No One Mourns the Wicked -- Traverse Town (COMPLETE)

[clothos]

The only noise that could be heard was that of the fountain trickling, water gently dropping into a stone basin. Glowing lights illuminated the otherwise dark district of the town, the gentle neon flickering every few moments. All was still, with the exception of the one figure, by the fountain

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[madkefka]

Kefka hummed to himself, ignoring his surroundings as he did when engrossed in thought. It often took something near catestrophic to distract him when he got this way. Some of his best creations had come from this mode of thinking.

But then he felt it...a ripple on a lake...growing to splash...to a wave of power. Kefka froze. He'd very rarely felt this sort of power before. But as powerful as it was, there was an oddness to it that Kefka intuitivly believed made the surge hard to detect for those who were...normal.

He remained very still, laying on the bench, as he heard footsteps near him, traveling around the bend to the stairs.

So...the source of the disturbance was a person...how odd.

The figure approached and addressed Kefka, who mearly flicked his eyes to meet the smiling stranger. a smile for a smile, they say. So Kefka gave a red-lipped smile.

"That depends. Depends on what you want it to be. The only known thing is that people live here." Kefka replied, speaking as if his evasive answer where the most plain truth in the world.

[clothos]

The cryptic answer only sent Fai into a giggle. His locks of hair danced across his forehead, his chortle causing their waltz.

"I see," he said softly. "I must ask you another question, if it's alright." His smile died down slightly, and his features took on a more serious tone. "The...the Heartless...have they arrived yet?"

The way he worded it, to any other without knowledge...would be clueless. But he didn't want to let on to his past. He was sure other people had to have heard about the creatures of darkness roaming around. He just hoped...he just hoped they were only infecting his own world.

Perhaps his escape was something that could not be achieved.

[madkefka]

Kefka still hadn't moved a muscle, laying on the bench, legs crossed at the heel. The stranger's answer made Kefka smile, the loss of his smile even more so. Ah, pain from Heartless then?

Kefka tried to be rational in his answer...but once again the giddiness came, and his answer got away from him.

"Come. Gone, and remained. Nothing to gain for them here...I hear their treasure was firmly locked away from their prying eyes."

[clothos]

"Their treasure....?"

He remained still for a moment, pondering what the oddly-dressed figure had meant. Treasure...? The Heartless were seeking treasure of some so--

The Keyhole.

Fai's form suddenly snapped into animation. This person knew about Keyholes, and he obviously knew that there was a way to seal them. He smiled broadly, and shifted in his place.

"You know, then, how to seal the Keyhole?"

He left it at that. Best to keep his world's details out of the conversation.

[madkefka]

Kefka couldn't help it...he cackled that chilling laugh of his. he should tell this stranger to talk to someone who cared; someone who cared if worlds lived or died. But his power was intriging...curiosity overruled what little rationality kefka had.

Best to keep the stranger in their dance. He had to be intelligent to have that much power...or Traverse Town would probably be in ruins from that first travel spell.

A bit of fun then. if dangerous.

"To know is not always to be able. No, i can say i do not know how to keep the Heartless' goal from them, nor even know where the lock is on this overly lit and blinking town."

He considered probing sublty, but knew he would be detected. Maybe if he was distracted...

[clothos]

He remained silent after the other's words. His tone seemed to be...playful. As if he was resisting, toying with Fai. He only continued to smile. This clown obviously liked to play games. He could feel the darkness breathing from his form. It was nearly choking.

If it was a game he wanted, it was a game he'd get.

"You see," he said, the smile never fading from his smooth features, "I travel the worlds searching for information on the Keyholes. Rumors have come to me that they hold great power..."

He blinked a little bit, his mouth wide.

[madkefka]

From 'how to seal keyholes' to 'they hold great power?' no no no... Kefka shook his head inwardly. He only let his smile go to a grin, refusing to move any other muscle.

"I hear that myself. I hear they are the stuff that worlds are made of. So if one wished to be a world, i suppose one would find them interesting. Only Heartless really know what lie within a keyhole." Kefka paused, stretching a silence. "At least, that is what rumor has told me. You'd have to find a keyhole to learn more...and the stuff of worlds is not something most people should tender with."

Damn his tounge...always running away for the sake of a little sport. He nearly sighed. oh well, he was in it now, and would have to see this thru.

[clothos]

This clown seemed to be quite knowledgable about the Heartless situation. He obviously knew more than he was letting on, as the tone in his voice continued to be playful. Something he knew wouldn't end up so well. No matter the outcome of the discussion, he was prepared to do what he had to.

"You seem to know quite a bit," he said, still smiling. "You wouldn't happen to be assisting the creatures, would you?"

