Rosie

"Hmph," Will grumbled. "Yet another reason you're bloody perfect. Honestly, Evany, what next, really?" He didn't look or sound angry, his tone teasing; but his eyes were hostile as usual. "As much as I enjoy history lessons."

"Good thing the stupid shifts have made me practically nocturnal, then," Will added. "But that's weird. I wasn't even born then."

By the time he heard her saying thanks, Raiden was nearly out the door. He didn't say anything, but his smile grew as he closed the front door behind him, as quietly as he could. It clunked, but he presumed Eliza would be too sleepy to be woken by such a thing. He trudged his way back to the portal, shivering when he reached the caves- whether with the cold or just a bad feeling, he didn't know. It was confirmed to be the latter, and much to his disappointment, he was right to feel that way, only a few seconds after he emerged in the Netherworld- when something lurched out from the trees, dragging him backwards. He fought for a moment, panicking, but he knew it was pointless. He only just managed to murmur his father's name before he blacked out. "Only tomorrow, huh..." Will crossed his arms. "And if it all goes well, that's it? Everything... everything'll get fixed?" He couldn'nt help but throw a distrusting look at the other two.

Raiden stopped in the doorway, shoving his hands in his pockets. He gave a faint smile, and, even though he knew Eliza was probably asleep already, or close to it, said; "Hey, I've got to head home... Or things'll just get worse the longer I wait. But... sleep well. And if I see you in the Netherworld tomorrow, I'll throw a tantrum. A noisy, embarrassing one." Will shrugged. "Alright, fine. The pier. And then what? I'm not going the whole way there just to stand by the water like an idiot."

Raiden fell into step beside her, not bothering to go and search for his dagger. He didn't particularly fancy crawling around on all fours in the gloom, just in the hopes he'd come across the thing. Especially since, knowing his luck, he'd probably stumble upon it and injure himself. It wasn't as if he was going to particularly miss it much- as a standalone object, it really had no sentimental value to him at all. "...Don't go back to the Netherworld tomorrow," he told her after a long silence. "Stay home for a while." "Then why couldn't he just say "lighthouse"?" Will grumbled. "I'm sick of all the crappy riddles."

Just because puberty hit Riku at ten billion miles an hour... I don't think Ven will age, honestly. Supposedly you need a heart to grow or whatever. And you think Sora hit puberty fast? (Well, only his balls dropped, really. He didn't grow until his yearly snooze.) There couldn't have been very long between the end of BBS and when Xehanort's darkness crap swallowed Radient Garden. And somehow, since Nobodies don't age, Ienzo went from being much smaller than Ven to being the height of a (quite short) young adult. And the secret ending to BBS could have been just before Radient Garden was swallowed, for all we know.

"Well, I DID tell you to go home and get your rest, before you flipped out on me. Guess that little bit of advice got ignored." Raiden stepped back, rummaging in his pockets, where he hoped he might have a tissue or something similar stashed away. He, after a few moments, yanked a somewhat crumpled one from the pocket, brushing off the worst of the fluff before he waved it at her. "C'mon, I'll walk you back in case you fall asleep getting there. But clean yourself up." Will tried to bite down on the sarcasm upon hearing the riddle, but he genuinely couldn't help himself. "High above the clouds, one would find aircraft. Which would kill you if you just popped your head up and one hit you flying by." He looked over at Evany, surprised. "...Lighthouse...?"

Uh, yes. I knew it from the start. ._____. Jenn started it to catch Kelly's attention because she liked her. ...I thought it was obvious. Oops.

"Nothing to be sorry about..." Raiden's frown deepened a little, but he didn't pull away or show any other OCD-fueled displeasure- something he found surprisingly easy to avoid, given his usual attitude toward crying. Will dropped his hand, rolling his eyes in an attempt to hide the fact he looked slightly abashed. "Pretty much. But fine. How do I get through to the Core, then?" His tone was challenging, nearly bordering on aggressive- the hesitation from before was totally gone.

"But you are one. That's the part that matters," Raiden continued, loosening his grip on her shoulders. He'd been grabbing so tightly his knuckles had bleached white, the skin straining. But he did his best to relax. "What you see doesn't change what you are. It makes you different, but it doesn't take away any of your humanity..." He hesitated. "You... You're human to me. Incredibly human." Will turned to look at the newcomer, his hand automatically twitching towards his sword before he even caught sight of them.

