Listen with Your Heart (pm to join)

[Ellie who has 0%]

Shio
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Lids were shut softly before they started to twitch with movement. Red brows twitched in disturbance as a sharp chill made her lids flutter revealing alarmed blue eyes. Kairi jerked her head up as her hands pushed off of something far more solid than a bed spread. Chill bumps ran up her arms as her palms touched cool glass.

"Huh?" The general shock of being scared awake had warn off as the back of her head rubbed the blurred hazed from her eyes. Once her vision cleared though she gasped to realized she's somewhere else..."w-where..."

Looking around she noticed that there was an endless infinite void around her except the blue checkboard glass she laid on. Before she stood, she could see symbols in each square following a pattern throughout the narrow hall that lacked walls, but seemed to continue on forever.

Crown, Mouse, ... she skipped the unrecognizable abstract heart shapped, but continued once seeing an ordinary heart, heart, nobodies, ...the heartless

It continued on past her vision into the blackness. Thinking she had enough of the floor, she stood, "...where am I?"

As if in response to her question light illuminated down the void showing circles of stained glass art pieces along an non-existent wall. She hummed in curiosity looking at them. There was six total, all different colors, and corresponds with different princesses of hearts. To this day, Kairi remembered their names and uttered them as she looked right and left at the two different sets.

"Snow White," her hair was as black as ebony; red lips were like the red rose and smiling; skin was white as snow, and her eyes were warm and inviting like chocoate, opened, and gentle. Unlike before there was a crown on her head. Since Snow White was an actual princess, "it seems like she's a queen now..."

On the right side of the hall opposite on the bright green of Snow White's glass was a passionate red. Locks of hair bright as the dawn, and her lips were as red as the red red rose. Her dress was flowing and pick, and Aurora looked indeed happy in her portrait. She too had a golden crown emitting her royalty, "Aurora...and she's froooom..."

It's been a while, since she had to recollect memories of so long ago, "I think...Enchanted Dominion..."

It was a wild guess, since she had only talked to them for a little time. Strolling down away from the complimentary red and green, Kairi found herself between yellow and a dark blue with purple hues. Naturally she looked to the light out of the two. "Belle..."

She was a beauty, but a funny girl who was raised in a little provincial town not far from the dark woods near a haunted castle. The last time she saw Belle, she was reunited with this Beast Character. She had suspected something between them, since he roamed the worlds looking for her. Either way how well they flowed together afterwards, Belle looked content, and yet...she too had a crown on her head.

Wow...is there something I'm missing here... Thus far four out of the Seven Princess she passed by including Cinderella was adorned with crowns, but Cinderella's was silver to compliment her powder blue dress. Kairi began to wonder what have they been up to uptil now; she assumed the best of prosperity of their worlds. Perhaps she should make a visit when she could. Do I even know where those places are...

Before she could get to caught up in her thoughts, more glasses lit up before her beckoning to continue. Jogging up she can see a light blues and purple lit up her passage way. Intersecting them, she stood between two more protraits. One was of a sharply hour glassed figure woman with long black ebony hair and large expressive eyes. "Jasmine"

She wore a crown of her own, but it differs from the others, and to Kairi's right there was Alice. Her blonde hair have grown out longer and a bit wilder it seemed. Seeing her made her feel a bit comfortable, they were the only two who lacked royal lineage; Belle was too raised up 'ordinary', but she was a Queen or Princess...in her own right now.

"They all look happy...I take it that not all the worlds are endangered," then again the Princesses of Hearts have had their share years before. Kairi would know she was one of them. Speaking of one...why did she lacked one? Walking forward confused she had to stop abruptly. Her path had ended to a deep endless drop off. "I wonder what would happen...if I...fell down..."

Her hair hung low as she looked down, but stair popped up with a bright light as they trailed upwards. The youth looked at them skeptically. "Are these even...stable?"

She tapped it with her foot expecting it to waver, but it was still and as stiff as a rock. Stop thinking so literally Kairi...it's a dream, and it's your dream soo you can't hurt yourself in your own dream...right?

In mild confidence, she started up a few stairs cautiously. Seeing how none comitted mutiny by disappearing or tilting to cause her to fall, Kairi jogged up the rest feeling a familiar burn in her thighs. A ray of pink made everything bright once she had gotten to the top, but it wasn't enough to illuminate the black void around her.

From her bird eye perspective, she was obviously not high enough to see the bigger picture. It took some long strides to walk up her own frame, which were next opposite of smaller portraits of her close friends from the islands. Before she can get too self-absorbed in the artwork, the 'ground' below her quivered as a door emerged from nowhere....

