Mercurial Shadows [Daniel]

[Nothingness]

Always Around, Aren't You?

Clive couldn't help but roll his eyes when Jericho showed up. "Nice to see you again. You're looking healthy as ever." He hoped that they wouldn't meet him right off the bat, but then again, Jericho did have the absolute best timing to catch people at their worst.

[Aerith]

Oh, good. People.
--------

Radiant Garden? But wasn't this--?

There were people here. Familiar faces, all save one--some short boy with purple hair and red eyes. How strange.

The suicidal girl was here. And Clive. And... Daniel.

Nadia was immediately on edge, the memories of the emotional torment she had endured in their first meeting still fresh in her mind. But he wouldn't escape this time. Oh, no. He would have died before if Jericho hadn't shown up.

She sensed a shift in the bird, but it didn't move after that. Her eyes wandered to Clive, equally wary of him. The girl and boy weren't even on her radar at the moment.

"I have already met most of them, yes."

After letting her gaze linger on Clive for a while, she finally glanced at Daniel again. "Still hiding behind the bird, I see."

[Administrator]

Time for my involvement.

Predis skittered out into plain sight. "It appears it is time for the plan to be executed," he said to himself. He opened up channels, one with Jericho, and one with Emi. Intertwining the two, he allowed for Jericho to directly communicate with Emi. The best part was...she would never suspect Predis' involvement.

Opening a channel with Nadia, Predis said, "If need be, you can communicate with me through this channel, privately." Of course, he chittered with his fangs, in his larger form.

With not much else to do, he made what appeared to be a sweeping bow. One foreleg was lifted from the ground and bent sideways, and his body slowly lowered forward before he lifted himself again. There was a chance they could recognize it for what it is, but that was hardly likely.

After all, he was just a spider, right? Heh.

[Slash]

Pick a favorite.

[/center]

Daniel did not respond, waiting for the first blow to come.

"Nice to see you too, Clive! You're not looking too awful yourself."

Jericho looked happily at Nadia. "Pick one. Whichever one you want. Then experiment a little."

Then Predis opened up a channel between his mind and Emi's. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Do you like this new power, Emi? I think it's quite fun. There are so many images I'd like to show you. Do you want to see what I did around the Castle of Dreams?[/color]

His voice carried into her mind, the instability of his emotions pushing through just a bit. The images of the massacre transmitted to her, carrying with them a feeling of malicious joy.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

What is this I don't even
--

Emi was listening intently, but then all hell broke loose. Almost literally. It all happened so fast. One minute, they were alone, and the nexr he was there, and his girlfriend. Instinctively, she panicked. She hadn't been expecting him, not here, not now. She panicked, and she went for her weapons. She didn't dare bring out Lacewing in front of him.

But no. She closed her eyes and had to force herself to stay calm. Literally, physically force herself, and her hands shook from the effort. She was about to ask what he was doing here, but she couldn't get a word in edgewise. It was no use, anyway.

Somehow... somehow, he was in her head.

Her eyes went wide, confused, bewildered. How was he doing that? Daniel was right- he had gotten stronger. Before she got a chance to respond, he was putting pictures in her head. The worst part was, she couldn't close her eyes and make them go away.

Maybe she should have just attacked him while she'd had the chance, but she knew that attacking even now would only make things worse. She refused to give him that satisfaction.

She internally squirmed, wanting so badly for the intrusion to disappear."Get out of my head, you sick bastard,[/color]" she said, out loud. She didn't quite understand the nature of the channel open between them.

[Castle]

Right here, right now.

At first, Castle couldn't believe it. This had to be a dream or a nightmare or something. But no, there they all were. Jericho, the woman he guessed was his companion, and some... giant spider thing? Once it finally registered, a fierce rage stirred up inside him, just like the feeling he got whenever he saw a Heartless, only worse.

