Final Kingdom MUSH - User contributions [en]

Manhattan Restoration: Merlin's Invitation

2012-12-29T18:41:24Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/27 |Location=Merlin's Mystical House |Synopsis=After fending off an attack from Mad Madam Mim, heroes are gathered to hear Merlin's tidings..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/27
|Location=Merlin's Mystical House
|Synopsis=After fending off an attack from Mad Madam Mim, heroes are gathered to hear Merlin's tidings of comfort and joy, or at least tidings of 'not all hope is lost, now go out and kicks ome ass.'
|Cast of Characters=Faruja Senra, Deidra, Jack Skellington, Will Sherman, Mercade Alexander, Tifa Lockhart, Mad Madam Mim (GMed by Maleficent), Maira, Aerith, Merlin (GMed by Maleficent), Tom Magnusson, Celina Duvalis, Luso Clemens, TRON, Portobello, CADUCEUS, Legion, Isaac Hanlon
|Tinyplot=Manhattan Restoration
}}
:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' A bevy of rodents bring those who are interested in saving Manhattan to the lake below District 3. It's a cavernous place, where noise is both echoey off the hard rock walls, and muted by the immense brown-black waters. How Traverse Town hasn't fallen in is an open question. In the middle of the lake appears to be some sort of an island; slippery stepping stones -- MOVING slippery stepping stones -- bridge the gap, for the brave, the foolish, or the foolishly brave. There might be magic at work here. Otherwise, something's alive down there. Either way, the mice urge people onwards with excited squeaks, then disappear, down to the last whisker, into tunnels of their own.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade is totally going to be here. Saving Manhattan... He holds out hope that it's possible, but perhapd he wondered if it was even truly possible. Some direction on it proves to be... invigorating. Mercade follows the directions with eager anticipation, and looks over the lake. To those who would come with him, he says. "Huh. I wonder if we're meeting with Merlin tonight. This is his place."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will follows a mouse, it tells him a tail of a wizard who wants to gather those involved with Manhattan together. This gives him paws, as he holds a cat by the tail who is trying to eat the magical talking rat, before shooing the cat away, getting the mousy looking man onto his arm to lead him to the cheese. I mean wizard. Cheese Wizard? Will could use cheese right now. Will blinks as the stepping stones appear, and disappear, and love to be slippery. The island in the center seems to be the place, as his magical friend runs off, which causes him to think. Shrugging...he leaps onto one, onto the next, and finally lands on the island. The stones just appearing as he leaps from one to the next, and not repeating this series of jumping puzzles for hours. Yes, Will abuses his luck to solve disappearing block puzzles. "Maybe? You mean like, Merlin and King Arty, Merlin? He must be old like me."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' It all led up to this moment. Everything she'd worked for, all the people that helped her, had brought her to this place, the site where everything would begin. The place was immense, without a trace of support for the ceiling. Yet she didn't ask what exactly kept the town from collapsing, because she already had a guess. Besides, she doubted there was time to look for a proper answer. Instead she moved forward, thanking the critters that brought her here before she glanced at the stones. No turning back now, right? "This is the place indeed." She glanced toward the man with the trench coat and hat, looking like something straight out of one of those old detective movies. She hadn't seen him before... but it didn't matter, did it? If he was here, he was a friend. Then someone else spoke and began to cross. She took it as her cue to follow. "Not too many have the same name as that."

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Following along after the rodents along with the others making up the group of people wishing to save Manhattan, Luso could only stare curiously, wondering just how this sort of thing was going to play out. He had never been below Traverse Town before actually, so it was an interesting sight to see for sure. "Huh, you guys see that ilsand over there? Wow...we have to cross that huh?" The boy spoke to the others, not expecting an answer to his obvious question. "Looks kinda shakey if you ask me..." He spoke with an air of caution. ...And then he grinned. "Well! Only one way to find out! Let's go!" And so the idiot, I mean- hero, strode forward, diving headfirst into the stepping stone puzzle. He has a few near misses, but before too much longer, he finds himself on the shore of the island, nodding in satisfaction. "Heh! Nothing to it!"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Yeah." Mercade replies to Will. "But he looks /nothing/ like he does in Excalibur. It's pretty crazy." He looks around. "Things are going to get cramped, I think, if we're all going to have to go inside..."

:'''[[Celina Duvalis]] has posed:''' Celina is fascinated by the smart little mice. She does, indeed, follow them, eventually getting together with the rest of the group as she eyeballs the moving slippery stepping stones. "Why is it always jumping." She demands this of no one in particular, but she stops next to Mercade. "I hope so." She says, eagerly, even as she quietly watches everyone hop across. She barely makes it, faceplanting onto the ground on the other side. She's not a good jumper. "I hate jumping puzzles." Oh, Celly.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Faruja's clanking armor and greaved toe-claws make quite a bit of racket as he walks into the appointed meetingplace. His ears fold back in irritation at so much sound, briefly reflecting on his dire lack of stealth, if it were ever actually needed. Coming upon the island, and a certain Detective, the Burmecian crosses his chest and smiles. "I should certainly hope so! Or at least someone with an overall plan. 'Tis high time we strike back upon the Heretical witches who felled your city." Blink. Then there's a flower girl. He bows to her as well. Gesturing to the island, he nods. "Anyone care for a ferrying, should the stones prove too much?" As for his fellow mice? They're slipped some lettuce to eat. A glance to Luso. "...Mmm. How brave."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira was quite delighted to find that a mouse had brought her a message, and cautiously hopeful that Merlin might have a way for them to save Manhattan. No way would she miss this. She arrives on her own, dressed in her new (fireproof) clothes and smiling shyly, looking around with wide eyes filled with wonder. "Wow...never knew this was here..." she says to Uist, then strides forward as she sees some familiar faces. Mercade!? Maira rushes forward. "Mercade! You're okay! I haven't seen you in...in...since--" well, he knows since when. She turns then and calls to Aerith, waving emphatically. Looks like the mice brought a lot of messages! Then, she notices Faruja as well. "Ah! Faruja!" she calls and scurries over toward him, hugging him fiercely.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello had just returned to Traverse Town from the Chocobo Ranch and was planning out his next destionedwhen he had received this rather unusual message. It might have seem cryptic to some, but Portobello knew all too well this was exactly what he had been looking for. Had all that aimless traveling to gather information on something he knew so little about prove to be nothing more than a distraction? Or had his efforts somehow gone noticed and now was the time at had he could finally make a difference? It didn't matter because the call had definitely gone out and he was not going to stand idle while somebody needed his help. He thought he had covered every corner of Traverse Town, though he had never come across this place before. The way it seemed so out of place with the rest of the town made the anticipation growing inside him all the more tense.

:'''[[Jack Skellington]] has posed:''' It was not meant for him. Perhaps it was meant for yet another hero, perhaps. Curiosity killed the cat, after all. Perhaps a bit too literately in this sense. For the cat found itself among the undead after a mis-turn, and dead he 'became'. The oddity of it all, to Jack, however, how the cat became alive once again as he took it out, no, left the world of Halloween Town. "My... what a wonderous thing! I will call you Schrodinger!" The skeleton exclaimed, "Yet I wonder why, of all the names, that one leaps to my lips! ... Oh well." He exclaimed, letting it down. Then he followed it. Followed it for so very long. It lept across the stones, but Jack did not follow it initially. Only as the others begin to arrive does something begin to stir. Celina Duvalis barely lands onto the opposite side. That is when a bony hand grasps at her, clenching around the ankle and beginning to slowly, surely, reel her into the water. Slow enough that she would be able to fight back - to fear. That is the point. But not slow enough that it is comical at best.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will looks towards Faruja. "I am not waring those clothes you sent to me. No way no how. They are itchy, smell weird, and of course look so...churchy." he says, disgruntled.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' A cheerful 'kweh~' is heard, approaching to gathering of people. Appointed time, letter in hand, delivery mouse perched on her head, the barmaid appears atop of the chocobo. Red in color too, as if it wasn't already flashy enough as it is, moving atop a chocobo in Traverse Town. She had to be quick, she got the 'mouse' not that long ago, so she came here post-haste. She hops off the steed, offering a clump of greens along with a petting of its mane. The mouse on top of her head is mostly forgotten. Looks like it was happy to be 'higher than most' for once. She walks over to Aerith, poking her shoulder, and pointing to the mouse "I haz a mousie." She says kiddingly. "I heard we found a way, then?"

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' The Network is too neutral in alignment to get their own mouse. Umi, being hospitalized, instead gets a mouse that tends to her bandages while singing about it. She remains unconcious. But they can follow the rest of the TDA. They do not, for the moment, try to steal Isaac's Pennybook. Two are missing from this escapade: Omi and Umi. The other three, who presently have not accepted names have come along, though, and when Isaac starts showing off like a big ol' show off, The three Legions follow behind him, seeming intrigued by this strange path. "Does this lake have fishes?, The Network inquires." The one closest to Isaac asks. The one at the rear, however, withdraws a magnifying glass and examines the square panels. Hmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm. The one who asked about the fishes looks back towards Faruja and she clasps her hands to her mouth in alarm. "Redwall." She whispers.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan can't explain why he's here. The call seemed to... resonate, for lack of a better word. But here he is, still wearing the same clothes he had worn when he was evacuated from Manhattan. People come and go, he spots a familiar face or two, and he decides he certainly doesn't want to be left behind as the crowd begins crossing the lake. He carefully jumps across the moving steps to join the others, seemingly unchallenged by the obstacle.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith glanced toward Tifa and Maira with a grin. "Glad you guys could make it! And yes, you has a cute mousie." She leapt toward yet another stepping stone. "Apparently there is a way to do this, but we all had to be here at once for it to happen." She made her way across to the next one, the island looming ever closer. "Whatever's gonna happen though, I'm ready for it."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Maira!" Mercade calls. He waves, smiling. "I'm glad to see you again! I'm sorry, things had been really... weird." He admits, a litle crestfallen. "But we're all here, and that's what matters." He chuckles to Isaac, and shrugs. "Well, if anyone seems deserving of the name, this guy is it. He's pretty archetypal. You'll love it, Isaac." He waves to Faruja. "Hello, Sir Knight! Good to see you again! And you too, Aerith!" Man, /everyone/ is showing up here! Even a bunch of people he's never met! He smiles. There are heroes left in Man yet.

:'''[[Celina Duvalis]] has posed:''' Celina gives a sharp, sudden squeal, as she's grabbed via the ankle on her way back up to safe ground. Cue comic flailing as the woman attempts to grab on to the next nearest heavy, stable object, or nearest person. "Augh! Nononononono!" Celly does not like being grabbed by things!

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' The panels look like glass, grip like a paved street, and gradually lose their light and fade away after a period of standing on them. Tricky things. "I suspect that if it has fish," Isaac replies over his shoulder, "they'll leave us alone til we get to the other side. You could come back with a rod and some bait if you want, though."

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra is hot on Merade's heels as she arrives not flying but walking this time. "Maira!." Issac she doesn't know yet she give shia grin and tries to not look like a threat at the man. "hello there!" Mercade seemns to know him it mens he should be all right, right?! Alan gets a notice from the gargyole but not. "It seems we're not the only ones here."

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Standing on the shore of the island, Luso watched as the other congregated, socializing with each other. "Man, looks like the calvary's come out this time!" He mused aloud, rubbing the back of his head idly. He smiled as he watched everyone's convercations momentarily before turning his back to them to check out the rest of the island from where he stood. "Wonder whats gonna go down here though..." An arm rested upon his grimoire lazily as he spoke to himself. "...Saving Manhattan...it'd be great if we could free it from the darkness."

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello heard a rather familiar 'kweh' noise as he turned towards the direction of it, only to see an even more familiar red shape as he went over to greet the rider, tilting his head upwards to face her, "Miss Tifa, you came here too? I should not be surprised considering the message that was given. It seems like those who are watching us have set a path for us to follow now, Kupo." He says in a somewhat excited voice. Nomrally he's not so alert in tone and demeanor but this was certainly an occurance that demanded his full perception.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Suddenly, a Maira! Faruja's smile blossoms as he hears the woman's voice, and then finds himself going red in the ears as he's hugged! In public! Briefly looking torn, he finally settles on hugging back, the emotionally charged week finally breaking down his propriety. "Lady Maira! My, my! You look absolutely /glorious/ M'Lady! Mayhap not something I would have picked for you, but 'tis suiting!" A pause. "...'Tis resistant to flame, yes? I have only so many robes to lend." Eventually, he'll let go of Maira, bowing to those who arrive. Will gets a brief glare. "Mayhap, then, Ser Sherman, I shall have you dressed as a nun for our little gathering if you find them unsuiting of you, hmm?" Peeer! Peer! One ear perks to Legion, and the rat-man tilts his head. There's no sword on this mouse, and he certainly doesn't know anyone by the name of Martin! Still, he gives a pleasant smile and a crossing of his chest. "M'Lady, good 'eve." To Tifa, he winces briefly, at seeing the color of her chocobo. He clears his throat. "Ahh, Lady Lockhart, 'tis a pleasure as always. Err...do be careful. Such a breed of chocobo is rather...ahh...prone to collatoral damage." Hopefully there won't be any chocometeors here. "Lady Deidra! Excellent, excellent. I see I am in good compan..." There's a scream. "Never a dull moment. Come, M'Lady!" Maira is scooped up by the ratling, and he Jumps towards the lake! "Unhand the Lady, knave!" With Maira in his arms, he can't exactly draw a spear. But hopefully Maira can help with her pyrotecnics.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Celina happens to grab Alan's sleeve in the midst of her flailing. He glances down at her in surprise, then just as quickly moves to help pull her away from the water's edge. How successful this proves to be remains to be seen, but at least it'll keep her from falling in! "Are you alright?" His question is drowned out by Faruja's call to arms, a voice he recognizes at least in this group of unfamiliarity.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' As Maira turns to cross the lake, she watches a new figure, Isaac, making the crossing a little easier. Grinning, she calls out to him, "THANK YOOOUU!" because she is pretty sure drowning in Merlin's lake isn't going to make the best impression. Maira waves to everyone else she knows, and those she doesn't friendly and feeling optimistic. She looks back to Mercade then, giving him a resolute nod. "I know. We're going to save Manhattan though. We're going to do it." Then, she turns back to Faruja, blushing as she looks down at her dress. "Heh...thank you. It is really amazing isn't it? I can't believe Ivo did this. YES, it is fire proof!" she comments. Then, Faruja scoops her up! Maira squees briefly then holds on, laughing all the while.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' The island is occupied by a curious structure. 'Ramshackle' describes it well, in a single word. 'Exploding' is also adequate, right at the moment, as the roof literally comes right off in a cloud of pink smoke. "OUT!" shouts a furious, quavery old man voice. "My automatic potato smasher! My bottle rocket! /My light bulb/! You... you... you... you are disrupting vital experiments!" An old woman voice that is as maliciously amused as it is furious replies, "Out? You want me out? You're the one who's been needing to come out for centuries, you old, old, old trout!" "A /trout/ am I? I'll show you a trout!" And then things get very, very, very quiet, for a dreadfully long moment, before the female voice starts laughing maniacally. Its source is revealed in the grotesque visage of a crone with a mop of scraggly pink hair. She comes rising out of the building, holding a glass bowl under one arm -- within which is a very blue trout wearing spectacles and a rather untroutlike white beard. "You're /soooooooo/ predictable, Merlin dear! You thought you could get the better of Mad Madam Mim! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Then she notices the small army of heroes arrayed around the edges of the island. *blink* "Ahem. I'll just be going~"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart nods and smiles to Portobello "I told you we were looking for a way to restore Manhattan. This is the time." She walks over to Mercade, hold the chcoobo's reins with one hand "Mercade, looks like we'll have to move our plans of the bar if we an manage this." She looks over to the rest of the gathering "... And looking at everyone here, full of confidence, how can we fail?" She doesn't mean to find ways to, but it would demolish everyone if it didn't happen. She turns over to Merlin as he appears, lifting an eyebrow. The mouse on her head squeaks and hops down, running over back to Merlin's side.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith's eyes widened as the cackle echoed across the cavern, then narrowed her eyes as she lifted her right hand. "You're not going anywhere..." Something new happened. Something that didn't come from her materia. A bright green burst of energy fired from the palm of her hand, heading straight for... Mad Madam Mim. The name would have made her laugh if she weren't such an obstacle. "Put the fish bowl down, now!"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will pauses... Looking at Celina as Jack plays his trick. He looks towards the water, seeing... Not evil. He thinks about this for a moment, not meeting the man before, but something...just doesn't peg as...bad. Also, the fact that he wasn't dragging her dangerously, so... Then the scream of TROUT! Will turns, watching as Mim walks out with the bowl under her hand. He looks at the bowl with the bearded fish, and then Mim... Fish don't have strings like this, and Mim's own strings were... "Hi. I'll that fish off your hands ma'am! I insist in helping the elderly!" he says, running by, trying to grab the bowl away from her while his hands move to try and touch the strings of fate he has... Which will no doubt act strangely to the sorceress. She could see them, and the no small amount of magic this boy has.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade reels as the explosion blows the top of the building. Literally. With several backsteps, he flips his hand, producing a pearl-handled revolver. Sort of like the ones you see stage magicians use, really. Except this one isn't loaded with blanks. He leveld the gun at Madam Mim, and yells, "Unhand that wizardly trout, witch!" He doesn't fire yet, but he does get ready for potential retaliation, sticking to a ranged position at the edge of the lake.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso could hear the faint sounds of two people arguing from inside of the shack and stepped forward for better listening. "Huh? You guys hear that?" And then came the silence. "......I guess I was just hearing--WHOA" Seeing the woman come out, a very strange looking trout under her arm. "....Well, this just looks all sorts of-" But there was no time left to comment as whoosh! Here came a flurry of attacks from the heroes behind him! "Whoa hey! You guys could have warned me!" Luso cried, leaping back out of the line of fire as he drew the Ogun Blade and the Kwigon Blade. "Alright! I'm gonna guess we need that trout! So if you don't mind Lady, we'll be taking it back!" Grinning confidently, the boy then began to glow with an orange aura, powering himself up for the next move.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello was about to ask Tifa about her friend beside her when the cackling noise had drawn his attention towards the house in the center of the island. He heard the arguements of what he thought were some old couple fighting but it turned out to be something a bit more serious than that. "Kupo, I guess we're on the right path if the way ahead of us is filled with dangerous obsticles, yes?" He reaches for his pouches on his belt, taking out their contents which are two small consoles with more dials, buttons and control sticks on them than one might realize. He flicks a switch on the side of the left one as a humming noise is heard from his backpack.

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra watches as things get fishy as heck. Mim shows up, pranks are played, and all sorts of other antics going on. She narrows her eyes for a little bit she doesn't like where this is going but it seems to be time to get started. She's got her spell book out nd she looking at Mim. "All right, put the fish down lady. This is your only warning!"

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' The Legion that asked about the fishes skips on over to Faruja, hesitatingly, and then Faruja does knightly things (swordlessness notwithstanding) which makes her stall a bit. There's a fight. what? what? What's going on? She lowers her hand, however, a bit dissapointed, she looks after Faruja, her eyes--filled with a certain kind of longing. BUT IT IS INTERRUPTED! BY SHOUTING! ANGER! TRANSFORMATIONS! "Are they flirting?, The Network inquires?" Magnifying Glass Legion asks. "I think it is practical jokery." The one behind her says. But the one who had been fawning over FAruja is distracted. By Fish!!! No... A FISH IN DANGER!? We'll call her Animal Loving Legion. Animal Loving Legion's cheeks puff out as she observes the Sorceress, her hands shake faintly before she says, "I don't know what's going on here, The Network admits, but nobody...is abusing that poor old fish while I'm around." "...The Network notes that the fish is probably Merlin." Magnifying Glass Legion says. "He's still a fish, and even a sorceror fish needs help sometimes." She skips on after Mim but doesn't strike at her. She's worried about hitting poor Merlin! Instead, electtricity rippls around her. She fans out both her arms and sends a protective electric shield around Mercade and Will--- --and FARUJA because he's a noble churchrat. "Please let go of him, ma'am." She says. "I will give you ten munny."

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' The sound a light cycle humming before a green one comes to the sound of the commotion, though the lack of real way to ride across caused the rider to stop. He then turns around and rides off, speeding off. As he vanishes the sound of that humming is getting fainter before it becomes louder and louder and louder and next thing one would know, the cycle comes out, leaping across the water. The cycle manages to make it though it lands on the front wheel and flips, sliding forward. As it slides the cycle disolves in green holographic light, revealing CADUCEUS sliding forward now as he tries to get up, green glowing rod being put along his leg. "Did I miss anything?"

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac steps off onto the island. He observes the shenanigans perpetrated by the other heroes et al, and grins a little at Mercade as he goes. "Yeah? We'll see --" He stops, eyes catching the roof exploding off the house in the... pink? ...cloud of smoke. He looks a little perplexed. Then, the hag comes out. Isaac stares at her for just a second, but then catches himself. He composes himself, holding his tablet in one hand and his field of vision, watching her with the fishbowl as the realization that she just ran smack-dab into the collected and assorted Forces of Goodness and Light appears on her face. "It's just times like these that make it all worth it, y'know?" Isaac asides to Mercade as he backs off. He utters a quick few syllables, making a broad sweeping motion with his free hand, and a barrier of what appears to be poorly-rendered fire springs up around him. He steps back, and up, and he's in the air again. The barrier turns itself into a sphere as soon as he leaves the ground. "Excuse me, Miss Mad Madam Mim?" he calls. "My name is Isaac Hanlon, and these are my friends and their friends and so on. We'd like to have a word with Merlin. Would you mind..." He stops, looking around for a moment as a bunch of people ask what he was about to. Isaac gestures with his free hand, shrugging a shoulder. "Y'know. What they said."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' And, Maira is let down, the sudden appearance of a laughing madwoman briefly distracting him from Celina's troubles. "...I think not. Do put the...gentlebeing down, if you please." Then, there's Aerith's materia and associated green burst of light. Well. Standing in front of Maira protectively, he levels his spear, already glowing white. A few incantations later, and several of those across will find themselves under the effects of a Protect spell. All of this, of course, means that he mostly misses Animal Loving Legion's look. But he does note the electric shield. "Look about you, M'Lady. There are far too many of us, and but one of you. You shall be over run if you do not put down..." An ear perks to Legion. "As the Lady says, Ser Merlin. We've business with the gentlefish. Pray do not interrupt it." Twitch. The rat briefly glares in the direction of a Priestess of the Other Church balefully. Something about heathens is muttered under his breath even as he keeps his attention on the old crone.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Suddenly, all the world has come to a stop. Maira looks backward as Faruja leaps, her whole lurching into dramatic slow-motion. "Oooh...." she utters, her voice expressing the longing and surprise of someone who has fallen in love at first sight. Her gaze is fixed upon CADUCEUS, or, more accurately, his light cycle. Also, there's some kind of explosion or something? LIGHT CYCLE! She is actually making grabby hands. Right. Stuff is happening, Uist reminds her sternly with a quick pinch. There is some old women with a bearded fish in a bowl trying to get away and people don't seem too pleased with it. B-b-but...she gazes back toward the light cycle while she casts a protection spell.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' The roof exploding off of the ramshackle hut in a cloud of pink smoke caught Alan's attention immediately, initial surprise being quickly replaced by a sharply focused look. Explosions rarely equal something /good/ happening, no matter what world one comes from. He makes sure Celina Duvalis is safely on solid ground before moving to intercept Mad Madam Mim with the others. CADUCEUS' appearance is a welcome familiar face as everyone prepares for a fight. "CADUCEUS! Glad you could make it!" Alan takes his glasses off and tucks them into a back pocket before untucking his shirt from his beltline. He pulls free what appears to be a silver Frisbee with glowing white-blue rings on the surface, shifting to a battle-ready stance and pooling his strength for combat.

:'''[[Mad Madam Mim]] has posed:''' "Witch?!" squeals Mim angrily, as aspersions are cast as quickly as spells. "You will address me as /Madam/!" Then somebody does, and she grins, very toothily, at Isaac. "I couldn't agree more, young man," is her somewhat ominous remark re: moments like these being what makes everything worthwhile. Then Will runs in and tries to grab the fishbowl. He yanks it straight out of her hands, and she stomps her foot painfully hard from in midair, where she stands. The trout inside, meanwhile, seems to be muttering strings of nonsense words -- either he isn't all there, or he's trying to do something. He's not going to be a lot of help right now either way. "Hee hee hee hee! When I caught that mouse in my trap, I never thought it would lead me to so /many/ more." She wriggles her fingers, and rays of light pour out of them to cover each and every person on the battlefield. When the light clears... there are, indeed, many more mice, still clad in appropriate anthropogenic clothing and armed with tiny weapons. No one is spared, though it disorients some more than others, no doubt. Stooping down, which looks arthritically painful, Mim scoops that fishbowl back up. "Whatcha gonna do now?"

:'''[[Jack Skellington]] has posed:''' Slips under the water at the scream, then appears atop the building, watching on. "How wonderful a scream!" He exclaims, grinning wide... "And a scene... my, such a .. You aren't a witch?" The skeleton asks. "How odd..."

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' CADUCEUS pulls his disc off and as the light comes he uses his disk as a shield to deflect the light back and he glances around to find himself...small. "Um...Okay...This...is...definatly not logical." He says, seeming somewhat confused before he turned his attention to Tron. "Hey! Came to investigate the noise." He says as he would turn the disk over so he could poke at the glowing green lines, and holds the flat side up to TRON. "Let me give you a hand!" He says and when TRON looks, he should notice a green holographic visor forming along his eyes giving him a heads up display to increase accuracy, his disk should gain a green holographic edge and his body gains green holographic armor, with an increase to his systems.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' And now Aerith is... a little bitty mouse! And she's not necessarily having a good time of it, as she finds the world spinning before her. She is certainly a cutie though, her jeans, jacket, and other clothing articles. She still has that staff, too. peach colored fur, the same light brown hair, the same clear green eyes... which now blink in confusion as the world suddenly gets much bigger. She glanced toward Tifa, her eyes narrowed. "Okay fine, we'll do this the hard way. Tifa, let's go!" Aerith sprinted forward, alongside Tifa, giving some proper artillery support with bolts of spirit energy. If nothing else, she's got some spunk for a mousie!

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Eh?" What was all Luso managed to get out before FLASH. Suddenly the world got a WHOLE LOT BIGGER. Opening his eyes then, he blinked a couple times before glancing about. "...Ergh...Why do I suddenly feel so...out of it?" The boy mumbled, rubbing the side of his head with a paw. Wait, a paw? "Eh? EHHHH!? What the heck happened!?" Luso cried, lamenting his own appearance. The others could see a brown mouse, donning a red hat with multiple tiny weapons strapped behind it. It was...a hilarious sight really. "I'm so gonna get you for this one!" He yelled, gripping his tiny weapons indignantly before running forward to unleash the most powerful combo of slashes that his mousy little body could muster! "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Yeah, I think it does, Isaac." Mercade replies, grinning. And then the, well, witch turns him into a mouse! Mercade is stunned from the magical assauly, and he looks down at himself, woozily patting his now furry self. "Wow. Is this what it's like to be Faruja?" He says, offhandedly. He grimaces, experimentally opening and closing his mouth a bit. "Wow, that's crazy." He squeaks. The Mouse Detective (he's not Great yet!) holds up his tiny gun. "What am I going to do, you ask?" Mercade says. "I'm going to do THIS!" He fires bullets from the tiny gun, possibly sending Mim flying all over the place!

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart didn't even realize that was a bad person, honestly. She just heard an explosion... but she's at Merlin's house. He's a wizard. Wizard do stuff that go boom. She doesn't know much about wizards. But she definitely know something's bad when the magical attacks come her way. Why is it always magical lately!?! ;_; It hurts. And apparently also turns her into a mouse? She has a 'squeak' sound whens he wants to talk, hands coming over her mouth "What's going on?!!?" She's still dressed in her leather suit, that is still tight fitting (but less curvy inside of it), and she scratches the hurt tip of her ear "Why are you a mouse Aerith?" She looks at herself "Why am I a mouse Aerith?" It was that attack wasn't it... that lady needs to learn some manners, jsut attacking like that. well she did come out of Merlin's house, so probably the reason for the explosions. Time to distribute some mousie fists of justice then!

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello didn't have much time to prepare himself for the spell that was about to be cast. Though he noticed whomever got hit by the magic suddenly dissapeared before his eyes....no wait, did they turn into mice? His question is soon answered as him and his equipment is quickly reduced in size as well, now standing around the same height as mouse Tifa and mouse Aerith and anyone else who was nearby, "Kupo...being small is suppose to discourage me? You'll have to do much better than that!" He calls out, even if his voice is quite tiny. He presses a button on the small consoles and the bottom of his backpack extends a pair of thrusters which propel him into the air.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' ...Lot of good that protection spell did her. Suddenly, everything is growing HUGE around her, the world becoming a terrifyingly large and alien place. Ah, but it is not growing, is it? She is /shrinking/! Blinking two little mouse eyes, Maira stands up on two cute little mouse feet and looks down at herself. "SQUEAK!" She's a mouse! A MOUSE! Oh no oh no oh no! Maira turns to Faruja, who is, well, the only one here who was already sort of a mouse. Now he's just smaller? Maira is very confused! So, this woman is a mage is she!? Well! So is Maira! She's going to fight back! Wait! Wait! Is the light cycle okay!? FOCUS MAIRA. Her little tail catches flame as she summons her magic (well, at least that still works!) and produces a fireball about ten times her size like it is no big deal. She lets out a mousy battle-cry that only manages to be completely adorable and not the least bit frightening. But fire burns all the same, right?

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra says "Madam wait you want to be assoiate with running a brothel?" The Gargyole just stares at the witch for a moment longer oh well if she wnat sto be refered to as that she might as well be. She's now caught in the attack it's a whole lot of mice, mice knights are asasuklting her but she surived well enough. Shortly she's got the book open and is just chanting a spell turning the winds on witch she'll attempt to air juggle her and she contiunes chanting in latin! As more bursts of wind. She's not even noticed she's a mouse yet. She's too busy focusing on her spells and the tornato keeps coming.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan braces himself for an attack, his disc rising to block it-- --Only to be blinded by a burst of light and his entire sense of perspective goes askew. He shakes his head and looks around, his nose twitching... wait. Nose? Small hands search over his form, Big round ears, fur, whiskers, even a tail--and it looks like he's holding a tiny glowing saucer for a disc. This does not compute, and he almost visibly bluescreens for a few moments. CADUCEUS' familiar voice snaps him out of it as the other Program gets closer, his vision turning green as the enhancements take effect. "SQUEAK! My thanks, Program." He twirls his itty-bitty disc between his paws, focusing back on Mad Madam Mim as he retakes his stance. It's actually kinda funny, in a way. With a grunted squeak, he spins and lets his disc fly, aiming specifically to make her drop the fish bowl. Hopefully it's not fragile.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Oddly, fire does not block light. Go figure. Isaac's position in the air amongst the light show is pretty obvious -- he's a ball of upwards- (and downwards-) flowing fire under attack by a bunch of jealous lasers. Inside it, he's got a clear line of sight on the witch laying down the fire, but his perspective seems... skewed. He looks down at himself, and sees everything is pretty normal, except he's... fuzzy? Isaac's expression is best described as 'colon vertical line'. There's another throat-clearing sound. His squeaking voice abruptly takes on normal pitch and tone again -- a simple task for someone who uses sound so much in what he does. "Okay. That's kind of obnoxious. Here, have one of mine." The ball of fire he's hovering around in abruptly shrinks to appropriate rodent proportions. The surface of the fire trembles for a moment, and the surface of the lake does with it. Two spouts of water shoot straight up and then curve back downwards, dropping towards the witch and exploding into droplets, a fine mist of pretty much just annoying rain. Well... it'd be merely annoying if it wasn't falling at several times normal gravity, making each droplet feel like a stone. The fact that when they land they explode into a noise not unlike the sound of snow on a TV amplified several times over probably sucks, too.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will... Is a lot smaller looking up at the ugly mug of the mad witch. He looks...preturbed by this, being a mouse. He isn't a mouse, even though his hat is still on his head, and he looks like a strange new york mouse with dirty fur. His right hand starts to spark, realizing his still has the power, and then he looks towards Mad Mim, as he simply reaches up... This time, he starts tearing at her strings, these things become visible, brilliantly so, as he dives at her face, even if he can't hurt her much? The fact that her strings are still laid bare to him CAN. Each scratch, each bite, each annoying tail flick against her nose... "Squeek." he says annoyed.

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' CADUCEUS then looks about and gives a good look of himself over. He seems to be...fatter. There was a tail coming out of his rump but this tail looked more like a wire. He then notice that...his face clicks. He has become an animated computer mouse! With little itty bitty green disk in hand, He throws it at the Madam, and as it flies, it will bounce off any nearby surroundings and ricochets off a nearby surface to fly at the madam in another direction before it ricochets yet again to fly against her before it flies back to CADUCEUS, Computer mouse medic.

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' MAGIC HAPPENS AND SUDDENLY SUDDENLY!!! Suddenly Animal Loving Legion is a mouse. She blinks twice. Her whiskers twitch. She lowers the gun (now adorable) she was about to shoot Mim with. Her tail twitches from side to side. She looks back at it and squeaks. She blinks a few more times. And then she takes in a slow breath and looks to her fellow Miced Legions. She smiles at them and says, "Isn't...isn't this wonderful? What a nice kidnapper..." The two Miced Legions look back at her in a decidedly nonplussed manner. The Legion with the magnifying glass now kind of looks like a female mouse version of Basil from The Great Mouse Detective except a lot less pompous so, basically, not like Basil at all. Animal Loving Legion looks back towards Faruja, who has provided her with protective magic. "Thank you." She says. "And now..." She lowers her head faintly. "...We can always be together." She looks up hopefully towards Faruja. ... ... ... "That was a joke." She says. "But this is the best day of my life, all the same. This node confirms that she can die happy now." Magnifying Glass Mouse facepaws. She draws back out her pistol and fires a few shots off with it for Madam Mim, a big smile on her face before a blast of thunder comes down, threatening to collide against Mim's body yet, mysteriously, controlled enough that it doesn't get in that fishbowl. She is totally blissful. Everybody is a mouse. The world is wonderful.

:'''[[Mad Madam Mim]] has posed:''' Mad Madam Mim is alternatively blasted, beaten, shot, stabbed and generally maltreated. Ergo, she decides to depart. "I won't forget this / your chances are slim! / when next you encounter me / mad madam / mad madam / mad mad mad mad madam Mim!" And off she goes, disappearing into thin air with a series of cackles and all-purpose amusement. Merlin, meanwhile, rises out of the pot with a muttered 'hickety bickety'. He looks straight out of the storybooks, white-bearded as before, blue-robed as one might expect, and eye-twinkled, though right at the moment he seems more annoyed than anything else, to have been shown up by his rival. A second brief incantation restores everyone back to normal. "Well! That was an adventure," he grouses, before restoring the roof, as well, with a flick of his hands, and heading back inside. "Do come in! We have much to discuss."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart only gets to punch her once! Hey, come back here! Oh well. These mousie fists don't reach far enough anyway. And then its human fists again. Given that the space they need is much smaller as a mouse than a human, there's likely to have quite the bit of body-bumping as they get back to normal. Tifa gets knocked down backward into a random person with a 'ack!'

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Suddenly the world returns to normal, and Aerith's initial suspicions were confirmed. Fish = Merlin. She made an attempt to be the first inside, to see what the fuss was all about. Aerith looked back at Tifa and gestured toward her for a moment. "Come on, let's get moving. She was just a side show anyway." It didn't feel pleasant to face her again, though... She'd have to be careful.

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' CADUCEUS looks to himself as he is turned back. "That...did not compute..." He says as he sighs and looks to the various people. "Those injured please come to me and I will see about treating those injuries." He calls as he begins to treat TRON and Maira, TRON cause he was awesome and Maira cause she has good taste.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Suddenly, magic. Blink. Blink. Faruja is...smaller. Mouse-sized. But otherwise unchanged. Glancing to his companions, the now even shorter Burmecian glares at the suddenly giant Witch, trembling in undisguised anger, as the implications hit him. "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, I AM A NEZUMI, NOT A FARAM-BLASTED MOUSE YOU FOOLISH HUMAN!" The rat's darn loud, even pint-sized. The resulting beam of Light he tries to slam down upon the offending Madam's head is thus rather inaccurate. At least Maira's helping out with the spells. Still, time to switch up, the ratling healing his new fellow mice of their wounds while performing his usual role of 'be the meatshield for Fire Lady'. On the upside? He turns to Maira. Blink. He stares a moment before hurriedly looking away. "...My, my." Blush! She looks even better with a proper tail! Cough. "Have no fear, M'Lady! Though our stature may be reduced, 'tis our SOULS that stand taller than this miniscule Witch! Fight bravely!" Of course, even as he applies healing to accentuate his point, Animal Legion speaks. It throws off his heroic speech nicely. Slowly he turns, staring at the Animal Loving Legion. His muzzle drops, then closes. Staaare. A moment passes. Slowly, a blush claims the white of his fur. "B...we have h...hardly m...I...." Cue one flustered Templar. Thud thud thud. 'A joke.' The rat visibly deflates. "...Quite, M'Lady! Temple Knight Faruja Senra, of the Church of Saint Ajora, well met, and the like! But introductions later, and please do not joke of such! I..." His head droops. "...the good Lord did not bless me with luck amongst Dames." Siiigh. But there's fighting to do. Shots, and punches, and other things of pain are applied to Mim, and she's driven off. Faruja shakes his spear. "Flee, coward! For when next we meet, you shan't be so lucky Witch!" The Holy Dragoon then begins to tend to the wounds of everyone alongside Caduceus, though notably he doesn't deign to make eye contact with the Guado, even if she allows him to cast upon her. At least the Burmecian's back to normal size, but no less or more mousey.

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra isn't sure what to think of Mim, her choice of title prehaps it's some cultural differnce between wordls who knows but she's gone as quickly as she came. Who the heck was she? She's going to have to look up that Mim did seem to be notably powrfuil as she realise she's a mouse. Just as she does it's not a issues any more the Gargyole shakes her head a little bit and she looks to Faruja for a moment "So.... you all right? Is everyone else?"

