Converting the Light (Marluxia, Rook)

[Deleted]

(Well I thought are plan had to continue at some point)
(Apologies for the mild power play)

A dark portal opened up in the beautiful garden of the Nobody castle and out of it's inky darkness stood The Gracefull Assassin and the red headed keybearer Rook. Still having a hold on the boys shoulder Marluxia shoved him aside and chuckled.

"Welcome to the World That Never Was child. Here is were you will find nothing but darkness and empty hope." Marluxia said to the child as he walked over to his towering sunflower plant. Touching a petal Marluxia smiled.

Much like how a plant needs guidence and care to help it grow, so does a potential apprentince. Unlike Mars who went off and left maybe this Key wielder can be of more use to me then Mars could ever be Marluxia thought as he turned his head to injured boy and laughed.

"You still have yet to answer my question boy. Do you fear the dark?"

[rook]

Rook was disoriented like never before. He had used the Dark Portals before, controlled them, even... but never so wounded and bloody, never in a fight. And certainly never to a World like this...

"I... d-don't fear it..!" He lunged forward and aimed a punch at Marluxia's chest. Weak and disheveled, there was hardly any force behind the strike at all. It was more like a fist trying to push someone away than an attack.

Panting, and staring at the floor as small droplets of blood slipped from him, Rook swallowed weakly and hung his head, "What... do you want with me? You had a castle, bundles of people to choose from... why bring--..." He fell to a knee, and began breathing heavier.

The rose petals that tore into him were beginning to take a toll. It was not fatal, but certainly crippling enough to destroy any chance of fighting his way back from wherever this place was. But what had him so defeated mentally was that he answered the call of the great King Mickey. Then Rook had to look him in the eyes and apologize for failing him.

[Deleted]

Dont fear it he says. Then why stutter as your sayng it. XI thought as Rook gave a pathetic punch to his torso. Felt more like a poke.

The Nobody scoffed as he shoved Rook down on teh ground with his foot. He walked over to the fountain that was nearby and mocked the child yet again.

"Dont act so iggnorant. Think...out of everyone there you were the strongest, except for Mickey and Maleficent. You were also the one who seemed more in doubt of youself." Marluxia snapped his fingers and a root came out of the ground next to Rooks head. It wiggled around and twisted itself in a knot.

"See that root? It began as a seed and worked its way to greatness as the garden you see around you. That knot I twisted it into represents your heart, torn by emotions of what to do with your life. Did you help others and feel great? Or did you harm them in some way and better yourself? These are the questions you must ask yourself about your past if you are to fully understand why a Keyblade chose you"

Marluxia walked over to the bleeding sorry excuse for a warrior and put his foot on his chest and said, "Get up. Or shall I end you here and now"

[rook]

Rook grabbed the Nobody's foot and shoved. It took a long moment, but he managed up to a knee. His hand shimmered and the BlackJack returned to his shakey grip, keychain rattling against itself, "It chose me... because I have something to prove..! This Keyblade chose me because I have people to protect..!"

He pushed off with his resting leg and sprang forward at him, slashing with the Keyblade. It was a weak attack, and he knew that. But there was no offenseive strategy here. He had to at least try and keep the Nobody guessing until he figured out another plan.

He reeled back, spinning low and cleaving the "heart" root with the blade, arm held wide as he looked over his shoulder at Marluxia, "I'm not smart... but I'm no idiot..! I know right from wrong, and there's no way you're right! If you brought me here to join you, than no thanks! I'm... not giving up... my Heart. It's what makes me me..!"

[Deleted]

Marluxia smirked his foot was shoved off. At least he hasn't lost ALL hope.

But now he chooses to attack? Fool. XI thought as vanished in a burst of rose petals. He appereared on top of the fountain. He smiled as Rook slashed the twisted root. This should be interesting.

"People to protect? All Humans can do for you is let you down. You may not see it but every last one of them used you for their own ends. Why else would they "trust" such a weak hearted child? You have NOTHING to prove! All the good deeds you do in your life amount to nothing in the end. Even now I bet the King isn't even coming up with a plan to save you. You've become dead weight. A nothing"

Marluxia summoned his scythe and hopped down to met with Rooks gaze. He held out the blade in front of him and said.

"If its a fight you desire then by all means. Attack!"


(Well Im off to work. So I cant reply untill at least 6)

[rook]

Rook let out a growl, a yell, and a slash of his Keyblade, gasping deeply to steady himself, "You're wrong! They relied on me! They needed me, they didn't use me!"

