allsoend | Ash and dust

Entry tags:

Ash and dust

Who: Terra and other(s).
What: Terra finally pulls himself together enough to take note of his surroundings.
Where: Starting at Terra's heart station.
Warnings: TBD.

He doesn't notice the change at first; the inside of one heart is much the same as another, in many ways. But slowly, he realizes that this is different: there's no smothering cloud, no one stopping him. There's space, of a sort. Slowly, he begins to piece himself together.

The result is still a little strange by the time he realizes he can speak: his skin has a dull sheen to it, like metal, and his movements are slow and strange. He's in half a suit of armor, give or take, bits and pieces interspersed with his ordinary clothes.

But he has his voice, and he hopes there's someone (someone else) to speak to.

Aqua? ...Ven?

Then, less clearly, as he hesitates, worried about what the answer may be,

Is there anybody there?

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Riku knew approximately how Terra should look from vague distant memory and from the blue-tinted image on his own Station of Awakening. Otherwise it was simple reminders from the forms Xehanort had taken advantage of. The silver in his hair could be from age. Xemnas had aged. Even so, this didn't look quite right. And how could he not know this was wrong? Had Terra gone off the deep end? "Just take one look at your skin and look at mine. Skin isn't metallic."

Terra's form matched his Station well. Riku was no stranger to broken Station windows, but this Station was in a state of chaos. Given the life Terra had been forced to lead, this made sense, but it was still unsettling. The fact that it was layered was notable, and even more so that some had been pried up. Could a bright window be so easily achieved that its owner might be able to fix it himself?

"Oh. I...guess not. Sorry. It felt right." He concentrated, and the strange texture faded from his exposed skin.

Looking at Riku's skin led to looking at Riku in general, and Terra smiled weakly. "Not such a kid anymore, huh?" He'd seen Riku older, but those were memories he preferred not to go back to, after what had happened the last time. He was scared of getting lost.

"...No I'm not," Riku said after remaining silent to the statement about his skin. It was good seeing him a little more normal, but...

Riku looked very concerned. "Terra, what's going on? If you fell asleep I'm really glad you woke up by yourself, because no one knew you were out."

Terra looked confused (now that he was distracted, the metal started creeping back over his skin, driven by a heart that still felt like armor). "What are you talking about? This is the first time I've woken up."

Riku took a step back. Something was very, very wrong. "Terra... What do you remember last?"

"The light," he said promptly. "It washed over everything." His memories might mostly be a jumble, and he couldn't clearly recall what had led up to that point, but that was bright and clear.

The reply came in a low tone. "Do you remember walking with me to keep me awake? Or meeting at Destiny Islands recently? ...Or what Kingdom Hearts is doing?"

"...No. No, I don't remember any of that." His memories might be strange and jumbled, but remembering too little didn't seem to be the problem. "It didn't happen...did it?"

"Yeah. It did. Do you even know where you are? Where your heart is? And why I'm here, too?"

"I'm...in someone's heart." That much he was sure of; the feeling was ingrained by now. As for the second question... "Is it your heart?"

Riku shook his head. "No. It's Sora's. Every heart is stuck here. Even Kingdom Hearts. ...You don't remember any of this?"

"Sora. I don't -" Just saying the name brought up a surge of memories that almost knocked him off his feet. He remembered Sora - he remembered fighting Sora, in every tangled strand of memory - but he didn't remember anything about being inside Sora's heart. "- No. I don't remember that."

The bronze tint was back in his skin all over, even his face and hands. Terra himself didn't notice.

But Riku did.

"I've already talked to you. You helped keep me awake once. Because here's the deal. Kingdom Hearts is trying to start the World from scratch because it's so damaged. It lures hearts to sleep so it can take away their memories, wiping them clean. I know from experience. My looks and my name are just what I know from other people's memories. Kingdom Hearts tried to take my identity."

He lightly gestured to Terra. "And it looks like Kingdom Hearts had its way with you... And I'm glad you're still with us."

None of this sounded the least bit familiar to Terra. But Riku wouldn't lie to him, so he supposed it had to be true. He'd woken up before, and then forgotten. But why did he remember everything else?

"I'm sorry." He hadn't - couldn't have - meant to fall asleep when there were people who might need him. "Are you - okay now?"

"That's not your fault. We're all at risk here." Something seemed different, but there was little telling what Kingdom Hearts did to Terra. His appearance alone was unsettling. Perhaps scrambling memories was on its to-do list.

"I'm passable." Riku looked at his hand. "I have to concentrate on how I look. It's not as easy as it was beforehand, and... Memories of how I looked in the past aren't as complete as I'd like. I appeared as a kid to hide here once. Can't do that very well anymore." He looked back up. "I'm sure you can relate," gesturing to Terra's skin.

Edited 2014-02-04 06:08 (UTC)

Terra looked at his skin again in surprise. "-Oh. Right." It wasn't supposed to look like that. He knew that. He just didn't know that. He concentrated on driving the metallic finish away again. (But it felt...better, safer.)

"I'm still sorry that happened to you. I'd ask if I could help, but..." But if he tried to call up memories of Riku, he barely managed to yank his mind away before falling into the abyss of overlapping images and emotions. "...I don't think I can. My memory is - broken."

Riku sighed. "Man, Kingdom Hearts got you good. Took your knowledge of what was happening here and it sounds like it stuck your chain of memories in a blender." He shook his head. "Let's get you to the others. And maybe somewhere calming you can relax. I know just the world."

"I'm not...sure that's its fault." Forgetting what had happened since arriving here, certainly, but his memories from before that seemed intact, just... "There's too much." Three strands of memory shouldn't fit in the same mind.

Maybe if he stopped prodding at them for a bit, they'd sort themselves out. "Sure. Where to?"

"To much... Missing?" Riku didn't quite understand what Terra meant, but from the young Master's prospective, what Terra said didn't make sense. Kingdom Hearts was trying to wipe their memories clean.

"My home. The Destiny Islands."

"Too much there. Whatever Kingdom Hearts did, it missed - a lot." Why it couldn't have gotten rid of the memories he could do without, Terra didn't know.

"I'll come see you there." He remembered the feel of that place, even after so long. He would be able to find it.

"Might've just grabbed what chains it could." He shrugged.

"See you there." With that, Riku closed his eyes, imagining his home until he could nearly-feel the warm wind rustle his hair.

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Ash and dust

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Oh Riku you have no clue.

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Care to wrap up, or should we get Lynx involved if she wants to?

(extremely late whoops) Seems like a good place to wrap!

(No prob!) Okies! Aaaand done!