Libraries and Vices [Leon, Yuffie, Maleficent]

[Aerith]

A Treacherous Information Run

The castle was even gloomier than Aerith remembered it being the last time she had been here. Of course, that probably had something to do with the known fact that Maleficent had taken up residence here once again. What little sunlight filtered through the windows created shadows that were just a little bit darker, a little more foreboding then the ones down in the town. Palpable evil hung like a heavy blanket in the air. The threat of Heartless suddenly appearing was ever-present as she walked as quietly as possible through what seemed the very heart of darkness, at least on this world.

This had been a dangerous decision on her part. Had she told her friends her intentions in person, she would not have made it out of the Borough. That was why she had left a somewhat vague note in Merlin's house.

Gone to the library. Will be back as soon as possible. ~Aerith

She was sure she would be fine on her own, but the others, she knew would worry about her. A hint of frustration showed itself for just a moment in the form of her pursed lips. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, even though the others tended to see her as nothing more than a kind and gentle soul who needed protecting. In a way, this little venture into the castle was her way of showing she didn't need to be coddled like a child.

At last, she reached the library, and instantly, her spirits lifted. Here, the atmosphere was a little less gloomy, not by much but it was enough. The smell of old leather and ancient wood permeated the room. Book spines in various colors added a touch of life, despite the hollow emptiness that reached even here. Aerith walked the rows of volumes, running her fingers gently over the titles, feeling the worn bindings containing so much knowledge. So much knowledge, and it didn't even look like it had been disturbed. Maleficent and her cohorts were obviously not interested in reading during their leisure time.

Settling on a book that appeared to address the finer points of Heartless and their relationship to the darkness, she slid it from the shelf with tenderness. A chair nearby wasn't too coated in dust for her to sit in it, so she did just that, folding her legs beneath her, and opened the book on her lap.

[Nothingness]

I Shouldn't Worry, But...

The marketplace was finally nearing completion. It had been almost a month since that self-proclaimed Tool had come and attacked, but for the most part everything was running smoothly. What with all the people they had working in this one spot, the rest of the restoration had slowed down somewhat since everywhere else was shorthanded. Regardless, it'd only take about a week more before they could start pulling people out of here and putting them where they should be--everywhere else. They still had a lot of work to do and putting manpower here wasn't what was needed.

As Leon walked around the Marketplace, he felt that he'd seen enough of it for the moment. He'd been helping the people there for quite some time--he needed a change of scenery. After making one final go-around, he started to head back to Merlin's House. He was expecting to see Aerith inside, probably reading a book or something, but upon entering the house he soon noticed that she wasn't there. Leon didn't find that particularly strange since she was usually out and about the town, anyway. Still, it did strike a strange cord for some reason.

As he walked by the table, he saw a short note. "The Library? Why would she need to go there?" Then the thought dawned on him. "Wait...no, she couldn't mean--dammit!" Leon stuffed the note into his pocket and ran outside; sometimes he just didn't understand that woman. "Hey, Yuffie!" Leon called out, "We've got a bit of a problem!" A part of him knew that Aerith could fend for herself, but still, the fact that Maleficent was there, as well as those three silver-haired guys didn't make him feel particularly well. Plus, if anything happened to her, who knows what Cloud would do.

[Yuffie]

Ah, today had been a nice and productive day so far. Yuffie had been helping out the people to rebuild the marketplace along with Leon. She wasn't sure what other RGRC members were up to, but that didn't matter at the moment. It was good to see them nearing completion of the marketplace, soon it would be like it had never been attacked at all which was great!

It was then she heard Leon's voice calling for her and she turned to see what he wanted. He walked over, noticing the slight panicky expression on his face. Okay it still looked like a typical Leon-face, but she had gotten better at understanding all of the little differences between them. She took notice of the note in his pocket and instinctively grabbed it while teasing Leon "Oh~, what's this? A letter from a secret admirer or stalker?" she teased before reading it.

However, it wasn't anything like that. It was a short note from Aerith saying she was going to the library. "The library? Why's that such a big-?" she began saying to Leon before it clicking in her head. It wasn't just any library Aerith went to. "AH! She went there, by herself?!" she asked in surprise. She knew from personal experience that that place was one to avoid and shuddered at the fact that they were most likely going to have to head back there to get Aerith out.

