Into the Dark with the Unknown

[High's .Valentine.]

Violet eyes glanced over the held out hand suspiciously. Hrrrhmmmm~ This was interesting. Did he really mean it? That he’ll do anything for her? Pursing her lips in though, the young female’s pout slowly turned into a wide grin. What a nice Magic Man! Such generosity, such bravado, such courage! Turning her head up to the nobody, she gave him another silly grin. She’ll never tell him that she had intended to throw the man at the rhino and then running off herself. Not when the Magic Man was so charitable with the compliments.

Meanwhile the suit of moving armor had started moving towards the light. For a second, Lune was distracted from her greedy little thoughts—there might just be too many things she wanted—and watched the armor tug the shield from the light. Lune winced, suddenly clinging onto the outstretched hand in case some kind of calamity befell the three. It would be terrible to die alone. Might as well take the nice Magic Man with her.

Several seconds of silence later [hopefully, nothing had happened in those few seconds], Lune sneaked open one eye and glanced at the scene, dimly lit by the three meager beams of light.

Releasing the nobody, Lune sneaked towards the armor and the lights. She ambled towards the suit of armor, which was the next best shield after Magus, and glanced at the three lights. Lune tapped the metal of the shield, a crisp drumming resounding between the all too quiet halls of Darkness. As real as any shield she had ever came across.

“I take one too?” Lune asked, peeking out from behind the armor. Her eyes shifted between the remaining sword and the staff. One looked sharp and oh so dangerous while the other was deliciously comical and colorful. Hmm…choices, choices.

Fingers wrapped around the hilt of the sword. Usually, Lune would have grabbed the staff, but at the moment, Lune felt safer with a stabbity stabby in her hands.

“Oomph!” It was heavier than it appeared to be, deceiving floating in some kind of anti-gravity beam of light before Lune closed her hand over it. The thing swooped down, an embarrassing loud clang shattering the tranquility of the scene as metal hit invisible ground.

“Oops…” Lune muttered, glancing behind her at the other two. It was too heavy for the girl’s weak limbs, but she gulped down complaints and with two hands on the hilt, the girl dragged the sword towards them, wincing as the tip of the steel screeched across surface of this world.

That is, if nothing had happened before all that.

[Will change if Xemmy had only intended for us to grab one weapon.]

[nascent]

Magus watched the comical display with only a slight hint of a grin, not wanting the child to think he was laughing at her, even silently. Still, the scene was... how could he put it? Cute? Was that the right word? He owed too much to the young girl to make light of her in any case, though he couldn't help but admire her quirky childish charm. He wasn't entirely sure why... but he felt a certain kinship to this curious child wandering in dark places. What would she ask of him? He wouldn't begrudge even a difficult request, not after the risks she had taken on his behalf.

Magus cast Dream Reaper back into its ethereal holding and turned his attention on the light-shrouded staff. The remaining article of power seemed to hum ever so faintly with the power of magic as he reached one gloved hand forward, bidding the staff come hence. It glowed, a warm golden glow,as it began to float through the air and into the shadowmage's grasp, where its glow shifted towards a shade of blue before fading from sight.

"Just as darkness exists in every heart, so too does darkness connect to every world." He began by way of explanation. "With that connection I have been able to scry across the vast distances between worlds, seeking to solve a riddle... the riddle of those who command the creature we fought here, and what they seek." He turned towards the black-armored knight. "I saw what you did on the Destiny Islands, and in tracking your actions I discovered that the same forces seem to be at work in Radiant Garden. Even so, my second-sight cannot penetrate into their vessel, so I lack the knowledge to truly understand what is taking place in the worlds."

His gaze turned to the unconscious man. "I can only speculate that there is some commonality to those being abducted... and hopefully we can discover it, now that we've secured this one. It will take uncommonly strong magic to unravel this mystery..." He glanced at Lune and Henry, then stooped and hefted the unconscious man onto his shoulders. "I have a castle hidden on a wasteland world; we can find refuge there, and hopefully pierce the veil as well. Will you come with me, or would you choose to go elsewhere? The choice is yours."

