CHAPTER 3 Part 2. The Dream is Collapsing Who am I? He did not know how he got there, or why he was even there. In fact, he couldn't recall anything he had experienced during his entire lifetime, like all his memories had been erased from his mind. His past was an enigma and his memories only started from the moment he regained consciousness, finding himself in this endless expanse of darkness. Everything before that, if it ever existed, was a blank. He felt this strange sensation of sinking. Further and further, he went down the abyss. But this couldn't be drowning for he could still breathe. But with each breath, he felt a bout of nausea for it was dry and thick, as though warning that he was in a different plane of reality. Falling further and further, the air gently brushed against his skin. As he descended into the infinite darkness, he remained still, his mind adrift for answers that his blank mind couldn't provide. How did I get here? Suddenly silver light erupted from within the boy, driving away the darkness surrounding him with a blinding radiance. As if it had sensed a true threat to its intentions, the darkness withdrew and the light consumed the surrounding area in a silver torrent. Flinching at the intense light, the boy covered his eyes from its magnificence. And suddenly, the sensation of sinking stopped. Snapping his eyes open, the boy was left in amazement as he found himself lying on top of a circular platform. As he got onto his feet, he looked around. Nothing but darkness, and not even a single soul in sight. He and the platform on which he stood were the only things in this vast expanse. Taking a closer look at the platform, he noticed that a glyph had been painted onto its surface. It was a simple icon. On the center of the platform, there was a dot and from that dot, a line spiraled outward to the boundaries of the platform. And together with the glyph, some runes had been engraved onto the surface as well. Живаго Why does all of this feel so familiar? Suddenly, a loud burst of static boomed throughout the area, attacking his ears. In response, he covered his ears and grabbed his head, throbbing with an intense sting from the screech of static. Rubbing his temple to relieve the pain, he looked down and noticed the glow of the platform was flickering on and off and with each flicker, the faint sound of white noise echoed throughout the room. Hey Chi, are you just going to stand there? Maya! Shou! Run! “Chi…Maya…and Shou?” he asked himself as he tried to remember what these names meant to him. And as the names resonated through his head, memories started to come back slowly, piece by piece. “Shou! Maya!” he yelled as he wondered what was happening. The last place he had been was that cave. Shou was there. Maya was there. And something…else was there as well. That…thing. Chikara’s eyes widened with panic as he looked down to see that various parts of the floor were slightly flickering with static. Just like a TV. Just like those walls, he thought as his shattered mind slowly started to connect the memories back together like an unsolved puzzle. Those tendrils, he remembered. They emerged from the patches of static just like the ones flickering on the platform. He remembered that feeling. The feeling of those dark tendrils wrapping around his ankles tightly and pulling him into that void of suffocating darkness. So you remember? Even this deep in the darkness? Your heart still beats even though you’ve fallen this deep. I underestimated you. A voice echoed throughout the room. It still held that same tinge of longing melancholy to it. And as it faded, the last piece of the puzzle was set. “What are you?” asked the boy. They called me Zhivago. As the voice faded away, the area became silent. The only thing that Chikara could hear was the soft beats of his heart. Putting his hand to his chest, he let out a deep breath. But the silence was shattered by a thunderous reverberation of white noise, shaking the platform and knocking Chikara off his balance and onto the floor. The boy tried to get himself back up to this feet but the floor continued to rumble, shaking him to the bone. Another reverberation struck the platform and in response, the glyph that had been painted onto the platform started to flicker strongly with static. And as if nothing had happened, the shaking stopped, only leaving the flickering sigil. Getting back up on the feet, the boy began to step away from the center of the platform, away from the center of the spiral. If there was anything he had learned today, it was that static was bad. Then suddenly, the spiral began to pull itself out of the surface from the center like a thread. Stepping away in shock, Chikara stared at the strange phenomenon as it started to form. As if it was sewing itself a body, the dark thread began to form itself. First there were the legs, then the torso