Entry 004

[chippedsoul]

Characters: Kazuma Asougi [Jekyll/Hyde]
Campaign: Break
Format: [ brackets ]
Open
Summary: Catch-All for the Break


A - The Doctor is out [Network]

I will not be meeting with clients in person until further notice. If you must make an inquiry for some medicine, use the journal to contact me. I will let you know when it's ready to be picked up.

-Disciple

B- A nightly stroll in the forest

[Anyone who happens to be wandering around or living in the forest, might hear a disturbance during the nighttime. It doesn't occur every night, but when it does, it sounded like someone was cutting down the trees. There's also a low rumbling like thunder that occasionally accompanied the sound afterwards, like a rhythmic thumping. Looking into the source, they will find themselves at the edge of the Index. The ground appeared unstable, with trees uprooted and large boulders that have been split into smaller pieces scattering about the area.

This warzone was only found along the edge of the Index, and every few nights, a new area would turn into a disaster area. If someone manages to catch the person in the act, it turns out to be the Disciple, or was it the Disciple? The low rumbling noise was from him ramming trees into the barrier or throwing boulders at it. Whatever he could pick up and throw, which was almost anything, he was directing them at the barrier. A few times he was crazy enough to punch the barrier.] I need...to go... [If you manage to get in close enough, you can hear him mumbling about going somewhere. It doesn't seem like he's quite all there himself. Are those pajamas he's wearing?]

C-Wildcard
[This post is for the entirety of the break, so feel free to poke me on Discord or silentdrifterz if there's something else you want to play out instead or make your own starter!]

Comments

[twilightskey]

[Roxas couldn't help the surprised look that briefly settles on his face. Given the type of life he's lead, it's easy to forget that there are others who haven't lived their lives fighting. Even without living a life of combat, though, he can understand being worried about those you care about getting hurt. But hearing that Kotori considers him and Shizuo to be her best friends, and showing such concern... it makes a feeling he's not quite sure how to describe bubble in his chest.]

I... I know. I'd rather not have anyone else get hurt either. I just know that if we didn't do something, others will get hurt. But, Shizuo is strong, and has a strong heart. If there's anyone who can stop Hyde and bring Disciple back safely, it's him. You just have to believe in him. And it's like you said; we have allies if we things go badly. We're not alone.

[He pauses after he says it, a wry smile coming to his face. Perhaps his time in Sora's heart has affected him, too.]

[ricebird]

[Kotori nods, her smile growing a little stronger and warmer.]

I know. Thank you, Roxas-kun...

[A deep breath and she tries to release some of the tension, even if it's not all, and then she stands up.]

Okay, let me get dressed again and then we can try to find a healer. I'll be right back.

[twilightskey]

Okay.

[He hates that this had made Kotori so distressed, but he's glad that she's at least somewhat calm now. He'll wait for her to go and get dressed, while he does his best to sit still and not agitate his broken arm. Although, he does slowly pull out his journal and keep it at his side, ready to receive any messages from Shizuo.]

[He was serious about that two-hour limit.]

[ricebird]

[So is Kotori. DON'T MAKE HER PANIC AGAIN, SHIZUO.

But it only takes a few minutes for Kotori to come back down from the apartment over the pub, hair still braided and still wearing her glasses but now sporting a tattered peasant dress and a slightly threadbare shawl over her shoulders. She also comes holding a few towels in her arms, one long and thin, the others still folded.]

Here. It'll probably help if you wear a sling while we walk around. The less you move your arm until it's looked at, the better.

[twilightskey]

[He looks up as Kotori comes back down in her new clothes. He's surprised at the state they're in, but right now he can't exactly comment on them. He nods to her mention of the sling.]

Okay. If you think it's best. [He would shrug, but even the slight movement of his shoulder makes him wince.] It's kind of weird. I've never had a wound that a Cure spell couldn't handle.

[He sounds rather sheepish as he says it.]

[ricebird]

[She nods as she stretches the long towel out, just testing if it can be knotted around Roxas's neck at the right length for now.]

We don't have any kind of magic in my world, just in fiction. It'd be nice if we had Cure spells there, though. [Like, you know, kitchen knife accidents.] Can anyone use magic like that in your world?

[twilightskey]

If they're good enough with magic, yeah. It's not very common, I guess; most people I knew who could do magic could only use one element. If you had a Keyblade to help, you can wield all kinds of magic, even if you couldn't do so before.

[ricebird]

A Keyblade?

[Okay, the length should work, especially once she puts the folded towels in there for padding.]

[twilightskey]

[He holds still as she pads the sling, but nods carefully.]

Yeah. They're magical weapons that are shaped like keys. They can lock or unlock anything, and can channel magic through them. I have two that I can wield, but they didn't come with me when I came here.

[ricebird]

Huh. That does sound interesting. We don't have anything like that. I'm just lucky that the Storyteller let me make sure I brought my contacts and glasses.

[And that she brought more than one bottle of contact solution. Definitely a good thing that Kotori decided to be prepared, given how she first thought this was all a dream.]

