Redemption (Plot/Open/Sora)

[Riku]

A book hit the floor with a loud thud next to one of many piles that now filled the library in Radiant Garden. Much of Ansem the Wise's data was moved here by Leon's group, and Riku was now hard at work to try and figure out exactly what happened.

Of course, he was almost certain that due to the fact that these monsters didn't seem to have anything to do with Hearts, his search would come up fruitless.

But he had to try.

Thud.

He continued to flip through page after page. They weren't the Unversed. They weren't Heartless. They weren't Nobodies. They weren't Dream Eaters. They weren't anything that Riku, or any Keybearer had seemed to come across since the beginning. This was a newborn enemy, one that seemed to just come out of the woodwork and take everyone by surprise...

He hurt them... Sora... Kairi... Minnie...

Thanks to this... Emperor's appearance, Riku was certain that things could only get worse. They already had Xehanort's plan to deal with, not this? Perfect.

Thud.

Riku slid a finger down the spines of several books and sighed, rubbing his forehead where he... it had shoved its finger... How did it do that? Riku was able to contain and control his Darkness as the Dawn Keybearer... how could he call upon that power like it was nothing?

So many questions... and Riku began to doubt no one would have the answers.

[roy]

So many questions- and unfortunately no one seemed to have the time to give Roy Mustang the damn answers.

The off-duty colonel pinched the bridge of nose as he meandered down the beaten plains toward the nearly deserted castle. Honestly, if he knew it was going to be this much trouble, he would have asked directions to this place first. Considering all the chaos that had happened at the end of the battle he had practically jumped into, it was hardly surprising they had time to talk, let alone get introduced. Struggling to get Riku out of danger and get the hell out of the city before they were blown to smithereens, they had barely had time to exchange names before jumping on a ship. A ship that flew into the sky and outer space. Oh yes, that had cleared up so much confusion.

Except even after they were out of danger, they still split up before the poor man could make heads or tales of anything. Sora had gone and taken a separate ship, the mouse- no wait, apparently a queen mouse- had gone off to who knew where as soon as they had landed. So even when they were in their chosen lodgings, Roy knew he would have to ask Riku personally what had happened, once he had awoken. Except the one time he had stepped out for some air was when the kid decided to wake up. And apparently go out for a walk, or wherever he had gone.

Roy dropped his hand and regarded the high doors of the castle in irritation. Kids. At least he only had to worry about one back in the military. He alone was more than a handful on his own.

The doors were heavy, but swung easily under pressure. From what he understood, the castle was under construction, but it was still uninhabited, and none of the citizens could bother with the long trek to here, so he was almost guaranteed privacy. That was both beneficial, and crippling. It meant no distractions, but it also meant no one would be there if he had a question. Which he already had, and had a feeling he would only get more.

Story of my life, he thought dully.

He looked around the foyer, recalling the instructions of the member of the "Restoration Commitee" had given him. Up the stairs, to his left. Well, that door must have been it, then, it was the only one in place. As he climbed the stairs, Roy Mustang severely hoped the Dewy Decimal Classification was the same here as in his world. No matter how improbable it might have been at this point. Just a little respite would be nice. When the man opened the door, he stopped, eyebrows disappearing under his bangs and blinking in obvious surprise. This was... not what he had been expecting when he came here. It looked like a whirlwind had come through here.

Or an alchemist has been pulling an all-nighter for his license, he thought to himself as he glanced around to take in the damage. Shelves had been practically stripped of their contents, half empty with all the bottom shelves obscured by the stacks of books on the floor. Piles on piles of the tomes took up the spaces between shelves. Who on earth would be coming to here of all places?

The man thought he heard some movement somewhere in the maze of shelves and books, and reached up to rap the back of his knuckles against the door.

"Anyone in here?" he called out, and let the door swing shut behind him. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

[Lightning Farron]

Books. A whole sea of books lay before him. "Riku.. I'm not finding anything in ANY of these!" He thumbed through a large tome sprawled out on his lap, while surrounded by what seemed like skyscrapers of ones they had already looked through.. The more he looked, the more it frustrated him. Half of these words he didn't even know and half of the stories and legends in them didn't even make any sense. As he flipped the last page, he threw the hard back book onto a lower pile as it landed with a large thud.

How many books had they already skimmed? Hundreds? Thousands? MILLIONS?!"AAUGH!!" The keyblader moaned out in despair as he fell backwards, clutching his face with his hands. Of course, the results of him doing so caused the towers of books to come crashing down on him. He quickly flailed his way out and got to his feet. "One of these has to have something..."

Yet none of them gave any sort of knowledge as to who or what the Emporer exactly was. The thought of the recent events were enough to send a chill down his spine and make him shiver. And what it had done to Riku....

