phoenixstrut (
phoenixstrut) wrote in
genessia2019-03-11 05:20 pm
Entry tags:
In like a Lion (March Catch-All + Nightmares)
Who: Dove, you, and her oh so lovely past
What: Nightmares and anything else ever
When: Nightmares March 11-18, everything else whenever in March
Content Warnings: More likely than not, musings on emotional/physical abuse later on
The air might still carry an icy chill, but it’s not nearly enough to keep the archangel from the beaches of Fayren, especially as the day tips toward night. It’s been a long day; catching up with her FAMA obligations was no joke, and she had spent the majority of the last two weeks in front of a camera, spouting lines and striking poses or completely alone, tending to her own needs as she continued to recover from the year’s Ascension. Her powers had finally returned, as had the Light in her eyes, but still… she was quiet more often than not, even when surrounded by friends.
For now, however, she simply made her way along the water, waiting for someone to join her or perhaps just enjoying the sound of her Great Friend crashing onto the shore near her feet. Either way, she’s certainly paying no mind to the figures off in the distance, even as her mind wanders…
Otherwise, she might also be found finally relaxing near the window in her favorite Fayren cafe/tavern, a warm drink between her hands to warm her fingers.
((Ooc: Feel free to be the friend she’s waiting for or just happen to bump into her! The spooky things won’t like her having company.))
——
What: Nightmares and anything else ever
When: Nightmares March 11-18, everything else whenever in March
Content Warnings: More likely than not, musings on emotional/physical abuse later on
The air might still carry an icy chill, but it’s not nearly enough to keep the archangel from the beaches of Fayren, especially as the day tips toward night. It’s been a long day; catching up with her FAMA obligations was no joke, and she had spent the majority of the last two weeks in front of a camera, spouting lines and striking poses or completely alone, tending to her own needs as she continued to recover from the year’s Ascension. Her powers had finally returned, as had the Light in her eyes, but still… she was quiet more often than not, even when surrounded by friends.
For now, however, she simply made her way along the water, waiting for someone to join her or perhaps just enjoying the sound of her Great Friend crashing onto the shore near her feet. Either way, she’s certainly paying no mind to the figures off in the distance, even as her mind wanders…
Otherwise, she might also be found finally relaxing near the window in her favorite Fayren cafe/tavern, a warm drink between her hands to warm her fingers.
((Ooc: Feel free to be the friend she’s waiting for or just happen to bump into her! The spooky things won’t like her having company.))
——

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So far, Li was in a relatively good mood and once she got close enough, she shifted into her human form just simply not caring that she was nude on the beach with Dove. Someone.. really should teach her about clothes and nudity some day.
"Hey... Haven't seen you on the beach in awhile."
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Two seconds later, the angel slapped a hand to her face, averting her eyes... but laughing all the same. "I'm sure Someone in Fayren makes magic bikinis, you know," she sighed dramatically, shaking her head. As for her observation...
"The ocean and I got a little... too aquatinted a few weeks ago," she shrugged, glancing over at the water. "We just needed our space. How have you been? I saw your little dance on the network the other day~"
It was so good to see Li happy.
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"Oh yeah? Not sure how that works... and yeah. I was in a good mood. I even found a decent dancing partner." She smirked a little. It was good to finally be happy again.
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She would, however, keep her eyes pointedly averted and offer her jacket anyway.
She gave a half laugh and ran a hand through her hair. "Long story. Long story short, there's a lot of power in that water and it expected me to pay tribute for the year." Yeah... that... sort of summed it up.
Nevermind that, though. Her eyes brighten, and she tips her head. "Oh, did you?"
Spill it, sis. She wants details.
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"Huh.. the waters and I just flow together. I never noticed anything 'powerful' about it." Then again, Li was pretty much part of the waters she hunted in so.. Who knew.
However, she was just grinning when Dove asked about her dancing partner. "Yeah, I did. I guess he's a shifter of some kind. I met him awhile ago and we keep running into each other."
