Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

Etrius finished his apple and laid all his cards facedown and spread out on a table near Kross and Cat. He turned his head and spat the core out at a nearby trash can, sailing and landing. He turned back to his cards and shuffled them around and grabbed 3.
"Everyone knows the universal rule about light and darkness." Etrius began flipping two of the cards in his hand to reveal the Sun and the Moon card. "Light and darkness can't exist without each other. Therefor, Heartless are attracted to both properties, one leading to a food source, the other leading to a residence. However, areas of light are more vunerable in this scenario." Etrius flipped the third card in his hand and slid it to Kross. It was the card of Death. Etrius drew another card from his scattered pile.
"I've actually been around Heartless long enough to know that they maybe strong in numbers, but they are too animalistic to function on a set basis." Etrius continued. He flipped his new card to reveal a Devil card. "Someone, or maybe a group, is somehow controlling the Heartless. If anything, they can target any Haven of light they choose to ravage. It may or may not be Vanitas, as it seems that he has his hands a bit full with the Unversed. Whether or not Krowley can test this suggestion is out of my jurisdiction. But this could be a possible theory on how to combat the Heartless, and whoever else is behind it."

@Kross123
@Cat~
And possibly @KHGrl15 if she chooses..

 

Ananta stared at the orb hesitantly. It was odd. It was also one of those things she swore she saw Steel taking a taste of some time back. Maybe she was just seeing things then. But she had to say it. "Why don't you eat it?" she asked. Of course, she didn't really mean it, seeing as she took the orb from his hand anyway. Grasping it, she placed the crystal next to it. A faint glow came forth from the crystal as the orb was swallowed by the crystal. The darkness was swirling in circles before a dark orb popped back out in place of the one she just had. Holding it carefully, Ananta felt a little happier now and less depressed. However, she couldn't hold onto this orb. It had a bad feeling to it. "You should take this one....I can't hold it any longer." she said, standing up and pressing it firmly into his hand.

Turning, she walked out this door and began to run down the stairs towards where she felt that Karina may be located. The girl was rather predictable. Being the girl, she is, she would want to hide far from everyone else. A place that was secluded. Stopping inside of a large room, she sat on the ground and began to meditate. 'Maybe if I stop and meditate, I can try and feel her presence...maybe.' she thought to herself, sitting there,

 

Ananta's ears and eyebrows pricked up at the sound of footsteps. Opening her eyes, she stood up and stretched. She had been sitting for a bit and gotten a sore bottom, but she was fine. After stretching, she turned towards where the footsteps had stopped. She walked quieter, moreso to hide her approach than to be sneaky. Then again, either way she was going to be sneaky. Once next to the girl, she knelt down and patted her head softly. "Hi..." she said softly, trying not to startle the girl.

 

Cat was a bit overwhelmed at the sudden appearance of so many people. Still, she nodded when spoken to and carried on eating. When Luna asked her to change the bandages, she turned to her. "Of course. We'll have you fixed up in no time." She smiled, getting one last bite from her dish and began to walk towards her, but not before she noticed Etrius spit out an apple core and start speaking about the universal balance of light and dark. "You make some good points. Still, even if the Heartless are mindless, they've got the benefit of brute force." She turned almost as soon as she was done speaking to the table and walked with Luna to the main hall. "Even if there is a singular group behind all of this, why? What could anyone stand to gain from tipping the scales?" She felt a chill, as if some ghostly figure had passed through her, but quickly shook it off. "So, where're the fresh bandages anyway?"

@KHGrl15 @mindstorm787

 

Pat pat pat. That's all Ananta did to Karina right now. Then she stopped and stared at her. "How's your hand?" she asked, pointing to it. Hopefully it wasn't too injured. It was pretty deep and her teeth were pretty sharp. You could see even the smallest hint of blood was still on her lips. The taste lingered still and it was an awful taste. "Does it hurt?" she asked cautiously.

