The hollow castle; void and darkness i (Riku)

It had been a while since he had stepped foot here. This castle that ran on strange energy and malice. Standing on one of the platforms, the aquamarine eyed keyblader would look up towards the floating space that would hold the castle itself. The memories that had been built here were flowing through him, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth; however, the keyblader would simply take the sting of the past before blinking and focusing on getting up to the castle.

He wasn’t sure why he was summoned back here, but amongst the usual darkness that mingled with the strange air, the keyblader could sense another in the area. That presence was further up, so he suppose he should investigate. Taking a step forward, the keyblader would proceed to the first platform before pushing off the ground to get on top of it. Landing he would move on, making his way slowly and carefully up the platforms until he came to a medium sized one where a few shadows decided to attack. Being weak, it was easy to take them out and press on until he finally landed on the main mass of the area.

Looking at the castle behind its large gates, the keyblader would take a few steps forward before pausing as he noticed a strange lady and some type of creature taking on some of the tougher Heartless. While the pair of enemies were moving slowly, the keyblader knew from experience that two Heartless of that level was no joke. So summoning his keyblade, he moved to help.

As the first defender reared its shield back and tried to thrust it forward to snap at the creature with the woman, there would be a loud clang as instead that chomping mouth met with Riku’s keyblade as he quickly moved between foe and prey. The shield would clamp down upon the keyblade as the larger Heartless tried to push Riku back; however, he wouldn’t let it as he pushed back and with some effort, was able to not only push it back, but also knock it off balance.

As the creature wobbled, it moved its shield leaving itself open for a moment. Darting into that small space of time, Riku would strike out, the Heartless groaning in pain before it was swinging the shield around to hit him. Ducking under the shield and hopping back as the second one made a swipe at him, Riku would land off to the side of the woman as he settled into his combat position.

“Are you two okay?” he would ask, keeping his eye both on foes and newcomers a like.
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Moves
1) Blocked Defender blow towards Mammet
2) Pushed Defender #1 back and made a successful physical attack upon it.
3) Jumped back to avoid being struck when the Defenders retaliated.

The keyblader would hear the reply, giving the other a relieved smile in turn; however, that was all he was able to do since the second Defender was moving again. As the second came for him once more, the keyblader would brace himself, preparing for whatever was to come; however, it would seem the one he had helped would pay back the favor, the creature using some sort of move to damage the Defender heavily. The creature would wobble and before it could recover, Riku would push from the ground and make his way towards the opening. Making a turn off to the side at the last moment, he raised his hand and released Dark Fire onto the creature. The dark flames would pound into the creature and in turn cause it to go down with a groan as it returned to the darkness from which it came.

With one down, he would turn to take down the other; however, it would appear the woman had things under control taking the large Heartless down with quick strikes of blade of her own. With no other enemies around for the time being, the keyblade would vanish as he turned his focus towards the woman and the other with her.

“Tresspassing? No. This place is open to anyone who dares to come to place,” Riku would say before looking at the other curiously. “Who are you and why have you come to this dangerous place?”

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Cooldown:
Dark Fire: 1 post

He could feel the other observing him, but didn’t mind as he scanned the area a bit to make sure no more Heartless were going to appear. When he felt the usual presence of darkness around the area, his eyes would go back to the woman and the strange creature with her. Both were something he had not run across before making him wonder where they had come from and why they were so interested in the castle. He didn’t sense anything dark about the other, but even so he knew better than to take that alone to judge a person’s intentions. Even someone of Light could be plotting something malicious.

Keeping his wits about him the keyblader would watch as the other bowed to him and introduced herself. Esha'ntarl, huh? He’d have to remember that. She gave off other titles that he didn’t understand, but what he did understand was the talk of her seeking the Realm of Darkness and that alone caught his attention.

“My name is Riku. It’s a pleasure meet you,” he would begin keeping his introduction simple as usual. “You say you seek the Emptiness. What is it exactly and what makes you think it is the Dark Realm?” he would ask before shifting his weight a bit as he followed the woman’s gaze back to the castle. “There is Darkness building around the worlds seeking to destroy them. That Darkness is probably the something terrible you are sensing.” The keyblader would say before falling silent as considered the dark castle before him. Darkness continued to grow stronger and stronger. It made him wonder at times if the Light would be enough to take it on or would it be consumed by it?

Riku would return the smile with a slight smile of his own before he began listening to the words the other was saying. So this Emptiness she spoke of acted exactly like the Darkness that he knew of? It seemed impossible, but the more he listened to her speak on it, the more they sound the same. How strange. Was the Darkness really already known in various worlds just by different names? It was something he was curious to know, but for time being he wouldn’t bother the thought further as he instead opted to speak instead.

“Hmmm. Your Emptiness and my Darkness do seem to line up. The traits are very much alike so I would not doubt what you speak of is the same by a different name,” he would begin as he folded his arms a bit in thought. “Well I haven’t found a source to the Darkness to fully stop it, but then again I don’t think stopping it forever would be wise. The Darkness balances out the Light to keep too much of it from consuming the worlds. Still if there was a way to keep the destructive side of Darkness from continuing onward, I would love to find it and put a stop to that. As it stands now all we can do is fight off the creatures where we find them and keep an eye on the places they originate from.” It was a hard, never-ending task, but it had to be done to keep the worlds safe. “I am afraid I am in the same boat as you and your Society is. As it stands now there is no permanent fix to the problem at hand. Just temporary ones.”

He would see her begin to move towards the castle and follow. “Your research seems to line up with my own goals, but I wonder if we will ever be successful at what we seek or if it is something impossible to do.” The Darkness was as vast as the Light. Could it really be stopped and if so what would happen to the worlds if the Darkness was no longer there to balance out the Light. What would happen to people like him that relied on both for powers? Would they all be saved or would the Light consume and destroy them instead. There were many unknowns to this quest to stop darkness…So many….

That aside though, he had been asked a question, no? Well he supposed he could answer that. “I sensed the Darkness stirring here and came to see what was up. I stayed when I sensed another presence here. That presence turned out to be you, so here I am.”

The young keyblade master would scratch his head a bit at the thought of a permanent end to the Heartless. Was that even possible? Could they really eventually find an end to the madness that was churning in the world? He had to wonder if it was as simple as continuing to push forward with their efforts as the other made it seem.

“Maybe you’re right. Perhaps if we keep pushing forward we can end up finding that permanent solution to the problem. It certainly isn’t impossible,” he would say, but would stay quiet about the part of what was building up in the world. He had a pretty good idea of where things were going and might end up if the pathways kept unfolding the way they did. However that was thoughts for another day and time.

Regardless of that, he would shift in his spot to begin to move to follow the other as she headed towards the castle along with the strange being that was with her. As the being moved forward towards the door, the keyblader would fall in step with the other as she spoke on sharing information. “Share what we know huh?” he would consider that for moment knowing very well he couldn’t tell her everything he knows, but if it was regarding the darkness and how to stop it then perhaps having a second head in on the matter wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. “Alright. I can agree to sharing knowledge about the matter and working towards an end to it all,” the keyblader would say after a moment as he looked at the other with a smile.

A smile that would slowly shift into a small frown as he thought how to answer the question posed. “Yes. I usually can feel a pull or stir from the darkness from a distance signaling the movement of something there.” Though how exactly he got so good at sensing such things the keyblader….that was a story he was not interested in sharing at the moment, so he kept his answer simple and to the point.