"Uuuu....am I supposed to go in there..." well it's a dream right? So she won't hurt herself in her own dream. Kairi groaned as she convinced herself to opponent. If she dies and never wakes up, it was curiosity fault. "Well...here goes nothing."

She grabbed the handle and pulled, but it didn't budged. Locking her knees, Kairi tugged the door hard enough until her feet slide against the floor. "Come ooooon opeeeeeeeeen."

Her toosh hit the floor from her foot constant sliding forward, which lowered her body to the ground. The redhead snorted glaring at the door, "Are you serious...show me a door I can't open!"

She huffed agitated, stuck, and lost, but her question was answere with a gleam of light in her hand, Destiny's Place. Eyes blinked looking at the blade, then at door. She squinted and crawled towards it to see a keyhole. "Well...this better work."

Once she was up, Kairi dusted of her clothes, and practically looked at her blade unsure. "How is that going to fit in there?"

She pointed the key in emphasim, but it was powered by a beacon of light entering the lock. At a few moments, loud clicks signified the door unlocking, and it began to open. A bright light peaked through before nearly blinding the teen. Mist followed along with it as a whisper invited Kairi inside...

[Ellie who has 0%]

The light faded revealing a familiar red laberynth library. Her memory unwoven from the depths of her mind as she jogged through a hidden memorized paths. Left, Right, Left, Left, Forward, Right she went and stopped once seeing a familiar looking elderly woman in a rocking chair.

Her hair was grey with streaks of white bound up in a bun. She was a spitting imagery of what she last remembers of her like her purple dress, white apron, and her dark shawl wrapped around her neck. Rocking back her forth, her eyes were closed as if she was hypnotizing herself to sleep, but knowingly her eyes opened warmly with a smile. Kairi halted in her steps watching her eyes glittered with happiness as if she was expecting the youth to join her.

"Grams...," Kairi started, while walking slowly to her. She was far to big to crawl into her lap, but she merely stopped as body pushed through her as a younger voice cheered and took a seat on the white apron. Her hair was short, red and auburn; her eyes were just as big and childish as the smile on her face.

"Oh dear your getting bigger. Soon you won't be able to sit on poor gram's old bones," the elder chastised jokingly causing her to laugh. Kairi stepped back watching the scene, which probably happened plenty of times in her childhood. She knew it too well even since she remembered it, but the Princess didn't feel the need to watch it play out feeling a sense of guilt. At one point, she have forgotten about her family, well what was left of it.

As she walked away, she could hear grandmother's voice start the story like she usually did, "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light, then people began fighting over it."

"Funny...they fought over light...fought over darkness...fought over the hearts; does greed have a boundary?"The youth continued walking until her voice became a small muttering. She shrugged at the question, since it seemed so neverending, an ancient story that will always continued, since it existed before the darkness did. "Why am I here anyway?"

Why would she dream of this place?

"Because you need to remember," the voice from being startled her to a gasp as she turned quickly to see her grandmother standing behind her. Blue eyes blinked down at her, then back up to still see....her grandmother retelling her the story, "My you haave grown big, and thou I'm happy you were safe from the darkness...you have forgotten."

Safe from the darkness...I never was in...

"My granddaughter, a princess of heart, I kneeew there was something special about you," her figament of her imagination, her grandmother chuckled, while moving a head of her. "Come come child don't fall behind. Now do you remember that story I always told you."

Finding this conversation awkward of talking to a duplicate made the youth skeptical, but she complied with it; generally going with the flow of the dream will eventually awake her from it, "Yes...there was light...people wanted it, fought over it and darkness was born."

"Yes yes yes, but do you remember the moral and heart of the story," her grandmother stopped at another door and turned the knob to open it. She looked back to see a pair of blue eyes stared at her in silence. Shaking her head, she beckoned the child to follow her in the black void brightened by the stained glass column she walked on. Looking back, Kairi caught her last glimpse of the past before treading through the door; it closed firmly behind her. "Remember what I always tell you.....Belieive..."

"...in the light," Kairi finished as the words just rippled into her mind.

Her grandmother smiled and nodded before coaching some more, "and the darkness..."

"will never defeat you," she replied more firmly without hesitation. "Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away."

"See you do know. Now do you believe in it?"

Kairi was taken back by the question, and her brows furrowed in disbelief, "Y-yes I do."

"Then why my dear do you hide...in Radiant Garden? Why do you hide who you are....hide your keyblade?"

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out; she was cornered. Why haven't she used her keyblade? She didn't wanted to be found by the darkness...or the nothingness. Yet she believed that light will prevail, but she hide away in the shadows weary. It's as if she lacked faith in her own light, and light period. With that, she felt ashamed. "I...I didn't think I was...ready."

