destinystrings | [Closed to Castle-mates]

Who: Master Riku and castlemates (whoever is awake at 3am anyways)!
Where: Castle of Departure kitchen
Summary: Riku is pondering on his nightmares. Or well... memories. And drinking tea while not going back to sleep. Good thing it's not a school night?
Warnings: Days Spoilers??? Otherwise, not much.

[It's not that Riku isn't used to waking up from nightmares - far from. He's suffered them occasionally before that night, then almost nightly after Hollow Bastion... and more recently not so much, because that's the advantage of having a bunch of Dream Eaters in your room.

Over the last few months, even his dream eaters haven't been able to do much to keep him from stumbling through troubled dreams - though given how strangely clear, how connected, how familiar those dreams had been, he's quickly realized that they weren't just dream - those were memories.

Memories of Xion.

Memories lost, memories forgotten... now he remembers the process... the way they had slipped from him as he had faced off with Roxas ("Her? You mean Xion? It's a struggle just to remember the name now, isn't it?").

He groans quietly as he sits up in his bed and draws his knees close to lean his forehead against them, feeling comforted when Zorya jumps onto the bed and curls around him, her nose pressing into his side while Highwind lands on his shoulder and nuzzles against his cheek.

He is very glad that he remembers, but...

Oh, he has no idea what he is now supposed to do. Would they slip away again the moment he left this city, like his memories of Promenade had? Or would Xion herself leaving be enough to erase them from his mind again?

And if he can keep them, then what should he do back home? Is there any chance of saving her?

He doesn't know.

He doesn't know if he can keep it from happening, if it does, either.

He rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs quietly before rising off the bed, his hand curling in Zorya's fell for just a moment - a quiet thanks for her presence - and then he quietly makes his way to the kitchen, picking up some book from his desk before he exits his room - he can't see himself falling asleep anytime soon, he might as well spend it more productive(?) than just lying awake and letting dark thoughts swallow him.

A few minutes later, he's turned on the small light in the kitchen and set some water to boil, readying tea-leaves and a mug before sitting down on the small table. Another two minutes later, there is a steaming mug between his hands and Riku has his eyes closed as he released in the warmth against his palm, before he brings his mug up and then moves to start reading.

He might be here for a while.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[His eyes widen just slightly. Yes, this is what he wants to hear. He wants to know their belief on matters, the bits of culture he can absorb that aren't action or carelessly-tossed words that don't matter. This is the stuff he's been craving, seeking in books, trying to find... the matters that they hold close, that they build the world around them with.

He sets the apple down, wedges arranged neatly on a plate, and sits down.]

Please help me understand.

[Riku hesitates for a moment - he has not forgotten who he is sitting across from after all, has no forgotten what happened the last time this man had been allowed this kind of knowledge.

Still... he supposes that someone would have to tell him, given how much he is around them, that he is living in the castle with them. Better he hears it from someone with somewhat unbiased view.

So yeah... where to get started...]

...All being of the Realm of Light can be broken down to three part:

The Body, the vessel that allows us to interact in the physical world.

The Heart, the source of all emotion and harbor of memories.

And the Soul, the bridge and tie between Body and Heart.

[You with him so far?]

[For a moment he promises himself that he won't interrupt until Riku is done, but that promise is swiftly dashed right away when]

Realm of Light? What does that mean?

[The rest is fairly straightforward, though, and he nods a little. Three parts. It makes sense, though the focus on the Heart seems a little odd given that the main focus of most things is in body and soul.]

[Well, that question was almost to be expected.

Riku takes a deep breath, this whole conversation is going to take a while, isn't it?]

Once upon a time, all worlds were one and all beings lived within the light. But then, one day people started to fight over the light and darkness entered their hearts, consuming everything and everyone until the world disappeared.

But even though all seemed lost, the light had not totally disappeared. Fragments survived within the hearts of the innocent, who then rebuild it and created the worlds as we know it now.

That's the Realm of Light. Or at least the story to its creation.

[The short, folk story version of it anyways.]

