boxofsleep | (no subject)

As she returned, Axel gave her a nod, and reached out to give her a pat on the shoulder. Heck, she deserved it. "Very nice," he said, the grin still playing across his lips, entirely sincere. "I knew you could do it..." Perhaps not quite in the way she had, perhaps not as aggressively...

And that was the issue, here. There was something going on, here. A quiet little flower petal - hah, that said it all, didn't it? Innocent powers, vicious potential. Sliding on into Marluxia's seat...
...hopefully, none of these kids would cause those sort of problems. Once was enough. But there was definitely more here than met the eye...

"...Didn't think you were going to do it like that, though."

Xikkuyo smiled again as Axel patted her shoulder, wan and shy, and ducked her head in clear apology; if nothing else, she at least had the grace to look embarrassed. She had overstepped her bounds; that wasn't the point of this whole exercise at all, was it? He wouldn't have been showing her magic if he'd wanted her to fight physically..... She was just wasting his time, at that point.

Next time, she'd remember. She'd do better, and take the test the way he wanted her to. She should've asked more questions, but she hadn't been thinking. "I'm sorry..... I should have been using the spells, like you showed me."

Maybe, if they only had trained Marluxia properly, if they'd kept him reigned in and focused on what they wanted..... maybe he wouldn't have caused so much trouble, either. Perhaps Marluxia could have even been gentle and faithful, too, with the right attention paid to him..... Had Axel ever even paid any attention to the man, when he'd first been recruited?

He hadn't so much, that was true. Marluxia had seemed to be solid enough, worthy enough: not like these kids, not someone who'd need schooling. How could they have suspected such a thing could have been lurking in his mind?

No more. It wasn't going to happen again. They were going to do this right.

Axel shook his head softly at Xikkuyo's apology. Why was she acting all bashful? "Not a problem. I said show me what you can do." He laughed for a moment, throwing a hand in the air - "Man, did you do just that..."

Enough, now. His expression turned more serious.

"So where did you learn to do it?"

So he wasn't..... upset with her? It seemed like maybe it was some kind of big deal, after all, but--not a bad one. He was surprised, but happy? He was laughing..... She wasn't quite sure what to think of that, but he was right; he'd said to show him what she could do, not specifically to demonstrate the spells. But hadn't that been what he'd really meant? (Could Thunder even be used underground?)

She'd pulled back again, right back to her initial reserve and restraint in some effort to salvage the lesson from her apparent mistake, even in the face of Axel's mirth. The question had her faltering, though; had any of the others told the older Organization members about the TV world? Possibly..... but possibly not. Would they want her to? If anyone would believe them, then it seemed like the Organization members might, but.....

They weren't here to ask, and she didn't want to get anyone in trouble, just in case. Yukiko fingered her fan, thumb smoothing along one of the quills. "I--well..... my family owned--owns a traditional Inn where I'm from. So..... I would dance for our guests sometimes, to entertain them during dinner." It had looked a bit like a dance, hadn't it? Maybe one that was too aggressive and violent to be normally performed, but.....

Well, now. An explanation - but a partial explanation, he couldn't help but think. Still... it was her first day, after all. Not the time to press for the details. Flexibility and manoueverability, weapon control: it explained that, at least, how she was handling the things so well. Explained her overall demeanour, too.
All the same, Axel doubted many traditional inns tended to go in for violent war dances as their after dinner entertainment.

Everyone had their secrets, though. He knew that. He'd have to work on finding out what the story was, but - he wasn't going to push her right now. Not when it'd risk spoiling how well things were going.

So once more, Axel smiled, as the lights briefly flickered around them.
"Hey, if it taught you to do that, works for me. How about we keep looking around?"

Her own smile was wan and distracted, as Xikkuyo nodded her agreement and fell back into place at Axel's side. She kept an eye out for the Shadows as she followed him, but her mind was wandering regardless, circling back to the Inn she had mentioned--back to her family, her friends, their workers, the people who she had known and loved and lived with and worked alongside her entire life.

Were they okay? Was everyone alive? Was the Inn still standing? Had anyone else been..... changed, the way the five of them had been? She had always wanted to throw away that certain and suffocating destiny, to be saved and taken far away, to a place where she could make her own choices and live her own life however she pleased, to a place where nobody knew her name.....

