A friend and I have been doing a RP for a while now, and it has been scattered across several threads on two different sites. It started as a group story (about fast food of all things ) but then it transformed into something else entirely.

 

We request that nobody join in this RP or post anything on this thread; if you wanna say how awesome we are, message us some other way.

 

Um...You're free to read this for fun if you want to, but this thread has major Birth By Sleep spoilers. And since we've been doing this for a while, we will probably refer to things we've done in the past and you will have no idea what we're talking about. So if you want to save yourself from confusion, then you probably wanna stay away. If not, hey, whatever.

 

The plot was discussed and posted on another website, but here's a quick summary of the whole thing: It's the return of Xehanort.

 

Characters:

Peanut: Sora, Namine, Leon, Aerith, King Mickey, Terra, Ventus, Xehanort, etc.

Forever Love: Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Yuffie, Aqua, Vanitus, Tron, etc.

 

I believe I've said everything that needs to be said...Forever Love, let's get this show on the road, eh?

Light nodded softly, willing those thoughts away. Everything would come back to her as they went along. She watched Riku summon his glider while she stood a few feet away. The only reason that didn't seem incredibly foreign was because she saw him do that back in Valhalla. But even with that touch of familiarity, she was uncomfortable.

Once Riku was seated on his glider, Lightning joined him, and he summoned a portal to leave Gran Pulse. In a matter of minutes, another portal was created for Destiny Islands. The salty air greeted him and Lightning as they descended into the world's atmosphere, and Riku briefly thought of Sora and Kairi. Were they back from their honeymoon yet? If so, he knew he was dead; he was supposed to watch out for everyone while they were gone.

Light couldn't help but look around the area as they landed on the beach, the young woman doing her best to put on the facade that she was perfectly comfortable as she got off the glider. Yet she wished she could wear a mask for some reason. First off, she aged a year. Not that it made a huge difference, but still. Her hair was obviously noticeable and her expression just appeared more tired than it had when she left. How long had they been gone, though?

Riku let his armor and glider fade once he was on the beach, aware that they would have to go search for his friends; none of them were outside right now. With good reason too, since it was kind of chilly. He started forward, trusting Lightning to follow as he made his way toward Terra and Aqua's home, which wasn't too far off.

Lightning followed, her silver armor fading to her old GC clothes. A foreign feeling again, along with softer sands beneath her feet. "Where are we going?" she asked, a step or two behind Riku. They were heading towards the town, obviously, but did he have a specific destination in mind?

"I need to talk to Terra and Aqua," Riku declared, glancing over his shoulder at Lightning as they walked. He then looked forward again. "They knew Xehanort best. They may know how to extract hearts, or known someone who does." That was his best guess. If this failed, he would go to Master Eraqus. There was no time to sit around.

Lightning hummed her understanding, also nodding even if Riku wasn't looking at her anymore. She supposed that it was their best bet. They knew going into this that it was a long shot, but there weren't any other options. Caius could show up at any time...even now. He could come cause mayhem in Riku's home world. She looked around uneasily, hoping that didn't happen. If it did, it'd be her fault.

It didn't take long for Riku and Lightning to reach the home, and Riku knocked on the door in silence before stepping back from the door slightly. He wasn't sure if Terra or Aqua could help, but it was worth a shot. They had to stop Caius, before it was too late.

Terra heard the door knock, and he wondered who it was. Not many people showed up at their house--"their" being Terra, Aqua, and Ven. It wasn't like any of them would be locked out either, considering they all had universal keys. Regardless, he picked himself up off the couch and opened the front door. He was surprised to see who was on the other side but happy too. "Hey Riku. Lightning," he said in greeting.

Riku nodded to Terra, though he didn't smile in greeting. "Do you have a minute?" he asked lowly. There were some things Riku needed to talk about with Terra, and that required telling him about Valhalla. He wasn't sure if Lightning would be comfortable with that, but it was the only way to get information they needed.

"Yeah, sure," Terra said, catching onto Riku's serious vibe. He stepped aside and then led them to the living room, where he sat down on an individual chair where he could see both Riku and Lightning easily. "Roxas told me you'd be gone a few days," he said once they were settled. "I'm surprised you're back so quickly." It had only been three days, but he supposed that did count as "a few days".