[Shinn]

Before the other two could answer a voice spoke to each one of them individually. The voice was strong but feminine and had a high and clear volume. For Henry, the voice said "The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all."

For Magus, the voice said "The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin."

And for Lune the voice said "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction."

When all three weapons were taken from their floating spots the heavenly light that came from the sky slowly faded away. The area appeared as it once was as though time itself returned to its normal flow. The defeated beast began to moan once more in pain, but was suddenly silenced as a thick beam of energy shot straight past the three and hit the beast directly where its broken horn was.

The horned beast let out a roar of pain as it began to break apart into tiny dust particles that soon vanished into the sky until there was nothing left. If the three were to look in the direction of where the beam had been fired they would see a man standing in front of a gray portal similar to what a Corridor of Darkness looked like, holding a strange futuristic looking gun that had a trail of smoke coming out from the end of the gun.

Coming behind him were three other people; a blond haired man in an all white suit who had a feminine looking face, a tall buff man with short brown hair who was wearing a pair of tan slacks with the bottom tucked under some brown boots, and black leather vest over a white shirt, and last a lady with short black hair that covered most of the left side of her pale face. She wore a skin tight yellow and black leather bike suit with the jacket zipped down to her belly button showing nothing worn underneath the jacket.

The man in white walked over to the man who was holding the gun. "Nice shot there Kage, although motionless objects are pretty easy to hit huh?" The one called 'Kage' ignored the other mans comment and put away his gun. The man in white then looked at Henry, Magus, and Lune and smiled. "You guys put on quite a show for a while. For a second there I thought you guys weren't going to be able to beat it, but luck was on your side it seems."

He noticed the three weapons that they were holding and then looked back at Kage. Turning back he smiled once more, "Those are some interesting looking weapons you got there. Where did you get them?"

[nascent]

(OOC: So... did these weapons have any effect on our characters, or is their meaning something you're saving for later? Just curious.

Oh, and now that it's dead... what was that thing's weakness? )



The shadowmage grit his teeth as he heard the newcomer's words. So they had been watching even this remote place, seeing their actions and possibly even listening in... this could change everything, and not for the better. Curses! The element of surprise that Magus had been so carefully culminating was gone now; all that remained to his advantage was the hidden location of his castle, and for that reason he could not now leave... not if it meant giving these people a chance to follow him back there.

And yet... they seemed unaware of the weapons' arrival. Strange...

"I fail to see why we should forfeit all our secrets to you." Magus retorted. "I take it you are the ones working behind the scenes, orchestrating whatever mad scheme is unfolding on the islands and in Radiant Garden? What are you after? What's your endgame?"

He kept his grip on the unconscious man secure, same with his hold on the oddly colorful staff. These people had interest in both, and for the time being that was reason enough not to concede either. The prospects of fighting like this, though...

If it came to that, he stood to lose what little he had gained.

[Shinn]

[To answer your first question, it's both. As to your second question, I don't wanna say anything about that. It's pretty easy to figure out what this things weakness is if you look at the posts and how each hit was treated. Once you figure it out, defeating this thing would have been a piece of cake. Besides, I may bring this monster back again in future threads so telling you guys now would make beating that monster way too simple.]


The newcomers with the exception to Kage all began to laugh after hearing Magus accusations. The man in white continued smiling, "I fail to see why we should forfeit all our secrets to you." he responded.

"But, I feel as though there is a misunderstanding between us. You see, we aren't the ones who are the cause of these mishaps that are occurring in the worlds. Think of us as sort of like, 'world moderators' for lack of a better term. "

The man in white then held out his hand as a flow of energy began to gather into a clear white ball the size of a soccer ball. The image of the horned beasts that were in Destiny Islands were shown in the ball. They weren't moving, it was more of a still photo to show what they looked like.

"These nasty beasts are called "Chargers". You probably know already, these things aren't Heartless or Nobodies of any type. They are some form of existence that has yet to be determined. Where they came from or what their purpose is, has yet to be revealed."