along with the arms, and finally the head had been formed. While the creature had the figure of a human, it was still otherworldly. As if it was out of sync with reality, the space around it bended and distorted, blurring its figure and making it look like a ghost. But Chikara could see its true self past the optical trick. From its scalp, its hair stretched out like dark vines; some even choosing to wrap around the creature’s face like a mask. And from deep within that mask, two eyes glowed yellow. Its fingers stretched and sharpened into dark claws. And from its chest, a heart-shaped hole emerged. Its figure while gaunt was still tall and imposing. Dark and menacing, the monster looked over to the boy with its glowing yellow eyes and began to walk forward slowly and stolidly. Chikara’s eye widened with fear as the creature completed itself and began to approach closer and closer. He stepped backwards, almost stumbling and falling onto the floor. Gasping in terror, he looked around, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, to run but there was no escape. With one hand held forward as if trying to push it away, he hoped that it would see that he didn't want to fight. But somehow, he felt that he was about to anyway. The figure lunged forward, claws leading. Frozen in fear, Chikara stood still, not knowing what to do. Are you just going to stand there? Snapping out of his trance, he jumped out of the way, barely dodging the attack. But he was too slow. While it was only a graze and the cut wasn’t deep, its claws were sharp enough to go through his clothes easily and scrape his shoulder, leaving a slight itch and burning sting. Holding his shoulder tightly, Chikara gritted his teeth and blocked out the pain. It’s only a scratch, he told himself as he backed away from the figure, trying to keep his distance. “You can’t play the dodging game forever, Chi,” said the Heartless mockingly as it turned around and lunged towards him again with claws ready to attack, this time increasing its speed. And in an instant, Chikara stood face to face with the Heartless. Instinctively he used his arms to guard himself but to his surprise, the monster tripped him with its feet instead of attacking. Hitting the ground hard and on his already injured shoulder, Chikara let out a shout of pain. “Time to die, Chi.” “We’ll see,” said Chikara as he rolled out of the way of the incoming claw and swept his feet under those of the monster, tripping it. Hitting the floor with a hard thud, the monster let out a screech. Getting back onto his feet quickly, the boy backed away from the creature. “Two can play that game.” “Ahahaha,” laughed the Heartless joyfully as it lay on the floor. “Never has food been this troubling. I usually take it slowly and gently when I hunt. But I got to admit, this direct approach is much more thrilling.” I can’t fight him like this, thought Chikara as he backed away slowly. He needed a weapon but there was nothing that he could use. He didn't have a Keyblade like Maya. That staff! he thought. But how do I summon it? Trying to back away as the figure got up, Chikara felt a slight tug on his ankle and immediately looked down to see that dark tentacles had grabbed onto his leg from a patch of darkness. And from that patch, a thin dark line had been drawn between him and the monster. “Crap!” “Too late! You’re mine now,” said the Heartless as it stood up, holding the dark line that had been an extension of its own body and pulled it up from the surface of the floor. Holding it tightly, it pulled on it like a rope and in response, Chikara fell to the floor. Being dragged slowly and closer to his opponent, the boy tried to get out of the tentacle’s grip but no matter what he did, it wouldn’t let go. He tried shaking his foot out of its grip but it was firm and strong. He tried to rip the tentacles off with his hands but to his horror, just touching them attacked his hands with a burning and prickling sensation. “Just give up. In the end, the stronger of two hearts wins. It’s just survival of the fittest, y’know? No hard feelings.” “No!” yelled Chikara as he gripped the tentacles tightly. A painful sting attacked his body but he just gritted his teeth and pulled harder. He could feel the tentacles’ grip loosen over his ankle. “You shouldn’t be able to do that!” “Just watch me!” Pouring determination into his burning hands, Chikara gathered all of his strength and pulled harder until finally… SHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR “...ccCCchhChshHCzzzzzCschhhsHHRRRRRCcccCHcckeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeZcshhhCHSK...” The sound of ripping and a screech of static echoed. “You’ll pay for this!” growled the Heartless as it held its injured hand in pain. Piece by piece, the hand was reforming itself. Chikara panted, shaking his head to get the sweat out of his eyes. The palms of