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan's disc comes flying back to him as Mad Madam Mim decides to teleport away instead of causing further chaos. He barely has enough time to let out an annoyed huff before perspective changes yet again and he loses his sense of balance. He takes a knee to recover, shaking his head woozily, and CADUCEUS' healing takes effect moments later. "That was... interesting..." Alan sounds less-than-certain as he tucks his disc back underneath his turtleneck and slowly rises back to his feet. He nods a silent thanks to CADUCEUS and motions for the Program to follow when he can, moving to follow Merlin himself.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is a hobo again. "You know I am really not okay with being a rat. It smells weird...I have a strong desire for cheese, and everything is tiny. GOd and the smel-" he looks at Faruja. Then back at himself. "God the smell." he says, shuddering, and walks inside after Merlin.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello apparently had not crossed enough distance to close the gap between himself and the evil witch in time and the barrage of attacks from the others had quickly taken the fight out of her. Well, at least that issue was out of the way, and the man who was a fish had been restored soon after and had taken care of their small problem. If that gentleman in the blue outfit didn't have the magic he did then traveling about as a mouse would have been a harrowing experience. It's enough of a bother that he gets knocked about on occation when moving through crowds, having to worry about ending up underfoot would have been nerve wracking. Once he's invited inside he quickly files in along with the others and heads towards a spot where he can see and heard Merlin properly so all of what's going on can be revealed.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira looks toward Faruja only to find him staring at her and blushing. She blinks several times in confusion. Why is he staring!? Then, in what seems like a flash, Maira is growing again. This is incredibly disorienting. She is quite glad that Madam Mim has decided she doesn't want to drag out a fight, but really, everything is happening so quickly. Thankful to be herself again, all the same she sits down for a moment, reeling from the rapid changes in her form. "Unnnng...." she says, flopping back only to be tended by CAD. She turns to look toward him, her eyes widening as she grabs for his sleeve. "Is...is it alright? The shiny?" ....As mentioned, magic is a hell of a drug.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Poof! And then suddenly he was no longer a mouse! "Phew! That was the weirdest thing I've ever had to go through since that time I had to go on that wild goose chase to cure Frimelda!" Grinning despite the experience, Luso, sheathed his swords and chuckled, looking about at everyone else. Looks like they were fine as well. Good, good! The boy's attention was then drawn to Merlin, raising an eyebrow at his appearance. Huh, he looked....exactly like he expected a Merlin to look. Funny that. Oh well! No more need to dwell on the past! Time to follow and see what was what! Manhattan was hanging in the balance now after all! The sooner they could talk things out, the sooner they'd figure out what to do about the fallen world.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Mouse!Isaac turns off the storm before anyone gets bruised and deafened by rain. He's polite like that. Then, suddenly, back to normal. He drops a plethora of spells, both from his memory and his tablet's. The firewall disappears, and he floats back to the ground, landing lightly. He glances around, quirking a brow at the Legionaires as if nonverbally acting concerned, and then turns ahead again. Isaac slips his tablet back into his coat pocket, letting his hand rest lightly on it inside. Right. House. Isaac starts for the door, observing magic in action. He takes mental notes, deciding to commit them to electronic form later.

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' SECRET BACKSTORY FOR PLAYER EYES ONLY. CHARACTERS DO NOT GET TO SEE THIS MYSTERIOUS INFORMATION THAT ONLY PLAYERS, WHO ARE SUPER VIP AND GET TO SEE ALL SORTS OF BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE, GET TO SEE THIS NEXT REVELATION. Ami wasn't really joking (except perhaps in terms of level). She's just super shy and afraid of rejection?! OKAY CHARACTERS CAN SEE THIS NEXT BIT GUYS. Ami raises her hand in the air, noticing Faruja's say, "a..ah...ah...s..s..." She stammers before lowering her hand and looking totally miserable. She kicks her foot across the ground lightly and not even returning to human form and Merlin being saved can really cheer her up. The Legions walk in, Animal Loving Legion continuing her staaaaaaaaaaaring at Faruja.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' And Mim engages in a tactical retreat. Mousecade looks over at the purple-pink smoke. "That won't be the last time we'll have to deal with that maniac." He says. Merlin restores himself, and then everyone else. Mercade checks himself for any leftover fur (or tail, that would be embarassing). Satisfied that he's restored, Mercade waves to Merlin in the distance. "Hey Merlin! Good to see you again!" He begins hopping his way across the platforms. He's done this before a few times, so he's getting used to it. "Hippoty hoppity..." Once he finally gets across, he joins the growing throng. "You called us here, Merlin? I'm glad we were here in time to give you a hand."

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' CADUCEUS chuckles. "It is alright." He says with a happy tone before looking up to TRON and nodding as he makes sure the self repair code was implimented and was working properly on Maira before going to follow the program pretending to be a user.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will looks at Faruja. "Geeze, dude. Way to make the girl upset!" he glares at him, crossing his arms and looking at the Rat with a bit of a scowl. "Seriously. Jerk." Will says, completely put off by the rat's treatement of Ami, who is friends by proxy with.

:'''[[Celina Duvalis]] has posed:''' For the record, Celina mouse promptly scampered into the nearest hidey hole. At the end of the mouse-time, she eventually wanders back into the area, right behind Mercade, her eye twitching slightly. Guh.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' In the next few minutes, more people arrive; in the end, the shack is packed with good-hearted folks, and perhaps a few who were pretending to be. "Mustn't be long," mutters Merlin as he bumbles about, straightening books and papers by the expedient of animating everything, no matter how large or how small. Paper soldiers jostle for space with major dustpan and sergeant broom. A few are swept away by mistake. "So much to do, so much to do." He makes tracks for a crystal ball, and with a tap of his hand, it fizzes into life. "Gather round, everyone." An image gradually forms in its depths; at first the static-like mist is impenetrable, but eventually... it looks, for all the world, like the most beautiful gemstone in the world. In any world. Whatever one's favorite color is, that is what one sees, as imbued within infinite facets and mesmerizing sparkles. Clearing his throat pedantically -- ahemhemhem! -- he announces, "I'll keep this brief." An owl launches off of a wardrobe, chuckling hoots to himself. He seems to think that's an unlikely prospect. "Silence, Archimedes!" Merlin chides, wrinkling his nose at him. "Ingrate of an owl. As I was saying: you're all quite lucky. Manhattan remains a protected world, and that means it can be saved -- brains over brawn, as always, will win the day, if we can do the job right under the noses of those who would see it, and its occupants, gone forever."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' "WE ARE QUITE CLEAN, SER SHERMAN, THANK YOU SER!" Comes Faruja's response about smell and mice-like things. The nerve of hobos! So much still-short nezumi anger. Blink. The little ratling frowns as he looks to Maira, tilting his head. "...Are you quite alright, my friend?" he asks with mild concern. One ear folds. Then, there's Animal Loving Legion. Between Will and her, he finally gets it! "What ever are you...?" Wait for it. Wait for it! "...Oh Lord in heaven, nay! Ahh, oh Faram, pray forgive me M'Lady...damnit, 'tis not what I meant." A hand goes to the back of his head. He's bad at this sort of thing. Walking towards her, he kneels briefly, offering a hand. Should she take it, he'll kiss hers on the palm. "If you truly meant what you said, then I am truly flattered, M'Lady. But we have only just met, and I should caution you to get to know me, before you set your heart in motion, dear, sweet Lady. Come, give me your name, and accept my apologies for, as Ser Sherman so aptly describes, my 'jerk' behaviour. May I offer you dinner in apologies for my absolutely brutish manners in the heat of battle?" The rat turns to Will, briefly, and nods. If nothing else, he knows how to make an apology. Once that's done? He'll follow in with the rest.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith blinked for a moment. "I figure it wasn't all gone, but... It'll be a bit more difficult getting in than getting out..." She didn't say it was impossible. Just that it was difficult. "...And even once we do, we have to make our way past thousands of Heartless and multiple Shadow Lords that have no doubt been left behind to guard their new territory."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart picks herself up off after being bumped like that, and shakes her head. They were mice, and wizard was a fish. Nothing wrong here, you think? She sighs and pats her chocobo's mane a bit "You go wait over there, Premium." She smiles, and the red chocobo trots off to the side, finding a bit of green to relax around of. She follows Aerith inside. There is something that makes her wonder for a moment "... Are those mice helping you humans transformed too, or was that only a coincidence?" Its a legitime question, given the circunstances. She listens though, nodding."I was sure we could do something, but we had to find how exactly. I suppose that you have the key to it?"

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan tries his best to ignore the magical actions around the room, finding little logic in trying to understand any of it. In fact, it isn't until the crystal ball activates and reveals an impossibly pure gem--aquamarine to his eyes--that his attention is fully gained. He is silent for the time being, black-gloved hands folding behind his back as he listens closely. So there is still a chance...

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' In the commotion, Maira does follow along, though she continues to seem rather disoriented by her very sudden polymorphing combined with Faruja making googly eyes at her while she was a mouse. Of course, he settles /that/ when he turns his attentions on Legion. What is this? Why is she surrounded by boys who talk like knights but can't keep their eye on one woman!? Avira is so lucky... Anyway, Maira wanders into the cottage and listens, her eyes widening as Merlin tells them Manhattan can be saved. She remains silent, taking it all in.

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra looks back at Maira nas everyone else. The one known as Merlin has the young gargyole mage's full attention now as she shares information with them this gets an eyebrow raised but there's a chance. IF they can get it back good, maybe someday the whole of earth can be restored as well. One step at a time however, one step at a time.

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' "If it means rezzing those who were derezzed when manhattan falls, then it is something we must do." CADUCEUS says as he looks about the various people, disk glowing green. He then aims the disk at Faruja and Aerith now. Seems it is their turn to be healed. Their injuries then begin to close, closing in the shape of green circuit marks before vanishing to reveal healed skin. If they watched, green circuit marks continue to form and close their injuries, even when the disk is not aiming at them no more. He looks to the pretty emerald in the crystal ball then.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Ah, so Manhattan CAN be saved! Awesome!" Luso spoke cheerfully, pounding his fist into his palm and grinning confidently. "Which means that the battle hasn't been lost just yet!" A nod was given and the boy then crossed his arms "So then what've we got to do to get Manhattan back?" He asked, giving the elderly magician a curious look. "I mean, last I saw, there were armies of heartless popping up EVERYWHERE. It was crazy! I totally looked lost then!" His brows furrowed in confusion then as he recalled the sight. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I haven't been seeing things..."

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' The other two Legions actually pay attention to Merlin. They're not horribly incompetent?! "Yes sir." The magnifying glass Legion says. "That is good news. The Network clarifies that specifically it is good news for the people of Manhattan and its former inhabitants in particular." She holds the magnifying glass up to Merlin. HMMMMMMMMM. Magnifying glass. HMMMMMMMMMMM. Animal Loving Faruja blinks up at Faruja who QUITE LIKELY read that secret section only for players (the scallywag!). Maybe. "I don't have a name." Animal Loving Legion says before looking over to Will curiously, uncomprehending, and then back to Faruja who manages to clear the thing up. "N-no, I was rude." She says. She looks over to the other two Legions trying to get their attention. They turn their bodies somewhat and go 'hmm hmm' simultaneously as they examine Merlin. HOW UNHELPFUL. "I don't have a name." She admits. "What's yours? You said you're...Nezumi?"

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello removes his backpack for a moment once he's settled. He quickly begins flapping his wings so he can see past the everyone else since being at shin level with your average person makes things a bit too difficult. He watches the crystal ball flare to life with the brillient color of an emerald while carefully listening to Merlin's words. Well if smarts are what is going to save the day then he'll make sure his mind and his wits are extra sharp. There's probably more to be said hopefully that'll help them out further.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will nods to Legion who is talking to Faruja for now...that'll work itself out. LEGION MEMBERS WITH FRIENDS: 3. Will might get a new power at this rate, some sort of new summons? Nah. Summons were lame. Especially ones with more than one pair of arms. Will, however, can't be silly forever, he looks back at Merlin who explains that Manhattan is still protected. Odd, then why did he...and Riku fall into.. What DID happen to them? Was it simply that place they were found in? He shakes his head and looks at Luso who seems all gung ho. "Yeah, it would be nice to get my home back, and save the people inside it." he says, and turns to Merlin, "Does this have to do with those shard things that allowed us to bring back a world once?"

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' As soon as Merlin makes a crystal ball, Isaac's spellpad is back in-hand. He's got the camera pointed at Merlin and his cool toy primarily, but first he takes a slow pan of everything and everyone. It seems to work despite -- or maybe because of -- the magic that occasionally fouls that sort of thing up. Magic and technology are not historically things that cooperate, in Isaac's experience, unless you bribe them just right. "You missed the witch and everyone getting turned into mice," the wizard asides. "What's that?" Isaac asks, nodding at the image of the stone. He doesn't think anyone else asked, so he thought he may as well.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' Merlin steadfastly ignores questions of all kinds, like the curmudgeonly old man that he is. Optimism, gloom, requests for clarity, people who already know some of what he has to say; he's not interested, and simply glowers, bushy eyebrows somehow doubling in size, every time he's interrupted. "/If/ I may continue, when strong worlds fall -- /protected/ worlds, that is -- they leave pieces behind. If you gather enough of the important ones, and bring them all together, then only two tasks remain: first, unlocking the shards will restore the world to its location, bringing it out of Darkness." He pauses. For questions. /Maybe/. From the peanut gallery, Archimedes calls, "Cut to the chase, you bag of wind. Tell them about the keyblade!"

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' "Temple Knight Faruja Senra, M'Lady, at your service. No name? How...curious. In that case, if it pleases you, I shall call you 'Lady Saria'. After the Ajoran minor Saint, patron of those who are lost and wander. Regardless, well met!" Smile. He'll hover protectively in the general direction of Maira as the meeting starts outright, however, one ear constantly tilted. To Merlin, as the others speak up, the rat pipes up as well. "I shall assume, Ser Merlin, you've a plan to accomplish this task?" As much as he tries to sound businesslike, there's a hint of eager hope in his voice. It goes ignored, of course. The ratling falls silent, though his gaze on Merlin is one of patiently awaiting a set of orders.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' There were mice who were once people and are now people again. Tom Magnusson was not one of these mice, largely because he was busy elsewhere, trekking his way into... Wherever this is. There is a particularly blue mouse on his shoulder when he arrives, hands stuffed into the pockets of his thick duster. Underneath, a harness laden with various munitions hangs heavily from his shoulders. Tom steps into the group of gathered heroes (and villains!), politely removing his hat from atop his head. "So," he says, coming up behind Mercade. "I think I might have been a bit late. I wanted to get the mouse a bit of cheese, and it went and led me on a bit of a treasure hunt." FOURTY FIVE MINUTES AGO, A MYSTERIOUS STONE RUIN Tom races down a dusty old hallway, his footfalls heavy along the ancient brick. He grimaces as he slides underneath a row of hissing, probably poisonous darts. Behind him, a massive boulder barrels forward, crushing everything that might be unfortunate enough to get in its way. On his shoulder, a tiny blue mouse hangs on for dear life, its long, tuffed tail twitches in the wind. "Goddamnit, Hanpan, this is what I get for followin' a mouse's nose!" Tom roars as he turns into an unfortunately placed dead end. The boulder thunders as it collides with the wall, and then begins rolling his way. He grits his teeth, winds up a punch, and then-- NOW. "It was a bit of a detour," Tom grunts, rubbing one temple. "Anything important I miss?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' People seem to be calming down in the aftermath of Mim's assault. That's good. The Detective looks over those assembled, trying to mark who is here. Many of them are unfamiliar faces to him. He sighs, inwardly, slumping a bit. Many of them were probably at Manhattan... He shakes his head. Mercade himself still looks a bit woozy from the baleful polymorph, so he sort of folds his arms, nodding to Merlin as he speaks, and he watches what Merlin has to offer. "Never a dull moment, Isaac." He mentions offhandedly. The interaction between Faruja, Will, and Animal-Loving Legion causes him to blink for a moment, however. "Yeah. Definately never a dull moment." Tom arrives, and he looks over his shoulder. "Sure, no proble... Wait, what mouse?" He asks, looking over towards Faruja, then back to Tom. "Faruja's been here the whole time..." He scratches his head. "Oh well. Isaac basically covered most of it. Merlin is giving us a headsup on an apparent way to restore Manhattan." He listens to Merlin, thinking. "Okay, so we need to find the pieces of Manhattan that survived? How do we find them?" And then the Keyblade is mentioned. Mercade's eyes narrow. "Hmm..." He listens carefully. This should be interesting. "We'll need a Keyblade Wielder to unlock the Shards to restore them, I assume." He says... He was present when Sora did that, after all.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac supposes one does not get their name splashed all over legend and the less-mainstream history books if one is not kind of a d-bag. He keeps quiet this time. A question hangs on the tip of his tongue, something dire and desperate, but he doesn't voice it. A grim look briefly passes over his face, but he banishes it, looking focused instead. So, he just glances at Mercade and shrugs a shoulder, occasionally reorienting the camera to pick out speakers. Definitely not dull.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith blinked for a moment, giving Oriane a brief glance. The smile is gone, her expression placid... but for a moment, she felt something... wrong from her. Moments later, a certain term catches her attention. That word... Keyblade... it was important, wasn't it. She flashed back to her first encounter with a certain mouse, and it all made sense. Mercade said it for her, but of course she added something. "There's only one I know with a Keyblade who can use it with skill... but are you saying there are others?" Of course, she wasn't good with any swords, so she wouldn't count herself as someone who could use it. But if there were others besides him...

:'''[[Celina Duvalis]] has posed:''' Celina calmly places her hand over Tom's mouth, giving all of the TDA that Mom-look to be /quiet/ for five minutes as she takes notes with her other hand.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' "This mouse," Tom thumbs at the small, bluish critter on his shoulder as it munches on a chunk of extremely well aged cheese. "He brought me the message about this here gathering and mmf---" Tom has a Celina Hand over his mouth. And then he squints, and quite maturely pokes her palm with his tongue, because what the hell woman

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' "Keyblade? Such a weapon does not make sense...Is it a sword which has markings to unlock something? And if so, how does a weapon unlock a world?" CADUCEUS says as he is confused before he glances around once more, and uses more of the glowing green healing light from his disk to try and make their injuries vanish.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart hms "I heard about keyblades before in the bar, but I never got any solid information on how or who had one myself." She adds to the pile of information, even if its not much.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan lets CADUCEUS continue healing others for the time being, his focus being entirely on Merlin and what he has to say. This could be important in the future, even beyond Manhattan itself. What if other worlds fall, could the same method be useful in restoring those too? Storing such information to memory is the best he can do for now. The questions and additional information are simliarly noted.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello has been keeping quiet with open ears the whole time, making sure he does not miss a thing that Merlin might explain. He's sure others have had a stronger lead on things than him and probably have questions they want clarified, but not him. Up until the point where he had received that strange message his searches for information on the worlds consumed by darkness were mostly fruitless, save for that one conversation he had with Tifa. He couldn't afford to not absorb anything Merlin had to reveal. These bright illuminated jewels must be the shards! This would be the start of how he would be able to restore those worlds lost to the darkness! But was Bhujerba a strong and was it protected? Was it simply a smaller piece of Ivalice? His ponderings would have to wait as the talking owl begins speaking of a Keyblade.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Huh....So if you gather enough of world back together..." Luso mused to himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully with a hand as he mulled over the matter. "Well it sounds simple enough! But..." The boy rest his hands on his hips as he tilted his head slightly in curiosity. "Where exactly do we find these shards? And what's a keyblade?" Pause. . Realization. "Oh wait! Is that the weird sword thing that little guy was using back in Manhattan during the battle? THAT'S a keyblade?" Well, he knew what the name of the thing was now. Just that he had no clear idea of the functions. Time to listen on!

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Merlin seems grouchy today, maybe it was being turned into an animal that made him less...fresh. He does smell fish still. He knows about the keyblade because he saw Sora use it on the world shards they collected from DeSpella...but... How do they find these things? Will's eyes can spot the shards, but... Will's not clarvoyant. So... "Alright alright...just tell me when I can ask questions."

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' "His eyebrows..." Magnifying Glass Legion says. "They're...amazing. Like grey forests."rShe lowers it, however, after. She doesn't know about a lot of this stuff, having never really been too interested in it before, before looking up at Archimedes, a talking owl. She blinks at him too, and then nods to the Legion next to her. Her head turns back to Merlin and she says, "What makes a protected world?" She doesn't expect to get an answer to this question, but you don't get anywhere by not TRYING to ask questions, after all. She does add, though, "What's a keyblade?" In case there are any new players in the party who still need to learn what a Keyblade is. Apparently Legion is one of them! MEANWHILE Faruja attempts to name Animal Loving Legion. LADY SARIA PATRON OF THOSE WHO ARE LOST AND WANDER "Oh no, ah, mm, what I mean, well." Lady Saria Patron Of Those Who Are Lost And Wander says. "That...that might be a bit mu But apparently that's enough to encourage her to name herself. "Lately...we've been taking them though, names. You can call me Ami if you want...? I'm not a saint." She may have misunderstood that a bit.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' "Irrepressible birdbrain," Merlin mutters. Archimedes rolls his eyes towards the ceiling and pretends not to hear. "Yes, yes," he says, collectively, to most of the speculation about keyblades. "Yes, there's more than one in existence. Keyblades look like what they sound like. They are tools as much as they are weapons... moreso, in my opinion. Brains over brawn, brains over brawn. Bashing Heartless about with them is worthless, compared to their ability to unlock anything, anything at all. Or, more importantly, to /lock/ anything." He flips his beard out of the way of the passing broom, as it nudges some dust under a corner. "Everything has a Heart... everything, from largest dragon to tiniest amoeba. Even worlds have Hearts. When the Heartless reach a World Heart, well, you've seen what happens: the world falls to Darkness. Completely and irrevocably, unless the World Heart is protected, as Manhattan's was, and still is; in its case, and in many others, it isn't /completely/ lost as long as that protection remains. And a keyblade can lock the Keyhole behind which every World Heart is exposed, sealing it away from Darkness forever, once the world itself has been restored." Smiling for the first time, he kicks back into his armchair. A pipe flies over, propelled by no obvious force, and he puffs it contentedly. "So! Those are your tasks: find the world shards, bring them all together, retrieve the lost world from Darkness by unlocking the shards with a keyblade, then travel there -- it will still be full of Heartless, until you fight your way through them to lock the World Heart. That should solve your problem handily, at least for a while."

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' Tom raises a hand, because Merlin seems like that kind of professor, where you kind of need to raise your hand before speaking.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' Merlin raises an eyebrow at Tom's raised hand. "Yes?" he asks testily, seeming also like the kind of professor who feels that everything has been very clearly explained and only an idiot would require further clarification. Isaac's theory about great men from history is gaining traction by the second.

:'''[[Celina Duvalis]] has posed:''' Celina removes her hand from over Tom's mouth. Just saying. She also flips to a new page. Note scribble.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "How do we /FIND/ them? I can SEE them sure, if I am CLOSE to them...but last time I checked..." he waves his hand, "Massive world. They also seem to like to bind themselves to important things...like a sea salt ice cream recipe." He pauses... "Which...Is important, but I think there are more important things out there." he says, with a slow nod. Ice cream was pretty <goosehonk>ing though, he thinks to himself.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' "Yeah," Tom sniffs his nose, "Few things. First, we've got thousands of worlds to search. Maybe more. And our detector doesn't really cover 'worlds and worlds and worlds.' Do you have anything that'd... Y'know, work like a World Shard-dar, or somethin'?" "Second!" Tom numbers, and then continues, "If the Keyblades could've locked the world hearts or whatever, why didn't someone go around and lock the world hearts ages ago?" "Third," he finishes. "This mouse," he gestures at the mouse on his shoulder. "I'm keeping it, if that's alright. It owes me."

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Listening to Merlin's explanation, Luso's posture wilted more and more and more until he was almost completely hunched over comically. "S-So....we've got no idea where to find these shards, but we've got to find them, bring them all together, unlock them with a keyblade..." A comical sweatdrop rolls down Luso's face at this point. "...and then fight our way through an endless army of darkness, and finally LOCK the world heart?" Blink. Blinkblink. "Hah! That sounds easy! Bring is on! We'll get it done no problem!" And then suddenly, he straightened up, looking all the more confident all over again. A grin returned to his face as he rubbed the underside of his nose with an index finger. "One question though! ...Is it possible to get a keyblade of our own? That'd be a good way to cut out the middleman, y'know?"

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Merlin's words are taken, the Burmecian glancing to Tom as he raises a hand. He uses the time to ponder the man's words, and aside to Animal-Legion Ami briefly. "...A pity, I was always partial to the name. Lord bless you, Lady Ami, and may He in Heaven guide your steps always." The rat, at least, takes rejection well. The others more or less ask all of the relevent questions. So, instead, he'll simply support Maira with an arm, since she seems rather lost after that magical polymorph. Really, he doesn't blame her. Will and Tom, however, do get a brief look. Curious. Sigh. "Ser Clemens, your enthusiasm is welcome, but please do not give in to overconfidence." A pause. "Ser Clemens. You...know of a person whom possesses such a weapon?" the rat finally asks directly of the Clan Gully leader.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello still hovers above the others while taking in all this information. It seems the gist of it has been explained but the problem of where to begin searching remains. Certainly even with all the people assembled here today if they were to split up and start searching everywhere within the various worlds they'd still be at such a task for quite a while. No doubt somebody's questioning will reveal where their compasses should point so they can begin their search, if not it'll be back to the aimless searching for shards unless somebody knew something about the nature of these shards and if there were places or things they'd gravitate to.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan lowers his gaze, brow furrowing in thought as the task ahead is laid out plainly. But some things still bother him. "Sir, what about paths connecting Manhattan to other worlds? Will restoring it also restore the paths that have been lost, or are those paths forever gone?" He can't help but glance over at CADUCEUS. The medic Program will understand the meaning of the question.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso nods in response to Faruja's question. "Yeah! I've seen a keyblade before! A little guy! He was a mouse I'm pretty sure..." He rubs his chin thoughtfully for a moment before continuing on. "I don't actually know his name, but I know he has this keyblade thing. ...And that's really all I know! Ahahaha!" Not very helpful in the grand scheme of things. But regardless, some info was better than none. And besides, surely someone knew more among them here.

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' As others ask qomes question and Merlin seems to be wanting to get the information out before he'll answer any more question. So they have to go back to the heart fo the world? All right hen she has some ideas. She's also getting Merlin's views on brains over brawn and does get it well This is a lot to think over. Some things are making a lot more sense and hummms noding once to the aged but very wise wizard. "Thank you sir." She looks over to Luso and Faruja "Confience is good but keyblade...I think I know of someone." She starts to try to think and remeber. She's got some things to look into.

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' CADUCEUS nods as he then looks to Merlin. "Manhattan possessed an entrance to my world. Restoring it will restore that entrance?" He asks curiously, repeating Alan's question but making it sound like it meant him specifically so Alan could remain hidden as a user.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart scratches her head "So basically we need to unlock worlds so we can lock them after? Aren't we supposed to leave them unlocked? Or is it something like the last person to turn the key is the one that decides what happens to it, would it be life or eternal darkness?

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' Legion gets half her questions answered which is pretty good because she's a horrible student who, unlike Tom Magnusson, didn't even raise her hand is pretty good. Magical door opener that also doubles as a bludgeoning device? Sounds pretty handy! She doesn't have one. Perhaps if she works real hard and saves up she can buy one. Ami meanwhile apologizes again and looks towards Maira. She looks at her. And then she sort of stuffs her hands in her pockets. "Why's that?" She asks. Magnifying Glass Legion doesn't want to get yelled at by Merlin and, so, looks towards Mercade wondering if HE knows. She then turns back towards Archimedes and attempts to reach towards him.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac has pretty sound theories, all told. He also knows when to wait until some questions have been answered before posing his own. He keeps recording, the spell-bound tablet taking in faces and reactions along with good and bad questions. He'll have to review this later, some part of him notes distantly, and take a tally of who is who in this picture. So, y'know, Isaac's hand goes up. Not terribly high, but he's standing near the front, so it just has to be over his head.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Mickey." he looks towards Luso...Will had the pleasure of meeting one once. Well okay, more than once...Will was really impressed with his bravery, and the fact that he didn't...go nuts on him after the fight at the key hole. Which, honestly, would have been his reaction if the places had been reversed. Yeah... Will goes quiet for a while... Guuuuuuuuuuilt.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' 'Mouse'. Faruja stifles a glare before it appears. Instead, he simply nods to Luso. "...Curious. Thank you, Ser Clemens." The Temple Knight thoughtfully pets his own tail with his free hand. The gargess, however, has him perking his ear. "Whom, M'Lady Deidra?" But it seems Will has some information. "/That/ one, hmm?" Faruja smirks, looking briefly amused.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' "No task worth doing is easy," Merlin points out to Tom with an unimpressed sniff. "But I do have a bit more intelligence for you," Archimedes snorts, it's the wizard's turn to ignore him, "First that I believe, in this case, you will only need to find five -- and, if the first shard is any indication," he chins at the crystal ball's contents, "This world's shards are attuned to a selection of elements: probably Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Spirit, though I suppose you should keep a look out for Wood or Metal, there's some cultural inconsistencies in my books. Second, that I've heard a rumor that the World of Ruin contains a material that reacts to the presence of things connected to World Hearts, such as shards; you may wish to follow up on that. And finally, I've managed to pin down the location of the Shard of Earth." Turning to Luso, he smiles for only the second time; the first was after he was saved from Mim. He does have a rather kindly smile, when he stops being obnoxious. "The keyblade chooses its wielder, I'm afraid. There are relatively few of them, and many, many worlds. But, more importantly, Tom Magnusson..." Back to the first: and he knows your name. He must have read the class roster. "...World Hearts are hidden behind Keyholes, and Keyholes are extremely hard to find, both for the Heartless -- who surely had help, in Manhattan's case -- and for everyone else. Their hidden nature is good and bad; mostly good, lately bad. But even if every man, woman and child had a keyblade, it would take endless lifetimes to find and protect /every/ World Heart." "It isn't the destination, it's the journey," remarks Archimedes sagely. "Just because you can't complete the task doesn't mean you're exempt from starting it," counters Merlin. They seem about to go into trying to out-adage each other, until Merlin's distracted by 'Alan's' question. He studies the man with a penetrating gaze, and TRON may get the feeling that he isn't fooling the wizard for a second, in terms of his true nature. "Restoring the world will bring it back to its regular place; natural paths will remain. Unnatural paths, through Darkness, will be destroyed when a keyblade wielder locks the World Heart, though someone of sufficient power and trickery could probably re-establish dark portals eventually, and will." "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" barks Archimedes, narrowly avoiding Legion. "And no," Merlin finishes, when Tifa asks her question, "When I say you're 'unlocking' the shards, what you're really doing is /restoring/ the World Heart, and its world, from its shards; /Locking/ the restored Heart, or more accurately the Keyhole that protects it, will ensure that although evil might invade Manhattan again, it will never reach the /Heart/ again. There will always be a world to fight for." He acknowledges Isaac's hand with a silent nod, and takes a few puffs on his pipe.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Good questions, good answers, good intel. Isaac smiles a little when he's acknowledged after it all. Only polite, after all. "Thank you, Merlin. So, how could you tell if a world that's fallen to darkness had a protected World Heart or not when it did? Or, for that matter," he adds, "how do they get protected in the first place? It sounds like Manhattan had an extra layer on it that most don't when the darkness rolls around." He sounds calm when he's asking that question; academic, almost. Truthfully, he's anything but. His guts are roiling in rebellion, and the dread he's experiencing at what he expects of the answer makes him want to retch. It takes a lot of effort to not be as tense as a coiled spring. Cool and composed, though, that's him. Isaac has a lot of experience keeping that kind of game face on.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' "Well, that makes sense," Tom bobs his head. "All of that, I mean. Not just any one bit." He's not /especially/ perturbed that an ancient wizard knows his name. Ancient wizards know things, he thinks- it's mostly part of the job that this old dude happens to mysteriously know his name. After all, he sent a mouse out to find him! "So where's this first shard located?" Tom rubs his chin, "And I guess this means I get to keep the rat. Good! He can help find something we can use."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Something in the World of Ruin that reacts to World Hearts. Well then, she immediately has that goal set out in mind, and she knows just who to take with her. But she waits until later for that. Of course once Issac is finished, she holds her suggestion off until later.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Huh...Mickey's his name then?" Luso nodded to Will, continuing to rub his chin thoughtfully. Afterward, the boy turned to continue listening to Merlin, nodding along to his words. So not everyone can just be handed a keyblade...? That sounds about right. It's not like everyone was walking around with Excaliburs and legendary grimoires now either... "Yeah, I guess it's not that easy. But that doesn't mean that we're gonna stop just because it's not gonna be a walk in the park!" Jerking a thumb towards himself, Luso nodded confidently again. "Let's get this show on the road then! We'll show those shadow losers what's what!"

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello continues to listen carefully to Merlin's words, well thankfully there is only five that need to be found and it seems the affinity is the traditional elements...though spirit is not completely traditional. Though when Merlin speaks of a material that reacts to shards he's give another lead to go on, not to mention the location of the shard of earth. From the sound of it this material must be spiritual in nature, given the name 'world hearts' being mentioned. Perhaps Tifa might have an idea of what that material might be. Other bits and details are given about the nature of the shards and what was meant by locking and unlocking. There was also the matter of finding one who had a Keyblade. Apparently a description was given of a mouse. Not the tall looking fellow in the room with them but a shorter one, who went by the name of Mickey? Perhaps he had some innate talent in discovering the locations of these shards? That'll be another task that he'll have to get to work on.

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' Ami scratches her forehead with the gun before pocketing it again. Merlin is lecturing and the others are simpling it down for her, but eventually her shoulders just sag. "Couldn't they just unlock it again with their own keyblade?" Magnifying Glass Legion asks before looking towards Isaac, noticing his arm is raised in the air, and then raises her own in the air and asks it again, "Couldn't they just unlock it again with their own keyblade?" She pauses to give Archimedes a forlorn look, before--a respectful nod. Constance Vigilance, the nod says.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan meets Merlin's gaze calmly, giving no indication that the wizard's scrutinizing gaze bothers him. And to be honest, it doesn't. Merlin should easily discern who he is and why he's here quite easily, and he has nothing to hide from the wizard in that sense. He /is/ here to help restore Manhattan, and whether or not he reveals his true identity to the others present is not pertinent to the conversation at hand. That said, hearing the reply actually gives TRON a great sense of relief, his shoulders relaxing noticeably. That means there is still a chance... He also only now realizes his glasses are still in his back pocket and quickly slips them back onto his face where they belong.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart nods to Merlin, crossing her arms "That makes much more sense indeed. Alright, then if we can find that keyblade wielder, we can bring back manhattan and potentially make sure no other world gets lost to darkness either. I think that sounds like a plan to me." At least its something to start off from, instead of just going through things blind.

:'''[[CADUCEUS]] has posed:''' CADUCEUS nods and remains silent for now and goes back to the healing of those present. He moves from person to person, making sure injuries are tended to and that pain is removed. For Will, he even gives the kid like being a lollipop. Sour apple. Luso even gets one too once he has treated the injuries, a red one, cherry flavored.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade listens to the explanation of their task. He nods to Merlin, considering the situation before them. The others ask a number of pertinent questions, but he squints. Ami looks to Mercade, as she also possibly noted this. "I'm not sure." He replies to Ami. He looks to Merlin, letting the other pertinent question get fielded. "What is the material in the World of Ruin that reacts to World Shards?" Mercade asks. Tom had the other question. He looks to Aerith and Tifa, nodding. The natives of those worlds will be able to take the lead on that front. Ami gives another pertinent question. "Well, if the Shadow Lords have a Keyblade, we'll just have to beat up whoever has it before they can get to it. Hard to use a keyblade if you're knocked out."

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra listnes to Merlin and is just bobing her head a little bit some parts of the fight to save the city now making far more sense in her mind. She tilts her head a little bit. There's a lot of useful infio "It makes sense it wouldn't chose someone not suitable. If you force smomething like that it tends to end badly for you. There's myth after myth about that..." They can set the stage for someone who can and that's enough, she may very well go hunting for Mickey later.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' Merlin opens his mouth to answer Isaac -- abruptly turning very grave, as opposed to crotchety/occasionally benevolent -- and Tom speaks up with another question (as opposed to Luso, whose Generic Protagonist Pep Talk is something he tunes out on reflex). DEATH GLARE TIME. "My messengers were volunteers, every one of them," he says, as of the rat. "If one chooses to stay with you, that is his perogative, but never fool yourself into thinking that he's /yours/. You, my interrupting boy, are /his/. As for the shard, all I have is that visual. You and yours are detectives? /Detect/." Archimedes, meanwhile, flies out of the hut, circles around it, thoroughly, then returns. "It's clear," he announces. Merlin nods, and looks back at Isaac, recomposing himself. "When worlds are protected by their Princess of Heart, they cannot fall /completely/ to Darkness." And that's all he says on the topic, immediately latching onto the next question, so quickly -- and without complaint, vocal or silent -- that it's obvious he has no desire to elaborate further. "I'm not sure what it is," the wizard says to Mercade, "You'll have to ask around. And keyblades are not wielded by those who would endanger World Hearts; it's never happened before, to my knowledge. I don't believe it is possible, however -- locking the Keyhole is a permanent seal according to all the lore I've ever seen."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will nods at Luso, and then looks back at Aerith and Tifa... "Huh." he says, he's okay with that, he guesses? I mean, they could just somehow all get fate sight, that way he can stop being the only member of the club. They could have talks...eat smores, and avoid looking at Garland together. Okay, maybe that wouldn't be good, and also turning him into a divining rod was bad. Wait... "What's a princess of heart, and wh..." he pauses, "I guess the question is...where is ours?" he looks over to Mercade?