...I love my Britishness. :'D And I sadly can't fight against the stereotypes because I slip into most of them. Except the appearence ones, because I'm not scrawny and I don't have bad teeth. So yeah. I drink tea constantly. I'm incredibly sarcastic and am nearly constantly deadpan when using humour. I say "bloody" a lot. I slip in between region accents because I moved around a lot as a child. So I slip into cockney, scouse, that icky Chester accent they use on the soap set here... But my friends too tease me for my being quite American, too- so I digress. But I love Brit humour so, so much. I don't think I could leave if it meant not encountering it anymore. Um, XENOphobia, not HOMOphobia...And where I live, there is a LOT of homophobia. I'm still not sure of my sexuality, but I would not come out here, especially not at school. Two of my best friends are gay (but not together, even though I thought they were perfect for each other) and they get SO much stick from just about everyone. Students, teachers, people who live in the town. Random strangers insult them, even.

I think it's not a matter of he can't use his left arm; because he does. And it seems perfectly able to hold up his weight towards the end, when he falls to his knees a couple times and he pushes himself up to kneeling just fine. The white... bandage armwarmer thing seems to just be a fashion statement. Like showing his belly button. And having pants that look ready to slide right down his butt. Who knows, when he loops his thumb into his pants while not fighting, maybe he's just holding them up. xDD ...Although, I must admit, I really wouldn't have minded if he was only wearing pants and boots underneath that coat. ;D

"But... but you said you never knew your parents..." Raiden recalled, keeping his tight grip on her shoulders, even though he didn't think shaking her any harder would help. "Eliza... I... I don't understand. S-sleeping, sure... but of you want to sleep, why are you trying to...?" He leaned forwards a little, just enough to try and force her to make proper eye contact with him. "Listen here. You're gonna stay alive. Human. The past doesn't matter, so long as you're human, because you can live on, move on, grow up. Trust me... Being half and half is so much worse than trying to keep fighting. Because this never ends. And... and it hurts." Will nodded, then hesitated. "Evany? Wait. How.. how do you..." He gestured at the post. "How do you get... get to the Core? I never paid attention about it, because I didn't think it was important."

Raiden took a few cautious steps forwards, edging back towards Eliza. He tried to put himself between her and the dagger as much as he could, standing with his feet planted far apart enough for him to be sure of standing his ground. He grabbed at her shoulders, probably far too roughly, and shook her, trying not to let too much of his irritation get the better of him now s'Arina and Annabelle were gone. "Eliza, snap out of it!" Reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, Will scowled. The idea of a deal was pretty much an annoyance to him- it meant he had to at least think about upholding his end of the bargain. "Fine," he said eventually. "Although, I have to say, if you were giving up and just wanted to sit around... why pick one of the Trees as your angst spot?"

Acting on instinct, Raiden moved back again, tossing the dagger away in the hopes she wouldn't persue it. "Eliza, stop it!" he protested, coming close to actually stamping his foot, like some annoyed toddler. "The Netherworld Core?" Will frowned for a moment, but the arrogance soon flickered back into his expression. "Good thing I'm not scared of anything, with all the facing your fears crap it's supposed to cause. But why can't you get there-? Oh, wait, I forgot you were kind of dead." He kept the smirk off his face, standing there utterly deadpan.

Raiden spun around, tugging the dagger away from her. "Eliza, what the-?!" He yelled, stumbling backwards, pushing a hand out in front of him as though warning her to stay back. The smirk dropped, and was quickly replaced by a face like thunder. "...I... How will you do that, if getting Eliza away and keeping her away would mean I'd have to force her? Besides... It's not something that can be fixed while I'm here to see it." (( Uhm, I'm coming up with this on the spot. xDDD Er, his twin sister died, came back, he wants her to... pass on? Whatever? -dies-))

Raiden narrowed his eyes at her, trying to keep his breathing under control, so he wouldn't be struggling for it when he moved. After all, the anger was acting as a source of adrenaline, sort of- so strong it was nearly a rush. He couldn't remember the last time he'd allowed it to truly get the better of him- he must have been human, the last time. "Shut up," he snapped towards s'Arina. Then he adressed Eliza, without turning to look at her. "Run and get out of here. Go and rest up like you were going to. I don't want you to get attacked while I'm busy... Go. Will rolled his eyes, still not dropping the smirk. "And what do I get outta this?"

