Black Gardens

[heartswillbeone]

Who: Anyone and everyone who wants to participate
What: Finding and destroying the pieces of heart that Xehanort has planted!
Where: Starting at Sora’s station, then going into the darkness
Warnings: Likely fighting, desperation and other forms of violence


Everyone arriving at Sora’s station of awakening would notice changes right away, even if they weren’t attuned to the darkness. The ever-present light shining from above had grown dim, barely lighting the glass below. The glass itself was still warped in its continual changes, but individual pieces of it were beginning to grow a bit darker.

Someone would have to stay behind to anchor all of the others, and to keep a watch on Sora’s heart from here. But beyond them, in the seemingly endless darkness, lay shards of heart deliberately planted and hidden. With each passing moment they were growing larger and digging roots deeper, threatening not just Sora, but every other heart inside him.

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Your characters can begin the hunt for the heart pieces that Xehanort has planted in the darkness of Sora’s heart! Unfortunately, finding and then eliminating them all is going to be no easy task. They’ve been hidden in the darkness very well, and even having an idea of what to look for, the fact that they’re planted in darkness at all makes them difficult to sniff out. What’s more, because they’ve been rooted in deep, it will take some effort to completely remove them...Keyblades and any other weapons available will likely be necessary.

To that end, this is how things will work: teams of 2-4 will go out into the darkness to search for the heart seeds. Characters should not travel alone, or else they’ll be lost. At least one character can be left behind at Sora’s station, both to serve as an anchor to call back anyone in the darkness, and to be able to tell easiest whether there are any remaining seeds left. But be warned: any anchor left behind will likely be involved in some combat, too!

For those in the darkness, those capable of looking can take one turn each to ‘scan’ the feelings of the surrounding darkness and see if they can pinpoint a heart seed. With each turn, they will have anywhere from a 1-in-3 to a 1-in-10 chance of finding one, depending on the seed. If they locate one, they can then begin the process of uprooting it and destroying it. If they find a particularly difficult one and are not well-equipped to handle it, they can use themselves as anchors to call over others to help. If no team can locate one during their turn, they can keep traversing the darkness and trying over and over until they locate one.

Time is working against them, though. The more turns it takes for them to locate a heart seed, the larger it will grow and the more difficult it will be to destroy it once it *is* found. Heart seeds left for too long may even fight back when attacked, or make themselves impossible to remove without also hurting Sora. If any one piece is left long enough to truly threaten Sora’s heart and identity, then Kingdom Hearts may step in to do something about it...and characters would *not* want that, as it would mean a terrible end for everyone. And Sora’s heart won’t be safe until every heart seed is found and eradicated!

Comments

[leavetheirmark]

"What magical art I know concerns the wind and the land," the Graveyard responded, keeping his eyes on the seed. It was unsettling at the very least, a corruption so great that he couldn't believe that Kingdom Hearts would permit its very existence near to it. (That it hadn't simply been destroyed said something of the power used to create it... which he turned his thoughts away from quickly lest they become unproductive.)

"'T is like the basest form of ivy. The roots run deep, and even pruning will not remove them. One must burneth it out, and with that cometh risks."

[halfdarkened]

"Burn the root, you might burn the house... Too bad this isn't real land it's latched into." Riku stepped forward, steeling himself for the task ahead. "Well, sometimes windstorms can uproot trees. Let's see what this thing's got!" With luck they could pull it a bit like a weed. That said, his luck never worked that well. He thrust his Keyblade into the air, shouting out as he cast Zero Graviga. While not always effective, maybe a slight pull would be enough before the pruning began.

[heartswillbeone]

The Zero Graviga spell at least brought about some sort of reaction: it caused the grown seed to shift upwards a bit, and brighten in color. However, it didn't pull the growth out of the darkness any, at least yet. The feelings of darkness and the presence they belonged to focused more in Riku's direction.

[leavetheirmark]

With a grunt of assent, the aged world thrust his hand upward once more, summoning the winds in an attempt to funnel the seed upward and out. Would it be enough? This one was so strongly rooted that even highly potent spells weren't having much effect. He was no master of magic, his own abilities were things he had learned slowly over eons that pertained to his state... it had been for the longest time something despicable, but that had changed like many things recently.

*Derp, forgot the kids learned a -za spell*

[halfdarkened]

That's it, pay attention to me. While the shift in focus was slightly surprising, it only proved that things were bad if it had some form of awareness. Options had to be considered carefully. The Zero Graviga spell was still roaring overhead, and now the Graveyard was doing his best to pull up the dark weed. His only remaining idea to remove it before destroying it was a bit riskier.