hands screamed with pain. He was done. He knew it and his opponent probably knew as well. There was no escape. The next attack would be his last stand. His opponent lunged forward, claw leading once again. Chikara jumped out of the way, grabbing his opponent's arm as he came forward. Using it as a pivot, Chikara turned around, attempting to drive his elbow into the other's face. “That won’t work, Chi.” With his other hand, his opponent grabbed his hand, forcing it down so that the two of them were locked in an embrace, staring up at each other as they held each other. “You can feel it, can’t you?” laughed the Heartless as he tightened his grip on Chikara’s elbow, digging deep into his skin with its claws. “That sting. That’s the darkness slowly breaking down the light of your heart. This ends now, Chi.” Losing the battle in strength, Chikara was pushed away by the Heartless almost as if he were nothing and suddenly the creature’s arm split into three large tentacles and trapped Chikara with their grip and held him up from the ground. He struggled, trying to free himself but the more he struggled, the more the tentacles tightened and the more the sting of darkness assailed his body. “No…” Chikara began, only to be cut off as his opponent slammed his body onto the floor fiercely and repeatedly. “It was fun,” said the Heartless and one last time, he tightened his grip on the boy’s body and slammed it down strongly. The boy didn’t scream. Consciousness had loosened its grip on his body and he just lay, bruised and battered, on the floor. This was the end. ~///~ “My head!” groaned Shou as his senses groggily started to come back to him. As his vision began to regain its focus, he wondered where he was lying. While he could feel the cold embrace of the cave’s hard ground on the rest of his body, his head rested on top of something soft and warm. “Done resting?” asked Maya as she patted his head gently. Oh god, she’s never going to let me live this down, he thought as he got up to find that, yes, he had been laying on Maya’s lap the whole time. He knew that he couldn't have decided where his body landed after losing consciousness but he would’ve still preferred to fall face first onto the cold hard ground just to prevent a mouthful of snark. “Yeah I’m done,” said Shou as he dusted himself with his hands. Stretching his numb arms and legs, the blood began to flow through his body again. Looking around in the darkness of the cave, he tried to see if Chikara was around, but to his disappointment he was nowhere to be found. Dammit Chi, where are you? Turning back to Maya, he noticed that she was still sitting down, propped against the wall. “Are you okay?” “Just a broken rib, or two…maybe three,” she said matter-of-factly, leaving Shou in confusion. He honestly couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious. “No need to worry. I was able to cast a spell while you were snoozing. I can’t feel the pain anymore.” “So I can just leave you here, right?” said Shou jokingly as he kneeled down to pick up her. I’ll take her out now and come back for Chi later. Putting one arm behind her back and his other arm under legs, he was about to pick her until… “What are you doing?” “I’m taking you out of here…” “Why?” “How else are you going to get out of here?” said Shou as he picked her up from the ground and began to walk out the cave. “Well aren’t you my knight in shining armor?” “Oh the sarcasm! You’re never going to let me forget this, are you?” “Nope,” said Maya as she looked back towards the deepest reaches of the cave. “Where’s Chikara?” Suddenly Shou stopped in his tracks and his face became grim. “I…” he began as he started to walk again, trying to avoid eye contact with Maya. “I…don’t know.” “How do you not know these things?” “Because he just disappeared. One second, he was there and then another second, everything went dark and he was gone.” “Wait…what!? Where’s the Heartless?” “Oh, I took him down with my Keyblade?” “Oh that’s hilarious,” she said, obviously trying to hold in her laughter. Calming herself, she exhaled a deep breath and stared into his eyes and realized that he was serious. “Wow, I guess Keyblades aren’t picky.” “Although I think I lost it since it was gone when I woke up.” “If you actually have one, then it isn’t gone. The thing is bound to your heart. You can just summon it back with your will. Now more importantly, I don’t think you were able to defeat the Heartless. “…what?” “I don’t see Chikara running away and just leaving you here to fight the thing alone. So I think it must have taken him. But if it did do that then he should be back if you defeated it so that only leaves -” “Crap!” said Shou as he began to sprint towards the exit. In the distance, a dim light shined and as he ran and approached closer, it started to become brighter. A light breeze blew through the tunnels, carrying with it the