ღ Seventh Keychain ღ Loss

[reverse_destiny]

[No. No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. This just can't be--

The dreamscape this time around is dark. It's a twisted world, a strange pit that loosely resembles his childhood home of Destiny Islands. And he's just... Sitting there. Injured, to reflect the hard battle he fought back in the waking world. But it hadn't been enough, and

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[waterfell]

[In the Darkness, she is there; as if she'd leave him alone. Mercury calls him by name, to gain his attention, to reaffirm who he truly is; perhaps both.]

Sora.

[reverse_destiny]

[The voice shakes him, and suddenly, he finds there are tears in his eyes. He tilts his head down to hide them, not having the strength to reach up and wipe them away.]

H-Hey, Ami.

[waterfell]

[She steps closer. She's so bad at this sort of thing; she wonders sometimes if perhaps she simply doesn't have feelings left to make those feelings reach someone else.

Right now, she wants the right thing to say despite that lack of expectation of being able to find it. She steps closer still, looks at him for a long moment.

Then she holds out a small blue handkerchief, wordlessly, holding it where he's sure to see it. It's a start.]

[reverse_destiny]

[He reaches for the handkerchief at first, but then changes his mind. Instead, he reaches up and grips her wrist. He's shaking, afraid, trying not to let the fear out into the open. Even though he whispers it.]

I'm scared.

[waterfell]

[He doesn't want the handkerchief; he wants her. Somehow that urge to make him happy becomes stronger. She lets him hold her wrist and even turns her hand to hold onto his arm in return, gripping as tightly as she's gripped.]

I don't have any intention of letting you be hurt.

[reverse_destiny]

[The returned grip is comforting. It reminds him that she is here, that she's not leaving him. That she cares, even if only a little. And the words... Even though they're meant to be kind, they only hurt worse. Because it's already too late.]

...I... I've already...

[waterfell]

[She cares so much more than a little. She's just so utterly incapable of saying it properly. She sees herself in him, and that's enough; she'll look out for him as often and as long as she possibly can.]

Even if something already happened, there's a new way forward.

[It sounds like hope; but she'd call it nothing more than that gut determination to make her way forcefully.]

[reverse_destiny]

...He... He took my heart, Ami. He took it.

[He can still remember the pain as that hand gripped the heart in his chest, filling the void the would be left behind with darkness as he drew it out and devoured what he needed from it before discarding it. He'd only been barely aware of things at the point, the darkness consuming him. And then he'd "woken up" here.]

[waterfell]

[If only she could say that isn't the end. If only she was the sort of person who could say she'll find a way to get it back.]

What happens now? You're still here. You can have your vengeance on him.

[reverse_destiny]

...I'm a... A Heartless now. Just like him. Which means he... He's the King, so...

[...So he couldn't fight back even if he had the capacity to do anything conscious beyond this dream world.]

[waterfell]

I've destroyed so-called queens before. [In short, don't let that hold you back, Sora.] If you're determined to change this fate, bide your time looking for your chance.

[reverse_destiny]

...I can't do anything. I won't... Even know what I'm doing. Heartless mostly run on pure instinct. I... I messed up...

[He messed up badly. But is it messing up? He got to see Riku. He fought for him, beside him, and things were-- They were okay. He'd even taken a blow meant for him, ended up badly hurt, and that's why he's here. Maybe... It's not so bad.]

[waterfell]

[Oh, Sora.]

Listen to me now. [Her voice is firm.]

I don't want to see you give in to that. Even in the Darkness, there's a part that's you. It only disappears if you stop stubbornly fighting to keep it.

[reverse_destiny]

[He'll look up at her. And those tears are now apparent. But he quietly nods. She's right. If there weren't some part of him still in existence, he wouldn't be here, right?]

...Thanks.

[waterfell]

[She doesn't like seeing those tears. She doesn't want to be left lose someone see someone important to her hurt see those tears.

And so she asks such a transparent question.]

When you say 'he took it', who is he?

[After all, it can be gotten back, can't it? But even if she says that, what can she do, locked in his dreams, unable to reach the real boy? She hasn't made him let go or loosened her own grip yet, and her fingers curl as she thinks of her own impotence.]

[reverse_destiny]

...Ansem. My dad.

[For a few moments, a man flickers into existence--a figment and nothing more, his figure imposing as he hovers just off the ground with arms crossed over his chest.]