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?

While Lightning tentatively started reaching for her sword, a girl appeared in the midst of swarming chaos. "Thanks for fixing my toy for me," Lumina called, smiling brightly as she clasped her hands behind her back like Serah often did. "I have to say though, you might have a harder time fixing her this time around." Last time, Lumina dealt physical damage. Today, it was going to be psychological. But physical too--after all, it wasn't like Lightning would actually fight her.

"You..." Riku practically growled, lowering his hand to his side as it curled into a fist. He didn't like where this was going already, and Lumina's (or Serah's) words didn't encourage any good feelings.

 

"Serah," Snow said instantly, unable to help it. Despite the dark outfit and the cruel behavior, he still saw the woman before him as his wife. Why was she doing this? There was no reason for hostility here! But...she was siding with Caius. She wasn't the woman he knew, not anymore.

"What do you want?" Lightning asked, being more cautious this time around as she stepped away from Lumina. "Why did you trap me in here?" It didn't make much sense, unless there was going to be a physical fight. Then Lumina was at a definite advantage, because Lightning would never attack her seriously. 

 

"I don't like sharing my toys," Lumina winked. "I didn't want anyone else interrupting my play time." She summoned a sword to her hand--one that looked a lot like Mog did when he was in that form. It wasn't Mog though; it was only an imitation of him. "So Lightning, are you ready to play again? You look fixed enough to me."

 

"We don't have to do this," Light said carefully. "Why don't we talk? Humor your toy with conversation for a while." Please don't make me take out my sword, Serah...

 

"Oh, we'll have a conversation," Lumina agreed. "But we'll have it while fighting. C'mon, sis, I always did want to prove how strong I was to you. Are you afraid of me?"

"Serah, stop it!" Snow cried, banging a fist against the invisible wall. Why was she doing this? What did Caius do to her?! He was going to kill that man for all he did, even if it was the last thing Snow accomplished. Caius tainted his Serah.

Light managed to cast Riku a panicked look as she dodged the streams of chaos that came her way. They smashed into the wall where she previously stood before bouncing off and following her. She did the only thing logical: she ran back towards Lumina and jumped over her. The chaos that had been tailing her vanished as Lumina summoned the power back inside herself. 

 

"You're smart, avoiding the chaos," Lumina said, sending more at Lightning and watching her dodge them with no attempts to go on the offensive. "You know how vulnerable you are to Darkness, so why would chaos be any different? It's strange to believe that you're vulnerable to your own element."

Her own element? Riku thought in confusion. That didn't make any sense. Lightning didn't belong in the Darkness, if that was what Lumina was talking about. She was Claire to Riku, his Light. How could Lumina come to a conclusion like that?

"You don't even know your own past anymore?" Lumina laughed. She sent another beam at Lightning, striking her leg and halting her run. As the girl went down to one knee and the darkness teamed around her wound, Lumina slowly approached. "That's pathetic, Lightning. How you managed to wipe your mind of everything is fascinating. You're the most complex toy I'll probably ever have." 

 

Lightning squeezed her eyes shut when Lumina approached. Last time Lumina was close, she stabbed her in the back near her spinal cord. That couldn't happen again. She had to fight back; she had to...hurt Serah. A golden light appeared around her body as she summoned an armor that she hadn't worn in a very long time: Rose's armor. And in her hands were Rose's twin blades, pointed at Lumina. "Don't come any closer," she ordered from behind the mask. If Lumina came closer, she really would strike. In this armor, she wasn't Lightning anymore, so she had no qualms with hurting this girl with pink hair. She was strong. Emotionless.

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Peanut

Riku grunted at the sight of the armor, his panic increasing. "No..." he said, putting a hand on the wall. But then he pounded it with his fist. "Lightning, no!" She couldn't turn into Rose again, no matter what. He almost lost her to her own second identity in the past. That couldn't happen again!

 

Kairi, already alarmed by what was happening, blinked when Riku started panicking. That was so unlike him, but with Lightning, she wasn't too surprised. This however was completely different. "Riku..." she said softly, worried. What was going on with him? Why was he freaking out, other than the obvious?

Namine heard what was going on, but her mind was elsewhere. She just realized that she could make a connection to Lumina. It was easy despite her consciousness. Why that was could be figured out later. "Roxas," she whispered to the person beside her. "I can look inside Lumina's head. I can go through the memories and retrieve Serah..." And that was what she was going to do, immediately. This was her first time going through the memories of somebody conscious, so she hoped nothing would go wrong.

