Servility and Mastery [Lethe/Kyza, Liana]

[Administrator]

I'm back everybody~ Did you miss me?
July 16th, the pre-agreed upon date

A mass of glowing stuff began to collect in a single location, the colors randomly changed from gree to blue to red to yellow back to green then to purple and so on, while at the same time growing in size. When it had grown to be the size of a large window, a figure stepped through it. The figure seemed to be wearing clothing that your average person would wear, but he was far from your average person.

The figure was Avarice Entropy, a Chaosling, the only one in existence, that he knew of. His face looked somewhat normal, but it had a grin on it, nowhere as psychotic as it had once been, but still, more or less, carefree. His hair, blowing in a breeze that didn't exist, was short, and white, and messy. He had had a rough past couple of days or so. But, he had made a new friend.

Aerith. She was the closest thing to a true friend he had. Everyone else wanted to use him, or he wanted to use them, but she just wanted to be his friend. And he wanted to be hers. So, they became friends, and he stayed at her house, forming a bond with her that is unbreakable, and using a power through her that healed the hole in his chest. It also caused him tremendous pain, and, afterwards, it gave him a white scar in the center of his chest in the shape of the former hole.

But then, the next morning, after Ava had woken up from sleeping on Aerith's couch, a man came in and attacked him. The two fought, but it was a friend of Aerith's, and they had both been trying to defend her. Ava and the man both left Aerith's house, and then, Ava had found his way here. It didn't matter what else had happened, because now, he was to meet his new family--half-brother and half-sister, even though they shared no blood between them--and their master.

He sniffed around. There was something in the air that was familiar about the place. A comforting darkness that Ava had always found quite calming. Sitting down on a piece of debris, the Chaosling stretched his legs out and kicked his feet lightly back and forth. He hoped Liana and Lethe and Kyza would come, mostly Lethe and Kyza, but Liana was okay. Feeling the comforting presence of the bond with Aerith pointing like a compass in her direction--his universal positioning system. A second, more burny feeling rested besides it. It was a nice burny, a flame that warmed you to your core and made you feel nice. Of course, there was also that edge there, the knowledge the fire could burn at any time.

Ava came out of his mental retreat, looking around. The End of the World looked much the same, a cluster of parts of worlds that were destroyed. A huge, great big pile of worlds, all of them mixed together into one world. It was kinda cool. Especially the idea that even if his world, the one he had lived on before his memories, was destroyed, it might be here, somewhere. Nothing was ever gone forever. Not even death was eternal.

[Aerith]

Not in Kansas Anymore
--------

Since their previous meeting with Ava, Liana and her two Heartless companions had simply traveled the worlds in search of these other greater Nobodies. Either the Nobodies were extremely secretive, or Liana had terrible luck. So far, none of the worlds they had visited had yielded any signs. Had she been able, she would have felt very frustrated.

Today, however, was the day they had agreed with Ava to meet here, in a place called the End of the World. The moment she stepped out of the Corridor (which she had begun to get much better at using, thanks to Lethe and Kyza's patient instruction), she knew this was a place unlike anywhere she had ever been. This area was covered in an eerie haze that stretched forever, cloaking secrets she couldn't even begin to guess. The silhouettes of floating pieces drifted over water that extended somewhere past the horizon.

Where were they?

Thankfully, they had exited the Corridor onto a large rock that jutted far above the water's surface. But Ava was nowhere that she could see. Turning to the two Heartless, she tilted her head slightly.

"Where are we supposed to go?"

[Slash]

So nice to be home.

[/center]

Lethe and Kyza stepped out of the Corridor and admired their surroundings. What would be terrifying and ominous to humans was beautiful to them. The haze of the darkness surrounded them, the pieces of worlds in the water all that was left of the Heartless conquests.

It was so comforting to be here. There was no danger here for them, and they knew it well.

But they were here for a reason. There could be no sightseeing, at least not now.

"Welcome to the End of the World, mistress."

"We can find our half-brother. It is not hard." They both adapted a look of intense concentration, trying to smell him. They were not looking for a particular smell, but rather a shifting one. It was easy to find, and they located him withing minutes.

Both Lethe and Kyza brightened at seeing their half-brother. Their Heartless brothers and sisters were quite kind, but mostly mindless. Ava could be talked to, and they could hold a conversation with him. Even though he wasn't a Heartless, they still considered him similar to themselves.

What is that on his chest?

The hole. It is healed.

Lethe smiled at Ava, and Kyza began to talk.

"Half-brother. It is good to see you again...What has happened to the mark on your chest?"

[Administrator]

Something familiar . . . who . . . ?

Ava turned to the ones he had expected to arrive. Smiling back at Lethe, he turned to Kyza and said, "I'm glad you made it~" Then he heard the question. Looking down at his chest, Ava's face lost its happy demeanor for a brief mment before it returned anew. "I healed it. It hurt, but it feels better now." Rubbing his chest, as if to make sure it was still healed, Ava turned to Liana.

"You came too? Good~" Looking between the three of them, the Chaosling wondered what to say now. The three had gathered together, but now what? Ava thought of something just then. "Did you do or find anything?" Maybe they had done or found what they had set out to. The Chaosling couldn't be sure, after all.

