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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 2:27:56 GMT -5
A dark portal opened up just outside of the oddly shaped castle, and Arin, carrying Prythian's unconscious body. The moment he looked around and saw the darkness, he immediately got a bad feeling from this land, but also a familiar one "…Strange…Why do I feel like I've been here before?"
He then turned and got a good look at the castle, and how it seemed to resemble a place he knew from his childhood, but greatly deformed "…This castle looks familiar too…" He then recalled the words that Prythian uttered before Arin brought them here, and was instantly thinking his luck couldn't be THAT good "…A castle, right when crystal boy here tells me about one…It has gotta be a coincidence…Well, only one way to find out..."
Arin pushed with all of his might, and one of the two double doors slowly began to inch open. He kept pushing until he could fit the two of them safely through, then slipped in before the door shut behind him. The moment he walked through that door, he felt something happen to him, like he was getting weak. Well, spiritually at least, he couldn't feel the constant battle of light and darkness inside of him as severely as he used to "…What is this place?"
He stepped further into the castle and felt something bump against his feet as he walked. As he looked down, he could see a pair of katanas. More specifically, they were almost identical replicas of the katanas he had back when he first encountered the Heartless. Kneeling down, he grabbed the straps of the sheaths, and continued forward, making his way up the stairs to a pair of large doors, much larger than the ones he passed through to enter this world.
As he approached the two doors, his swords started to glow, as did the doors.
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Post by Prythian on May 9, 2014 2:33:22 GMT -5
Prythian's eyes fluttered open, as if something was giving him strength. "Where... oh..." He blinked, looking at the person carrying him. "This is the place... where I learned who I was. I needed to come back here, but... how did you know that?" He sighed, his head sinking down again. He had the strength to talk, but not much else. "I should warn you... what lies behind those doors... is dangerous. The past... comes back alive. For me... some of it wanted to kill me... and some of it wanted to save me..."
He sighed again. "Be careful." These last words came out just as the white glow on the doors and Arin's swords appeared over his entire body as well.
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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 2:39:06 GMT -5
Arin looked over as Prythian spoke, having to keep from jumping as the sudden voice caught him off guard while climbing a flight of stairs "Finally awake huh?" He listened to Prythian's question and raised an eyebrow "You told me that, pal…Before passing out…"
Prythian then began to explain how this castle worked, and he started the get a bit concerned himself "…There's always a catch…" As he walked closer to the main door, it responded to the glowing presence near it, and slowly, the twin doors began to open. Now with a clear path ahead, Arin carried Prythian through the door, and towards the first floor of the castle.
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Post by Prythian on May 9, 2014 2:49:36 GMT -5
As light surrounded them, it blinded them to what was coming next... and when it finally faded, Arin would find himself within a large room much like a cathedral. Colored beams shone down from the stained glass windows depicting morbid, grisly scenes of war and death. The one connection between the scenes of betrayal and slaughter that decorated the cathedral was a wondrous crystal sword... and it obviously was the same sword in every window. A blank wall sat at the end of the hall, and behind the two of them were grand, large doors, even more elaborate than the ones they had passed through.
From above swooped down a glowing, androgynous figure; it almost seemed to be made of some sort of solid light. Around its feminine face flowed long hair, the same color as the rest of the glowing body. The only thing that seemed distinct from the rest of it were the eyes, which were glowing blue and green.
"Welcome. You are the one that attempted to avenge Prythian, aren't you?" The feminine voice seemed to echo out of the corners of the room. "I am sure you have many questions about exactly who and what he is, and the significance of this place. I am the guardian and secret keeper. I will answer what you ask."
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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 3:02:41 GMT -5
Arin walked over to one of the pillars holding the ceiling up and grunted as he placed Prythian down, stretching his shoulder softly while flexing his hand. He still couldn't feel anything within him, which was puzzling him. After listening to all of the things that the strange individual, he definitely had a few questions to ask
"Alright, for starters, who are you, and what is this place. I feel like I've been to this world before, but I can't seem to figure out why this castle looked so familiar from the outside." He then lifted his swords up with one hand, revealing them to the figure "And why is it I suddenly have my swords after losing them years ago?"
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Post by Prythian on May 9, 2014 3:09:35 GMT -5
"Unfortunately, all I know about this castle is what he knows... that it is a place where memories come back to life." The figure replied. "He has been here only once before, when he discovered who and what he truly was. This place you are currently in is a memory... the one of the day that I failed in my duties and perished in the process." She floated closer to Arin, hovering over the ground, hair flowing in a wind that wasn't there.