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith nodded toward Mercade in response. Something in the World of Ruin that reacts to World Hearts.... well then, she immediately has that goal set out in mind, and she knows just who to take with her. And there went the term again... Princess of Heart. A very, very interesting term... One she'd heard twice before, and the third time as of now. Once she has a clear opening in the conversation, she raises her hand. "I elect to find out just what this thing is that can locate the shards and bring it back here." She looked behind her. "Tifa, Maira, and Faruja..." She turned back toward Merlin. "...Are my team. If they wish."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will also puts a lollipop into his mouth. Sour Apple! Yum! You can't turn down or be upset about free food.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Faruja tilts his head. How bold! Still, it earns Aerith a smile. "Well, I can hardly allow fine Dames such as yourselves to embark upon such a dangerous quest alone. Duty permitting, I shall accompany you all." He /is/ a Shard Seeker, after all.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello hrms, it seems like Aerith took the initiative on seeking out the material that may locate the shards and already had a team in mind for the task. Perhaps he'll instead look for more information on this supposed Princess of Heart. Well they're probably a princess and maybe somebody of...great heart? Again instead of answers there are more questions. Perhaps he's better off simply waiting til Merlin reveals the location of the Earth aligned shard and heading towards that location in order to secure it would be the best course of action.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' Tom frowns, his arms folding over his chest. Yeah, this guy was one of /those/ kinds of professors. He glances over to the mouse on his shoulder- it nibbles at the chunk of positively ancient cheese in his claws. Well, this probably means that they'll be roped up together for a little while longer.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Uh. Hey now there little lady, you can't just go up and make decisions...you know, as it's sort of our world we would like to help." he says at Aerith, with a frown. Also, he'd feel so bad if she or anyone got hurt and he wasn't there to help them. Like seriously. He looks back at Mercade, "I dunno, I think you'd look pretty good in a dress. We'd have to get Celina to help you though."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade blinks. Huh. "A Princess of Heart, you say." That explains a lot. The Detective nods."All right..." He looks at Will with a squint. "I'm not a princess, Will." He says. "But as to if Manhattan has one... I have no idea who or where they would be right now." "If you guys need any help from us at all, just ask." Mercade says to Aerith. "You guys know the land way better than we do, but if there's any way I can make your work easier, I'll be happy to provide."

:'''[[Celina Duvalis]] has posed:''' Celina immediately sweatdrops at the mention of a 'princess of heart' for Manhatten. Not her. For the love of the Moon, it's not her. She sighs and leans against Tom, still taking notes.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac has one of those leaps in logic that human beings are so renowned for, where you go from one bit of data to a conclusion that just feels totally correct in one quick jump. He stares at Merlin for a moment, and then he nods, very slightly, lips pressed into a thin frown. He does all of this while his heart practically falls out of his chest. It was the answer he was expecting, but it was not how he expected to find it. "I imagine we'd better figure out who it is sooner rather than later," Isaac murmurs.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' Tom drapes an arm around Celina's shoulders. It's okay, Celina. You might not be a Princess of Heart, but you're the queen in Tom's heart, for sure. And possibly also a moon princess. Maybe.

:'''[[Merlin]] has posed:''' "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm afraid I'm late for my next meeting," Merlin announces in reasonable, polite tones, as the questions and commentary start piling on further. He may or may not have subtly winked at Isaac; the moment is over before it has begun. One gets the feeling this is the five second warning before he loses his temper (again). Archimedes is already hidden inside his cookoo clock.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "I already wore the Santa outfit, I'm not wearing a dress." Unless Mercade needs to go deep, deep undercover for a case. Really, really deep. "And let Aerith take the lead on it. We can't be everywhere, Will."

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' "I agree, Isaac." Magnifying Glass Legion says. "But it seems class is dismissed...and the game..." Her eyes sparkle. "Is afoot." She looks towards Mercade for several moments. "That is a saying from Holmes, The Network informs." The Legion that was being quiet heads out first, followed by Ami, who is now looking at Archimedes (the other one has to pull her). Legion steps out after.

:'''[[TRON]] has posed:''' Alan allows a faint smile to touch the corners of his mouth. Yes, he gets the hint. "Very well. Until next we meet, sir." The 'human' offers a respectful bow at the waist to the wizard and turns towards the door. He motions for CADUCEUS to follow him out as a stern expression settles on his face. There is much work to be done.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade Alexander pauses, and looks over to Isaac. "You haven't figured out how to make us be everywhere, have you?" He then laughs at Legion's Holmes quote. "Well played. Well played."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith nodded toward Mercade. "I know, and thank you. But if we're seen looking for something in large enough numbers, we'll be too conspicuous to those that would get all sorts of ideas." She turned back toward Merlin. "I hope this is acceptable." She then stood and made her way out, hopefully with Tifa in tow...

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Hmn...I know some people who'd really have a field day with this info! They'd be a big help!" Luso spoke plainly, nodding and crossing his arms again. "I'll relay the info to them and then I think they'll finally be able to push their namesake along! I can tell it'll work out!" With that, Luso turned to go, but not before taking the lollipop offered by the program. "Oh sweet! Thanks!" Smiling in appreciation, Luso nodded to CADECEUS. And with that, Luso stepped out, pondering over all this new information. "...I wonder how I can help though...? ...A keyblade, huh?" He mumbled as he hopped the stone platforms off on his way back up to town.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Looks at Luso. He looks over to Mercade, "Ten bucks says he goes to Reize and the Shard Seekers." he assides to Mercade, not even being remotely silent or you know, subtle.

:'''[[Tom Magnusson]] has posed:''' "I'll top that bet," Tom grunts at Will. "Fifteen bucks he asks the Shard Seekers."

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' Pretty unlikely that Legion suspects somehow that Mercade doesn't know Holmes quotes, but maybe she wanted to show off a little. "Every Holmes needs their Baker Street Irregulars." She adds, more seriously. "Send The Network where you'd like, we can search multiple locations simultaneously. It is not 'everywhere' but we do have a distinct advantage even so in that arena."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Sucker bet." Mercade replies. "He's definately the type. But it's all right, the Shard Seekers can always use more talent." Legion says something important. "You do have soem very useful distributed information gathering capacities, don't you? Well, if you want, maybe you can work as a contact between the disparate groups who are searching for things we need, allowing us to work together even if we're apart."

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' "Our Psychic Friends Network, if you will," Isaac chimes in, saving and pocketing his tablet in the background.

:'''[[Portobello]] has posed:''' Portobello hovers back down to the ground and picks up his backpack and puts it on. There was not time to question Tifa as she was already being pulled off in one direction by that friend of hers. He heads back the way he came, activating the booster jets on his back as he jumps quickly across the body of water and lands on the other side. He has a lot to jot down now, time to make to somewhere with a secluded table before he forgets all the facts he's aquired today. He might just need a new journal for all these highly relevent data as opposed to the random rumors he gathered in teh past.

:'''[[Legion]] has posed:''' "It would be our pleasure." Legion says. The Network!?...DOING NETWORKING?! Up is down, left is right, dogs and cats living together! But it might just work.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart goes to stand over to Aerith's side, a hand on her shoulder lightly "Of course I'll join you. Maybe we can get Rinoa to help as well. I don't think there's a limit on how many are in a group, hm?" She smiles at that. More numbers is usually safer.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith nodded. "We do need to get Rinoa on the phone about this, she'll be a big help down the line." She looked toward the chocobo Tifa came in on. "When did you get this handsome fella by the way?" She scratched underneath his chin, just at the sweet spot, as if she knew all along where it was. "Got a name, big guy?"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart giggles "That's Premium Heart, I managed to get her into a red color now." She smiles. The chocobo leans down, blinking a big eye toward Aerith, and gives out a happy 'kweh~' at being scritched.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith smiled. "Her, huh? Should've known." She lowered her right hand and turned toward Tifa. "How's the renovations coming? Can I actually have a place to sleep besides that back room now?" She ribbed Tifa.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart smiles "They are all done you know, you just need to come back more often. Now there's a second floor and more rooms. Even I have a real room now.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' He almost didn't catch it, but there it is. A curious thing. As if sensing danger, though, Isaac looks around for a second more. Then, he bows in an almost courtly manner to Merlin. "Thank you for hosting us, and thank you for the information. We'll do whatever we can, sir." Isaac heads for the way out of here. He leaves a wider glassy bridge across the jumpy stones in his wake this time, largely because he imagines nobody hurt wants to do that obstacle course again. He's got some work to do.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith smiled. "I'll have to take you up on that." She stretched her arms above her head. "Besides, I have something to show you. Nothing big really, just the results of my training trip." She grinned. "I'm sure you saw some of it... but not all of it."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart smirks "Well, wanna ride Premium Heart back home then? I'm sure she can carry two, as long as we're not racing of course."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith nodded and let Tifa climb up before she took a seat behind her. "Homeward to Goug then! I wanna see how you've fixed the place up!" And of course, she wanted to see if she could get a ride of her own, but that was for later.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart grins as she moves up before Aerith, helping her up. Premium Heart 'kweh's, and preens a bit, before starting to trot off toward the portal back to the World of Ruin. "Premium Heart is pretty tame, but very fast too."

Sit Down At My Table

2012-12-23T06:58:50Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/17 |Location=Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium |Synopsis=Jasmine stumbles into the Voodoo Emporium, hiding from Heartless. Dr. Facilier kindl..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/17
|Location=Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium
|Synopsis=Jasmine stumbles into the Voodoo Emporium, hiding from Heartless. Dr. Facilier kindly agrees to let her stay for a while, and she thanks him generously -- but eventually gets suckered into making a fateful bargain.

Also, there is singing.
|Cast of Characters=Dr. Facilier, Jasmine
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Where Jasmine goes, the Heartless follow.

This has become an axiom of her existence. But after her audacious use of herself as bait, combined with the sudden awareness of herself as a conduit to the Light (which has dialed up her GPS presence on the cosmological map from 'bright blinking LED' to 'magnetic pole'), she's never had a harder time keeping one jump ahead of the headsman, so to speak. A lucky discovery of a portal helped her get some distance, but they've caught up with her faster than ever before. Relatively few are the Dark Swordsmen of her own world; most rise straight out of the ground, in whatever shape or size the local brand produces.

Having had the common sense to pack a bag of SeeD supplies, she's managed to choke down some food now and then, but she's hardly rested, and the long chase is beginning to take its toll. Her heart pounds in her throat, and she can't stop trembling.

She pounds down a street, feet slapping the ground loudly, chicken feathers flying as she startles birds into flight. One gets caught in the veil of her rough brown robe, and flutters wildly. The back of her neck prickles, warning her that trouble isn't far behind. Left, right, and left again, she cuts some fast, tight corners through a labyrinth of alleyways.

Her eyes widen as she realizes she's lost line of sight for the first time in hours, but... it's only for a few seconds. There's a door -- and no time to knock -- and it's unlocked. It's her only chance, and she knows it. A moment later, it's slammed shut behind her, and she leans forward, gasping, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

It takes a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness...

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Was that door there before? It must have been, right? Yeah, it definitely was.

Right?

When Jasmine's eyes adjust to the darkness, she's greeted to the sight of... one Dr. Facilier, in his chair at the far end of the room, up on the dais. It's tilted back, and there's some sort of booklet resting over his face; he appears to be dozing.

Out of sight of Jasmine, however, beneath the table, Facilier's shadow has noticed the girl's entrance; it looks back and forth, wrings its hands anxiously, and then reaches out to tug on the leg of Facilier's chair.

It rocks forwards onto all fours, and the impact starts Facilier awake, the booklet tumbling off of his face and onto the floor. "Eh, wha?" he demands, looking back and forth in confusion. It takes him a moment to process that Jasmine in the room... but once he does, he switches instantly to full 'on' mode, rising out of his chair and spreading his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"Hello, hello!" he cries, a broad grin on his face. "Welcome to Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium1" As he speaks, he shimmies out from behind the table and starts across the room towards Jasmine, stepping quickly down off the dais. "What can I do for y'all?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine almost jumps out of her skin at the slam of Facilier's chair, but as he approaches her, her eyes widen, full of a mix of guilt and relief. The reason why becomes quickly apparent: "I'm really... very sorry..." she explains softly, glancing anxiously behind her at the door. "There were... monsters, Heartless, chasing me, and I... I came in here to hide." She felt terrible, just barging in like that, and her apology is quite genuine.

Bowing her head and looking up at the doctor through a veil of silken black hair, she implores, "Please let me stay. Just... for a little while, until they go away. If they knew I was in here, they would have already come after me." And the door behind her is blessedly silent, if nothing else.

She sways on her feet, exhausted.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier's initial reaction is... lukewarm, at best. He squints uncertainly as he draws up to Jasmine, his smile fading; once he's got a good look at her face, however, the smile returns in force. He opens his mouth to speak--

-- and what comes out isn't speech, but song, backed up by music that springs up from every corner of the store.

o/` Don't worry yourself none mademoiselle! o/`
o/` My hospitality's known far and wide! o/`
o/` In here those heartless are completely harmless... o/`
o/` 'cuz I got friends on the o-ther side~ o/`

As he sings, he gestures dramatically, circling Jasmine like a circus performer (or a shark); as he sings the last line, he throws his arms around her shoulders and gestures broadly up towards the dais at the end of the room, which prompts an echo from it, when five voices sing, in harmony,

o/` (He's got friends ooon the o-ther siiide~) o/`

As the line echoes throughout the room, Facilier urges Jasmine across the room towards the table and one of the smaller chairs set there, guiding her with the arm around her shoulder. "That's an echo, my dear," he assures her, as he does. "Just a little somethin' we have back in Louisiana, a little parlor trick, don't worry!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine is unstartled by spontaneous song, but she does seem faintly troubled, all the same. The way Facilier seemed to change his mind when he got a better look at her... that could mean many things. The rather possessive way that he rings round her, many more. Still, she can't help but return his smile with her own, slightly tremulous one: he is generous to provide her with temporary sanctuary, and she, in turn, is very grateful.

"Thank you," she replies simply, tucking more honest relief into two words -- two SYLLABLES -- than most people express in a year. They come out rather musical, as well; most phrases do, her voice a sparkling, silvery thing, but never more than now. Allowing herself to be led to the chairs, she takes a seat after gracefully shifting the skirt of her robe out of the way. Her legs -- interestingly, shod in light but sturdy-looking running shoes, rather than pointy-toed slippers -- hook daintily at the ankle.

Folding her hands politely in her lap, she looks around the room very curiously. At last her eyes return to where they began, on Dr. Facilier, whom she gazes at quite steadily; if she's the least bit taken aback by his appearance or his 'echo', she never gives a hint.

And then her voice rises into a sweet descant, the tones winding around and above the Friends' harmony, her major key mingling with their minor in a way that transforms creepy into glorious:

o/` I have run through the worlds... o/`
o/` Rarely stopped to enjoy them. o/`
o/` Always must I move onwards... without time to see the sights. o/`
o/` So please grant me the leave... o/`
o/` To ask a silly question: o/`
o/` What's a Voodoo Emporium -- what have I found tonight? o/`
:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier is actually a little taken aback, when Jasmine starts singing. He's... never actually had anyone sing back before. The apparently disembodied instrumentation in the room falters, too... bt around the beginning of the second stanza, it picks up in support of Jasmine.

Facilier's surprise, however, dissolves quickly back into his usual smile, once he's come to terms with what's happening.

So when he gets the opportunity - about when she asks what she's found tonight - he leaps directly into song again, scooting Jasmine's chair up closer to the table as he starts. The instrumentation, ready for it this time, don't miss a beat.

o/` Sit down at my table! o/`
o/` Put your mind at ease! o/`
o/` If you'll relax it will enable me... o/`
o/` To do... anything I please! o/`

With Jasmine safely seated, Facilier starts to move around the table... he breaks it up, though, by dancing as he does. He's got some moves that can be officially be classified as 'dope-ass', too.

o/` I can read your future... o/`
o/` I can change it 'round some too! o/`

About here, he leaps onto the table and busts out more aforementioned sweet moves, complete with a ridiculous backflip and his contractual minimum of one Michael Jackson pose.

o/` I'll look deep into your heart and soul... o/`
o/` Make your wildest dreams come true! o/`

Facilier turns, leaps down off the table in the direction of his own chair, and then whirls on Jasmine again, thrusting out his left hand; from it dangle a number of tiny, adorable dolls, tied to his fingers with string.

o/` I got voodoo-- o/`

His right hand goes out. In it is clutched... a... live chicken???

o/` I got hoodoo-- o/`

The wall behind Facilier's chair swells outwards, fading into darkness as it does; Jasmine may notice the reaching tendrils of a Heartless poking through the wall--

--and then Facilier whirls on it, dropping the chicken and the dolls, and strongly presents something he pulls out of his coat, with a cry of,

o/` I got things I ain't even TRIED! o/`

The Heartless apparently don't want none of that, because they retreat back through the wall immediately. Facilier huffs and turns back to Jasmine, tucking the thing back into his pocket as he does so - it is, apparently, some kind of small pendant.

Either way, Facilier flips his tailcoat up and lowers himself into his seat, which scoots itself forwards to meet him. As he does, he reminds Jasmine,

o/` And I got friends on the o-ther side~ o/`

A heartbeat later, once again, it echoes throughout the shop; this time the voices are noticably closer, but it's hard to tell from which direction; it's almost as if the building itself is singing.

o/` (He's got friends ooon the o-ther siiide~) o/`
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
At first Jasmine is into it, in a casual way -- you'd have to be deaf to not appreciate the quality of Facilier's voice, and blind to not see that he's a good dancer, but as his words, to say nothing of the imagery, get more disturbing... well, she gets more disturbed.

By the time he's at 'look deep into your heart and soul,' all the blood has drained out of her face. She stays sunk deep into her chair, hands hidden within her voluminous sleeves, mostly because there's no other option; when the Heartless arrive, she starts to rise, but the good Doctor takes care of it before she can.

That said, in the moment that the Heartless reach out, his shadow and friends on the other side may well sense the primal force that stirs in her, rising with the fire in her eyes. It settles, afterwards, but continues to burn brightly within. That power may be holy, but there's nothing tame about it, nothing safe. She has to squeeze her eyes shut, concentrating fiercely, to get it to back down from its desire to pour out of her. The Light, she's fast discovering in the past several days, wants to be used, now that she knows it's there. Or it wants to use her. Some of both, probably.

When her eyes open, they are somewhat calmer, though her burning core remains. A single eyebrow raises, eloquently expressing her concern. She clears her throat into the silence that reigns after Facilier's backup band dies away. And her voice, while in tune with the song and in time with the beat, is no longer actively singing. The question is not as innocent as it could be, but not sarcastic, either. It's definitely a little bit worried.

"Dr. Facilier... if you don't mind my asking... who /are/ your friends on the other side?"

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
The good(?) news is, this appears to be the end of the singing, at least... for now. If Facilier notices anything about Jasmine's sudden urge to spray light out of all of her orifices, he doesn't show it; when she opens her eyes again, he just looks concerned, presumably for her health, and the instrumentation is dying away.

He shrugs it off, when she asks her question. "Trade secret," he assures her, with an apologetic shrug. "Y'all understand, of course. If I went around tellin' everyone that, I'd put myself out of business."

That said, he reaches under the table, and comes back up with a small deck of cards, which he sets on the table in between himself and Jasmine. "Now," he continues brightly, apparently eager to get away from the topic of his friends on the other side, or at least their identities. "Y'all're welcome to spend the night, if you need to; my assistant will be coming in tomorrow, and she'll make sure you get to wherever you're goin' safe."

"But until then... perhaps y'all'd be interested in making use of my services?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine doesn't press the question, letting it go with a tiny nod, but she doesn't exactly melt into his arms with understanding, either. She looks... skeptical. The blood is starting to return to her face, at least, warming her complexion back to its usual golden-brown caramel.

When he offers to let her stay the night, she draws back, fractionally. "I couldn't do that," she protests, in an understated, quiet way. One of her hands slips back out of its sleeve to be held up in a forestalling way. "It's very kind of you to offer, but I won't repay your kindness by staying more than a few minutes. I don't wish to cause more trouble."

And she already has, of that she's certain: it was comforting to see Facilier banish a Heartless, but also demonstrative that she's not as safe here as she'd like, and therefore, neither is he... or his assistant.

As for his second offer, she seems extremely reluctant. "I... have been ill used by mystics, of late," she explains, after releasing her lower lip from an unconscious, worried bite. "You seem very nice, but I'd rather not truck with forces that I don't understand." Well, it's already too late for that, but the first one wasn't her choice. "I'm too far over my head as it is."

Truer words never spoken.

Her other hand emerges having slipped a small item out of a pouch. When it opens, palm up, its contents catch every bit of radiance in the room, reflecting and refracting dazzlingly. "This is the Eye of the Dawn," she explains, the lovely Agrabic name auto-translated by the duct tape that binds the multiverse together. It's a devastatingly large ruby, seemingly without flaw; it has a story behind it, essentially guaranteed, but that's not why she's brought it out. It warms the room with its presence, but not half as much as her smile, as she meets Facilier's eyes: shining, shimmering, splendid. "Please take it," she implores, "For sheltering me. You do have my sincere gratitude."

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Dr. Facilier doesn't bother to hide his shock when Jasmine produces the Eye of the Dawn, because /oh my God what./ He's aware of Jasmine and her deal - her various deals, in fact - but he hadn't realized just how... /loaded/ she was, if sh can be throwing around things like this for a few minutes of save haven.

The emotions he feel next are... ... confusing. On the one hand, she seems an alright sort, so perhaps he ought to show her a gentler touch than he would a few of the other Princesses. On the other hand, she's clearly rich as hell, there's no way this well is dry; he ought to wring her for all she's worth.

But... she's not white. What-- do-- what is this i don't even

Very slowly, Facilier reaches out and takes the ruby, lifting it up to the dimly-lit electric chandeleir over his table so he can get a better look at it.

"This..." he says slowly. He's practically spechless, which is... unusual, for him.

After a beat, however, he lowers it and looks back to Jasmine. "... well, I can't let y'all walk away empty-handed, now. How about a tarot reading? No commitments; just a little divination. Completely harmless!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
As a matter of fact, Jasmine /doesn't/ have twenty Eyes of the Dawn stuffed in her pocket -- not that that's possible anyway, since it's very much one of a kind. Most of the jewels she ran off with the night of the coup are much less ostentatious (though one or two might be as valuable). They aren't actually all with her anymore; some have been given away to others she deemed more in need, and others deposited in the Bank of SeeD.

But... Facilier saved her life, as far as she's concerned, or close enough to make no difference. Things were getting /very/ tight, and she was very tired, and if he'd kicked her back out into that alley, where the Heartless had surely caught up to, she isn't at all convinced she'd have been able to fight them off.

And a princess always pays her debts. Like a Lannister, but less blond and incestuous. Her life may or may not be worth a ruby, but his reaction pleases her; she's happy he's happy, and her expression shines on, unwavering, as he sorts through his feelings and ultimately accepts her gift. He seemed like the type to appreciate a thing not just for its value but for its beauty. It'll look fine next to one of the shrunken heads.

She can't refuse this offer, though; it would be ungracious to refuse his counter-generosity, and that's one thing she'll never be. "Okay," she consents carefully. "Just... please be careful. People who get mixed up with me... often get hurt. I don't want that to happen to you."

Great, now she's worried about /him/.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier has to actually take a moment to regain his composure; he clears his throat, tucks the ruby into one of his coat pockets, and carefully adjusts his hat. "Okay," he mutters under his breath; he taps his foot once, twice, three times...

... and then the instrumentation starts up again, and he scoops up the cards on the table, and begins shuffling them. Not just /shuffling/ them, of course; he starts with a few normal - if showy - shuffles, and then moves on to the straight-up impossible, rolling the cards up one arm, end-over-end, and then across his shoulder and down the other end the same way, to land in a neat pile.

As he does all this, he is, of course, singing.

o/` The cards; the cards; the cards will tell... o/`
o/` The past; the present; and the future as well! o/`
o/` The cards; the cards; just take three... o/`
o/` Take a little trip into your future with me~e... o/`

As he sings the third line, he scoops up the cards again, spreads them out in a fan and presents them to Jasmine.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine is appropriately delighted by the display. Cards weren't actually a thing where she grew up; he could probably get an embarrassing amount of money by shifting this tarot reading into a gambling game. Although once she learned the rules, that might change; she does have a damn decent poker face, after all.

But she beams at the shuffling and the song, even claps her hands a little at one of the more spectacularly impossible parts. She's taken by wonder after wonder, for all her reasonable suspicions about magic. As she said in her own song, earlier, she's hardly had a chance to slow down a little and appreciate the marvels of the many worlds, lest she be grabbed by their horrors.

"Hmmm," she muses, two fingers tapping her cheeks as she regards the spread thoughtfully. Hopefully this won't, as he put it, 'change her future around some too.' Is the act of choosing three cards going to, in itself, determine her future? If she took them, but didn't observe them, would it make a difference?

Before the princess gets too far into imagining quantum theory, she gets on with it and chooses her damn cards already. The very last one, the very first one, and the one in the exact middle. It seems someone has a liking for symmetry.

"Ah -- should I look at them?" She checks first -- he's the expert, after all.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
To his credit, Dr. Facilier stays away from games of chance.

When she asks her question, though, he shakes his head. He sets what remains of the deck aside, and reaches out to take Jasmine's trio of cards. "The order they're revealed is very important," he explains, as he sets them out in front of him. "Now..."

He reaches out to lift the first card, glances at it, and then shows it to Jasmine; it's a stylized drawing of... Jasmine, standing on a marble pedestal above a throng of people.

o/` Now you my dear you ought to be proud... o/`
o/` For you're so much purer than the crowd... o/`

Facilier flips the card over, so that its back faces Jasmine... except instead of the card backing, there's now the same image... or, well, a similar one. Now Jasmine is clutching her hands to her chest, and the throngs of people beneath her have become Heartless, who are reaching up towards her.

o/` The light shines forth... o/`

He flips the card, this time upside down, and the image changes again; now the chest that Jasmine is clutching bears a heart made out of light, that is casting rays all across the card, prompting the throngs of Heartless beneath her to recoil and cower. This final transformation is accompanied by the addition of the symbols 'XIX' at the top of the card.

o/` And the darkness goes... o/`

Facilier carefully sets the card down, and slides it across the table towards Jasmine, so she can get a better look at it.

o/` So nowhere in your heart is there any darkness to show! o/`

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine relinquishes the cards easily enough, and listens earnestly to his explanation, short as it is. Her brows lift at her very personalized appearance in the cards -- well, this /is/ magic, after all. It's impressive... and mildly disconcerting.

She is not immune to flattery or charm, but she finds Facilier's first statement a little bit distressing, and shifts uncomfortably in her seat. Her legs swap ankles, in terms of how they're crossed. "I have very little to be proud of," she mutters, quietly enough to not interrupt the song. Her sheltered, pampered status, that gilded cage she fought to escape... it shames her, now that she's seen how so many others live, even within her own city.

But she gapes, her jaw dropping, as the shining heart appears -- recoiling from the card as the pictured Heartless recoil from /her/. There are so many implications there. A Dark Knight's whisper rebounds in her ears, that mysterious title he'd bestowed upon her coming back, now. She hadn't had time to think about it, much.

Without touching the card slid in front of her, she leans forward to study it very closely. A hand drifts up to tuck a lock of her dark hair back behind one ear, a troubled gesture. She drags her eyes from the card to the man. "I'm not sure what to think of this," she says at last with complete honesty. Or, more accurately, she has entirely TOO many thoughts; some quick to argue, others recognizing truths in what he's sung, parallels to her recent experiences. She wishes it were harder to believe than it is, though it will take her a long time to come to grips with aspects of it. A heart of pure light? She too feels depression, and anger, and fear, after all.

It may be that her pity for Jafar, rather than her undying hatred, is the definitive difference that put her over the edge. She despises what he's done to her people in general, and her personally, but... mostly she wonders how unhappy he must be, to be driven to such depths.

Blinking back out of her thoughtful reverie again, she ducks her head. "Sorry about that. There's magic in how thought-provoking this is, for sure..."

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
"It's no problem at all," Facilier assures Jasmine, with another broad smile. He has awfully shiny teeth, offset only slightly by the gap in between the two front ones. It's a charm point!

"Y'see, mademoiselle," he begins, reaching across the table to draw two more cards from the deck as he does, "In every one of us there exist two natures. Good..." He casually tosses one of the cards he's drawn onto the table, and it lands neatly in front of Jasmine, face-up; on its face is a man, posing dramatically, in golden armor and a cape and with a head of windswept platinum hair. The symbols 'XX' feature prominently at the top of the image.

"... and evil," Facilier finishes. He tosses the other card, and it lands next to the first. The two are much the same, but this new card - although it features the same pose - has the man facing the opposite direction, and instead of bearing the first man, shows someone wearing a full-body suit of black armor, face obscured entirely by metal.

"It's the curse of mankind," Facilier explains, "That these two sides are constantly struggling... but not inside yoU!" he exclaims, reaching out to tap the card bearing Jasmine's image. "Your heart ain't got nothin' but light in it. No darkness at all!"

Aaand then he bursts into song again, rising out of his chair as he belts.

o/` It's the light; it's the light; it's the light's your plight! o/`
o/` But when I look into your future... o/`

Facilier leans forwards to touch the card, and flips it onto its back once more; this time the first image is gone, replaced by an image identical to the third, with Jasmine and her heart of light... but, notably, the Heartless are gone.

o/` Everything is alright! o/`
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine returns Facilier's smile, then sits back a little as he goes on, which is to say, she's no longer practically got her nose to the table -- back to typically princessy perfect posture, though it's hard to see under the huge brown robe, anyway. Amusingly, the 'good' image doesn't really do it for her; she wrinkles her nose a little at the Perfect Prince, her lips quirking into an ironic smirk. With that thought in mind, she doesn't seem terribly taken aback by the 'evil' image, either. It's intimidating-looking, sure, but you never know who's under that shell.

She puts aside the question of whether or not the battle in her has truly already been won before it was ever begun (it's fairly difficult to accept, frankly, and that continues to show on her face) when the doctor makes his final proclamation. Then the hope begins to dawn, lighting up her whole face. She may be slow to trust the concept that she herself brings hope, but the concept that everything will turn out in the end... that's something to live by, something she embodies, without realizing it.

Still, it's hugely comforting to see it confirmed in the cards.

The young woman stares up at the fortune-teller. "Do you really think so?" Her voice trembles with raised expectations.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Dr. Facilier returns to his seat, and reaches out to finally pick up the second card and turn it over. He normally saves this bit for when he does couples, but... this girl has an awful lot of baggage.

In short, he takes it to the bridge.

o/` Oh you come from a land... from a faraway place... o/`

As he sings, he picks up the second card and shows it to Jasmine; it's... Agrabah, or at least the desert, and surprisingly featureless save for the upside down 'V' at the bottom of the card.

o/` Where the caravan camels roam... o/`
As he sings, Facilier reaches up, grabs the bottom of the card, and pulls... and it lengthens, extending downwards like a measuring tape. Sure enough, the image lengthens, too, expanding to include a... well, caravan of camels.

o/` Where they cut off your ear... if they don't like your face... o/`

The card lengthens further; now it shows a group of people standing outside a gate. Specifcally, two Heartless are holding down a certain street rat, while a particularly large guard lifts a sword over his head in a two-handed grip, ready to strike down at the grappled riff-raff.

Over the affairs presids who is unmistakably Jafar, with a big stupid smirk on his face, Iago perched on his shoulder.

o/` It may be bar-bar-i~ic... o/`
o/` But hey... it's home! o/`

The card lengthens one final time, to reveal that the gates the group stands before are the gates to the palace in Agrabah.

Facilier releases the bottom of the card, which whips back into normal card size... although the image changs, becoming a collage of all of the subjects its face touched upon before. He sets the card down, and without waiting proceeds directly to the third.

o/` But in your future the place /I/ see... o/`

Facilier flips the card over, and pushes it across the table towards Jasmine; it's a picture of her, sitting on a throne. Seated next to her in a smaller throne - a sub throne, if you will - is a handsome man in a big poofy white hat with a feather in it. Off on the periphery of the card stand Jasmine's father, on her side, and a beaming square-jawed man on the side of the mysterious male. The entire affair is helpfully labelled 'III.'

o/` Is /exactly/ the place you always wanted to be! o/`

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine can't even deny that stuff about her homeland, though she's glad enough to see it. The first time she went out, she almost lost her hand -- and in saving it, a boy might have won it, if he hadn't been brutally put to death (or so she's been told). Indeed, when those images appear on the card-scroll, her eyes fill with tears.

There's been a lot of atrocity in her life lately, but nothing quite so personal as the execution that started it all. All those dead SeeD (and Agrabah Heartless) weigh on her soul, but not nearly so dearly as that of the boy in the marketplace. She never even learned his name, and he died for the crime of helping her.

She smiles a bit wetly as Facilier gets to the grand finale, though there's a flash of resentment at the necessity of a prince. Her inability to assume the throne without one rankles, but she focuses on the positive: her father happy and healthy, herself with a true love or at least some sort of reasonable compromise. "It's true," she admits, "I used to be so desperate to go out and see the world, but now I realize... I guess it's true, that you only know what you've got when it's gone."

That sounds like a song -- here come the violins, for the last few bars of a poignant chorus:

o/` A whole new world... o/`
o/` That's where I'll be... o/`
o/` I'll find my home o/`
o/` No more alone o/`
o/` With family... o/`

Trailing off, she blinks back up at Facilier. "Thank you," she says for about the eighth time tonight. "Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
The ghost(?) instruments are on the ball, now, and transition directly into supporting Jasmine without misstep.

Once she's sung her part, he grins at Jasmine, and assures her, "Well, down in New Orleans--" he says it 'nawlins', of course, "-- folks like you and I, we find it real important to stick together."

"Now," he continues, leaning back in his chair and stroking at his chin. "If y'all wanted, I could help you with your little... issue," he offers, gesturing towards the second card. He starts to say something else... but then hesitates, and sighs.

"Unnnfortunately," he admits, "I'm afraid that lovely gem wouldn't quite cover something of that... magnitude. For a sweet girl like you, though, I'd be happy to provide the service at cost."

"Which would meannn," he murmurs, doing some quick mental math. "All I'd need from you is... hmmm! Well, a token, really. A trifle!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I..." Jasmine hesitates, tempted. So close, so close!

Her heart flutters in her chest. Her eyes are a little bit glazed; she's been on an emotional whirlwind with the cards, and was pushed beyond all limits of endurance before she even showed up on the doorstep of the Voodoo Emporium.

"...have to know what you mean by 'help' before I can accept it, or pay for it." Missed it by THAT much!

She also gestures to the second card, one fingertip touching the visage of Jafar.

"My father got more help than he could stand, and our people have suffered greatly for it," she points out, sadly. "You're very kind. Please understand why I'm concerned... I don't want any further harm to come to them, even with good intentions."

That isn't an outright /no/...

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier... remains undeterred. This /is/ a qustion he actually fields pretty regularly; few people will leap right into an agreement without some discussion of terms first, and he's rarely so eager or desperate that he has to lambast someone directly into the agreement.

"Well, it's like this, mademoiselle," Facilier explains, leaning forwards in his seat again. "It's real hard to change the future... but it's real easy, too, if you know what you're doing. This..." He reaches out to tap the Empress. "... will happen, almost no matter what. Won't change unless someone tries reaaal hard to change it."

"But who knows how many folks'll die, before then? /When/ it happens, that's the question."

"Now, what /I/ can do," he explains, "Is give y'all a little... nudge in the right direction. Changin' the future with brute force, that's hard, but I can give things a little shake, and... speed up the process. Nothing... invasive, if you get my drift?"

"And y'all've paid me so much already," he notes again, "That all you'd need to do is make me one little promise."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Oh, Facilier's good. After the last few minutes, Jasmine's not exactly hard to read in terms of motivations, but he still slices right to the heart of things -- her heart, that is, and what it cares for most.

She tilts her head to one side, a fluid, feline motion.

"A promise? What... do you want from me?"

Curiousity killed the cat.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier makes a big showing of thinking, tapping his chin and scratching the side of his head and hemming and hawwing.

Eventually, though, he makes up his mind with a nod. "Well, you've been so generous already," he begins slowly, turning his best friendly smile upon her, "Y'all just agree to come by and do me a little favor sometime? I've got all sorts of things around here that might could use a woman's touch, sometime."

"My assistant - Rapunzel - she's sweet, but she's just a young girl, and sometimes she has... problems... that a man like me don't know how to help her with," Facilier explains, with a thoughtful frown. "So it'd be nice to know there was someone I could call on, in case of... emergency."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
This particular big show isn't exactly in Facilier's favor; Jasmine's got a minor in seeing through the wiffley-waffley of courtiers and viziers, acquired at Agrabah Palace University. He already knew what the trifle was, right? Why all the show? She looks a little bit impatient, and for the first time very like the teenager she actually is. Come /on/ already, her expression suggests.

But then he does, and she looks... mollified. This is a promise people keep asking for her, and she just keeps giving it, because... showing up and helping someone? Isn't that what she does anyway?

The name does distract her. "Rapunzel? She's with you?" That does a little more to further Facilier's credentials, though the two girls only met briefly. "I'm glad she found a place to work, I was a bit worried about her." All that /hair/. At least her own mane is able to be tucked inside her veil, though the huge hump it creates makes her look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Quickly, though, she comes back to the topic at hand. "Actually, I know exactly how you can help my future accelerate. I need information a lot more than I need magic. You've given me a lot already, but one glaring question remains unanswered."

Out of her robe -- what all does she KEEP in there? -- she pulls a ragged scroll. It's been painstakingly painted with an imperfect but basically accurate picture of a certain Sorceress Supreme. The horns, the green skin, the disdainful smirk, the nose looking like it's just smelled a fart and no, it ISN'T hers.

"Who is she, and what does she really want? If you can tell me..." Then we might just have a deal.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier accepts the scroll, and studies it thoroughly; after a few seconds, a frown appears on his face, and it grows larger over the seconds.

Eventually, however, he shrugs, and offers the scroll back. "I can't tell you," he admits, with an apologetic shrug.

It's not... technically false. Maleficent would bite his head off, if he told Jasmine about her.

"Rapunzel's just fine, though, don't y'all worry," he assures her. "And I happen to agree; you /do/ need information. But magic can do a whole lot more than make a bunch of light and noise. I'm happy to ask my friends on the other side what y'all need to do to put you on the right track."

"So how about it?" he prompts, once Jasmine's taken the scroll back. He opens his hand, extending it in offer to shake. "Have we got a deal?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine disappears the scroll as smoothly as any magician. Her lips purse, disappointed by not terribly surprised. It /was/ a long shot. Maybe she can trick Jafar into telling her, next time she screws up badly enough that he's in earshot.

Then she does something reckless and stupid, because you know what, she's had just about enough of running away from the shadows. It's time to do something PROACTIVE. Something that will move her future FORWARD.