Just then, a whiff of something else, some scent that was familiar, a scent he couldn't quite remember, struck his nose. Before he could identify it, it was gone. A quizzical passed across his face before he shook his head and motioned to the other three. "Half brother, half-sister, Liana. Follow me." He started going across the floating chunks of rock, leading them deeper into the world until they arrived at the cliffs.

"I wanted to come here," Ava said, looking around. He liked the way the End of the World was, always changing, and picking up parts of other things. It truly was his home, even if he was't a Heartless. "I smelled something familiar earlier. I can't remember what it was, but I think someone is here or was here recently that I know." Thinking a moment, Ava added, "Besides all of you."

Who could it be?

[Aerith]

Familiarity
--------

Liana chose to remain silent throughout the exchange between Ava and Lethe and Kyza. She simply offered Ava a nod of acknowledgment when he addressed her and then followed along as he led them deeper into the darkness.

Had she the capacity, she might have felt fear or at least a little intimidation. This was unlike any place she had ever been. Pieces of what she assumed were devoured worlds floated through both the air and the water. At one point, she thought she might have caught a glimpse of something familiar--a statue that had once been housed within the great temple of her home. But it vanished quickly beneath the lapping waves. She simply blinked, no surprise evident, and turned her attention back to Ava.

"Who is it? Surely, you must have some idea if the sense was familiar."

[Slash]

A friend of Ava's?

Lethe and Kyza followed Ava further into the End of the World until they reached the cliffs. Even with their great age- for they were almost certainly some of the oldest suriving Heartless, if not the oldest- they did not know the exact layout of their home. Although some basic things were similar to their old counterparts, the place was always changing. They preferred that. Unchanging worlds became tedious after a decade or two.

Ava said that he smelled someone familiar. That was interesting. It probably wasn't a Heartless, since there were so few sentient ones...was it a Nobody? Any creature with a heart would have been torn to shreds by now.

"The mistress is right. Do you have any idea who it might be?"

"We could try to help you find him, half-brother. There are many of our family here. We can ask them if you can not."

In all likelihood, whether they were human or Nobody, Lethe and Kyza would not know them. They had been spending the last century or so in a sort of stupor, and anyone they may have known before that was long-gone.

[Administrator]

Someone I want to again meet . . . ?

Ava shook his head. It hadn't been there long enough to identify it. It brushed past his nose like a feather across skin; he knew it had been there, yet he couldn't tell what it was he had felt, so light was the touch. "I don't know. I couldn't smell it long enough to tell what it was." The Chaosling began to pace back and forth slowly, a bad habit he had picked up from his creator, though he knew it not.

What had that smell been? It was something familiar, almost as though it were someone he knew, if only in passing, but wanted to see again. There were so may that he knew that he wanted to see again, though. Aerith, for one. But why would she be here, unless she was looking for him? Ava shook his head. No, not Aerith. Someone else. It taunted him, the answer there in his head, yet unable to be found. Who was it, whose scent had he scented?

"It smelled like . . ." Ava wracked his brain, but he couldn't think of anything. What was it he'd smelled? Looking around, the Chaosling half-expected whatever it was to show up out of nowhere, surprise him, and say something to the extent of "Oh, I didn't expect you would be here." The question remained, however.

Who was it that he'd smelled, someone he'd like to meet again?

[Aerith]

Growing Restless
--------

This was beginning to feel like a wild goose-chase to Liana. Ava apparently was unable to give them a straight answer. Staring at the scenery around here was diverting for only so long. It was, of course, strange in its terrible beauty, unnatural light-that-wasn't-light bathing everything just enough so visitors could see. Not that she suspected many visitors came to this wreckage of the worlds. She, for one, thought herself very out of place. Being a Nobody, she was the trespasser here.

The longer she stayed, the longer it was going to be before she could find the other Nobodies, and she would rather not put that off for very much longer. Having Lethe and Kyza for companions was helpful. She couldn't say she was fond of them because she felt nothing at all. But they were knowledgeable and had assisted her greatly. She could appreciate that on an intellectual level.

"I do not think I should linger here. I do not belong."

[Slash]

Investigation time?

[/center]

Lethe and Kyza turned and looked at the mistress with protective concern. "Do not worry, mistress."

"You are safe here. And we will hurry..."

They looked around. Perhaps there was some smell in the air that they were not picking up...What did the other Heartless know?

Lethe and Kyza called wordlessly on their brothers and sisters, and spent the next few minutes in silent discussion with a variety of creatures that appeared and disappeared quickly. Then they both turned to the others.

"It was someone called the Champion."

"You talked about him before, Ava."

[Administrator]

...I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. Did you say the Champion?

Ava was thinking deeply, and so didn't notice when Lethe and Kyza communed with their brethren. Suddenly, the word "Champion" hit his ears, and he phased back into what was being said. All of it hit him. Liana was bored, but now, he realized, after it was said, the scent he had smelled WAS the Champion's. And now, knowing whose it was, he could search for it, and find out where it was coming from.

