Wednesday, December 21st, The Midnight Channel (Last Night!)

[thepull_mods]

Who: The Port's Latest Shadow Televisions Stars! And Thousands of Home Viewers!
When: Midnight, Wednesday December 21st
Where: In front of your Television Sets or Streaming NV TV. (Digital Cable? You'll still get the analog effect.)
Summary: Full Plot Details Here
Warnings: Please Put 'em In the Subject Lines As Necessary, Kids?

Comments

Terra - 2/2

[todomarishi]

[The camera hurries to catch up to him. The next time he's shown up-close is as he's approaching the next house in line. Tears streak down both sides of his face. They continue to fall as he steps up to the door. Helpless to do otherwise, he lifts his trusty Keyblade. This time, he has to repeat the unlocking sequence twice to defeat the defenses of a careful house-owner. The flurry of shadows are quicker to make up for it, rushing past with the roiling Darkness. Terra gets away faster, too, though he still catches the three orbs that drift out of the house, to him, to disappear in that same dark fire he called up before.]

I didn't want to be a monster. I never wanted to be one. I was going to be a hero and protect the light. But I wasn't good enough. I tried... I really tried, but I was too dark and I was too weak and everyone could tell. Maybe they could tell all along. What a failure. What a terrible Keybearer, he'll let the worlds down.

[A pause. The next few words have a peculiar emphasis to them.] He'll go astray again.

Turn into a monster.

[He slows before the next house, staring forward and down. There's a visible shift in his countenance, the horror and dismay replaced by something more subdued. More numb. His back straightens and his voice reflects the change, too: when he speaks again, his words drag their way out.]

It's okay, though. [He sighs, hefts his Keyblade up, and another house falls. More literally, this time. He draws back but waits as the shadows ravage the building's occupants... and then the building itself. Darkness- darkness, with a purplish cast, flecked with spots and veins of pulsing orange, rips through all the forms of rock and glass that make up the house. A number of monsters retreat from the shifting pile of rubble left behind. That house produces five of the glowing orbs, each of which is drawn and engulfed by the light-less flame Terra summons in his hand.

The tears still grace his cheeks despite the composure that has, at least for the moment, taken him over.]

Once you reach that point where all you have is the darkness, everything can be different. The darkness is power. Even if you do lose your heart... Even if you end up cast into the deepest, darkest abyss, your heart consumed, your body darkness... You'll have the power you've needed all along. Power you can use to make things right for the people who matter. [He reaches his left hand out and closes it over nothing.] Any price can be paid then.

[The slouch returns as he glances at the camera out of the corner of his eye.]

Why don't you come out? I can show you... I can show you what it is to be a monster. To have the power you need to truly keep important things safe.

[Any reactions can go here-]

[todomarishi]

[reaction+text] 1 of 2

[lockandkeyblade]

[The Midnight Channel is no longer a surprise by Wednesday. The events of the night prior are hard to grasp; They are vague, and hazy. But he gets the gist of it. He understands what Shadows are now, understands why they say the things they do. And most of all, he understands what happens when the things we try to hide tumble out when we're not ready.]

[The things that are in our hearts and minds deserve to stay there. Learning about friends from friends is a privilege. Not something he wants to learn by accident. That's why watching Terra's midnight channel makes his stomach turn. He knows exactly who's to blame for the this. Even now, after he's gone from the port, he's still ruining things.]

[Terra has his friends, his most important people now. They understand him the most, and know the intimate details of what he's been through much better than Sora. But still. He still remembers what it was like when Terra reached out to him.]

[text]

[lockandkeyblade]

Terra?

[text]

[todomarishi]

Shouldn't you be sleeping?

[He had hoped everyone he knew would be.]

[text]

[lockandkeyblade]

Slept most of the day.

[He has last night's shadow fiasco to blame for that. Wouldn't you know, getting brain-boggled is tiring.]

You?

[text]

[todomarishi]

Energy drinks.

[text]

[lockandkeyblade]

Riku and Kairi never let me near that stuff.

Don't think either of us'll get to sleep now.

[A small laugh as he clicks the send button.]

[text]

[todomarishi]

You probably don't need the extra energy.

[Like Ven. Terra suspects Ven and energy drinks would be a very bad combination indeed.]

No. It doesn't seem like it.

[text]

[lockandkeyblade]

Sometimes when me, or Riku or Kairi couldn't sleep, we'd call each other. Just to talk.

It felt better knowing somebody else was awake too, you know?

[text]

[todomarishi]

Makes sense. Especially if you don't have anything else to do.

[text]

[lockandkeyblade]

We'd talk about funny stuff, or things that happened in the day, or things we wanted to do.

And then sometimes, we'd talk about stuff we did in the past. Things we wish we did, and then other stuff we wished we could do all over again.

[text]

[todomarishi]

Sora.

[text]

[lockandkeyblade]

[This takes some time to reply, as Sora punches in a much longer message.]

After everything was over and we went home, me and Riku got to talking once about darkness.

He and the King said that we're afraid of the darkness, because of what's lurking in it. But really we need both. Darkness and light. Two sides of a coin.

I told Riku once, that the most important thing to remember about having darkness inside your heart and doing thing we regret... is that it's not all you are. The kind of person you are is everything else too: the people you protect, the friends you make, even just wanting to do the right thing. Even if we make a couple mistakes along the way.

[text] 1/2

[todomarishi]

[His response also takes a while to compose... for a far different reason.]

I've got to go, Sora.

[text]

[todomarishi]

[A minute later, another text message is sent Sora's way.]

Thanks.

[Though that one may or may not have started out as an I'm sorry before being backspaced through and retyped.]