Raiden stepped forwards, placing himself between them and Eliza. He unclenched one fist with some effort, not even glancing down as the blood gathering there trickled off the tips of his fingers, as he reached for a dagger. "No way in hell." "I mean, she's getting even more reckless and stupid than usual. It's only a matter of time until she takes on something she can't handle, and there's no one there to save her sorry ass. Though maybe then you'd be able to face her, eh, Evany?"

"It's not fearing death itself that's the problem," Raiden snarled in response. "The problem is not being alive anymore. Not being human anymore." Will laughed, strolling a few steps past Evany. "Oh, that's just priceless. So you're moping here, hiding from her, because you're scared she'll find you like this? While she's off getting all angry about what happened to you. She's probably gonna get herself killed, by the way."

"'Gift'?!" Raiden repeated, spitting the word out like it was an expletive. It took him a moment to piece together where he'd seen s'Arina before, but that was probably because of the anger clouding up his head even more than usual. The hint of recognition didn't in any way distract him- when he remembered their encounter in the Netherworld, he just set his teeth harder. His fists were clenched so tight the nails were splitting his palms, but he ignored it, even when they drew blood. "How the hell can you call any of this a gift?!" "Why can't you..." Starting to ask the question, Will tapered off, adding up inside his head for a brief moment, before he broke into a smirk. "...You haven't told Eliza you came back, have you? THAT's why you wanted me to go and make her leave. Because you can't do it. What, are you ashamed of all this, Evany? How pathetic."

Raiden dug his heels in somewhat forcefully, teeth gritted, breath heaving in his chest. He was throwing Annabelle a look of pure hatred, which she didn't even acknowledge- and, of course, that only made him angrier. Falling onto his butt with a thump, but catching his balance on his elbows, Will glowered up at Evany. "Fine. Eliza can stay, then." He started to pick himself up. "You all can rot for all I care."

Raiden froze for a long moment, not even breathing. He lifted his gaze up from his hands slowly, looking over at Annabelle in sheer stunned silence. Then his eyes narrowed, his hands curling into fists; and he stormed forwards, practically index by rage. "You little bitch!" Raiden didn't care if he was powerless there. He didn't even think about it. All he knew was that he wanted to hurt Annabelle, more than he'd really wanted anything before. It was less of a want than an actual need for him by that point. "There's no way she'll leave," Will snapped in response. "And if I force her to go she'll find a way back, you know that. Let her make her bed and lie in it." His scowl deepened. "What's the second request?"

"So, you're friends with the creepy things," Raiden said, probably a lot louder than he realised. Scowling, he dropped his gaze from them both, and started picking absent-mindedly at some dried blood and mud trapped under his thumbnail. The scorches and burns on his arm were healing, he knew that- even though it looked relatively the same, he could feel a prickling sensation, somewhat like goosebumps, up the injured arm. Will scoffed, then faked a concerned look, mocking sympathy. "Oh, you poor thing...!" He dropped the act almost immedietely, his lips flattening into a smirk, eyes hostile. "Go angst somewhere else."

Raiden scowled, crossing his arms and looking, again, to Eliza. "Scarecrow? ...The creepy-ass spirit from before looked kinda like a scarecrow, I guess. That who she mean?" He was hoping she would at least remember some of what had happened, although he knew deep down it was very unlikely she would have a clue what he was talking about. "I don't mean here as in here in the Netherworld. I meant as in here, at the god-forsaken POST." Will indicated the tree with an irritated incline of his head. "If you're jacking off here thinking Eliza's gonna come running and find you, come back in the morning, when I don't have to watch you."

Raiden, who hadn't really been paying much attention, debating inside his head as to whether he should go after Eliza again, or return home, turned and noticed the creature a little later than Eliza did. He pointed, somewhat stupidly, in her direction, asking Eliza, as if she'd know; "What is that?" He jabbed his finger, tone disgusted. Will strolled through the Faery realm, mindlessly heading towards the post. After all, he was certain nothing would have happened there, as usual. As he approached it, though, he slowed down, narrowing his eyes distrustfully when he saw Evany. "What are you doing out here?"