be super friendly right now. Open yourself up to the ones you care about and you'll get better." Qamar said. "It's...certainly helped me a little, at least."

Her eyes wandered over to the kitten and the violin. When Tinarah asked if she wanted to hear it later, Qamar nodded. "Actually, we could combine our techniques? I can assist her in meditating and you can play a soothing melody that would help her clear her mind and lull her to sleep. What do you say? I mean, I love your playing, so I totally wouldn't mind it myself." Qamar smiled, adjusting her clothes idly as she looked to see if there was any indication they'd be going to bed soon. "You know, I think we should help clean up those mugs. After another cup of hot chocolate, for me at least." she smiled and put a hand on Tinarah's shoulder.​

 

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Take heard Edna's voice break through everything and nearly jumped but held onto his cocoa easily enough. When she finished explaining the rooms Take looked over at Torrin again, he almost wanted to call him out on keeping secrets again, but he didn't know if that would go well for any of them. Takehiko finished up his cocoa and before anyone could say anything he replied, almost contradicting the last sentence he said to the three there, "Well, I'm too tired to keep worrying about this stuff." he faked a yawn poorly and continued, "I'm gonna hit the night, good hay." and his headed out of there, leaving the cup in the sink. Once he got down towards the bedrooms he closed the door and locked it. He never usually locked the door, but he knew he did poorly at composing himself there. The black haired boy sighed and put his bag down for the night and took off his jacket.

He looked down at the wrappings on his left hand and unwrapped it, he flexed his fingers and was surprised it was healing so quickly. He decided it would be best to keep it on for another day.
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In the time that Aria had been gone hand delivering the rest of the hot chocolate to everyone else, Chrono had continued taking his casual sips of the hot chocolate. Over time, growing more use to taste of the warm liquid, he'd begun to drink it like it like normally. He'd only drunk as much as he could before the heat started to get to him again which lead to him putting down the mug that contained the half drunk hot chocolate. "Its pretty good. Easy to see why it was getting so much attention."

Take had strode into the kitchen to make himself some more hot chocolate, having trouble with applying the frosting to it. He felt like there was something more than just the magiktech generator bothering him. However Edna has entered as well, ushering them to get some sleep. It was good to hear that she had more than enough rooms to suit all of them. Chrono had finished up the rest of his hot chocolate and went to the sink to wash it himself. "Thanks again for the hot chocolate." He said to Aria before heading off to an unoccupied bedroom to retire for the night.

 

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Aria worriedly watched Take heading out of the room. She sensed he was hiding something, but didn’t make a big deal of it. After all, she was trying to hide her nightmare thing all morning until she was ready to talk. So when he would be willing to talk, she would be there to listen.

She looked over to Chrono and grinned a bit. “Glad you like it.” He then too was gone, which left Aria alone to finish up the last bit of the dishes. Once that was done, she put the remaining hot chocolate in a thermos, cleaned up the pan, and then finally poured herself a cup. She sprayed some whipping cream on the top, and then took a small thing of rainbow sprinkles and sprinkled some on top of the foam. Smiling a little to herself, she picked up her mug and nodded to Boreas. “Good night, sleep well.” She then glanced in the living room to see the others talking amongst themselves and decided to stay out of it. She was getting kind of groggy.

Taking a small sip of hot chocolate, she waved quietly to the group before heading towards her own room for the night. Once she arrived there, she slipped in and quietly closed the door. The girl let out a long, heavy sigh and then threw her bag by the bed before setting the mug on the desk. Despite Qamar and Tinarah wanting to help, Aria was having second thoughts on the matter. Two nights in a row she had a nightmare, and the last one took a turn for the worst.

Aria frowned and shook her head slightly as she changed into a T-shirt and some baggy pants for the night. No, she’d have to tough the night out. She didn’t have anything she thought would be a good idol carrier on her. Mika’s bracelet still brought her heartache, and the Light Chaser bracelet was something she was having a love-hate relationship with at the moment.

Aria sat down at the desk, sipping some more hot chocolate as she thought about what she could do instead. Remembering the crafts she acquired in the previous world, Aria pulled out the beads and jewelry tools. She was going to spend most of the night crafting. It was relaxing to her, and she would be able to stay up.