The man in white closed his hand which caused the ball to vanish in a spark of light particles. Still smiling, he took a few steps back to join his group. "Thats where we come in. I intend to figure out what these things are all about before more worlds suffer the same fate. After seeing you three battle this overgrown version of the Chargers, I believe I've figured out way in defeating them."

He then looked at the unconscious man that Magus was carrying on his shoulders. He looked back at Magus, "Now all we need to do is figure out what role these people played in this fiasco. So if you don't mind handing over that man to us. We will be able to see what attracted the beasts specifically to them. Hopefully we'll be able to waken them up in the process."

As he was saying this, the buff looking man walked over to Magus so he could take the unconscious man off his shoulders. While he did have a eerie looking expression on his face, his hands were visible and they carried no hidden weapons of any sort.

[Heroic Bilby]

Passing the large man coming for the unconscious person was a suit of nearly-invisible black armour that clunked along quite loudly enough to tell where it was. It was certainly not walking leisurely but rather pushed its weight towards the man with the gun as fast as it was bale(Which as we all know was not that fast). The Black Knight, as it were, would take one of the gunman's hands if he were allowed between both of his own(strange shield tucked under its right arm), then gesture back and forth between them with the clasp. As if he were asking for help?

It was at times like these things would be simpler if Henry would just speak. But why don't we flashback a few seconds?

When the voice had spoken to him in hsi8 mind the little boy inside the large suit had quite literally "freaked out", pressing himself against the inside of the metal instead of floating like he usually did and looking around both with his real eyes and his magical ones. He barely registered what it had actually said to him, the fact that he heard it was far more distracting. Something about friends... except Henry didn't have any friends.

But seeing as today was not a day that looked to ever ease up on our would-be guardian, things kept happening around him. The beast, the "Charger", was destroyed in a flash. It was after this that Henry suddenly realized he felt a lot calmer. Even with the appearance of more strangers and all of his strength of fight depleted now that that specific monster was gone it was like a weight lifted from his heart. Its very presence had been difficult for Henry. Too similar to the types of ghouls and ghosts that had all but traumatized him back in Halloween Town.

The wizard and the new people were talking, but the "we aren't the bad guys" part was all Henry's mind took in. With the weight of the monster's presence gone and his role as a Living Battery out of power the young teen was ready to fall asleep. He might have done just that, if not for the reminder about more monsters still on the island. He'd almost forgotten about that. They might still need help! But... he couldn't give any more right now. So, responding to that desperation, the Black Knight armour moved over to the true slayer of the Chaser and would attempt the previously described gestures as it attempted to beg the man to go help them.

Meanwhile the boy inside was finding his eyelids becoming heavier by the second.

[High's .Valentine.]

Admittedly, this wasn’t the first time she heard voices in her head. It’s just, she had never heard this voice before. Usually, it was the rebellious chatter of a young woman, another deep soothing boom, and of course, Rio’s high pitch crudeness. This voice however, was female, mature, and seemingly all knowing. Lune winced, unused to such a strange voice. She would have answered, but the girl found herself short of words for once. Maybe it would be smart of her to finally keep her mouth shut. Glancing at the other two, she wondered if she was the only one who heard the voice. Lune slowly trudged towards Magus, still towing her chosen weapon. Ironically, she felt safer with the large man than when she was next to the suit of armor.

What happened next was a myriad of events. Lune watched silently from behind Magus, realizing that this was not the moment for someone clueless like her to speak. The conversation between Magus and the other new comers was in her mind, not important enough to pay any attention to. Her violet eyes remained fixated on the spot where the 'Charger' had been destroyed. It took them only one shot while the three of them were struggling almost futilely for such a long time.

An approaching figure snapped her out of her thoughts. The large man reached for the unconscious figure Lune had been towing around like a sand bag. The girl stared at him cautiously, not at all appreciating the expression he had on his face.

