Flip the Chessboard

[vacationisalie.livejournal.com]

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

[But perhaps in this case, it was different. Prosaic and memorable as those words may be, they don't hold true to this moment.]

The closer you get to the light, the slimmer the chance you'll survive.

Isn't that right, Roxas?

[A pause, and the boy laughs, cold and chilling, staring about the dream world once shared by two close individuals with extreme interest. Roxas screams in his mind, but it's oh so easy to simply block him out- he'd learned to do that years ago.]

[There was so much here, so much to ruin, so much to-- break.]

[So many people.]

[So little time.]

[Lips curl upwards into a cruel smile, and the illusion of Roxas simply lasts but a moment. Then it's gone, and a shadow stands in his wake. Solid, alive... and with a stark, chilling resemblance to Sora that Roxas has never held.]

Let's go have some fun.


[OOC: all replies will be made with the journal endinsentiment. The flip of the chessboard occurs in the opposite other being in play-- and Roxas falling under possession instead of Sora. Please be advised violence and character injury is liable to occur-- please let me know if character death is okay.]

Comments

[curepotion.livejournal.com]

[ the pain's there again.

it's like--

the same pain, a familiar pain from when he spoke with Zack, but also different, tainted differently, he can't quite--understand it. but he looks up and narrows his eyes as his eyes blur past the timelines he sees addressed before his vision. they're going too fast and he doesn't know what's wrong. what's happening to everyone?

--he shuts his eyes, shakes his head, then straightens. ]

What am I dealing with?

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

[He's been taking this as a quiet chance to find the weakest spots. It's easy to feel what's most precious to Roxas- so many little nooks and crannies waiting to feel the touch of darkness, to crack and crumble and be done away with for all eternity, just like the blonde himself. But Sora is different.]

[Sora, with his soft white sands and blue skies. Disgusting. Sentimentality seeps off of every crevice, and Vanitas has already aspired that the first thing to go up in flame is that tree]

[ Let's see how long fruit ties you all together then. ]

Want to try specifics, or are you simply that clueless.

[A statement, not a question. More likely than not, he was.]

[curepotion.livejournal.com]

I'm not clueless. You're Vanitas.

You've been living for--

[ how--

how many years

concentrate--




f̶̖͎͚̗̣̖̳̖͇͔͙̼͈̽ͮ͋̾̆̍̓ͫ̎ͮ̎̊ͣ̚͘ͅo̶̼̠̞̖͉͆̆ͤͨ̏̀̓̐ͧͩ͜ͅu̢̳̞̥͖̫̖̝̗̭͚͚̠̜̲̻̗̅͒̍̈́̅͊̓̐̐̾͑̍ͭͭ͂̀͘͟ͅr̵̨͙̹͓͈͈̺̙̓ͥͧ͋̾̌ͯ͞ͅ


focus--


fͥ̓̾͐̂҉̞͔͎̞̻̙ͅō͈̗̼̖̩̠̄͞͡u̻͎̼̟͕͉̣̭͔ͣͧ͡r̙͉̱̟̫͋͐͂͐̅̓̓ͤ̚͜

clear your mind--

f̧oùr҉ ]

Four. Years.

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

[Vanitas' eyes narrow, corners of his mouth dipping downwards. As petulant as any four year old, his favored mask comes in handy for many things. Such as hiding the expressions, written clear upon his face.]

[He's not happy with Riku. Not happy at all.]

Bravo. Can you pull a bunny out of your hat, too?

[Ever so calmly, Vanitas stalks over. The relaxed posture of his body is completely belied by his face-- it causes a confusing mixture, a feel of passiveness coupled with a dark intent to hurt. To hurt.]

What do you do, Riku, when people don't like your tricks?

[curepotion.livejournal.com]

[ They're not tricks.

I keep living.

I keep in plain sight.

there are so many answers to that question, but Riku can't find one coming to his lips as he starts to back away just as calmly, keeping a calculated distance from Vanitas. his face seems perpetually stuck in a wince, a grit of teeth, clenched fingers. ]

You asked for specifics. I gave you specifics.

Don't ask for things you don't want.

[ gun gun gun gun gun gun where is a gun when he needs one-- ]

Okay with character death, if it comes to that.