Something like making a deal with the nice fellow who's so very eager to help her out! Yeah!

All of this flickers across her face -- the frustrating, the defiance, and finally, ultimately, the trust Facilier's been waiting for. Life's too short, and the stakes are too high, to turn away all the help she can get, especially for such a /reasonable/ price.

"You ask your friends what I need to do," she repeats, carefully enunciating as she picks her way through the deal, "And I come when you call me for help, once." She grins a little, self-aware enough of her own follies to add, "I can't promise I won't keep helping after that, but it isn't required."

She extends her hand, so delicate and soft, though it's beginning to criss-cross with calluses that weren't there before SeeD got their hands on her.

And she shakes on it.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
Facilier's handshake; firm, dry, three seconds.

Even before he's released it, his smile broadens. And then he /does/ release, and he rounds on the wall behind his chair, one hand snapping outwards towards it; something flicks out of his hand, strikes the wall, and explodes into a plume of purple smoke...

... and the wall sort of falls away, revealing a twisting maelstrom of purple and black. The instrumentation springs up in full force again... joined by the good doctor's 'backup singers', who finally reveal(?) themselves. The wooden masks hanging above Jasmine's head abruptly float off of the wall and forwards, over Facilier's head and into the swirling black and purple void, rotating to face Jasmine and Facilier as they do. Rather than singing, though, they're just providing an a cappella backbeat, in the form of, 'bum bum BUM BUM BUM BUM bum bum'. Facilier, meanwhile, joins in with,

o/` ARE YOU READY?! o/`

This does prompt a response from the masks, in the form of,

o/` (Are you ready?!) o/`

And then... the music changes? The heavy drum beat transitions, over a few seconds, into more of a march, and a parade-like trumpet fanfare joins in. Rather than what next, Facilier changes it up;

o/` Are you rea-DY for-- o/`

Facilier reaches back onto the table, grabs up the Empress, and hurls it into the abyss. It vanishes a beat later, and whre it did, a hole in reality rips open. The masks immediately switch formation, forming into a circle around it; as they do, the hole reveals itself as a window, an image shimmering into view through it.

That image, as it turns out, is of... the man in white with the poofy hat, engaged in a battle with a bunch of Heartless.

o/` Prince... A... LI! That's who you need! Ali Ababwaaa! o/`
o/` Strong as ten regular men; definitely! o/`
o/` He'll face the galloping hordes! o/`
o/` A hundred bad guys with swords! o/`
o/` With sixty catapults! Horses galore! o/`
o/` With his spears and archers! o/`
o/` Hashashin and more! o/`
o/` With his forty fakirs! His cooks! His bakers! o/`
o/` His friend that fights with a KEY! o/`

As he sings, the 'camera' sweeps across the battlefield; it is, apparently, Agrabah, and it casts a very heroic and A-Team Safe view of the battle, with the Good Guys cutting down Heartless en masse. As Facilier lists this 'Ali Ababwa's' many assets, they're featured through the window, culminating in a young boy with brown hair who is wielding a key as a weapon, and also it shoots lasers??? This is stupid.

o/` Make WAY! For PRINCE! A-A-LIIIII!! o/`

As Facilier belts the finale, the hole closes, the masks float back into place, and the wall rises out of the ground to return the room into being... a room, and not a door into a weird psychedelic dimension.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine doesn't swear. She does not, in fact, know any swear words.

But her face swears for her, when the portal pops up and the masks start floating. This, quite frankly, may have been more than she was prepared for, and she's seen a lot of crazy things. She leaps to her feet, blanching again. Her jaw practically hits the floor, her eyes bug out of her head, and depending on how much attention Facilier is paying to her, he might see her going for something very big and very gunmetal black hanging on a harness under those robes.

She stops, though, letting the SeeD Special Forces Assault Rifle stay sheathed on her back for now, when the window shows... a man. No, look at that turban: a Prince. Capital P. Her arms... fold. Still, him and his warriors, and that little boy -- who she recognizes, actually, from a Missing Persons picture she once saw -- they do a fairly impressive job of retaking Agrabah.

Just the other day she saw enough of the horrors of war to question how very clean that battlefield was, but now's not the time.

"Prince Ali Ababwa," the girl repeats slowly, instead, when the whole song and dance is over, turning the words over thoughtfully on her tongue. She looks much more comfortable after the room's a room again.

"A deal's a deal," she says readily enough; she's never one to welch. "My name is Jasmine. Call me when you need me, and... thank you for all of your help tonight." From her tone, she obviously has the feeling that revealing her name is only a formality, that he knew (presumably told by his Friends) who she was. "All of you."

She extends her thanks to the masks as well, giving them an exquisite obeisance, a bow of her head and sweep of her 'skirts' full of respect.

Because frankly, she respects the hell out of those Friends, and pissing them off by not giving them credit where credit is due is the last thing she wants.

:'''[[Dr. Facilier]] has posed:''' 
There's no response from the masks, who appear to have gone back to being completely inanimate... but Facilier does recoil, as if struck, when Jasmine reveals her name. "I never did introduce myself, did I?" he realizes, damn near horrified by the fact.

He makes up for it by reaching up to remove his top hat (underneath it, his hair has grown to fill all available space), and gives a sweeping, overwrought bow. "A tip of the hat, mademoiselle, from Dr. Facilier! I do hope y'all can forgive me for my rudeness."

"And it is, of course, our pleasure to serve," he assures her, as he straightens up and re-dons his hat. "I'll let you know when I need to cash in that favor, of course, of course. And I'll pass on your well-wishes to dear little Rapunzel."

"Other than that... I reckon it ought to be safe outside, by now. Y'all be careful, and feel free to come back any time," he says, with a small wave.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"No, no, the fault is mine," Jasmine demurs softly, returning the bow with another one of her own, less over-the-top and more elegant, but in no way diminishing his own. "You told me your name right away -- Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium. And surely you could be no one but the proprieter," she points out. "So, please, forgive me. And yes, please say 'hi' to Rapunzel for me... and let me know when you need me to come by."

She glances significantly at the door. "I'll do my best not to let them catch me before you call me, but... you may not want to wait too long," is her honest suggestion. For all that things may work out well in the end, in the short to mid-term, they aren't looking very bright. And if she /can't/ come to him because she's locked up in some dungeon, well... that would be a shame.

"Thank you again, Doctor! Please be safe... these are troubled times."

And with that, she disappears back onto the street.

Jasmine

2012-12-23T05:58:45Z

Liz: relationship update: mercade alexander

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

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'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

[[Jafar]]: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

[[Aladdin]]: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

[[Faris Scherwiz]]: ''"Your secret's safe with me. So much for needles and haystacks... you couldn't swing a cat on this ship without hitting one of us (princesses)."'' Faris' total honesty about 'his' profession smoothed over what might have otherwise been a poor first impression; he's an /awfully/ pretty boy, after all, exactly the sort of person Jasmine inherently suspects. But she felt something in him that she trusted immediately -- with her life, as he swept her off on a pirate ship to flee an army of Heartless. Faris thoroughly earned that trust during the dangerous journey, as well as Jasmine's respect and friendship, and the two of them ultimately exchanged the secrets of their identity. Hoping to repay her friend for at least a tiny fraction of her kindness, Jasmine gave her what news of Lenna she had.

[[Avira]]: ''"(Leaving my new friends behind) kills me, every time. I'd... never really been allowed to make any friends before. It's such a privilege to get to meet such brilliant, strong, kind people. To see how you care for each other, and for the many worlds. People like you are what gives me strength to /keep/ running, Avira. And one day we'll understand the situation enough to stop being reactive, to go on the offensive and change things for good. I don't intend to run forever... and it would be both an honor and a pleasure to have you beside me, when that day comes."'' Jasmine first saw Avira defending Garden at a distance, and drew courage from the mighty warrior's example. Later, she noticed Kaydin transporting a captured Avira to Baron. She would not leave one of her allies, even one she'd never properly been introduced to, in the hands of their enemies. She could not do anything else, and still be herself; not long afterwards, they wound up traveling together, as Avira helped her flee the Heartless in Rabanastre, and took ship with her to Bevelle, rescuing her from a Heartless abduction attempt in the process. Having now had an opportunity to actually spend a little time together, Jasmine is quite impressed with the woman's competence, but moreso with her understated kindness. It isn't the strength of Avira's muscles that she treasures, but the strength of her heart.

[[Angantyr Vespar]]: ''"I'm not afraid of you. I fear the Darkness sometimes, but never the man... because while you may not have been able to keep that creature from using you, you stopped /yourself/ before it could do any lasting harm. Your love for your friends was stronger than its hatred. That's the opposite of being weak-willed, Sir Knight. True strength doesn't come from being invincible... you were vulnerable, at every disadvantage, but you fought, and overcame it."'' Jasmine and Angantyr met while independently launching rescue operations for Avira, in Baron, and made excellent impressions on each other. They departed as princess and mercenary guard for a forty-eight hour term of employment, and in that time became fast friends; further trials have only deepened their bond. She regards his friendship far higher than any coin, in fact. Jasmine has seen the Darkness in Angantyr, but believes that the man can find balance, with time, will, and self-respect; rather than try to talk him out of his revenge, she knows that only he can do that for himself.

[[Maira]]: ''"I can watch over you."'' Maira tagged along with Avira and Angantyr, when they all took ship with Faris to Bevelle. Jasmine empathizes with the severity of Maira's struggles to contain and control her power, and greatly respects her continuous battle to do so. She's forever grateful that the girl helped rescue her from abduction by a Heartless-controlled sea serpent. Maira's sunny optimism and powerful sense of friendship are among the lights in Jasmine's heart.

[[Garland]]: Jasmine recognized Garland immediately on an instinctual level. She bore witness within her own heart, all too briefly, to the incredible memory of Light that once dwelled within him. To the decline and fall of that Light, the self-inflicted wounds, the knife-stabs through the heart and soul that so skillfully forged his spirit into pure and endless Darkness. She respects what he once was, understands what he has become, and accepts him for exactly who he is. Like Jafar, Garland inspires a mix of fear, anger, and sadness; fear that she'll never be strong enough to prevent him from doing exactly what he wants, anger that he would ever have chosen to be what he is, and sadness at the outcome. She believes in the infinite possibility of redemption, and she wouldn't be who /she/ is without extending such opportunities to him, in innumerable quiet ways, while defying his agenda with every fibre of her being. Polar opposites on many levels, she is disquieted to find similarities within their duality; they are like, but so unlike.

[[Mercade Alexander]]: ''"I do believe that there is no path through darkness so forsaken that it cannot emerge into the light, whether Heartless or Shadow Lord. As I believe that forgiveness is harder than fury, but worthwhile all the same. Anger is as easy as burning yourself up from within. Healing others, healing the worlds... that begins within, as well, by first forgiving yourself."'' Mercade was among the group that rescued Jasmine from a gigantic Heartless in the Traverse Town arena some months back, but they only got a chance to talk, and to introduce themselves properly, after the fall of Manhattan. He struck her as brave, kind, and very, very angry. He was eager to help her solve the puzzle of her life, and who better to put on the case than a detective passionately opposed to the Shadow Lords? She worries about the darker side of that passion, however, and hopes that he can strike the right balance within himself, as well as without. The line between justice and vengeance can be fine indeed.

[[Seith]]: ''"I can see /your/ Light."'' Jasmine was too busy dealing with other issues to participate in a fairly epic philosophical debate Seith was at the core of, but his willingness, even eagerness, to hurt, maim, or perhaps even kill innocent bystanders in order to make his points in a debate informed her first impression of him.

[[Faruja Senra]]: ''"As long as you stand up for what is right, the war is already won."'' Seen helping the poor and defying the dark at a distance, Jasmine was impressed with the Burmecian's compassion and fierce ideals... though he seemed a bit loquacious. She (largely incorrectly) blames herself for the Heartless' interruption of his charity event. Later, he helped her thwart a small army of Heartless, and she helped him remember the good reasons to fight, as well as the grim. They parted as friends.

[[Ivo Galvan]]: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

[[Dr. Facilier]]: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

[[Ron Stoppable]]: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

[[Kaydin]]: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

[[Terra Bradford]]: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

[[Riku]]: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

[[Rapunzel]]: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

[[David Xanatos]]: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

[[Belle]]: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

[[Jean Faraven]]: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

[[Celes Chere]]: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

[[Quistis Trepe]]: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

[[Merilan Yursalin]]: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

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'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Music:'''

Sheherazade, Op. 35, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPB15Ma2o48 (Sheherazade's solos; the full symphonic suite is a lovely, recommended listen, though!)

Prince Charming, Jim's Big Ego: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v03rWmK4jiM

The Queen of Argyll, Wolfstone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqmq4iVY6zY

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

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'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

A Memory of Light

2012-12-23T01:13:26Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/23 |Location=Macalania Woods |Synopsis=With the help of a certain sphere-based lifeform and the strength of their best memories, Jasmine an..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/23
|Location=Macalania Woods
|Synopsis=With the help of a certain sphere-based lifeform and the strength of their best memories, Jasmine and Faruja overcome a small army of Heartless.
|Cast of Characters=Faruja Senra, Jasmine
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
It is awfully dark for the Giza Dry.
 
Black clouds shroud the sky, but they don't contain a hint of rain. In this muted light, the Sunstones cannot collect their glorious bounty; they loom, monolithic hulks of grim gray, with only the barest seed of light dwelling within them. The shadows they cast are full of eyes.
 
The nomads are no fools. Experienced survivalists, they've circled the wagons, so to speak, and are preparing to repel a major Heartless invasion. If only Rabanastre was not lost to them, they might have retreated there for shelter! Their eyes are as faded and exhausted as the stones, brother looking to sister, daughter to father. Will they be able to hold them off this time?
 
Suddenly, a pillar of blinding white light erupts towards the north. The stones react to it, absorbing the pure radiance and re-emiting it a dozenfold, bouncing it between themselves, sharing the wealth of Light. And hope dawns in the faces of the Nomads, as the shadows shrink and retreat, abandoning their siege, seemingly driven back by the Plains themselves.
 
But they haven't been driven back.
 
They've been lured away.
 
Jasmine struggles fiercely with the primal force within her, forcing it back under the surface as she flees north... a tiny brown street mouse chased by ebon shadows by the hundreds. The forest awaits above, with its promise of shelter, but not true refuge. Perhaps she hopes to fight them on less open ground, where numbers are less of an overwhelming advantage.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
Limbs and back aching with lingering wounds, Faruja finds himself cursing his own disregard for a healer's words, and that desire to /help/ his parents instilled into him. He'd not intended to act as guard to a group of nomads when he set forth from the nearest town out onto the plains, riding his great white-scaled wyvern. But with a bunch of unfortunate souls faced with certain doom at the claws and teeth of Heartless? The Burmecian had landed just as the wagons were circled. There were few complaints at the time; he was no Heartless, and they needed every weapon they could get.
 
The Templar, however, shields his gaze as Light erupts. It almost blinds him, the pure power behind it eclipsing his own manyfold. Somehow, it seems almost familiar. As the shadows flee, curiousity biting at his tail, he re-mounts and offers a few parting prayers. Arista flaps her wings, and the pair race through the air towards the source of the Light, and what the Heartless seem to be chasing!

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
Arista's shadow falls across Jasmine just before she hits the treeline, and she looks up and behind her, startled. This is an unwise thing to do while sprinting flat out; a tree root finds her ankle, and she goes flying, tumbling head over heels to land in an ungainly heap. Even then, her focus remains on the Burmecian, whom she obviously recognizes, her eyes warm and her smile sweet.
 
She doesn't stay down for long, finding her feet quickly, rubbing her bruised backside surreptitiously, pulling her veil more tightly around herself, and plunging into that forest. Her voice, calm and bright and clear as a bell, rings upward to embrace him, as she cannot do in the flesh.
 
"Hello again, brave one. I am glad we've met once more!"
 
At this point, the Heartless are at least a few minutes behind, though she shows no sign of stopping, working her way through Macalania on low paths and high, occasionally visible between the crystalline branches and melifluous leaves. She even pauses to regard an especially beautiful tree with wonder, cradling a bloom gently without plucking it, before shaking her head and moving on. From the air, she's obviously making a beeline for the lake.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
Whump! Faruja winces, glancing back at the Heartless that have been left behind. "Ahh, but you do me far too much honor, M'Lady! I am but a humble servant of Faram, blessed be His name." Despite all of his suspicions, the warmth and kindness to her is simply infectious. Both wyvern and rat flutter to the ground, the Burmecian leaping off of his mount to offer a hand up just a moment too late.
 
"However, we once again seem to have met in rather difficult circumstances. Perhaps you would like a ride? Certainly Lady Arista would not mind. /CORRECT/, Arista?" Glare! The wyvern hisses, grumbling something in her hissing language. From the sounds of things, it's not flattering.
 
"See? Much better than picking through these woods. And besides, I yet have a few questions for you, if you would be so kind as to enlighten me on a few points?" A fuzzy brow rises, even as he follows along, occasionally glancing backwards and nimbly picking his way through foliage and tree alike.
 
Sigh. "Damned abominations. Far too many for the pair of us." The Templar's spear, held in one clawed hand, is gripped a touch tightly in irritation at not being able to destroy the creatures.
 
"Have you a plan? Seek to drown them?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
Jasmine frowns markedly as Faruja abandons his air advantage, her brows snapping together; a burst of emotions cross her face, but foremost among them is worry. For him, presumably. That cloud follows her even as her expression relaxes again into its usual serenity. She doesn't break stride, letting him fill the air with a wide number of observations, while she focuses on finding the quickest path to her goal.
 
"These are the ones who throw magic," she murmurs at last, when there's a break in his monologue. "An aerial escape would not avail me, only endanger your lady." As they reach the shores of the lake, she finally comes to a halt, bracing her arms on her knees and breathing in short, tight gasps. Not as tireless as she wishes she were, it seems.
 
Delicate wisps dance across the surface of the ice-blue lake. It is quiet here, as though the world waits with baited breath for something to shatter within it, for the tide to come in.
 
And it is coming, but not yet.
 
"I do have a plan," the young woman -- a girl, really, up close she's so very small, her voluminous burlap robes undoubtedly lending her mass, and a certain majestic poise lending her stature, but all the same, her eyes are exactly at Faruja's level -- discloses. And they contain... hope, personified. Twin wellsprings of warm, dark, sparkling mystery, it seems no dire straits can extinguish their contents. "You are quick to concede defeat... alone I thought I could prevail, and with you at my side, I have no fears at all. This is a very special lake. It has a tiny island in the middle... would you consent to bear me that far, Arista?"
 
She addresses the wyvern directly in the casual manner of one who's accustomed to seemingly silent, nonhuman companions, even friends, while adding a lissome bow for the both of them, one hand respectfully over her heart. "It is a long swim for us, but a short hop for you."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
Faruja finds himself staring the woman in the face, a slightly odd feeling after being amongst so many tall humans. It's refreshing, and the Templar keeps a small smile on his muzzle. The lingering effects of his encounter with Garland are there, despite the mask he wears; usually rock-solid confidence shaken as he stared into the depths of everything he fights. But it never reaches his face, at least, beyond that single red eye.
 
It's the rat's turn to frown as Jasmine's energy gives out. "May I suggest a chocobo next time, M'Lady?" A hand up is offered if she needs it after catching her breath.
 
One ear perks, and he gazes again into Jasmine's eyes. Hope. Something that, for the past week or so, has been missing in the rat's life after staring down his own version of the devil. "...Well, then, it seems you are more familiar with fighting these beasts than I. And hardly shall I leave a Lady to fight these abominations alone! 'Twould shame the Church! So long as a single shadow darkens the visage of an innocent, we must endure and press on mo matter what lays ahead! For the Lord is with us, ever guiding, ever seeing us through the darkest of days!" That sparkle, that hope in Jasmine seems to have brought some of his usual fire back. A thin tail lashes, the Templar's spear glowing hot and white. Arista gives a hiss of annoyance, stepping forward as she's addressed. Draconic eyes narrow, and she brings her face right up to the bowing Princess.
 
Silence isn't what Jasmine gets. Instead, it's a whisper. "You hurt the Runt, little silver-tongued softskin morsal, and I'll feast on your carcass." An arrogant hiss of contempt leaves her muzzle before she turns about, lowering herself to allow Jasmine aboard.
 
Faruja returns the bow. "Indeed, the Lady shall be quite efficient. Perfect place for a last stand, if nothing else. I do so hate being forced off of a battle yet concluded. Ahh, but I do believe we have been short on introductions." A small hop, and the Burmecian is on Arista's back. A hand is offered down. "Temple Knight Faruja Senra of Burmecia, of the Holy Church of Saint Ajora Glabados, at your service."
 
After she's up? Bonk! The Templar firmly whacks the wyvern on the top of the head with his spear butt. "And do not think I am deaf! I swear, your brothers stole your manners at birth."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
There's just something about Jasmine -- she gazes deeply into Faruja's eye, without flinching away at all from the fact that there's only one of them, and with a piercing compassion that seems to sense the troubled waters that lie beneath. Stirred by his pain, and then moreso by his brave words, a gentle sort of strength seems to embrace and enfold him, twining around him, bolstering him.
 
It is both a figurative replenishment of spirit and a literal one of body, as the wounds that were troubling him seem to fade away when she accepts his hand up, squeezing it reassuringly and with gratitude. It isn't a spell. This is a power older than such formalities.
 
"I hate to draw them into harm's way... they have such innocent souls," she says, of his chocobo idea, without an ounce of regret. But his fiery sermon makes her stand taller, banishing the last of her exhaustion. She takes as much strength from his loud convictions as he might from her quiet ones. Her smile dawns once more, shining, shimmering, splendid. Leaning forward, she kisses him, entirely chastely but very tenderly, on the cheek, a moment that has ended almost before it begins, yet somehow lasts for all time.
 
She smells of sunlight and pure water, of the clarity after a storm. And hauntingly of an exotic, aromatic flower, whose name sits just on the tip of memory, out of reach...
 
"As long as you stand up for what is right, the war is already won."
 
Then the wyvern responds. A single eyebrow lifts at Arista's hissing whisper; not for its existence, but its contents. She shakes her head, tendrils of silken hair escaping her cowl to glide over her shoulders. "His safety is my highest priority," Jasmine reassures her with perhaps worrisome honesty. "But I don't believe in last stands... only brighter tomorrows." With that, she lets him help her up -- her movements are fluid and graceful, and she settles herself in a place that won't strain any wyvern-muscles with ease. "I am Jasmine." Of course she is. "Thank you for everything, Sir Knight."
 
She definitely disapproves of the bonking, but is too polite to say so. "And you also, Lady Arista."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
The wounds won by his defense of the Church's shindig fade away as he gazes back into the woman's deep brown eyes. Strength flows into him, and even his old burn wounds feel better than they have in ages. Indeed, the Burmecian's very soul seems to be stirred, the gentle support so very much like the kind Priestesses that tended to him when he first fell into the patchwork World of Ruin. Memories stir of home, of all of the quiet, gentle souls that supported him from a mere child until his world's fall. The Templar's grip upon his weapon becomes surer, more confident. He too sits straighter, filled with purpose as he remembers the people he's met in his life, and the very reason he took up a spear in the first place. To fight evil, to fight Darkness so that others would not have to.
 
He'd made the speech out of reflex, training and a talent for oratory befitting a priest (as much as he likes to state otherwise) pushing him to do so. Ears, tattered and expressive as they are, splay back and burn red. He's left speechless by the kiss, somehow reminded both of his lost older sister, and that beautiful Cleyran dancer he so fancies. Ever the gentlerat, he turns away, coughing politely.
 
"Quite! With perserverance and faith, evil cannot win the day!"
 
Arista offers a spiteful glare in return to Jasmine's words...but it lacks the usual venom, even her threats half-hearted by comparison. Nevermind she actually spoke! Faruja looks quite amused.
 
Arista stretches, and flaps her great wings, effortlessly lifting off. She skims the water, not bothering with too much height, instead focusing on ferrying them across with all due haste.
 
"With the amount of corruption and darkness about, M'Lady Jasmine, 'tis the only outcome aside from utter destruction. Let us endeavor to ensure we...or our children at least, see such a day."
 
Faruja shakes his head. "No, thank you. To put it truthfully, I had been awfully suspicious of you. You practically bled the Lord's Holy Light in a way I have seen no priest, holy knight, or white mage able to conjure. The notion that there was some trickery, some...spell at work had entered my mind, casting falsehoods where those of the Abyss tread. And that...that /Thing/ in the shape of a man, who so seemed to know you...that frightening, terrible spectre." A shiver runs through him, renewed strength wavering before banished with a not insignificant force of willpower.
 
"Who are you, truthfully, Lady Jasmine? No, more to the point, /what/ are you M'Lady? Looking into your eyes, the way you speak, and the way you feel, instinct given by Holy Faram...everything about you seems so very bright and of a holy radiance, as if you were akin to Ajora himself, at the risk of blasphemy." He pauses as they approach the island swiftly, practically a blurr on Arista's back.
 
"Allies against the Darkness, the Heretical, the Abyss are so very few these days. I should like to call you such, but pray forgive me in my jaded wariness at that which seems either a miracle, or a false path laid before me. And as a Knight of the Church, I must be suspicious of such things, lest the Faithful be led astray."
 
But, the island approaches, and Arista lands. "Though perhaps the immediate threat would be better on both of our minds, hmm? Tell me of this plan, if it pleases you." Hop.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
Behind, and then below them, the lake seems to distort slightly, soft roses of color blooming in its depths when Faruja is taken back to happier times. Jasmine notices this, and is quietly pleased, a steadfast pillar of support as they fly across the lake.
 
She bows her head in heartfelt agreement with his uplifting words, once more, but when he mentions Garland, the tremor that flows through her from head to toe is impossible not to feel, hanging on behind the Knight as she is. The maiden trembles, her heart pounding with... fear? Anger? Both, and neither. It is pure defiance that flows through her veins, summoning goosebumps to her flesh and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. What dwells within her surges, as though eager to rise up and oppose even the mention of that champion of Darkness, to expunge him from the universe's tapestry. It rolls off of her in invisible waves. No... she is no ally of his.
 
Her breathing is deep and slow in a very controlled way, as though she is fiercely concentrating on winning an internal battle, waging a silent war. Her transformation back to tranquility, from the raw emotion Faruja stirred in her, is far slower than the first, an act of sheer willpower.
 
"He frightens me too, but I am more sad than afraid," she whispers. "Such Darkness... his tale is so full of sorrow." Her long lashes flutter as she fights back tears, as well as the Light that is so eager to expose them too profoundly. It would seal their fates, if she allowed it to burst forth again, drawing in far more opposition than even her tenuous plan and newfound ally might be able to handle. "That anyone would choose to be what he is..." Terrifying. Tragic. His remembered pain wracks her.
 
She wins the war, but loses the battle, a pair of tears sliding down her high cheekbones to sink into the Knight's back. Dashing them away quickly, Jasmine focuses on his next words, and questions. "I do not know your Faram, nor Ajora," she replies shyly, after clearing her throat of raw emotion. Somewhat forlornly, she acknowledges how little she knows: "What am I, and why am I pursued? I search for those very answers while trying to elude the Heartless and their masters. They have done great evil, in their hunt for me. I try to thwart them, as best I may, but without knowing their true intentions, nor my purpose... all I can do is..."
 
Arista lands, interrupting her train of thought. She's forced to prioritize the current crisis. "We will have to speak of this later. For now, we must let our hearts speak louder than any fears, if the plan is to succeed. Please, take a seat." She slides off neatly, and settles herself, kneeling in a pool of fabric, in the middle of the island. "Join me, and close your eyes, and..."
 
The words that flow from her mouth would be an absurd request from almost anyone else. "...think of your happiest thought. Any magic little thought. The best memory. Focus on it, to the exclusion of all else."
 
If he's still peeking, the Burmecian bears witness to her following her own instructions, and the lake gradually transforming to gold...

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
The Burmecian needs no words, ears and eye and finely honed senses his calling gives him making it all too apparent the emotions welling up in the small Lady. It's a battle he's all too familiar with, and she ends up far better than he did. The Templar was the one left a gibbering wreck after a gaze into so much DArkness, after all!
 
Faruja listens quietly, too, to the explanation, a tail wrapping about one of her ankles and squeezing. A sigh escapes him.
 
"Dear Lady Jasmine, I do believe your heart is perhaps overkind, though a refreshing sight it may be. Trouble yourself not over those who willingly plunge themselves into the Abyss. Their choices that led them to that path are their own, and no others. All one can do is match the schemes of such demons and madmen with wit, magery, and steel as necessary. Come now, the Lord reveals all in good time. We must not become impatient. 'Tis a virtue, patience. Indeed, enough for now." Faruja seems much more satisfied and at ease with the Princess, his immediate concerns with her at least banished.
 
Doing as asked, he sits, on his knees and tail curled behind him. "A happy memory, hmm?"
 
An eye closes, hunting his memory. The Templar is silent for once, still and quiet as discipline overtakes him.
 
Unngh. The memory is far, far too vivid, as if it happened yesterday. Light floods the Burmecian's vision...both eyes. Slowly, oh so slowly the light fades as Faruja gazes about. He's in a bed, white sheets, and the smell of herbs and other healing agents abound. Looking down, the rat frowns, spying the reason for his being here; a broken leg.
 
"Damned brute. Who would just /push/ a person off of a roof like that?" he grumbles. A shadow falls over him.
 
"The kind of brute who doesn't put up with little soldiers going off at the muzzle at the slightest provocation." White fur, and mischievious grin sits on the muzzle of one Sarah Senra, dressed in a coat and sundress, the former still dripping from the rain. She giggles, leaning down to poke her little brother on the nose. Nosepad wiggling, he sneezes.
 
"Oh, stop, Sarah! My leg is broken! I should like to bloody his nose. What are you doing here? Look at you, still wet! Mother would have a fit! You should be at home!"
 
Sarah tilts her head, peering downwards.
 
"My, my, my has the military life toughened you up already? Here I am, walking all of that way just to see your ungrateful tail! Why, I'm insulted!" she mocks. Faruja snorts, turning away.
 
"...Sorry, Sis. I know, I know I should watch my temper. You don't deserve such a spiteful brother. I'm naught but a bother."
 
Sarah sighs, leaning down again, and giving the smaller nezumi a kiss on the cheek. "That temper of yours is endearing, little Brother. Now stop such talk. Direct it to some better purpose. And don't ever say that you are a bother. You are family. We will be friends, and family, forever." She smiles, and tossles his hair. Faruja turns, and smiles.
 
"Forever, Sis."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
Jasmine's right hand slips down to gently squeeze Faruja's tail back, when it twines round her ankle. She sighs in unison with him, her lilting, honeyed soprano providing a harmonious descant of ... acceptance, oddly enough. Not of his words, precisely. She seems resigned, rather, to defy them, in a million tiny ways. For "Someone must," is all she says on the topic of caring for those who have fallen to Darkness; by then, they are well and truly running out of time.
 
The jangling, discordant presence of the Heartless has shouted down the lake's sweet serenity. Long shadows are rising around the edges, taller and taller, threatening even to eclipse the rising moon. They call magic to themselves, fire and lightning and ice, and prepare to launch the initial barrage, to scorch and freeze a path to their prey.
 
But the lake is responding to memories of family and home. The City of Enchantment, alabaster and gold, pale dunes and starry skies, hot nights and cool shade, rises up gloriously, one onion-domed spire at a time. But it is walked by nezumi, happy, peaceful Burmecians, if not untouched by war than at least unbroken. A very few others dwell in the strange landscape as well; glimpses of a mighty tiger, a proud mare, a doddering Sultan all flicker in and out of the water. Even a shadowy vizier, for in Jasmine's waking dream, she is brought back to a time where they all lived together in peace, when she was innocent enough to believe that everyone in Agrabah was as happy as she.
 
Rose and gold flickering tenuously, then ever more strongly, the surface boils upwards into a gigantic sphere, rising high above the lake, connected by an increasingly narrow thread of liquid. Presumably, the only person to witness the show directly is Arista, though the sense of increasing tension, and a power buoyed by the Light but not originally born of it, is unmistakably surrounding them, like an impenetrable wall between island and Heartless.
 
"Don't look," Jasmine murmurs. "Just trust. Believe, Faruja... believe in your heart. Remember..."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
Arista, for all that she's spiteful, hateful, and just a shove away from being outright evil, has one redeeming quality as a person; her love for the Burmecian that raised her. And so, as magic slowly starts to gather and coalesce around the sea of Heartless than surround them, she hurries to Faruja's side. Scaled flanks, sides, and wings rest about him, even as she watches that glorious sphere rise up. For the first time since she thought the young Templar dead so many months ago, a tear slips down her draconic eyes. Home. She, too, has lost so much. The great war wyvern, bred for combat, death, and glory weeps openly as the beauty conjured by something so simple as the mingled memories of home, bolstered by the Light.
 
Faruja's eye is clenched shut, runes woven by the Church's mages to protect him and allow him his more powerful techniques burning on flesh and fur as they react to the pure power of the barrier around him. The pain, holy and sacrosanct, helps him focus. More memories come, of the little flower girl on the corner, his comrades in the army kicking back and telling boisterous lies about women and monsters, time spent with his family on the ranch...even his own, oh-so-hated Monarch and his Dragoons mingle happily. Better times, without so much chaos and conflict flood him.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
Jasmine remembers her mother in all ways but the visual, which is somewhat ironic considering that they're increasingly identical, as she's grown and matured. But she was so very young when her mother died, and her recollections are not weakened, but abstracted, by a child's mind: a warm, soft hand, the scent of her favorite oil, the sound of her laughter. More clearly does she recall her father's story of what /happened/ to her mother -- off to dance among the stars, he explained. To share her beauty with all beings, to return to the hearts of everyone.
 
"But /my/ heart misses her," she whispered, voice quavering, into her father's beard as he held her.
 
"Yes, dearest. Mine does too."
 
Surrounded by her father's strength, she fiercely remembers what it was like to have a home. And Faruja does as well, and from their hearts combined, the massive, undulating sphere reaches its zenith above the lake... and with a quiet drip-drop upwards, like rising tears, its tether snaps.
 
The Heartless assail this creature of memories increasingly frantically, but they lack elemental coordination, and more importantly, the strength of its convictions, the warmth and Light that form its foundation. It absorbs their attacks and re-emits them across a wide variety of energetic spectrum. The battle is titanic, and yet over very quickly.
 
The princess releases a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, when she feels the last of the nearby darkness fade. "Open your eyes," she instructs; following her own instructions, she inhales sharply to see the beauty they have wrought, the dazzling memories overhead. Tears reform instantly, but as different in quality as the flame is from the void.
 
Without their concentration, it begins to shrink, condensing into something smaller but not lesser. It drifts downward as though sinking through syrup, until it floats just above Jasmine's palms.
 
Her arms outstretched, she pushes the orb, without quite touching it, somehow, towards Faruja.
 
"I think this is meant for you," she says softly.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
Faruja opens his eyes, the familiar smell of crackling air in the distance indicating a battlefield faintly wafting to his nose. But there's none of the eerie silence marred by the screams of those yet to pass away, no lost friends, no grieving parents in the making. Beauty. Stretching before him, shielding them, is the memories of a home lost, friends and family in all likelyhood lost forever. Sweet memories, to treasure, and to never be forgotten. For Faruja, the past may yet set him on a dark road, but as he gazes around himself his heart is filled with both longing and joy. His good eye unashamedly lets drip tears. It takes all of his strength to not break down and finally mourne his homeland. No, not yet. Not while there's still a chance, buried beneath shadow and evil.
 
The orb floats to him, and he reaches out. The orb slips between two gauntleted fingers, held there with their sides. Deftly, he flips the little orb between them, an old dexterity sharpening trick he was taught by an old superior back in the army. He hadn't done it in a long time, nor even thought of the grey muzzled Colonel that taught him everything he knew of leading a squad and bringing one's companions back home alive.
 
It's slipped into his robes surrounding his armor, set in a pocketed alongside his Ajoran Holy Text. A slightly wet red eye turns to Jasmine.
 
"M'Lady." Slowly, he smiles, peaceful and friendly. "...I dare say you are some sort of miracle worker indeed."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
Through her tears, Jasmine's gaze is warm and steady, her smile radiant, as she watches Faruja handle the orb, and his own feelings. She shakes her head, the light catching the gemstone caught above her brow, in her hair, at the apex of her circlet, revealed by her veil having slipped down. It gathers within, then refracts in all colors.
 
"No, Faruja..." She calls him informally by his given name, but on her lips it is a three-syllable blessing of the highest order. "...this miracle dwells in the hearts of everyone. Remember that, when your path takes you to dark places, and you will never be lost."
 
One hand reaches out, very subtly, towards Arista's taloned foot. Just the lightest touch, and nothing more. Then she rises, reveiling herself swiftly, and looks up at her. "I would travel to the northern boundary of this forest in haste. Please... would you take me there?" The question is to both of them, of course, but more to the one who would have to bear the burden directly.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
It's rather pretty, the placement. Faruja nods approvingly. He'll have to get that Cleyran something similar. It'd look fetching.
 
A fuzzy brow rises. Alexandrians, Baronians...even the man so filled with Darkness called Garland? For a moment, a frown comes to his muzzle. "...Everyone, hmm?" He looks at her skeptically, before rising.
 
Ever one to survey a battlefield after its conclusion, he peers out beyond their little island, with a more professional and appraising eye. His tail sways slowly, methodically. "...Unorthodox. Strong emotions, mayhap a powerful need for alignment with Holy. Curious. She will be interested." The Templar mumbles.
 
Arista doesn't hiss at the touch, slowly and reluctantly unburying her snout from the ground. She tries to look dignified and simply /better/ than the little human before her. But it's all too soon, and her usual arrogance is missing. With a forced begrudging look, she lowers her sides and flanks. Faruja is soon upon her back, a hand helping up the woman so full of mystery and kindness.
 
"Do you jest, M'Lady? Asking such a question after that display? Come, up with you, seems we have little time to waste. Here. Take this, do not lose it. Should you need assistance, my number is recorded in this device. A means of inter-dimensional communication." His tail will offer one of Xanatos' Ma Belle Interdimensional Phones. Handy, those.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:'''
It's rather royal, though not the most obvious mark of Jasmine's station; no precious jewel can add to her bearing, which is obliviously gracious in its poise, unreservedly noble in mien without being stuffy or overbearing in any way. She is simply herself, and she is a princess. "Everyone," she repeats gently but firmly, meeting his skeptical eye with her own, which contains less innocence and more luminescent faith. Belief, down to the core of her being, of the goodness that dwells, oft ignored, oft forgotten, in all hearts.
 