He held the blade in both hands, prepping for a defensive parry. That scythe didn't look like it was going to fool around, and intelligently so, Rook prepared for the worst, leaning to the side in an expectation to dodge the blade from the swinging arc as Marluxia held it in his hane. "Let... let the King forget me. He was lives to protect, a World to defend..! You're right, I am deadweight. But I'd rather be that than the boy who gets them all killed... Let them for-...get... me."

He stopped, his sentence peetering out into a mumble, "Forget me..? I don't..."

The Keyblade dropped from his hand, clanging against the floor and vanishing. Head hung, he took a knee, silent for a long moment. "I... I don't want to be forgotten. I-I don't want them to come for me, but I don't want to be forgotten..."

[Deleted]

Marluxia laughed. Good, good. Let your rage build. thought the Assassin as he lowered his weapon as Rook took a knee and spoke.

"Dont make me laugh. Are you honestly saying they wouldn't exploit you for thier own gains? Like Mickey. He doesn't easily trust people, but he took an instant liking to you only for your Keyblade. He saw a person who can be easily manpulated and took advantage of that fact." Marluxia put his scythe away and folded his arms as he continued.

"Its not only them who will forget you. Its everyone! Good deeds are easily forgot. It is only the evil tyrants that burn thier memory in the hearts of everyone. If you truely wish to be remembered then you must MAKE them remember you! If not your hopes of being remembered as a Hero will burn away. Name one person who is dead that is still remembered for their heroics. Name one person who people can name instantly without hesitation a person who helped them in their time of peril."

His will power is fading quickly. His mind is clouded with his own self doubt. How he isn't already an evil child is beyond me

XI walked up to the kneeling child and asked, "Tell me, do you even know what realm your keyblade comes from?"

[rook]

Name one person who is dead that is still remembered for their heroics. Name one person who people can name instantly without hesitation a person who helped them in their time of peril."

Rook's eyes flashed open and he looked up with a determined glare, "Eden did..." For a brief moment, thoughts of what little memories he had with his friend back on the ruins of Hollow Bastion jolted through his mind, but they were long and distant, fading almost as quickly as they came.

Still, he refused to believe that good people were never remembered. He knew differently. Valiant people were remembered for their deeds, and Rook had done a lot in the name of assisting others. He defied the Restoration Committee to help Jason, tried helping Era fight her Heartless, saved Kairi from the rain, surely these things would be remembered by someone, somewhere. Certainly one or more of them couldn't forget, right?

"Tell me, do you even know what realm your keyblade comes from?"

Rook shook his head. He hardly knew anything about it. It just... showed up during his fight with Erax... He just accepted it as an advantage and let the problem lie. "No... I don't. How could you?"

[Deleted]

Marluxia could tell that the child was deep in thought. Perhaps remembering the past.

He is resisting me more then anticipated. He would be mine if not for that damned Keyblade filling his heart with false hope. I do believe that it is time for Namine to prove she is still useful to this Organization.

"Your Keyblade gives off a unique energy signal, much like the one the King wields. However," Marluxia thought of a great lie.

"Yours gives off an even powerful one. My answer to you is that your Keyblade is from the Realm of Darkness. True the King has one from the same Realm, but he acquired it solely by looking for it. But in your case.....the Darkness CHOSE you"


XI paced from left to right with his arms still folded and asked the troubled boy.

"Now Tell me, how would it feel to peel away all your false memories and remember the people who truly helped you gain your power, the ones who have been conspiring against you all this time? I can help you with pointing out the people who have been lying to you your entire life"" XI hoped his words would intrigue the boy to reveal his true, although altered past.

[rook]

Rook stared at him. How could this Nobody know who had lied or not? Certainly, Rook knew Laurel's history with him. That ended in betrayal. Maybe there was a reason Leon and his crew came after Jason... Ren was a pirate after all... Era...had she..?

And so, through an ounce of doubt, paranoia sprung. The true nature of Rook's keyblade was no surprise. It was a part of him and he knew it. But the fact that it chose him? That wasn't something he anticipated, or thought possible. But it gave him the ability to do something. Had that many people really been trying to manipulate him?

"...Like who? What false memories? How can I have fake memories?"

[winterlovesong]

Almost as if on a cue, the witch of memories herself stepped into the room.

The twists and turns of the Castle were almost enough to put off the blonde on her search for Marluxia's room - as if Marluxia himself wasn't enough to put a halt to her actions! - but still, she had found the room all the same. The garden was beautiful, but obviously lethal - just like Marluxia, her worst nightmare, the one person that still managed to scare her at night. It wasn't Xemnas; she'd hardly ever spoken to the dark entity that called himself king of the castle. It certainly wasn't Axel, who'd helped her on more than one occasion. It wasn't even the bloodthirsty Larxene, who would be more than willing to toss her around like the helpless doll she was.