However, nobody else was attacking yet, and he knew he had to hold back. If it was one thing he'd learned, it was not to just jump in right away, especially against something smarter than a Heartless. No, as hard as it was, he wouldn't move yet. He just gritted his teeth and observed, his mind racing for strategies.

Then Emi said something that nearly blew his mind.

Jericho was in her head?

"What the hell are you doing to her?" he shouted before he could stop himself. The urge to attack was almost unbearable, but he remained by Emi's side, though he dropped into a fighting stance and put his fists up in a guard.

[Aerith]

Experiment number one.
--------

Nadia casually ran her eyes over each possibility. She knew she could only concentrate on one at a time.

The purple-haired boy was immediately cast aside. She knew nothing about him, not even his name, so therefore, he was not important.

She could try out her power on Daniel, but she wasn't too sure she wanted to get anywhere close to those memories. Not until she had a better handle on her ability.

Clive... Clive was also not a mind she wanted to get near. Maybe after more experience.

That left the suicidal girl, and from the sound of things, Jericho was already in her head somehow. Perfect. Her defenses would be lowered, and Nadia would have an easier time of getting into the heart of her memories.

Within a moment, she had focused on the girl and could see everything laid out in front of her. There was quite a lot of tragedy in here. If necessary, Nadia could now piece together the girl's entire life story.

So much knowledge. Such a rush.

"No wonder you wanted to throw yourself off that cathedral... Emi." Yes, she had picked up her name, among other things. Nadia smirked as she continued flipping through past scenes. "Actually, why aren't you dead already? It looks like you should be, a thousand times over."

[Nadia used Cognizance.
Posts until next use: 2
Uses remaining: 4]

[Slash]

Hardly a deterrent.

[/center]

Jericho laughed at Emi, both mentally and physically.

How does it feel to have your brain picked apart? Nadia can see everything in here, all your little memories. You can hide nothing from her. Or me. What else do I have here?[/color]

Discordant shapes and fragments passed through the channel, each one heavy with blood and death. That was the blurred, chaotic memories the Anti-form had given him.

He smiled at Castle. "And you. What can I do with you? I see a bit of darkness in you. Perhaps you could be useful to me."

His cruel joy was unmatched, a combination of hatred and the ecstasy that came from being able to express that through torture. Using his ability, he spread it to Castle.

[Jericho used Empathy.
6 posts remaining unless cancelled.]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Goddammit, why didn't I just stay in the inn...?
--

Emi lunged forward, and then stopped herself. She stumbled, almost losing her footing. No. Don't do it. If there was ever a time for self-control, this is it, she thought. Could Jericho hear that? Would it make any difference, positive or negative?

Even as she thought that, she was aware of another unwelcome presence inside her head. Picking through her memories, bringing things she had never wanted to see again to the surface. There were things, memories, hidden deep, deep inside her... things that she never wanted to recall, much less have someone else see.

Nadia. That woman that had pulled her down at the cathedral. As much as Emi hated to admit it, Nadia had, at one point, saved her life. And Emi had been grateful for that, but now more and more she was thinking she had been saved just for their amusement.

She honestly had no idea how to answer Nadia's question. She was alive... but why? Many a night she had pondered the same thing and the only conclusion she came to is that she was, in fact, alive. Maybe there was some deeper meaning, some calling for her, some reason she wasn't dead... hopefully that reason wasn't just so that she could be the plaything for Jericho and Nadia. She was alive, and that was as simple as that.

"Because, I...[/color]" she started, but she was interrupted. The stream of abstract images, feelings and memories that Jericho was feeding her caused a nearly physical feeling of drowning. She could barely breathe, coming up for air when ever she could. Again, she tried to simply block them out, but it was just as good as swimming against a tide.

She was afraid of water. She couldn't swim. She feared death by drowning more than anything else.

There was just so much. Blood, death, pain, suffering... too much. And there was no closing her eyes to block it out. No running away. She had two choices. Surrender or fight.