This keyblade was merely handed to her, and she tried to push herself to feel more worthy of it, and she was nowhere near as strong as Riku and Sora.

"Dear you have your own strength; strength you can't compare to others," feeling her grandmother's eyes on her, she looked up respectfully, but jumped once feeling the ground quiver. A pedestal rose revealing her keyblade as a mystical blue sphere swirled around it. Holding her hand out, the keyblade didn't emerged; it won't come to her. She would have to go to it. She will have to accept and commit to it like how it accepted and stayed with her.

"You are strong Kairi, not only because you're a Princess of Heart, but because you are you. Listen to your heart Kairi; listen to the light within it; harness it believe in it; it is ready. The worlds depend on you, and you can't just hide forever, eventually you'll just have to get out there."

Kairi had moved forward looking at Destiny's Place, "but what if I..."

"Fear...is a natural thing Kairi, but you can't let it dictate and control you. You have the keyblade, the light, and even your friends on your side. What more can you ask for?"

What more can I ask for... she thought to herself as she grasped the hilt of the blade. The blue spark impacted her chest; she can feel it bloom and brighten; her heart responded to it with a beacon before dimming down. "It seems like it's...now or never."

She looked at the keyblade as she lifted it up, Please don't fail me

"You're ready Kairi; trust me..."

[Charme]

All the while, Namine watched in silence. The crystal beneath her feet let out a fleeting light in the darkness of the Destati, illuminating her so very slightly. Her white dress rippled with unfelt wind, her hair waving. Her blue eyes seemed almost luminescent, reflecting the light below her. She walked towards Kairi, who held a Keyblade high, as if ready to fight the Darkness.

"But you're not only fighting the Darkness, Kairi," she said aloud, her voice small and shy. The Nobody walked towards her, stopping in front of the Keyblade bearer, and smiled, waving. "I don't know if you knew I was gone, but our enemies have done something to upset the balance," she continued. "Roxas was taken as well." She looked to the glowing glasswork beneath her feet.

"People must learn from the past, but if the past is forgotten we are doomed to make our mistakes again." Past. Mistakes. A blank journal. "If the Dark XII and the Organization XIII continue to exist, all Worlds will eventually be overrun by these armies of enemies," she continued. "But if they are defeated, I am afraid that an enemy much stronger will return from the Darkness."

A witch of memories. Whilst Namine didn't understand the flash of pictures and sudden emotions that she had felt in Sora's memories, she knew they weren't all his. Even Roxas' emotions showed themselves in his body, despite the fact that they were two separate beings. And then, when they met again, he had even more memories. Of a girl with black hair whose name was forgotten by even her. Of three people whose destinies had been destroyed by the Darkness. "I am glad you left Destiny Islands," Namine said, smiling. "Sora once said something. When Riku had taken his Keyblade, leaving him with only a wooden sword, he said that his power came from his friends." Namine looked into her other's eyes. "Alone, you may be strong, but together, you are complete."

[Ellie who has 0%]

Hm?

Why was she hearing that voice of all voices? Turning her head, she turned to see Namine. Was she imagining her too like her grandmother, since they are both stored in her noggin and heart, "Namine."

She was gone, gone from her. A pang of confusion shook through her, why hadn't she known this. For someone to be a portion of her Kairi couldn't register anything being missing from her. Then again, Kairi had lived a year or so not knowing of Namine and existed/lived without her. "Roxas is out there too?"

When did any of this happened?! How were these people back, and how did they get close enough to grab Namine and Roxas again. "The Past...how can the past help us now? It doesn't explain how...you and Roxas' away or even how they came back."

It seemed Namine read her mind. Even with them defeated, something will rise up again; heck even the 'dead' rose up again and how that was plausible Kairi didn't know where to begin. It made her wonder how can they even fight old opponents if they can just came back. Also they could be looking at their past to not make the same mistake. They had made mistakes to improve and learn from. What about her, Sora, and Riku?

Hearing Namine speak up again, she turned to look at her. What she said was true, her friends were her strength, and it maybe that their mistake was being seperated from each other. Was she ready to reunite with them? Perhaps she can start by clearing her first mistake...not using her keyblade. With her friends, her light, she doesn't need to hesistate.

"So what now? I haven't seen any of them in Radiant Garden, which means they are preying on others worlds. Also...how do we lock away enemies that had came back, again. I don't know much about the Dark XII except Ansem is involved, and I only know the bulk of the Organization from what I've been told. I know Maleficient was involved the first time around, but haven't heard a whisper from her."

[Charme]

Namine closed her eyes, attempting to decipher the thoughts that were running through her head. How to lock them away...

