Destiny's Hand(Plot)

[Prythian]

"What I am after is indeed important to me. And in order to set my goals in motion, I had need of a place that was out of the way, somewhere to talk to people as destiny wills." The figure explained. "That, and this place is soothing to me, reminding me of other places, and the unstoppable passage of time..." His voice trailed off as he took a slow look around at the old trees, having grown here for many decades.

"...Three questions remain available."

[Fate]

How Can This Be?

A few others showed their faces, a couple that Zexion recognized and one he did not. Tension rose as he sensed Ava's presence join them. Naturally, he doubted the Heartless was too pleased to see him after their previous meeting, though it could not act upon its whims at the moment. Everto showed as well, another secret ally of his. Another showed, though he did not recognize this face; it was the only one among the group that he did not recognize at all. The Schemer watched as they all entered the scene, keeping himself the farthest away from the man on the rock; he was not sure how much more darkness his senses could handle.

The man spoke after all of them had arrived, telling them that they could only ask one question each and that violence was not the intended course of action here. Zexion raised an eyebrow to this under his hood, his arms crossed. The man did not intend to attack them and only wished to converse, only resorting to violence if necessary. The still atmosphere of the world showed that. The illusionist did not have any qualms about the lack of violence; no, he preferred that.

He now had to focus on one substantial question that would alleviate at least some of his curiosity; he naturally had many questions being the Nobody that he was, but he would need to focus on only one. To make this easier for himself, he simply waited as others brought forth their questions. Mickey indeed asked a very important question, the answer very intriguing. Did that mean that the Door to Light needed to be closed? Opening the Door to Darkness could be very dangerous indeed, though perhaps closing the former would be a step in the right direction. It indeed posed a quandary to Zexion that he would have to think about.

The figure seemed capable of laughter, laughing at a couple of questions; though, it sounded almost forced as a Nobody's laugh would. It seemed that his aim was not balance, which answered another one of the Schemer's questions. It would mean that he indeed aligned himself with darkness; though, that did not necessarily mean that he would help Maleficent. Well, that was what they hoped. If that indeed was the case, then something would need to be done.

The man seemed to avoid the question of if he was working alone, making him suspicious yet again. He also seemed after something else and needed a tranquil place to set his goals in motion. If Zexion was correct, he caught a hint of nostalgia in the man's next words. He was curious what this world reminded him of, but that question was trivial compared to the others. It was a bit surprising that none of them had asked who this man was; he thought the question was obvious. Learning who a person was would give more insight than just a name, a fact he was aware of. He supposed he would have to ask the question and break out of his near petrified state.

"I will ask the obvious question then," he said, keeping his arms crossed as he continued to stand the farthest away. "Who are you?" It made Zexion uneasy that none of them knew this man, yet his scent of darkness was so overwhelming and incredibly powerful. How could they have missed something such as that? This was not something one could easily look over.

[/size]

[Angelus]

Intriguing...

Everto calmly listened as the others asked their questions, and as this tool of the darkness gave his answer. It appeared that these two shared a common goal, to end the days of the light, and to begin a new reign for the darkness. To Everto, there was no nobler goal. His Keyblade disappeared as it had appeared, and Caliga with a glance from his master returned to him silent and sullen. Everto let Zexion ask his question, and then Everto posed his own.

"Would you be willing those such as myself to aid you in your efforts?"[/color] While Everto may have misjudged this man's exact mission or intentions, it was highly likely that both Everto and this tool may be able to use the other to their advantage. It was a proposition that he hoped the mysterious being of darkness would, if nothing else, contemplate agreeing to.[/size]

[Prythian]

"My... such a complicated question contained within those three words." He mused. "'Who are you?'... a question which most answer with merely a name, which is an inadequate answer to a demand for someone's identity. As a complicated question deserves a complicated answer, thus I shall give you my answer."

The figure paused, closing his eyes, either thinking of how to phrase things or recalling something. When he spoke, there was an audible rhythm to his words. "I am the one who walks through a sword. I have been a ghost, yet never died. I am the pattern easily copied. The earth changes at my command. I am the 'and' in grave matters. I represent the source of shadows." Another pause. "I have been called tool, slave, servant, and champion; I am zero and all four."

He reopened his eyes. "If you must call me something, then call me the Champion, for others in my position have had the other three titles, but I am the first to hold the title of Champion."

"As for you, Keyblader... do as you wish. If you are of the dark, then your efforts and my efforts shall aid each other, albeit indirectly. I will not agree to an alliance with you, however."

[Ain_Soph_Aur]

To think I was taking THAT guy seriously...