[reverse-destiny.livejournal.com]

[The place is strange. On one hand, he can tell there's supposed to be Twilight Town. On the other, it seems that part of this dream is Destiny Islands. Like the dream can't make up its mind on what it wants to be. And while Twilight Town would normally be comforting--it's his safe place in his dreams--the inclusion of the islands has him uneasy. Perhaps if he stays away, he can pretend this dream--his dream?--doesn't include some signs of guilt. So, for right now, he's wandering the streets of Twilight Town, hands behind head. Casual.]

We'll see how we go, ne?

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

[Casual... except the walls are melting. Turning into a thick sludge of darkness that slides across the pavement, runs through all the cracks and makes the mortar between them melt as well, causing the stones to suddenly roll under Sora's weight.]

Isn't this typical?

[The air is thick with the smell of darkness, acrid and pure. Vanitas' eyes gleam with satisfaction from underneath the mask that glows and settles across his facial features, watching Sora from a short distance away.]

Looks like I found a stray.

Yes.

[reverse-destiny.livejournal.com]

[He stops dead before even the first word is spoken. He'd smelled the darkness before the melting, before anything like that. He'd grown up around it, after all, so it's easily noticeable. And it should be comforting, but this... This is raising so many alarms in his head, and he wants nothing more than to run. Except that voice. It sounds like--]

Wh-What...?

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

Roxas has a penchant for picking up the trash of reality, doesn't he?

[And there he is, leaning against a melting wall like it's nothing, like it doesn't hurt at all. The darkness and he are simply one in the same-- it doesn't. Approaching Sora? That's just part of the fun.]

You're a prime example.

[reverse-destiny.livejournal.com]

[Trash. That causes him to tense all the more. A tool to be used. Not worth anything--

Stop. Just. Stop thinking. Stop and don't think about it because you saved someone important, Sora, and that's all that matters.]

...What's that supposed to mean?

[Be casual as you can be. Get ready to run. That's all.]

=u= fading is a-okay

[burnamotherdown.livejournal.com]

[The figure ahead of him- too far ahead for Axel to make out a face clearly- is all that draws his attention. Nothing about this dream sits right with him, so he stays silent and sinks back against the shadows, hoping not to attract any attention just yet. Not until he maybe knows what's going on.

Every action he might take feels dangerous. Everything in the dream feels delicate. If Axel had a heart, it would be racing with adrenaline right now.]

1/2 I'm sorry I can't not tl;dr at you

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

[Vanitas strolls along like he hasn't a care in the world-- and he doesn't. Never has, not up until the very point he'd died. The world was a chew toy laid out for the taking, and Vanitas was more than ready to squeeze it till it screamed]

[He pauses for a moment, gently touching the side of his head, and laughs. Sora's voice, but not his laugh. Far too guttural, far too callous and cold and insane to be anything like Sora at all.]

You should learn to relax, Roxas. Sora isn't here yet. [He smirks, glancing up at the sky, using Roxas' experience to scout out the dream world, to feel Roxas' mangled subconscious around them.] He will be soon.

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

Until then, we need something to play with.

[Vanitas hums quietly, eyes glimmering with malicious excitement. This is all too good; all too easy. Roxas is deathly quiet inside him, and he knows why. Time to crush those hopes, this dream, for good.]

How about him?

[He turns his head slightly, not looking at Axel-- but it's all too clear who he means.]

[burnamotherdown.livejournal.com]

[He stiffens, hair standing up on the back of his neck as the figure gets closer. Axel's no longer just a visitor in this dream; he's turned into something more akin to prey- and he's beginning to sense it himself.

But no matter what it is that's about to happen, Axel isn't prepared to just stand there uselessly. It doesn't hurt to be prepared- better safe than sorry- so he summons his chakrams, calling out to whoever this is-]

This your dream?

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

This? Where would be the fun in that?

[He has his weapons drawn already; it's simply too easy to get under his skin. Yellow eyes glance at him from Sora's face, intent and focused.]

Roxas led me here all by himself. You know what he wants you to do, right now?

He wants you to run.

[Waiting for a reaction.]

1/2

[burnamotherdown.livejournal.com]

[That face is- Axel pauses for a second, staring in shock- ]

[burnamotherdown.livejournal.com]

[But no, he can't let anything distract him, because he knows what the threat in this dream is now, and it's right in front of him.]