"Something came up, so we left a little early," Riku said, sitting on the only couch in the living room. He glanced over at Lightning, but then looked back to Terra. "There are a few questions we need to ask, but first we need to fill you in." It would take a little while, but it needed to be done.

Terra glanced over at Lightning when Riku did, noticing then her shorter hair and somber expression. Lightning was somber quite often, but today, her expression showed more than that. "Okay," he said, looking back at Riku when it didn't seem like Lightning was going to be the one to talk. He was all ears, even if he was confused.

Riku jumped right into things, telling Terra about their time in the Realm of Darkness with Serah and then losing Lightning in the timeline. He explained Valhalla and Caius, and Etro. He was sure it was rather confusing, but at least it could be grasped. Riku told Terra that Serah was gone with Noel, a guy from the future, and then wrapped it up. "We need to stop Caius, so we need to find someone who knows how to extract hearts," Riku stated. "I need to do it myself."

Terra glanced down at his folded hands, the young man leaning forward on his seat. "Extracting hearts is a dark art," he said lowly. "Are you sure you want to dive into that?" Master Xehanort extracted Ven's Darkness, then his own heart later on to possess Terra. And Terra...had experience with it as well. He wasn't quite himself when he extracted Aurora's heart, but he had done it somehow. He and Master Xehanort were the only two to have ever done it as far as he knew.

Riku lowered his gaze to the floor, taking a breath before nodding. "I have to," he declared. He was the only one who could, and it was the only way to keep chaos from hurting the worlds. He had to do what he could to protect humanity.

Terra nodded faintly. He wished Riku didn't have to know this, because he was ashamed of it, but... "Then you should know that I'm probably the only person who can help you," he said quietly. "I've extracted a heart before." That was a wrong that somebody else had righted, thank goodness. But how on earth was he supposed to teach Riku how to do it if he himself wasn't sure?

Riku's eyebrows furrowed at the declaration. "When?" he asked. He had never heard of Terra doing such a thing before. If it was with Master Xehanort, he would have heard about it. It had to be before Riku even met him.

"On my first journey," Terra said lowly, glancing up in Riku in seriousness as he confessed to his sin. "I met Maleficent and she manipulated me into doing it to someone. But I was possessed by my own Darkness at the time, so...it'll be hard to remember the details of what happened." If Maleficent were alive, it'd be easy to go to her and demand information. Demand, not necessarily receive. She was a real witch.

Riku nodded slightly, understanding. Tapping into your past experiences was hard, especially when it revolved around the Darkness. But Terra knew that this was necessary to save the worlds, and Riku wasn't going to back down because of Darkness. It was the only way.

"I need a minute or two to think about it," Terra said. "Why don't you two help yourselves to the kitchen?" They were probably hungry from their journey. Did a year really pass for Lightning? That was so crazy to think about. But then again, there was a lot of craziness that took place in their lives. He had come to accept it.

Riku nodded slightly before grabbing Lightning's hand. He stood from the couch, gently pulling her with him so they could go to the kitchen. They had barely eaten the past few days, and he was sure Terra had a lot of food; after all, he and Ventus lived in this house. There had to be something to munch on.

When Lightning and Riku returned after a few minutes, Terra told them everything that he remembered. "Maleficent churned the Darkness within me," he said as he stared at the ground. "It was my own Darkness that did it, not hers. I remember holding my Keyblade over the woman's chest--she was laying down and unconscious, by the way. Some kind of enchanted sleep. But the tip of my Keyblade glowed with a bright light for a few seconds. When I pulled it away, her heart ascended on its own and floated to Maleficent. I'm guessing she controlled that part of it."

"So it requires Darkness," Riku assumed, not judging Terra for his past mistakes. They all had them, whether they wanted to acknowledge them or not. But through Terra's story, he realized that he would probably have to use his Darkness to extract the heart. After all, only someone of the Dark Realm would do such a thing; people of the Light wouldn't need to extract hearts...until now.

"Yes," Terra said with a nod, looking up at Riku. "Darkness is the first key to freeing a heart. The second is the strength of your will. In my case, it wasn't my will to obey my own Darkness. But I did want to extract the heart, deep down inside. Maleficent had promised me important information and I didn't see the harm in extracting the heart. It was that will that allowed me to do it." Or so he thought. Extracting hearts was a complicated thing.