A champion, really that is what he calls himself, such arrogance is faulty. Everyone knows that a champion is one strong enough to win for the people or a cause, so does he mean to say he is the champion of darkness and that is what he stands for. The other things he said also made it obvious that he wasn't alone, to be a slave and to be a servant means he is under the control of a master and a tool meaning he is nothing but a part to effect the whole.

Ain stared at the man for a while before deciding to call him, The Champion of Zero for simplicity and to stop him from referring to him by only his robe. It was time for him to leave but not before he got another word in so he stood firm. His hand balled into a fist out of frustration over the matter at hand. "The Champion of Zero, though I call you this you are nothing and will amount to nothing." he stated bluntly as he turned his back on The Champion, pulling down the cloth of his clothing as he did. "You like everyone else will be forgotten when you fade away."

[Administrator]

BUT...I WAS GONNA ASK THAT.

Ava listened to the answers he was giving others. Some of them were uninteresting, like stuff about restoring the balance. Two of the questions he was interested in, one asked by his enemy. The Champion, as his name seemed to more appropriately be, gave his response to both at once. Firstly, a riddle for his name. Two of the sentences played off against one another. "I am a pattern easily copied. The earth changes at my command." Ava stored the riddle away for later dissection...or digestion, or whatever the word for it was.

Then, the dark keybearer had the gall to steal his question! Ava harrumphed at that point, thinking up a new question. On the bright side, he'd at least gotten his answer. But still, the Heartless wanted to be the one to ask that question. Grumbling to himself, Ava thought for a few minutes on what he wanted to ask. Finally thinking up a suitable other question, the Heartless spoke up.

"What world are you gonna go to next, then, Mr. Champion?"

[Prythian]

The Champion shook his head very simply. "I will not answer that question. It could possibly prove detrimental to my efforts." He said gently. "Anyone who knows of tactics would understand this concept. You may ask another question." He stood up, crossing his arms, the first time he wasn't sitting during this entire period of time. Obviously, he was beginning to get impatient, and hadn't intended to spend much time here.

[Administrator]

Aww...I suppose I could just ask this then...

Ava frowned. Well, that wasn't nice. The Champion wasn't going to answer his question. He supposed it was okay that he didn't, so long as he got another one. The Heartless thought for a few moments. Auntie Mally won't be too mad if I don't ask a question that helps her...I don't think. Well, Kadaj was the only one of that group whose opinion he cared about anyways. Oh well.

"I suppose if I can't get that answer, then I really only have a simple question for you: will you be my friend?" Ava really didn't have all too many of those, and, as he asked, he scuffled some grass with his feet. This man smelled kind of like Auntie Mally, and kind of like Kadaj, but different. Like, it was the perfect combination of scents, each of the spicy and sour, strong and weak, all in perfect harmony.

To say the least, it was odd. But maybe he was a fan of cologne. That stuff stunk like that most of the time, covering up your real scent and substituting it with a fake smell, making the first harder to smell. But he could smell both of them in equal properties. So...not a LOT of cologne then. Just a little bit. Enough to balance out the salty smell. Or the spicy one. Ava wasn't really sure which was stabilizing which, but however it was, this man was obviously not a fan of wasting cologne.

"...you smell nasty, Mr. Champion. Like rotten fish and lawyers and dark alleyways and light bulb filament smoke and windows and kittens and computers." The oddest combination ever, but still. He had the vague feeling that he was missing something, like when you take a sip of a stew and think you taste something, but you don't, even though you know it's there. But it wasn't important anyway. Regardless of how people smell, post filler is still post filler, and it makes your posts longer whether it contains material that looks relevant but is truly random or looks random and...is just that.

But I digress. EDIT: Also, cologne smells nasty, hence why I included it. And the rest of it was for taste...but I wouldn't ACTUALLY want to taste them. And I'm sure neither would you. But I ramble. Continue with the posting &c.

[Prythian]

"..."

It seems even the Champion had no idea how to respond to the question or the statement that followed it, surprise written all over his face. "I'd say that that... is highly unlikely." He finally said after recovering from the unexpected question. "It would take..." And he chuckled, like one with a private joke. "...a miracle for that."

"If any of you wish to challenge me, now would be the right time." He said bluntly, looking out over the group. "If not, then I will leave."

[King Mickey]

That's All I Need to Hear

The Doors...

Now that Mickey thought about it, that did make a lot of sense. The Door to Darkness was currently closed and locked. No wonder the balance was so wildly out of proportion. However, the king was not entirely comfortable with re-opening the Door to Darkness. The last time it had been opened, too much darkness had flooded out, resulting in widespread devastation. Perhaps he could simply find the Door to Light and close that as well.