"Hey..." Lune muttered, grabbing onto the limp man's hand, as if refusing to relinquish the poor victim to the other larger guy. Not that she could have taken him on even if she had the energy to.

[By the way...is this thread ending soon?]

[nascent]

They really did think he was a fool, didn't they? Magus' nigh-perpetual scowl deepened slightly as the muscular man approached him, distrust written plain upon his face. Their explaination was too convenient, too sterilized to be the whole story.

It wasn't that he didn't believe them... but rather, that Magus had read between the lines. Presuming these 'moderators' were what they said they were, the pieces of a cleverly worded bluff began to fall into place. The clues had been made plain thanks to his earlier scry; the presence of a massive ship over Destiny Islands, the masked abductors in Radiant Garden... thanks to the man in white, it was all beginning to make sense.

Maybe they weren't the cause of the Charger assault on Destiny Islands, but Magus suspected that these people had been there since it began. Those pillars of light that spanned from earth to sky -- more accurately, from earth to sky-ship -- couldn't possibly have been some form of coincidence. The Charger's behavior and the presence of that ship fit in too well together...

The Chargers, Magus suspected, had been no accident. The whole event had been a test. These people were using the island's inhabitants as guinea pigs, as test subjects to learn more about the Chargers.

"You have enough of 'these people' already -- this one is under my protection." The shadowmage retorted. "How many dozens are in that ship of yours? Oh, I've been watching you and your 'Chargers', just like you've been watching us. If you expect me to cooperate I'll need a better reason than that."

[Shinn]

[High you can leave whenever you want to if it's what you want. The thread isn't over yet and won't be ending here soon.]

Kage looked over at the black armor that was tugging on his arm. Tensing his arm up some, he knocked Henry backwards with a swing of his arm. "Stupid hunk of hollow metal" he thought to himself, unaware that a person was inside that armor since Henrys' heart was masked behind the magic of the armor, making it impossible for Kage to see his heart. He crossed his arms and turned his back away from Henry.

As the taller man came walking over to grab the unconscious man, Lune and Magus made it very clear that they were not about to hand him over. The woman that was with them snickered at Lune and raised an eyebrow. The tall man looked back at the man in white who closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. He opened his eyes once more and smiled again.

"What makes you believe that we are behind all of this? If we were then why did we just kill that Charger right there? Not to mention that if we were the ones behind all of this wouldn't you think we would have called in another army of those things to take you all out right about now?"

Kage turned his head to the left side glancing over to the man in white. "Why does this Nobody even care about a human? Does he truly think we're falling for his act?"

"Kage mind your manners. But I do believe that the safety of that man would be better left to us. After all do you really believe that taking him with you will make him safe? Those things are attracted to them and only concentrate on them and them alone for some reason. Taking him along to wherever you plan to go will not only endanger the both of you, but the world itself. It is for that reason alone, that I ask you to give him over so that he will be safe."

[nascent]

"Care? No, not exactly." Magus replied. "So you can tell that I'm a Nobody, but it seems you miss the finer points of my 'kind'. I cannot 'care' in the same way one with a heart would... but that does not make me a monster, either. My only agenda with this individual is to discover the truth, nothing more."

"I think he would be safer with me than with those who plainly have ulterior motives. You stay your hand only because it suits your ends, you feign innocence as though it changes the facts, and it's likely you only slew that Charger because it had gone berserk with the power of darkness. Don't take me for a fool."

He shifted his stance slightly, turning almost sideways so that the unconscious man was away from those who sought him. "If you are the innocuous benefactors you claim to be, then explain the ship that appeared during the Charger attack on Destiny Islands. You don't think me so naive as to assume those beasts could construct and operate something of that nature, do you? The ship is yours, is it not?"

[Shinn]

Magus words seemed to pass through Kages ears as he turned his head away towards the other direction. The man in white chuckled a little, hearing the Nobodies accusations.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken once more my friend. As I said before we are not the ones behind these mishaps including that gigantic ship in the sky. However at the moment we are beginning a full investigation into what that thing is. "

"You don't need to explain yourself to a Nobody. What good would it do?" Kage said out loud but keeping his head turned the opposite direction. The woman giggled a little and the larger man shook his head in disagreement.