 

Sighing, Ananta looked over Karina. She was at least 17, she thought, and that means she was here for a reason that was probably really personal. Ananta shook her head and leaned forward to Karina. Wrapping her arms around her, she gave her a tight hug. "I'm sorry for fighting." she said meekly. After keeping such a hug for a minute or so, she pulled away and sat on her knees. "But you know, don't run away and cry. Girls have to be strong during all this. So if you cry, they'll laugh at you. Not all the time can you not cry, though. Sometimes, it's okay to cry...like right now." she spoke shakily, her words had a sadness to it. Ananta was sobbing now. She knew what she had done was horrible and probably would cause her to be kicked out if Krowley or Yen Sid learned of it.

 

Ananta stood up too. Karina had some odd views. Well, her father did at least. "But Karina, what do you think about crying? I don't care what your father thinks, he's not here right now. All that matters is what you think and feel about everything." she said, trying to be a bit supportive. She dusted herself off and looked at the hall Karina was looking at. "I know how you feel sometimes. I too had a parent that told me what to do all the time. In the end, she became the greatest help to me as I set off for this big journey. But you see, I always knew that sometimes, what she said, didn't really fit with the situation. Being all cold and uncaring, it just...didn't work when you wanted to make friends." she gave a tap to Karina's forehead. "You need to think less with this." and then she pointed to her heart. "And more with this." she finished, smiling. "And hey, you made a great start with Eon. He's sweet isn't he? I'm sure he'd make you a best friend someday if you really wanted to do so!" she finished off her little speech at that. Whatever Karina made of it, she hoped that Karina would think of her less as an enemy and more as a friend. But seeing as Karina was kind of moody at the time, Ananta thinks that she should take it slow.

 

Ananta nodded at Karina. Whatever happened to her, it sounded rough. It also sounded like something Karina needed to come to her own terms with in her own time. "From the sound of it, you sound a little afraid to make friends...like you think if you made a friend, they wouldn't like you or your father wouldn't like them or something. I don't understand it all, but I do understand that you gotta do this on your own and no amount of me trying to say something will help." Ananta laced an arm over Karina's shoulder, giving a small hug. "But I can tell you one thing. I don't want to be enemies with you. I wanna be friends, actually. And Eon does too, I can tell. We're a small group of people in this universe that's been tasked with taking care of most of the worlds. We gotta stick together, you know?" she smiled at Karina. It was true, everything she said. She really didn't want to be enemies with Karina, that wouldn't help anything at all. It most certainly wouldn't make their mission any better either. Even if Karina wasn't ready yet, Ananta would wait.

 

Steel just blinked. Ananta had left in a matter of seconds; she had absorbed the orb into her crystal, after notating that he ate them, and then ran off leaving him the dark orb she had rid herself of. "...The heck?" he whispered to himself. He stood up slowly. "I suppose that's one way to do it." He glanced down at the swirling dark orb in his hands. It pulsated with negative energy, which he guessed was Ananta's. "I suppose I should analyze this." He thought. He dropped his hand to his side and looked down at the ground. He stood silent for several moments. He supposed he wasn't necessarily alone; what with Glen and Stratos being there... or at least nearby. He decided to go somewhere else for now. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help." He stated to them silently before walking off. As soon as he was out of sight, he dove into the shadows and sped up to a spire on the top of the roof. He stood atop the central steeple and gazed down at the land below. He brought the orb in his hand to eye level, sighed, and with both hands brought the orb toward his chest. He felt the pain stab into him and winced as he slowly absorbed it into himself. He sighed and dropped his hands back to his sides. "Beginning Analysis."

 

Kross furrowed his brows, his eyes watching Etrius as he laid the cards on the table, having an impression of tarot cards. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his brown eyes looking up at Etrius as he explained."One cannot exist without the other..while that is true, it's a favorite excuse to justify the threats of the darkness."He said, his frown lowered."I wouldn't think Vanitas would be fully responsible."He said, rubbing his arms and leaned back."Like you said, a group could be responsible for controlling these..things, but why? Does it have to do with Terra, Aqua, Ventus and Master Eraqus's disappearances?"He asked, rubbing his arm again, nervously thinking."..We have to do something."

