Roleplay Kingdom Hearts: Lost Radiance

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

"Dramos? You mean Faedron Dramos of the Dark Crusaders?" Aurion asked while following Erinys, "No. I was not exiled here."
Aurion thought about it for a moment. It was true that Faedron Dramos, leader of the Dark Crusaders, didn't exiled him to the Realm of Light, but he was one of the reasons he wanted to abandon his home, the reason his parents choose to stay instead of coming with him.
"I came here by my how volition. Although, I admit that Dramos was one of the main reasons for leaving home," he answered Erinys, "And what about you, Erinys? I do not think a, what did you called it? A dark bomb? I do not think that is a good farewell present. What could you do to get exiled to this side, and with such dangerous thing inside your heart.

 

- Aether - Twilight Town -

Aether didn't bother to answer Kira, she simply followed her to their destination. After a few blocks they stopped in a dark alley, Aether was looking at the expensive looking building across the street.
"We should be careful in our attempt, Kira. By the look of this building I suppose there is going to be some form of security," Aether said to Kira, "There must be a few choices to get inside, windows, ventilation system, the roof, but first we should take a look around the perimeter. See if there are any kind of security system, cameras, you know, the usual stuff. If we are sure that there is nothing to hinder our movement then we can enter."
The Ex-Raven looked around once more, just in case people were walking by, but she payed very close attention to the fancy building, trying to find any hint of a way to get inside without getting noticed by anyone.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden; Rising Falls}

"Yeah, that's him." Erinys growled her answer to Aurion's question.

She gave him an odd look as he admitted he came here of his own free will. Why in the hells would someone want to come here. Even with Dramos around, this place was a scorching hell hole. But he seemed to be standing in light just fine. One more "gift " of her birth.

"I got nosy and started digging into Dramos's plans." She said, trying to staying in the shadows. "I found something he didn't want me to. So, we fought, I lost, and he turned me into a bomb to hurt the Realm of Light with."

Erinys fell silent as the memories of what Dramos did to her flooded back. She looked down at her hands, still trembling slightly from the energy release. She looked at her missing finger. An ingredient for the spell he put on her to turn her into a monster. 

"He's almost done back home." She added softly, lost in thought. "He's already moving pieces into place for his invasion of the Realm of Light."

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

Kira listened to Aether's plan for entry as she looked over the building. At least she was a proper assassin, not one of those more in it for style and mystery. 

"Agreed." She replied with only a hint of reluctance. "I can probably erase any data once inside, in case they get lucky."

She pulled out one of her pistols, and a suppressor from a pouch on her hip.

"Usual fair for this kind of building should be cameras, motion detectors on the windows, and some discrete lasers in key doorways and corridors." Kira continued, screwing the suppressor on her weapon. "Munny should be in a vault, with its own array of security measures, but we shouldn't have to deal with that. Oh, and maybe some portal scramblers too. Got tools in your bag of tricks for stuff like that?"

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

"I see. I suppose that does explain why you went through that." Aurion replied.

The ex-delivery boy looked around for a moment. This place felt slightly like home, he could feel the darkness around, just as he could feel the dark essence from Erinys. While she talked he looked for a spot where he could place Simeon's scanner, after looking for a little while he found a hole behind a few large rocks, a perfect spot to place the scanner, no one would come to the Rising Falls, and if they did, they would never have the time to look behind each and every hole in the walls, and not holes that were hidding behind such larges rocks.

"So he is still trying to invade the Realm of Light?" Aurion asked, "That is absurd. The forces of the Light are massive, spread among all the different worlds. How does he plan to fight against that? I doubt even many of the denizens of the Dark would have joined such a suicide mission, unless they were forced."

- Aether - Twilight Town -

"Yeah, I doubt munny is that important in this mission. Let me take a look at my bag of tricks then," Aether said to Kira.

The former Raven spend a couple of minutes pressing her wristwatch buttons, never saying anything, but sometimes looking around to see if someone was coming.

"I could "upgrade" this suit's visor to have be able to detect lasers, or serve as a thermal visor. I also have in hand a device that would emit a localized EMP to disable all electronic devices, and an anti-jammers just in case they try to disrupt the opening of portals," Aether said calmly, "If our objective is to reach the third floor and investigate then I could make all the devices from the first and second floor unusable. Giving us a clear way to the top, unless there are actual guards inside."

Aether waited for Kira's response while she touched her side of the helmet with the wristwatch. Her vision suddenly changed as the visor of the helmet changed to one that could detect heat. She focused on the building, trying to see if there were people inside.