[Aerith]

Unaware

She wasn't making too much headway with her current book. There was nothing new in its pages, only the obvious statements about Heartless being creatures of the dark that seek out others' hearts. There were even methods on how to combat them, but that wasn't what she was interested in finding. She was trying to find out if there were ways to reverse this spread of darkness in her friends' hearts without resorting to violence or long, strenuous processes. Surely, there was a way to simply lock it back up. Perhaps Sora or the King could do it with the Keyblade?

Regardless, she needed to stretch her legs. Unfolding herself from the chair, she closed the book as she stood and then moved to replace it on the shelf. Everything was still quiet, which made her wonder if there was anyone in the castle at all. Perhaps all of its current residents were off causing trouble elsewhere. Not even any Heartless had shown themselves, which was rather unusual.

The sun was already dipped halfway below the horizon. She blinked in surprise, not having realized it was so late. She hadn't intended to remain here beyond nightfall, but since nothing threatening had confronted her, she selected another volume from a different shelf, in no hurry to leave while this opportunity was in front of her. Upon returning to her chair, she curled up in it once more and let her new book fall open, allowing herself to become absorbed in the material.

Several pairs of yellow eyes peeked through breaks in the library's collection of books.

[Nothingness]

No Time to Waste

Never Look Back

Despite normally keeping his cool, this was one time where he couldn't help but be worried. "C'mon, Yuffie!" Leon shouted as he started running towards the Bailey. He hoped that she was okay, but there was just that small bit of him that expected the worst. Doing his best to push that small part out of the way, he continued sprinting towards the bailey, his footsteps echoing hollowly against the surrounding buildings.

Having gone through the bailey and up the path to the castle without any form of trouble, Leon's spirits had risen somewhat, but there was still the castle to go through. He couldn't help but reminisce at how it used to be before Maleficent came and took up residence. "Now's not the time." Pushing the gates open, he barely took a single step passed them before three Soldier Heartless appeared to stop them. Drawing his gunblade, he charged towards the nearest one and made to cut it clean in half. If these things were appearing outside, who knew what was waiting inside.

[Yuffie]

Yuffie stood there for a moment, as Leon told her to follwo him. Though she stomped her feet down in frustration, Leon already freaking out and just rushing to the castle. "Wait a minute, Leon! Shouldn't we think about this?! Or at least go get Vincent and Cloud before rushing in?!" she yelled at him, as he went off. Normally she would be the one rushing in, but she had already been to Maleficent's castle and knew that it should be avoided or at least they should be careful going in.

She sighed, before following after him. "Wait up!" she yelled as she gave chase. She knew it was a bad idea to be heading back there. What if they ran into another Anti-Yuffie? And what if there was an Anti-Leon to boot? She tried to shake those thoughts out of her head, but they still lingered as she caught up.

She caught up just as Leon was taking out a solider heartless. Quickly she threw five shurikens at one of the solider heartless, it falling down defeated. She then quickly took out her fuma shuriken and launched it at the other heartless, taking it out and she grabbed it as it came back around. She wasn't sure whether or not the presence of heartless was a good thing or not, all she knew was that it was just probably going to get worse from here on in

[Aerith]

The Power of Knowledge

Aerith remained oblivious to the eyes watching her, until one of the Shadow Heartless grew careless and knocked a book off the shelves. Her head shot up from focusing on the book in her lap, and she saw three of the lowly Heartless making their way toward her chair, yellow eyes hungry in the growing darkness of the room. This would have normally been the time when she would step back and let Leon, Yuffie, or Cloud take care of the fighting, but she was alone. Determination flashed in her eyes for a brief moment. She could and would take care of herself.

The first order of business was to close the heavy book in her lap and proceed to throw it at the lead Shadow. It must not have expected the move, because it took the volume square in the face, tumbling backward into one of the shelves. It then disappeared in a burst of darkness. This distracted its companions long enough for Aerith to jump out of the chair and put distance between her and the two remaining Heartless.

This also gave her a moment to assess the situation. She carried no weapon with her, but the book seemed to have been effective enough. And there were plenty of books available here, so she would have no shortage of ammunition. And Shadows weren't the smartest of Heartless, anyway. Moving quickly to a nearby bookcase, she pulled another large book into her hands and held it ready. After this, perhaps she should start making it a habit to carry some sort of protection with her.