It seemed her wish had been granted.

So why couldn't she be happy?

Happiness... something to be pretended at, now. Something to be approximated. But to be felt? No. That wasn't an option for them.

Concern, though - Axel could manage that, right now. He kept glancing over at Xikkuyo as the pair moved through the corridors. Definitely going to have to keep an eye on her, here... but - ah. A couple of patches of darkness in the corner of his vision seemed to be shifting.

"Two this time. Handle them how you want, but I want you to use magic at least once. If you can't, it's alright... we'll keep working on it."

They'd get there, he was sure. But this was going to be the critical test.

She stayed quiet as they walk, peering here and there; the lightning was a little dim, and the erratic way it flickered didn't exactly help much, not when it made it look like even normal shadows were moving. She'd just have to trust his judgment, until she learned to recognize the telltale signs of the creatures for herself.

"Alright....." It took Axel pointing them out for her to realize that the shifting Shadows hadn't just been her imagination that time. But she stayed close beside him, rather than venturing forward to fight--perhaps that first flash of viciousness had been a fluke? She certainly seemed calmer now, colder as she fixed her gaze intently on the pair. She was comfortable enough, hanging back to snipe at her foes with magic.

A moment of silence and stillness as she focused, and it was so familiar, so easy to remember how she had guided Konohana Sakuya, that summoning up the Maragi was almost effortless. Xikkuyo swept her fan in a graceful diagonal arc across her body, a conductor beginning a symphony. It was no normal Fire she cast, or even the sort of Fira she had initially--there was nothing from her fan at all, in fact. Instead, two entirely separate blasts of flame burst from the ground beneath the Shadows to engulf them. "There!"

She stayed poised with her fan overhead for a moment, remembering how to gather the power, and brought it down with a commanding sweep as the sparks started to crackle around it; it was a bit odd, seeing lightning underground, but it looked like Thunder could be cast even here. A low growl of effort and a sharp flick of her wrist wrenched the Thunder from its straight line, forcing it to curve in on itself--not much, not the way she would have liked it to, but enough that even such a stubbornly straightforward spell could strike at both of the Shadows, even if they weren't in a proper straight line.

The light was dazzling, underground like this; Yukiko blinked hard, looking to see if there was anything left beyond the smoky haze of dissipating Darkness.

When the fire blasts roared up, Axel was reminded just how come he'd seen that potential in her in the first place. That was something even he'd not learned to do until later, and fire wasn't even her affinity! How could she manage something like that so quickly? The Thunder, too... very nicely controlled. Directing it, he knew, could be tricky...

She'd got it. With the smoke and Shadows gone, Axel stepped forwards again. "Told you you've got potential. That was nicely done!" he said with a wide, proud smile.

The Thunder, at least, was a relief; Xikkuyo hadn't been sure she'd be able to cast it down here at all, let alone control it any..... It would've been a shame to waste a spell doing nothing but scorching the wall. Even if all she'd managed was give it a little yank, that was enough for the time being.

Still, what was done was done. The Shadows were gone. The smile Xikkuyo returned was shy and still a little uncertain, but pleased nonetheless; it was still hard to imagine having potential as a fighter, much less enough to seem impressive to someone like Axel, with so much more experience under his belt. "Th-thank you....."

Magic, sorted. Physical combat, sorted. That left one area that they really needed to test.

Her specialty. A healer. A very specific sort of skill, that one. Or rather, a skill that needed to be tested under very specific circumstances...

...and slowly, he realised that he was going to have to engineer those circumstances himself. Keep his eyes peeled for Heartless, again... aha. He led her on through the corridors - "So tell me about this inn of yours," he started, edging the pair towards one specific spot he'd noticed.

One where a few flickers of yellow out of the corner of his eye, hidden by the bad lighting, suggested that little flying Heartless were lurking. How to provoke them without her noticing, though...?

"Ah? Well....." There was a flicker of surprise there, a moment of confusion as Xikkuyo padded along after Axel. After all, it hardly made sense. They were training, weren't they? Why did the Inn have anything to do with that at all? It didn't seem to fit, especially if they were looking for more Heartless to fight.....