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So now it's time to gather information and see whether chaos has spread, and how much. Ted has an odd way of "flying" around; it's one part jet boots, one part portals, all parts strange.
One of his stops is the beach. And who should he find but one he hasn't spoken to in a while? If only he'd remembered to change into his civilian clothes. Perhaps she'll remember the one time she saw him so dressed. He touched down, causing a mild eruption of sand.]
Ah! Good evening, Dove. Er, has it been good? Noticed any aggressive illusions or horrible dopplegangers?
[Straight to the point for once.]
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...Ted?
[That's certainly a face she hasn't seen in a while, and her own lights up, despite the odd (for him) attire.]
It's been alright, [she responds with an easy smile.] So far so good, I think, if you're talking about the monsters from that broadcast... [A pause. She had thought it was just an isolated event, but that's fairly specific.] Are... people really running into dopplegangers?
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She shrugged. "I guess it is probably easier when it's an extension of yourself... I'm just still trying to get used to it."
"That," she laughed, reaching over to playfully jab the other woman's arm "...is something that definitely warrants a phone call! Especially with a look like that on your face!" Her own love life might be a complicated train wreck, but she adored seeing other people happy.
In fact, she was so excited about the development that she didn't notice the figures down the beach slowly approaching. Probably just other Fayrenites enjoying the beach... in early, chilly spring.
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[A small part of him didn't quite like the easy association, but there are bigger things to worry about. Or so he thought. His head turned hither and thither, on the lookout for something menacing.]
"People"? Well, perhaps just myself. Nothing peculiar, then? Nothing whatsoever?
Nightmares, perhaps for both of them?
And if he was being completely honest with himself, one he might never get a chance to fulfill. Defeating Master Xehanort and his new Organization was far from a sure thing, and even if they did fight and win, who said that wouldn't just play into his hands anyway? Xehanort seemed to have backup plans on top of backup plans...
He was somewhat relieved though when he spotted Dove a ways down the beach, heading in his general direction. He quickened his pace a bit to intercept her, for the moment unaware of the shadows gathering behind him...
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That's all that mattered, right? She's still a little clueless about this whole 'dating' thing humans do or even how humans court. She knew how her kind did it and well, yeah.. some of that fit what they usually did but, not all of it.
As for the figures further down the beach, she paused for a moment to glance at them before dismissing them. She couldn't make out who they were yet so they may as well just be some random people, right?
Yes!
"Hey," was her greeting as she made more purposeful steps down the beach, lifting her hand in a wave. "I didn't expect to run into you here."
She does cast a curious gaze around him at the seemingly gathering shadows, but... is that just that portal trick he does? Either way, she doesn't seem too alarmed... yet.
The figures seemingly following her have also disappeared.
Maybe she'll finally talk to him :D
Charlie's got family things tonight. He's alone, since Derek disappeared, too. Which means he's free to head down to the beach himself. Who knows, maybe Dove will even talk to him.
Shrugging to himself, he walks along the shoreline, continuously mentally scanning for Charlie and her family in the net traffic. Anyone who sees him will only think he's a little distracted.
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Behind him, though the gathering shadows took form and solidified into a powerfully built man in a black coat, with gold eyes and silver hair. And when he spoke, his deep voice made Lea briefly freeze. "You would do well to be less concerned about your 'friends', and more about yourself," he said, his tone rather flat, though the lack of emotion only added menace to it.
Lea turned to face him, saying one word, a name. "Xemnas..."
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The man appearing behind him had her trailing off, though, and instantly she knew something was off. She couldn't feel him, but she certainly felt the spike in Lea's emotions even before his expression changed.
She tensed, standing her ground for now and watching them both with hawk-ready eyes and silently calling on her power... just in case.
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"That would imply that I was actually loyal to you to begin with," Lea said. He was aware of Dove behind him, of how she tensed, seemingly ready to fight. A fight he wasn't honestly sure they could win. It was possible that this Xemnas wasn't the real one, but if he was, they could be in trouble.
