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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 9, 2009 17:02:37 GMT -5
Rildax nodded silently. "I know I want to be with you," he said softly. "And I know Cloud wants to see you too." He held Ayla's hand and black flames engulfed the two of them. They arrived in the Oasis City, Rildax's eyes quickly darting about. All was still well here. Rildax walked along the path taking him to oasis. Cloud and Khali were still here. "Oh, Cloud..." he called in a sing-song voice. Cloud's head darted upwards. His blue eyes widened. He caught sight of Ayla. "Ah, happy family reunions..." Rildax sighed, folding his arms. "I'm good at that." Cloud dashed through the clear water and towards his sister, his face suddenly lit up with happiness. He literally dived at Ayla, his arms around her. "I thought you were dead..." He mumbled. "Told ya," Rildax mouthed.
Reno's eyes widened briefly as he listened to Herutsu. "Well... I didn't expect her to go evil..." he sighed. "But I kinda expected her to go after Axel..."
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Post by Masina on Oct 9, 2009 17:15:27 GMT -5
Ayla smiled at Cloud and hugged him back. "I've missed you." She said sadly. Though she smiled, her voice was sad. She smiled at Rildax slightly. "Thank you." She mouthed back to him.
"Well, I think thats why." Herustu shrugged. "She didn't turn evil. But once you love some one you can't stop loving them, even if they have changed as much as Axel has." He smiled slightly. "Skarlia never turned evil, she turned to Axel."
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 10, 2009 5:07:12 GMT -5
"I suppose that's true," Reno nodded. He vacantly stared out of the window, the moonlight catching his blue eyes and making them gleam slightly. "Could you tell me when Kara wakes up?" He asked, looking back at Herutsu. "I mean, if you're not going back in there, then it doesn't matter..."
Rildax smiled and leant against one of the palm trees as Khali walked over, exchanging a pleased expression with Rildax. "So how's life?" Cloud asked almost casually. "I never realised that the night was so amazing until I didn't see it for so long. But anyway, what've you been doing?"
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Post by Masina on Oct 10, 2009 5:20:57 GMT -5
Ayla stepped backward from her brother, smiling kindly at him. She folded her arms, something she always did, it didn't mean she was mad or insecure, just that she was rebuilding the wall around herself. "Nothing really. Me and Herutsu kind of have our hands full. It's a long story what I've been doing. Me and Herutsu help people who have the cancer or survived the fires but were trapped in the cities. I spent some time with the resistance before that. You?" She shrugged. "I'm glad you are okay Cloud." She smiled again. She pulled her mobile from her sash that was tied tightly around her waist. She checked the time and shifted her weight to her other foot as she placed it back in the sash. She glanced at Khali. "Hey there." She smiled tp her.
"I have to go back in there Reno. I came to check on you." Herutsu walked toward the door. "I'll call you when she wakes up. I have to go help Elle anyway. Then I am going to wake Ayla up in a few hours actually. Haha, she is going to hate me." He smiled to Reno, walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 10, 2009 15:39:41 GMT -5
Reno sighed softly to himself. Good... he thought. I hope she's ok. I hope they're all ok.
Khali smiled back at Ayla in response to her greeting. "Oh, the usual..." Cloud suddenly took on sarcasm, something that he never usually did. "Stuck in a cell for a year, six months of which I was chained up... last two days I met up with Kara who helped me escape. Then Texaelle helped me out for the first time ever but we ran into trouble. I ended up in the desert." He motioned to Khali. "Lioness girl over there found me, thankfully." He smiled. "So not very exciting to be honest."