The man in white sighed and apologized for his comrades harsh words. "You'll have to excuse him, he's just a little 'jumpy' today. But I must ask you one more time to hand that person over. Do you truly wish to risk yours and his life? Those things, they will not stop until they have what they want. They will chase you to the farthest reaches of this universe if they have to. And it won't stop with Destiny Islands or Radiant Garden either. If we can figure out what makes these people so special then we can save more lives from being abducted."

The large man turned back to Magus holding out both hands to take the unconscious man from Magus. The man in white smiled giving a very sincere expression.

[nascent]

" . . . On one condition."

Magus expression was muted now, the classic poker face -- neither friendly nor aggressive, giving nothing away while taking everything in stride. If what these people said about the ship not being theirs was, in fact, true... then that meant there was a fair chance they were telling the truth. If that were so...

"I go with you."

... it didn't change his distrust of this group, but 'the enemy of my enemy', as the old saying goes.

"If you are telling the truth, then our goals are in agreement. These 'Chargers', and whatever power lurks behind them, are just as much my interest as yours; I cannot see any reason why we could not work together, benefiting from each others' skills and specialties."

[Heroic Bilby]

The Black Knight hadn't moved since the one called Kage had pushed him away. Henry was already tired, but now he was surprised as well. Why was he knocked away? Did the man think he had been attacking him? The gunman had turned away from the armour while the wizard kept talking and Henry had just stood there, catching his breath still.

But there wasn't much more time to waste if the attack on the islands was still going on. Turning around the Black Knight raised its arms and a green swirling circle appeared. A common magical portal. Probably going back to Destiny Islands.

Visible against the green the Black Knight's head turned back towards both the group of strangers and the wizard, then motioned with its arm in a "come with me" gesture, the best way it had of asking if anybody would help him check on the island again. Even if they wanted to look after the person that wouldn't take all of them right? These people seemed to be more capable than he was, that was for sure.

[Edited]

[High's .Valentine.]

At Magus’ words, the girl turned and stared at his shadowy form against the dark background. He’s leaving! He’s leaving her behind! Lune suddenly grabbed his cloak, tugging on it like a child. “Lune’s coming with you!” The girl’s expression, though fuzzy in the darkness, was determined. “And so is Rio!” The man owed her a favor, right? He’s not going to just run off, right?

At the same time, the rusty hunk of moving metal seemed to have opened up a portal. Light shone through and Lune stared hungrily at the escape. The armor beckoned, and she wanted to follow. Now, she was torn. What if Magic Man went the other way, with the other freaks? She wanted to leave this place to somewhere safe, and it seemed really safe, wherever the armor was heading off.

“Let’s go…” Lune muttered, tugging Magus towards the direction of the portal. They can talk outside, in the sun and the lush warmth that this place lacked. “We can have the manly talk outside. Safer out there.”

[Heroic Bilby]

Suddenly the armour's portal began to react beyond Henry's will. It glowed brighter with an aqua-coloured shine... and then the corridors of darkness were illuminated. The tinted light spewed out into the area turbulently and those caught in it could feel themselves being pushed and pulled around.

The person in Magus' arms was lost to him. The three mysterious weapons were lost track of. The people calling themselves moderators were not seen afterward, but that was mainly because the three who had fought the giant Charger no longer remained after the light faded. Each one was pulled forcibly through the portal by the light before it closed behind them. Whatever transpired afterward in the darkness was not for them to know now.

Their story would continue with waking up on Destiny Islands, with an amazing sense of love having been washed through them save for Henry, who's heart was locked away from the worlds inside his black armour.

Yes. Magus, the Nobody without a heart, had experienced a deep feeling of love from the aqua light. An emotion rather than a memory.

A new mystery.

[ Thread Closed, continued in The Sighting ]