//.along.the.path//-we.lost.our.way//-[Rina, closed]

Rina glanced up into the sky as thunder boomed and clouds gathered to turn the perpetual night of Traverse Town even darker. No moon or stars could be seen and the back alley Rina had found herself in had only a few muted street lamps. There was no telling what was lurking in the shadows. What deeds were being done.

The young woman had come to the bustling hub to do some trading and once her business was complete she decided to head on home. Unused to how large the town had grown over the years she had become lost in the maze of backstreets. She noticed she was among the more unfortunate townsfolk. The poor and the wicked who couldn't afford to live in the nicer parts of town or chose to carry out dark tasks out of the eye of the authorities. Rina wasn't scared. This was almost like the slums she came up in. Almost like home. She was on edge though. There was a charge in the air that wasn't lightning.

That being on edge was what made her gasp and scream when a male body dropped with a sickening crunch, spraying blood and Shiva knows what else onto her boots. Looking at the body and not daring to get closer, she looked up at the direction that the man had came from.

Rina had only caught a glimpse of the assailant but  she knew that white bodysuit and golden helm from her nightmares. And if her eyes had deceived her, her heart had not. It had begun to beat quickly and that infernal tug in her gut had settled in. Wherever Fear would go, Blackout would be there as well.

Rain began to fall heavily and Rina tugged up the hood of her coat, which coincidentally (or not at all at this point) was the one she had repaired for Blackout. He never returned, so she kept it and used it. A memory of their strange encounter. A memory she wasn't able to forget no matter how hard she tried.

A crowd had started to gather despite the rain and the girl started to edge out from it and into an alley which would lead to the front of the derelict hotel. As she closed onto the opening into the front of the street, Fear had appeared and was walking away from her. Against her better judgment (she was sure this thing had just killed a man) she reached out and grasped a muscled arm clad in white.

"H-hey! What are you doing here? What have you done?!"

Fear

Rina's grip upon the man tightened for a moment as Shiro said her name and she was about to step closer but as it became obvious that Fear was in control she jerked back like she had been burned. Fear disappeared into the dark and without even thinking of the consequences of following the Heartless she stepped though the corridor, the short trip making her feel heady and sick. Or maybe that was just the effect of being around Blackout and Fear again. She wasn't sure. His words stating that she was told to forget him sounded distorted and echo-y like she was listening to him say it in her memory from all those months ago. Her head began to clear soon after emerging from the portal and she saw that Fear had brought them to a shadowed rooftop. As the man stood in the rain, she ducked under a nearby awning seeking both shelter and some space away from Fear. 

Rina could still hear his measured words, his explaining away that the man was sick and needed to be put down, that they were a murderer themselves. "Would you agree life is safer if men like him didn’t exist?" Rina sighed softly. Well she didn't disagree. It wasn't that long ago that she was in the same position...asking the same question. It made her shiver how alike the two of them were and how nearly parallel their paths were. Rina stepped away from the awning, slowly approaching Fear, pushing through her own internal fear of both the Heartless and what it woke up within her. She touched the same arm she had grabbed earlier, feeling how cold it had become. 

"You're not wrong. I've did the same exact thing...to protect myself and others." She chose her next words carefully. "There's a different path though. A different road I've chose to walk on. I can't speak for you but Blackout...I bet he doesn't enjoy this. I bet he wants a different path. I can help now. Both of you. Let me...let me talk to him. Please?" Rina looked up into her reflection in the helm, not meeting the blank eyes of Fear.

"I'll let you talk to her."

She hasn't been able to forget either.

Fear

Rina knew she had landed herself into a trap. The static made her fingertips tingle but that didn't stop her from sliding her hand down Fear's arm and clasping his hand in both of hers. Her whole body trembled but she was going to stand her ground. She wasn't exactly the same woman that first encountered Fear. She was no longer afraid of the evil that he brought forth from deep inside her.

"Yes. I do think highly of him." She stepped closer, growing cold as the darkness enveloped the pair. "."

A familiar door had appeared before them and Fear released himself from Rina, putting his counter offer in front of the girl. Blackout for Her? No sane person would make that deal but at this point was Rina all that sane? Trading the dark part of her soul for a man she barely knew but couldn’t get out of her head in the months since they first met? A smirk twitched at her lips. She would have traded it for less.

“Our time was cut short last time, wasn’t it?
“Take this key and beyond that door, seek and you shall find. One small caveat, you leave her with me… Do we have a deal?”