Xikkuyo looked around as they went, but the lighting was poor, and Axel was subtle, enough so that she didn't notice being led anywhere in particular. She gathered herself instead, unconsciously standing a little straighter and moving a little more gracefully, hands clasped primly around her fan and voice taking on the professional polish of someone long used to making pitches like these. Given how quiet she normally seemed to be.....

"The Amagi Inn is known as the 'Crown Jewel of Inaba'; it's been open since the town was first founded, and is considered one of Inaba's most precious resources. It's the largest ryokan in the prefecture, and one of the only reasons tourists come so far out into the countryside to visit such a small town, so it's the only hotel in Inaba as well. We serve Inaba's famous beefsteak, and remain faithful to tradition while offering modern conveniences--but the real reason people come to visit us from all over the Japan is our natural hot springs. They're very popular with the elderly, especially during the winter, and many people believe that the minerals enriching the water have natural healing properties."

What a professional! Axel smiled on as she gave the little speech, paying attention as much for what it said about her and about her world as anything else. After all, it was pretty unlikely that he'd be needing to stay the night somewhere like that... the last bit, though. "Man, those springs sound pretty good," he remarked casually.

As they talked, he casually moved a hand behind his back, flicked off a couple of sparks in the direction of the hovering Heartless. Just enough to annoy them, he hoped... Ugh, this wasn't going to be fun.

"Sorry to say, but the castle's not the greatest for recreation- ah!"

His plan'd worked too well. One of the little Yellow Operas he'd taunted charged him, the other dropping a lightning bolt on his head. Damn! Was this such a good idea?

"We have some guests who come to visit us every year for them--they say soaking in the hot springs for a few days helps their arthritis even more than their medicine." It almost sounded like they were there, or Xikkuyo still expected to be able to go home; the Inn was her family's, after all, referring to 'us' and 'we' was second nature, as was assuming that she'd just always be there. She knew everything was different, now, but old habits were hard to break.

She was about to ask after the recreation--honestly, the Castle didn't seem like it had anything to do except read and train--Axel was mentioning, when his cry alerted her to something being very wrong. A dazzling flash of lightning followed almost immediately after, and Xikkuyo let out a strangled shriek of surprise and pain as she staggered back; she'd been standing too close to Axel to not get some residual shock from the strength of the bolt. There was no time to think, only to act, reeling and seeing spots from the blast of electricity, knowing that Axel was in trouble.

All she knew was that she wanted them to stop, to get away from them both, for the threat to just disappear. A warm wind whipped past, carrying fluttering pink petals and the soft sweet scent of cherry blossoms--a promise of growth and renewal, of blooming and fruition, of life. A halo of blue light surrounded the pair of Heartless, pulsing like a heartbeat, like the rhythm of breath--or like someone swallowing. The same light thrummed around Xikkuyo, teeth grit and fists clenched, eyes narrow and intent on her targets, the wash of light a bridge holding them together.

The nearer Yellow Opera tried to cast this time, only for its spell to splutter and spark uselessly, too tapped out to manage anything effective. The other swooped in to dive at them as well; Xikkuyo didn't move to block. She was too focused on what she was doing, feeling their strength and vitality fill her; now that she'd sunk her teeth in, she didn't intend to let go. She'd drain them dry, every last drop--it didn't belong to them, after all. Everything they had, they'd stolen. They deserved nothing but to fade into nothingness and vanish, dying a quick and withering death.

The tunnel was quickly growing cooler; small wonder, when Xikkuyo was doing her best to very literally suck the life out of their opponents.

Edited 2014-02-09 00:39 (UTC)

Axel noticed that 'we'. Old habits, indeed... he knew all about them, after all. What was less familiar, though...
What was she doing? He'd expected a straightforward Cure, or another wave of flame like that she'd pulled out earlier. Not - he stared at the Heartless wavering, dropping, fading... what in the world? What happened to her speciality being healing?

As he watched, the Heartless seemed to dissolve, trapped hearts almost not seeming to have the energy to disperse themselves.

Damn. Whatever that was she was doing... that was effective. Axel shivered, and it wasn't entirely because of the cold.

