Bored, Bored and Boom (Hollow Bastion; open, incomplete)

[infinityshot]

After introducing River to her room, Xigbar had wandered off in search of something to do. He was still loath to return to his charred room, and therefore had taken a quick detour to one of the libraries before finding his way to one of the gardens

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[sword_and_demon]

Sparda was assaulted by several sensations almost all at once.

The first sensation was a very familiar one, power, strength running through his veins. Demonic power he hadn't ever expected to feel again, this was followed shortly by his hand wrapping around the hilt of a sword he hadn't held in centuries. The Force Edge, the sleeping, dormant form of the weapon that shared his name. In an instant, however, he could activate it. The seal has been broken!The Dark Knight barely had time to register all these things before he was blinded by the sudden presence of light, or, rather, by the sudden lack of all-consuming darkness, next to which anything was blindingly bright

[sword_and_demon]

Sparda looked at Xigbar curiously when he said that a war with demons wasn't the only thing he had to worry about. "I am afraid I can't tell you why I was trapped, because I am not sure myself. In fact, I am still not entirely sure what managed to capture me in the first place."

He considered the question for a moment. "Yes, they do have hearts, in the most literal sense of the word."

[infinityshot]

He closed his eyes, thinking. At least he wasn't up against an all-powerful, psycho demon. That was always a pleasant thought. On the other hand, if one took into account the Superior's attitude...

Moving right along...

Would the Heartless try to go after demons? He had never really thought about it, but he supposed that if they had any sort of emotion whatsoever, even hatred, they could become targets. Or they would try to take all the humans on that world and probably the Heart of the World. Well, then there wouldn't be a war, that was for sure!

With a little bit of manipulation, Xigbar made a small table, extra chair, tea and mugs appear. He poured himself some tea and looked at Sparda. "Do you want some? And if so, do you want sugar or anything else"

[sword_and_demon]

Sparda just stared for a moment as the table appeared, he had hoped for an explanation about the odd question concerning demons and hearts, but perhaps it wasn't relevant.

"Ah, yes please, and sugar would be good, thank you." He sat down at the table, carefully adjusting the Force Edge sword as he did so.

"Have you ever heard of creatures capable of hiding in a persons shadow? I'm certain there aren't any demons that can do that. I know of a few that can hide in a mirror as a persons reflection, but that's it."

[infinityshot]

It was really quite tempting to say "Zexion," but decided that would just raise more questions that he probably didn't want to answer. In fact, he really didn't want to talk about him, so he remained mute on this point.

"Not sure," said Xigbar, pouring his guest some tea before pouring himself a mug full. A tray with cubed sugar seemed to rise out of the table, but settled once it had emerged completely. "Would you like one lump or two?"

[sword_and_demon]

"Two, please." This was all very interesting, the way things just materialized. Handy, too.

"I suppose creatures like that aren't very common, or people would be paranoid about their shadows." Well, he still wasn't sure how or why he had been captured and trapped, but he wasn't any more, and that was certainly a step in the right direction.

[infinityshot]

Xigbar finished fixing Sparda's tea and put it in front of his suddenly appeared guest. Without hesitation, he put in five cubes into his own tea, stirred and sat back.

"If ya live yer life afraid of stuff all the time, then ya never live. Creatures livin' in shadows...maybe they exist, but if ya worry 'bout it...well, ya either can fight them or ya can't. Why worry if ya can't do anything, and why worry whether it'll happen?" He took a sip of his super-sweet tea, making a face and put the mug down before adding two more cubes.

"This demon or creature yer talkin' about. Yer thinking it's around or somethin'? Ya seem pretty preoccupied with it. As far as I know, most creatures are only preoccupied when they're worried 'bout somethin'."

[sword_and_demon]

"The creature managed to capture me and hold me captive for several centuries. I believe that warrants some preoccupation. Granted, I was exhausted when it managed to attack me. I do not fear it, the creature was no where near powerful enough to actually harm me." He was really more concerned about other things, things he did not want to think about.