smell of sea salt and the crashing of waves could be heard echoing. “Okay, we’re here,” said Shou as he stood outside the cave, carrying Maya in his arms. Kneeling down, he laid Maya down on the ground, sitting her propped against a rock right next to the entrance. “You’ll be safe out here. I’m going back to take that thing down.” “You don’t even know where it’s hiding.” “Then I’ll find it.” “You barely know how to use your Keyblade.” “It’s better than somebody who can barely walk.” “You know the chances of him being alive are-“ “THEN DON’T TELL ME THE CHANCES!” Before he knew it, his Keyblade was held in the fist he had clenched in anger. With his free arm, he wiped the sweat off his brow. He was tired but he was determined to bring his friend back. “I’m sorry for yelling. I’ll be back as soon as possible,” he said as he ran back into the darkness of the cave. ~///~ In the end, the stronger of two hearts wins. From underneath his bruised and battered body, a dark void began to form. From it, tendrils of dark agony rose up. They twisted around his body, binding him with their tight grip, and pulled him down into the void slowly. The stronger of two hearts wins. Pain assailed his body. The tentacles of darkness left a stinging sensation as they pulled him down. He gasped for air but with each breath, his lungs burned with pain. If all of this was a dream, then why did everything feel so real? The stronger… There was no hope left for Chikara but he thought otherwise. He still had that staff. With it, he was able to take down three of that monster’s kind with a simple swing. With it, he could beat that abomination. Come to me, he begged as he reached his arm out as if trying to grab the staff. I don’t want to die. “Be swallowed by the darkness.” “No.” A narrow pillar of light shot up into the darkness above and as it climbed up, it expanded. As it expanded its diameter, it evaporated the darkness that ensnared Chikara. “But how?!” said the Heartless as he backed away from the expanding light. As it expanded, the Heartless continued to back up and cower away from the light until it found itself on the edge of the platform. Just as the pillar of light was about to engulf the monster, it stopped in its tracks. Shattering like glass, the pillar dispersed into smaller particles that faded away, revealing Chikara sitting on the platform with a weapon in hand. But it was not the staff he had wished for but instead a Keyblade. From its guard, onyx black, a blade that was silver from shaft to tip extended. The blade shined in the light and on the tip of the blade was a lion-head reminiscent of the one on the staff. Adjacent to the lion-head was a single, blunt point with concave sides, giving the blade its signature key appearance. Struggling to get on his feet, Chikara used the Keyblade as a support. He pushed himself up to his feet and walked forward, dragging his Keyblade with him. His body was not going to last him forever. He had to finish this quickly. “You tenacious little brat!” hissed the Heartless as it threw its arm, extending it towards Chikara and splitting it into three tentacles. Bringing up the Keyblade in a swift arc, Chikara severed the three tentacles and continued to drag his body forward and closer to the Heartless. Screeching, the Heartless keeled over in pain, gripping its severed arm. “NO! NO! NO!” it roared as it stretched its arm out and shot out a burst of black static flames towards his enemy. There was a quick flash of silver. The flames dispersed into smoke. The boy moved forward. “How are you still fighting?” said the Heartless as it split its uninjured arm into tentacles, once again going for an attack in a desperate attempt for survival. “Don’t you remember?” muttered Chikara as he brought the blade up for the cut, slashing the tentacles. “The stronger of two hearts win.” “...ccCCchhChshHCzzzzzCschhhsHHRRRRRCcccCHcckeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeZcshhhCHSK...” Spoiler: Author Notes Spoiler: songs I listened to nonstop while writing this [video=youtube;imamcajBEJs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imamcajBEJs[/video] [video=youtube;B-IFasQy0mo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-IFasQy0mo[/video] I should've finished this so much earlier. Sorry for taking so long guys. I hope you enjoyed reading it. This was an extremely fun chapter to write in my opinion although a very hard one as well. I went through so many drafts of this chapter before finally settling on this one. What and I had this little twist planned out before we even started writing and I wanted to get it right. I don't know if people noticed but we have been dropping so many hints that I was afraid that we were being too obvious for a sec xD. There are most likely some errors here and there since I'm not the best proofreader. Feel free to point them out and I'll correct them.