Do we have a deal? Rina hesitated for a moment before accepting the key. "I don't know what you're expecting of me, Fear. I don't think she'll stay with you. She's not one to be controlled so easily. But yes. We have a deal.”

Taking a breath Rina inserted the key and watched the door creak open. The background chatter of people going about their business buzzed in her ears as she stepped through. The door blended into the blank wall behind her and disappeared. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness as she exited into the hall but then she could see people who were slightly transparent bustling by her, some even going right through her like ghosts. Or maybe she was the ghost to them.

"Where am I?” she asked softly to herself. She wandered down the halls aimlessly for a time before hearing agonizing screams that made chills go racing down her back. It had to have been Blackout. Rina sprinted down the hall, bursting through the door paying no mind to the armed guards. They didn’t seem to see her. The screams became louder.

Several scientists were in the room, some of them typing at computers and a group of them standing in front of a two way mirror. She glanced at the data that was pulled up on the screens and the various opened files One closest to her confirmed who the screams were coming from. In big bold letters the file was titled:Shiro Utuago AKA Blackout.

Rina covered her mouth with her hands and tears welled up in her eyes. His name was Shiro. She knew his name and could tell him once she made it out of this nightmare. Except it wasn’t was it? This must have been one of his memories that he had lost. Moving towards the mirror she braced herself for what she would see. .She placed her hands on the glass and peered in through the window. A crack of lightning came from the walls and zapped Shiro right in front of her. “No!” she gasped. Rina made her way into the chamber where Shiro was being kept.

His clothes were in tatters and smoking from the repeated bolts of lightning.Rina had had enough, she couldn’t watch this anymore. Between the last bolt of lightning and the next healing spell Rina attempted to undo the straps that kept Shiro bound to the chair. Her hands would just fall through each time. Of course…she wasn’t really here. She wouldn’t be able to save Shiro from this fate. Remembering why she was there, Rina took a deep breath and summoned her daggers, tipping them with darkness like a poison. Maybe Fear would let her win if she played the game.

Swiping through his bonds she was able to cut them this time and pulled the man forward. “Come on, Shiro. Let’s go!”

She did no more than stand the man up on his two feet before yellow eyes and dark shadows began to come from the surrounding walls. The scientists, the soldiers, everyone who appeared as a ghost to Rina was now closing in on the pair. They would devour them completely.

As commanded Rina covered her head and ears, turning her back from the blast. The burst of electricity made the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. As the blast shattered glass and made the ghosts disappear, Shiro turned to check on his companion. As he spoke Rina’s vision began to swim, shapes becoming distorted, Shiro’s voice becoming far away.

“Thank y…did to deserve…we should go.”

Rina nodded numbly and reached out to grip Shiro’s elbow to steady herself as she swayed forward. “Y-yeah. We should go,”

so you found your prize… but are you able to leave with it…

Fear’s needling voice entered Rina’s mind and with a groan of pain she dropped to her knees. She squeezed her head in her hands trying to rid herself of the agonizing fire that was consuming her insides. Glancing over at Shro she could see that he had his hands over his ears as well but didn’t seem to be in the same distress as Rina was. She was nearly curled in on herself, tears streaming down her face when the pain suddenly stopped. Fear must have found what he was looking for. Their surroundings had changed. Tears continued to slide down Rina’s cheeks.

“Where are we?”

“I think I know…” Yes, Rina knew. This must have been one of her memories, even though it wasn't something she could possibly remember. But she could feel it. Something was about to happen. This was the beginning. Her beginning

The sky was dark like night, but there were no stars to be seen. Very little was actually visible due to the thick haze of smoke and Darkness around them. The Darkness was oppressive, almost making it hard to breathe. The wind was howling and a large gust blew past them uncovering a dilapidated house in front of them, Some walls missing, others sagging, the roof looking to collapse at any moment. A young woman with black hair that was starting to silver earlier than it should have been was knelt beside a wooden cradle. She rocked it gently, singing softly to the crying child inside. She would glance around periodically like she was keeping watch to protect her child from something. The wind was picking up again and the child cried louder. The sound made Rina shudder.

She made her way onto unsteady feet and like she was in a trance she walked towards the mother and child. As she became closer she felt something deep in her chest that thrummed hard when she looked at the young woman. “Is…is that…? M-mom?” Rina’s throat felt so tight that she could barely speak. The wind battered at her, trying to hold her back but she continued, each step bringing her closer , but bringing the Darkness in closer as well. She was an arms length away before her strength was completely sapped and she collapsed onto the ground.