[twilight_roxas 326]

Alyssa was a bit hesitate of grabbing his hand, but she grabbed it hoping nothing bad happens to him or herself.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden; Rising Falls}

"There's more in the dark then just humans." Erinys shot back. "Heartless as a renewable army is what the Old Masters use to do."

She glanced around through squinting eyes at their surroundings, clearly not liking what she was seeing.

"Plus I'm willing to bet the Dark Realm breeds a hardier stock than those of the Light. And that's not the worst of it. Dramos has-"

Erinys froze. She craned her neck like she was listening intently to something. 

"Something's coming this way." She said in a low, urgent tone. "We need to get out of sight. Know any place we can go?"

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

Kira let Aether check her gear in peace as the Gunslinger continued to case the building. From the windows, she caught sight of lantern light. A minute later, she saw a night guard patrolling. When Aether reported what was in her bag of tricks, Kira hadn't seen any other guard.

"Only one guard sighted." She replied. "I'd say assume at least one more in a control center. That should be on the first floor."

She paused a moment as she put a few last pieces of a plan in place.

"Alright, if your EMP can take out the motion detectors, then we go in on one of the third floor windows. I'll start checking for clues as you neutralize the guards. Lethality is up to you, just make sure they aren't going to disturb me. Works?"

 

{Lamont: Radiant Garden; Borough}

Lamont took Alyssa's grabbing his hand as a yes that she was still hungry.

"Okay, come with me." He told her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. 

He had seen a little restaurant that looked reputable enough. He should have enough munnies to pay for a good meal. 

 

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

"I guess you are right. He could use humans, heartless, and whatever else he can find."

Aurion looked behind him after he placed the scanner and covered the device's hiding spot.

"And I agree that the Dark Realm has a, what did you called it? hardier stock than those of the Light? Living in the Dark is tough."

He noticed as the Noxling froze, as if she had seen or heard something in the distance. This made Aurion turn around to look.

"Something like- you know what, never mind, we should get out of here quickly. If the map that I was given is correct, there is a castle further down the road. We could make out way there, maybe we can find a place to get out of sight along the way."

 

- Aether - Twilight Town -

Aether was looking at the building windows for any sign of security, and find a sign she did. She caught sight of a lantern light, and a few moments later she saw the guard.

"Got it. We have two potential guards on the lower floors," Aether said, "We can only assume they will try to find the source of the disruption once the EMP does its job. I'd say that we will have a good amount of time until they find out what is going on."

The Ex-raven gave Kira a thumbs up, and after that she took another quick peek outside.

"Just give me a couple of minutes while I get this toy ready, alright?"

Without waiting for a response, Aether quickly made her way around the building, using a pistol like device to shoot small devices at strategic points on the building walls, all while taking several looks around to avoid any onlooker, or those blasted ships. When she thought that someone was coming she quickly took cover in any possible hiding spot until the threat was gone, she then resumed her work. After a couple minutes Aether returned.

"Alright, it is done. The moment you want to begin just say so and I will activate the EMP," Aether said to Kira, "All devices will be out of commision, giving us enough time to look for whatever it is that we are looking for. And about the guards? Don't worry, I won't hurt them, that much."

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden; Raising Falls}

“One moment.” Erinys said, giving the bright light outside her shady respite a weary look.

The rags she was wearing wouldn’t protect her enough in the scorching light. 

Though she felt tired and drained, she mustered her power over darkness to create a dark coat around her. It was old magic, used by the Dark Masters Of Old to protect them from the elements. Not bothering to put her arms into the sleeves, she drew it in close as she mentally took stuck of what she was missing. 

All of Erinys’s gear was gone, particularly her armor and gunblade. She would need to make it scrounge replacements. At least she still had...

Her face went rigid when she considered the prospect of having lost her Keyblade too. Dramos had tampered with her heart, and so had Aurion. Had that cost her more than she thought? She hesitantly reached out a hand and called out to her Keyblade. In a swirl of darkness, the Keyblade Tenebrex formed in her grasp. Letting out a breath she did know she was holding, she looked relieved at the sight of the blade. Well, at least it didn’t abandon her.

Dismissing the blade, she pulled the hood up on her coat, pulling the coat close to her. 

“Alright, let’s get to that castle.” Erinys finally said, giving Aurion a nod.

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

Kira scowled after Aether for a moment after she bounced off, but let the assassin do her job in peace. The minute or so of waiting was used watching for any other indicators of guards, but there seemed to be the only the one moving around. The Gunslinger didn’t look away when Aether returned.

“Just so long as you are clean and efficient, I’m not worried about anything.” She replied.

Silence reigned for a few more seconds as Kira waited for the guard to round a corner, going further into the building’s interior.