The wheel of time turns and with each revolution, another cycle begins. All of this has happened beforeand all of this will happen again Bored? thought Jordan as he finished sewing the last thread on the doll that he had been mending and laid it down on the floor. If there was one thing Jordan definitely knew about his sister, it was that being her being bored usually meant bad news for his toys. No matter how much trouble he went through in hiding them, she was always able to find them and play with them until they broke. There was a reason he was fixing that doll. Fortunately that one was able to be saved but there were many others before it and many were never able to walk among the corridors of the manor again. What poor unfortunate souls. But it’s almost time, he thought as he stood up and walked towards the window in their bedroom. Their room was on the top floor, right above the entrance to the house, and outside the window, one had an amazing view of the courtyard and gardens. Looking outside, he could see the trees swaying to the winds, the gardens, beautiful and flourishing, and to his delight, the figure of a woman approaching the manor. Actually…I stand corrected. Turning back towards his sister, he clapped his hands together in front of his face. It’s time to have some fun. Their guest was here and preparations had to be made. While he didn’t particularly like suits and ties, he had to play the part of the rich little boy or no sane guest would dare enter the household. He had to put on a mask and cloak of charisma to charm the guest into the belly of the whale, all while keeping his true intentions hidden. “Regulus! Aldebaran!” commanded Jordan as he snapped his fingers. And suddenly the doll that he had laid down on the floor and the one that was in his sister’s hands started to move. The breath of life was starting to enter them. At first their bodies bended in unnatural ways like a puppet on a string. But as the seconds passed, their movements became more and more fluid until they were almost human-like. “Regulus,” called Jordan and in response, the doll that lay in his sister’s hand turned towards him and saluted like a soldier. “I want you to prepare the ‘Surprise’. You know which one I’m talking about. Make sure nobody sees you. Not even Dad.” Nodding its head, it scurried out of the room and dashed down the corridor to prepare for the fun they would be having. “As for you, Aldebaran,” said Jordan as he walked past his sister and the doll that stood across from her. “I want you to follow our guest around. Like always, stay hidden.” Saluting and nodding, the doll darted out of the room and headed in the opposite direction of the other doll, towards the stairs. Now that his little minions were out in the field, all he had to do was wait for results. And, Aliyah, please don’t break the toy so quickly this time. Or I just might hide her from you. he told her telepathically as he exited the room. “Come on. Let’s go meet the vict-I mean...guest.”
You had way too much fun laughing, didn't you? xD >sorta wants to be a victi*shot* Okay, I'll get to posting.
So jelly ; ~ ; In NC, an A is 100-93 B: 92-85 C: 84-77 D: 76-70 F: 69 and under
Wait...a 61 is a D in your state. Lucky! Anything below a 70 is an F in NC. Which leaves a pretty small margin for the other grades. D:
I only think that it's childish that one would assume that future games are going to suck. The thing about Final Fantasy is that unless it's a direct sequel then almost every new game is something different and fresh in terms of story, atmosphere, characters, etc. and even if it is a direct sequel, at least they try to do something new. One can not like FFXIII and its sequels and decide that they won't buy any games set in that universe since they just don't like it for whatever reason. I'd be able to understand that. But why judge Versus XIII, FFXV or any of the other future FF games to come if they're most likely going to be different from the game you didn't like?
...really? Really? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I knew somebody who had Zelda 2 when I was younger? That maybe I picked up the game when I was young, played it, and found it annoying and decided it sucked. So yes, it was my first impression of the series. Then I was introduced to OoT and Link to the Past and well, the rest is history. Just because I was born after its release, it doesn't mean that I couldn’t have played it. And the way you worded that makes it sound like Zelda and Sonic aren’t established franchises. Which is like saying the Mario franchise is only recently coming out of its diapers. You also completely missed the point. It's that a bad apple doesn't ruin the whole batch. Giving up on a series just because you didn’t like a few games and assuming that future ones are going to be bad is pretty childish in my opinion. Final Fantasy is still a strong franchise from what I’ve heard about Type-0 and The 4 Heroes of Light and even FFXIII sold well and is considered good by some people. Square’s just trying to do something new with the genre that they’ve been nailed to. But with such an unpleasable fanbase, they're doomed to fail. Yeah I'm one of these people. Unless I'm traveling then most of the time, portable games usually stay at home. The only difference between them and console games for me is that I can walk around the house, screaming obscenities at annoying boss fights instead of just being restricted to my room. xD
So one game defines the whole series? I didn't like Zelda 2 but it didn't stop me from playing the rest of the games. And I didn't find Sonic 06 to be that good but oh look, I'm playing Sonic Generations and I'm liking it too! /gasp Well I guess I'm going to be a child forever. Fuck yeah!