 

Lightning froze inside her armor. Riku's panic hurt her heart. She may have changed her armor, but she wasn't Rose anymore. She lost that person a long time ago, when Riku brought her back to her senses and reminded her who she really was. Her swords that were in an X formation clanged against each other as her hands trembled. Even if she wanted to summon her alter ego, she couldn't do it. She wasn't that person anymore. 

 

Lumina chuckled, grabbing a tip of a blade between her thumb and index finger as she moved a thin blade off to the side. She did the same with the other, seeing Lightning completely bend to her whims. "What identity was that you just tried to  put on?" she asked, bouncing playfully on her feet. "I've lost count of how many identities you've created now. Your Valhallan identity, Light, Lightning, Claire..."

 

"What are you talking about?" Lightning asked quietly, loosening her grip on the hilts as she looked up at Lumina. Her golden mask disappeared, revealing an expression that showed confusion and dismay. "I didn't create Claire..." Claire was who she was at her heart. Yeah, she changed her identity after that, several times... But not Claire."

 

"This is laughable!" Lumina mocked as she knelt down in front of Lightning. "You really think you're Claire, don't you? Here's a newsflash for you: You're not Claire. That's another identity you stole."

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Peanut

Roxas glanced at Naminé in confusion, but then he nodded. "Do it," he told her softly. If she could do it, she needed to now. This wasn't going to end well for Lightning by the looks of things. While Riku hit the wall again, Roxas tensed. This wasn't good...at all.

Namine shut her eyes and focused. Lumina's consciousness was clear to her, and so were the topics that she was bringing up. Lightning's identities flashed before her mind like pictures pulled out of a textbook, not moments that she actually witnessed. Something just wasn't right...She tried to dig deeper for answers, sure her time was limited while Lightning and Lumina had their confrontation.

 

"You're not Claire," Lumina repeated. "Maybe once, you were a part of her. You don't remember? Let me fill you in. When you were eight, you were recruited to be Xehanort's apprentice. He saw potential and decided to try to make you the X-blade like he did with your brother Ven. The split between your heart was successful; you had two complete beings running around. One was full of Light, and the other was full of Darkness. When Light Claire rebelled against Xehanort, he burnt down her house and decided to take Ven out of need for a new subject. She died that day, but Claire's Darkness lived on. And that girl--" Lumina pointed a sword, the tip tapping Lightning's nose. "Is you."

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Peanut

Snow watched what was happening, and he shook his head. There was no way this was right. How could it be? Lightning was always the same person. Nothing ever changed about her, that he witnessed anyway. She was always...Lightning. Nothing less.

Lightning didn't even have room to shake her head with the tip of the blade at her nose. She leaned against the barrier behind her, wide eyes on Lumina. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said breathlessly. What on earth was Serah saying? Of course she was never an apprentice of Xehanort! She would have remembered something so important, wouldn't she?

 

"It's hard to ignore all the evidence though," Lumina stated. "Your vulnerability to Darkness is because the Darkness around you is always trying to manipulate your dark heart. You're so prone to adopt new identities because that's exactly what you did when the real Claire Farron died. You became her and assumed her entire existence because it solved all your problems. You just became a big sister hunting down the man who abducted her little brother."

 

"That's not true at all!" Lightning boomed, her voice beginning to hold emotion. It wasn't true at all! No matter what evidence there was, she knew her own heart! It wasn't a heart of Darkness. Riku called her his Light...She had to be his Light. She couldn't be Darkness...

"Lightning, don't listen to her!" Snow commanded, able to see her from where he was. Serah's back was to him, and even he could see through the lies. There was no way Lightning was from the Darkness. She couldn't believe that!

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Forever Love

"My precious little toy," Lumina said sweetly. "You're fun to play with. But I think I played with you too hard today. You can't take it, can you? The fact that your entire existence is a lie?" She looked down at Lightning, seeing her lift a hand to her face. She was too caught off guard to even think about Lumina attacking her again. Only today was Lumina going to go easy on her. Besides, the sun was stuck behind clouds now. For the first time in Valhalla's existence, rain suddenly began to pour down on them. "Playtime's over," she declared as she looked up at the sky. "Bye-bye, Claire." She vanished in a puff of chaos, the walls also fading away as she left the scene in far worse condition than when she entered it.