She refused to give them the satisfaction of either, and fought to stay on her feet. She wouldn't be so easily broken this time. The memories still cut deep into her, but they didn't destroy her. If Jericho had been aiming to do that, he had failed and it had been his own fault for, perhaps unknowingly, being the catalyst in her making peace with her past. She took a minuscule amount of comfort in that.

None of that matters anymore. It's in the past. It can't hurt you now. Don't let them make you think otherwise. Memories can't hurt you. She repeated that over and over inside her head. It was something to cling to and a chant to keep her sane. They can't hurt you, they can't hurt you, memories can't hurt you. Could Jericho hear that? Could Nadia? Would it just agitate them and make them push harder? It didn't matter- it was the only thing keeping her head above water. It's just memories. Just memories. It's not real.

And where was Castle? She had been vaguely aware of him trying to defend her earlier, but couldn't acknowledge it. She looked for him, and found him right next to her. He wasn't attacking yet either, so she knew her decision had been the right one. But Jericho was speaking to him, doing something to him just as he had done something to her. Was he inside Castle's head too?

She didn't know how to help him. She was already in over her head. She simply stood there, holding herself back and struggling to keep a hold on herself. She shook, but folded her arms tightly. She kept her eyes low because of some superstition that if she met their eyes, things would only get worse.

She wasn't sure how much she could stand, but she would fight it until she had nothing else.

[Nothingness]

How Pathetic You Two Are

Aw, how cute--toying with the kids. Didn't these two have anything better to do? Clive walked over to Emi, placing his hand on her shoulder, and spoke softly to her. Even if he couldn't stop Nadia and Jericho, he could at least try his best to help the girl resist them. "Just focus on my voice. Block theirs out. Focus on my voice." He could see that she was resisting, and wished he could do more to help than this. Still, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

[Castle]

Before Castle could register what Jericho was saying, something changed. He felt it come over him from the inside, or was it from the outside? It was hard to tell, but in a moment, it didn’t even matter anymore.

Hatred. So much hatred, but within that, an eager, ecstatic sadism. He wanted to hurt something, to torture it. It would bring him pleasure to unleash his rage on someone. Outwardly, Castle’s expression shifted, moving from anger and wariness to a sort of hungry excitement. There was still anger, yes, and plenty of it, but it was spiced with something different now.

But, beneath the surface changes, weren’t these the things that were in his heart already? Ever since his first day away from home, he’d been frustrated by his lack of power. Then, on that day in Notre Dame, he was finally the one in control. What he felt then was similar to what he felt now. The biggest difference was that this time, it was more refined.

He didn’t even realize that these feelings, the things he’d experienced even before that day in the Marketplace, stemmed from Darkness. Now, that Darkness was inquisitive of this new development, rising up and conforming to the more refined versions of the emotions with which it was already familiar, even though they came from someone else. Somewhat empowered, it brought a grin of cruel joy to Castle’s face.

Back on the surface of it all, Castle wasn’t quite sure why he was smiling, but he didn’t feel as freaked out anymore. He came out of his stance and inched forward, just enough to be in front of Emi, though still to the side of her. His gaze was focused on Jericho. That, right there, was the object of his hatred, the man he wanted to torture until there was nothing left. But, at the moment, it seemed best to hold back and wait for the right time, though doing so was a bit painful now.

“Useful to you? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he sneered.

He didn’t really notice what Emi and Clive were doing, since they were out of his line of sight.

[Slash]

Inevitable.

[/center]

Jericho's smile turned almost sympathetic for a bit. Poor thing. I said I was going to leave you alone, but circumstances have changed. I see you've gained a Keyblade- its power resides in your heart. Because of that, I have three choices. One.[/color]

An image of one of Jericho's Heartless skittered through her mind.

Two.[/color]

Emi's corpse lying on the ground.

And three.[/color]

Emi standing over dead bodies, a weapon in her hand and a cruel glint in her eye.