Trying to push herself up onto her hands , Rina glanced down to see a stream of purple swirling smoke exiting her chest forming a feminine form in front of her. A form that Rina was all too familiar with. Rina’s Dark Other caressed her vessel’s cheek before melting into the ground, reappearing behind the child’s mother. She peered over the mother’s shoulder grinning at the child in the cradle before looking back up at Rina. “No! Leave them alone!” Rina began to drag herself towards the cradle. “Stop! Take me instead! Please!” As Rina drew closer the Woman’s dark form became more clear, more defined, taking more of Rina’s appearance. With a wide smile showing a row of jagged teeth the Dark Form summoned one of Rina’s daggers and with no hesitation slashed a line across the woman’s throat. Blood splashed down her body, into the crib, pooling onto the ground. The woman gasped and gurgled, clutching at her throat. Screaming, Rina found her strength and bolred towards the women. She raised up the woman who she had no doubt was her mother, blood making her hands slip. “No, no! Don’t go! Please, I'm here!”

"Save her..."

Rina saw the bloody lips move, more than she heard the breathless voice. She watched the woman’s eyes become lifeless orbs. With shuddering breaths Rina reached into the cradle but was only able to grasp at bloodsoaked blankets. She frantically looked around before spotting her Dark self rocking the child in her shimmering arms, shushing and cooing at the baby. Swirls of Darkness surrounded the three of them. She beckoned towards Rina to come closer and like an obeying child she came. A wave of nausea went through her as the now quiet child was now passed to her. Glittering blue eyes, the same blue eyes that Rina saw every morning in the mirror gazed back at her.

“This was the day…the day I created you. The day I gave birth to you.” the Woman murmured softly into Rina’s ear. “The day that I saved you.”

This made Rina’s head jerk up to stare at the woman. “Saved me?! You STOLE me! You stole everything I was meant to be!” She gestured to the baby in her arms. “SHE was innocent! I WAS INNOCENT!”

Rina looked back down at her mother’s lifeless body at her feet. Her voice was choked by sobs and came out as a pitiful whine. “You killed my mom…” Rina looked up to confront the Woman but she was already gone, as was the child that had been in Rina’s arms. The blood was no longer on her hands. Soft laughter, a man and woman’s mixed together, filled Rina’s ears.

“She was in our way.”

The area began to morph again, bright white light flooding the plane. The old wooden door with the obsidian glass had appeared once more.

Rina was numb. She felt absolutely nothing. The scene she had just witnessed had her rattled to the bone and would affect the woman for a long time onward. Now that the scene had changed once again Rina was in an unfamiliar place. So one of Shiro's memories then. She tracked a seagull as it flew overhead, talking careful steps to the edge of the crag they were standing down. As her toes scuffed over the edge, pebbles fell down into the ocean below.

She could hear Shiro attempting to console her but how could he? Rina had seen a moment that she had always wanted to see but now that she had…she would never be able to rid that moment from her mind. The blood, the life leaving her mother's eyes. Rina peered over the cliff watching the waters churn at the bottom. Go down, go down, go down. One slip of her foot and maybe she would fall. Maybe that would make this all go away, she could finally be with her mother and would no longer be tortured by this life.

Before the intrusive thoughts could go any further she heard a voice calling her name. Turning around, she could see another Shiro! One that was in a much better condition than her companion. One that made her heart flutter in her chest. "Get away from him!"

This new Shiro had a gun drawn and pointed at his double. Even though one had his hands up in weaponless surrender, the other did not relent. Rina looked on in confusion, a sharp pain going through her head. She couldn't take this any more. Too much, too quickly. Too much to process. She glanced from the twins in front of her, back to the ocean behind her. From the ocean to the grizzled door just a little more uphill. She needed to get out of here before she completely lost her mind to this madness.

"H-hey!" Rina screamed and the sound of gunshots spurred her into action. She went to put herself in between the Shiros but it was too late. The Shiro that had been with her had been shot, blood spreading across his clothes, coming from his lips. She spread her arms out trying to shield him with her body as best as she could. The new Shiro stalked closer, eyes changing to yellow, body being covered with Fear's armor.

did you think you could deceive us, child… and we’d let you both walk away…

Deceive? Ah. Fear had caught on to Rina's secret. Or maybe her Darkness had told him. "When did you know?" Much as he could try to take and take, Rina's Darkness was her own. He could have only a taste of Her as long as Rina was alive. Her Darkness seemed to be taking well to Fear wrapping herself around him, bolstering his power. He pointed the gun at her now.