“Go!” She hissed before taking off for the target’s roof.

[Elrandir 783]

 - Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

Aurion was watching Erinys as she created one of the dark coats he had seen some people wear to protect themselves, which Aurion supposed would be used to protect herself from the light. That had been interesting to watch, but more interesting was the change on the young woman's face. It looked as if different emotions were happening at the same time.
"Hey, are you-" Aurion asked.
The Ex-delivery boy didn't managed to finish the question as the girl in front of him summoned an all too familiar weapon, a Keyblade. This day had been full of surprises, he had met two different people, and those two same people had been able to summon such weapon, just like him. He didn't had much time to follow that line of thought as whatever was coming was getting closer and closer with each passing second.
"Right, let's move."
Aurion took a quick look around, and once he made sure there was no one near that could spot them, he began to run towards the castle in the distance."

 

- Aether - Twilight Town -

The moment Kira gave the signal, Aether pressed her wristwatch to activate the EMP. On the outside it looked like nothing had happened, but any electronic device would cease to function, leaving the building complete unprotected from intruders. Aether watched as Kira began to move towards the roof and she followed suit, but instead of following her she took a different route, better to take two different paths and not risk to being found out, not the two at the same time, at least. Each time Aether thought someone would appear she use anything as a hidding spot, when she was sure that she was safe she kept going until she could reach the roof.
"I wonder what we will find out on this place," Aether thought, "What was this guy doing to deserve such fate? I guess we will find out sonner or later."

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden; Rising Falls}

Erinys did her best to keep up with Aurion, though her body wasn't fully up to it. Still, she could hear the hum of engines and the beat of feet. She knew the legends of how the Light treated users of Darkness. They would be no kinder than Dramos, especially with what she was. She pushed passed the pain and the stiffening muscles to pick up speed. 

"Not enough." She thought. "Need to hold them up."

Slowing down, Erinys pivoted around and thrust out her hands. They smoked in the light, getting a grunt of pain in return before darkness swirled from her hands. A door to darkness flickered into being, summoning a Dark Hide Heartless. The Heartless looks around in the unaccustomed light before settling on Erinys. She jerked a finger towards the Rising Falls, hoping that the Heartless would take the hint. It growled and bounded away towards the sounds of in coming vehicles. 

With a sign of relief, the Noxling Ronin turned and ran after Aurion, struggling to catch up.

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

Kira bounded up the side of the building to the roof. With a flip, she landed on the roof and paused to scan for threats. None were found, so she moved on. She approached a skylight, pulling out a glass cutter from her pouches. She carefully cut a circle big enough to go through, using a suction cup to pull the removed glass out and set it down carefully.

Dropping in with surprising silence, Kira took a moment to look over the room she was now in. It was the head office and apparently the scene of the crime. Disengaging her helmet, the Gunslinger pulled out a scanner to begin work on collecting clues.

 

As far as the guards went, Aether heard the guard on patrol running to get down stairs were the control room and vault should be.

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

Aurion was busy trying to understand what was going on. He had been sent to complete a mission by his new employer, and then this happened. Two mysterious girl that showed the ability to wield the Keyblade. One was gone, and the other was behind him as they were currently running from whatever it was that was coming in their direction.

"I had such a simple life before. Just a delivery boy doing errands, but now?" he hought, "now I am running away from, from whatever is coming."
It took a moment for Aurion to notice that Erinys had stopped, and when he turned around he saw how a path to the darkness flickered into being, and a Dark Hide heartless that appeared from within. He had seen one of them when he was a child, but his parents always warned him to not get close enough, it was still a heartless and as such it could still take his heart away.

"What did you, no, nevermind," he said, "It might prove to be the distraction that we need to go unnoticed by whoever is coming this way."

With one last look to the Dark Hide, and waiting for the mysterious girl, Aurion resumed his way towards the castle.

- Aether - Twilight Town -

Aether was peeking inside through a window, watching as the guard on patrol quickly went running down the stairs, probably going to the control room, or to check their precious vault. Not that that was important to Aether, or her friend upstairs. As she reached the roof and scanned for possible threats she saw Kira going inside the room.

"Everything is going fine for the time being," she thought as she got closer to the hole in the skylight and peeked inside, "Let's see if it stays that way."
The ex-raven took one last look around the edge of the roof, just in case there was any sign of the guards coming up, such as the light from their flashlights for instance. Once she made sure no one was coming she silently made her way inside the room, making sure to make no noise on the way.

"Found anything of importance, Kira?" Aether calmly asked.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden}

"If the Light Wielders are as good against Heartless as the legends say, the Dark Hide shouldn't hurt many of them." Erinys replied to Aurion, sounding defensive. 

