Amantes [Nadia]

[Slash]

Here again?

[July 31st]

[/center]

The waves slithered across the dark shore, the pale moon-thing hanging unobtrusively in the sky. Nadia was here, as well, but no one else.

How were they here? He hadn't meant for the Corridor to lead here, but to the first Princess of Heart. And where was Aerith and Predis? Perhaps it was like that first time, some sort of strange collective hallucination.

The darkness felt real enough, though, and that was all that mattered. In so many places, it had become weak...but it was still here.

"Nadia...we have much to talk about." It wouldn't be fair to her to not know what he was now, or what he- they- had to do.

[Aerith]

All right. Let's talk.
--------

They were here again. She could remember how their last visit here went. Just peaceful conversation while Jericho had recovered from his wound. Would this be the same?

Jericho got straight to the point, and Nadia saw no reason to be otherwise. Any confusion she felt at suddenly being here again was unnecessary.

"I noticed something was different about you." She looked at him. "What is it?"

[Slash]

Hard to explain.

[/center]

Jericho looked out at the shore, then walked towards it. "We should sit down. It's a very, very long story."

He sat down, the cool sand shifting under him. "I was fighting Clive. He wanted to take you away, and I wasn't going to let him. He was strong- far stronger than I gave him credit for- and he almost won. But I couldn't let that happen. I refused to lose you." If he lost Nadia...he didn't know what he'd do. It wouldn't happen now, though.

"The spider was too weak to surface, so I started trying to pull strength from somewhere, anywhere. And as I tore through my own heart searching for that strength, I reached something that wasn't mine."

The darkness mindlessly stirred within him. It was without a will, just a force of nature rather than anything conscious. The only thing he could sense from it was a great, all-consuming malevolence, one that so perfectly matched his own.

"I reached darkness. Not my darkness, but the darkness. I'm not saying I now have complete control over it, because no one and nothing can truly control it. I serve it, as the mind of something mindless, the will of something that had none- and in turn I gain power from it. It senses things, but does not interpret them or act with anything more complex than a stimulus response, like how a fire sways in the wind. It has the imprints of events in it, like the marks on tree rings, but does not ponder on these events or is even aware that it carries their mark."

His voice was now quieter, filled with a sort of awe. "I am its will, and in return it gives me power. It's what gave me the power to heal you. But what I have to do is make it stronger- which I'm working on." Now he grew slightly louder, excited.

"It's wonderful, Nadia. I can do things that I would have never dreamed of, know things that would have been lost to me otherwise. In places like this, where darkness is strong...I can't even describe the joy that gives me. I wish you could know it. Maybe someday I will find a way to make that happen."

[Aerith]

It's a lot to take in.
--------

Nadia sat next to Jericho in the sand and stared out at the ocean while she listened to him. There was a lot of information to absorb, and some of it seemed very deep. But Nadia did her best to comprehend.

"Clive... wanted to take me away?" She was suddenly aware of the necklace still around her neck. Hadn't he said he wasn't trying to get her to leave Jericho?

That wasn't important now. She noticed the way his voice changed the longer he explained what had happened to him. His awe was infectious, and she watched him with admiration even after he finished speaking.

For a long while, she basked in the afterglow of his words, trying to find something to say.

"That sounds amazing, Jericho. I... I wish I could know what it feels like."

[Slash]

For a little while, perhaps...

[/center]

Jericho suddenly had an idea.

"I can show you what it feels like, if only for a second." He connected to her mind and shared his emotion with her, the ecstasy of great power combined with the affection with which he considered her.

"Someday I think you'll know this permanently. At least, I'll do my best to find a way. A mind is made of many different parts, and I hardly think so highly of myself that I would forever be the only one in existence."

[Jericho used Empathy.]

[Aerith]

I've never been so jealous in my life.
--------

A rush of feeling that she knew wasn't hers swept through her. Never had she felt something like this, and if he hadn't told her what he was doing, she would have spent an eternity wondering where it had come from.

But just as quickly as it came over her, it vanished. Nadia almost wanted to cry.

"That's how you feel?" She looked at him with wistfulness on her face. "You're so lucky..."

[Slash]

We'll figure something out.

[/center]

Jericho saw her sadness at losing that joy, and put an arm around her. He couldn't bear to see her sad like that. "Don't be sad, Nadia. The feeling is not lost to you forever."