"What is it?" Axel asked. Skarlia glanced at him. She lay on the bed with her hands behind her head. She had been staring at the ceiling and a saddened expression had unconciously taken over her face. Now though her attention fell on Axel. "I'm just thinking..." She replied. When she didn't continue, Axel asked the question Skarlia knew was coming. "What about?" "Why did you do all those things?" The immediate answer was a surprise to Axel and even Skarlia herself. Axel hesitated before replying. "I saw something new," he said. "Like what I showed you. I had dreams, for the first time, I was dreaming. Those dreams told me about the new path. At first I was reluctant, but soon I saw sense." Skarlia nearly shuddered at what she'd seen in that dark room. "You don't approve, Skarlia. Why?" "They were my friends!" She was suddenly sat up, staring at Axel. "Our friends! Do you really think I'm pleased that you destroyed all I had?" Axel looked Skarlia straight in the eye and she lowered her gaze. "You realise I had no choice. They weren't going to accept what I was doing, were they? Some of them tried to fight me, some still do. There are still some alive, right?" Skarlia glanced at Axel again. "What about Evalaine? Enzeru?" The list would have continued but Axel stopped her. "Many reasons," he said. "Some were lost to Cobalt Cancer and I have no control over that. Enzeru came to me, begged me not to harm the others. Not to harm you." Skarlia's eyes widened. "He did that?" Axel nodded. "He told me to take him instead," he continued. "And we could have the DNA that would help us proceed. We took it... but I admit we went too far." Axel paused. "The DNA we needed was in his wings. We needed a lot of the DNA for it to work. So we had to take all of it." Axel sighed. "We took both of his wings." Skarlia glared at Axel. "They were everything to him." She growled, her voice shaking. "No," Axel said. "You were his life. You and Cloud and his friends. He gave up his wings for you." Skarlia hesitated. "Then what happened?" "He wouldn't come out of his wolf form," Axel explained. "We left him in a cell until he awoke. When he did, he leapt at the bars, yowling and barking. He was imprisoned in his wolf form and had lost his mind." Skarlia said nothing. She was too awestruck by the mention of her best friend. Axel stood up and approached the door. "Be back in a moment." Skarlia didn't look up. Axel's expression fell and he left the room silently. As he did, Skarlia threw herself into the bed, her face buried into the pillow and silent tears began to fall at the thought of her friend, her guardian. Gone.
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Post by Masina on Oct 10, 2009 16:54:28 GMT -5
"Sounds thrilling." Ayla raised her eyebrow. "She glanced at her phone again. "Urgh." She moaned before smiling slightly. "Herutsu thinks I'm asleep, or at least in my room, reading or writing music." She smirked. "Though he knows me well enough to know I probably won't be there." She laughed. Her laugh was pretty empty, but still just as musical as it had been three years ago. "I've missed you big brother." She laughed.
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 10, 2009 19:02:18 GMT -5
"I've missed you too, little sister," he grinned. There was a faint sound of footsteps and Texaelle appeared, her skirt swaying slightly. "Oh... hello, Ayla." She smiled warmly. Rildax knew that if Texaelle didn't try her best to keep up a positive attitude she would be begging for forgiveness again. "It's nice to see you again." "How's things been running?" Rildax asked. Texaelle glanced at him. "One of the scouts brought nine more survivors in. One had Cobalt Cancer." "Did it spread?" "Once again, we sent the infected to the infirmary. He made a full recovery." Rildax shook his head, still unable to believe that no one in the city walls had died of the cancer and yet it had claimed so many lives. They weren't doing anything special in the infirmary. How did they all survive? "Alright, thanks." Rildax replied. "Oh, can I steal you for one moment?" Texaelle smiled, exchanging a glance with Khali, who grinned broadly. "Erm, sure." Rildax replied unsurely as he saw Khali grinning too. He looked over at Ayla with a 'help' expression.
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Post by Masina on Oct 10, 2009 19:08:49 GMT -5
Ayla smiled at Cloud. She looked at Texaelle and smiled at her kindly. "Hey." She said, oddly chirpy considering how late it was. "That's pretty remarkable, I mean, depending where we sent them, some people we took in survived the cancer, but I don't understand how, when it was taken so many lives." She sighed as she thought of Evalaine. "Elle had the cancer." She told Rildax quietly. She smiled slightly at Rildax and walked over to him. She took his hand and just said. "Don't worry, I'm sure they won't eat you." She said sarcastically.