[The story is very familiar, he's heard it - or something like it - before. From Xion... he smile a little at the recollection.]

So everyone lives in the Realm of Light. And it's because that light was kindled in the hearts of others that hearts are so important?

[Well, that makes things a bit easier at least.]

They do. And well... in a way, I guess. The heart is what enables us to feel emotion and where we balance the Light and Darkness within ourselves.

That's something neither the Body nor the Soul can do.

[He thinks this over for a moment, before continuing his own thoughts.]

So everyone has light and darkness within them. Balancing them is a function of the heart... and emotion. And memories... how do memories tie into this?

[A few more thoughts leak out as he ponders, though they're muttered.]

The soul ties the heart to the body. So if someone's soul is sundered, their heart loses purchase... can the body function without a heart? Without emotion or... memories.

[Riku nods to himself and thinks, tries to find the best way to voice his opinion.]

From what I understand, memories emerge from the heart and are imprinted to the soul. I'm no expert on this though.

[And the only expert that he knows (and somewhat trusts) is dead. ...At least to Riku's knowledge.

As for that other question... there is a definite note of hesitation before he answers.]

If the heart was strong enough, then yes. The result is called a Nobody.

Memories forming from the seat of emotion...

[He'll buy it. It seems plausible enough. The memories he has of his time in Hinoto-ri are laced with emotion, after all...]

So your bad dreams... are from bad memories that you have. That implies that there's some sort of unpleasantness associated with them in your heart?

[Having let that conclusion come to its end, he ponders what Riku says next.]

A No-body... even though it has a body, but is lacking a heart. Does that mean that a creature that is a heart with no body is called a No-Heart?

[He laughs a little at that, taking a sip of tea. His eyes are sharp, though... the fact that something like that could exist is a strange thought and makes him wonder.]

[Memories and emotions are connected, are tightly wound together and that's why the sharp twist of sorrow he's felt looking at Xion when he'd first arrived makes so much sense in hindsight. For all that his mind had forgotten, in his heart he'd still known what had happened to her, had still mourned the necessity of it.

He shakes his head a moment later.]

It's not like that. Those dreams aren't bad in the sense of a nightmare or a bad memory. They are- [Memories he's forgotten newly unearthed and he still wonders, if he ever returns home, or if Xion disappears, will he...?] -complicated.

[As for that attempt at a joke, excuse that he isn't laughing... the irony is kind of too biting for him to find this funny.]

They are called Heartless actually.

Complicated, how? The more complex, the more troublesome, it would seem... they must be difficult if you can't sleep because of it.

[He takes a sip of his tea, delicately holding the cup in an oddly polished fashion. Perhaps muscle memory of some sort. His eyes go wide at Riku's followup statement, though, and he hastily sets the cup down.]

... such a being actually exists?

[For a second his jaw clenches as he tries to find a round about way to describe what those dream are... and fails. After a moment he sighs.]

They are... memories that I lost due... certain special circumstances and that started to return to me over the past few months.

[In form of those complicated dreams. Hence him asking what Xehanort knows about memories.

He nods solemnly at that question.]

They do and they are a dangerous threat to the worlds.

[His brow furrows for a moment as he considers this.]

Memories that you'd lost... buried in your subconscious. Or your heart, I guess. So that even if you didn't know you had them, they were still there... and eventually they came out into your dreams.

[He ponders a little bit on this, fingers lightly tracing the handle of the tea cup.]

Are they here, too?

They were triggered of sorts when I arrived here. [When he had met Xion to be more precise, but he isn't about to go further into this than he had already done.] And now that leaves me wondering, if they'll disappear again, the moment I leave.

[His memories of Promenade had after all.]

They are.

[Which isn't entirely surprising, really. At least not given that there here Nightmares as well.]

If you've ever seen monsters with entirely black body and yellow eyes, or any that had a symbol similar to- [He summons his Keyblade, lifting up Way to the Dawn's Keychain for Xehanort to see.] -this, that's them.

[Closed to Castle-mates]

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