"Kairi, I'm sorry to tell you this, but the only way to lock our enemies away... Is to kill them once more. And, as I said before, this will create a new enemy. It seems that our impassible fate is to fight the man who steeped the Worlds in Darkness long ago."

She opened her eyes, fierce emotion running through them. Holding her hands out, she summoned her sketchbook, the small item floating in the air before her. She moved to the center of the Destati, looking in the circle around her. "This is your Heart, Kairi. This place. Or rather, it is our Heart, because my own is connected to yours. Listen with your Heart, Kairi, and tell me... Why are you here in the Destati? Then your Heart will show us the door."

((I kinda don't know where you want to go with this, so this is a good way to find out. XD It's your Dive, so I don't want to lead it in a way that you weren't trying for.))

[Ellie who has 0%]

(O.o naaah I think I squeezed what I want out of this XDD explain her Fantasy powaa and Grandma bish slapping Kairi into reality, sooo XD we can just keep swimming and flowing)

"That's the thing we defeated them already. They were gone; they shouldn't be here, AGAIN, as they are! How would defeating them now be any different in defeating then? And...how will this make a 'new enemy', there's nothing entirely new about them now...," Namine was confusing her and not making any sense just to say they already defeated who altered the worlds, snatched her from her native world, was the result of her having her best friends now, and used, twisted, and manipulated them for his own end. Ansem's apprentice has been dealt with; despite it being two different entities. Why would defeating them make a new equation?

This was just bloody frustrating nearly as frustrating when she was told the Organization had returned. The keyblade swung to and fro in Kairi's hand as she paced, her poor attempt in exerting her frustration instead of lashing out. Even her grandmother wasn't around to soothe her as she faded once her nobody appeared.

If this was our heart you would know the princess held back her snarky remark by inhaling; the last thing she needed to do was literally have an argument with herself.

"I don't know...to see my Grandma...something...anything important I guess...a push I suppose," in a sense Kairi was a late bloomer, she was sleep through the first mayhem within Sora; she was living peacefully...with concerns on Destiny Island, and now that she's aware she's hiding in the invisible protective walls of Radiant Garden.

[Charme]

A push? Kairi needed one...

What would push the Keyblader to venture into the Worlds in search of her friends? What would give her the courage to face her fears of the Darkness? Namine only had control over memories. She couldn't do much else. And what memories could give Kairi the Light she needed to fight the Darkness, considering she was a Princess of Light?

Namine played with a piece of her hair as she looked up in thought. There were so many pieces that she didn't understand. Fragments of shrouded or forgotten memories. She couldn't decipher them, but she understood the message clearly... Very clearly.

"Kairi... They need you. You hold something they don't: purity. Your heart is pure, and you're the only one who can protect the Worlds without being afraid of the Darkness." She bit her bottom lip as she sketched a quick picture. "Even Sora must be careful." On the pages of the sketchbook, Sora stood, but behind him was a similar figure, one black, with yellow eyes. The figure's claws were stretched and ready, and it seemed to glare eagerly at the viewer. "There are people who are hurt, and they need your healing, just like Sora did so long ago."

[Ellie who has 0%]

With that said, Kairi could already fill the heat. She seemed a very likely and applicable person to rewriting everything, since the darkness can't touch her; she almost felt like one of those priestess in the movies that had to heal and protect the others. She looked at the sketchy picture seeing the looming figure over Sora, and there was one for practically everyone.

"Where do I even start? I feel like there's something waiting for me in Radiant Garden, but I don't want to prolong my stay. So many needs me...apparently, so I can't hide anymore; I'll have to act. So where should I start, and what about you Namine?"

They were supposed to be joined together, but Kairi was unsure if Namine had other priorities to tend to. Then again it sounded dreadful to loose your identity to merge with someone else, even if Namine would be rememebered as she was.

[Charme]

What about her? Namine couldn't say. She stared into the darkness, wondering about the two of them. About her... Her pale lips parted into a smile and she turned away from her other. "Don't worry about me. Just remind Sora to keep his promise," she whispered, her eyes hidden by her hair. "I have to disappear. But the best place to start is where all of us were born: Twilight Town. A place between Light and Darkness. It's where we all woke up, and perhaps you could find somebody there. There or Traverse Town, where all lost souls eventually end up."

She waved to Kairi. "I think I've said what I could for you. It's been a long time, Kairi, and it's nice to see you again." Her sister? In a way, Namine supposed.

[Ellie who has 0%]

Kairi nodded. Since she have already been to Traverse Town, she'll go to Twilight Town instead, but she didn't want to leave Radiant Garden too soon, "Either way...I need to stop hiding and wake up."

- The End