Now that he was looking, it was really obviously apparent that the Champion was there. He could sense the powerful darkness that he had dismissed upon arrival as nothing, because he assumed it was normal, forgetting the Heartless don't mass into one power like that in his delight to be home. Catching wind of the scent for a second time, the Chaoling held on to it, following it in his mind. He knew the End well enough to know exactly where the trail ended.

Ava opened a Window of Chaos, leading directly there. The swirling colors did not offer a glimpse of what lay beyond, but the Chaosling knew. Motioning towards it, he said, "Through this is the Champion. I'll hold it open for you two to follow." Ava looked over the two of them at that point and then grinned. Here it was, one of his goals, meeting the Champion for a second time, and here he was, about to achieve it.

It was time to get some answers.

[Prythian]

The Champion was inspecting what appeared to be an empty wall in a room.

This wall had once held a door, an elaborate gateway, but when Sora and Mickey had sealed the Door to Darkness, the End of the World had been destroyed. It had reformed due to more worlds falling into darkness, but yet, this door had not returned.

This door was the key to reaching the place where the Door to Darkness lay, and without the 7 Princesses reopening the pathway, it would not reappear. And yet, the Champion was examining this wall, a blade of darkness in his hands. He was experimentally probing it with dark bursts, and he pursed his lips. Something was bothering him.

There.

Something unusual had infiltrated the area. Something not ordinary to this world's energy. The Champion turned, lowering his hood, and strode forth out of the crest-shaped hole in the wall to stand in the large room.

In the middle of it was a shifting portal of colors. "...Pure Chaos energy." He spoke softly. "It appears I have visitors at this time..."

[Aerith]

Words Are Such Frivolous Things
--------

Liana's eyes went first to the Heartless pair as they reassured her, then they jumped to Ava. The Heartless-who-was-not-a-Heartless seemed to agree with Lethe and Kyza about this scent she herself could not detect. It was a bit frustrating not knowing exactly what was being referenced. Try as she might, this scent continued to elude her. She would have to take her three companions' words for it.

Ava had created... something like a Corridor of Darkness and yet not. It was a mass of writhing color that offered no glimpse of a potential destination. Had she the capacity, fear might have been in the middle of her emotional radar. But she had seen many new and strange things within the last few weeks that this window's appearance was simply shrugged off.

She gave him a nod. "Thank you." It seemed she would be the first one through, and there was no reason to make Ava stand there holding it open for longer than necessary.

Traveling through all the prismatic colors was a disorienting experience, much different from Corridor travel. Or perhaps she was simply more used to the Corridors now. Either way, she soon found herself in a completely new area.

There was someone here.

Having heard little to nothing about this Champion, she gave him a cursory look and pondered what to say, if anything. How did one greet a mysterious, powerful figure that no one knew hardly anything about? So, she went the route that had been working the best for her so far. She said nothing, waiting for Ava to show up and do the talking. He had been the most interested in finding the Champion, after all.

[Slash]

Uncertainty

[/center]

Lethe and Kyza looked at the chaos of the portal, admittedly somewhat nervous. Who could tell what would happen to them if they were to enter? Still, Ava could be trusted, and they entered with their mistress.

The inside was strange, even to them, and they did not waste time leaving it.

In front of them now was a shadowy figure, intimately tied to darkness. His power was immense, and Lethe and Kyza knew that, were a fight to break out, they would most likely perish. Still, they moved closer to Mistress Liana, ready to defend her if necessary. They didn't think he'd attack them, but who knew what he'd do to the mistress?

Ava knows this man.[/color]

Let Ava speak first, if the one called the Champion does not.[/color]

Yes. We shall wait.[/color]

[Prythian]

((Skipping Jay due to impatience on more than one person's part; maybe the Window acted randomly and gave a delay to Ava.))

The Champion began walking slowly, the sword of darkness vanishing from his hands. He doubted even the Heartless would recognize the significance of that sword... few would. He walked in a circle around Liana, Lethe, and Kyza. "Intriguing..." He murmured. "You Heartless are connected to each other in a most rare way... it almost strikes me as related to the force of Order... even though Heartless are usually chaotic in nature. As for you..." He stared with intense eyes at Liana.

"Void and Chaos is a combination of forces I have not seen before." He shook his head. "Incredible. I need help from others for once and others arrive shortly thereafter I realize it." He strode back to his original position. "...what is your name, Nobody? And am I correct in assuming that nothing but truth and logic would convince you to aid me?"

[Aerith]

Just a Little Chat
--------

This Champion began moving before Ava had arrived, which threw Liana a bit off-balance. She had expected the non-Heartless to show immediately and take care of the talking. But here was a direct question to her. Two questions, really.

"My name is Liana." While her mind was wary, her eyes remained dispassionate. She was learning that she could pretend to show emotion, but she wasn't sure yet if she wanted to. Perhaps if the need arose, she would. It was doubtful that the Champion would be affected by emotional displays.

"And why should I--" She almost said "care," but she knew it was an incorrect term to use. Even if he gave her good reasons, she would never be able to care. "--agree to aid you at all? I am a Nobody, and I do not belong to either the light or the darkness. What business is it of mine what the dark chooses to do?"