 

Smiling, she grabbed Karina's hand and led her down the hall. She was retracing her steps to get here. It was simple enough, but this place was a huge maze if you didn't try and remember which way to go. Ananta didn't truly know exactly where to go either, but she knew how to memorize her steps. She looked at the stairs in front of her. They lead to the living quarters. From here, it was familiar enough to get out. "I hope you know where to go from here, right? Upstairs are the bedrooms, the left hall is the kitchen and large dining room, and the right is where the throne room is. I think?" she spoke, questioning herself. She had let go of Karina's hand finally. "I'm going to go upstairs and clean myself up. I feel gross right now." she frowned at herself. Her clothes were rather dirty. Mostly from the last world she was in. Walking up the stairs, she turned and waved and Karina. "Good luck with making friends." she called to her.

 

(OOC: Flashback moment here. Thought it would be a good idea to reintroduce the fact that Etrius has met Xehanort and Vanitas in the past {Even though he was 10 years old then. Time moves a lot faster on Abraxas. >o<})

Etrius, who was still holding some cards, lay his entire hand face-up in a small trash pile and drew 5 new cards from his pile. He slid the card 3 cards to Kross. The card of Strength, the Emperor, and the Empress.
"According from the letter from Yen Sid, and from what it could seem on the surface, there are 3 antagonists, including Vanitas. However, when I last saw him, he was with Master Xehanort, and by the looks, he has a stinging attitude. Unless you already know," Etrius said, getting to the basis. He tapped the Emperor card, emphasizing it's meaning.
"That being said, he may or may have already betrayed Xehanort. However, Xehanort himself was even stranger than Vanitas. He was saying something about an all-powerful Keyblade...."

There sitting on two thrones entirely of iron, were Draconine and Dementia Parilaz, Etrius' father and mother. Etrius' brother and sister weren't here, which Etrius expected. They were both out on an outing, checking the Heartless population no doubt. As Etrius entered the room, his mother said, "Quick, my child, get into position. Our visitors will arrive any moment."
Etrius did exactly so, just as he heard a knock on the door.
"Enter!" Ordered Draconine, straightening in his throne.
Two figures entered. One of them was an old man in his late-70s, half hunched over. He was balding and his cloak was opened, revealing a white dress shirt and dark black boots. The most astonishing part, was his face. The man had pale yellow eyes, exactly like Etrius', only strangely colder. He wore a smile that suggested to Etrius that this man had a lot of pride under his belt.
The second figure wore a red and black muscular suit. His body build looked masculine, looked 17. He wore a mask that was reflective. The boy looked at him and said, "What're you lookin' at?"
The older man frowned at the boy. "Don't be rude, Vanitas, this boy is obviously of royal blood, show him some respect!" Said he.
"Looks more like a shrimp to me," replied the boy, but he fell silent under the old man's glare. The old man turned to Etrius' father
"Draconine, how are you?" The man asked warmly.
Draconine frowned in return and said, "Xehanort, it's been too long."
Xehanort walked quietly into the room, Vanitas following close behind. Xehanort looked at one of the Armors guarding the room, and held out his hand, summoning his Keyblade. As the Keyblade materialized, the blade was at the chin of that Armor. The Armor remained slack and not moving. Xehanort, blade still at the neck, said to Draconine, "My, my Draconine, these dark creatures are marvalous by my standards! These Heartless somehow managed to merge in with fallen Keyblade weilders armor! What do you call these creatures?"
"We call them Heartless Armor, since they are embodiments of darkness, yet they are able to wield the Keyblade." Draconine responded. Xehanort looked back at the Armor, then let his Keyblade disappear.
"I am quite interested in these new beings, but I am more interested in a bigger purpose." Xehanort said, sounding more serious, "I have a way to bring back the X-Blade."
Dementia spit out the tea that she was drinking and coughed. Etrius' jaw lowered slightly in disbelief. Bring back the X-Blade? Impossible.
Xehanort smiled at Etrius. "The X-Blade isn't impossible to reforge," said he, as if reading the family's thoughts, "It just takes tedious measures." He gestured to Vanitas, "This boy here is purely darkness. If I make him clash with a Keyblade Wielder who is purely of light, and they fight to the death, they have a chance of forging the X-Blade."
Draconine stood. This was completely inhumane. More to the point, was he asking to give him one of their own??
Xehanort continued, "I'm not asking for your offspring, because they are also darkness. They are of no interest to me. What I am interested in is you and your family helping me conquer the power. If the light and darkness successfully forge the Blade, I might be too weak to harness it's power. You, Draconine, on the other hand, have much strength under your belt. Help me conquer the X-Blade. Together, we can bring the light back to where it belongs."
By now, the entire Parilaz family was troubled. Draconine was sitting on his throne, thinking deeply. Dementia was looking frantically between her husband and Xehanort. Etruis was seething. He did not like this Xehanort character. Not one bit.
Draconine suddenly stood again, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. In all his years, Draconine won many battles, and was respected by many people. He may have had the power of darkness at his side since birth, but that didn't make him a tyrant.
"Leave this place Xehanort," Draconine said, his voice like a low thunderclap, summoning his Keyblade, "And never return. For years Xehanort, you've been chasing blind fantasies of greatness, and in the process hurt many people. Never talk about this to anyone, or you'll doom the entire universe as we know it to dark abyss that we will never climb out."
Etrius thought he saw a flash of anger in those yellow eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Xehanort lowered his head and turned. But before he left, Xehanort said, "You are the fool here Draconine. These opportunities never come easy. You are making a very FATAL mistake." And he walked out, just like that.
"What he said." Vanitas added, laughing and following out. It was a high mocking laughter.