He smiled at her. "You just have to accept the darkness completely. Kill for it, dedicate yourself to it, and I'll keep you from becoming a Heartless. I can do that much. I-we'll be so busy soon, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to explore the gifts darkness can give you."

[Aerith]

What can I do?
--------

When she felt his arm around her, she blinked, surprised at first. But then she leaned against him, taking comfort in his warmth and his words.

"Yes. I will. I want that feeling so much." And it was the truth. One taste of it had hooked her. She would do anything to get it back.

"Do you think I'll ever be like you? You make it look so easy."

[Slash]

Maybe.

[/center]

So close to perfect, and now she also aspired to the same goal he wanted her to reach. That made him quite happy, and he held her close. "If you can endure, then I'm sure you can. I'll help you."

He had sympathized with the old Nadia at times- abandoned by her family, cast out from her home- and had felt a sort of warm empathy for the girl, but this was far better. They could forget that girl ever existed now. There was no point in remembering someone she had no more ties to.

She wouldn't change her name as Jericho had, but the principle was the same.

"Don't worry, Nadia. Everything's all right for once. It can be better, but even as it is it's wonderful. You'll get there. I'll make sure of it."

[Aerith]

There's safety in the darkness.
--------

Her endurance was unquestionable. She would endure anything if it meant achieving that ecstasy permanently. Strength was necessary to obtain greater strength. And while Nadia suspected that living in darkness would be a much more precarious existence than living in light, in the end, the promised rewards seemed so much more satisfying. She had lived in light for twenty-six years and had received nothing.

"I can be strong. I know I can." After what she had been through, she was determined to be found worthy of even a fraction of the power Jericho described. Never again would she be deprived of complete joy the way she had been in Agrabah. No, she knew better now than to turn her back on anyone.

"And yes. Everything is nice. I trust you." He was, quite possibly, the only person who could lay undisputed claim to her trust.

Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his shoulder and drifted for a while in the sound of the waves. The sharp scent of salt was pleasant. Part of her wanted to stay here forever, even though she knew they couldn't.

"Do we have to leave? I know you said we have a lot to do, but I like it here."

[Slash]

I'm not sure if this one is a dream.

[/center]

Jericho shared the sentiment of not wanting to leave. "We will, but not right now."

He waited to wake up. And waited. And waited.

Hm. Perhaps this was just him being completely inept with Corridors. Well, that was embarassing. At least Aerith had the little alarm on her, so he could detect where she was...Destiny Islands? Man, he was really bad at this. Like the Corridor equivalent of a drunk driver.

"Soon, though.We have to find the others."

[Aerith]

I don't think it is.
--------

It was to be expected. Nothing could truly last forever. Except for perhaps death. That didn't make Nadia any less unwilling to leave this place.

He had not elaborated on specifics, only described generalities. She decided to ask for more information. "What do we have to do, exactly? I know we have to find the others like Aerith, but why? Are we going to kill them because they're so full of light?"

She hoped the darkness that Jericho now served did not want them to kill Aerith. Nadia was repulsed by the idea of killing the woman who had played a huge role in saving her life. If it ever became necessary to do so, Nadia would not be the one to do it.

[Slash]

Not exactly.

[/center]

"No, we can't kill them. On the contrary, they have to be kept alive. The combined light of their hearts is part of the key to opening the door to the source of darkness."

His smile grew wider. "There are ways to make the darkness stronger without killing the Princesses of Heart. That will be my goal as Aerith tries to rally the Princesses behind her."

[Aerith]

I'll do anything you need me to do.
--------

Nadia relaxed considerably. They weren't required to kill Aerith or even any of the Princesses. She could handle that.

The source of all darkness... Maybe if we get to that, I'll know that feeling again.

Something tugged at her heart as if in affirmation. Yes, she needed more darkness to gain further understanding and insight. Power, too. Much power. What better place to go for such things than the source?

The insistence was like a siren's song inside her heart, beckoning her relentlessly.

She lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him. "Other ways? What are they? Can I help?"

[Slash]

Um, well...

[/center]

Could she help? He wasn't really sure. She'd have to develop certain abilities first.

"You would have to learn how to corrupt- not slowly, but efficiently, and be able to do so en masse."

Well, he had already agreed to help Ethan. Why not help Nadia?

"There is another that wants to learn, someone back in Radiant Garden. When I have time, I'll go back and get him. It would be better to teach multiple people at once. Of course, I'm not going to help him as much, but he could still be useful. And then I'll help you develop that power."