[Nothingness]

A Trip to the Library

Leon didn't even bother waiting to see if Yuffie took care of the other Heartless, instead just running straight towards the castle. Not even bothering to stop and push the doors open, he simply rammed his shoulder into them and burst through. Stopping to catch his breath, he looked down the hallway and into the foyer. "What was I thinking, barging in here? May as well have announced ourselves." Still, no Heartless immediately showed up so perhaps those three outside were just strays.

Going for subtlety now, Leon's footsteps echoed quietly as he walked down the hallway. He stopped just as he entered the well-lit foyer and looked back, making sure Yuffie was still there. Something about this room just didn't seem right, but he figured that now wasn't the time to brood over it. Ascending the curved stairs to the upper level, he walked to the left and opened the door leading to the library.

The library's bookshelves made it just as much of a maze as ever. He remembered spending time in here after Sora locked the heart of this world, looking through books for ways to banish the darkness. In retrospect maybe he should taken a few books back with him; it's not like anyone was going to ask for them back. Turning the corner of one of the shelves, he was relieved to see Aerith unharmed, but didn't like seeing two Shadow Heartless waiting to strike. Without much effort, Leon quickly eradicated the two pests before looking around for others. He saw a book lying near where the two had been, as well as a decent dent on the book. "Well, glad to see you can handle yourself. Not that I doubted you."

[Yuffie]

Yuffie had just finished putting away her weapon, when she saw Leon run past towards the castle. "H-h-hey! Wait up, Leon!" she yelled as she watched him go by. She really didn't want to go back in there after last time. It'll be okay Yuffie, you already faced the worst possible thing in there. she told herself, trying to reassure herself it would be okay. Leon and Aerith are here this time, nothing could go wrong....

She was still reluctant to go in, but she followed after Leon who had rammed the front doors open. By the time she got in, he was already headed towards the library. However, before she followed she heard the doors close behind her. She jumped and turned around, scared by the sudden loudness of it. "No, no, no....Please don't be locked, please don't be locked," she kept repeating aloud as she went to try the door. It was locked.

Yuffie was now worried, they had to find another way out now. She turned back and followed after Leon. She arrived just in time for Leon to take care of two more heartless and had found Aerith. "Bad news guys, the front doors closed and locked after I came in," she told them, trying to hide how nervous she now was. "We need to find another way out,"

[Aerith]

If We're Quiet, They'll Never Know We Were Here

The hunger of the Heartless was clearly evident in the way their claws curled and uncurled, in the way their yellow eyes sparked with greed. They were not going to stop until they had taken her heart. Of course, that was easier intended than done on their part. Gripping the book tighter in her hands, she fixed the creatures with a determined stare. They could come for her as much as they wanted, but they would need to dodge her literary projectiles first.

Leon's sudden appearance caught her by surprise, though she did appreciate him taking care of the remaining Heartless in the room. When he said he hadn't doubted she could take care of herself, she relaxed a little and moved to the bookcase to replace her temporary weapon.

She turned back to face him with a smile on her face. "I'm glad you came, but a few Shadows aren't anything to panic over. You rushed in here like I might be dying or something." Tilting her head a bit to the side, she clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward, looking at Leon curiously. "Is there something wrong back in town?"

Before the swordsman could reply, Yuffie entered the library as well, obvious fear painted all over her face. "The doors are locked?" Aerith put a hand of curled fingers to her cheek, not understanding the reason for her ninja friend's concern. There were other ways out of the castle beside the front door, after all. This was a moment of naivety for her. Yes, she knew that Maleficent and her underlings could potentially be around here somewhere, but as long as the three of them didn't create any major disturbances, surely the witch would leave them alone. She might not even be here at the moment.

"Well," she said with a cheerful lilt in her voice. "Let's see about finding a way out, okay?"

[Nothingness]

Kinda Late for Being Quiet

"Like she might be dying or something?" She could have been dead by the time they got there. A typical Aerith moment, followed by the fact that she was worrying about the town rather than herself. Leon had begun to say, "No, there's nothing--", when Yuffie scrambled into the Library, obviously panicked. The doors were locked? Well, there were multiple ways out of the castle, obviously, but that still didn't bode well. Maybe the witch found them?