Old Nick wouldn't have liked this tactic. But he was dead and not stuck in the Realm of Light. That Aurion seemed to understand should have been comforting. Should have been.

Erinys followed after Aurion towards the castle. The sound of a fight faded behind them as the pressed on. It was a little hard going for the Noxling in her current condition, but they managed to make it to shelter without incident. 

"Need a...breather." She said, a bit out of breath. 

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

"I might if I didn't have someone interrupting me with questions." Kira hissed before continuing her scans.

She was definitely getting signs of void use here, but it was a little odd. Not like previous encounters. Had something changed? If this was a new form, she just hoped it was a more stable one. But why attack this guy? He was a scumbag for sure, but why just him? This whole situation was weird. 

"Maybe you should go check on our 'friends' aga-" She whispered in frustration, but was cut off by bumping into a figure that wasn't there a moment ago.

The robed figure's hand shot out and grabbed Kira by the neck before she could properly react, lifting her off her feet.

"You are not welcome here." The figure said in multiple voices speaking in harmony. "You only disrupt a place you do not belong."

"Run..." Kira managed to get out as she pulled out her pistol and fired into the robes figure at point blank range, getting zero reaction in return.

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

"Not every wielder in the Light are as capable as the legend makes them out to be, " Aurion answered quietly, "Some just love to show off."

It took both of them a few minutes to reach the castle in the distance. The sound of fighting slowly fading as the got farther away from the spot. Aurion kept taking a look behind him to make sure that Erinys was still following him, she didn't looked quite alright, but Aurion understood that was to much to ask at the moment. After arriving at the castle Aurion quickly searched for a spot where they could hide for the time being.

"It's alright...I think we lost them," Aurion replied, "At least for now."

 - Aether - Twilight Town -

"Touchy. You might hurt my feelings, Kira," Aether said as she walked closer to the door, "But sure, I will let you work while I wait over here."

The ex raven leaned against the door as she watched Kira do whatever she had to do to find out what she was looking for. The look on her face made Aether think that she had found something, but maybe it was not related to this particular job. As Aether prepared a witty comeback for Kira, her words got stuck on her throat as a new figure appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Kira by her neck. The first thing she did after hearing the shot was to run in a circle towards Kira and the mysterious figure while taking her daggers out.

"I'm not going to leave you here!" Aether said as she threw one of her daggers towards the figure in an attempt to make it let go of kira.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden}

“Small favors.” Erinys breathed. 

She slumped against a wall and slid down into a sitting position. This castle had echoes of darkness in it from back during Xehanort’s time. That plus the shade it provided from the sun, it felt quite homely to the Noxling. 

“You seem pretty competent at surviving.” She said after a few moments of silence. “What led you to come to the realm of Light?”

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

“Idiot..” Kira gurgled as she dropped her pistol and started to fumble with the controls for her suit. 

The cloaked figure reached out and caught Aether’s blade before turning its hood towards her. From inside the blackness of the hood, three pairs of glowing eyes glared at her.

“Your path is not here.” It said. “Go home, assassin.”

Kira managed to find the right command in her suit’s systems. She grunted something as she engaged the failsafe, releasing a blast of Void energy from her suit in a short range blast. The figure stumbled back, dropping the gunslinger. 

“Abort mission and get back to the LZ!” Kira rasped as she scooped up her dropped pistol. 

With her free hand, she tapped her her coms.

“Simeon!” She yelled. “Code 3! Repeat! Code 3! We’ve got-“

Kira was cut off by a beam of Light and Darkness from the Figure, blasting her through the outside wall. There was sounds of running steps coming from the stairs as the guards came in response to the noise.

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden - Raising Falls -

 

"Fear of Dramos is a reason, I suppose," Aurion answered quietly, "some also said that the Light would be a good place to live. I guess they were wrong."

 

Living in the Realm of Light had been hard thanks to the rule of those who  used the Keyblade as a sign of superiority from others. Those who were meant to protect people were often the ones hurting them the most, nothing like he once imagined the Light would be.

 

"I wanted to escape into the Light to take my parents away from the danger that was Dramos, but..." Aurion looked to the cloudy sky anf sighed, "I guess they had other plans. When we found a passage to the Light I was told to escape alone, that they were going to stay behind while I traveled to the Light. It has been hard, I just hope that they managed to stay away from Dramos. What about you? What is your story?

"

 

- Aether - Twilight Town -

 

Aether was surprised that the figure had managed to caught her dagger, but more surprised by what was inside the hood, or at least what she could see, three pair of eyes were looking at her.

