boundbynaught | IC Inbox for empatheias

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IC Inbox for empatheias

Temporary:
March 7th thru March 14th: Gone for Canon Update
March 15th thru April 7th: Reroutes to contact Riku instead of Arden
April 14th: Gone again
Arden here, Manager of Sweetie Pies.
If this is about Sweetie Pies, please make sure to mention it in your message and I'll make sure to answer during business hours.
Everyone else, I'll get back to you when I can.

*Has a slightly rougher cut crystal
[Source]

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[ Arden has no problem following Noctis walking there, but he does lower his voice as he answers. ]

... Because when you've experienced your worst fears already, you stop being afraid of anything, and the Darkness can't affect you anymore.

[ He acknowledges that that is a whole lot of information disguised in a really subtle comment, but it's honest. ]

Ooor, you could talk to her and get all the facts about what happened. Rushing in to attack him to get the amulet back is still rushing.

Usagi, have you met him? He could just destroy it, if he feels like it. Or try, and just damage it. Or toss it into a lake and forget about it, I don’t know!

[ He’s worried. Very worried. ]

I defeated him to a stalemate once before. I’m sure I can do it again.

Edited 2018-06-10 18:02 (UTC)

No, I haven't. And he could have destroyed it the instant he stole it. If you think I'm perfectly okay with this, Arden, you don't know me.

I don't want you to come to a stalemate, I want him to be defeated, and to do that, you're going to need information on your side, information that only Namine has.

[ He wasn't trying to imply he DID think Usagi was okay with any of this, but her taking that tone with him again, one he only heard rarely, shook him a little. He needs to know what happened; they can agree on that much. So at minimum, he needs to start moving, going to Naminé...

And then he sees Sora trying to get ahold of him too. ]

Fine. I'll be there to see her in just a minute.

[ He's just hung up with Usagi. ]

Don't worry about me.

[ Sora might here the soft quavering of Arden opening a Dark Corridor. If nothing else, he can definitely feel exactly the murderous intention that he expected coming from Arden. ]

I'm on my way there too. I'm not staying long.

[ He has a bully to confront. ]

(Noctis isn't sure he agrees because he's found himself hitting a bottom he thought was impossible to reach a lot more often. As an adult, he assumed nothing would have matched the traumatic time he had as a child, but then Lucis fell, people died for helping him, Luna was killed while he watched, and Ignis lost his sight. The prince enjoys his time divided by that world, and he isn't going to take a corridor that would remind him.

He only nods in acknowledgment. If Arden wants to share, Noctis will lend an ear, but he often assumes others are like him, others don't want to share their pains in word form.)

It's not an emergency, she'll understand if we walk.

I'll see you when you get here.

Arden! My dearest Arden, I wanted to share the most wonderful news with you!

[Ahh. Yep. That's the raging murderous intent he knew he'd feel. Sora huffs softly. Hopefully this goes at least a little better than how it did with Riku.]

Yes you are because the place Naminé is going to need you the most right now is right with her, okay?

[Sora is pretty sure he's the only one who's had direct experience with not having an amulet.]

Without her amulet Naminé is going to be really sick with apathy. She's going to need your help to keep her feeling emotions. [Then he quickly adds,] Leave the amulet to me and Ven. We're gonna get it back right now.

Edited 2018-06-11 20:48 (UTC)

Then I'll go with you! The sooner she gets it back the better, right?!

[ Usagi said the same thing and he knew then that a quick reaction was needed. ]

I've beat him back once before Sora, I can do it again - if more of you are going, then it won't be a problem!

[ He does care about Naminé. So much. It's just buried right now, angry and guilty that he let this guy go the last time. That he clearly didn't take Arden's meaning to stay away. Arden knew that he'd targeted Naminé and didn't actually do anything that would prevent him from trying again. And so he did try again. Arden feels like he should have known better - him of all people, someone else so tied to the Darkness, so wrapped up in it in the past that he'd done everything possible, destroyed someone to get what he thought he needed. That guilt pours out of him, unguarded from Sora. ]

[ That was Arden's experience at least. Born from Darkness, shaped by it, and ultimately losing an identity to it before being reborn as he is now. That became his greatest fear, that very thing happening again, and in Verens that was all but impossible so far as he could see, so 'normal' fears stopped being the kind of thing that could sway him to do awful things - things he'd already done, like destroy Zexion. And it wasn't even self-defense. ]

I believe you, but it's still Snow. She's one of the few people who've had my back for nearly 2 years now.