While he analyzes the field of battle, she bows her head before Arista, humbly, making it easier for the wyvern to loom without having to meet her eyes for more than an electric instant. Her hand grasps the Templar's unhesitatingly, and soon she is behind him, but it rejects the phone with a politely bared palm. "No, thank you. I already have one, you see." With a beep, the phones exchange numbers; ah, the wonder of modern technology. She can't help but be awed every time, and it shows.
 
"But your offer of aid, I accept gladly, and give in turn. If ever you need me, I will come to you." Delivered in her dulcet tones, the oath is solemn nonetheless. "You seem a knight of great learning; there is a name some have given me, though I scarcely comprehend its full meaning. If, now or later, in the annals of your faith, or journey of your spirit, you hear of a reference to a 'Princess of Heart', I beg you, please tell me of it. It is not a mystery I will be able to solve alone."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:'''
That royal attitude, though humble in its way, still rubs against Faruja's politics and experiences. His smile becomes a smirk, for a moment a commoner staring at royalty with all the gulf of class divide seperating them. But it's momentary, and Lord help him, he'll forgive her the misfortune of being a blue blood given her many other more endearing qualities.
 
"We shall see." No, the Templar has seen too much evil, and has too much baggage to yet see what goodness may lay even in those that stole from him and his people.
 
The phone is pocketed, and he gives a nod of approval. "Excellent. You humans and your technology, I swear. A wonder!"
 
The Princess rescuing the Knight? It's a silly thought, yet one that has just happened. Faruja smiles honestly. "Then let us toss aside debts, and consider the other ally and friend. No need for formalities. Indeed, I shall burn such a name into my memory, and search well. Mayhap the libraries in Mullonde will have something." Flap! Flap! They're off, into the air. Faruja sighs, the stress of so many old memories more draining than the worst of battles.
 
"But let us talk of happier things during the ride! I shall tell you of the coming of Holy Ajora! 'Twas but a small town the Holy Son was born in. Indeed, as he but was born to his humble mother of common blood, he stood up! Walk forth to the well, guided by Holy Faram's will made manifes in his very bones. Tainted, did he declare the well, and it was indeed so! Yet none had recognized this, and much to their woe, for those who did not heed his word fell stricken by illness..."
 
It's going to be a long ride, Jasmine. Prepare to be preached to.

Mysteries of the Heart

2012-12-23T00:20:37Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/22 |Location=Traverse Town - Outskirts |Synopsis=Mercade and Jasmine talk current events, fugitive status, forgiveness and redemption. |Cas..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/22
|Location=Traverse Town - Outskirts
|Synopsis=Mercade and Jasmine talk current events, fugitive status, forgiveness and redemption.
|Cast of Characters=Jasmine, Mercade Alexander
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's appearance has somewhat transformed since her rather public abduction attempt in the Traverse Town arena; where her burlap robe and linen veil were shabby back then, they're now downright ragged, with the sort of literally wartorn panache that garments only acquire in a lifestyle most politely characterized as 'highly active'. Still, some things remain the same. Her effortless, self-possessed grace; the swiftly determined way that she walks, as though she's always an urgent destination (or, at least, departure); and her eyes, the easiest part of her face to see beneath that veil, still shine like stars. Difficult times have may have bowed her, but they have not broken her, it seems.
 
The violet radiance of the twilit sky is selfish. It paints everything in its own tones, including the hills, the winding road, and its traveler. Departing Traverse Town with some urgency, the slight figure casts a long look at the path ahead, turning in a pensive arc. Her first thought is that the landscape is marvelously lovely, and she smiles, softly, to appreciate it. But the creeping awareness of darkness washes over her; she's lingered too long, a span of time that seems ever-shorter, and there is no safe way forward. Adjusting the knapsack over her shoulder, which bulges with the explanation for her presence near such an important urban center, she ducks her head and veers off-track, down towards a gully.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
Fate, it seems, is not content to have Jasmine escape a land without incident.
 
As Jasmine rounds a hill and works her way up towards the gully, she sees a man in a trenchcoat with rumpled clothing and a five-o-clock shadow on his chin. He looks mildly surprised to see Jasmine, but recovers quickly, saying as the ragged woman hurries past, "Still on the run, Jasmine?" He asks, casually. "Have time to stop for a moment?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Mercade's surprise is mirrored in Jasmine's wide-eyed expression, but it dissolves into warm recognition in short order, her smile igniting into full brilliance. She never arrests her movement entirely, but she does slow long enough to be able to respond. "Good day -- yes, and no, in that order. It is lovely to see you again, though. Thank you very much for helping me, that day in the arena. I'm afraid I don't even know your name." Her voice is soft yet sparkling clear, subtly cultured, and with a ring of genuine graciousness, true gratitude, that's impossible to counterfeit. One hand touches her heart briefly as she bows her head respectfully. Dark, silken hair slips forward, over her shoulders, then falls back when she raises herself back to her full and tiny height. For some reason, there's something about her that makes her seem taller than she really is, but she's dwarfed, directly next to Mercade.
 
"I am sorry to deny you, but I mustn't remain. My company is hazardous at best, but if you'd like to talk, you're welcome to join me for a little while." And with that caveat given quite seriously, she continues on her way. She seems to be making for an ever-narrower valley.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
Mercade can't help but smile in Jasmine's presence. Somehow, she seems to have a quality about her that shines through even beggar rags. He turns as she moves, following after with strides long enough to keep up with her determined movements. "It's a hard life, constantly on the move." Mercade says. "How long is it going to go on?" He pauses for a moment, looking over the gully with narrowed eyes, but says nothing about it. "My name is Mercade Alexander. I'm a detective with the Twilight Detective Agency, formerly of Manhattan. Currently... Traverse Town." He shrugs as he walks. "I'm glad to have helped you, but don't worry about it. I wasn't going to leave anyone to the... 'tender mercies' of the Heartless. But I am curious..." He trails off, looking at her. "Why are they hunting you?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It isn't that hard to keep up with Jasmine, which is a significant problem for her as a fugitive; short legs, for all that they're well-proportioned. Getting a good look at her with a detective's eye, the reason for that -- one reason, anyway -- is that she is very, very young; fifteen or sixteen, going on thirty-five, circumstances having conspired to lend her considerable maturity, or at least gravitas. "Mercade," she repeats, feeling through the word, lingering on each syllable, transforming it into a compliment of high order. "I'm glad we could meet properly, at last."
 
A shadow of grief crosses her face at the announcement of his origins, though no shadows linger for long in her mien. Her head bows for a second time. "I'm sorry for your loss," she murmurs, but what comes after is perhaps less predictable; fierce hope and a curiously adamant certainty. "But nothing loved is ever truly lost forever." It doesn't feel like blind faith -- her eyes are too bright for that, and too thoughtful.
 
Her free hand drifts up to adjust her veil before it goes flying off, a reflexive and practically unconscious action that she probably performs a thousand times a day. "So many questions. I have few answers, I fear, only clues. Solving the mystery of my circumstances is something of a part-time job, in between staying alive and free, and..." The girl's gaze had drifted to the road and the hills; she's constantly studying her surroundings. But now it returns, fully, to the detective, and there's something incisive about it, as though it looks past the artifice of flesh and possessions to something more important, within. "...meeting people like you."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
"I believe you." He says, shortly. And his voice carries the weight of conviction, as if she is saying something that remains a hope in his own heart. Her voice affirms it. "You shouldn't feel sorry about it. I was... unable to help. It was an unfortunate situation for all involved. Not that my presence might have changed matters..." He says.
 
He continues walking along, keeping an eye out fo Heartless. Occasionally a few weak ones stray this close, but it's rare for Traverse Town to face a major assault, thankfully. "There's nothing special about me." He says in response to her last comment. "I'm just a guy who tries to do the best he can." He smiles, faintly self-depreciatingly.
 
He looks off into the distance. "Does it really help? The running, I mean. How long do you think it's going to last"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I was also unable to help," Jasmine remarks, rather grimly, and very regretfully. "I'm not so arrogant as to think luring me out was their primary objective, but it's undeniably true that someone knew when, where and how I'd try to get there, given sufficient cause. They left an army waiting for me. I only barely got away." She tosses her head with frustration, her eyes narrowing almost to slits. "I won't let them stop me twice."
 
The princess wants to /keep/ it rare for Traverse Town to face assault, which is why she's headed away. There are certainly far more Heartless around these parts today than usual; there's an oppressive sense of being watched, and followed. If it troubles the girl, she gives no sign, other than to steadfastly proceed. "You're wrong," she protests, though, when Mercade denies his quality. "Choosing to do the best you can, rather than to succumb to despair or indifference, is a meaningful choice, and a vital one. One you're faced with every day." She beams up at him; the force of her approval is palpable. "So long as you, and those like you, continue to do your best, the important battle's already been won."
 
She doesn't answer his last question immediately; a dissatisfied silence lingers, as she, too, stares at the horizon. "The last time I stopped running for any significant period, two armies came and sacked those who had given me sanctuary. At this point, virtually every time I enter civilization, someone pays the price. So, yes. It helps." It doesn't really help /her/, but that's apparently unimportant. "I will run until I understand the situation enough to try to resolve it through proaction," she explains quietly but earnestly. "And then I will stop running." Glancing up at him, she observes, "You don't seem like the type content to remain in the dark forever, either."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
"I couldn't say why it was their target." Mercade replies, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm glad you got away, myself. Whatever they want you for is... going to be a problem. I was tricked, captured by a Shadow Lord because of another's request." He looks away. "I don't know what that is supposed to mean."
 
He looks back up to Jasmine, and beyond. He becomes a little more tense as he feels the attention of /something/ upon them. "It's true. As long as we keep moving forward, no matter how bad it gets, we can make our way to a better day, right?" He sighs, smiling a little. "Thank you. Your confidence... It helps."
 
The silence goes on, as Jasmine explains her situation he frowns slightly. "So that's how it is. If you stop, more and more force gathers to find you..." He rubs his chin. "But we don't know what force is behind it. Maybe if we could find a way to force whatever is searching for you out into the open. Maybe we could find some way to make a trap for them."
 
He straightens slightly, his shoulders firming up as he looks towards the distance. "I could help you now, but I think I'd be more useful helping you in another way. You're right. I'm not going to let this chance go to waste. If the Heartless want you for whatever reason, they need to be stopped. But to stop them, we need information. You can't get it because you're on the run, but we can since we're not being watched like you are."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I have my theories," Jasmine says softly, of Manhattan being targetted, "But I am certain that the Shadow Lords are after me. There also seems to be a sort of intrinsic attraction from Heartless, even those that were clearly /not/ sent after me by the Lords; they seem determined to have me. The Lords don't want me dead, but taken; independent Heartless seem to have no such reservation. Pieces of a dangerous puzzle."
 
"Well said," she adds, both enjoying his sentiments about better days, and relieved by his smile; she can't stand by when others are down on themselves. "As for laying a trap... more and more regularly, I reveal myself to divert large forces away from populated areas. I've proposed an intentional ambush, but the Heartless... depleting their numbers feels both useless and, on some level, cruel. It isn't their fault that they are... that they can't seem to leave me alone... no matter what I do, someone always gets hurt." Her voice trembles, then firms, and she smiles warmly at Mercade. "I would be glad to have you 'on the case'. But those tangled up in my life are in very real danger, so please, be careful."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
"That does seem confusing. However, I have been told that Heartless seek out strong Hearts on their own initative. The stronger the Heart, the more it attracts them." Mercade says, considering this. "This probably means that whatever Heart you have is powerful indeed, for them to pursue you like this... And the Shadow Lords wanting you taken alive is a far worse prospect, in my opinion." He grimaces, his expression intense as he thinks.
 
"As far as the Heartless... It doesn't seem like anything we do is doing anything about them. There has to be a way to stop them. I've heard legends of a weapon known as a Keyblade that can help stop them, but the two I have seen are not... easily available. They are probably helping as much as they can, but there are many worlds, and not enough of them out there. I've been trying to find more information on them but haven't gained much yet. If we can find more of them, or how they work, maybe we can use that to help find a way to stop the Heartless on a more permanent basis."
 
He clenches a fist. "The Heartless need to be stopped. And the Shadow Lords who control them. Justice needs to be served for this... And what happened to Manhattan and all of the other worlds attacked must not be allowed to continue to happen." He looks back to Jasmine. "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, Jasmine. If something the Agency and the othes I know can do to help you, we'll all band together to find a way. I promise you, one day you won't have to run anymore."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I don't want to stop the Heartless," Jasmine explains, abruptly and fiercely. She, herself, stops dead in her tracks. "I want to /help/ them, to become Heartful, if you were. To be themselves again. What they're forced to do, to be... it's just so sad. Simply destroying them is /not/ good enough, no more than merely stopping the Shadow Lords from taking more worlds is sufficient; we must save what has been lost. I would," she finishes, regaining her usual poised equilibrium, "Trade justice for the Shadow Lords to save even one life, if they would wreck no more harm. They're all... very lonely, in my experience. Lost, themselves. Perhaps they, too, can find their way into the light."
 
She has nothing in particular to speculate on whether it would be better to be taken dead or alive, nor on keyblades, simply listening intensely to his words -- and actively, hmm'ing or nodding affirmatively in all the right places. She doesn't take him for granted at all, it seems, in any way. "Interesting," she murmurs, and means it.
 
His promise elicits a glowing look. "I believe in you, and in the others I've met. Bringing you all together, in time, is something I hope to achieve. Not every dark power is a Shadow Lord, but they do tend to have us overmatched in organization and teamwork. Which isn't to say that we must all fall in line, but... a system to share information and pool resources is something I've been working on. I have a lot of time to think, out here by myself."
 
Then, before saying more, she abruptly hesitates, on the edge of a decision. The girl looks before she leaps, but leaps she does; trust is her strength, not her weakness. "Mercade... have you ever heard the term 'Princess of Heart'?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
Mercade stops when she does. She makes her declaration, and Mercade's eyes go flinty, his expression dropping as he pauses. Jasmine can probably see the wounds there, plain as day on his face, if not his heart. "You really... believe they can be brought back?" Mercade says. He looks away, going quiet. "... Maybe. I don't know. I admit I am... not entirely unbiased in this. What possible restitution could they possibly make, though? What possibly forgiveness could they have for what they've done?" He sighs. "This is a hard thing to consider... But I guess it's one of those things that needs to be answered. Is there even a 'right' answer?"
 
He looks back up to the sky, for a moment, towards that permanent twilight, quiet... Until he looks back over to Jasmine. "I've made efforts to bring together some of the larger groups that have formed. VALKYRI is one of them, as well as my Agency, as well as the Shard Seekers of Fluorgis. We're trying to get more coordinated, but there isn't a whole lot going on yet. We've been using the Ma Belle network created by Xanatos of Manhattan to try to maintain communications, but expansion is not fast. The devices don't work everywhere. It's a really complicated problem."
 
Jasmine asks about the term Princess of Heart. Mercade thinks for a moment, and then shakes his head. "No, I've never heard of it. What does it have to do with you? Have you been called that?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine looks on Mercade's wounds with no judgement, and something deeper and more profound than sympathy -- compassion lies in her heart, her eyes, her voice. "I do believe," she agrees, "That there is no path through darkness so forsaken that it cannot emerge into the light, whether Heartless or Shadow Lord." Then she adds, very gently, "As I believe that forgiveness is harder than fury, but worthwhile," she echoes his phrasing, "All the same. Anger is as easy as burning yourself up from within. Healing others, healing the worlds... that begins within, as well, by first forgiving yourself." Everyone has something they blame themselves for -- including her. It's far from a trivial struggle, and she's obviously speaking from experience.
 
She nods, approvingly, to hear of his organizational efforts. "I will do what I can," she promises, in turn. As to the final topic, she seems to suddenly notice she's stopped moving, and, shaking her head slightly, picks the pace back up. "I have been. I believe it's an important clue -- important enough that I'm somewhat reluctant to use the phrase too widely, and /very/ reluctant to have it widely associated with me. I'm trusting your discretion as well as your intentions."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
"We're not the one they need to ask for forgiveness from." Mercade replies.
 
"They need to beg it from the people they've destroyed. Something tells me that they won't be as forgiving." He turns away from Jasmine. Forgiving oneself is another matter entirely, as Jasmine well knows.
 
As he notices Jasmine moving again, he walks as well, watching the road. "I'll do what I can to look for information on why they want you. Maybe that term is the key. It sound like something that would concern the Shadow Lords greatly. Whatever it is, knowing what it is and why could give us a way to stop their plans."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"They can't," Jasmine murmurs, mournfully. "We're all they have." And that's all she says on the topic.
 
As they proceed onwards, she seems about to add something -- perhaps more information -- before looking up, sharply. "They're coming," she says steadily. There's fear in her eyes, but she seems to work through it; one gets the feeling she's always afraid, on some level, not of the grand outcome, the bright future that she considers such a foregone conclusion, but of the details of the present, the deadly moment-to-moment that comprises her daily life. Despite being on the run for some months, it's not like she was born a fugitive. "I can lead them away from you, if you go now," she offers earnestly. "Or we can take them here -- there are more than I'd like, but that's why I came down into the gully. Fewer angles of attack."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' 
The argument of forgiveness will have to wait, as Mercade turns to look as Jasmine says they're coming. Immediately, Mercade pulls his Ma Belle and calls out, "Will! Tom! Celine! I need you to get out here on the double. Take the chocobos. We have Heartless inbound on the gully to the west of town and we need to cut them off."
 
His other hand pulls a single gun. A pearl-handled revolver, much like one sees used by stage magicians. A gift from the Shadow Lord who held him captive.
 
The irony is palpable.
 
Mercade looks to Jasmine. "Go ahead. I'll take a wider tack and work to slow them down. My friends should be here soon, and you should be far enough ahead that they won't see you and ask questions. We'll take care of them from here."
 
He smiles. "It was good to meet you, Jasmine. Hopefully next time we meet, I'll have good news for you." He nods, and raises his weapon, spinning the cylinder as he slams in a speed-loader and flicks off the safety. "Now go!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine frowns, a tempestuous expression, as she's informed that her plan to take care of things without putting anyone in danger has suddenly been hijacked into the exact opposite. For a moment, frustration pours off of her in waves; she's fiery, defiant. Spirited in more than one way, it seems.
 
Then she exhales, and the excess tension drains out of her, leaving only the normal, constant supply, and something else. It's hard to read the emotion in her eyes, on her lips, other than gratitude; that one's easy. "Thank you," she says simply, and means it. For far more than just this offer of such stalwart defense. "But now it's your turn to trust me."
 
Without further ado, she picks up her heels, the relatively modern combat boots suddenly visible quite at odds with the rest of her apparel, and runs. She's startlingly fleet of foot, accelerating suddenly and gracefully, poetry in motion, almost feline -- and is out of sight, around a corner, within moments. "Fare well," drifts behind her, warm and bright and encompassing not only goodbye but a sort of heartfelt benediction, from a heart from which no feeling is ever trivial.
 
The first Heartless appear shortly thereafter, but then something changes; there's a flash of Light from above, impossibly, breathtakingly bright radiance, all colors and none in its purity. The little monsters (and some larger ones; they're rather spectacular in their variety, drawn from a panopoly of worlds rather like a travelogue of her journey) promptly stop dropping into the gully, changing their angle of pursuit. They're gone in moments.
 
With his cunning deductive reasoning, the detective may be able to figure out that Jasmine has simply scaled the ravine, then revealed herself deliberately to guide them well away from Mercade and his friends.

Faerie Dance

2012-12-20T07:46:42Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/19
|Location=Wutai
|Synopsis="Kefka" (?!) does horrible things to Terra. Maleficent "saves" her. PG-13 for violence against moogles.
|Cast of Characters=Terra Branford, Maleficent, Kefka(?!)
}}
:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
The hill shrine had been chosen less for its value as a shelter, and more for its value as a landmark. Shako, the leader of the Imperial Guard accompanying them, had noted the existence of a town nearby, a trading hub. It was to be the first real town they'd visited; thus far it had been only small villages, and it offered some new risks. It would have guards, for starters. Wanted posters, perhaps. The political situation in the provinces wasn't well-known to Shako, and so the decision had been made to leave Terra for the day so that they could ascertain the risk.
 
It drizzled, unfortunately. The shrine had a roof, but it only extended two feet past the stone statue it was there to shelter. Terra chose to sit right at the foot of the statue, which was only vaguely humanoid now, its age and considerable neglect having taken a toll. Shako had tried to light the incense sticks resting in a sand-filled bowl in the statue's cupped hands, but they were soggy.
 
Now, about an hour later, Terra picks up one of the sticks herself. She spins it back and forth by rubbing her thumb and forefinger together for an aimless few minutes, then tilts her head. A soft creaking sound issues from the sodden wood as it dries, fragrant tendrils of steam lifting into the damp air. A moment later, the tip of the stick ignites with a little puff. It didn't blow up, but that was still too much power. Her training had emphasized accuracy, but not precision. There was a difference.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
All of a sudden, there is a moogle.
 
"Kupo?" it asks, tremulously, as it sticks its head, antennae-first, around a pillar to gaze, adoringly, up at Terra. Its huge eyes fill with love and trust. Raindrops cling to its puffy white fur, occasionally beading together into streams that trickle down its nose to plop onto the ground.
 
It seems to recognize her as a kindred spirit, for it lifts its arms in the air and does a little hopping dance of... welcome? Relief? Bouncing from left to right, it scatters more water across the floor of the shrine. Boing! Boing! Boing! To the top of the statue it leaps, gaily turning a pirouette on its forehead, eager to make its newfound audience smile.
 
Then it scurries back out, into a narrow and moderately tree-filled ravine, around a corner, and out of sight.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Even Terra can be scared by a moogle if it shows up so suddenly. The incense stick makes a soft rushing sound, and is suddenly in flames, forcing Terra to drop it from singed fingers. She can't burn herself with her own fire, but any fire she causes in another object isn't her fire. The poorly socialized girl had compared this accidental magic use when startled to a dog peeing the floor, a crude analogy that Belle had endured with good grace.
 
Putting her forefinger in her mouth (ugh, the incense doesn't taste as good as it smells), Terra's great big emerald eyes follow the moogle's dance, and she erupts into a giddy giggle. "Hi there... oh!" Shielding herself from a spray of raindrops, Terra applauds lightly when the moogle ascends the statue.
 
"What are you doing out here?" Terra asks, rising to her feet. She is going to hug this moogle, it gets no say in the matter. It escapes her, but only temporarily. "Hey! Wait for me!" Terra leaves her satchel on the ground and skids a little as she steps on the slickened hill trail. Reasserting her footing despite the poor grip on her red slippers, Terra keeps her balance by extending her arms at her sides, and hurries down the ravine, hopping over roots and pushing aside branches. "Moo-gle!" she calls. "Where are you?"

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Where indeed.
 
Terra's question is answered quickly enough, after she treks through a quarter mile or so of tangled woodland and the leftovers of a rockslide; boulders have crushed roots, and are now being shattered from within by the resurgent plant life. A beautiful circle of destruction, and fairly difficult terrain, but not unmanagable. Afterwards, it widens into a proper clearing. A faerie ring, as it were, with thirteen giant toadstools.
 
Atop each one stands a moogle. A whole family of moogles! There are the older trio -- one is a widow, perhaps -- and then the younger generation, and one younger, still, barely more than a baby. They are all dancing to the sourceless sound of a shrill, frenetic flute, which pipes gleefully up and down.
 
Their little feet are quick and skillful, their steps and jumps all in perfect unison. Almost too perfect, though a moogle reel is said to be among the highest forms of dance, lovely and light. And yet... there's something slightly jerky in the bounce of their antennae, and their eyes are bright, but not with joy.
 
Something else is contained within those beady black orbs... pain. And mind-numbing fear.
 
The tops of those toadstools were not always such a very blood red. Their more natural brown color is dimly visible beneath the stains.
 
And the flute plays on...

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra's breath is quickened by the terrain, her slippers spattered with mud, as she comes out into the clearing. It's chilly enough that just the tiniest hint of visible breath comes with each exhalation as she drinks in the scenery with open-mouthed wonder. She'd only read about places like this. There was a picture in one of her moogle sticker books, too, but to see it...
 
She feels a little seize in her chest. Memory? Why would she have a memory of a place like this? She was born in an army camp, raised there. And the Empire didn't conquer toadstools.
 
Shaking her head, Terra approaches closer. She doesn't know how to join a dance like this, so she starts clapping out a rhythm. The flute is a little dissonant, but she'd listen to the Nail Chalkboard Suite if she got to see such an adorable dance.
 
Rocking back and forth a little as she claps, Terra feels ill-at-ease. Empathy kicks her in the gut; the moogles are in pain? But... that red color on the mushroom. Her clapping slows to a stop, and she turns around, feeling like the ground is whirling beneath her. Every toadstool is covered in that nauseating color. Terra knows what blood looks like. She knows all too well. Her breath comes faster and faster.
 
Whirling back to face the moogles, Terra shakes her head as if in denial. "I don't understand... what should I do? Tell me how to help you! Please tell me!"

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
The moogles are so breathless from their helpless dancing that none of them seem able to verbalize so much as a kupo, much less an explanation. But one is rapidly forthcoming from their eyes, which edge up at the tree in the middle of the clearing.
 
Upon the second-highest branch of that tree dances the moogle who found Terra in the first place, and he is the flute-player. But he has an added piece of jewelry, now, one that he didn't have before. A steely, metallic circlet graces his brow, one that is as familiar as a mirror.
 
The moogle father is being forced to literally dance his family to death. Right on cue with that realization, the first moogle -- the baby, of course -- falls off his toadstool, unconscious or worse.
 
"Uwee hee hee!"
 
Well, one out of two amused spectators ain't bad.
 
His smirk being twisted into a snarl by his harlequin makeup, Kefka Palazzo stands on the very, very highest branch. He surveys his work, and it is good.
 
"Don't you want to join the dance? They're just /dying/ to have you join them!"

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra freezes up when she sees the circlet. She knows right then. There doesn't need to be a laugh, she doesn't need to look up. She's known this was coming ever since her own crown shattered, and lived in fear of it ever day.
 
But of course there is a laugh, one which frays her heart like an overused violin string. And of course she does look up, her eyes already a little dead. "I'm sorry," she bleats reflexively. She doesn't know what she's sorry for (running away?). There was never any evidence that saying it helped. But at least it was something she could do, a button she could press, whether or not that button connected to anything.
 
Emotions and magic slosh back and forth inside Terra as her heart pounds. "Let them go, please," she says. She can't not watch, even though it tortures her. She knows Jasmine would say, "It's me you want," and if it came down to it, offer herself in the family's stead. She hated herself for not being Jasmine, and the pain in the innocent moogles' eyes scalded her with guilt as well as horror.
 
But no one could understand. Kefka had always been psychotic and cruel, but the Slave Crown didn't just keep Terra from running away. That was its least important function. What really made it valuable to Kefka is that she couldn't harm herself. Until that point he couldn't make her do anything that she would find worse than nonexistance. For most commanders, there wouldn't be much of anything that removing that limit would permit them to do.
 
For Kefka, it was like a great unexplored continent, and he the conquistador with telescope and map.
 
Terra's little fists are shaking. "M-my friends are coming back," she lies. "You don't have much time." Phrase it like she's looking out for him.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Kefka's eyes disappear into the thin, stretched folds of his face as he glares at her. The expression contracts the bloody tears painted on his face into tiny knives. "Yeah, you are pretty darn sorry," he sneers... but then his eyes twinkle, the shift from dark fury to maniacal humor as sudden and dangerous as ever.
 
Another one of the dear little creatures perishes, the great-grandmoogle's heart bursting from the strain. His daughter lacks the ability to speak, but somehow she manages to emit a tiny little groan, which whines on the air, no louder than the passing of a mosquito, to perch within the jester's ear. It makes him shiver from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes with pure, unbridled glee.
 
But not as much as the shaking of Terra's hands does.
 
His voice sweetens to a razor's edge of crystallized saccharine. "I'd say you always loved moogles, but then, a weapon doesn't really have feelings." Now it's just a razor, period. "A weapon doesn't have dreams. A weapon doesn't have /hope/." Saliva rains on the head of the slave crowned moogle as he spits out the word, explosively expelling it from his mouth.
 
Holding an arm outstretched to his right, Kefka signals, and the flautist begins to endlessly trill a note, on and on and on and on and on. This extended breath is probably his last.
 
"So, riddle me this: are you a weapon? Or are you not?"

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra feels a humiliating sort of relief at being insulted as 'sorry'; being disdained is one of the safer of the universally dangerous ways in which Kefka can regard a person. When the elderly moogle perishes, however, relief evaporates. Terra buckles along with the fallen innocent, and with one hand on her stomach and one on the heaving ground, she vomits.
 
She's not as strong when she gets up. "Please, stop it," she says. A spark of lightning links her hand and the ground spontaneously; it doesn't startle her. She's overflowing, and she knows it. "I'm a weapon. I have no dreams. I have no hope." She sounds numb, but panic is shredding her. If this doesn't stop soon, the father will...
 
"I'm a WEAPON!" she shouts, and lifts her finger, supporting that wrist with her opposite hand as a bright blue lance of raw energy rips from her fingertip. Tamp it down! Thin as a razor! She can't slow the torrent of energy jetting from her fingertip, but she can contain it. She has to.
 
It works. The beam is tight and sharp, and it shatters the flute effortlessly, without harming the father. The beam disappears off into the forest, lancing through branch after branch. Terra almost has a chance to exhale, when she sees it.
 
The heat from the beam blossoms outward, and the lower branches of Kefka's tree open up wide, several yards simply transmuting to ash. They weren't touched by the thin beam, but it was much, much too hot. She has just long enough to realize what's happening before it happens to the father moogle, before an invisible sphere of heat swallows his body.
 
Terra's head drops dramatically to one side, like a doll with a broken neck. "I'm sorry," she babbles. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Kefka howls with laughter, screams with it, the giggles wracking his body with spasmic contortions as Terra folds, so easily, so deliciously easily, back into his hands. "Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee! Yes, yes, yes!"
 
Until Terra defies him. Then all of that good humor is gruesomely, and silently, transfigured into rage.
 
He waves his own hand, and the shards of the flute glitter in midair, their edges honed to razor sharpness, then fly at the few remaining living moogles, slaughtering them all effortly. Shot through the heart, and you're too late.
 
A moment later, he notices the burning husk of the moogle father beneath him, and his palm flies to his mouth with surprise. "Oh! Oh! Ohohohohohoho! How embarrassing... you were doing my will after all!"
 
Bells jingling, Kefka leaps down from the now burning tree, and begins crossing the clearing with strides every bit as bouncy as the moogles whose death he so carefully conducted. Each step devours distance between himself and his prey...
 
...until they're arrested by the light. It is very, very green, not at all the natural oranges and reds of the forest fire Terra has started, one branch at a time. The flames transmute into this strange emerald hue, then extinguish from their surface, streaming through the air to gather, pulsing, in the orb of the staff of a tall, statuesque figure who has exploded into the space between master and slave.
 
Her arms spread wide, the flametongue shreds of her robe spreading outward in an intimidating mantle, Maleficent gives Kefka an icy stare.
 
"Get the hell away from her, you--"
 
Whatever she might have said in her chilliest of imperious tones is cut off by the jester's raucous bawl. He flies at her, and she releases the condensed energies she's so painstakingly collected. They consume him; at the last minute, his scream is cut off by his departure, which warps space with a telling 'pop'!
 
The rest is silence.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra covers her mouth with both hands--one wouldn't have been enough--and shrieks. The moogles drop one by one, shards driven deep into their flesh, the Terra-beloved softness of their bodies a grim liability in Kefka's world. She keeps her mouth manacled as she hyperventilates through her nose. Steam rises constantly from her body; anywhere the a drop of water touches her, it turns into a small evaporated puff.
 
It's telling that her eyes are both pouring with steam.
 
Terra doesn't have the will to resist as Kefka bounds toward her. All she can do is stare at the corpses of innocent moogles, dead because of her, one quite directly. He's going to hurt her somehow, now, that's a given. Pathetically, she uses the death of an innocent to shield herself; pain knows no morality. "Please! Kefka, I killed him for you. Wasn't it more fun that way? You l-like it so much when they burn..."
 
Celes would never prostrate herself like that. She'd die first. But if Celes were here watching, Terra would have said the same thing.
 
Terra shields her face from the sudden heat as Maleficent coalesces from verdant flame. She stands in mute wonder as Kefka is gone before she even understands what is going on. After a few moments, she drops to her knees. She doesn't ask Maleficent any questions. She just shudders, eyes blank, arcane energy occasionally sparking on her flesh like a bare wire.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
/Just/ before he's gone completely, Kefka responds to Terra's plea with a saucy wink.
 
But then there's nothing left but ash. Ash and corpses, thirteen in a ring, and one lack of a corpse, vaporized completely by the aftereffects of the Esperkin's beam.
 
Ash and corpses and a sorceress.
 
Power shudders within her, too, in catastrophic, apocalyptic quantities -- quite possibly for the first time in Terra's life, she might be sensing the magical aura of someone even mightier than she. Her sparking energies are drawn to Maleficent like moths to the flame, dancing across her green skin, and she doesn't even flinch.
 
She kneels, instead.
 
Kneels before the weeping girl, her shadowy skirts in a pool all around her, as though she's rising out of the darkness, or perhaps sinking into it, and gently slides two fingers under her chin. More sparks arc between them, the connection having been made, but they don't seem to trouble her in the slightest.
 
The gesture is a request, not a command, as is the accompanying phrase, which drops like chips of ice from her lips; Maleficent at her most comforting is only marginally less creepy than usual.
 
"Look at me," she murmurs. Her own eyes are no less beadily black than the moogles', for all that they're surrounded by a rather yellowed hue, stark against her skin, skin nearly as green as Terra's hair.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra might well have been expected to be startled, possibly even afraid, of someone with more arcane power than her. But she has experienced this before, once, though she was far too young to remember. It was her father, a lord of Espers. If there's any tendency in feeling such raw, numinous energy, it's one of comfort.
 
The pale, shuddering girl permits her chin to be taken, lifted. Obediently she meets Maleficent's chilly eyes. "You're the queen of the faeries?" she asks in an almost inaudible rasp. Here too late to protect her moogle friends.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
"Yes, my dear," Maleficent confirms in a low, pleased purr of affirmation; some part of her /loves/ Terra's assumption, while some other part simply accepts it as her due. Who else could possibly lay claim to the title? That dumpy twit with the pumpkin? The blond tart who consorts with crickets? Ms. Pink or Ms. Blue? Feh.
 
She gazes deeply, soulfully, into the girl's eyes, and her smooth voice silkily drops an octave, dipping into a rich, throaty alto. "I wish I had been faster." It's the closest she can come to an apology; 'I'm really /very/ sorry' might be more effective sympathy, but even playing a part, the most she can express is regret, not remorse. The Sorceress Supreme /never/ apologizes. "Alas, some things, once done, can never be undone."
 
She could be referring to her own tardiness, or Terra's mistaken murder. One guess which one she's hoping the girl will feel.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
The sheer size of the lump Terra swallows down her pale column of a throat is confirmation that Maleficent's hope comes true. She is metaphorically on the tips of her toes, transfixed by Maleficent's dark gaze, her chin light on the sorceress's fingertips. "Your majesty," she ventures, then bubbles, "your majesty! I'm sorry. I killed the moogle father. And it's my fault the rest died. I am the most contemptible..."
 
She restrains herself, not because her voice will break or she'll start crying (lost battles both), but because she is going to literally explode if she loses all control. She'll survive it, of course, but the clearing won't. The lightning on her milky skin plays constantly up and down, now, linking her and Maleficent's shadowy robes and green skin with a dozen irregular tongues of magic. She'd really like to fire off all this power somewhere, but even in a forest--and especially in a Fae Queen's forest--it would be too destructive. Firing it straight up would be too conspicuous.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
"Shh," Maleficent croons, her motherliness turned up to eleven, which lands somewhere above cruel monster and below gentle lifebringer. Middle-management motherhood. "No more of that."
 
Her eyes close for a long moment, as though she's got weighty matters on her mind, and is considering her choices. When they reopen, they are thoughtful. "I can take your burden," she promises, "But only if you let me."
 
Her second hand floats upwards, like a spider carried on a breeze-bourne web of lies, to rest upon Terra's forehead like a saint performing a benediction. "Let it out," she implores, in the exact way that a parent might tell their daughter it's okay to cry. "I will make sure you do no more harm." Twist that knife!

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
"But..." Terra looks afraid.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Maleficent's eyes flash; she does not like reluctance, it seems, and has little patience for it. "Very well," she almost snaps, and at the very least hisses, a bit. Drawing herself up to her full, towering height, her shadow is long and dark as it falls across Terra, backlit by a portal of green flame that abruptly roars into life behind her. "As you wish. Unlike the clown, I would never /force/ you to do anything."
 
She takes two steps towards her egress, then glances back over her shoulder, her dramatic timing impeccable. Her tones mix the poisoned honey of persuasion with an imperious promise. "But if you ever wish to be freed of your pain -- truly freed, to have it lifted from your heart, that you no longer feel the knives of guilt, of regret, of grief -- call for me, and I will grant that wish, as well."
 
And then she's gone, as quickly as she arrived, leaving a clearing of corpses, ash, and one other.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Reverse psychology is a hell of a thing. Terra immediately regrets not taking that unique opportunity. She's going to have to stew in her own power for a long time, now. She pushes that aside, though, in favor of a sudden and ravenous curiousity. "Your majesty, wait! I..."
 
Her hand extended, Terra lets her wrist go limp. No more regret? How could that be possible? It was a menacing prospect, to be sure... the Queen had said explicitly that some things couldn't be undone, so probably Terra was being promised some method of turning off her own guilt, of damaging her own humanity.
 
Standing in that clearing, holding the cold corpse of a young moogle child in her arms, that was not seeming like such a terrible loss.