[twilightskey]

Yeah, most worlds don't have Keyblade wielders. I only ever knew two other people who knew how to use one.

[Even if those people were his Somebody and a Replica meant to use Sora's powers, but... well, details.]

[ricebird]

Really? What are they like?

[Aaaand once again, Kotori asks an innocent question without knowing she's skipping across a minefield as she readies the sling for Roxas to slip his arm through.]

[twilightskey]

[Roxas pauses at that, because yes, Kotori, that is indeed a minefield of sorts. He doesn't reply right away, wincing as he instead focuses on slowly guiding his arm into the sling. Once that ordeal was done, he lets out a breath before talking.]

One was one of my best friends. The other... well, he's someone I used to hate.

[He says it with a faint chuckle, as if it's an old, inside joke of sorts.]

[ricebird]

Someone you used to hate?

[That... sounds like a story for sure. Hopefully less painful than the friend he hinted at during their scene in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. (Spoilers: it isn't.)]

[twilightskey]

Yeah. I hated him, because he took everything from me. But, I found out that between the two of us, he's the one who has to be the hero.

He makes a good other.

[Is that cryptic as hell? Absolutely. But it's said with a small smile, like Roxas has had time to process what had happened and has come to accept it, for the most part. Which, isn't too far from the truth.]

[ricebird]

I... what?

[That... doesn't sound just cryptic, it sounds horrible. She starts leading him towards the door, but her eyes can't leave his face in total confusion, curiosity, and concern.]

Why... Why would you say something like that?

[twilightskey]

Well...

[He pauses, allowing Kotori to help him stand up and lead to the door. He feels bad about the confusion and concern on her face. It... really did sound bad, now that he mentioned it, right? If this was how he was before he re-assimilated with Sora, he might be more bitter, more angry at his situation. But he's had time to come to peace with it. And out of everyone who he could have been born from, Sora isn't a bad option.]

[A part of him was hesitant to say, but Kotori deserves an explanation. Plus, talking about this helps him to keep his mind off of the whole Hyde situation.]

It's because... I'm not really a person. I'm a Nobody, and I was born from someone else's heart, when he lost his. That other person... he's my original self.

[ricebird]

A... Nobody?

[She was going to protest when he first said the phrase, but that explanation...]

How... I... I don't understand at all... Born from a heart...?

[twilightskey]

A heart... it's a thing of great power. Sometimes, though, people lose their hearts. They may be consumed by darkness, or given up somehow... A heart that's consumed by darkness usually becomes a creature called a Heartless. That's actually what I thought happened to Disciple, and why I was so worried; Heartless can normally only be beaten for good with a Keyblade. Anyways, when a strong-willed person loses their heart, the empty shell left behind begins to act on it's own.

That creature's called a Nobody. That's what I am; someone without a heart, born when someone lost theirs.

[He hopes this all makes sense. He's never had to really explain this to anyone before.]

Sora's the one who I came from. And he's the reason I have a Keyblade, where I'm from. If he hadn't lost his heart... I wouldn't exist.

[Technically, Nobodies weren't meant to exist, but... well.]

[ricebird]

[Whoa... that's... even if she's starting to grasp the LETTER of what he said, that's... horrifying. What a horrible way to come into being, what an awful weight that must be on his heart and mind. (And yes, she MEANS heart and mind.)]

Roxas-kun...

[twilightskey]

[It does. It definitely weighs heavily on his heart, or whatever that he has that passes for a heart. It's hard to say, and even moreso now that he's become part of Sora. It's telling in the faraway look he gets, and how for a moment he goes silent. Then, he looks back at her, letting out a small breath.]

It's... not the worst thing. I thought I was going to vanish if I went back to him, but when I joined with Sora, I didn't disappear. I just... went back to where I belonged.

[Though as he says it, there's a hint of sorrow in his voice. He knew he had to go back to Sora, but it would have been nice to be his own person.]

[He hadn't intended for her to find out on a night like this, but, well... At least she isn't worrying about Shizuo??]

[ricebird]

Wait... So does... Does that mean you're... you're not alive anymore...?

[A ghost or angel, maybe, somehow solid here, but... dead...?]

[twilightskey]

[Roxas has to pause, pondering that.]

I... don't know. I mean, my heart returned to Sora, and I don't have a body anymore. But I didn't disappear, or fade into darkness... And, sometimes I feel things through Sora. So...

[...did that constitute dying? Roxas is unsure.]

[ricebird]

[No body anymore... And with that he called himself, that seems like a stupidly cruel joke. Her steps begin to falter, but she looks to him, tears streaming from behind her glasses again.]

I'm so sorry, Roxas-kun... I'm sorry... It's not fair...

[She's not even sure what else to SAY to that, what else to DO. How can he be so CALM about something like that? How can he be so sure that he was less deserving of life just because he wasn't the original?]

[twilightskey]

[Oh no. Oh no, he hadn't meant to make her cry. He stops mid-step, reaching out to her with his good arm.]

H-Hey, wait... I-I didn't mean to make you cry..!

[He was trying to just talk to her, not make her more upset!]