"Time to give what is ours’, Rina; or forever pay the price,”
“Complete us…”

This wasn’t the first time that Rina had been on the other end of a gun barrel and like before she was unafraid. If this was just a dream then nothing could truly harm her. Right? The sky began to darken, the wind picking up much like how it had been in the last memory.

“Rina…”
“We… We need to get you to the door.”

Rina nodded and wrapped her arms around Shiro’s waist, hoisting him up as best as she could. “Come on soldier, I’m not leaving you behind.” Starting to scuffle towards the door, she was stopped by more gunshots. She turned in time to see her companion slow the bullets enough for them to be harmless but he did not account for the additional bullets shot. Rina pushed Shiro forward towards the door, taking the two shots, one in the hip, one in the shoulder.

With a yelp she sprawled out into the rocks landing beside Shiro. Groaning she continued to fight towards the door.

Rina gasped as the air was knocked out of her when she hit the ground. Her entire body felt beaten, the places she had been shot were blazing and throbbing. She wished to just lay there but knew that if she did she would not make it off of this cliff top.

Luckily for her Shiro was going to give her the opportunity to stay. He opened the old door for her and motioned for her to go through. She went like it was a magnet drawing her in but grabbed Shiro's hand before stepping over the threshold. She waited for him to follow but he wasn't able to pass through. "No! You can't stay! No!" Rina continued to grab and pull at him but her hands were going through him like when she had first encountered him. The nightmare was lifting.

Rina's hands were on the outside of the door, ready to close it as commanded but she couldn't move her eyes from Shiro. She couldn't bear to leave him to his fate but there was nothing she could do. Her eyes were wide with horror as she watched Fear strike him down and fix his eyes on her. With an angry yell she slammed the door shut and watched as the windows cracked before the door itself disappeared. She turned to see Fear wrapped in his cocoon but it was cracked and failing as well.

He spoke softly to her, apologizing for his deeds but Rina wasn't sure if he was being sincere or not. However, she knew that what she felt was sincere and she held her hands up, her body thrumming with emotion.

"Wait…"

Rina closed the distance slowly between the two. Shuddering from her ordeal, the pain she could still feel in her body, Rina stood in front of the Heartless' guns.

Hoping to act on the element of surprise or die for her attempt, Rina reached out to place her hand on Fear's chest. Pushing Darkness through her fingertips she leaned in close to whisper to Fear. "She's not quite ready to say goodbye…she wants to say goodbye." Pressing as close as she thought she was able to, wrapping her arms around his neck, Rina pressed her lips softly to Fear's. She was sincere as she said against his lips, "Thank you…"

Rina placed her palms against his back and hissed into his ear. " I banish thee Darkness, I welcome the Goddess' Light, fill me with strength, to end his plight!" Rina pushed as much Light magic as she could muster into Fear's body before clutching him tight. She kissed his forehead their tiny dark corner lighting up like the day.

"Find me…Shiro!!"

Rina's heart was pounding inside her chest. Her fingers fluttered over Shiro's chest. Finally, Shiro was here. With her. After yearning for so long and going through so much in this one night, Rina was able to collect her reward. They were both safe. Finally together. For now. How long would this last? Could it last? Rina tried to push these thoughts away, focusing instead in happiness glinting in Shiro's blue eyes. Blue, not gold. There was a warmth inside her that even the cold rain could not extinguish. Finally.

A blush stained her checks as she let out a nervous laugh mixed with a sob as Shiro tugged gently on the repaired hood. She bashfully shrugged her shoulders. "Always carried it with me. Just in case we bumped into each other." She smiled slightly. A small fib. She took the hoodie everywhere indeed but wore it often as well. It made her feel protected. Rina's face screwed up with tears.

"I'm sorry! I should have went after you that night. I should have looked for you and made you stay. I almost ran out to find you...I just didn't know...I didn't know what to d-!"

Shiro ended her sentence by pressing his lips over hers. Rina whimpered into the kiss. A proper kiss, a real kiss. One not being forced but freely given. She deepened the kiss then, pressing closer into Shiro's body, threading her fingers into the hair at his neck. More, she thought. I want to give him more.

It was then that thunder boomed and lightning cracked around them. Rina gasped and jumped slightly before resting her face into his neck. Trying not to sound so breathless. "We need to get out of this storm. Find some warm clothes..."

We need to talk.