And it wasn't as though Naminé was here of her own will. When Marluxia summons someone, they go to him, regardless of anything they may feel to the contrary. She was not going to be the one to incur the Graceful Assassin's wrath.

At least, not quite yet.

She wasn't sure why she was here. Perhaps the Assassin was bored, and merely wished to toy around with her some more...? That probably wouldn't be entirely out of the question - she wouldn't put anything past Marluxia.

And perhaps - and this option Naminé did not want to think about in the slightest - someone in the Organization had sought her out because they finally needed to use her strange craft, which could only mean that either Sora or someone very close to him was here.

Which only confused her when she saw the raggedly breathing, torn up, bloodied and obviously exhausted redhead staring at Marluxia with the remains of a challenge on his face; a challenge that had probably dwindled when XI had used a twisted word or two to tone him down a bit. (Of course, that was all Naminé's speculation - she knew not of what had happened in this deadly garden before she stepped through the door.) She did not recognize him from Sora's memories... Though, she was only searching through past Sora's memories, from before she was separated from Kairi.

She was afraid to delve any deeper, in case that would lead her to discover her true purpose here.

"Marluxia." Naminé announced her presence quietly the moment there was a silence, though it was thick with tension. Her soft-spoken voice carried through the room.

Her hands fiddled with the edge of her dress from nervousness, and her arms felt empty without the comfort of her sketchbook. She wished she hadn't left it in her room, but she did not want Marluxia looking through it.

"I'm here. What do you need me for?"

[Deleted]

It seems that I have got this ones attention about his memories

Marluxia stopped walking and began to answer the boy. XI gave a wicked grin at Rook while he spoke with a mocking tone,

"Like who you ask? Take the people at the Castle for instance, Mickey didn't trust to take me on by yourself when he could have been taking out that Witch Maleficent. Those two others that decided to attack the witch insted of me did so because they felt they wouldn't be able to trust you in battle if they fought along side you. And---" XI's words cut off as he sensed Namine walk closer to the conservatory. He turned his attention away from Rook and walked to the door.

The Witch walked through as scared and soft-spoken as ever. When will she relize her true potnetial is far beyond Marluxia. So far she has only been able to fill the needs of one person, The Graceful Assassin himself.

Namine knows good and well when she is to be expected, one of the wonderful traits about her. For she would good and well what would happen if she were to not show.

Marluxia grined at the sight of Namine looking so nervous and afraid in his room. It gave him a sort of blissfull feeling to see that, to know that he has installed fear into her "heart". XI also noticed that her sketchbook was no were to be seen, good Marluxia didn't need Namine to be distracted by such foolishness.

"Namine, don't act so afraid. Are guest would surely be offended if he saw you were not glad to see him." Marluxia said as he walked behind Namine and shut the door. He then put his head by her ear and whispered his plane to the Witch.

"I have need for your unique gift. This poor soul is being tormented by what he can't remember from the other side of his hearts. All those pathetic memories he has I'm afraid are getting in the way of his true path to darkness." he gave a soft chuckle and looked at Rook and spoke once more,

"I need you to rearrange his memories, much like you did to that poor boy Sora.

[rook]

Rook rubbed his eye, looking down and shaking his head at Marluxia, "So what's to tell me I should trust you above everyone else? You stormed a castle, tried to take it from a King of the Light, regardless of whether he trusted me or not..."

He looked up just as Marluxia turned to face yet another entrant. A girl. In white. Confused, he looked back and forth as they exchanged words, shaking his head again, and staggering to his feet in protest, "N-no..! I'm not turning to Darkness. Trust or not, I'm not that stupid..! No one is going to do anything with my memories, do you hear me?"

The BlackJack summoned again, appearing in his hands with a slashing motion as he made his way towards this 'Namine'. If that was what she was here for, to take away whatever he remembered, he would have to cut his way from this castle. Starting with her. He might die, but he wouldn't risk losing all the things he had gained so far.

He rushed past Marluxia, bringing the blade back and ready to strike. And as he closed distance he blinked. Wincing once, the Keyblade freezing in midair, his attack halting. He studied the girl for a minute, craning his neck back and thinning his eyes to blur his vision. Mentally, he picked out smaller details, the shape of her lips, her eyes... his head tilted to the left, and the Keyblade fell to his side.

"...Kairi?