Faerie Dance

2012-12-20T07:46:14Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/19 |Location=Wutai |Synopsis="Kefka" (?!) does horrible things to Terra. Maleficent "saves" her. PG-13 for violence against moogles. |Cas..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/19
|Location=Wutai
|Synopsis="Kefka" (?!) does horrible things to Terra. Maleficent "saves" her. PG-13 for violence against moogles.
|Cast of Characters=Terra Bradford, Maleficent, Kefka(?!)
}}
:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
The hill shrine had been chosen less for its value as a shelter, and more for its value as a landmark. Shako, the leader of the Imperial Guard accompanying them, had noted the existence of a town nearby, a trading hub. It was to be the first real town they'd visited; thus far it had been only small villages, and it offered some new risks. It would have guards, for starters. Wanted posters, perhaps. The political situation in the provinces wasn't well-known to Shako, and so the decision had been made to leave Terra for the day so that they could ascertain the risk.
 
It drizzled, unfortunately. The shrine had a roof, but it only extended two feet past the stone statue it was there to shelter. Terra chose to sit right at the foot of the statue, which was only vaguely humanoid now, its age and considerable neglect having taken a toll. Shako had tried to light the incense sticks resting in a sand-filled bowl in the statue's cupped hands, but they were soggy.
 
Now, about an hour later, Terra picks up one of the sticks herself. She spins it back and forth by rubbing her thumb and forefinger together for an aimless few minutes, then tilts her head. A soft creaking sound issues from the sodden wood as it dries, fragrant tendrils of steam lifting into the damp air. A moment later, the tip of the stick ignites with a little puff. It didn't blow up, but that was still too much power. Her training had emphasized accuracy, but not precision. There was a difference.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
All of a sudden, there is a moogle.
 
"Kupo?" it asks, tremulously, as it sticks its head, antennae-first, around a pillar to gaze, adoringly, up at Terra. Its huge eyes fill with love and trust. Raindrops cling to its puffy white fur, occasionally beading together into streams that trickle down its nose to plop onto the ground.
 
It seems to recognize her as a kindred spirit, for it lifts its arms in the air and does a little hopping dance of... welcome? Relief? Bouncing from left to right, it scatters more water across the floor of the shrine. Boing! Boing! Boing! To the top of the statue it leaps, gaily turning a pirouette on its forehead, eager to make its newfound audience smile.
 
Then it scurries back out, into a narrow and moderately tree-filled ravine, around a corner, and out of sight.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Even Terra can be scared by a moogle if it shows up so suddenly. The incense stick makes a soft rushing sound, and is suddenly in flames, forcing Terra to drop it from singed fingers. She can't burn herself with her own fire, but any fire she causes in another object isn't her fire. The poorly socialized girl had compared this accidental magic use when startled to a dog peeing the floor, a crude analogy that Belle had endured with good grace.
 
Putting her forefinger in her mouth (ugh, the incense doesn't taste as good as it smells), Terra's great big emerald eyes follow the moogle's dance, and she erupts into a giddy giggle. "Hi there... oh!" Shielding herself from a spray of raindrops, Terra applauds lightly when the moogle ascends the statue.
 
"What are you doing out here?" Terra asks, rising to her feet. She is going to hug this moogle, it gets no say in the matter. It escapes her, but only temporarily. "Hey! Wait for me!" Terra leaves her satchel on the ground and skids a little as she steps on the slickened hill trail. Reasserting her footing despite the poor grip on her red slippers, Terra keeps her balance by extending her arms at her sides, and hurries down the ravine, hopping over roots and pushing aside branches. "Moo-gle!" she calls. "Where are you?"

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Where indeed.
 
Terra's question is answered quickly enough, after she treks through a quarter mile or so of tangled woodland and the leftovers of a rockslide; boulders have crushed roots, and are now being shattered from within by the resurgent plant life. A beautiful circle of destruction, and fairly difficult terrain, but not unmanagable. Afterwards, it widens into a proper clearing. A faerie ring, as it were, with thirteen giant toadstools.
 
Atop each one stands a moogle. A whole family of moogles! There are the older trio -- one is a widow, perhaps -- and then the younger generation, and one younger, still, barely more than a baby. They are all dancing to the sourceless sound of a shrill, frenetic flute, which pipes gleefully up and down.
 
Their little feet are quick and skillful, their steps and jumps all in perfect unison. Almost too perfect, though a moogle reel is said to be among the highest forms of dance, lovely and light. And yet... there's something slightly jerky in the bounce of their antennae, and their eyes are bright, but not with joy.
 
Something else is contained within those beady black orbs... pain. And mind-numbing fear.
 
The tops of those toadstools were not always such a very blood red. Their more natural brown color is dimly visible beneath the stains.
 
And the flute plays on...

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra's breath is quickened by the terrain, her slippers spattered with mud, as she comes out into the clearing. It's chilly enough that just the tiniest hint of visible breath comes with each exhalation as she drinks in the scenery with open-mouthed wonder. She'd only read about places like this. There was a picture in one of her moogle sticker books, too, but to see it...
 
She feels a little seize in her chest. Memory? Why would she have a memory of a place like this? She was born in an army camp, raised there. And the Empire didn't conquer toadstools.
 
Shaking her head, Terra approaches closer. She doesn't know how to join a dance like this, so she starts clapping out a rhythm. The flute is a little dissonant, but she'd listen to the Nail Chalkboard Suite if she got to see such an adorable dance.
 
Rocking back and forth a little as she claps, Terra feels ill-at-ease. Empathy kicks her in the gut; the moogles are in pain? But... that red color on the mushroom. Her clapping slows to a stop, and she turns around, feeling like the ground is whirling beneath her. Every toadstool is covered in that nauseating color. Terra knows what blood looks like. She knows all too well. Her breath comes faster and faster.
 
Whirling back to face the moogles, Terra shakes her head as if in denial. "I don't understand... what should I do? Tell me how to help you! Please tell me!"

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
The moogles are so breathless from their helpless dancing that none of them seem able to verbalize so much as a kupo, much less an explanation. But one is rapidly forthcoming from their eyes, which edge up at the tree in the middle of the clearing.
 
Upon the second-highest branch of that tree dances the moogle who found Terra in the first place, and he is the flute-player. But he has an added piece of jewelry, now, one that he didn't have before. A steely, metallic circlet graces his brow, one that is as familiar as a mirror.
 
The moogle father is being forced to literally dance his family to death. Right on cue with that realization, the first moogle -- the baby, of course -- falls off his toadstool, unconscious or worse.
 
"Uwee hee hee!"
 
Well, one out of two amused spectators ain't bad.
 
His smirk being twisted into a snarl by his harlequin makeup, Kefka Palazzo stands on the very, very highest branch. He surveys his work, and it is good.
 
"Don't you want to join the dance? They're just /dying/ to have you join them!"

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra freezes up when she sees the circlet. She knows right then. There doesn't need to be a laugh, she doesn't need to look up. She's known this was coming ever since her own crown shattered, and lived in fear of it ever day.
 
But of course there is a laugh, one which frays her heart like an overused violin string. And of course she does look up, her eyes already a little dead. "I'm sorry," she bleats reflexively. She doesn't know what she's sorry for (running away?). There was never any evidence that saying it helped. But at least it was something she could do, a button she could press, whether or not that button connected to anything.
 
Emotions and magic slosh back and forth inside Terra as her heart pounds. "Let them go, please," she says. She can't not watch, even though it tortures her. She knows Jasmine would say, "It's me you want," and if it came down to it, offer herself in the family's stead. She hated herself for not being Jasmine, and the pain in the innocent moogles' eyes scalded her with guilt as well as horror.
 
But no one could understand. Kefka had always been psychotic and cruel, but the Slave Crown didn't just keep Terra from running away. That was its least important function. What really made it valuable to Kefka is that she couldn't harm herself. Until that point he couldn't make her do anything that she would find worse than nonexistance. For most commanders, there wouldn't be much of anything that removing that limit would permit them to do.
 
For Kefka, it was like a great unexplored continent, and he the conquistador with telescope and map.
 
Terra's little fists are shaking. "M-my friends are coming back," she lies. "You don't have much time." Phrase it like she's looking out for him.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Kefka's eyes disappear into the thin, stretched folds of his face as he glares at her. The expression contracts the bloody tears painted on his face into tiny knives. "Yeah, you are pretty darn sorry," he sneers... but then his eyes twinkle, the shift from dark fury to maniacal humor as sudden and dangerous as ever.
 
Another one of the dear little creatures perishes, the great-grandmoogle's heart bursting from the strain. His daughter lacks the ability to speak, but somehow she manages to emit a tiny little groan, which whines on the air, no louder than the passing of a mosquito, to perch within the jester's ear. It makes him shiver from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes with pure, unbridled glee.
 
But not as much as the shaking of Terra's hands does.
 
His voice sweetens to a razor's edge of crystallized saccharine. "I'd say you always loved moogles, but then, a weapon doesn't really have feelings." Now it's just a razor, period. "A weapon doesn't have dreams. A weapon doesn't have /hope/." Saliva rains on the head of the slave crowned moogle as he spits out the word, explosively expelling it from his mouth.
 
Holding an arm outstretched to his right, Kefka signals, and the flautist begins to endlessly trill a note, on and on and on and on and on. This extended breath is probably his last.
 
"So, riddle me this: are you a weapon? Or are you not?"

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra feels a humiliating sort of relief at being insulted as 'sorry'; being disdained is one of the safer of the universally dangerous ways in which Kefka can regard a person. When the elderly moogle perishes, however, relief evaporates. Terra buckles along with the fallen innocent, and with one hand on her stomach and one on the heaving ground, she vomits.
 
She's not as strong when she gets up. "Please, stop it," she says. A spark of lightning links her hand and the ground spontaneously; it doesn't startle her. She's overflowing, and she knows it. "I'm a weapon. I have no dreams. I have no hope." She sounds numb, but panic is shredding her. If this doesn't stop soon, the father will...
 
"I'm a WEAPON!" she shouts, and lifts her finger, supporting that wrist with her opposite hand as a bright blue lance of raw energy rips from her fingertip. Tamp it down! Thin as a razor! She can't slow the torrent of energy jetting from her fingertip, but she can contain it. She has to.
 
It works. The beam is tight and sharp, and it shatters the flute effortlessly, without harming the father. The beam disappears off into the forest, lancing through branch after branch. Terra almost has a chance to exhale, when she sees it.
 
The heat from the beam blossoms outward, and the lower branches of Kefka's tree open up wide, several yards simply transmuting to ash. They weren't touched by the thin beam, but it was much, much too hot. She has just long enough to realize what's happening before it happens to the father moogle, before an invisible sphere of heat swallows his body.
 
Terra's head drops dramatically to one side, like a doll with a broken neck. "I'm sorry," she babbles. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Kefka howls with laughter, screams with it, the giggles wracking his body with spasmic contortions as Terra folds, so easily, so deliciously easily, back into his hands. "Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee! Yes, yes, yes!"
 
Until Terra defies him. Then all of that good humor is gruesomely, and silently, transfigured into rage.
 
He waves his own hand, and the shards of the flute glitter in midair, their edges honed to razor sharpness, then fly at the few remaining living moogles, slaughtering them all effortly. Shot through the heart, and you're too late.
 
A moment later, he notices the burning husk of the moogle father beneath him, and his palm flies to his mouth with surprise. "Oh! Oh! Ohohohohohoho! How embarrassing... you were doing my will after all!"
 
Bells jingling, Kefka leaps down from the now burning tree, and begins crossing the clearing with strides every bit as bouncy as the moogles whose death he so carefully conducted. Each step devours distance between himself and his prey...
 
...until they're arrested by the light. It is very, very green, not at all the natural oranges and reds of the forest fire Terra has started, one branch at a time. The flames transmute into this strange emerald hue, then extinguish from their surface, streaming through the air to gather, pulsing, in the orb of the staff of a tall, statuesque figure who has exploded into the space between master and slave.
 
Her arms spread wide, the flametongue shreds of her robe spreading outward in an intimidating mantle, Maleficent gives Kefka an icy stare.
 
"Get the hell away from her, you--"
 
Whatever she might have said in her chilliest of imperious tones is cut off by the jester's raucous bawl. He flies at her, and she releases the condensed energies she's so painstakingly collected. They consume him; at the last minute, his scream is cut off by his departure, which warps space with a telling 'pop'!
 
The rest is silence.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra covers her mouth with both hands--one wouldn't have been enough--and shrieks. The moogles drop one by one, shards driven deep into their flesh, the Terra-beloved softness of their bodies a grim liability in Kefka's world. She keeps her mouth manacled as she hyperventilates through her nose. Steam rises constantly from her body; anywhere the a drop of water touches her, it turns into a small evaporated puff.
 
It's telling that her eyes are both pouring with steam.
 
Terra doesn't have the will to resist as Kefka bounds toward her. All she can do is stare at the corpses of innocent moogles, dead because of her, one quite directly. He's going to hurt her somehow, now, that's a given. Pathetically, she uses the death of an innocent to shield herself; pain knows no morality. "Please! Kefka, I killed him for you. Wasn't it more fun that way? You l-like it so much when they burn..."
 
Celes would never prostrate herself like that. She'd die first. But if Celes were here watching, Terra would have said the same thing.
 
Terra shields her face from the sudden heat as Maleficent coalesces from verdant flame. She stands in mute wonder as Kefka is gone before she even understands what is going on. After a few moments, she drops to her knees. She doesn't ask Maleficent any questions. She just shudders, eyes blank, arcane energy occasionally sparking on her flesh like a bare wire.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
/Just/ before he's gone completely, Kefka responds to Terra's plea with a saucy wink.
 
But then there's nothing left but ash. Ash and corpses, thirteen in a ring, and one lack of a corpse, vaporized completely by the aftereffects of the Esperkin's beam.
 
Ash and corpses and a sorceress.
 
Power shudders within her, too, in catastrophic, apocalyptic quantities -- quite possibly for the first time in Terra's life, she might be sensing the magical aura of someone even mightier than she. Her sparking energies are drawn to Maleficent like moths to the flame, dancing across her green skin, and she doesn't even flinch.
 
She kneels, instead.
 
Kneels before the weeping girl, her shadowy skirts in a pool all around her, as though she's rising out of the darkness, or perhaps sinking into it, and gently slides two fingers under her chin. More sparks arc between them, the connection having been made, but they don't seem to trouble her in the slightest.
 
The gesture is a request, not a command, as is the accompanying phrase, which drops like chips of ice from her lips; Maleficent at her most comforting is only marginally less creepy than usual.
 
"Look at me," she murmurs. Her own eyes are no less beadily black than the moogles', for all that they're surrounded by a rather yellowed hue, stark against her skin, skin nearly as green as Terra's hair.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Terra might well have been expected to be startled, possibly even afraid, of someone with more arcane power than her. But she has experienced this before, once, though she was far too young to remember. It was her father, a lord of Espers. If there's any tendency in feeling such raw, numinous energy, it's one of comfort.
 
The pale, shuddering girl permits her chin to be taken, lifted. Obediently she meets Maleficent's chilly eyes. "You're the queen of the faeries?" she asks in an almost inaudible rasp. Here too late to protect her moogle friends.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
"Yes, my dear," Maleficent confirms in a low, pleased purr of affirmation; some part of her /loves/ Terra's assumption, while some other part simply accepts it as her due. Who else could possibly lay claim to the title? That dumpy twit with the pumpkin? The blond tart who consorts with crickets? Ms. Pink or Ms. Blue? Feh.
 
She gazes deeply, soulfully, into the girl's eyes, and her smooth voice silkily drops an octave, dipping into a rich, throaty alto. "I wish I had been faster." It's the closest she can come to an apology; 'I'm really /very/ sorry' might be more effective sympathy, but even playing a part, the most she can express is regret, not remorse. The Sorceress Supreme /never/ apologizes. "Alas, some things, once done, can never be undone."
 
She could be referring to her own tardiness, or Terra's mistaken murder. One guess which one she's hoping the girl will feel.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
The sheer size of the lump Terra swallows down her pale column of a throat is confirmation that Maleficent's hope comes true. She is metaphorically on the tips of her toes, transfixed by Maleficent's dark gaze, her chin light on the sorceress's fingertips. "Your majesty," she ventures, then bubbles, "your majesty! I'm sorry. I killed the moogle father. And it's my fault the rest died. I am the most contemptible..."
 
She restrains herself, not because her voice will break or she'll start crying (lost battles both), but because she is going to literally explode if she loses all control. She'll survive it, of course, but the clearing won't. The lightning on her milky skin plays constantly up and down, now, linking her and Maleficent's shadowy robes and green skin with a dozen irregular tongues of magic. She'd really like to fire off all this power somewhere, but even in a forest--and especially in a Fae Queen's forest--it would be too destructive. Firing it straight up would be too conspicuous.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
"Shh," Maleficent croons, her motherliness turned up to eleven, which lands somewhere above cruel monster and below gentle lifebringer. Middle-management motherhood. "No more of that."
 
Her eyes close for a long moment, as though she's got weighty matters on her mind, and is considering her choices. When they reopen, they are thoughtful. "I can take your burden," she promises, "But only if you let me."
 
Her second hand floats upwards, like a spider carried on a breeze-bourne web of lies, to rest upon Terra's forehead like a saint performing a benediction. "Let it out," she implores, in the exact way that a parent might tell their daughter it's okay to cry. "I will make sure you do no more harm." Twist that knife!

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
"But..." Terra looks afraid.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' 
Maleficent's eyes flash; she does not like reluctance, it seems, and has little patience for it. "Very well," she almost snaps, and at the very least hisses, a bit. Drawing herself up to her full, towering height, her shadow is long and dark as it falls across Terra, backlit by a portal of green flame that abruptly roars into life behind her. "As you wish. Unlike the clown, I would never /force/ you to do anything."
 
She takes two steps towards her egress, then glances back over her shoulder, her dramatic timing impeccable. Her tones mix the poisoned honey of persuasion with an imperious promise. "But if you ever wish to be freed of your pain -- truly freed, to have it lifted from your heart, that you no longer feel the knives of guilt, of regret, of grief -- call for me, and I will grant that wish, as well."
 
And then she's gone, as quickly as she arrived, leaving a clearing of corpses, ash, and one other.

:'''[[Terra Branford]] has posed:''' 
Reverse psychology is a hell of a thing. Terra immediately regrets not taking that unique opportunity. She's going to have to stew in her own power for a long time, now. She pushes that aside, though, in favor of a sudden and ravenous curiousity. "Your majesty, wait! I..."
 
Her hand extended, Terra lets her wrist go limp. No more regret? How could that be possible? It was a menacing prospect, to be sure... the Queen had said explicitly that some things couldn't be undone, so probably Terra was being promised some method of turning off her own guilt, of damaging her own humanity.
 
Standing in that clearing, holding the cold corpse of a young moogle child in her arms, that was not seeming like such a terrible loss.

Jasmine

2012-12-17T15:38:00Z

Liz: from-vacation relationship updates: faris, avira, angantyr, maira

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

-----

'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

[[Jafar]]: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

[[Aladdin]]: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

[[Faris Scherwiz]]: ''"Your secret's safe with me. So much for needles and haystacks... you couldn't swing a cat on this ship without hitting one of us (princesses)."'' Faris' total honesty about 'his' profession smoothed over what might have otherwise been a poor first impression; he's an /awfully/ pretty boy, after all, exactly the sort of person Jasmine inherently suspects. But she felt something in him that she trusted immediately -- with her life, as he swept her off on a pirate ship to flee an army of Heartless. Faris thoroughly earned that trust during the dangerous journey, as well as Jasmine's respect and friendship, and the two of them ultimately exchanged the secrets of their identity. Hoping to repay her friend for at least a tiny fraction of her kindness, Jasmine gave her what news of Lenna she had.

[[Avira]]: ''"(Leaving my new friends behind) kills me, every time. I'd... never really been allowed to make any friends before. It's such a privilege to get to meet such brilliant, strong, kind people. To see how you care for each other, and for the many worlds. People like you are what gives me strength to /keep/ running, Avira. And one day we'll understand the situation enough to stop being reactive, to go on the offensive and change things for good. I don't intend to run forever... and it would be both an honor and a pleasure to have you beside me, when that day comes."'' Jasmine first saw Avira defending Garden at a distance, and drew courage from the mighty warrior's example. Later, she noticed Kaydin transporting a captured Avira to Baron. She would not leave one of her allies, even one she'd never properly been introduced to, in the hands of their enemies. She could not do anything else, and still be herself; not long afterwards, they wound up traveling together, as Avira helped her flee the Heartless in Rabanastre, and took ship with her to Bevelle, rescuing her from a Heartless abduction attempt in the process. Having now had an opportunity to actually spend a little time together, Jasmine is quite impressed with the woman's competence, but moreso with her understated kindness. It isn't the strength of Avira's muscles that she treasures, but the strength of her heart.

[[Angantyr Vespar]]: ''"I'm not afraid of you. I fear the Darkness sometimes, but never the man... because while you may not have been able to keep that creature from using you, you stopped /yourself/ before it could do any lasting harm. Your love for your friends was stronger than its hatred. That's the opposite of being weak-willed, Sir Knight. True strength doesn't come from being invincible... you were vulnerable, at every disadvantage, but you fought, and overcame it."'' Jasmine and Angantyr met while independently launching rescue operations for Avira, in Baron, and made excellent impressions on each other. They departed as princess and mercenary guard for a forty-eight hour term of employment, and in that time became fast friends; further trials have only deepened their bond. She regards his friendship far higher than any coin, in fact. Jasmine has seen the Darkness in Angantyr, but believes that the man can find balance, with time, will, and self-respect; rather than try to talk him out of his revenge, she knows that only he can do that for himself.

[[Maira]]: ''"I can watch over you."'' Maira tagged along with Avira and Angantyr, when they all took ship with Faris to Bevelle. Jasmine empathizes with the severity of Maira's struggles to contain and control her power, and greatly respects her continuous battle to do so. She's forever grateful that the girl helped rescue her from abduction by a Heartless-controlled sea serpent. Maira's sunny optimism and powerful sense of friendship are among the lights in Jasmine's heart.

[[Garland]]: Jasmine recognized Garland immediately on an instinctual level. She bore witness within her own heart, all too briefly, to the incredible memory of Light that once dwelled within him. To the decline and fall of that Light, the self-inflicted wounds, the knife-stabs through the heart and soul that so skillfully forged his spirit into pure and endless Darkness. She respects what he once was, understands what he has become, and accepts him for exactly who he is. Like Jafar, Garland inspires a mix of fear, anger, and sadness; fear that she'll never be strong enough to prevent him from doing exactly what he wants, anger that he would ever have chosen to be what he is, and sadness at the outcome. She believes in the infinite possibility of redemption, and she wouldn't be who /she/ is without extending such opportunities to him, in innumerable quiet ways, while defying his agenda with every fibre of her being. Polar opposites on many levels, she is disquieted to find similarities within their duality; they are like, but so unlike.

[[Seith]]: ''"I can see /your/ Light."'' Jasmine was too busy dealing with other issues to participate in a fairly epic philosophical debate Seith was at the core of, but his willingness, even eagerness, to hurt, maim, or perhaps even kill innocent bystanders in order to make his points in a debate informed her first impression of him.

[[Faruja Senra]]: ''"As long as you stand up for what is right, the war is already won."'' Seen helping the poor and defying the dark at a distance, Jasmine was impressed with the Burmecian's compassion and fierce ideals... though he seemed a bit loquacious. She (largely incorrectly) blames herself for the Heartless' interruption of his charity event. Later, he helped her thwart a small army of Heartless, and she helped him remember the good reasons to fight, as well as the grim. They parted as friends.

[[Ivo Galvan]]: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

[[Dr. Facilier]]: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

[[Ron Stoppable]]: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

[[Kaydin]]: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

[[Terra Bradford]]: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

[[Riku]]: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

[[Rapunzel]]: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

[[David Xanatos]]: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

[[Belle]]: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

[[Jean Faraven]]: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

[[Celes Chere]]: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

[[Quistis Trepe]]: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

[[Merilan Yursalin]]: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Music:'''

Sheherazade, Op. 35, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPB15Ma2o48 (Sheherazade's solos; the full symphonic suite is a lovely, recommended listen, though!)

Prince Charming, Jim's Big Ego: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v03rWmK4jiM

The Queen of Argyll, Wolfstone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqmq4iVY6zY

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Rufus Rides Again

2012-12-10T21:41:46Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/22 |Location=Path of Destiny, Phantasia |Synopsis=Ron and Jasmine (and their respective adorable animal companions, Rufus and Junior) meet ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/22
|Location=Path of Destiny, Phantasia
|Synopsis=Ron and Jasmine (and their respective adorable animal companions, Rufus and Junior) meet and hit it off.
|Cast of Characters=Jasmine, Ron Stoppable
}}
:'''[[Ron Stoppable]] has posed:''' 
Endless fields of corn and wheat. Endless fields of calm optimism. Endless fields of...

"WHYYYYYY! WHY IS IT SO FAAAAR?!"

Ron Stoppable's in the middle of complaining and crawling his way through these fields and probably drenching them in his annoyed mood as he continues dragging himself forth and towards the road where everything should start to make sense.

Rufus, of course, is on the ground next to him. Crawling at the same pace. He looks just as tired and annoyed and hungry as Ron does.

Ron's watch beeps in the middle of one of his more arm extended reaches and he immediately stops. "Water Break!" He exclaims with joy, popping up onto his feet and yanking out a small canteen. As Ron chugs at the water, Rufus scrambles up his pants leg, arm and then onto his shoulder, opening wide for his own moment of thirst quenching goodness! "Mmhm! You good, buddy?" Ron asks his trusty companion, only to get a wide eyed nod and squeak from Rufus. "Excellente! Shall we get back to it?"

WHUMP! And they are back down on the ground, crawling and dragging themselves towards the road again. Looking just as tired and worn out as before.

... the Road's not even two feet away.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine is climbing the mountain of Destiny.

Again.

She'd hoped it would be easier the second time around, but destiny's a funny thing. The paths and crevasses and cliffs are all a little bit different; she cannot find the table rock upon which she once had a picnic with a new friend, to save her life. And though /this/ time around she had the wherewithal (and resources) to bring climbing equipment, everything is just that much steeper. The mountain, she suspects, demands all you have to give, whatever that may be from day to day.

Next time, she's showing up in dancing slippers.

Dawn does marvelous things to her appearance, painting the golds and browns of her robes and skin a soft rose or sometimes even a startling violet. Her eyes, though, cannot help but linger on the horizon...

...because creeping fingers of darkness are beginning to show, as though the sun that's about to peek out from the earth is a black hole, rather than a shining star. Even here, amid such beauty, Darkness always chases the princess, wherever she goes. There may be no Heartless, be they individuals, squads, or Jafar's entire army, visible /now/... but there always will be soon.

Hanging from her rope a little too long as she studies the view with a thoughtful, faintly troubled expression, the grapple comes loose and she free-falls down the cliff towards the endless fields!

Fortunately for her, she was not too far up, and there's a soft landing below.

Unfortunately for Ron...

WHAM!

"Oh! I'm really... very sorry... are you all right?"

:'''[[Ron Stoppable]] has posed:''' 
Rufus, of course, is the first to know that something is going on. Animal Instincts and all that, right? He turns and looks up, spotting the falling Jasmine and immediately starts freaking out. Pointing and squeaking and tugging at Ron's shirt.

"Not now, Rufus! I'm trying to make it to the road!" Ron does not pay the Naked Mole Rat any attention and Rufus gives a shake of his head and scurries out of the way of the falling shadow. "Rufus? Rufus, you get back here! We're in this togeth-"

WHAM! Indeed.

Ron Stoppable is stopped in his crawling tracks without a second to spare as the Jasmine comes down upon him with gravitational rage. Ron's arm is still outstretched and he seems to be a state of pained frozenosity. Almost as if he had just seen Medusa and has been turned into a painful non-stone creature.

"... ow." comes out in a small whisper, before Ron attempts to turn and take a gander at the owner of the voice that has just smashed him into the ground and... Heart Eyes. Pain? Gone. Or at least uncared about at this point.

"... Oh yeah. I'm fine. Perfect even." His tone has gone all into sing-song mode because of the blissful sight for sore eyes that he's seeing at this moment in the Jasmine. "Please, fall on me as many times as you like. I could do this all day."

Rufus facepalms.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Other than a tangle of brown robes, entirely too much silky black hair, and a sling on her chest that seems to /wriggle/ in protest, Ron's first impression of Jasmine was her voice. It is soft, with a lilting, silvery quality to it, and right at the moment, deeply remorseful. That was no cursory apology. And her smokey laughter at his humor could probably be bottled and sold as an intoxicant on certain worlds. It's certainly infectious.

Much relieved by his good attitude, she gets to her feet, then offers Ron a delicate (but somewhat more callused than it used to be) hand up. In the same moment, the sling's occupant -- a tiny Dalmation puppy -- jumps out, to greet Ron and especially Rufus with a wildly wagging tail.

HI HI HI HI HI HI HI HI! it, he, says to the Naked Mole Rat in puppyspeak. WHAT ARE YOU? CAN WE BE FRIENDS? YOU ARE MY NEW FRIEND!

Jasmine's version of that speech is nearly as friendly, but slightly more restrained. "Thank you for the offer, but for the sake of your well-being, I'll try to avoid it. I'm Jasmine, and this," the puppy, "is Junior." If he took her hand, she turns it into a handshake, gentle and unchallenging, yet firm enough to bespeak a certain self-possession. "May I ask your name? And that of your friend?"

She bows her head respectfully towards the small pink one, who has not gone unnoticed.

:'''[[Ron Stoppable]] has posed:''' 
Ron Stoppable hasn't been around his Best Friend for a long time. Even the silhouette of a female is going to have him in Gaga Land right now. It's just what works for the Stoppable-san. And that's probably why it's taking him a few tries to actually figure out how to speak again. Or to actually let go of the hand that was used to help him up. Ron doesn't want to let go but he does know that he's going to be a creeper if he doesn't so he does. Slowly. But he's not quite going to be too worried about dusting off his clothes.

"No, really, it's fine. It happens to be all the time. Mostly by me. It's this whole big me thing. Not that I'm all about me. Far from it! I'm pretty the opposite of being all about me. See?" And there goes the Stoppable Ramble.

Meanwhile. the excitement of Junior has Rufus kind of smiling and laughing at the same time. He hops up a little bit himself and is waving back at the excited puppy, before he takes to running towards him and leaps to see if he can't land on the puppy's back. Yee-haw!

"I mean, really, my well-being was un-beinged a long time ago. So it's fine. Really." Ron. She changed the subject already. Keep up. "Oh! I'm Ron. Ron Stoppable. The Most Bon Diggity Traveler to Ever Travel on this here Traveling... Road... Field... thing? Aheh." He gives a quick wave towards his own companion. "And that's Rufus! Only the best Naked Mole Rat in the whole wide world!"

More waving from the Rufus!

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Junior lifts his chin proudly and becomes the BEST ride a Naked Mole Cowboy-Rat could ever have, steadying his gait and marching around with his tail still waving like a banner. Rufus may or may not have escaped an enthusiastic lick on his way up.

Jasmine, meanwhile, is not discomfited by Ron's demeanor; she bears his 'scrutiny' patiently, and reclaims her hand without any fuss, when it's finally released. Her smile -- shining, shimmering, splendid -- widens at the lengthy introduction. "It's lovely to meet you both," she murmurs, clasping her hands loosely at thigh-level. They almost disappear into the sleeves of her burlap robe.

A bit of concern leaks into her eyes, however, when Ron mentions being, well, un-beinged. Un-well-beinged, technically. She tilts her head to one side fractionally, a very feline gesture, and her brows lift with curiosity. "Is something troubling you, Ron Stoppable?" There's a bit of formality to her phrasing, always, that extra hair of elegance that says 'was not raised in a ditch'. "I am sorry to hear you haven't been well."

:'''[[Ron Stoppable]] has posed:''' 
"Huh? Oh! No nono nono no no. I meant, I'm fine. See?" Ron even does a little hop into the air and a spin around and then proceeds to dance a little bit. It's really horrible dancing that looks like he stole it from an Oh Boyz music video... wait, not that Jasmine knows what the Oh Boyz are, but it's still ever so horribly choreographed that he realizes he's doing it and freezes in mid dance move. "... I just meant I'm a tough cookie. I fall. A lot. And get hit. A lot. And crash into things. A whole lot. But here I am! Good as new!" Ron tries to plaster a big smile on his face, because that's just what he does after he talks too much.

Rufus, wet with puppy lick, is having quite a bit of fun with the riding around on Junior. Rufus may have grabbed an ear of corn and fashioned a crude cowrodent hat out of the leaf surrounding it. But either way it goes, he's not going to be climbing down off Junior any time soon. Faster! Faster!

"Buuuuuut. Now that you mention it. There /is/ a little something that's kinda' been working my little noggin to the bone." Ron sighs, taking a deep breath as if he just knows this is going to not end well, but he's going to go for it anyway.

"Do you have any idea, at all, where the Bueno Nacho is? Because I can't find it! And this weird guy in a hood stabbed some wolves and told me there was one around here somewhere! And yet? I SEE NO BUENO NACHO!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's smile hasn't faded too far, and Ron's reassuring antics bring it back, full force. She nods along with his explanation, her gaze occasionally flicking off to the side to keep half an eye on Rufus and Junior. When they start to go a little too far, she whistles softly, and the best hoss in the wild wild west comes a'bounding back. "Okay," she replies to Ron, "Just making certain."

But then she catches sight of that darkness growing on the horizon again, and rather self-consciously smoothes her beige veil back over her hair, patting it into becowled place. Her stance tenses, very slightly, and in so doing it becomes clear that she was never entirely relaxed. "I should really keep moving," she explains, a bit of urgency creeping into her voice. "I do not know this 'Bueno Nacho', but I promise to keep an eye out for it, on my journey. What does it look like?"

Bending down, she starts to gather up her fallen gear. There's a heavy-looking haversack that she shoulders with only a minimum of trouble, and in little time at all the rope-and-grapple are coiled and ready for use again.

:'''[[Ron Stoppable]] has posed:''' 
"It only looks like the GREATEST PLACE EVER! I mean, think about this. Heaven, right? Add Tacos. Add Cheese. Add affordable prices and bon-diggity seating arrangements. And booyah! Bueno Nacho. Delicious Bliss." There's a sigh that comes along with that explanation, but only because he's ever so focused on thinking about this whole finding the Bueno Nacho thing and making sure that it exists. If not, he and that Riku person are going to have some words.

It takes him a moment to realize that Jasmine is about to leave. "Oh. Right. You gotta' keep on moving. Yeah, me too. I got much heroing to do. Y'know, fighting the fight to save the day and not the night. Because the day is right and the light is not... the night... or the dark. Right." Ron's horrible attempts at singing himself a theme song are going to have to be stopped by his own declaration of, "RUFUS!"

And the Naked Mole Rat flips off Junior to land in front of him and give him a hearty salute! Before scrambling back off in the direction of Ron!

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
For a moment, Jasmine seems bewildered by Bueno Nacho's description, but then she gets it. "Oh! An eating place." Her grin turns a little bit dry. "It must be marvelous, to inspire such devotion." There's nothing ironic about her expression, or her voice, though, when Ron proudly explains his mission in life. It warms further, becoming rather fierce, in an admiring way. Her eyes widen, and shine.

"I... I'm glad to hear it," she says simply, and without any of the DO HO HO RON'S SO ADORABLE patronization; she seems to really mean it. "I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end." She means that too, a wellspring of infinite optimism apparently hidden behind her relatively unassuming frame. Very Saturday Morning Special.

Shouldering her burden into place, she beckons the puppy, who bounces around Rufus three times in joyful farewell, then starts trotting beside her. "Stay away from the Darkness," she suggests, rather solemnly, chinning at the distance to make her meaning clear. There's a capital D to it, somehow. "If you go far enough off to one side, it should pass you by." How she knows that is a mystery, but she says it with iron certainty.

:'''[[Ron Stoppable]] has posed:''' 
"Right! You too! Stay away from uh... stuff! Bad things! That want to hurt you! Because that would totally suck! Y'know, if you got hurt!"

Ron scoops up Rufus and looks at him. "Welp. Looks like it's just you and me now, Buddy. Hrm." Rufus scrambles out of Ron's hand and back up onto his shoulder, while Ron's face is in complete and utter think mode. After all, he's clearly trying to remember what direction he was headed in before he was crashed into by falling beauties.

Rufus is not really any help because he wasn't paying too much attention. He was merely coming down from his high of playing with the super excited puppy of awesome. Ummm. Rufus points off in a random direction. That way?

"Looks good to me, buddy! Let's go! Onward! Give me Bueno Nacho! Or give me death!" Rufus raises a little fist to the air as the two heroes(?) start their trek again.

Right towards the Darkness.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"Please... Be safe, Ron," Jasmine calls after him, and somehow it's more than a casual farewell -- it's a prayer, a benediction, even, courtesy of one of the seven pillars of the universe's subconscious. Ron probably doesn't sense it, but Rufus might... a momentary passage of some impossibly phenomenal cosmic power between girl and boy-plus-naked-mole-rat, enfolding them gently, comfortingly. Protectively.

The princess doesn't actually realize what she's done, either, but she smiles to herself all the same as she starts making her way back up Phantasia Mountain. 'Ron Stoppable' and 'Rufus'. The universe seems determined to throw her in the path of so many nice people! She can only enjoy it, and hope that she isn't getting them into too much trouble with her very presence.

Some time later, as she spots Ron descending into the Darkness, he, in turn, may see a blinding flash of pure white Light from up on the mountainside... her best effort to keep the Heartless focused on her, instead of him. Maybe it will be enough.