He knew all too well -- his own prince had been felled by the sickness, and gained that same airy attitude about him when they met each time. That is, until his heart was overrun completely, and he became darkness incarnate.

He waited for his response, the peaceful smile still plastered on him.

[madkefka]

Kefka's smile twisted. Creatures? How this ignorant stranger spoke of Lord Ansems work!! His temper started to rise, and he clenched his jaw.

"To assist the Heartless is to be Heartless. And I, stranger, most certainly do have my heart well intact within my body."

The fellows smile was irking...and the fact that he got Kefka to stop smiling first made it all the worse.

[clothos]

"So it seems," he stated, reassuring the clown's initial statement. "Well, I'd best be off. Thank you for the assistance you provided, jester. My apologies for..." he hesitated, turning his form around. Leaving his back wide open was, as he knew, a huge risk. But he could chance it. He smirked to himself quietly, the game only getting better. "...striking a nerve."

He slowly made his way off, knowing the clown would be after him in only a few short seconds.

[madkefka]

Kefka's face was smooth, but his voice was grated ice. "I am no...jester" He said the last with derision.

The blue spark of his magic sprung to life around the hand the propped up his head. Foolish? certainly. But principles were principles, and tempers were tempers.

The blue spark made a clear ringing noise as kefka let the magic take the form of flame, intending to catch the stranger's jacket on fire, and readying a follow-up spell.

[clothos]

He had sensed the magics coursing through the jester's veins before they even left his digits; Fai had immediately spun his body around, swinging his wand in a large arc in front of him. The other's spell dissipated against an invisible wall of magic he had created.

All the while, he continued to smile.

"That wasn't very nice," he said simply, bringing his wand closer to his form. His aura was eminating power, flowing through the air in pulsing waves. This, however, was only the tip of the iceburg. "You don't really want to fight, now do you..?"

He chuckled a bit to himself, prepared for an onslaught of whatever might or magic would fly his way.

[madkefka]

Kefka couldn't help himself. he let his senses drink on the waves of power. It in effect did nothing, but it sure felt good to feel such power...to know such power existed.

Kefka slithered off the bench, making sure the fountain was on his right.

"ooo..." he crooned. "such power. And you fear the Heartless?" He laughed again, openly probing the stranger before him, testing is strength...only to find himself blocked from the stranger.

A lasting shield? That was a suprise...

"Who knows what I want?" he said instead.

Two more ringing sounds of blue sparks, and lighting and flying earth flung towards the stranger wih a violent gesture of Kefka's hands.

[clothos]

He could feel his opponent pressing against his mental shields. This clown certainly had more power than he seemed to let on -- of course, Fai had guessed this from the very beginning. The clown's playful attitude, after all, was not very convincing.

As the second attack came rushing towards him, the wizard simply bent his knees, pressing into the ground. Below him the stone rippled slightly, before he rocketed up into the sky, the attack of the jester missing him completely. He drifted down his wand pointed directly at the other.

"I suppose then, we shall." He smiled.

Humming softly, his shoes clicked against the ground as he landed. His wand was still pointed directly at his opponent, the crystals glowing a soft yellow.

"What lies within these crystals can very well spell the end of your days. Should I release that power...?" He pondered for a moment, toying with the clown. "Perhaps I shall."

The glowing colors exploded into a mass of energy, swirling directly towards the other. A soft humming echoed through the district, and everything seemed to be vibrating.

Perhaps now he'd see just what Fai could do.

[madkefka]

For such a mage, this spell didn't seem like much...more annoyance at the echo than anything.

Kefka hated being toyed with.

He raised his hands and made a curious turning gesture with his wrists, and the energy that had been swirling towards him coalessed into balls of light, then were suddenly surrounded, trapped by new crystals that dropped to the ground, blinking with the light of the trapped spell.

Kefka clutched his hands into fists, his face furrowing into a look of rage.

"Crystal to crystal, as they don't say..."

With that he pointed at the water in the fountain, then he swung his arm back towards the wand-weilding stranger. The water twisted into a sharp razor, then froze to ice as it flew at the stranger.

Kefka would love to see this strange man impaled...

[clothos]

"Ice," he said simply as the makeshift spear shot his way. He extended his free hand, palm facing the frozen missile. It made contact with his hand, but instead of impaling him, as the clown had originally planned to do, the projectile transformed into a large sheet of clear ice, extending some fifteen feet on either side of Fai. The clown appeared warped and distorted through the sheet, but Fai knew well enough that he'd be preparing for another strike. He quickly shattered the sheet with a thurst of his palm, the glass-like fragments flying towards the clown.

He continued to smile.