[ There, that was something less traumatic he was willing to share as they started walking. ]

How far is she?

[ He's surprised only because he imagines she could have told him at the bakery just as easily, so it must be something that just happened and she's incredibly excited about. ]

H-hey Snow! What's the news?

The last thing we want right now is a fight, Arden!

[Sora shouts this back. His patience is really starting to wear thin with both Arden and Riku.]

Who knows what Vanitas will do if he sees a bunch of us coming his way with keyblades ready? What if he just smashes it before we can even do anything?

[A breath...] Please, just trust me. Ven knows Vanitas better than any of us and he'll be able to find him. And I'll take care of the rest.

[ That stuns him enough to send a sharp shock through the connection, like static through clothing. Sora... doesn't want a fight? What??? ]

[ Usagi started to get him thinking like this, but Sora raising his voice is another thing entirely. Being scolded like a child... if it were for anyone but Naminé that would make him mad. When he speaks again, his voice is lower, serious but calm. Ish. ]

That's what I'm afraid of too - that he'll smash it before you even get there, or when you show up, just because he feels like it. I don't know how you think you can get it back from him without a fight, Sora.

[ He's worried. So worried. It was one thing for him to willingly try to smash his amulet and Sora stop him out of concern; Vanitas with someone else's amulet, someone he didn't care a bit about... he feared it may already be too late. He's used to jumping right into the fray with his Dark Corridors thanks to pinpointing things with his nose. He knows a little bit about Ven and Vanitas being connected, but not just how connected. For all he knows it's just as good as his Scent at finding the guy. ]

... I do trust you, Sora. It's him I don't trust.

I have a keyblade now!

[Don't you call him out like that, Arden! If Sora didn't know Vanitas and Ventus as well as he does now he probably would have jumped the gun just like everyone else! But it's not like that right now.

How weird that it's Sora trying to calm down the "level-headed" ones.]

I'm gonna figure it out.

[He's thinking of Naminé and how she needs heartful emotions right now. He's thinking about how the darkness would hurt Riku even more in the state he's in. He's thinking about Arden getting hurt in a reckless fight with Vanitas. He's thinking about how Ventus is going at this alone.

... Why won't anyone just listen to him?]

You said we're best friends, right?

Edited 2018-06-14 00:22 (UTC)

[ He can feel something in the pit of his stomach just drop away at that question. He frowns, before finally realizing this is voice only and so Sora can probably hear that anxious pause in his emotions as loud as his nervous breathing. ]

... Yes. We're best friends.

[ Not just that he said. They are. That bond is something he can't bear to give up. Yet... If there's anyone equally reckless as Arden or Riku, it was Sora, when it came down to helping someone like the position Naminé's in. So even if he trusted Sora to do whatever he could to get Naminé's amulet back... 'whatever he could' might be pretty intense. That's what Arden realizes he's afraid of by that tone in Sora's voice. ]

If you're not going to let me go with you, then at least...

[ Augh. What can he say that isn't overbearing? He tries several times, but can't come up with anything good. Something something come back in one piece and even if there's a line starting with Squall, I want to see you too, in good health or within recovering range, without having let Vanitas off the hook but also without letting him do something like pummel him into the ground or let loose his Antiform in exchange for the amulet or anything else crazy like that.

'Look after Naminé.'

Yeah... it kind of felt like that all over again. Except this time he really did care if Sora survived the confrontation. ]

A...

[ He knows she's a Princess, but that's it. He has no memory of her attached to Sora's world. This would be as weird as finding out Noctis could summon a keyblade. Or Dr. Jane Foster. ]

How is that possible...

Ventus gave it to me! Would you like to see it?

(In contrast, Noctis has fear more rooted in a traditional reality. He's lost his family, his home, his true love, and now helps one of his closest friends struggle with the loss of sight. The prince isn't afraid of a darkness that would seem abstract in his mind, he's afraid of something more simple : loss.

Maybe they do fear the same thing if Arden fears loss of self. The circumstances change because if their background, but the foundations are the same.

Either way, he's using Verens as an escape, he doesn't want a reminder. )

I guess it's hard to say she's acting like herself since I don't really know her too well, but... It feels like she's acting like herself.

[ He's so dumbfounded by that answer. After a moment, he finally replies: ]

Yes, I definitely do.

[She summons the keblade and holds it up for him to see.] It's called White as Snow!

[ Welp. That's real enough. ]

Did Ventus say anything about... why he gave it to you?

[ Was it seriously that easy? ]

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IC Inbox for empatheias

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