In a New York Minute - Evacuation

2012-12-10T06:30:02Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/09 |Location=Manhattan - Central Park |Synopsis=The defenders of Manhattan attempt to evacuate as many people as they can before it's too l..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/09
|Location=Manhattan - Central Park
|Synopsis=The defenders of Manhattan attempt to evacuate as many people as they can before it's too late; the Shadow Lords try to close the portal on them early, but cannot break through.
|Cast of Characters=Reize Seatlan, Faruja Senra, Tifa Lockhart, David Xanatos, Sarafina Carenze, Maira, Kaydin, Jafar, Minerva, Aerith, Angantyr Vespar, Captain Hook, Navya, CHIEF, Palom, Luso Clemens
|Tinyplot=In A New York Minute
}}
:'''[[Captain Hook]] has posed:''' After the destruction -- or theft? -- of the Empire State Building, the feeling of the battlefield that Manhattan has become has shifted considerably. A great many of the forces of Darkness, Heartless and Heartful alike, seem to have withdrawn... downwards, disappearing into subway stations, sewer grates or even rifts torn into the concrete, and whatever's below, by monstrous hands. The extraordinary and obviously arcane thunderstorm has slowed to a miserable rain, mixed here and there with sleet. Dark green clouds still block out the sky, and the ground is as slick as can be In this moment of relative (and it is only relative, the Darkness is rising and churning and monsters lurk in every shadow) respite, well-laid plans come into play in a magnificent display of logistics. Xanatos' goal: evacuate as many people as possible through the portal in Central Park. Safety corridors are created on a number of major thoroughfares leading directly to Central Park, cleared of Heartless by flights of Steel Clan robots, and a blistering barrage of weaponry from rooftops that was apparently emplaced long ago, and held in reserve until now. Teams of military and police, on everything from machine-gun-mounted motorcycles to armored trucks to tanks, are getting civilians onto those relatively safe corridors and moving them towards Central Park as quickly as may be. The perimeter of the Park is something of a disaster to defend -- it's so huge -- but every zillion-dollar penthouse overlooking that famous view has been equipped with everything from laser cannons to ground-to-air missile launchers. And the Park itself is a nightmare trying to give birth to a dream; thousands and thousands of people being shuffled through the winding paths into the great beyond that that Portal represents. It's a display of the best of humanity; lost children are helped through the portal by total strangers, hopefully to be reunited with their parents on the other side, but certainly not left to look for them alone. Those who stumble and fall are more rarely trampled than they are picked up by friendly, if terrified, hands. Even as Darkness closes in on the heart of Manhattan, hope has never burned more brightly through the actions of its defenders. The Portal, however, is the weak link of that hope. It glows from within Cleopatra's Needle, the obelisk's many hieroglyphs darkly glowing with its energy. Whatever the Shadow Lords intend to do with the populace, they don't seem to want to kill them, but neither, apparently, will they let them leave. Closing the Portal is their highest priority, now. But to do so, they will have to break the final line of defense... ...every hero Xanatos could find to hold that line. The remnants of the police, military and Steel Clan will see as many people as they can to the Portal. It falls to the volunteers of many other worlds to keep that Portal open. Thousands and thousands of lives are potentially at stake.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' Standing in a clearing, a man in red battered armor with silver steel wings looks over a crowd assembled there. His hair while still managing to look neat is slightly disheveled, but his look of fiery determination pierces into the minds of all who gaze on him. When he speaks, his voice voice carries evenly and clearly over the crowds that have gathered. For they have all, for their own reasons turned to listen to the words of David Xanatos. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for all you have done here. For every member of this great city, we are grateful." Xanatos pauses and looks to the swirling chaos of the skies and then with that slight grin of his back to those there. "I won't give you a long speech. No "Once more unto the Breach's," or anything so fancy. Instead I will tell you that you are all, everyone of you heroes. You have stood against the Darkness, no matter the cost to yourselves, and you have made such a showing that the Darkness now knows and FEARS every one of you. So I will leave you at this. Hold this line. Hold it, for the innocent, for the young, old and the frightened. Though the Shadow tries to envelope them, hold this line, here, now, and be the shining light drives them back to whence they came." With those words he puts on his helmet and nods to those there and turns to walk to his position where he can oversee the entire battle.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart is battered, bruised, burned, but still standing. Hand on her waist, she listens to Xanatos' speech. She was there since the first fight, and it all took its toll on her. But it doesn't matter, a few light wounds is nothing compared to the lives of thousands. She looks over to Aerith, who stood by her the entire time as well. She reaches a hand on Aerith's shoulder with a squeeze "Its the last stretch, all those people are believing in us, we can't let them down, can we?" She takes a step forward, slipping on her battle gloves. This will be a tough fight, no doubt. But there's no place to run either, can only look forward, take care of what's in front, to protect those behind.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith smiled. She'd never seen him dressed like this, but she was glad he was here. In fact, it was rather inspiring to see he wasn't about to go into some speech. It was a simple order; no, a request. Do not let them through. But someone would have to take the first step... Aerith turned toward Tifa. "I want you to go find Maira and Avira, then come back to me. I've got a plan." She glanced toward the portal yet again. "Same as last time..." She took in a breath of air and shouted, "Lock it down! No Heartless gets in, no Heartless gets out!"

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Having tended to his wounds and recovered from the previous battle in defense of the Empire State Building...which wasn't exactly successful, Luso was ready to throw himself back into the fray! This time as the last line of defense against those who would see Manhattan fall. He was definitely much worse for the wear, but...He wasn't going to give up! Not while he could still breathe. Not while he could still move. It was just the way he rolled and it wasn't going to change any time soon. Listening to the speech of David Xanatos, Luso nodded, mentally pumping himself up for what was to come. "...Nothing's gonna pass us! We'll take down the darkness and keep this world alive!" The Game Hunter, resting one hand onto the hilt of of his favored sword; The Kwigon Blade. His other hand was raised, clenching into a fist as a determined look crossed his face. "Let's do this!" He cheered, trying to inspire new vigor in his allies. "For the people! For this world!"

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' It is one of those situations where much cannot be done. Reize and the Shard Seekers did what they could to defend the streets against the Heartls. However, the situation looks rather bleak. And yet, the man with the battered red armor speaks. Reize listens to the words of David Xanatos. He shuts his eyes, turning over to face the crew behind him. "Shard Seekers." The boy can only look back to his friends, shutting his eyes before he withdraws both of his boomerangs. "...Let's make sure everyone escape. No one will harm the people." The expression tenses, then his eyes gaze ahead. 

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira is about as ready as she can be. Faruja has been kind enough (and likely embarrassed enough) to give Maira a spare set of clothing. She's wearing what appears to be green monk robes that are a bit short and decidedly tight across the chest. To say that she is distressed is a vast understatement. She does not know where Avira has gone. She lost her. She was suppose to keep an eye on her...and she lost her. Tears draw clean lines down cheeks stained with ash, but Maira stands firm with the friends and defenders they have left. She's bruised, broken and heart-sore. But she stands.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' The orders came down. Angantyr gets them, pausing for a moment, recovering from the wounds at one of the Shadow Lord bases set up. It was...an order alright, that what it was. Destroy the portal so that the civilians would be locked here, he looks grim for a moment, considering things. Fighting warriors, defenders? that's stomachable...the Shadow Lords probably wanted to take this place, take it over, he thought. He was not high on the list of knowledges, even as Garland's apprentance, and slowly crumbles up the piece of paper the orders came in on. "Yeah." he says to himself. Now, at the breach. a dark corridor opens up, spilling out the Dark Knight infront of the defenders. The Mace slowly comes out, before he turns, back to the defenders and places the mace solidly into the ground. There are many things he would do, for money... But he draws the line at killing the weak and innocent.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' To say that Faruja had been through a rough time would be an understatement. the Burmecian had nearly been killed three times over during the events on the Docks. Only know is he able to fight in any capacity, only magic and Xanatos' technology having him here and useful. Beside him, clad in crosses and robes, stand several young Squires as well as his more regular compatriots, such as one Fire Lady and the Shard Seekers. Thankfully, he was kind enough to give her some new clothes. The rat, in the back of his mind, takes a few 'rousing speech notes. It effects, the rat, and he even gives the man a salute. Rare, for a Templar to do so. The squires do the same. Faruja turns to his subordinates, well aware that in all likelyhood most will be dead by the end of the day. Crossing himself, he salutes them. "Warriors of the Church, Templar in the making, there shall be no retreat until every single civilian and valiant hero here has left. Do so, and you disgrace us all. For Faram and country, Brothers and Sisters. Kill any who oppose you." Simple enough orders, and they're acknowledged with a 'Ser'. Turning to Maira, he reaches over, rubbing her shoulder. "Be brave, Maira. We must win this day. Think of naught else." To Reize, he smiles, spear in his claws and already illuminating the area with Light. "We come home victorious, or on our shields this day, Ser Seatlan."

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' It's okay Maira. You may have lost Avira but you gained an artillery weapon in the form of a small boy that Pete threw at you! Palom is still trying to understand everything that's happening -- so this is _not_ a city that's merged with Mysidia, he's somehow crossed into another world -- one being threatened by dark powers tied to the heartless, and now people need a chance to escape. If Palom has anything to say about it, they'll just blow up all the bad guys so these people can return to their homes! But he can't help thinking back to the siege layed by Baron... He couldn't stop it... And this looks worse. But darnit, he will blow up as many of the heartless as he can!

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva Minerva has also treated her sounds she's not got the bodice she normallty wears on she's got a I love Manhattan t-shirt on under her vest thanks to help from Luso scrouging they were able to patch themselves up get some food and even well something that wasn't rags for her to wear. What supplies they'd brought are gone to those people fleeing the city. Though a lot of the medical supplies did go to some of the cops and soliders to keep them in somewhat fighting. She's ready to keep fighting she's got to there's a reason she and those few who stood before LEXUS fled, they would have died pointlessly there they can still do some good there. The man in the strange armor is right, they are standing against the darkness. She has no idea if her world fought but this one will fight. "Here we go again Luso."

:'''[[Navya]] has posed:''' Navya actually got through the battle with the Noise and their assistant Heartless without being badly hurt. Bruised, thrown around a few times, but mostly she was just tired. She's still tired, but not so exhausted that she can't come to the last defense of the city. Navya's maul has been pretty handy to help clear things out, but now she's resting her weight on it, its hammerhead down and braced against the ground. But at the words, she swings the hammer up, lifting it as if the oversized weapon weighed nothing at all and resting it against her shoulder. "They won't get past me," she says, firmly.

:'''[[Captain Hook]] has posed:''' The tenor of the evening has started to rally towards hopeful. Here come the baritones. At first, all that can be heard of them is a concertina, which someone pulls back and forth in a series of jangly chords. Then their gravely voices begin to echo... o/` Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me... o/` There's nothing sweet or fun about /these/ pirates; their song means business. But not half as much as their pirate ship, which explodes out of the clouds above, propelled by unfelt winds to make a pass directly above the Park and its Portal. "AVAST, YE SCURVY DOGS!" howls their leader, who stands boldly on the prow, rapier drawn, moustache fabulous, white cravat fluffy, red coat flying out behind him. "GUTS AND GLORY! TAKE THAT PORTAL, OR WALK THE PLANK!" Cannonballs start dropping, and for all their technological inferiority, a little bit of magic seems to more than make up the difference; they swiftly bombard the clearing full of heroes, and the explosions each have a howling, fiery face. And then the wyverns come. Terrible Heartless creatures that make mockery of the noble Gargoyles of Manhattan, they fly out of the dark ship's hold in tremendous numbers. Many immediately set themselves to the task of taking out the anti-air emplacements around Central Park. Many more strafe the ground...

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' Sarafina would like time to recover. But unforutnately, it doesn't seem like she's going to get that opportunity. STill ragged, she manages to find Maira through her aerial patrols and lands down near her--Dion Carenze dropping down a moment later beside her. He seems intent on staying close--for understsandable reasons. "Maira." Sarafina says, smiling faintly. "And Sir Faruja...if I recall correctly?" She shakes her head. "Unfortunately, I'm still healing, but perhaps I can still be of some help?"

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin leaps out of the way of one of the wyverns before his sword comes flying forth to try and stab into the wyvern that tries to attack Aerith. He then leaps after her and pulls his sword back to his hand. "I could have sworn I said for you to avoid Manhattan, Aerith." He says. His helmet no longer was on his head and half of his dark metal armor was torn off with blood stains seen along it from injuries. He then raises his sword and swings it, sending a black blast at another heartless.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith's first sign of the incoming attack was not the song or the orders. It was the incoming swarm of airborne Heartless wyverns. She would have none of it, however. The pack of them began to strafe the friendly forces, but while others would move out of the way... she would do something else. One of them came a bit too low, and she took that as her cue. She leapt over the flaming stream... and right on top of the beastie. She pointed the staff at its head, point-blank, and gave it a good, healthy shock. "You're MY ride now, understand?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' The legions of Agrabah are far afield this day. Manhattan is as strange a place for them as might be imagined, but their march does not falter amidst its skyscrapers. Their scimitars carve a path through the chaos, where necessary, their course to Central Park scarcely interrupted as they wash over the crashed cars and overturned food carts like angered ants. Tireless. Numberless. Heartless. Their Sultan, Jafar, rides his palanquin, borne on the backs of eight stout, fez-adorned Heartless, surrounded by clattering ranks of belegged pottery. With a puff of hot breath, he moistens the eyes of his hypnotic staff, then dabs them with his sleeve, admiring their polish, before setting the base of the staff down again and checking his progress through the city. Two odd yellow vehicles labeled TAXI are in the way of the palanquin, and a team of burly Heartless are busy rolling them aside. Flapping determinedly, Iago catches up to the palanquin, laden down by a hotdog in both claws, which he transfers to the left foot so he can land on Jafar's shoulder with the other. "Jafah, you really gotta try this. It's some kinda sausage or somethin'." "I thought you were going to fetch jewelry from that market stall," Jafar observes, eying the sausage with distaste. "Oh, ya had to remind me... it's all fake! Buncha glass and gold paint! I mean, I know I was stealin' it, but I'm still kinda offended." "And just what is it you are /wearing/, Iago?" Jafar inquires. His parrot is currently wearing an oversized pair of sunglasses and a white tee-shirt that says 'I <3 NY.' Based on its tiny size, it was probably meant for a pet dog.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Nodding to his newfound friend, Luso nodded. "I know we took a beating before, but it's not over yet!" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Let's go all out and make sure that nothing else bad happens. It's the least we can do, right?" With that said, Luso's attention was turned back to the appearance of dark figures. Certainly dressed just as weird as he was. There was no doubt in his mind that they were the enemy. Especially with the heartless swarming about. "Alright! Let's do our best, Minerva!" And then came the attack. Luso though he was prepared, but....he wasn't prepared like this. "Guh!" The swarm of Wyverns manage to bowl the boy over, but just as soon as he is, he gets back to his feet. "Not bad, but not good enough! Lemme show you something!" There was no time to play around. Drawing Flametongue, Luso began his strike. Dashing forward, he leapt into the air, crossing swords over before lashing out with a dual strike on the nearest Wyvern. Following that, he leapt from the back of the creature to strike at another. The battle had begun.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart takes on the first wave of attack before she can take up Aerith on her idea for strategy. Swept up by one of those flying heartless, she eeps "Hey now, let me down!" Grabs the heartless by the arms, she pulls her legs up and kicks the heartless straight up under the chin, knocking it down. Yet, knocking a flying one while still in the air is not a good thing either, for the landing that is. She eeps as she goes to crash land nearby, still stuck in the heartless' grip, landing with a oof. But hey, she's unharmed. Until another one flies in and picks her up -.- "OH COME ON!" As she ends up flying near a building, she kicks herself up, flipping on the back of the heartless to give it a punch behind the head "I said let go!" She gets in the same issue as last time, but this time she's not stuck at least. Even though she's airborne. She jumps back down to the ground before she's taken too far away from the portal.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' The sands kick up, blasting the dark knight in the face. However, the dark knight did not stay still, he ran through the attack, breaking out the other side, and swings the mace around, aiming to send it into the heartless he was sitting on...and continues to bring it up towards the Wizzard himself. Angantyr doesn't stop, jumping forward again, and continuing to try and put the preasure on the staff weilding Jaffar by pressing the attack. The man swings again, swinging the weapon for his legs, before aiming to then send it down, a wave of darkness following the mace as he aims to crush him with the strike. "Yeah. You call us these things, but what does it make you, praying on the weak and defenseless?" he says, "I don't usually get on a soapbox, but you know, I'll make an exception for you, twirly mustashe guy." he says, before spinning the mace once more. The thing, easily beyond something a man should weild with one hand, and is easily held by him in a single hand. "Lets just skip the formalities and get to the part where you die."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Hope. Yes. She must have hope. "We can do this," Uist tells Maira, a cool hand on her shoulder. She reaches back to pat his hand, which to most appears she's patting herself on the shoulder, but she has about zero *goosehonk* cares to give right now. Her eyes widen when Angantyr appears nearby. She is very glad to see him. "Angantyr!" she calls, more hope returning. Then, Sarafina leans by her and Maira manages a small, tired smile before she leans in and hugs Sarafina. "I'm so glad you are here...." Maira steps back as she hears the baritone voices of the pirates and Heartless approaching, followed by Jafar, who has the be the most ridiculously sinister looking person she has ever seen. There is one surreal moment in which she is sure she must be dreaming. But she's not. Sand washes up over them. Maira shields her eyes but it still stung. "I will do my best to help you all....my fire won't hurt you," she says, then begins to cast. Only her hand lights up as she draws a circle of flame around herself and those nearby her.

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' The voices come. It is the sound of... pirates? Slowly, Reize is recalling a story of the pirates life. It was a tale that was so long ago. However, to see actual piraes, however... is phenomenal. Even more, it is up in the sky? Reize looks up at the floating pirate ship that looms... "Shard Seekers! Mobilize! Lenn! Cast forth a protection spellf or us!" Even worse, those cannon balls are giving way to explode. "Lily! Cast me into the air!" The boy runs ahead, until Reize is caught dead first within the explosion of the cannonballs. Reize meets face first with incineration. The young boy is caught in the midst of the flames and explosion from the blast point. The magically enhanced blast sends Reize sprawling back, "Gaaahhhh!!!!" He rolls up in the air, then he grits his teeth. The boy is bleeding pretty bad. "Lily! Get me in the air!" Reize is already springing up into the air, bringing his boomerang out. Counting on Lily to give him momentum into the air, the boy ascends high, shooting forth into the air whle throwing out a boomerang towards the upcoming ship. However, with the Heartless about, Reize needs to deal with them quickly. As such, Reize instead swings out to start kicking on each one of them and use them as leverage to get up to the ship. 

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva had been lucky as heartless came, prehaps her shirt has some power to hide her from the heartless. She doubted that was true, but she's now charging into their ranks. She's had time to prepare for har attacks the Heartless come under assault her firsts are on fire as she strikes attemping to set all those whom come after ablaze with ire. She also contiunes to keep attacking as her fists seem to freeze, intent to blast the beasts down with icey cold and otehrwise wreck theri days.

:'''[[Navya]] has posed:''' The Heartless come. Navya is ready, judging by her posture - No, wait, she's half-turning to try to stare at Luso. She knows that skill! That art! That's the power of a parivir! She opens her mouth to call something at Luso when he jumps into the air. Navya gets a mouthful of sand. That's not all she gets; it gets in her eyes, her clothes, her hair. She sputters, unable to breathe and feeling like she's just stuck all her exposed skin in front of a sandblaster. Her wings beat to try to clear the air around her. It doesn't help all that much. She spits, trying to stop choking and gagging. Unfortunately this also means she kind of weaves around, half-blind, instead of immediately joining the assault; when she does recover, she holds her hammer in front of her like she was going to parry, and picks up a fallen civilian with her free hand to set him on his feet. "No, you won't!" she croaks back. "And I'm not witless, either!"

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Palom looks over as he sees the Heartless approaching and... carrying Jafar? How many people are able to control these monsters?! Upon hearing Jafar's words, Palom opens his mouth wide to reply -- and gets a mouthful of sandstorm! "Ack! Pth! Gak! Pthooie! Gpthbbt!" He spits on the ground and wipes sand off his tongue. Then he looks up at Jafar and points. "You don't know who you're dealing with, mis--phbbt!" he spits sand out on the ground again, then conjures a little water to wash his mouth out and spits again. "*Ahem*! You don't know who you're dealing with, mister! I'm not a witless! I'm Palom, the Genius of Mysidia! I don't need an army of monsters to fight for me!"

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' As the Cannonballs and fire and other sundry things hurtled at him by Captain Hook slam and land around him, David Xanatos grits his teeth. Typing a series of commands into the computer on his left arm, the man lowers the computer and looks to Hook. "All forces. Take out that Disney World, Pirates of the Carribean reject. Attack!" Putting action to words, Xanatos leaps into the air and rockets toward Hook. His talons electrify, and he tries to slam into Hook wiht them, rending with those electrically charged blades, he leaps back, flairing his thrusters, to fire a hail of Laser bolts at the good Captain, and his crew.

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' Dion chuckles as Maira hugs Sarafina. "Seems like you've made a bit of an impression, Sara!" Sarafina pinkens faintly, though she does return the hug--she's glad to see Maira's alright. "Unfortunately," She says. "We can't stay for long-- If they seal off that portal, we're all doomed." Of course, they could save the Heart--but relying on a heroic success is not something an officer is allowed to do. Right now evacuation is the only option. She's too winded to battle for the Heart. But that doesn't mean she's too weak to handle her ideal situation--fighting a ship on the water. Of course there's some trouble from sand blasting her, but Maira's fire--and Faruja's magic--protects her from the heaviest brunt of it. She brushes sand off her face and grunts lightly. "Dion, can you--watch over her?" "Will YOU be careful?" Dion asks. "Mm. Of course not. Carefulness is not my way. Being terribly reckless is." She says this, of course, though she hasn't shown much sign of it lately. Perhaps the apocalypse instilled some caution in her--or maybe what she considers reckless is not what many others deem as reckless. She blasts off, heading straight for the ship even as sand blasts into her. She draws her chainsaw and flits towards Hook's ship, intending to cut through its sails--all the while, Dion hangs tight with the others. "Thank you for your aid," He tells Faruja. "I will do my best to be of some assistance."

:'''[[Captain Hook]] has posed:''' Several people seem to have the idea of using the Wyvern Armada as airbikes. This, it turns out, is not an amazing plan; Luso and Reize's stepping stone tactics are too fast to react to, but expecting them to cart someone around is overly optimistic. The one Aerith landed on screams in pain, to be sure, when she shocks it, but then erupts with thunder of its own, electrocuting her straight off of its back and into the increasingly chaotic crowds below. The rest seem to have similar plans in mind; electrified bullets pour from their strange faces, a vomitous barrage of firepower. Still, they're beginning to fall in significant numbers. Tifa's immense beat down seems to achieve someone's attention, for another two Wyverns focus on her immediately, but Minerva's antipode of fire and ice blow them out of their steep dive; they go tumbling into Strawberry Field, digging up great gouts of dirt, but do not rise again. Kaydin's dark blasts account for one, right out from under Luso; still, the boy has managed to make it up the chain with good speed, even if Flametongue is having trouble finding its mark. Reize is right there beside him, boomerangs flying, smacking Heartless out of the air with great prejudice, and, buoyed by Lily's tremendous blast of wind, the two boys land on the deck of the ship at roughly the same time. So too does Sarafina Carenze, who does, indeed, rip straight through those sails with mighty chainsaws; strange magic crackles from the tears, and Captain Hook scowls fiercely up at her. This is an unfortunate distraction, for David Xanatos' laser fire finds its mark with ease, forcing pirates to retreat beneath the wooden shutters of the cannon ports. His electrified talons pierce the good Captain's red coat, making Hook bellow with rage -- and fright. "SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he shouts, and an enormously potbellied fellow in a red cap and badly fitting blue-and-white-striped shirt comes scurrying out from a cabin. "Yes, cap'n, right away, cap'n, sir!" Mr. Smee is wielding a blunderbuss... badly... but the sheer enormity of its black powder explosion -- mixed, apparently, with shaving cream?! -- encompasses both of the boys, turning the deck slick beneath them, that they might struggle to stay on board. Hook himself twists his hook savagely, trying to catch hold of the retreating Xanatos: "NOT SO FAST, YOU PITIFUL PRANCING PEON!" His rapier, meanwhile, points Sarafina out to his crew, and they start throwing everything and the kitchen sink at her.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' These dragons had no idea what she was capable of. How could they? They only responded to pain and hearts. So it would come as a shock when Aerith leapt off mere moments before the jolt of thunder was released, aimed at the dragon she once rode... and let loose a burst of flame. Oh she was still on her way down, but she smiled as she spread her arms and closed her eyes. The confidence was rewarded when she landed on yet another Wyvern's back with uncanny timing.

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin was falling down before shaking his head at the woman as she lands on another wyvern. "I swear sometimes your bless by fate." he mutters to himself as a bolt of lightning comes for him. He tries to turn in mid air and manages to do so thankfully, so he was only grazed by the thunderbolt. He lands on his feet and swings the chain once more upwards towards a wyvern which tries to hit one flying for Aerith before pulling the chain back, spinning again and hurls it at one attacking Tifa.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' "No doubt you shall be! May the Lord be with you, Ser!" Faruja replies, not missing a beat despite the chaos going on around them. Neither do the Squires. Zealotry has its upsides, and high morale in even the worst of situations is one of them. Their calls of 'Witch', 'Heretic', 'I'll see you at the end of a rope, Sorcerer!' might be somewhat disturbing, however. In unison, the group lashes out at air with their weapons, yelling 'Shellburst Stab!'. Falling crescents of holy energy assault Heartless and sorcerer alike. "Fine words from cowards who hide in the back lines amidst demons!" A glance to Maira and Palom. "Lady, Ser, kindly make a PYRE of that man." Flames. Flames surrounded him. That old fear seeps into him...for a moment. Maira's words hit him. These are the flames of a friend. They bolster him, strengthen him, protect him. A slow, calming breath. He can do this. He /has/ to do this. "...Hold the line." And with that, he turns to his companions, casting Regen on several.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart doesn't get to enjoy her freedom for long, running back toward the portal after being carried away, she gets a few of those wyverns to bar her back, and send her flying with with their attacks again. Decidedly, she can't stay on the ground easily during this fight. She gets thrown back, but catches on to the high branch of a tree, vaulting herself, and attacking back at them with outstretched legs, hoping to bring down the wyvern with her back to solid ground. She's definitely not in her element in the air after all.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' The hook tears into armor that was designed to take balistics level weaponry. The man piloting the Powered Suit, lets out a little shriek of surprised pain. He lands on the deck and slides a on his feet a little and then rolls his shoulders. "Very well Captain. Perhaps we can act as gentlemen here. I am David Xanatos. This is /my/ city. I hereby make request that you and your crew leave. You enjoy money, you're pirates, so I give you money. You leave." He raises his right arm and a small missile appears there as David Xanatos says: "To help you in your decision making process, allow me to introduce you to my friend. Captain of insignificance, this is technology. Technology this is a Captain of insignificance. I'm sure you will be the very best of friends." David Xanatos smirks beneath his helmet and then fires a small rocket. Right to Captain Hook's face.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' Jafar makes a brief arcane gesture as his enemies approach, and the red aura around him thickens with a sound like clanking metal. It is not a moment too soon, as Angantyr takes a flying leap over the Heartless surrounding the palanquin and pounds a skillful combination with his mace, battering away at the mystic shield as Jafar gives a single pace of ground, finally managing to parry a blow. "You," the sinister man sneers. "I have seen your face in a dream, dear boy... this is not the first time you have opposed me, but it /will/ be the last!" The sorcerer has no time to ponder the threats of the Genius of Mystidia, or even wonder where Mystidia might be. Nor can he hypothesize what world might be home to the dragonlike Navya, because the dragoon-mouse Faruja and his pious squires begin to rain holy energy down upon him in bladed crescents. His Heartless, dull-witted brutes that they are, take the worst of it, and several clay pots burst open with a clattering sound as they are struck. Jafar himself needs to fend them off with his staff, stealing precious attention from his battle with Angantyr. "It seems most of you have not made my acquaintence," Jafar observes in a courtly manner, his breath an icy mist. "Forgive me for the cold reception!" Closing his fist with a sweep of his cape, Jafar causes the grains of mystic sand to lock into place, then blossom in a great chain reaction into snowflake-like shards of ice. The dreamlike red glow that suffused Central Park turns to a chilly blue. Each snowflake is like a tiny little mine; when touched, it stiffens clothing and hair, bites skin, and creates artistic icy patinas on metal.

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' Lily is there to mend the wounds. Reize can take the comfort in that as well as the galing winds. The boy ascends higher, using those creatures as skipping stones. However, what comes to a more annoyance is the fact that a short, stocky man pulls out a blunderbuss. Reize looks to the side to see a young boy like him as they move up. "Oii! I got an idea!" But then, he sees that the older man fires at them. The blunderbuss explodes. The black powder/shaving cream-infused ound blasts the boy, yelping as he starts to descend. "..Gaahhhh!!" His eyes widen, "I'm falling...." But he quickly reaches over to his pouch to whip out his hookshot. Whipping the instrument, he fires it up towards the ship to get him up towards the ship. "Hey!" He calls out to Luso. Then, the arm seeks to scoop him up to join him in the grand adventure of getting onto the ship. Then, the boy lunges forward, then his body disappears. Reize utilized his speed to move up into the ship nd right behind Mr. Smee. Releasing his impromtu comrade in arms, Reize lunges to give Mr. Smee a surprise boot to the face as well as a spinning roundhouse. "YA!" He hopes Lily will be alright. ...Unless she plans to fly up.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Tch!" Luso hissed in annoyance, watching as his opening attack was dodged. But he wasn't out of ideas himself yet! Hearing someone call out to him, he turned to see Reize in the air with him. "Whoa! An idea? I'm all ears--" And then the other boy went flying. "Holy--! Hey!" But he couldn't move to rescue the falling Reize as the heartless dove in for another attack. A spin was all it took for the attack to barely scrape by him And now he was falling. It looked like it was gonna be time to land! ...Or not. WHOOSH came the chain of the hookshot, Reize rapidly rising into the air. "I get it now!" Smoothly grabbing hold of Reize the two of them burst upwards and then descended towards hook. "You're mind now! Taste fire and ice!" Luso yelled crossing over his swords and then flipping before bearing down onto the captain with his combination.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira blinks to Sarafina. She's going off to be reckless!? "What!? Ugh! Be careful Sarafina!" she calls, then turns back to her business, which at the moment, is pretty consumed with surviving and keeping those with her alive as well. When Faruja points out Jafar and suggests her and Palom make a pyre of him, Maira smiles a little and looks to the little, but powerful, mage. "Yes. Lets." As if to try to thwart them before they even begin, Jafar turns the park to a winter pain-land. Sharp snowflake slice through her skin like shuriken. A dozen and more thin lines of blood surface on her skin as she tries to protect herself, but fails. But what does one do on a snowy night such as this? Light a fire. A spark ignites, then catches flame, a small fireball sailing toward Jafard through the snow.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Never let it be said that Faruja forgets his friends. With the Shard Seekers, and...well everyone really having problems, the Burmecian turns his attention to healing. Chilly ice assaults them from the sorcerer. Taking it in the face like a real nezumi, it slices down his bandaged face to reveal the old wounds beneath. Ignoring the man's words for the moment, a pair of healing spells flash over himself, Maira, and Reize who seems horribly injured. "You shall not fall just yet, Reize Seatlan! Hold thy ground!" He encourages, before turning back to Jafar. Grrrr. "Your sense of humor, Witch, is dreadful! Ahem. HOLY EXPLOSION!" Falling columns of pure holy light scorch and blast a line fron the front most Heartless, aimed all the way into the back with Jafar. Should it hit, it may just feel as if his very soul is being clawed at with pure righteous contempt. Then Maira speaks. Faruja nods. "Excellent."

:'''[[Navya]] has posed:''' Navya is only /part/ dragon. Maybe. Or maybe gria are their own thing; who knows? She's certainly vulnerable to magic. It's hard to parry /that/ with a hammer, even if she'd like to - and she does try, swinging the maul through empty space as if trying to smash through the ice as it forms. All this means is that her hammer becomes coated in the stuff, encrusted with glittering frost, and unfortunately so does Navya herself; she shivers as she starts to freeze, her horns icing over immediately and little icicles cracking off her wings when she flexes them. "Th-th-that's not the worst reception I've ever g-g-gotten," Navya gets out, still trying not to freeze. She charges, because moving is the best way to keep warm; specifically she charges Jafar. Navya leaps. She doesn't stay in the air very long though; she slams downward moments later, a descending two-handed blow with her maul to smash Jafar into the ground so hard it cracks, sending up chunks of rock.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr doesn't fall back, he doesn't defend, he only pushes forward. The snowflakes hit the man, exploding and tearing through him and his armor. Ice shatters over the man, cutting like swords deep into his skin, frostburn happens to run down his hands and body, but he still pushes forward. His eyes show no recongnition of Jafar, but he swings the mace anyway, trying to beat through the sheild protecting the magician. The man did not come out of that exchange very well, but he still stands, as he starts moving in again. "Dreams? Sorry, but I don't have dreams of you. You're the wrong sex, and not quite fair enough for my tastes." he quips, "Perhaps a name you could give? I would like to know who I am going to brutalize...it's just cultured to do it like that!" Then, ironically, he brings the mace down in a overhead smash, aiming to coat the man in a sickly green wave of darkness, before he swings upwards, aiming to tear through the barrier covering him.

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva isn't alone today, she's got Luso who she considers a friend or at least someone she can trust with her back who will become a friend sooner or later. AS Luso moves in to fight his own battle along side who was that guy from the shard seekers. Oh well she's pretty sure Faruja whose clearly their leader will be able to tell her later. She does notice Tifa has been fighting ands she's suprised the other woman clearly a a monk of some sort like herself this could prove to be interesting. She's also in the iar but she's got no problems about this she drops like a rock towards the heartless swarms and just starts punching as she goes as she lands she contiunes to strike rapidly with lighting flowing about both her fists this time. "COME YOU FOWL CREATURES MEET YOUR END AT MY FISTS!"

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' Jafar's magical sand latches onto Sarafina and, more importantly, her jetpack. This sends her crashing down to the ground, leaving her an easy target for Hook's cannons. She is blasted right out of the air and crashes to the deck, slamming heavily into the deck. Surprisingly, she doesn't end up as a blood smear. Instead, she shifts herself up into a standing position, rubbing at her forehead. She grunts lightly, pinching the bridge of her forehead. What's with all this sand? She shakes her head quickly. No time. Dion stays close to Maira, peering at Jafar for the moment. Summoning up the power in her gauntlet, she charges...SMEE!...and just aims to punch the guy. Something about that face. She spins her chainsaw around trying to do as much damage as she can while she's stuck here.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Palom is... ignored! He hmphs and puts his little hands on his hips. Well then, it's time to show this Jafar just what the Genius of Mysidia can do! The boy sees the dangerous snowflake-ice-mines approaching, and conjures up a wave of flame to melt those around him. "Nice try! Now it's _my_ turn!" Palom raises his staff to the sky, magic power swirling around him, ruffling his cape and robes. Swirling bolts, gather and strike my foe! Then he points down to the ground. Revenge with a taste of your own darkness! And then the boy kneels and plants both hands on the ground. The ground itself shall rise up and consume you! A cloud forms over Jafar and his heartless, lightning striking down upon them! Then dark energy rises out of the ground and tries to hold them in place as cracks run along the ground from Palom and begin to open up!

:'''[[Captain Hook]] has posed:''' The big picture is easy to lose in the chaos of the moment-by-moment events, but... the sky is full of fire. Laserfire, rocketfire, wyvern-breath; steel gargoyles meet Heartless in a clash of wings and claws, while those few souls left to man the roofs around Central Park frantically clear a path for the incoming civilians. And they're still coming in, frantically charging towards the Portal in less of a controlled queue and more of a wave. Firemen pick up children and the elderly and charge across the sandy, icy battlefield, covered by the fire and ice and thunder of many of the defenders. Adults manage to make it on their own. The heroes may be fighting for their lives, but they're fighting for a lot of other lives too. And they're winning, in that respect, as in the past several minutes a good thousand people have passed through that portal. The next wave of civilians arrives from the Central Park-adjacent subway, of all places, one of the lines sneakily cleared by Steel Clan when nobody was paying attention. Back to the little picture... Aerith falls onto a second wyvern, but the first one, still sparking from her Thunder, easily ducks under her stream of fire -- the second one flies up to expose her back to the first's fierce claws. Now that's teamwork! Then a wyvern goes crashing into the three of them, sending them all tumbling downward in a tangle of talons and wings. Kaydin's chain retracts, pulling the third one out of the mix, to crash into one coming up behind Tifa, as she very successfully suplexes a Heartless onto the ground and straight back out of existence. Minerva covers her as well, and the lightning arcs from fists to wyvern to wyvern to wyvern; they fall like rain. Retaliation against all four of them comes in the form of pots -- Jafar's pots, actually -- that some of the Wyverns are beginning to pick up and throw down. The pots have shadowy spider legs propelling them, and fearsome fangs. To be caught by one is a supremely unpleasant experience. Up on the ship, Captain Hook raises his rapier and bisects Xanatos' rocket before it can even detonate, like a GIGANTIC JERK. Then he neatly sidesteps out of the way of the cannon his men were preparing behind him. "0 DEGREES ELEVATION! FIRE!" Boom. "You popinjay," says the hypocrite, fluffing his cravat with his hook, "Your money is only chump change compared to the power promised to us by our mistress...YEOOOOUCH!!!" Luso has struck him in the rear, snicker-snack, and revealed his heart-studded silken underwear. Hook objects, loudly. "SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Sarafina absolutely wrecks Mr. Smee's adorable red hat with her chainsaw. That pain may have been to his pride, but that's where most of his will to fight comes from; not an insignificant blow at all! He stumbles back, narrowly avoiding Reize's boot and counterboot, only to be absolutely drenched by Lily's unexpected deluge. He drops a black powder bomb on them both, trying to fall back to his boss. "Yes, cap'n! I'm a'coming, cap'n!" Up in the rigging, Lily gets swatted by that original concertina-player, who apparently uses his instrument for more than entertainment; he tries to break it over her head. "YARR!" Far below, some Heartless crocodiles seem to have noticed the ship, and are staring up at it hungrily. Hook hasn't noticed -- yet. He's too busy laying about with his pistol, hastily drawn from his belt, trying to blast Xanatos and Luso away from him.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' Jafar draws in some of his snowflakes around a clenched fist and blocks the flame-ball from Maira with them. Unfortunately, the fire is stronger than his impromptu defense, and his hand is singed from blocking it, causing him to suck in a hiss. He uses what little ice he can gather to protect himself from Faruja as well, but again it is insufficent, and the holy energies feel like a judgement on his very nature. "Worthless rat! What will your god think when you kneel before a witch?" Aiming his staff at Faruja, Jafar summons red sands around the Burmecian's body, attempting to slam him down to his hands and knees. This attention was ill-spent. Angantyr and Navya both leap into the air together; the timing couldn't have been better if they planned it. Mace and hammer both come down in two-handed blows, and Jafar is the anvil. He tosses up a rapid shield made of red sand, but it shatters with a glassy sound, and Jafar's tall, emaciated frame is slammed down into his own palanquin, which crunches beneath him under the sheer force, creating a bowl-like indent which Jafar is driven into. Only his sandy armor keeps him alive through this brutal assault, and his breath wheezes through thin lips as he endures the greatest injury he has yet sustained in his life of manipulation and intrigue. Iago doesn't let Navya enjoy her victory for long, however; he chomps down hard on her ear even as the planks of the palanquin are settling down. "Nice wings, sweetheart," he compliments with a fierce grin. "You should try feathas next time, though!" Flapping about her face, Iago pecks rapidly at Navya's cheeks, still wearing his 'I <3 NY' tee and sunglasses.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Suddenly, claws. And they hurt. They dig into Aerith's shoulders and back, and the dragon flies straight toward the ground, making an attempt to ram her into the grass and dirt, hard. She gritted her teeth, fighting through the pain, and made her best attempt to put a flaming ball of ouch right into its head. "Let me go!!"