"Perhaps," Xemnas said. "But your allegiance does not change your actions under my command. You play at being a Guardian of Light, but do your friends here know how close you walked to darkness?"
"I haven't lied to them," Lea said, still defiant, but it was clear that Xemnas' words had struck a nerve. He summoned his Keyblade, which appeared in his hand in a flash of light. "So why don't you clear off before I have to show you just how mush of a Guardian I am?"
Xemnas looked unimpressed though. "Is that supposed to be a Keyblade?", he asked. "Or is this some sort of joke? It would be a waste of time to defeat you in the battle to come; it's clear that you are simply an 'also ran'. So I shall break you here and now." Xemnas summoned a weapon too, a solid beam of red energy held in one hand, roughly a meter long; one half of Interdiction. "Have you any final words for your Superior?"
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Her eyes glowed a dangerous golden hue as she studied the man, carefully listening to the exchange. "Sounds to me like his allegiance had everything to do with his decisions under your command," she leveled smoothly, voice tipping with a warning edge when she picked up on that nerve it had struck in Lea. "And you're just bitter that allegiance wasn't to you."
Battle to come? She held her ground until Lea summoned his keyblade and the man his own weapon. When it appeared they might be getting the fight she expected, she held out a hand, flame licking her fingers and snaking up her arm. If Lea didn't have any 'final words', she certainly had a few for the creep threatening one of her closest friends...
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Almost giddy, she cocked her head. "There is no season for that sort of thing. Love is eternal and has no boundaries," she cooed, purposefully making the words far too sweet to stomach.
Fortunately, someone would arrive shortly to put a stop to it, if the strange smoky darkness and silky voice behind the angel was any sign.
"No boundaries, sweetheart? I thought boundaries had become your 'thing' these days..."
...it would seem the man suddenly behind Dove had very little respect for boundaries of any kind as he slowly twined his arms around her waist and pulled her close to purr into her ear.
Dove only tensed, all senses wiped clean from her mind, every nerve alight, but frozen. She didn't dare move.
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The fact that this statement disturbed Lea only served to indicate that there was indeed something to it. But Lea didn't respond outwardly to that. Instead he responded to Xemnas' request for 'final words'. "How about this?", he said. "You were never my superior."
And with that Lea lept forward, striking out with his Keyblade. A strike that Xemnas easily parried with his ethereal blade, striking back at Lea and forcing him to dodge. Of course with his attention focused on Lea, Dove might have an opportunity to get a hit in before he was ready for it.
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That was just how her kind worked and before she could say anything else. something dark and smoky had her on edge as a male suddenly appeared behind her friend and put his arms around her. Li didn't have much of a concept of boundaries either but, even she could tell that was unwanted.
"Hey asshat, back the fuck off and let her go before I eat you." Already Li was taking a more aggressive stance and more than ready to shift her form to be more threatening if she needed to be.
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She grinned at his defiance, holding back until he had taken his first shot, then lashed out with flame, herself.
Aaaaaand a month later, I'm tagging again.
While she has been wrapped up in... things... she has wondered about her 'adopted little brother', and the smile on her face is genuine as she heads for him. "Hey... Long time, no see."
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[To anyone else, the ocean probably just looks like... the ocean. In Dove's case, she's only glad it's stopped tugging so harshly at her Light for attention.]
Have you been hunting them down alone? [Oh dear, the look of a mother hen and Guardian angel. She knows he's fully capable of taking care of himself, and yet...]
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The man only chuckled, dipping to run his nose along the angel's shoulder and up the crook of her neck, just as he had always done to make her knees weak. She only kept her eyes shut, looking as though she might be sick at any moment.