How would you know what Roxas wants right now?

[Axel's standing his ground for now. He feels his chance to run has long passed.]

would rather avoid char death. i want to keep her liking roxas well enough XD

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[The Dark Kingdom's Mercury has held herself back for too long. She wants to let loose.

It's not as if she gains anything by letting them go, reluctant to hurt them. They should feel pain; she doesn't need the dream world to tell her that. And as her temper burns, so does the very air start to heat and suffocate.

The sand turns to glass, letting off angry steam as the effect spreads and reaches the sea. In the glint of the sun, it could be mistaken for a sheet of hazy ice.]

Noooot a problem-- I'll let you know when she should get the hell out of dodge

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

[Vanitas watches this all with an idle sense of interest, eyes lingering on the frothing glass, on the sun's glare reflecting from the liquid. Crouching, he dips a finger into the heated mass, watching as it hardens crumbling it into piercing shards in the palm of his hand.]

[The landscape settles into something much more twisted, and Vanitas treads across the gleaming monstrosity of land with the quiet sounds of his boots sticking and unsticking in the glass, not bothered by the heat or light it causes. Where he was born, heat will never be an issue.]

[Stopping at a key vantage point, he looks up at the smaller island, holding out the palm of his hand and watching with complete and utter satisfaction as every paopu fruit on a specific tree's branches sour and shrivel, before the whole thing bursts into flames.]

<3 thankies

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Glassy eyes gleam with the pleasure of the sight; they reflect the flames as she savors the destruction of that hated symbol. Mercury lets out a sharp, barked laugh as something inside her is released.

She, of all people, knows how useless so-called bonds of fate are. Friendship, love, all of it a lie, or easily shattered. She's seen it time and time again, in world after world. To finally see someone equally willing to tear them down only spurs her onward. She steps closer to Vanitas, and her lips curve upward.]

I'm not satisfied with just this. I want the rest of them to be torn down, too.

don't mention it <3

[endinsentiment.livejournal.com]

[He glances over at her, expressionless. Interest is vague and remote, but what was breaking things if you couldn't spur someone into breaking themselves?]

Be my guest.

[He'll readily step aside, to see what she can do. Talk is talk; act.]

anything goes bb

[lockandkeyblade.livejournal.com]

[Missing. That's the feeling that churns in Sora's gut as he races through their shared dream world. Buildings once bathed in golden sunlight, now loom over him in a sickly yellow. Shadows stretch on forever, swaying as he speeds past.]

[No... missing's not the right word. It's wrong. That's what it is. Despite his expression set in deep concentration, he feels unsettled. Sick to his stomach, heart beating like a drum and fear lurking in the back of his mind like a heaving shadow. It's a grim sign that something is amiss.]

[Roxas. He just has to find his friend. Other. Partner. He's sure they can figure this out. Things always turn out okay whenever he's with Roxas. Just as long as they stick together, they can get through anything. He's sure of it.]

Roxas! Roxas, answer me! Where are you!?

welp, then--

[vacationisalie.livejournal.com]

I'm right over here.

[And there he is, standing down the opposite side of the street, staring at Sora like he's grown two heads. Nothing wrong with him- he's still perfectly Roxas, in every way.]

[Perfectly. Roxas.]

Are you okay? You...what's up?

TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL

[lockandkeyblade.livejournal.com]

[That apprehensive tug in the back of his mind, that unsettled feeling never leaves. But there's so much relief that it's easily forgotten. Brushed aside. Instead, he focuses on Roxas. He leans left, and then right as he inspects Roxas for anything out of place. And when his inspection finishes, and he flashes Roxas a bright (albeit a little embarrassed) smile.]

Oh uh... It's nothing. I thought something might be a little off, but I guess I was just imagining things!

TRAP TAG

[vacationisalie.livejournal.com]

[Roxas tilts his head, stares at him for a moment.]

[There's something foreign in his gaze, almost predatory.]

[But then it's gone, and Roxas smiles. One of those simple quirks of his lips that shows a true contentment, the ones he doesn't give out often, if at all. He shakes his head at Sora, as if he's amused, and holds out a hand for his Other to take.]

C'mon. I want to ask you something.