Which do you prefer? Although, if you're not willing to take any, I can simply twist your friend. He's reacting quite well. It won't take me long. Here's my offer. If you simply give up your will and agree to come with us, I leave him alone and everyone else. If not, then I'll break his mind like a twig.[/color]

Jericho looked at Castle and smiled. "Do you want to kill me? You're far too weak. Perhaps if you accepted the darkness inside of you, you'd be more of a match. As it stands, though..."

He hooked his claws deeper into Castle's brain, amplifying the emotions that Jericho had already placed in there to a significant degree.

Tick, tock. Make your decision now, Emi. If I amplify him a second time, things are going to get very ugly- that is, if he doesn't die of a brain aneurysm.[/color]

Gabriel reared up to attack, undoubtebly ordered by Daniel. Jericho summoned 6 of the Aranea, two going after Clive while the other four went for Daniel and Gabriel.

Gabriel immediately drew the attention of the monsters going after Daniel to him, struggling with one and attempting not to get stabbed with the tail.

[Jericho used Amplification.
2 posts till next use.
Empathy is in effect for 4 more posts.]

[Aerith]

I can't stay still any longer.
--------

Too much standing around. Too little movement. Nadia was growing restless, especially now that she had to wait before using her new ability again. She craved action, violence, bloodshed.

There. The bird moved. Finally. But it was quickly occupied by several of those new Heartless Jericho had made. However, a certain brother to Jericho was left to fend for himself for the time being.

Remembering that barrier he had summoned before, she didn't waste time with simple weapon strikes. The first summoning of Azrael boosted both her and Jericho. The second came after shifting her position far enough away from Jericho not to hit him initially with the wall of flames that surrounded her.

They didn't stay around her for very long. Darkness pulsed between her and the wall, mingling with the flames, pushing them outward straight toward Daniel and anyone else unfortunate enough to be in their path.

[Nadia used Heat Riser.
Remains in effect for three posts.

Offensive Magic Specialty in effect.

Nadia used Dark Agidyne.
Posts until next use: 4
Uses remaining: 2]

[Castle]

Castle's darkness fed on the Amplification, raising his emotions to a fever pitch. His grin faded, replaced by a blank expression, empty save for the savage gleam in his eyes. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to kill something, he had to kill him, right now. Nothing else existed, and any words that were said to him were lost.

As he dashed forward, he thrust his hand out and launched an orb of whitish blue fire straight at Jericho. He didn't stop running, following the orb, lunging into a stance, and aiming a punch for the center of his opponent's chest, regardless of whether or not the orb made contact.

--
Battle Report:
Castle used [Blue Bubble]
2 posts until next use
1 use remaining

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I'm sorry...
--

Emi didn't know Clive, but his actions were comforting. She did like he said and concentrated on his voice... it didn't get Jericho and Nadia completely out but it gave her something to hand on to. She was grateful. She brought a hand to her face.

He knew about Lacewing. She supposed it didn't matter anymore, and summoned Lacewing into her hand, clenching it tightly.

And now, she was presented with three choices. Really four, because making no decision was still making a decision. There wasn't much she could do. It was a lose/lose situation, but she lowered her hand and slowly, shakily turned her face towards Castle. There was something wrong with him... Jericho was doing something to him.

And that is how she made her choice.

She couldn't stand the thought of being a Heartless. She refused to just lay down and die. The only way she saw out, the only way to protect Castle and buy herself some time... Castle lunged forward to attack Jericho and Emi screamed, twisting away from Clive's hand on her shoulder.

"STOP IT![/color]" she shrieked. "Castle, you can't do it! Come back![/color]"

Castle was basically committing suicide. She had to stop it. "The third choice! I'll come with you, just leave him alone![/color]"

She knew it was the right thing to do. She knew it was the least selfish thing she'd probably ever done. She put Lacewing away, and still struggling against their hold on her mind, she lifted her shaking hands.

Maybe she would end up a monster like them. Maybe she would take a lot more lives than she was saving. But she couldn't stand it if they did something to Castle. He was the only one she had.