 

Namine's eyes snapped open when Lumina left the area. The sudden snap of their mental connection made her feel off balance enough to lean to the side where Roxas stood. She saw a lot of Lumina's head. It was full of facts about Lightning and photos of memories, but not "videos". She had more questions than she had before she went in.

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Peanut

Roxas lifted his hands, grasping Naminé's shoulders gently to make sure she didn't fall over. Something just happened with Lumina, other than the obvious. Naminé would fill him in once she gathered herself. If she was out of sorts, it must have been interesting.

 

Riku had his hands against the barrier, but it fell away once Lumina was gone. As the rain poured down on them, he hurried to Lightning's side, kneeling down next to her. Was she okay? She wasn't hurt too badly, other than the chaos getting to her leg. But...this was emotional torment more than anything, wasn't it?

Lightning's golden armor began to fade away completely, allowing the cold rain to begin coating her skin. She shook her head against her hand, knowing that Riku probably wanted her to say something and assure him that she was alright. But obviously she was anything but alright. Serah knew her best; she was there to witness all but the first three years of Lightning's life. She would be the one to know if Lightning was really Claire's Darkness. It was possible...it was all true. 

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Peanut

Snow approached Lightning as well, standing on her other side as he looked down at her. "You can't believe a thing she says," he told her lowly, ignoring Riku's presence for the moment. This was about Lightning, not Snow and Riku. "Everything she said was ridiculous and you know it."

"Right...ridiculous," Lightning repeated softly, keeping a hand to her forehead. It was completely ridiculous. But Snow was telling her to discard what Serah had to say? That was equally ridiculous. She looked up at him, feeling dazed, confused, and hurt. The last emotion was obviously from Lumina, but the confusion was partially caused by her and partially by Snow. She didn't understand reality anymore. She didn't understand anything.

Snow knelt down like Riku did, though he put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "You're not from Darkness," he told her, confident in his beliefs. "If you were, you wouldn't have saved Cocoon with me, Hope, and the others. If you were from Darkness you wouldn't have defeated Master Xehanort." He squeezed her shoulder. "If you were from Darkness...you wouldn't have found love." Snow looked from Lightning to Riku, making eye contact with the young man in the pouring rain. Riku could sense Darkness. If he loved Lightning, then whatever Darkness she had didn't overcome her being. She was Lightning, a soldier, a sister, and a friend.

"Right," Lightning repeated, though her gaze was back down to her lap. Right. Snow as right. She wouldn't have done those things if she was Darkness. But...Darkness had a way of deceiving people. If she was Darkness, then it deceived her during her entire existence so she would believe she was more than just Claire Farron's Darkness. Snow's explanations fit, but not well enough. Serah's fit better.

 

"Riku, why don't you and Lightning go back to the house?" Sora suggested, seeing the conversation going nowhere quickly. "The rest of us will find the inhabitants of Radiant Garden." It didn't look hopeful now with the bleak sky and the downpour of rain, but they couldn't give up their mission so quickly. Once Lightning recovered from her encounter with Lumina, he hoped that she would have faith again.

Riku was a little in shock by what Snow just said, finding the man to somehow defend him with what he told Lightning. But he snapped out of it, peering through the rain at Sora. "Right," he answered with a nod. He grasped Lightning's arm, gently pulling her to stand along with him. They weren't very far from the house. Once they went back, he would try to help out, like Snow did.

Lightning began to rise with Riku, feeling nothing more than a sting in her wounded leg. It was fine to walk on; there was no need to break out a cure spell for it. She glanced over her shoulder at the rest of her friends before silently starting away. She didn't want to talk about anything, or even think about it. All she wanted was for her brain to turn off for a while in hopes that when it came back on, she'd be able to cope with all this.

Edited June 13, 201312 yr by Peanut

Riku walked through the rain with Lightning as everyone headed out to accomplish the new mission: establish hope amongst the people of this Valhalla. He would join them, alongside Lightning, whenever she was feeling better. Right now, he could sense her confusion. He was just as lost.

When they returned to the house, Lightning didn't try to find a towel or blanket to dry off with. Instead, she just sat down a piece of furniture in silence. She almost told Riku to go back with everyone else, but after what happened, there was no way he was going to leave her by herself. If she was going to get away, she would have to sneak away while he was distracted. She had no place in mind yet; she just needed to run.