walking in a winter wonderland. (MINGLE)

[mirroromirror]

Who: Everyone on the planet!
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Snow planet, it's a winter wonderland~
When: From when the planet is in reach until it's time to leave!

[ ooooh the weather outside is frightful

but the fire is soooo delightful

and since we've got places to goooo

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! ]

[ ooc: link to planet info! ]

Comments

[limitstorm]

[ he briefly nods. ] One of his best... [ riku grimaces suddenly, pressing a hand against his head like a sudden ache came on. with a shaky breath, he blinks, and shakes his head. ] His best friend, I mean.

[ ow, that hurt. he takes a sip of his tea, trying to shake it off. ]

But... both of you have a--keystone, you said?

[wilder]

[He raises an eyebrow to that] You...okay? It can't be that hard to think of Axel making friends.

[Yep, definitely concerned here, enough that he sounds distracted as he answers the next part, his eyes on Riku]

Keycrest, yeah. We're fine.

[limitstorm]

[ riku frowns. ]

I'm fine. [ he shakes his head, holding his forehead with a hand. ] It's not that weird--Lea's friends with me and Sora. Maybe it's because of the cold.

[ kaneis is concerned, but riku just shrugs it off. it can't be anything important. why would it be, it's just a headache. ... it's a little worrying that he feels like he's missed something, but... it's probably nothing. ]

Good to hear. [ he relaxes a little--and then blinks, his brows furrowing. ] Wait, you said... only Chosen Ones...

[wilder]

Cold, right... [He's not sure if cold causes head pain, but alright...] Well, drink some tea. Warm yourself up.

[Annnd there's a beat when Riku points that out. He had gotten so caught up with the Nobody talk, it had honestly slipped his mind NOT to say that]

Oh. [another beat] Did I?

[limitstorm]

[ riku gives him a patient stare, raising an eyebrow slowly. ]

Yeah. You did. What were you guys chosen for?

[wilder]

[He gives a sigh and rubs the back of his neck]

For something I'd rather forget, if I could.

[limitstorm]

[ he's ... understanding of that, and he doesn't want to push him too far, so he quiets for a good moment. after a moment or so, he shakes his head. ]

Sorry about asking.

[wilder]

No, it's-

[He shakes his head and looks down at his mug. Riku's told him...all sorts of thing he's probably not comfortable people knowing about. So after a pause, he'll reluctantly explain]

Most people believed the Chosen One was someone who could save the world. Child of angels, bringer of world regeneration and salvation- there's a whole lots of stories and legends about it. Everything from the believable to the insanely farfetched.

But...the reality? There was some guy with too much power who was willing to stop at nothing to bring back his dead sister. Went so far to twist the whole world apart to do it. [Mithos...was it too much to hope that someone put his head on a pike? Probably, how depressing.] Chosens were only chosen because our mana signature's close enough to hers to serve as a vessel.

[limitstorm]

[ he blinks, startled when kaneis actually elects to share this information. is that a first? it feels like a first, where he didn't actually put anything on the table about himself before this happened.

surprise turns to horror and he stares down at his mug. well, he can understand why kaneis would rather forget it, now. ]

A vessel, huh? [ he says it weakly, feeling sick. that's... horrible. goosebumps crawl up his arm. ] How'd the whole world get behind that?

[wilder]

[He's...not exactly surprised to see that look of horror. It's a sobering tale alright. One that only gets worse and worse the more you learn]

I...don't know how he pulled it off, exactly. [There were speculations, but-] The system's been going on for thousands of years. Records of what happened that long ago are either very scarce, or very edited.

By my time...well, it's been going on for so long, almost everyone accepted it as the truth of things.

[limitstorm]

[ riku opens his mouth to ask about thousands of years, before he silences himself. he doesn't really know how old xehanort is. it's perfectly feasible. he exhales, pressing a hand against a closed eye. ]

So what were you supposed to do? How did you... [ ... can he even finish that sentence? ]

[wilder]

[Wow that's so rude Riku, Master Xehanort does not look in his thousands take that back. ]

Life on our world requires a type of energy called mana to survive. Thanks to an ancient war that nearly destroyed the world, mana's in limited supply. So Yggdrassil split the world into two worlds connected to one another through mana links. It works like an hourglass, one world would always be receiving mana and flourishing - while the other would be declining. He claimed it was prevent technology from getting advanced enough to start another war like the Ancient Kharlan War...but if that's the truth, I don't know. Maybe it was a long time ago.

[He shakes his head]

Anyway- if a Chosen is in the declining world- it's their job to go on a journey that reverses the mana flow so their world can become the flourishing one. Along the way, the rituals cause them to go through- well, the condition I mentioned to you before. But unlike me, they don't have a proper keycrest...so each time the condition worsens, they lose more and more of their humanity until there's nothing left and they're fit to be a vessel.

If they're from the flourishing world, like I was - well, you're pretty much expected to sit in a gilded cage until your world starts to go into decline, or you produce an heir that's got a good enough mana signature to be the next Chosen. Maybe Cruxis snatches any Chosen that's very likely to be a successful vessel- I don't know. They only really contacted me for spy work, so I guess I didn't meet those qualifications.

and now for a little backtracking 8|; THIS IS DEPRESSING

[limitstorm]

And if you had, you'd just...

[ ... ugh, that's horrifying to imagine. ]

I'm--I'm sorry, I didn't know. A cage, a prison... I think I kind of understand.

JUST A LITTLE

[wilder]

[There's a pause from Kaneis as Riku seems to fish to find words]

...Sorry. I know there's not a lot to say to a story like that.

[He gives a simple shrug and headshake at Riku's apology.] Don't apologize for not knowing- it's not like I talk about it much.

[limitstorm]

Yeah, it's... the kind of stuff that leaves you speechless.

[ he sighs, nonetheless. ]

I'm just sorry you had to go through it at all.

[wilder]

[He gives an awkward shrug.]

...Yeah, well- it was a long time ago. Literally in another lifetime. I find it better not to dwell on it.

[limitstorm]

[ you're better at it than i am, even though i didn't go through anything nearly as bad.

somehow, he admires kaneis even more after that. ]

Remind me to buy you something to drink next time we get to a place with good alcohol.