Riku leapt into the air, altitude unhindered by gravity upon a physical body. In the direction the Keyblade Graveyard's wind pulled and near the dense orb of the Zero Graviga spell, he floated. He felt power drain from him as he recast it to something a little stronger: Zero Graviza. While midair, he did something a little less draining. Magnet Spiral might just be enough to pull it free, or so he hoped. He paused, feeling the energy build inside. Unable to hold it back without possibly hurting himself, he struck the pulled piece of dark heart, altering his slash to come up from underneath. Every little tug helped.

[heartswillbeone]

The combined spells of wind, gravity and magnets did a number on the growth, pulling it further out of the darkness itself. With it partially yanked out of the ground, it left some of its "roots" -in this case, dark purple tendrils of darkness- exposed. Riku's attack helped to expose it a little more, but most of the force of it was blocked by a dark barrier around the seed itself.

Unfortunately for the both of them, the seed did have some degree of awareness...at least enough for self-preservation. One of the exposed tendrils of darkness suddenly sprung to life and wrapped around Riku's leg, attempting to drag him underground.

The feeling of it would be all too similar to when Xehanort had invaded his heart in the past. Even if its primary goal was to take control of the heart they were in now, it wouldn't be adverse to infecting any other hearts in the way and incorporating them into itself.

[leavetheirmark]

With a roar the wold world leapt in a startling show of grace, calling one of the dead blades to him. A hunk of metal was better than nothing, after all... with a great swing he hacked at the root where it entered the ground, doing his best to avoid hitting Riku.

[halfdarkened]

As Riku was grabbed, he found himself hitting the dark "ground" with a thud. Had he in fact had real lungs, the air would have been knocked from them as he landed chest first, crying out. As it began to drag him, he clawed at the ground ever so briefly in instinct. But then there was that familiar feeling. That smell. That vile taste.

And that initial shock of being grabbed was quickly replaced with anger, determination and sheer will surging up in his chest. Riku snarled. "NO YOU DON'T! NEVER AGAIN!" As if it hadn't been personal before.

Knowing what he could do physically helped him think on his feet without a body. Here his arms were only as strong as he imagined, but knowing he was strong, even if he couldn't remember his own form without the memories of others, was a help. He pushed up with his arms very hard and kicked with his free leg to lift him into the air, instantly launching himself into a spin. The area around him became chilled, especially anything he touched. Or especially, anything touching him. With luck this thing didn't like the cold, and that Deep Freeze would do just that.

[heartswillbeone]

The dark tendril didn't like the flash of ice, or the harsh strikes from the old Keyblade. The ice spread down the root, slowing it down considerably. This allowed the Keyblades to do more damage, and it finally cracked and severed, freeing Riku's foot. The ice continued to travel more towards the growth itself, not freezing it completely but still leaving it with a chill.

More dark tendrils began to move, seeking something else they could latch onto and infect, but the ice spell slowed them down significantly. All the while, the partially-exposed seed attempted to slowly sink back down into the darkness, trying to find safety in hiding.

[leavetheirmark]

Hearing Riku's angry outburst only served to spark the Keyblade Graveyard further, and this time with wind and storm he lashed out, striking at the fumbling tendrils with tearing wind and scattered lightning. His mind was growing heavier, that familiar feeling rolling through him, the strikes of blades and the roar of magic echoing around him.

[wheretheresawill]

"Is someone there? - Riku?" Terra approached from the distance. His group had disposed of the seed they'd found and set out to see how the others were doing. He took in the scene with a clenched jaw: the tendrils crawling towards whatever they could reach while the seed itself tried to hide away.

"No you don't!" Drawing back his arm, he imbued his Keyblade with a whisper of ice magic as he threw it, aiming to skip the tendrils entirely and interfere with the seed's attempt to flee.

[gimmiemyflower]

Through a lot of focus, Kairi was able to follow them all to where some of the others were attacking the seeds...only to arrive and see they came just in time. This looked a lot more serious than what she had seen last. Not to even mention it almost getting Riku!

"Hang on!"

Without stopping to think or worry about the strength she had left, she charged towards the seed, and commanded a faith spell on top of it. She felt that unnatural chill upon entering the circle the seed had taken hold of, but fought hard to ignore it. She wanted all these things gone, and now!

[heartswillbeone]

The seed was not anticipating the arrival of reinforcements, and for a moment, was stunned at the additional attacks from Terra and Kairi. Terra's Keyblade hit home with ice, halting the seed's sinking attempt, and Kairi's faith spell on top of that finally burst through the shield it had up. It was now more open to attack.

And it seemed aware of that, too. The black ground beneath them roiled with tendrils that sprang up, flailing about and trying to grab ahold of anyone close by. Even the ground itself seemed to turn into thick mud, causing anyone who remained standing in one place for too long to begin sinking.