[winterlovesong]

Somehow, she'd known Marluxia's request was coming, even before he uttered it.

Change his memories. Is that all that'd ever be asked of her? Manipulate people until they're not even themselves? That wasn't right, that was wrong, dead, dead wrong. Naminé hadn't just grown older in the past year or two; she'd grown a conscience.

And right now, it was loud and clear.

Naminé shivered as Marluxia's presence drew closer to her from behind, until he was bearing down on her like a great bird of prey, just waiting to snatch up his catch at the opportune moment. Her ear stung, as if he'd bitten it, not just whispered to it. It was wrong to have him so close, to have the demon of her daydreams infesting her reality...

She would never follow him. Never again. But she couldn't let him know that, or all would be lost.

Before she had the chance to respond, the blonde's head, drooped in a mock defeat (that may be not-so-fake in some deep, dark corner of her), snapped up at the redhead's cry.

He was coming for her, a split second later. There was nothing she could do. She would be torn apart by the boy's Keyblade, all hope for Kairi becoming whole again would be lost -

...Keyblade?

She cringed back as the boy raised his weapon at her. There was nowhere for her to go. Marluxia was behind her, the redhead in front of her. The door was too far away, and by now, anyway, it was too late.

Then he froze, his eyes taking in features of her, squinting to see properly. Naminé didn't relax, rather, gazed at her attacker in the face, wondering what the catch was. And as the Keyblade dropped to his side, he uttered one word, the most surprising thing she'd faced yet.

"...Kairi?"

For a long, painful moment, Naminé could do nothing but stare wide-eyed at this strange Keybearer whom she'd never known.

She shook herself clear of her muddled thoughts, realizing that if she didn't speak now, Marluxia would take over, and all hope would be lost for her to communicate.

"No," she responded, her voice still soft, but soft with shock rather than fear. "I'm...her Nobody. But Kairi's all right," the Nobody hastily added, suddenly fearful that the boy would fear the worst - Kairi had disappeared from existance. "She's fine, and still in one piece..."

...as he would know, her mind whispered. It was true - Naminé had no recollection of this redhead, none. Kairi must have met him after the blonde was separated from her. So Kairi must be okay.

If that was true...then Naminé could not do anything to the boy's memories, at least not without making absolute sure that he did not know Sora whatsoever (something she had refrained from doing; she did know more about Sora's memories than Kairi's in a strange twist of events).

Marluxia may not know that, she wondered briefly. And, through her fear, she started to form a slight plan. If this boy was a Keybearer, she could not let him fall into the Organization's hands, least of all Marluxia. He seemed to be in both a fragile mental state and physical state, so it was up to her to make sure he got out okay. Slowly, the cog's in Naminé's fragile, porcelain head started to turn.

She bit her lip, still staring at the redhead, and slowly tilted her head to match his inclination.

[Deleted]

(Pardon the awful awfulness. 3 am for the win)

Marluxia grined at the boy's attack, he was about to restrain him with plant roots. But suddenly he stopped and studied Namine. Ha! He wont attack a female. Just as pethetic as always, but the boys next words concerned the Assassin,

"....Kairi?"

So this boy has met Sora and his Girl. Even better, now Namine will be able to rearrange his memories. If she is unable to however, I will simply keep him here until he withers away and becomes a Keyblade wielding Nobody. Namine will also pay the price for her failure

Marluxia laughed on the inside as Namine spoke. XI saw the perfect time to mess up Rooks mind even more.

"Kairi alive? Your sadly mistaken Namine. She died shortly after you came to "exsistince", and even now you try and confuse this poor boy into thinking his friend is still alive when he is clearly looking at her Nobody. How could you Namine. Thats so cold of you" Marluxia walked past Namine and gave her a look that would send Hades running. This look should tell all, if she spoke out against Marluxia's statment her world would be a hellish nightmare.

XI turned his gaze away from the witch and towards Rook. He gave him a slight smile and said, "You see, like I said, Namine here tried to take advantage of your knowledge of Kairi by saying she was still alive. She tried to trick you, are you just going let her get away with saying one of your cherished friend is still alive after what could only be made after her death is staring you right in the face."

Natrually I wont let him kill Namine should he choose to attack her. Namine knows what will happen if she denies everything. However, if deliver that punishment in front off this boy, he might see this as me lieing to him. Of course I was, but he MUST NOT know this. Even so, all I would have to do is kill him off. Simple as that

Marluxia walked up to a rose bush and leaned against it, eyes closed. His senses still sharp incase the need to render Rook motionless arises. Lets see how the boy will respond.