The Heartless never quite reached them. Oh, it tried, certainly, pitching and weaving in midair like it was drunk, or too exhausted to keep its altitude. By the time it managed to get close to them, though, it was just..... breaking to pieces. Dissolving, as everything that held it together unraveled. It wasn't nearly as quick and neat as any typical spell--this was like pinning an enemy down and casting continuous Fire spells until it was nothing but ash and cinders. This was like holding someone underwater until they drowned, kicking and fighting the whole time, or cutting them open and watching them bleed to death.

Xikkuyo was devouring them alive, in the most basic way possible, and she could see absolutely nothing wrong with that. This hungry plague that had descended over her town..... what was more fitting than the hunters becoming the hunted, than prey taking back what was rightfully theirs? This was the right thing to do. This was good.

It took a moment for Xikkuyo to realize there was nothing left to take, by the time the Heartless had broken down entirely. Her mind was buzzing, nerves singing with the surge of stolen power. But there wasn't anything left to fight..... Xikkuyo let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and turned to hurry back to Axel's side, thoughtlessly turning some of the power loose once more like opening a cage full of doves. The breath of wind that caressed him was warm and sweet, and the glow of magic that seeped into him gentle and soothing, just like any Cure spell ought to be.

For her mentor, she had no reason to be anything but nurturing; the expression of concern was one she readily knew how to wear. "Are you alright?"

Axel sighed in outright relief as the power worked its way through him - that was more like it. That was more what he'd been expecting all along. He stretched, brushed himself down: "Never felt better," he said with a warm, open, grateful smile. "Thanks. Those little creeps must've been lurking somewhere. I was looking out for Shadows so hard that I forgot to look up..." He laughed, and scratched his head.

A pause, and he looked sly. "But enough about me! Man!" He reached out and clapped his hand on her shoulder. "That was impressive! Never seen something like that before. So go on. What were you doing there, huh?"

Because he was going to have to make plans.

"Good..... I didn't know they could fly." Xikkuyo sighed in relief, glancing up at the ceiling herself as though halfway expecting more to swoop down on them at any moment. She'd be sure to pay attention to the air from now on..... The flying Heartless definitely seemed more dangerous than the landbound ones, so far. None of the normal Shadows had tried using magic yet, after all!

The clap on her shoulder made her jump a little, but Xikkuyo smiled regardless, awkward but pleased. What had she done? Everything had happened so fast, she'd hardly had a chance to think about it..... At this point, it was hard to know much than Axel did. Still, he'd asked a question; it was her job as a student to answer as best she could. "I just thought they shouldn't--shouldn't be here, hurting you, so..... So I needed to just..... take them away."

Not make them go away--instinctively, she knew she wasn't capable of something like that, even if it wasn't something she could articulate. She couldn't force things on others like that, not with her powers, nothing nearly so violently offensive. But she could take, yes, and she could give. She could nurture and heal, grow and strengthen..... or cripple and steal, weaken and hinder. She couldn't make something out of nothing--it all needed to come from somewhere. Every little spark of creation needed a vessel to touch, and every blossoming new life needed to begin with a seed.

"'Take them away'," Axel quoted with a raised eyebrow. "You did that, okay. We're going to have to work on that little skill of yours, alright? That was good."

He thought for a moment more. "Everything you've done's been as good as I could have hoped for. Better, with that fire move of yours, you know? So what we're going to focus on, I think, is getting the control right. Not that being able to shred a Heartless like that is a problem, of course. Geez..." He scratched his head, smiling a little, still, acting like everything was under control. What else would she be able to do with that skill? He was starting to doubt she'd be the simple backup healer...

The lights flickered again, and went out. Axel cursed, and lit up a fireball to let the pair see what was going on, a bubble of warmth in the corridors. "Speaking of 'never happened before', huh..."

"Alright....." Xikkuyo bowed her head uncertainly; she'd do her best, if Axel wanted her to work on it. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but if he thought it was good..... well, then it must be useful. He liked everything she'd done so far, amazingly, so that just left control..... funny to think of actually needing to work on that, really. She'd never actually had enough power or strength for control to ever be much of an issue.