"For you see, who I am is not so easily answered. In life, I was a construct, made to keep this memorial and its secrets. In death..." She paused. "In death a piece of my soul was torn from my body, becoming a part of the Blood Sword with its cruel magic. And when the sword was destroyed, the many fragments it had absorbed over the centuries reincarnated into a person..."
Prythian chuckled dryly. "She means me." He said bluntly. "I'm not as much of a person... as you would think. I was an accident of magic... that happened after the destruction of an evil weapon that stole souls." He tried to shrug and just barely managed a twitch. "It broke me a bit... when I first found out."
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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 3:14:27 GMT -5
Arin listened to the construct's explanation about the castle and Prythian's existence "So, you were artificially created then Prythian?" After confirmation of this, he lifted his swords up again "And what about my swords? I know these can't be the real thing, because I lost these to the darkness a long time ago."
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Post by Prythian on May 9, 2014 3:19:05 GMT -5
"For your first question... yes. He is a construct. Much like me." The figure replied, forestalling any attempt for Prythian to speak, given his lack of strength. "As for your swords..." A brief breeze flew over them. "I believe they are recreations because of the castle. Your memories may have made them. If so, they will likely vanish once you leave this place." Her voice became even more whispery. "Memories are fleeting and ephemeral. Away from this place, they will lose life and fade once more."
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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 16:19:23 GMT -5
Arin looked at the swords and chuckled "Figures…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his light sword handle, and tried summoning the blade. But he son realized that not only was the sword unresponsive, but it was missing much of its usual glow. Looking at the construct, he showed the dulled sword handle to her, to try and figure out what caused this
"And what about this? Normally I can summon forth a blade to this sword and a dark one like it, and this one usually has a pure glow about it even when the blade is dormant. Why can't I use my new weapons here?"
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Post by Prythian on May 9, 2014 21:08:50 GMT -5
"Again, I can only speculate. It could be some power within the castle is preventing it, or that having your past weapons is preventing your current ones for working. I know that for Prythian, it was not so; the powers he possessed remained when he came to this castle. But then, we know that the castle responds differently to him. Instead of truly bringing his own memories to life, it brings those who enter what would be his memories... to us. The fragments that make up his soul." The construct drifted upwards into the air, leaning back.
"Are there any more ques-" Suddenly, interrupting her, a loud 'boom' echoed from the doors behind them. The great wooden doors shuddered under the blow. Cracks split outwards from the center of one of them, and a large black gauntlet was thrust through, the fingertips sharpened into cruel spikes.
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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 21:14:18 GMT -5
Arin noticed the sudden interruption from the back and forth of questions, and immediately unsheathed his swords, sidestepping so as to get between whoever was trying to break into the room, and Prythian's defenseless body "Yeah, I have one more question…What the devil is that?!"
He watched the door as it was slowly being broken down, intent on keeping Prythian protected by any means necessary. But just who was this new intruder, and what was their true goal by breaking into this place?"
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Post by Prythian on May 9, 2014 21:20:02 GMT -5
A sigh echoed from the corners of the room. "Meet the one who murdered me." The voice finally came, as the door burst open into wooden fragments, showing a man completely obscured in black armor, with intimidating razors and spikes all over it.
"Let it go." He snapped, his deep voice echoing from his helmet. "We have bigger issues to worry about than a damned grudge." Red dots appeared on the outside of the helmet, narrowing like eyes as the man focused directly onto Arin. "Take the boy and move on. His body has already lost its structural stability, and I'll dive into the Eternal Flame before I let us fall apart. We do not have time for you sit around here chatting! You need to get him to the old man. Now go..." The armored figure got into a crouch, hands held at the ready.
"Or I'll make you go."
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Post by Raphael on May 9, 2014 21:43:02 GMT -5
Arin hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between the construct and her murderer. The murderer made some sense, but he was also a killer, and this castle brought those souls to life, could he really trust the man who had forced open a closed door? "He is right, our vessel doesn't have much time left. You must help him reach the one who had damaged his core, before he can no longer sustain his form."
Nodding, he strapped his swords to his sides, picking up Prythian's damaged body and jogging toward the exit of this room "Alright red eyes, if you're more interested in self preservation than harming us, then open the doors and get out of my way!" He placed his free hand on one of his katana, poised to strike if the man didn't move"
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Post by Prythian on May 10, 2014 0:34:37 GMT -5
The man chuckled, the sound echoing evilly from his armor. "Wrong way. That's back out the way you came." He gestured, pointing at the blank wall at the end of the cathedral, and it shattered, falling into rubble. Behind it was two things: First, a pedestal, in which was set the same crystalline blade that could be seen throughout the stained glass windows. Secondly, a door frame, filled with light. "That should take you to the next floor. Now..."
He gestured towards the front of Arin, and a cracked crater appeared in the floor in front of him. "Get moving! The old man is waiting for you. And watch out for the mage! He's not sane."