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 10, 2009 19:34:46 GMT -5
Rildax grinned. "I guess not," he said. "That's one worry out of my mind." He began to walk behind Texaelle, who led the way into the city. Khali wandered along behind with Cloud close by. They arrived at the main building at the heart of the city where meeting were held. Khali suddenly ran up behind Rildax, her hands over his eyes. "Ok, you gotta close your eyes now!" She laughed slightly as Rildax held his hands out in front of him, aimlesly trying to find where he was going. They continued up the steps until they came to a door, which Texaelle opened and Khali led Rildax inside. "Ok, you can look!" She told him, taking her hands away from his eyes. Rildax's mouth fell open. The room was large, furnished well and with various guitars, accoustic and electric, lining the walls. In the back left corner was a large sitar, a black one with flames on. In the other corner was a drum kit, but dominating the room was a huge black grand piano. "W-Wh-How-?" Rildax stuttered. Suddenly he was wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "Ugh... got something in my eye..." Texaelle walked to his side. "We knew you loved that piano..." she said. "And it got destroyed in one of the fires. And you've helped so many of us, we wanted to repay you. So we got together and refurbished one of the unused rooms." "Hope you like it!" Khali chipped in. "I helped with the finishing touches, but most of it was Texaelle." "Thank you. So much." Rildax smiled. "No problem," Texaelle replied. "We'll leave you to play about with the stuff. There's some other stuff in the store cupboard over there and some notation sheet things..." "Stoves?" Khali tried to remember the name Rildax had used. "Stave." Rildax smiled at the name Khali had become used to calling it. "That's it!" Khali laughed at her mistake. She and Texaelle left the room. "I'll see you in a bit," Cloud nodded to them and followed Texaelle and Khali. Rildax span round to look at Ayla. "Piano time!" He suddenly dashed towards the piano and slid across the seat.
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Post by Masina on Oct 10, 2009 19:41:55 GMT -5
Ayla smiled. She watched Texaelle and Khali leave and waved to Cloud slightly as he left. she walked up behind Rildax and smiled at him. "Those two went to a lot of trouble." She said, her voice both amazed and amused. "It must have taken a long time." She smiled at though of Texaelle trying to find all these instruments. "Never let Demyx see that sitar, you'll never see it again." She laughed. Putting her hand on his shoulder.
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 11, 2009 16:15:30 GMT -5
Rildax laughed broadly. "Yeah, I'll hide it if he comes," he smiled at Ayla. "I'm better at piano than guitar, and better at guitar than sitar. The difference... you'd be surprised how different it is." He positioned his right hand over a few notes, his fingers stroking the black keys in thought. "I wonder if I've still got it..." he thought aloud. He began to play a simple tune with just his right hand, but as soon as he finished he was opening and closing his hand rapidly. "Damn these cramps!" He cursed under his breath. "It makes it worse that I'm left-handed. All my work goes into my right hand most of the time." He smiled briefly. "Nightmare."
Before she realised it, Skarlia was taken in by sleep. She hadn't realised just how tired she was until her head had hit the pillow. And once again darkness engulfed her as she was attacked by a nightmare. She stood in the darkness with BloodFang in hand. Her eyes darted about swiftly, trying to find an enemy or a memory or an approaching scenario. But nothing came. Not for some time. Skarlia was almost ready to let down her guard when suddenly Assassin Nobodies were appearing from the darkness, followed by Dusks. Skarlia weilded BloodFang with pride in her weapon, slicing at the Nobodies as they approached. But for every one she destroyed, it seemed two more would take its place, far more powerful than the last. Skarlia was encircled, trapped within a wall of Nobodies, all longing to rip her apart... "I've got your back." The voice came fast and promising, right behind Skarlia. They were literally back-to-back, both staring out at the Nobodies. Skarlia said nothing. She could think of nothing to say. At least now, in her dreams, he was here to fight back the darkness, fight away the nightmares that plagued her. The two leapt at the Nobodies, and with the two of them working together they were soon fighting them all back. And then they were all gone. A rip appeared in the darkness, straight along it like a torn veil. It vanished to reveal a white area, misty up to Skarlia's ankles and high above the sort of early-morning mist that lets only a gentle amount of sunlight through. Skarlia placed BloodFang in its sheath and turned to face her saviour. "Thank you," she said simply, unable to comprehend how she was feeling. Was it happiness that she could see him again? Or grief that she knew that she would never see him again outside of her dreams? "It's what I'm here for," he replied. "Remember, my name means Angel, Guardian. Names are always given for a reason." Skarlia caught her guardian angel in the eye. "I miss you so much." "You needn't," the Angel Wolf replied. "We were, we are too close to separate. The grave will not separate our bond. Skarlia, I will always be by your side." Skarlia's gaze lowered. "Do you disapprove of my choices?" She asked. "I will support you through everything," he smiled slightly. "No matter what it means to me, I will always stand beside you." Skarlia felt a tear run down her cheek and her guardian wiped it away. "Don't cry," he said softly. "Trust yourself, my friend. Everything will change." Skarlia nodded. She smiled up at her guardian, realising the truth behind his words. "Thank you, for everything. I will keep on going, keep on fighting. I'll do it for you, Enzeru."