Wandering within his thoughts as he had been, he had only vaguely registered the answers to the other questions. The only one that truly caught his attention was the answer for Zexion's question. And yet, the man--this so-called Champion--had only spoken in riddles. Also, it looked like the man was unwilling to form alliances with the other beings of darkness here, which was a huge relief to Mickey. The last thing he needed on his hands was an army amassing behind this Champion.

The man was ready to leave and asked if any present wished to challenge him. The king wasn't born yesterday. Even if he had been confident he could match up with this Champion, the second Mickey chose to attack, the others present in the clearing who were especially inclined to violence would probably move against him, as well. And right now, there was no need for a fight. Ain was already leaving, and Mickey had no desire to be here anymore, either. With a brief look in Zexion's direction, the king left the grove without another word.

[Fate]

Paradoxical Thinking

Zexion was not expecting to receive a complicated answer to his question, though he could not say that he was surprised. The words echoed in his mind as he made an effort to memorize them; they would be written in the Lexicon for further analysis. The words themselves had a certain rhythm to him and it seemed as if he were speaking in paradoxes. He was a ghost, yet he never died? How was that possible? A pattern easily copied? The Schemer wanted to initially doubt these words; he had never met such any other that had such an intoxicating and overwhelming scent as this man.

The words that caught his attention the most out of all of them was the idea that he "represented the source of shadows". From what Zexion could infer, that meant that he was not the source of the shadows, which could be thought of as the Heartless. With that in mind, he took it one step further: it meant that this man was representing someone who was the source of Heartless, which caused a single name to be produced: Xehanort. It may have been Ansem's Research, but that single man had been the one to take it a step further and, together with the rest of the apprentices including himself, they created the artificial Heartless. That led to one last final question.

Had Xehanort, or at least his Heartless, returned? To the Schemer, this idea was impossible. Xehanort's Heartless had been destroyed by Sora more than two years ago; he could not have returned. Though, the man's words still were rather daunting and would have to be considered further. Zexion would bring this to Xemnas as soon as possible. For now, he would wait to see what else happened. This little question of his seemed to spark some further conversation.

It seemed this "Champion" was not going to align himself with Everto, which meant that it was possible to infer that he would not align with Maleficent either. While he could not truly feel relieved, he knew that it was truly a good thing that the man chose not to align with Maleficent directly. She would not be able to use him as a tool as she most likely wanted to, though it still did not bode well. The man was still aligned with darkness and his motives were unclear. Of course, that was a classic strategist's move that he himself had made many times before; one never gave away their hand if they could avoid it.

Ava's question certainly made the Nobody raise an eyebrow and even the man had to pause to answer that. It was then that he said that if a fight was to be had, then now would be the time; otherwise, the man would leave. The pirate man had already parted, calling the man Champion of Zero before doing so; that of course made Zexion's mind jump to DiZ, but he ignored that thought for now. Mickey left as well, giving the Nobody a brief look. They would still meet again in three weeks time.

"Then I believe I will leave as well," Zexion told the "Champion", "I am not foolish enough to pick a fight I cannot win." Though, there was of course an underlying reason for him leaving as well. This darkness was extremely overpowering and he did not think he could be around it much longer than he was now. He summoned a Corridor of Darkness and disappeared within it quickly. There was planning to be done.

[/size]

[Lagunamov]

Now there's even more stuff to pin on the walls in the Room Full of Crazy...

Almost immediately after his question, the man in the silver cloak laughed and almost brushed it aside, trying to put down Elrick as if he had made a stupid question in the first place. His entire attitude got on his nerves, sure, but the answer and even his rhetorical question provided even more information than he originally anticipated. Now they knew for sure the answer didn’t lie in the Doors, which he hinted at before during his answer to Mickey. He also very much divulged the fact that he wasn’t aiming for balance, which was something that had been speculated before due to the state of the worlds. But most importantly… it didn’t seem he ever tried to close or open either of the Doors, which meant he had something to gain by attacking worlds. Just what that is, remained to be known.