I ask of you. Are you my master? Impressions? What do you think your life would've been like if you hadn't found KHV? Can I make a Taco Lovers pin for KHV? If so, can it be official? 8'D Did staff scream in excitement when they discovered that Voxli is down? You are making a video game and you can hire anybody onto your team to help you make it. Who's your developer(s)? Your scenario writer(s)? Your music composer(s)? Etc. You wake up one morning to find that you're now a woman. What do? Contract?
Where's Machazo? I'm going to rep him right now!
First thread http://www.kh-vids.net/showthread.php?20975-Hello-KHV I was a man of few words.
Sell your body to get enough money?
Really? ._. I'm main character-ish?
He does it with style
This is the profile that Midny and I made together Name: Aliyah and Jordan François Age: They are still young for their species and their ages are usually judged by their appearance to be around eleven or twelve years old. They have yet to unlock their full potential as one gains power with age. Type: Both are demons, kitsunes to be exact. Powers: They have an extremely strong telepathic link with each other. At any moment they can know exacly where the other is and what they are thinking although they are able to block each other from their thoughts if they wished. They also have the ability to shape shift and change their form to whatever they please. Although they are twins, they didn't gain the exact same abilities and some were actually split between them at birth. Aliyah gained the superhuman aspects of her lineage and can move with incredible speed and acrobatic prowess and uses both to great effect by seeming to appear out of nowhere, but also seeming to be everywhere at the same time. Jordan, on the other hand, is more attuned to the supernatural and has the ability to bring dolls and inanimate objects to life. Loving to mess around with their victims, they work together, using their abilities in tandem to trap their victim in their little game. Appearance: Standing at only 5 feet, the twins are shortest members of the household. They share the the same shade of messy blond hair and that mischievous look in there eyes which lets you know they're up to no good. However Aliyah wears a big bow in her hair to keep it together. They are usually seen in formal wear, similar outfits other than Jordan wears a suit and Aliyah, a dress. Both of the twins have heterochromia, Jordan's right eye is green while his left eye is blue. This is the same for Aliyah but the opposite way round. This remains when they shape shift but is not noticeable unless you really look Sexuality: "Sex? Hehehehe" It's unclear if they even know the meaning of the word, never mind know which way they are aligned. They're still in the stage where they think the opposite sex is another species that can't possibly be comprehend. However despite this they are more than willing to experiment. Personality: The twins are inseparable. They do everything together and are never apart. They argue a lot and are constantly teasing each other but when it comes down to it they care a lot for each other and couldn't live without the other. If one hurts, the other hurts too, you can't do something to one without the other. They always know what the other is thinking and have an incredible bond. Despite how close and connected the twins are, each slightly differs personality. Aliyah is the older of the two and is much more extroverted. She is not lacking in confidence and is much more likely to take risks. She loves the thrill and will do anything to combat boredom. However she has been known to get a bit reckless and needs Jordan to reel her back in. Despite being the younger of the two, Jordan is the order to Aliyah's chaos. If her head is too high in the clouds, he'll be the one to bring her down to earth and smack her back into reality. Quiet and mysterious, Jordan prefers to stay out of sight and usually keeps to himself. But even though he's known among the members of the house as the quiet one, he’s just as mischievous as his older sister and sometimes is even more ruthless in his pranks. Bio: N/A Other: N/A
Oh...my...god O: They fit you two so well. Too well ._. I'd usually be Graham Spector but I'm not really like him to be honest. Maybe I'm more of a Jacuzzi.
Dude, I'm so strong that I won't die even if you killed me. B| This scene makes much more sense in the context of the story.
Oh this looks very interesting. You mind if I nab the other twin, Midny?
Today's lesson: Use a gun. And if that don't work, use more gun.