He looked around the library, suddenly very aware of just how silent it was. "Come on--we need to get back outside." He said, walking back towards the the foyer. Stopping just as he got to the door, he carefully pushed it open and looked around. Nothing was out there. Still tense, he began to move silently through the foyer, hoping that Yuffie and Aerith were following closely behind. The sooner that got outside of the castle, the better. As it stood, the only ways out were through the main gate, and using the Lift System. Now as long as nothing tried to get in their way there shouldn't be much of a problem.

[Yuffie]

Yuffie had a bad feeling about this. There was no way this was going to end well. Aerith seemed calm about the situation, but then again she was calm during pretty much any situation. Leon did as well. How come she was the only one panicked right now?! Well, the last visit she had here probably didn't help, but still. The doors shutting by themselves and locking was not a good sign.

Maybe Maleficent was actually around this time? Or worse another Anti-Yuffie? Or even worse a whole army of them! Or even more worse, an army of Anti-Yuffies, Anti-Leons, and Anti-Aeriths! SHe then patted her face trying to calm down. "Just calm down, its no big deal....we'll get out of here safe and sound...." she reassured herself. It was at this point she realized the other two had already left the library.

"H-h-hey! Wait for me!!" she yelled as she caught up with them.

[Aerith]

Three Is Better Than One

Aerith had trailed after Leon, but she paused when she heard Yuffie scrambling to catch up behind them. Her ninja friend sounded more than worried. She was panicked. Something was spooking her that Aerith and Leon were not seeing. Turning to face Yuffie, Aerith offered her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Yuffie. We won't leave you behind." She reached a hand out to touch the ninja's shoulder. "Is something bothering you, by the way?"

As far as Aerith could tell, nothing was particularly out of the ordinary for the castle, even if it was currently inhabited by the witch. Only a small number of Heartless had attacked them, and those had been pushovers. That might have something to do with the current imbalance between light and dark, which should be taken as a bad sign. But right now, the lack of Heartless was a relief. It allowed her to focus on her friend's obvious paranoia that seemed to be created by simply being in this place.

"Come on." She took Yuffie's hand in her own and tugged her gently along. "Everything's going to be okay. Let's just stay together." There was strength in numbers, after all. As long as they remained undivided, nothing could stop them from leaving the castle. Her persistent optimism prevented her from thinking otherwise.

[Nothingness]

You! Shall not! PASS!

Leon hurried forwards toward the exit at the top of the foyer, but jumped back just as the mouth of a Defender's shield tried to take a bite out of him. Noticing that this was the only Heartless there, Leon opted to take it out rather than stun it and run away. As the Heartless went to breath ice at him, he quickly let off a Fire spell that stunned it and knocked its shield-arm skywards. Without a second thought, Leon went in and sliced through its chest two times before backing off. Just as he did the Heartless thrust its shield forward.

"How annoying." He thought disdainfully. As long as this thing stood in the doorway he couldn't get a clean hit in easily. Almost in response to that thought, the shield snapped its mouth at him hungrily, practically daring him to attack. Leon knew he couldn't take this thing down by himself, but what with Yuffie being so panicky, he knew that this wasn't going to help things. Still, they had to get rid of this thing if they were to get out of here. "Yuffie, I know you're worried, but you've gotta focus. We need to take this thing out if we're gonna get out of here. C'mon, I know you can do it." A pincer attack would make short work of the Defender, but those things were tough, all the same.

[Leon used Fire, two posts until next use]

[Yuffie]

Yuffie scrambled up to Aerith and Leon, having caught up. She was worried that she was going to get separated again like last time which wasn't a very pleasant experience. However Aerith had stopped to let her catch up. She was trying to be reassuring, but all Yuffie knew was that they needed to get out of here before something bad happened. It was then she realized that Aerith had asked if something was bothering her. She didn't really want to bring up her last encounter here, so she just told her, "This place really gives me the creeps...."

She let herself be tugged along by Aerith, still a bit nervous. It had been quiet for a moment, but soon Leon was up against a defender heartless. He had did some decent damage on it but hadn't killed it yet and he was telling her to focus. Right, she could do that...right? "Y-yeah, okay," she replied to him before letting go of Aerith's hand.

She ran up to the defender and jumped onto the shield and used it to propel herself over the heartless. As she flipped over it, she threw five shurikens at its back. Then as soon as she landed she, jumped back a bit, took out her fuma shuriken and threw it at the defender's back, it killing the creature. She waited for the shuriken to come back to her and caught it. "See? No worries!" she told the two with a somewhat cheery smile. She sure wished she felt more confident than she sounded.