Piercing eyes flicked to the Kelpie, his breath hot against Dove's neck, canines just long enough to see. "Eat me? Promise or threat, babe?" To Dove, he added, "Your friend's cute... I'd like her better blonde, but she'd do if you'd ever let me cash in on that threeso-"
Her wings snapped out as she finally came around, eyes viciously bright with golden power and skin crawling with glowing gold patterns. Demon. She turned as he stumbled back, falling back to take up a place beside Li instead. "Don't eat him," she told her flatly, if a bit shaky. "He'll only make you sick."
The man only laughed again as he righted himself, leveling his eyes on her. "Sweetheart, surely you remember how this plays out..." he crooned, fading once more into a void of shimmering darkness....through which three massive hellhounds launched for the two on the beach.
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However, once Dove did her thing and was beside Li, she relaxed a little and trained her complete focus on him. "Oh I don't know, I've never tasted Demon before. Maybe he'll taste like brimstone or something." Which would make her sick but, she'd deal with it.
As for the hellhounds, Li was shifting into her mare form and turning to quickly lash out with a kick from her back legs, her strength enough to break rocks and uproot trees if the attacks land on the hellish beasts.
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[It would be nice to be the only one, with this and any other troubles. Would Genessia so particular.]
Not yet; alas, I was the hunted myself for a time. You're positive, then? Your senses aren't assailed by aught unusual?
[He smiled]
Of course not. No one's ever quite alone with the Omnipresence around, eh?
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Taking advantage of the distraction, Lea leaped forward, lashing out with his Keyblade again, aiming several quick strikes at Xemnas, but the fire attack hadn't weakened Xemnas as much as Lea had thought and each strike was neatly parried, followed by Xemnas striking back, striking at Lea with both his blades. The strikes weren't so quick as Lea's, but judging by the difficulty he had in blocking them and how much he was pushed back, they hit significantly harder.
Still, Xemnas seemed to be focusing his attacks on Lea for the moment. If Dove could get a hit in during that time, they might just be able to put Xemnas on the defensive for once.
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She beamed at Lea's cleverness and the successful attack, bracing herself in the sand a safe distance away as she surveyed the battle at hand. With no physical weapon of her own to wield, she'd have to be careful with her power. She'd never be able to forgive herself if she were to catch Lea on accident.
Steadying herself and her Light, she tugged at the ocean's power, drawing a stream around her before launching it toward the white haired man with a shout. "Lea, fall back!"
Her trainer would kill her for it, but... With a sweep of wings, she follows the blast of water, just to be sure it stays on track, and readies herself to fight hand to hand if she has to.
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The leap took him well clear of the stream of water, and he was glad it did, because that much magically charged water would hurt. Xemnas wasn't quite so vulnerable to it as Lea, but he also didn't seem prepared for it, and was knocked back not just by the force of the magic, but by the impact of the water itself, momentarily dazed.
"Nice one!", he called to Dove, circling around to try to get behind Xemnas. He was powerful, but Lea and Dove were both more agile. If Dove could keep him busy long enough for Lea to attack him from behind, they might just have a real shot at this...
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And if that wasn't enough, the wave rallying behind her and slowly crackling with ice should have been plenty of a distraction.
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"Dove!", he called. "Hit him together!" And by way of demonstrating his meaning, he dismissed his Keyblade and began gathering a massive fireball. With a glance to Dove to be sure she was ready, he hurled his fireball at Xemnas, trusting that she would do the same with her icy wave.
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He smirked slightly at his two attackers. "Well played...", he said before fading completely.
Breathing heavily, Lea walked over to the spot where Xemnas had vanished, poking the still steaming sand with the toe of his boot. "Guess that did it," he said with a sigh. "Though I know one thing for sure now; that wasn't Xenmas. The real Xemnas wouldn't have gone down that easily."
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She frowned at his 'compliment', but relaxed slightly as Lea began to move toward the spot where the man had been and willed the ice out of her veins. It had been a rush, that was for sure; even the ocean hadn't quite calmed as it had been before the man had gotten them so riled up.