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Post by Masina on Oct 11, 2009 16:37:25 GMT -5
Ayla smiled at Rildax. "Love, I still play guitar, I think I know the difference between playing them." She smirked, pulling up a chair so she could sit beside him. She looked at the keys off the piano. She couldn't help but smile when she thought back to the music lessons she had taken for piano and guitar when she was a kid. "I don't think I'd still be able to play the piano. I haven't tried since I was little." She looked at Rildax. "The guitar I have was a birthday present." She explained. "So I could carry on playing. My voice is just something I tend not to share." She laughed. After countless years of singing to herself, Rildax and Eve were still the only two people that had heard her sing.
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 11, 2009 16:49:35 GMT -5
"I'd love to play the piano to you singing," Rildax said. "But I won't force you to sing. That's your choice." He played with the notes, playing another tune from a distant memory. "What time is it?" He asked after giving up trying to look at his watch as he played.
"You ok?" Axel appeared again, opening the door softly to see Skarlia sat up on the bed. She nodded in response. "Are you?" "I'm fine," Axel replied. "Oh I need you to write your name on a name plate later. I keep a record of all who have been in the Organisation, when they joined, for how long and so on. I have horrific handwriting, so if you could write it on I'll chip into the plaque later." Skarlia nodded. "Ok." But there was more to just signing her name. This was Axel's way of getting into Skarlia's mind. Skarlia had gone by many names, but now... what name did she go by? Was she a Strife? Did she follow how her mother used to be and hide her identity with the alias Hart? Or... was it going to be Eito? Since Skarlia wouldn't just open up, it seemed Axel would have to find other ways to find out more about how Skarlia felt...
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Post by Masina on Oct 11, 2009 16:56:49 GMT -5
"I'll think about it." She said sarcastically. "I don't think I've ever sang with a piano, only guitar." She looked puzzled as Rildax asked her what time it was, but then realised it would be awkward to check you watch and play the piano at the same time. She pulled her phone out again. It was a slide up mobile and only had two numbers on it. Herutsu and Elle. Herutsu had given it to her, after she dropped her old one in a river. Long story. "Half past one in the morning." She said before putting it away again. "Why?" She asked, watching his hands as he played.
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Post by Skarlia Kara Strife on Oct 11, 2009 17:15:11 GMT -5
"Well..." Rildax said as he finished the piece and span around on the chair to face Ayla. "It's now your birthday. Happy birthday." He drew a neatly wrapped present from his pocket, not too big or small. Inside it was a necklace with an almost teardrop-shaped pendant on, crimson red in colour. With it was a bracelet with circular joins all containing the same coloured jewels.
"Will you open the door all ready?" Karxitarr urged. "Come on, Lexu, hurry up!" There was no response. "I know you're in there! Open up!" There was a heavy sigh from inside the room. "You won't drop this will you?" Lexu replied and there came the sound of footsteps from within his room. Grudgingly he unlocked the door and opened it, letting Karxitarr in. The room was darker than most of the other Organisation XIII members' rooms. The walls were black and the single window was bordered by blood-red curtains. The flooring was a slightly darker red. Anyone who entered this room would cry 'emo' if they didn't know Lexu properly. Karxitarr watched Lexu lie down on his back on his red and black striped bed. He continued to read a book he had been reading. Karxitarr got the feeling that Lexu was going to make a large effort to block him out. "So are you going to explain why you're so moody lately?" Karxitarr asked. Lexu didn't look at him and continued reading. "I don't plan to." "Please, Lexu. Unlike a lot of this Organisation, I actually like to help everyone out..." "Ok fine," Lexu finally looked at Karxitarr. "The truth is I don't know. I've always felt like the outcast here. My dreams keep getting more vivid. I feel like there's something coming. I've always had next to no memories, and now I feel as though some time soon they're all going to flood back to me." Karxitarr was silent for a few moments. "I could never know how you feel, and not many others could. But please come out of your shell. You came to the Organisation, Axel trained you a lot, you felt like an outcast and that made you grow further away from us." Lexu sighed. "Please, I'll talk more when I'm ready." Karxitarr shook his head. "Lexu, why do you have to be so stubborn?" He walked back through the doorway and closed the door behind him. Lexu looked at the door expectantly. He had expected to be interrogated more by Karxitarr, because that's all Karxitarr ever did to pass the time: find out more about everyone. He and Karxitarr were around the same age, so anyone would think they'd be friends. But Lexu didn't feel like Karxitarr was the right person to trust. No, he was still waiting for those he could truly trust.
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