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Post by Raphael on May 10, 2014 0:55:06 GMT -5
Arin nodded and turned about face, completely forgetting that he had come from the doors that the red eyed man came from, due to the new layout. Sprinting towards the next door, and his swords began to glow again. The doors opened wide and he passed through them into another white hallway.
This hallway was merely another flight of stairs, so Arin didn't want to waste time admiring the clean ivory decor. They were pressed for time, and he didn't know how much longer Prythian had left before he fell apart. As the doors opened to another blinding light, he walked through to find that he was somewhere he never thought he would see again.
His hometown…Arin couldn't believe his eyes, he was back home! The sight of his home brought tears to his eyes, still dumbstruck by what he was looking at "…I can't believe it…I'm back home…"
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Post by Prythian on May 10, 2014 0:59:30 GMT -5
"No!" A sharp burst of air came from Prythian rapidly. "It isn't your home. It's... a memory. Remember?" Concern and anxiety were in his eyes. While the people he met were truly alive, just inside of him, what he had learned about his past from them had nearly broken his will to even exist... and did, for a time. He knew all too well the dangers of falling under the spell of this castle. "You're still in... the castle. Remember! Nothing you see here is truly real. But... it's real enough to be dangerous!"
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Post by Raphael on May 10, 2014 1:11:49 GMT -5
Arin came to his sensed when Prythian reacted harshly to his words, and he wiped his eyes dry and took a deep breath "…You're right…Sorry, I guess I underestimated this castle…" He began walking forward and suddenly recognized the area that he was standing on, remembering just how significant this place was to his memories "…And from the look of it, I'm assuming this won't be my home for much longer…"
The sky suddenly started to grow darker, as a small orb of darkness flew into the sky. Arin gripping his sword in his left hand firmly, started hurrying through the town, as the world soon began to turn black, everything beginning to turn into a dark world "We have to get out of this room now!" Yellow eyes began to shine in the darkness, slowly chasing after Arin "Staying here will only mean death!"
He then spotted the large castle that Castle Oblivion reminded him of. The castle of the keyblade masters. It was then that he knew where he had to go "We have to get up that mountain! We have to reach the castle's gates, that has to be where the next floor will be!"
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Post by Prythian on May 10, 2014 23:34:08 GMT -5
"Keep going, then." Prythian panted, noting the Heartless starting to form. His own heart was probably no prize to them now, with how broken he was; but Arin, a Keyblader turned to despair... oh, what a glorious gain he would be for the Heartless. And memories or not, these Heartless were real enough to claim a heart. This castle truly was dangerous to everyone.
((Can't do much here at the moment.))
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Post by Raphael on May 11, 2014 0:04:51 GMT -5
Arin kept sprinting up the mountain as quickly as he could, swinging with his sword to bat away the occasional shadow that tried to pounce at him and Prythian. The running, as well as dealing with weight on one shoulder that threw him off balance caused Arin to stumble and crash into a nearby tree. Grunting, he felt himself losing his grip on Prythian and he had to kneel down to lessen the impact of dropping the broken construct.
With no other options, he knew he had to do something to fight the oncoming Heartless. He aimed his open hand at the nearest group of shadows and focused on his only attack spell "Fire!"
While he expected a wave of black flames to pour from his hand, he hadn't expected to see a large fireball jetting forth and incinerating the shadows in its fiery explosion. This gave Arin time to draw his other katana and start batting the Heartless away, cutting them in half and watching them dissolve, but only to see more take their place "…We have to get out of here before it comes for me. This memory doesn't end well for me, this is the last thing I remember before darkness swallows me up!"
He knew the inevitable was coming. If he didn't get Prythian through the castle gates at the top of the hill, the Dark hunter, that giant, red-eyed Heartless was going to come for him. And in his weakened state, he wouldn't stand a chance. He just had to find an opening so he could pick Prythian back up and keep moving, but the Heartless were endless, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he met his certain fate.
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Post by Prythian on May 11, 2014 0:30:19 GMT -5
Prythian began to grit his teeth as light began pouring from the cracks in his body. It intensified into a beam of light bursting from the side of his face, breaking outwards and once again causing the parts of the afflicted area to break off and dissolve into light. From the large core of light visible through the new hole in Prythian's face came a swarm of light, which gathered together into a large berserker. Though at first he appeared like the ghost that had brought Arin to Prythian, he rapidly gained color on his own, looking like flesh and blood.
In one hand he held a crystal sword. With it, he sliced at the air and a blur landed, destroying multiple Heartless as a shockwave emanated outwards. "Take him and go!" The berserker said, in a voice not unlike a feral growl.
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