⊕ 03 [action]

[erodingearth]

[This takes place on Friday, the last day of the experiment.

Terra's been feeling a strong desire to train today. Pullups and pushups in the clearing, combat training in the battle dome... He's got stamina to spare, but there's no doubt he's pushing himself; usually he has the sense to stop once in awhile.

He can be seen in the forest near house 39 exercising in the morning or over in the battle dome past noon. ...Or maybe even passed out on the grass on his way back to the house, towards midnight.]

Comments

[erodingearth]

Yeah. It's definitely an advantage, and he knows it. Probably why he hasn't backed off from fighting people.

[He sighs, tilting his head further towards the stars before looking back at Roxas.] He was causing trouble back home, disrupting the balance, and I got it into my head that I could handle the problem by myself.

[perplexme]

He just hasn't met his match yet. But he will soon enough.

There's one in every world, isn't there? [A heavy sigh.] You're kind of stubborn.

[erodingearth]

Only kind of stubborn? [He's heard it enough times from Aqua over the years to at least acknowledge it.] We didn't really know what we were dealing with. Our original task was looking for the source of the disruption. Finding out more about it.

[perplexme]

More than kinda, but I didn't want to judge it. [He grins a little. Sorry, Terra, but Roxas still has this weird sense of admiration going on.] Reconnaissance, basically. We did that a lot, too.

[erodingearth]

[He sees that grin. It's good to see Roxas not look so serious.] Sounds like you were kept pretty busy.

[perplexme]

I guess you could say that. There was a lot of work to do when I stayed with the Organization.

[erodingearth]

The Organization? [He's so very, very behind on the times.]

[perplexme]

Yeah...Organization XIII. They're...pretty far into your future. [A pause.] You know what Nobodies are, right?

[erodingearth]

Nobodies? I don't think so. Sounds like I've got a lot to catch up on.

[perplexme]

...I mean, I can tell you if you want. You might be easier to explain this stuff to since you know what Unversed are and what the darkness can do to worlds like ours.

[erodingearth]

I'd appreciate it. I'm ... guessing they have something to do with the darkness, too?

[perplexme]

Got it in one. [Okay, Roxas is going to flop on the ground. Hi Terra. Story time.] The Heartless are creatures made from the darkness in people's hearts, basically. If a person's heart is consumed by the darkness, a Heartless is born from that. Once the Heartless is born, something needs to become of the remains. That's the Nobody. Understand?

[erodingearth]

[Terra's not gonna say no to some company. Especially in his current state.] Consumed by the darkness... [It was a very real fear, wasn't it? Maybe Master Eraqus had known about it happening.]

So when a person is consumed by the darkness, they ... split into two different pieces?

[perplexme]

Yeah, consumed by the darkness. [He makes a face at that, if only because it's such a complicated situation.]

Something like that. Sometimes there are three pieces, too, if a person is strong enough to return to their original form.

[erodingearth]

Strong enough to-- So there's special cases of being consumed by darkness? [A normal person, a Nobody, and a Heartless? All at the same time?]

[perplexme]

Yeah, there are. [A beat.] Actually, you know a couple of cases.

[erodingearth]

[...He's going to go to the natural conclusion.]

Does this have to do with why all of you look alike? [The "all of you" should be obvious -- the "quadruplets."]

[perplexme]

[Nodnodnod. Good job, Terra.] Well. I can't really say for Ventus and Vanitas but I'm guessing it's the same thing based off of what Ven's told me and what Vanitas has said.

[erodingearth]

[It still didn't explain everything, but... Well, it was better than seeing the resemblances and not understanding the reason at all.]

And these different parts function separately? Shouldn't they somehow be drawn to each other? [Maybe in an ideal world where the heart could seek out the head.]

[perplexme]

I'm not sure how it works for those two, but...with Sora and I? We're connected. I can see all of his memories and he gets a few glimpses of mine. Or did. It hasn't happened since we've been here. But beyond that, Sora and I were able to function separately for a long time, almost a year. [But that's leaving out everything that happened during his year with the Organization including the flood of memories and the comas and the killing of his best friend who was an imperfect replica, but, you know, details.]

Back home though I had to merge with Sora so that he could continue fighting the darkness. He was only at about half his strength without me there.

[erodingearth]

So even though he returned to his normal form, Sora was still weakened because he made a Heartless and a Nobody. I think I get it. [Maybe he should ask Ven if he felt connected to Vanitas.] ...Is that the same case here, in Luceti?

[perplexme]

Sorta...Sora's still pretty powerful even without me being merged here. We both are. It's sort of strange, especially when there was a time that not only were Sora and I separated, but his Heartless was around as well. I think if everyone merged with Sora again he'd be at a much higher strength, yeah, but he's got enough skill and experience to make up for it.

I guess I do, too.

[erodingearth]

If Sora's as strong as you say, and you're his Nobody, there shouldn't be any guessing about it. [But wait, that's not what Roxas was getting at.] When you were ... created, you didn't have any of Sora's skills?

[perplexme]

I had to learn them just like he did. The only thing I was born with was the ability to wield the Keyblade, but I didn't understand why at first.

Xion was able to use it, too.

[erodingearth]

[... ...So was that the same as Vanitas? Then how had he picked up all of his skills?

He's so wrapped up in that disconcerting thought that he almost misses what Roxas is saying.] Xion too?