She couldn't help but gasp, though, at the sudden darkness; below ground like this, with no power, the blackness was absolute. Even Axel's fireball was little better than a torch, casting a warm circle of light around them; beyond that perimeter, the hallway faded back into murky shadows once again. She found herself automatically backing towards Axel, for safety's sake; they were stronger in numbers, after all, and he was so much more experienced than her..... Axel would take care of her, if anything happened. She knew it.

"What--what do you think happened?" What should they do?

"Power cut." Axel put a little more juice into his fireball. "Now, we've got two options. We could RTC - that's short for return to the castle - right now: we've done what we need to. I've seen you do your thing, and I'm going to need to get a plan for what we're going to do next."

"Alternatively..." he shrugged. "We can take a look around and see what's going on. Could be something, could be nothing. It's up to you," he said. After all, trying to fix things? Not part of their mission. They didn't have to go sticking their nose in for the locals' sake, and for all he knew, a repairman might be down soon. But finding out what was what where Heartless activity was concerned? Definitely Organization business.

Were Shadows smart enough to cut power? Or was it jut an accident, maybe caused by fighting somewhere else in these tunnels? They could easily return, if their lesson was done..... Axel was right, teachers needed time to make their lesson plans. There was no reason they couldn't or shouldn't. This wasn't their town.....

But what if something had happened, and people were trapped down here? What if people were hurt and scared and surrounded by Heartless? They had gone into the TV to rescue people before, after all, and even if they didn't know who was getting hurt, there was still no excuse to leave them to suffer..... Besides, this was an abandoned tunnel, Axel had said. They were the only people who probably knew what was happening. Nobody else might even notice that anything was wrong down here; there might be no repairman at all.

If nothing else, it would be bad to still not have power the next time they came, if they didn't do anything about it. Extra credit opportunities weren't worth a thing if you didn't at least make the attempt to turn them in, either. She could do better than just running away. Xikkuyo nodded to herself to cement her resolve, peering out into the gloom to see if she could spot any clues. "We should see what's wrong, just in case."

Good girl. He'd offered her the chance to back down, and she hadn't? Better than some members of the group he could name, that was for sure. "I was hoping you'd say that," Axel said with another grin. He pulled up a couple more fireballs, having them hover near the pair, casting just a little more light - a safe radius, at least.

"Alright. Stick close," he said, starting to lead the way. "Don't bother attacking anything that doesn't attack us first, it'll just be a waste of time. We're looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Any signs of damage, anything suspicious. Or if you hear anything, too... Think you can do that?" Never mind the looking for anything, could she even pass a Heartless without draining it on the spot?

"R-right. I can do that." Xikkuyo nodded dutifully, drifting close by Axel's side as she'd been instructed. It had been easier to see in the TV World, honestly..... at least the glasses had helped with the fog. Traveling in the dark by flickering firelight was a lot more difficult and nervewracking, and only made it harder to potentially spot any damage or specific suspicious activity.

She wasn't like Saïx, if nothing else, a berserker on a hair trigger, ready to explode into violence at the drop of a hood. Her distaste for Heartless was pronounced, but she was perfectly capable of passing them by without more than a suspicious sidelong glance, silent and focused in her search as she followed Axel. Xikkuyo was used to following orders, after all; Souji had made for a good leader in the TV world, and she'd trusted him to do what was best for them then.

She trusted Axel to do the same now, until and unless be betrayed that trust.

They moved on. The darkness was thick and heavy, and as used to it as Axel might have been, this still wasn't the best situation to be in, especially with a rookie in tow. But still, they'd get to the bottom of it. He at least knew the layout of the tunnels pretty well, by now, so they wouldn't be getting lost in a hurry. Eventually...

"Right. Generator room. ...Huh."

He could hear something in here. Fizzing sounds, squeaking noises. Axel let the fireball he was holding orbit freely with the others, reached out, and gave the door a good yank.

It looked like they'd gotten to the heart of the problem. ...Or the Heartless of it. A small crew of Yellow Operas were bobbing around the generator room ceiling: and parked on the generator itself, a larger Heartless. Was it - sucking the juice out of it?

"Bingo!"

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