She approached carefully and stepped up to Lea's side, reaching out to brace a hand on his back as she, too, studied the sand. "You okay?"
Of course, she had a million questions, all of them starting with 'Who's Xemnas', but that could wait. She wasn't sure if it was the ocean that was still unsettled or him she was reading...
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He nodded at Dove's question with a bit of a sigh. "Yeah," he said. "Kinda mentally kicking myself for coming out here though. I mean, I came to check on you, but then I ended up being the one that attracted trouble. A+ move there, Lea."
"How about you?", he asked. "You alright? That might not have been the real Xemnas, but it still packed a punch."
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She blinked, looking up at him, then locked that little bit of information away to mull over more thoroughly. "Came to check on me?"
"Yeah, I'm alright... Glad you weren't alone, though..." Not because she thought he couldn't handle a fight, but because the memories that seemed to be plaguing people as of late hadn't been kind. "Who was he?"
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He shrugged slightly, pretending casualness. He was sure that there were few things that Dove really needed protecting from, but that didn't make him want to protect her any less. It was the same with a lot of his friends, really. Saying that out loud might come off as weird though, so he held his tongue.
He frowned slightly at her question though. "The Organization's Number I, Xemnas. The Superior of the In Between. AKA, my former boss," he said. "Or a reasonable facsimile of him, in this case."
"And there was good reason he was the Organization's leader," Lea said. "It wasn't just because he was the first among it's founding members. All of us in the Organization had powerful weapons and magic, but Xemnas? He was in a whole other league. Instead of fire or water, or even something like time or gravity, Xemnas' power was over the void. Over Nothingness. And since The World That Never Was and all the Nobodies in it were all effectively made of Nothingness? He could effectively bend the entire world to his will. No one dared to go against him."
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She listened intently as he described the man they had just taken out. "...Sounds like a real swell guy," she murmured, crossing her arms and looking around at the sand. "Can only imagine he was a real joy work for."
But... why had Lea been working for him? She wouldn't ask outright, but the dark thoughtfulness on her face lingered a moment too long. She had known Lea had once been 'heartless' but... beyond that... She really didn't have many details, did she?
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In the silence that followed he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Guess a bit of background might be in order, huh?", he said after a moment. "Though it might be a smart idea to talk about it on the way back to your place. Don't want to risk something else popping up at us if we stand around here too long."
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"And good idea...I really don't want my demons coming after us," she agreed, a little more subdued at the thought.
She straightened her clothing and headed back up the beach, toward the shacks along the road. "Hopefully after that little display of our talents, though, we'll be left alone." How common were these new occurrences, anyway?
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He nodded and her comment about their skills and began to follow her up the beach, quickly matching her pace to walk beside her. After a moment of silence in which he tried to figure out begin, he finally opted for just starting at the beginning. "I guess, when talking about how I ended up working for Xemnas, it has to start with a girl," he said. "And no, not like that. See, when my friend Isa and I were kids, we used to sneak into the castle a lot. Just for fun; seeing how long it took til we got caught, that sort of thing. Eventually though, we actually found something we weren't supposed to though; some kind of lab in the castle basement. And there was a girl about our age locked up there."
"I don't know her name," Lea said. "Mostly because she didn't either; she had amnesia or something and couldn't remember much of anything about her past. But she, Isa and I became friends anyway, and we started to have an actual reason to sneak back into the castle; we wanted to see her. Help her not be alone, you know?"
"Eventually, a lot of creepy things started happening around town, but especially in the lab, so Isa and I made up our minds; just being there to help her not be lonely wasn't enough; we had to get her out of there. But we were kids, not super-spies; we knew we couldn't do that while also sneaking around. So instead, we signed up to work at the castle as research apprentices, figuring that would give us a solid reason to be there, and access to stuff that might actually help. But when we got there on our first day of work... she was gone." He paused there, letting the ominous implications of that fact sink in, and also to give Dove a chance to speak or ask questions, if she wanted.