Etrius shivered at the flashback. Xehanort's warning was more than enough, but Vanitas' laugh made Etrius so uneasy and angry that Etrius' own eyes went red once again. He shook his head slowly to get back to business. He gathered the three cards in front of Kross in a small pile. He then lay a Tower card right next to the right of the pile, and the Hanged Man card below both the pile and the Tower.
"The Hanged Man represents the Worlds, and the Tower represents whoever else is involved with Vanitas and his allies." Etrius explained, "I have a strange hunch that someone else may be behind all this. I can't confirm this, but I know one thing; Vanitas seems very arrogant, and arrogance can either be a big advantage or a liability to this entire conflict. In short.." Etrius swiped the three-card pile from Kross, and slams it on the trash pile. "We destroy the head of the snake. Heartless may be strong, but Vanitas is stronger. We kill him and his allies, we disorient the Heartless." Etrius draws a 2 cards from the main pile and frowns before continuing, "Unfortunately, doing that comes at a terrible risk." He lay a Death card on top of the Hanged Man, and he lay a Devil card where the Emperor, Empress, and Strength card used to sit.
"Like I said before, whenever there is light, there will always be darkness. We have a short chance that the Heartless might attack the Worlds on there own, or someone else will take Vanitas' place. It's a natural risk that will need to be recognized." Etrius finished. Etrius gathered all his cards back all together with natural Hunter speed, and slipped it back to his cloak with a short sigh. He turned and began to clean whatever dishes he had left over behind by anyone else, and muttered to himself, "X-blade, X-blade, X-blade, X-blade...was Master Xehanort bluffing to dad? Or.." Etrius suddenly dropped a dish accidentally. He was so distracted that he dropped it. He let out a short grunt of frustration as he threw the rag he was using to clean on the sink and said quietly, "I'm going to get myself cleaned up. I'm too distracted." He walked out to an empty room in the Guild Hall.

@Kross123

 

"So where are the fresh bandages anyway?" Luna turned toward Cat as Cat asked Luna. "The fresh bandages are in my room, follow me." Luna started to walk toward her as she was making her way she walked past Karina and Ananta. She turned back toward them and called out to the them. "Karina! Ananta! Catch!!" She tossed two white roses toward them and turned back toward Cat giving her a white rose as well. "They're presents I found in the world I was in before coming back here". As she finished her sentence, Luna made her way toward her room again.

@Cat~
@~Phoenix~
@Mafia Jinx