 

"My path is my own, you do not get to choose it for me," Aether replied, "Now leave my friend or you will suffer the-"

 

The blast from Kira made Aether stumble back, but she quickly regained her composure and was ready to continue with the fight. That was until Kira told her to abort and return to the LZ. The ex-raven saw how Kira was blasted through the wall, while the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. Without waiting for the guards, or for the mysterious figure, Aether jumped through the hole on the wall to try and reach Kira and return to the LZ.

[rikunobodyxiii 700]

{Erinys: Radiant Garden}

Erinys listened to Aurion's story. Wanting to escape Dramos was a common motivation among the Free Tribes, but few could go so far as the Realm of Light to get away from him. She wanted to be mad at Aurion for running, but she couldn't muster it. She would have given anything to escape her own problems. But she knew in her bones that she couldn't escape. And now, with Dramos preparing an invasion of the Realm of Light, it looked like Aurion couldn't escape either.

"Oh, the usual." Erinys said, her voice sounding hollow as she stared blankly at the wall across from her. "Abused and taken advantage of because of what I am. Got rescued by a decent man just trying to do the right thing. He takes me in, trains me, then dies on me because he wouldn't bend the knee to Dramos. And I end up right back at being used and abused."

Tears welled up in the Noxling's red eyes. The ache of missing Nick was back again, made stronger so far from home.

"Now I've got to decide if I'm going to risk my life not just for the ungrateful masses back home, but for the stuck up egomaniacs of the Light."

Erinys hadn't meant to say that last part aloud, but the words slipped out as the weight of the codes Nick had taught her settled on her shoulders. He had spent his life and lost it trying to protect 'the Balance'. Was she willing to do the same?

 

{Kira: Twilight Town}

Aether found Kira crumpled on the street below, her armor cracked and crackling. She struggled to her feet then ripped her helmet off. Her eyes and veins glowed with an orange-ish light. She spotted Aether and waved her on before breaking out in a stumbling run towards the clock tower. 

From inside the ruined office, sounds of guards yelling "Halt" was cut short as another flash of Light emanated from the hole in the wall. A few moments later, the Stranger stood in the hole, eyes peering around before spotting Kira's retreating from. It hovered off the ground for a moment before flying after the Gunslinger. 

Around the town, alarms went up, calling patrol craft towards the decimated building.

[Elrandir 783]

- Aurion - Radiant Garden -

Aurion listened closely to Erinys' story, it seemed that she had been through a lot, a lot of suffering, at least. He felt a little guilty for having escaped from his home into the Light, unlike her who had been forced to stay and endure such life.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I suppose Dramos is a huge problem, even now," Aurion said as he looked at Erinys, "many had to choose whether to stay and endure the threat that is Dramos, try to stay as far away as possible, or try to find a way to into the Light."

The ex-delivery boy thought about his own experiences for a moment. He had arrived in the Realm of Light alone, scared of the possible threat of invasion, and the possible dangers of a denizen of the Dark showing up in the worlds of the Light. While is life had been better than back at home, it had been hard to fit in, those with the power to wield the mystic keyblade often used it to extort the weak, the unprotected, it was them who were supposed to help, not hurt. And so he learned that both Light and Dark weren't so different after all.

"I learned that there are people worth saving, both from the Light and the Dark. There are a lot of egomaniacs in the Light, I agree on that, but there are people worth saving too, those who have to suffer at the hands of those who were meant to protect them," he said as he clenched his fist, "Whatever you end up choosing is not a bad choice. You have your own values, and your own way to see life. Whether you end up helping both sides to get rid of their tyrants, or let them fall against any of them, I will not think badly of you. But if you decide to lend a hand, well, I could help you with that."

 

 - Aether - Twilight Town -

The mission had taken a turn for the worse in a matter of minutes and Aether didn't knew what to make of it. The person in that room was strange, she couldn't deny that, but she had to focus on finding Kira and making sure they got  away quickly. Said woman was crumpled on the street, she struggled to her feet only to remove her helmet.

"Hey, are you-" Aether said.

Whatever remained of her words was lost when she noticed Kira's eyes glowing with a orange-ish light, but this was not the time for questions, they had to get as far away as possible, or else who know what would happen, not if the person upstairs catched up with them. Aether could hear the guards ordering to "Halt" only for them to go silent when a flash of light emanated from the hole, she didn;t waited to find out what that was. Instead, she catched up with Kira and remained at her side just in case she needed further assistance to keep going.

"What happened back there?" Aether asked, "who was that person?"

 

 

Edited February 9, 2019 by Elrandir