Sora glanced up at his friend, with worry filled bright blue eyes. He had almost lost his friend. AGAIN. A friend he never wanted to lose again. Even Kairi was caught up in all of this. It's not like they didn't already have enough to worry about... Xehanort was wanting to bring about another keyblade war. And they had to prepare to stop him. But at this rate, it seemed like that objective was on hold as the Emperor was on a rampage to destroy every world that dared to get in his path.

There's gotta be something here! He thought enthusiastically to himself as he reached for another book.

But just as he flipped open the cover, a voice echoed through the nearly empty library. "Hellooo?" He called back. He crawled over the piles to dart around the corner to greet the familiar voice. "OH! It's you! What are you doing here?" He questioned, tilting his head slightly as he did so. Hey Rikuuu! That Colonel Mustard guy is here!"

He happily vanished back around the corner to resume his searching. "Come on back! We're just hunting for info on... whatever that thing was..." He threw yet another book down and picked another from the shelf. "We're.. not having much luck though..."

[Riku]

Riku was lost in the words of these books, not even hearing Sora properly, giving a distracted "Huh...?" as he halfway turned his head. Images of his attack on Sora, Kairi and Minnie echoed and played in front of his eyes. He was still in shock, still unable to process, exactly what happened. What if Mustang hadn't shown up? What if Minnie stayed in the Castle? Would that evil man had made him kill his friends? Riku didn't want to think about it, but as ever second passed, his eyes seemed to blur around the edges as he remembered...

Riku didn't feel pain. He didn't feel remorse. The Corruption swept through him like a wildfire, and seemed to take hold of him instantaneously. He saw everything he did, but could not stop himself. His hands were no longer his own, his Keyblade was no longer his. And seeing what he saw, feeling what he felt, the full gravity of the situation hit him. He was fighting Sora again, and this time, he had no choice in the matter. Instead of a fight to incapacitate, a fight to hold Sora off from reaching places, this was a fight to the death.

The irony.

Sora used Ripple Drive, which the possessed Keybearer saw instantly, bringing up his keyblade for defense, and being pushed back. He then saw his friend's classic move, Sonic Blade, and sidestepped, placing his hand on Sora's midsection. Riku then half threw, half Dark Firaga'd (I should say attempted to, since this is rp and all) his friend, aiming for Kairi. After the attack, Riku stood in a triumphant stance, Keyblade flung over his shoulder, as his eyes trailed the broken path just as the Queen used Pearl on Riku, pushing him back, no, flinging him back...

He was suddenly brought back to this world by the call of a familiar voice. The voice of Roy Mustang, himself. Riku turned slightly, as Sora greeted and called for Roy to come back into the library. He let his book land with a thud on the stack in front of him, and leaned against the bookcase, bringing his hands up to rub his eyes. Nothing. They found nothing on these things, and even if they did, their Keyblades seemed to have no effect... Most of all, he was worried for Sora and Kairi. This thing targeted them directly, wanted them dead... This was far from over.

"Alright, let's take what we do know, and see if we can come up with any answers." Riku said, trying not to let his voice tremor. "These things are resistant, if not immune to Keyblades. They're capable of taking control of other beings, using massive amounts of power without seeming to slow down... They're not Heartless or anything of the like..." Riku trailed off as he remembered the Emperor's face. That gloating face... the red eyes... Riku closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the image with little success.

[roy]

Wait a second, he knew that voice. It was Sora, wasn't it? Sure enough, he saw the boy's head peek out from a bookshelf. He seemed to be in a remarkably good mood, considering everything. Rather bouncy, if he had to put a word to it. He guessed that could be considered a good thing. He knew from first hand experience that he was more skilled than his first appearance gave him credit for, though he-

And then the man stopped, mouth agape as he stared at where the boy had disappeared too. Colonel... Mustard? It was not as though he was a stranger to the occasional taunt, tease, or jab at his name, and he was more than capable of brushing it off. What irked him as that this kid was completely serious.

"That's Colonel Mustang, not "Mustard", how can you possibly confuse the two?" He shouted back. "They don't even sound anything alike!"

He straightened, and adjusted his tie, stepping around and over the books without even glancing down at the hazards, and avoiding them with ease. The skills of a practiced researcher. He had to get his cool back. It would not do well to lose his temper like that too often. He was probably going to need a little more patience with this one. At least the kid wasn't trying to disrespect him, unlike someone he knew. "And right now, I'd prefer if you just called me Roy. I'm off duty for the time being."

Roy finally reached the rows the two boys had worked their way back to, and scrutinized Riku as he spoke. It was obvious that he was struggling. Maybe not to everyone, but to someone who had been seasoned to hide his own fear and fatigue, and spot it in others, the signs were easy to pick up. But he was still trying, at least. Well, they both were. Two kids fighting to save a world. Roy could not help the amused twitch of his lips. Maybe he wasn't in another universe, but a parallel one to his own.

"Well, it may not look like it, but the two of your are making some progress. You've eliminated all of this, haven't you?" He waved around the library. "Why don't you take a quick break and humor me. You look like you two could use it."