The remaining questions came by and went in almost a flash, with new information flowing in from each and single one of them. Elrick couldn’t be sure if it was intentional or not, but every sentence uttered by the man held more meanings than the obvious one, hinting and stuff buried in the shadows. The man in the black coat – which appeared to be made of the same type of fabric as the insides of Elrick’s clothes – asked the question most people wanted to ask, but had decided against for the purpose of finding information. Luckily for them all, the man’s ego took over when presented with the question of who he was, almost as if expecting like an arrogant kid to be asked that. And arrogance was what he spouted in his answer, so much it only helped make Elrick even closer to actually go back to Eurydice and have the hordes of warriors from Orpheus come and feast on this man. Surely enough he could take on those present there at the jungle, maybe even a couple dozen more warriors. But thousands of hard trained soldiers? Unlikely. Of course, Elrick would probably get shot the moment he stepped back home unprepared, so the opportunity wasn’t about to come about any time soon.

The rest of the questioning remained relatively uninteresting; except for the moment he referred to someone he didn’t know as a Keyblader. “So that WAS one of the Keyblades I’ve heard of,” the thought to himself, remembering the mention of Keyblades in a couple of worlds he had been to in the last few of years. The only weapon capable of permanently slaying shadows, instead of simply destroying them to later allow their recovery. Such a weapon would be a great asset, but if what rumors said was true, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to acquire one.

“I came here for food anyway, this chance meeting just gave me a little extra,” he commented after the man who called himself Champion asked them to duel, or leave. Actually, he was to leave, but Mickey and the man in the black coat beat him to the punch, so Elrick was going to follow suit. “Next time bring a picnic basket and some sandwiches, okay?” he mocked him, turning around and leaving the clearing, slowly making his way back to the pair of chained ships. He had almost forgotten about Lillian until then, his mind consumed by the information he had gathered, and would now have to pass along to his new travel partner.

[Angelus]

Everto shrugged his shoulders, smiling all the same. While he was disappointed to hear the Champion's refusal to work directly with the dark Keyblader, it was enough to know that he would not interfere with Everto's plans. Everto would show this same courtesy to this so called champion. In fact, he'd almost expected such a response from the silver cloaked man.

"I am as much of the darkness as you yourself are Champion, though my scent is not yet strong enough to overwhelm the senses of those who can sense such things. While it is a shame we shan't be working together directly, I understand the possible reasons you may have for doing so. If you ever find yourself in need of a tool of your own, perhaps even a distraction, I'm sure you've the ability to smell the darkness that eminates from myself, and my Heartless guardian Caliga."[/color] Zexion had just made his leave, and that meant that Everto no longer had an ally on this world. Not that he really needed one anyway.

Caliga on the other hand thought otherwise. He made his way over to Ava, looked him up and down and smiled.

"Will you be my friend?"[/color] The question posed by his minion left him completely baffled. Never in the time that the two had been traveling together had he ever heard Caliga ask such a thing, but then again, Ava was a Heartless. That much Everto knew. Thus Everto walked over to Ava and extended his hand.

"If Caliga asks such a thing of you, you must be worth the effort. Call me whatever you wish, but my name is Everto. And I believe you and I will get along just fine, since I'm sure we have the exact same goals."[/color] He smirked, and then chuckled slightly.

"To send the worlds into darkness. The complete and utter anihalation of light."[/color][/size]

[Administrator]

I like your name. It's a good name.

Ava listened to what the Champion told him. His response to the question wasn't that strange, truly. Actually, it was partially what he had expected. But the Heartless didn't really care, he just wanted to see if the man was still human. And it was a very human answer Ava had received. This confirmed his belief that the man was no more than a human following a human cause. Maybe his father was an animal rescuer who beat him, so he is off to destroy worlds in revenge. Who knew?

Then the other Heartless approached him, the bodyguard of the one who called himself Everto. The intellectual mind plucked it apart. Everto, a combination of the words "ever" and "to". Interesting. Ava looked the man and his Heartless down. Caliga looked nice, but Everto looked a little arrogant. Oh, well, he was at least friendly. "I'm Avarice Entropy, sometimes called Chaos Incarnate, but I go by Ava."

The Heartless shook Everto's hand. "I'll be your friend. Both of you~" This was the beginning of a beautiful, evil friendship. One that would shake the very foundations of hell, raising the damned souls up from where they lay, and destroy very worlds! Or, it very well could be just an evil friendship, the kind of which Ava has been making since time immemorial. You know, a fifty-fifty shot. Either way, it'll be one hell of a time!

[Prythian]

"A wise decision for now." The Champion mused. "In the end, though, many will face me. After all, my purpose demands it. The war between Light and Dark... a true war... will begin. It is now inevitable, no matter how people may try to stop it." He shook his head, glancing at Ava and Everto. "Those of you who live in darkness... spread the word to others. There will be no more of these minor skirmishes. In the end, it will happen, but my will is for it to happen sooner rather than later."

And with that, a golden sword appeared in his hands, visible briefly, before he vanished.