His wife, he knew, would be dead by now, humans were short-lived, and he'd been gone far too long. His sons, however...

Sparda needed to figure out how to get back to Tartarus.

"Xigbar, would you mind telling me about the other worlds you have visited?" The demon took a sip of his tea, careful not to spill a single drop.

[infinityshot]

He couldn't help it. Xigbar took one look at Sparda, and laughed.

"I'm sorry, but did you just ask me about the other world's I've been to? That would take a long time, Sparda. A very long time."

...A lot of time that Xigbar was really not in the mood to spend.

"Tell me about these creatures. I'm rather intrigued about them."

[sword_and_demon]

"I would like to say I have a long time, but no doubt we both have better things to do than sit and discuss worlds, in that case."

Sparda took another sip of his tea, considering Xigbar's question.

"The creature that came out of my shadow?"

[infinityshot]

Xigbar considered telling the guest that really, what was better than sitting and discussing things for the rest of the day? Well, other than watching people squirm...

Yet that did not seem to be the right choice of words at this moment.

"Yes, those ones. Speaking of which, I do love what you've done with your shadow," smirked the gun wielder. "You'll absolutely have to tell me how you do it."

If he had been any more sarcastic, he probably could have hung himself with it. It was quite obvious that this guest held more secrets than he was willing to share. But honestly...it was hard to ignore things like shadows that were different from the owner...

[sword_and_demon]

Sparda glanced off towards his shadow at the mention of it, he raised an eyebrow. Oh, yes, he'd almost forgotten about that.

"Well, the creature that came out of my shadow caught me off guard, and I had just finished with a rather tiring battle against a large swarm of demons, so I am afraid that I was not able to provide much resistance. Then it just held me in a strange dark place for a long time."

Sparda took another sip of tea. "And as to my shadow, well... it has always been like that. I did try for a while to get it to match, but, ah, some things just cannot be helped." He was glad that Xigbar hadn't gotten spooked by the unusual shadow.

[infinityshot]

There was a smile that was playing along Xigbar's lips.

"How absolutely delightful. Let me just understand the situation fully. You say that there are two beings on your world, which are humans and demons. You said that you aren't a human, which means you're a demon...and that would certainly explain your rather unique shadow. You were captured by shadow creatures after finishing off some demons...if I recall correctly, there was one of your kind that had rebelled against the rest of the demons. Now, unless there are other demons that followed afterwards, I would have to say that you just told me in a rather roundabout way that you're that Legendary Dark Knight that fought for humans. Or did my brain follow some steps along the way that it wasn't supposed to?"

Pouring some more tea into his mug, and several large spoonfuls of sugar, Xigbar sat back. "I'm not sure why you decided to leave that little bit out, but I really don't care if you're a washerwoman in disguise. I am rather curious, however...what do you see in humans?"

[sword_and_demon]

"You have, in fact, overlooked one or two possibilities. However, you are correct in your reasoning. I am in fact the Legendary Dark Knight, as humans are so fond of calling me. I much prefer being known simply as Sparda." He finished off his tea and set down the cup

[infinityshot]

Xigbar sat back, looking into his tea, and watching his reflection distort with the little movements he made. He really didn't care what sort of title Sparda had. Here, it meant nothing.

"What makes them act that way, I wonder?" he said softly. "They are weak and their wills are easily crushed. Yet something or someone manages to just rebuild everything. Is it their Heart that makes them this way?"

Carefully and, without a doubt, purposely, he squeezed his mug until it shattered in his hands. He watched the blood run.

"Pain seems to be felt by everyone, and yet it what does that matter?"

[sword_and_demon]

"I am not really sure what makes humans act the way they do. I think perhaps it is because they are so short-lived, that they are driven to make accomplishments, to rebuild, or to make better and greater things so they can be remembered." Sparda glanced up at the sky, wondering how the humans on his planet were doing.

"Tell me, Xigbar, is there a way to travel between the planets? A way that I can use?" He would need to go find his sons, if they were still alive, and find out what had happened to undo the seal.