He started walking again, searching among the piles of books to find what he was looking for. And found it under a few stacks of tomes, of course. He walked to it anyway, and casually parted a clearing near the head of the table so he could set down his briefcase. He sat down in the chair, gesturing the two empty ones for the boys to join him.

"I'd like to help if I could," he started out lightly. "But I'm afraid I know even less about this threat than you do. The "keyblade", for example. It's been mentioned quite a few times." Then he focused his gaze on Riku. "And I distinctly remember he called you a "keyblade master". So, why don't you start by explaining what it is and telling me why he seemed so eager to have it."

[Lightning Farron]

Sora tossed down yet another tome onto his pile. Still no luck. They had emptied nearly an entire shelf of it's books and not a single one... Not a single one had any insight on their current situation. He stared blankly at the towers of tomes already accumulating on the floor. It almost made him dizzy thinking about them all...

"Oh, sorry, Roy!" The young keyblader apologized. He had honestly thought the guys name was Mustard. He didn't mean any disrespect by it. Just an honest mistake.

He nodded as Roy tried to give them some encouragement, that they had at least managed to knock out this much from their possible list. "Yeah, but it'd be nice to find even something small.. None of these books helped at all. If anything I'm more confused than I was before." Sora wasn't much of a book person, and honestly, the words on the pages had begun to run together after the third one he picked up. But he continued to push through them and read every single one in search of anything useful...

But the moment Roy had suggested a break, Sora happily put down his current research and trailed behind the Colonel and plopped down in one of the empty chairs beside him. His first inquiry was about the keyblades. Riku would be better at explaining it in the long run, but Sora could at least start him off.

The keybearer held out his hand, and in a short bright flash of light, Oathkeeper appeared clutched in his hand. "Keyblades choose their wielders. And there are three different kinds. Heart, Light, and Dark. Most of them are Light, like mine and Riku's. They X-Blade is able to open on Kingdom Hearts... Which is basically like the heart of everything. If you control Kingdom Hearts, you control everything."

He paused for a moment to recollect his thoughts. "A long time ago there was something called the Keyblade War. Where Keybladers from all over fought for this power. But they ended up destroying it instead. Xehanort is trying to start another war to recreate it but.. I'm not sure what that guy we fought wanted.. He seemed more eager to destroy us. OH! But keyblade masters are those who pass their Mark of Mastery exam. They help keep balance in the worlds!" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He hadn't been fortunate enough to pass his own yet, but he would soon!

[Riku]

Riku only half listened as he started filing through the books again. What was he to do? Even with the power of the Keyblade, their efforts would be wasted. He remembered, again, the events afterward. The utter chaos as the man atop the beast let out an inhuman wail of defeat and anger, and pointed at the castle. He closed his eyes, remembering the flash of light as the castle was leveled. The King… where was the King? Mickey would have most definitely heard of this by now, but he hasn’t shown up. Riku tried not to fear the worst, but ever so slightly, the worst seemed to sneak up on him. What if Mickey needed their help? What if this Emperor Blackfaust had the King, waiting for someone to find and try and rescue him? Even Donald and Goofy were missing, possibly looking for the King themselves…

Worry filled Riku’s heart, but, now was a time for strength. He is a Keyblade Master. He was chosen to help lead everyone to victory, and to preserve the balance. But, what if Master Yen Sid was wrong? What would have happened if Xehanort hadn’t meddled in the Mark of Mastery? He was almost certain that both he and Sora would have succeeded. He knew it.

Sora finished the explanation of the Keyblade War and their purpose to Colonel Mustang, and he looked over to Sora, and nodded. “I know you can do it.” He said. He then looked to Roy. “Colonel, I have to thank you again for intervening.” He looked back to the books, and blinked. What was this? He reached up and found a book placed flat against the wall. No title. The cover was worn so much that it looked as though it would fall apart. He grabbed it and blew the dust off, wiping his hand across the spine. “Got an untitled one here, Sora.” He said, scowling at the book. He opened it, hearing the spine crack and pop from the weathering, and started to read.

Long days have passed since we have been here. This world seems to be struggling with a whole different kind of balance, gates opening at random points to allow energy to pass through the world from one point to another, keeping it intact. Whatever damaged this world before has made it nigh irreparable. Even our Keys, the gifted weapon of our ancestors, won’t allow us to assist. Something more than evil stirs here. Something-

“It’s too weathered to understand anymore.” Riku said quietly, starting to flip through more pages. The pages were water damaged and torn to the point of non-recognition. He frowned slightly, and looked inside the front cover.

“Look at this.” He held the book up to Sora and Mustang. “It’s a map.”

Within the map, he saw familiar names next to dots littering the inside of the hard back cover. Traverse Town. Land of Dragons. Worlds he and Sora had visited. It was a map to a dot labeled Serentestra.
“I think we’ve found our fist clue.”