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin watches the pots come and he pulls the chain back to regain his sword. Once gripped he leaps ito the air as the pots come down, leaping onto each pot and avoiding being grabbed by the shadowy legs. His ability to evade and jump would make many a dragoon proud as he manages to evade all the heartless. However hearing someone demand to let her go causes him to look back and for once, that calm expression he kept on his face was actually broken by rage as he leaps down towards the wyvern with a bellow as he brings his sword down to try and cleave the wyverns with the sword, body surging with dark power as he attacks.

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' As Lily blasts up behind the group, Reize cannot help but to look at the young girl soar. "Whooaaa.." He marvels at Lily as she comes up, and then deluges the pirate assistant, "Thanks Lily!" However, the bomb is rolling straight towards his direction, "What..?!" It explodes right in front of him, "Gaaaahhh!" Reize yelps a the bombblasts himback, but then he staggers aroun. The boy reaches for the hookshot, "Oh no you don't..." The hookshot whips towards Smee, aiming to catch him along his legs. "Get over here!" Reize lunges forward. Should the hookshot wrap around the man's legs? Reize is about to come down with a knee and a nice smack of the boomerangs to the older man. He isn't going to let the assistant get to his Captain. Then, he looks up to see the instrument player about to nail Lily with the instrument. "Lily, watch out!"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart is taking them out as she can, but there's so many! She wishes she had more flashy magic like Aerith for times like this, so she could clean up large amounts of them at once. But that's not happening right now, she only has her fists and feet to use. But she can play bowling though. When the next wyvern wave flies in to attack, the first one gets her in the chest. But before it can fly off, she grabs it by the leg, and uses it as a projectile toward the other ones swooping down. If she can take out a few of them with a single attack, it would certainly help the odds a bit, even if they aren't in their favor right now. But up to now, the line is holding at least, the heartless didn't manage to get to the people or the portal just yet.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' "So noted Captain." Xanatos says with a nod. "However there is something you /really/ should know." He stands aside and presses a controller on his left arm. "My ship is bigger than yours." He then presses two fingers to the side of his head. "Captain Takeda. Fire." Rising out from behind a group of trees, one of Xanatos' air battleships, one of the five that helped defend the Garden, ascends and shimmers as its cloak is dropped. Turrets of the 15 inch variety turn and the cannons angle to have a perfect firing arc on Captain Hook, his crew, and the Wyverns. To assist those mighty guns, missile ports open, and anti-arcraft lasers spool up to act as point defense emplacements. Not three seconds after Xanatos tells the ship to fire, the vessel, stenciled with the word "Persephone" on it's side opens fire. The gun fire is loud, thunderous, deafening and devastating as the artillery shells, missiles and lasers all converge on their targets. "See Captain," Xanatos says with a smug look and folded arms, "The ladies lied to you. Size DOES matter."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' "Kneel? KNEEL? Black hearted knave! By all means, cut me, slash me with your magic! Have your demons cleave off my legs! My heart and soul are the Lord's, and no matter how low my body may be brought, my spirit shall be infinitely higher than the likes of YOU!" Just to prove his point, the rat digs in, shoved backwards several feet. Bones seek to bend, break, before Faruja slams down his spear. Even that seems to waver, magic slowly overcoming physical strength. But he's not alone. Two of his squires grab him, lending strength to him, and thus the rat is able to stand somewhat tall. "Curaga!" He yells, focusing on more of his wounded companions.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Pffft--! Ahahahahaha! Keep yapping! That's not gonna get you anywhere!" Luso laughed leaping aside to avoid the not-so-good captain's combination. A glance was given to Reize and then to the others. It seemed like they were doing pretty well, people were escaping through the portal. But now... It was time to focus on the battle. "Hey! Pirate Loser! Lemme tell you the 12th Rule of Clan Gully; Don't say what you want to do, do what you want to say!" And with that, the boy sheathed the Kwigon Blade, instead drawing the Ogun Blade after and then dashing for Hook, preparing another combination of slashes.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Jafar reveals who he is to Angantyr. Jasmine happened to, in a very short time, gain not just the respect, but the friendship of the Dark Knight. And here is the unsurper, the man that had ruined her family, put her on the run, and destroyed her home. His face darkens considerably, the reason for her nightmares was standing infront of him. The reason, she left because she did not want to involve them anymore. There is a shattering point, a point that Angantyr has hit, as he growls...a gutteral thing escaping his lips, as... Jafar could feel the darkness from him before, but now..? Now it exhudes like a well spring. The darkness in him only grows, but does not consume him. Not in the way it should, it is like it is almost a part of him. The darkness wraps around his body, consealing his form for a brief moment, before transforming the outer armor into an all encompasing plate. The dark armor, looking as if made of pure abyss itself, sends tendrils of darkness off of it. The helmet, snapping up at Jafar, glows a sanqune glow behind the visor. "Good to meet you then, Jafar. I am Angantyr. Angantyr Vespar. I am the dark knight of Rabanastre, the scourge of Arcadia...and about to be your worst nightmare."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira was just getting started. That was the simple spark to light the fire. Still, it would seem the highly powerful child by her side is even more of a cannon than she. In other words, he doesn't have healing power. Maira reaches up to cover her eyes again, flaring the circle of flames to protect herself and Palom. Searing hot air? Pssht! This is a girl who lights herself on fire on an almost daily basis. Protecting herself from the onslaught of sand and heat, Maira calls to Uist. "Uist! Go to them!" she cries. Her ghostly companion speeds across the battlefield, unhindered, manifesting only when he reaches Angantyr and Navya. The ghost appears, incorporeal and cold, touching them both with the holy energy of Maira's healing. "From Maira," she tells them, then disappears once more.

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' Sarafina shouts, "THE HAT!" She catches the shreds of the red hat and looks down at it. The purple drop--it's ruined! She doesn't know a tailor who can possibly repair this adorable hat. She bows her head--as if in defeat--before a powder bomb erupts in her face, bowling her over. She shakes her head quickly, rubbing at her face faintly. She's really been knocked for a loop here! She better get serious. Return her attention to the ship rather than adorable first mates! STanding herself up, she slings the chainsaw over her shoulder, dusting some more sand off her jetpack. She pulls on the string a few times before it finally sputters to life. "Agaaaaaaaaaaain!" She yells, flitting down towards the ship. She lashes out rapidly with the chainsaw, striking at riggings, sails, and cannons--trying to cut down on the ship's power and ability to attack. The pirates can come later. WIth each strike, the chainsaw BRRRRRRMS loudly as the blades tear along.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' "/This/ child has that sort of power!" Palom shouts back triumphantly, right before the sandstorm bowls him over and sends him rolling back towards the portal. Faruja's magic slowly heals his wounds, the bruises not as bad as they'd otherwise be. He stands up, wiping sand off himself. "If you're going to use your power like this... then you don't deserve it!" Palom focuses, maintaining the magical gravity field, while summoning up even more power to throw at the sorcerer's. Guiding light, take this monster's power away! Rasp! And the young boy sets as much magical force as he can muster to stripping away Jafar's gathered power!

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva is not able to set the heartless on fire with her fists, still the heartless corcks keep coming for her and she keeps fighting the beasts. She keeps attacking the creaturess with her fists.

:'''[[Captain Hook]] has posed:''' 'Zap!' 'Bang!' 'Boom!' Onomatopoeias are kind of inadequate to describe the scale of the explosion that courses over the field from the combined fire of the Persephone's lasers, missiles, and straight-up guns. Between that and the combined efforts of those still on the ground, the skies are, momentarily, free of wyverns. But before we move on, let's take a moment to savor the carnage that Aerith, Minerva, Kaydin and Tifa inflict. The former's fireball goes directly to the head of the Heartless carrying her, exploding it; she is dropped like a rock, but fortunately very close to the ground. Kaydin's mighty strikes go straight through its corpse, before it explodes, his momentum carrying him into another four or five, which are conveniently bunched together for Tifa to bowl over. She throws a gutter wyvernball, unfortunately, but they get blown up anyway, neatly corralled for Minerva's fists to mow down. Captain Hook's ship, meanwhile, reveals considerably more impressive defenses than it had sported previously, when the man himself bellows, "BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!" Shadowy green-black energy, very much the hues that summoned the storm in the sky, courses over every last inch of it, from the smallest rope to the largest sail. This deflects Sarafina's chainsaw massacre, but she does seem to be draining a great deal of energy from whatever's powering that field; it's starting to sputter. Then it winks out entirely, when the Persephone barrage hits it. The ship shudders wildly, tilting nearly forty-five degrees to port; a precarious angle to be standing on! On deck, Reize clips Mr. Smee with the hookshot, but that's about it. As the ship begins to list, Smee grabs a rope with a practiced hand and pulls himself into the rigging. "Oops!" He's knocked over a bucket of knives, and they tumble downwards towards the boy. Lily's windhammer brains the concertina fellow -- he brings his instrument up at the last second, and it shatters dissonantly, the force of the impact knocking him off the mast entirely. "A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR M--AIEEEEE!" He falls onto the deck and begins to slide. Captain Hook's moustache tilts rather violently with fury as Xanatos' play is revealed. "I'm afraid I'll have to disagree," he announces hotly, "It's what you do with it -- and you haven't done enough! MEN! THE STORM CANNONS!" He raises his voice even louder to warn, "JAFAR -- DUCK!" Out of those previously battened hatches pop an entirely different set of cannons, each carved with the likeness of a dragon's head. Lightning crackles about them, as they charge... charge... then unleash a brutal barrage, cannonballs of pure electricity, on Xanatos' ships... and many people on the ground! One narrowly misses the palanquin, but hits a group of civilians trying to sneak behind it; very messy. "I do what I say and I say what I do," he adds, stoutly, to Luso. "SMEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He does Smee? No, Smee does for Luso, as he comes dropping silently out of the rigging, to land with his considerably portly mass upon the boy. He smells like he hasn't bathed in a year. This is probably true.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' Jafar's lips curl back, revealing disdainful teeth. He takes far more satisfaction in humiliation than murder, and Faruja has denied him this pleasure by refusing to bow. Ah, well... he does take /some/ pleasure in murder. He raises his staff, looking to shatter Faruja's legs with his next attempt, but the energies he summons to do so are stripped away, suddenly, by the child mage. Jafar turns a furious gaze to Palom. "Let me remind you not to /interrupt/, boy! And you, fire-witch, should be worrying about yourself!" The grass around the two casters' feet begins to crinkle, turning yellow, then erupts into an unnaturally red flame, coating a wide area around them and panicking the nearby civilians into an outright trample. Iago faces off against Navya, dodging her backhand (but losing his ray-bans in the process), and goes in for more ear-bites. He's quite good at distraction, it seems; Navya may well be tied up fighting him for the remainder of the battle! This leaves Jafar with only Angantyr within melee distance, and he faces the increasingly angry and empowered scion of shadow with an insoucient smirk on his skinny, goateed face. "Oh, have you grown fond of the poor girl?" He tuts softly. "A pity she cannot return your feelings... a low-born creature such as yourself. I suppose she told you she left to protect you? That is her way, just /dripping/ with compassion. Even though she is a being of embodied light who is disgusted at your very presence, she always keeps your feelings in mind. Oh, and do tell Hook I am most disappointed in his performance today, when you see him in a moment." Jafar swings his staff like a golf club, and the ground beneath Angantyr's feet erupts with an exposive force.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' And the dragon let her go. It was just two feet above the ground, but she still landed hard on her right shoulder, which already hurt like nothing else. She rolled twice, stopped on her back, and gritted her teeth as the adrenaline spike died off. Okay, maybe that wasn't such a good plan... but never mind, she had plenty more where that came from. They were smarter than they looked. Good. That meant she could do something they wouldn't expect. Standing from her position on the ground, she could feel the distinct aura of Kaydin as he tore into yet another one. It was more than likely from her being injured... though it wouldn't be that hard to fix. "Don't worry about what they're doing to me, Kaydin," she muttered under her breath. "Worry about what I'm going to do to them." Then she looked up... and saw what madness came before her. With a grimace, she got moving, ducking and weaving in between shots... and finally gets hit, or at least close enough. A cannon shot lands a bit too close, and Aerith is blasted away by the shockwave. It's enough to make her hurt all over again when she lands... But she gets up anyway. "This guy is starting to annoy me." Aerith casts her healing energies, adding defensive wards to the mix. She had something in mind for them, but not yet...

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart isn't having an easy time with those wyverns, but she's not giving up at least. But when the ship starts firing at everyone below, that's not nice at all! She barely manages to get out of the path of the projectiles, but it still burns up her legs on the way out of the explosive results, but it could have been much worse. She grrs as picks herself up, and goes for the defensive a bit, needing a moment of breather before going into the offensive again.

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin leaps out of the way by instinct and then he realizes he left Aerith. He tries to hurry to her but watches as she gets hit. He moves quickly to her side and swings his sword, sending a blast of energy for the ship before looking back to Aerith. "I am not going to leave your side no more. Let me protect you Aerith." He says as he then swings his sword once more at a heartless to take it out.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' "I'll interrupt whoever I like!" Palom shouts back. He senses magic as the grass around him dries -- realizing quickly what happens, he freezes the ground below him into tundra to counter the flames. "You're just using your powers to be a mean jerk to people! You're taking these people's homes!" he gestures to the Manhattanites fleeing through the portal. "That's why I'm gonna stop you! That's the duty of Palom, Genius and future Sage of Mysidia!" The young boy is so busy talking and throwing words at the dark sorcerer that he doesn't actually cast any spells, though...

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' The Armored hulls of the Persephone and the Hades take the blasts from Hook's ships, if not like champs, then at least with less damage then Hook would have liked. For Xanatos' part he smiles beneath his helmet even as the chaos of those blasts wash over him and cause him some serious armor damage. Gripping the side of his now sparking armor he says calmly over the radio, Keep firing. All guns. If you run out of munitions, then ram this wooden pile of excrement. He then looks to Hook and speaks out loud to the man. "I'm not sure I have given you a proper introduction. You met technology, and our two cultures are busy introducing each other to themselves," He gives Captain Hook a formal bow. "David Xanatos. At your service." As he straightens from his bow, he thrusts both hands forward, and the mother of all laser blasts erupts from his extended arms. The energy actually making a sonic boom as the light literally boils the water in the air, disintegrates air molecules, and and anything else in its destructive wake. There is a secondary booming as air rushes in to fill the gap created by the disintegrated air molecules. Xanatos stands to his full height and nods to Cook. "Feel free to surrender at your leisure captain. You have no idea how to use "it.""

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Yeah? Well--" Luso was forming a retort when the captain suddenly called for...someone? "Oh crap!" Too late to dodge. And Smee went bowling right into him. "Whaaaaaaa--!" The force of the blow sent Luso sailing over the side of the ship and back downwards to ground level. "I'll get you for that lateeeeeer--!" The boy yelled up at the ship. After that, he turned in midair, sheathing his swords and then focusing on landing. He did so with relative ease. "Alright! Time to focus! No use rushing in and losing again!" With that said, Luso rose back up to his feet and began to glow with an orange aura. He was preparing himself for what was to come. Either for him or by him!

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' For a few moments, Reize tkes a look ahead down the ship, however, with Captain Hook over the commanding of the ship, well... It is taking a fourty-five degree turn to the port. That turn makes the angle hard to hold onto. So, when the ship slides, so does the ability of Reize to maneuver around. He yelps when Smee's bucket o knives come down towards the boy, "Gaaaaahhhh!!!" Reize becomes pierced by all of the blades. The boy is already worn and beaten. That cannon blast from earlier had already done him much harm. "GET BACK HERE!" Reize is running after Smee. And then, he arrives towards the Hook and Smee. Luso could use some help. "Ooii!!" He calls towards Luso, then he starts to shouts out. "Knight's Vow #31: No matter how mountainous the adversary, standing your ground is key!" The boy steps into a stance, reaching out for a bag to toss. This time, Reize throws his boomerang to arc towards Smee, and then the boy charges straight at the older man. "Get off of him!" "This is my will!" As the boy extends his hand out... His aura is glowing as the boy starts channeling the atmospheric energy. As the boy channels the energy, the boy shouts. "Lily! Stranger! We can do this! All of us can!" He shuts his eyes, "So, let's make sure we can keep these guys from interfering with the people!" No spell casting yet. However... The light of the pendant is charging up, it gives off a radiant glow. That shining light.. may likely attact the heartless.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' The fire, being someone else's magic, has some effect on Maira, though it isn't as painful as it could be, certainly. She seems resistant. They seem to be fighting fire with fire...and in that sort of battle? She's pretty sure she can take the cake. Worry about herself? Well, of course, but Angantyr is up there, right in Jafar's face, hopefully kicking some ass as he is prone to do. It is pretty much his natural state. As it is for Faruja, who is a holy knight whose spirit will not be dampened by Jafar's arrogance and dark-hearted cruelty. By this point of the battle, Maira's magic is full to bursting. She is ready to overflow. It has been decided between her and Uist that it is no longer worth it to restrain herself. Maira ignites. Not only do flames break out over her body, but the fire around her that Jafar summoned begins to bend toward her, swaying like trees in the wind of a hurricane. They are being drawn in, absorbed, it would seem, until the fire dissipates. "Be calm! Don't let them put you into a panic! That is what they want! Keep moving through the portal, we're here!" she calls to the civilians, standing like a beacon as she beckons to the portal. Then, she turns her attention back to Jafar. "Hey. Stop throwing around my friends," she says, then launches herself at him with a quick burst of Air, making herself into a burning meteor that sails straight for the cunning sorcerer.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr tries to challenge the attack, but for his efforts he is throw straight up, the explosion ripping the ground beneath him assunder as he flies right towards Hook's ship. Growling, the memories of their last parting run through him, a little bit of bitterness is there...but it is overpowered by the value of the friendship he had formed with her. However, friendship doesn't stop momentum, growling as he continues to fly... "Ugh...dam-damnit..." he says, before... Your weak, boy. If you do not control the darkness, it will control you. If you do not bend it to your whim, it will bend you. Do not fear what it is, make it your own...and you'll have a power that nobody will stand up to. You have light in you, Angantyr, no matter what anyone says. Angantyr's body hits a dark portal, gone...for a brief moment, it looks like he ran. Then, right above Jafar, another Corridor opens up, spilling out the Dark Knight as he flies down right towards Jafar... "I SAID DIE YOU SON OF A *GOOSHONK*!" nearby the old lady with the goose laughs like a madwoman, before rushed into a portal. He swings, the massive mace comes down with both hands, aiming to put as much force behind the thing as he could, before spinning around once. His right hand, formed into a massive claw, aims to tear through Jafar, as darkness and life force would seep through the claw back into Angantyr. Then, all around him, the ground turns dark red, before a barrage of crimson claws tear through the ground, aiming to repeatedly slash and thrust in Jafar's general direction, before he crushes the man down with the massive claw. He stands, overflowing with darkness as he stares towards the would be king.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Wince. Faruja stands before Maira, glaring out at Jafar as he harms friend and compatriot with an explosive golf swing. "Maira, stay behind me!" "A Lady and a child are not playthings to be swatted at! I see you possess neither honor nor manners!" His Squire companions roar out their approval as they assist in purging various Heartless that harry them from Jafar's group as their superior focuses on keeping people alive. One goes down screaming to jaws, before the others whirl. The downed one thrusts his weapon into the beast's body, while the others stab their longer spears into the creature...then further, finishing off their mortally wounded friend. He dies with a smile, having done his duty. Better a death by the hands of companions than demons. The Burmecian surveys the battlefield. Teeth gritting, he looks about. Many are on their last legs. And Faruja is furious. No. This will not happen! It CANNOT! Faruja's light, that of a candle in the darkness, grows. Claws pierce through metal and into his own flesh as he clenches his fist. Casting his gaze about, he looks to his friends, those fighting, and to the man who calls this place home. The small bauble, crystal, embedded in the cross upon his neck, glows. Home. Memories of all of those lost, all of those he cared for comes flooding back. Taken. Taken by men like these arrayed before him. The rat's eye opens, and he speaks, voice clear above the din of the fighting. "DEFENDERS OF MANHATTAN! Comrades, friends, fellow warriors, mages of renown unequaled! Today, YOU are the vanguard against the darkness! The single bulwark that stands between the fall of this world by predators, brigands, and heathens! They come here, to take the homes and lives of the people here! Who amongst you have lost friends, family, your entire lives to GARBAGE such as this?" "Will you stand for this? WILL YOU!? Who amongst you has the strength to stand, to bleedd, to DIE on your feet? I say ALL here have that strength! For the LORD is on our side! And HE watches over us, and our deeds to day! If we fall, if we falter, if we fall here then we fail GOD! Will any of you stand for that? I, for one, SHALL NOT! Defenders of Manhattan, CRUSH EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE HERETICS UNDER YOUR BOOTS!"

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva is looking at all teh heartless she cuts many down but more remain. She is fighting with every she has the heartlerss are everywhere she flips into the air lands on the ground and causes a massive shockwave about her, intent ot knock the beasts back. She's then upon them her fists lashing out with strike after strikes as she calls out. "Come and face your end beasts! I will not go quietly my world's blood calls out for justice!"

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' "This is no normal ship!" Sarafina shouts. She is able to draw some power off of the ship, but she can tell she's not making much purchase against the vessel itself. To be fair to Sarafina, she never had to fight a MAGIC pirate ship before. 'Still..." She murmurs. "AT least there's some ... effect." She takes a moment to recover before dropping down suddenly, heading down for the deck and putting her chainsaw before her, spinning around in a corkscrew strike! "HAAAA!" She shouts. Perhaps she can strike a little bit of fear into the fearful. The chainsaw may not be a crocodile, but it does have many...teeth. "Pirates!!" She swears unhappily. "Take down one crew, another ten show up!"

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF was going to just sneak away. He lost his chance to get a tank and this meant he probably should just stick to taking things from the Grid and bring them to the users realms. However on his way back to hiding; along with 'licking' his wounds, he ran into someone. Another Program... There was a deal attached to this meeting, a sweet, sweet deal that he couldn't really turn down. He aid this LEXUS in what the Shadow Lords were doing, and he would get access to his ticket to and from the Grid; long as he just 'help out' when requested, beyond this he be free to do as he pleases. Working with others was never his thing; Even more so when there was users involved; but sometimes you just gotta play 'nice'. So walking down the streets of chaos toward the heroes who protect the portal comes a man standing around 6'3, wearing red sunglasses, a black leather duster, and green, glowing lines across what looks to be a black body suit. On his feet a pair of black steel toed boots with several belt buckle straps. As he moves in closer, he lights up his cigar, while a dark smile starts to cross his face. Once the cigar is light, he takes a puff from it, before reaching down to his side unhooking his pulse rifle to his hip. Then raising up his hand to the air, flicking a bit of the ash to the side, CHIEF speaks up loudly over the wake of destruction, "Ladies and Gentleman! The secrete boss has arrived!" Not that he was really a secrete boss; nor was this a game; but he may as well have fun with this while he can.

:'''[[Captain Hook]] has posed:''' Captain Hook is blasted against his own railing by Xanatos' immense laser beam. "I, Captain Hook, require no such tomfoolery! Sirrah, I believe you are COMPENSATING FOR SOMETHING!" he bellows, throwing his comparably tiny rapier straight at a chink in the man's power armor. If it hits, it explodes with watery force, to choke and drown the man within the machine. Then he glances over his shoulder. "Hey, kid," Hook calls after the falling Luso, sending a couple shots from his pistol after him for good measure, "Thank Jafar for me -- the look on his face when that little mage boy smacked him in the kisser really brightened my day!" Someone is just ASKING for a little bit of poetic justice, his back turned towards the Shard Seekers and all. Looking over the rail, he notices Angantyr sailing towards him... and then away from him. "Hmmmmmmmmmm," he muses, stroking his moustache with his hook, twisting and turning it. When it releases, the hook starts to sketch paths of darkness through the air, in fairly complex little scribbles. Smee, meanwhile, has been both shoved and boomeranged into Sarafina's chainsaw, which has first claimed his hat and now makes quick work of his shirt. It might have been kinder to the world if that hadn't happened, his pasty white flesh is not a sight for sore eyes. His adam's apple bobs up and down violently, his eyes rolling with fear -- this lady, quite frankly, scares the duty out of him. He's browned his shorts. The Captain doesn't really appreciate this assault on his first mate, and finishes his midair artwork with a flourish of his hook; portals appear under Lily, Reize, Sarafina and Xanatos -- if they fall in, they'll all fall out below the ship, through a second portal, that sends them all on a trajectory towards each other in midair, preferably magic-, boomerang-, chainsaw- and laser-first. As a final coup de grace, attracted by the light of Reize's pendant, wyverns gather to blow them out of the sky while they're exposed. Down on the ground, Kaydin and Minerva take out some of the last few visible Wyverns. The few that remain are somewhat bigger and stronger than the rest of their bretherens. The lieutenants, perhaps, or at least the veterans. Who knows how many hearts they've consumed? They open their fanged mouths, and out pours a barrage of grapeshot, to rip and tear and maim the flesh that keeps them from their prey's Hearts.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' Jafar feels a certain level of resentment toward Palom's power; the vizier worked so hard for his power, whereas Palom is likely a natural talent of some kind. At least the young boy seems fairly distractible; he is free of Palom's interference for the moment. Faruja seems more intent on aiding his friends (and practicing his public speaking skills) which Jafar has no objection to given how many foes he's having to deal with at once, but he can't resist a taunt. "Had enough, rrrat?" His 'r' rolls deliciously. "Hoping to go back to fighting pirates? I suppose that is what your parents raised you to do: scavenge from the bilge." He has more witticisms for Faruja, but they are cut short as Maira rockets through a ball of superheated air. Jafar brings up his staff in a horizontal, two-handed grip, blocking the impact with a disk of magical power, but it still bowls him over, sending him right through one of the intact pillars of his palanquin, the wood splintering noisily as he is driven along the ground. A low, gurgling growl rises in the sinister man's throat as he throws his cloak to the side, rising battered, with cape smoking from Maira's flame... only to face Angantyr falling at terminal velocity, mace at the ready. The vizier throws all of his power into forming a thick, powerful disk of sand-magic to shield himself, but the mace smashes it like a hammer through a glass window, barely seeming to slow as it rips across Jafar's jaw. His defensive field keeps his head from being ripped clear off, but it doesn't prevent a loose rope of dark blood from being hurled from his lips. A swipe of infernal claws opens Jafar's side, and as he staggers, bloody blades rip from the ground itself. He shatters a few with a hurried swipe of his staff, but others gouge his thighs and side, and he staggers back in a loose, dazed posture. "Jafar! Take 'em out, boss!" Iago squawks, before Navya drags him back into their vicious duel. "Miserable wretches!" Jafar wheezes. "Rats and children should stay out of this!" Dozens of gleaming scimitars slice down from thin air all around Palom and Faruja; they form a close circle around both, close enough that they may well draw blood, but their main goal is restraint. "And you!" Jafar fixes his bloodshot eyes on Maira. "You need to cool off!" Jafar's jaw drops low with the last word, and he vomits forth a stream of glistening blue frost, which blasts out like the venom of a spitting viper, dense and powerful. Finally, he turns to Angantyr. "As for you, boy... you! Will! BOW!" Jafar slams his staff down with both hands, its butt striking the ground, creating a cylindrical indent where it penetrates the dirt. Instantly, the ground around Angantyr is pounded into the same cylindrical indent, only much larger; it is as if a staff the size of a building was slammed into that point, and the resulting shock ripples across the entire park, shaking many civilians off their feet. Imagine how it feels at the center.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith glanced toward Kaydin. "You asked me something earlier. Why I'm here, why I chose to fight." Aerith smiled. "I'm not even going to try asking you the same thing, because I already know the answer. These people trying to escape... they don't have anything to do with this." She turned her attention back to the battle at hand. "They're trying to escape, get somewhere they won't have to suffer. And I've taken it upon myself to see they get to that portal behind us." Flower girl strode forward as she took out one of her flasks and drank it, tossing it to the ground in front of her and crushing the glass beneath her shoes. "Besides... my friends are here." She sees the grapeshot coming, trusts in her barriers... and lets it hit her. The explosion is deafening as she gets knocked into the air, the blue sphere shimmering bright. One of them launches up to meet her... only to get a facefull of ice, only for that frozen face to get blasted apart by fire.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Urgh!" This was becoming crazy! He couldn't get a move in edgewise with all the action going on around him. Hook's barrage of bullets strike all around Luso, striking him at various points. "Gah...!" Panting heavily, Luso went down to one knee, glaring up at Hook's ship. The captain was too out of range to bother trying to retaliate. Rather, he was going to focus his attention on a different target. CHIEF's entrance was noticed by the hunter, and he mentally groaned. But there was no time to despair! Even if he was going to go down, he would make a valiant effort! Rising back up to his feet, Luso reached behind himself, drawing Flametongue and pointing it outwards towards the heartless remaining. "Let's go!" And then he broke out into a dash, wielding flametongue and lashing out in a flurry of strikes. "Hiya!"

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin evades more and more of the heartless some more and listens to Aerith in time to watch her go flying. He unravels the chains and hurls the sword at more of the wyvern. "I am here because I gained my power to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I sold my soul for power to protect people, I wont use it to hurt those people I wish to protect." He says as he pulls the sword back and hurls it again. "I think though I will be needing a new place to stay now." He calls out.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' Water. That is what Xanatos sees, and given the NBC nature of his Power Armor, he is also currently drowning. He falls through the hole in the ship and can only think to himself, 'I really need to learn magic.' as he tumbles toward the ground he fires his thrusters and stops actually trying to breathe. Which is in and of itself a special hell. He lands safely on the ground and then rips the helmet off. Water sprays as the seals are broken in the armor and he takes a deep gasping breath falling on all fours. He brings two fingers to his ear again and calls out: "Hades! You're up! Sink him!" On those words, the battleship that had been there since the beginning unleashed it's special version of hell on Captain Hook's ship. Turrets rotate and missiles and cannons begin to hammer at Hook, Heartless and the man's ship all at once. That deafening thunder hammers through the air, the air that people breathe literally vibrates form the concussion of those weapons firing and their impending impacts. While the Hades begins to hammer, Persephone begins to bring itself into position for a follow up attack. For his part Xanatos, his fingers still to his ear, says calmly, "All team leaders, this is Number One. Give me a status report." He looks up to Hooks ship and narrows his eyes.

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin evades more and more of the heartless some more and listens to Aerith in time to watch her go flying. He unravels the chains and hurls the sword at more of the wyvern. "I am here because I gained my power to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I sold my soul for power to protect people, I wont use it to hurt those people I wish to protect." He says as he pulls the sword back and hurls it again. "I think though I will be needing a new place to stay now." He calls out.

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' The people need them. All of them need the heroes. This is something that his father would like to see: People banding together. Yet, beyond the ground, he can hear a distinct voice callin out towards hem. It is that familiar zeal. It is a very comforting voice that speaks to them all. It is that same voice that has been their stalwart protector. Faruja. The Shard Seeker's sentry and avenger. However, Reize, channeling the spell, is now calling forth its power. As that glowing start swirls aroun him, Reize can feel the powerfuls spell grow. !!!! The portal ripples open, tering the boy off from under his feet and he strts descending towards the ground. However, as the Wyvern is moving towards the boy to take him out from the sky, well.... Reize is already aiming to plant both feet against the creature's face as he starts off towards the air. He is using the monster as leverage to take him up into the sky and back into the ship. "I am Reize Seatlan, leader of the Shard Seekers. Our purpose is to find the worlds that are missin because of you all." And then, the tarot resonates with a brighter glow, "However, in that respect, our other purpose is to PREVENT other worlds from becoming like the missing one from the likes of you!" Sometimes, it is the star that burn the brightest. Reize tosses the tarot into the air, letting the essence spin around before it bursts into fragments. Three balls of fire swirl around him, then they converge into one massive fireball. "Flickering flame.... burn!" "FIREBALL!" And that flaming ball soon erupts towards the good Captain. If that is not enough, Reize is dashing straight towards his direction, boomerangs drawn and he dashes past him to start swinging the weapons his way. If that isn't all, Reize spins around and he spins with like a top. A spinning roundhouse kick and a hook kick from mid-air is seeking to strike the Captain down.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart sees that the wyverns are almost gone now, and she's pretty glad about it too, although what's left are mounting quite the offense, not wanting to go down without a fight. She's thrown up in the air again... this is happening a bit too often really. She grrs, flipping around, and then landing up on top of a nearby branch. She she might as well clean up what's left of the heartless here. The others seems to have things under control at least. She swoops back down to the ground, sending up uppercuts to the flying menace "Go back from where you come from!"

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' Sarafina doesn't really mean to scarify the Smee he just seems to naturally be drawn to her weapon. OF course, she must admit, he must be rather skilled for he keeps just /barely/ avoiding her strikes. What marvelous movements! What horrible smells! She needs a moment to take another breather, at which point, a portal appears underneath her. "Ha?!" She says. Then she falls inside. "Ugh!!" He is then sent through the portal, and then is flung towards Xanatos! She smacks into him but she, at least, takes the brunt of it--her chainsaw, thankfully, doesn't hit the dude. She shakes her head dizzily and then drops down, her eyes narrowing sharply as she drops down for the ship again. --Intending to smack it across the broadside with enough force from the chainsaw that it knocks it partially out of the water--and her follow through-- --is a pure whirlwind that appears around her, spinning with the chainsaw as the winds that surround her expand outward in a vicious eruption of slicing force!

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Faruja turns his head, that familiar light of Reize's crystal shining. They're all here, fighting, and in some cases dying. Faruja turns to the man who enters, and bold speaks. The Burmecian spits on the ground. "Another for the pyre." Reinforcements. Yet, victory is in their grasp. The Burmecian is assaulted by gleaming scimitars, fending off most with his spear in deft stabs, parries, and spins that leave a white after-trail. Still, one sinks into the chest, causing him to cough up blood. His companions aren't faring much better. Motioning to the boy, the rat barks. "Protect the child!" And so, the squires move to Palom's defense. Maira is off like a rocket. The Burmecian's ear perks, hearing the Vizier's words as he swats away a rending scimitar aimed for the head with his gauntlet. For all the distance between the pair, for the rat, it may as well have been a few inches. "..." Silence. The glare he gives Jafar is one of absolute hatred. Body stiff, he makes only the most minimal of movements to deflect them. For this brief moment, as he pours hatred in Jafar's direction, the world contains but him and the man who just insulted his fallen parents. One of the Squires, an older blonde human, turns to her superior. "S...Sir?" She'd seen that look before. Faruja glances back, eye burning with rage. "...Protect the young man with your lives. If I find him dead, then you shall know my wrath." A few incantations, and swirling white light surrounds the Burmecian. "Warp." Even as light radiates from the ratling, he's sucked in, vanishing from the bladed restraints put upon him. That vortex of energy reappears, inches in front of Jafar, and the rat fades into existance. His voice, usually so fiery, is nothing but cold malice. "My name is Faruja Senra of Burmecia. Temple Knight of the Holy Church of Saint Ajora Glabados. My parents were wyvern farmers. We lived humbly, simply, and with honor. Until humans came. You greedy, debauched, honorless humans. These humans took away everyone I ever knew and loved." He pauses, glancing back to the rocketing form of Maira. He smiles. "Call me what you wish. Call me weak, a rat, vermin...anything at all. Please." "My parents, however, ARE NOT YOURS TO INSULT YOU FARAM DAMNED HERETIC!" Faruja ends his words with a simple thrust. In that single thrust, all of the anger, the pain, the rage the hatred he's harbored for the humans who hurt his people explodes in pure burning Holy energy. Uncontrolled, undisciplined, its an act of desperation and hate. Jafar just /had/ to go and make it personal.

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva is still aware of Lusp fighitng and noe she realises why she just went so all out upon the Heartless the other monk apprently was also a mage of some skill and she's quite thankful. She'll have to thank Tifa if they both surive this fight. She beging to focus but something doens't feel right even as holy energy charges into her fist. Her hand is burning with holy magic and it's loud roar tells her to grasp victory against the darkness. She launches into a rampage against the heartless, massive shockwaves go everywhere as she just unleashes all of the force of her power upon the creatures of the night. She's breathing raggedly as she finished up the lighting attacks, she'd moved like she was water flowing about, over and through the enemy but then she stops in her tracks she can somewhat call upon the darkness and control it to a limited extend she feels something something so terrible waking up under the very ground. Something that feels more horrofic than the heartless has come an the bold monk just freezes as she says. "It's coming..."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' The force of the staff comes down at Angantyr. His mace, however, instinctively swings upwards. Dark power channeling through the mace as he takes the blunt of the magical assault head on. The forces collide for what seems like an eternity, the ground shakes, as it breaks and bends...it splits and shatters...but Angantyr stays on his feet, and eventually his right hand punches upwards, the same darkness channeling through it, to corrupt the spell... Before the force of the spell fianlly SHATTERS on Angantyr's defense. The Dark knight shakes for a moment...it wasn't easily done, but he had done so, the physical effects on his body was mostly exhaustion from trying to do such a stupid move. He grunts...and then looks towards Jafar. "No." he says, defiantly, as he unleashes a wave of dark flame from his hand, aiming to consume Jafar in the dark burning cold flame, before he dives in, Aiming to smash the mace downwards once more... And swings the mace upwards, a hungry maul of teeth rises from the earth, aiming to consume the would be sultan. "DIE!"

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira slams into the barrier Jafar erects to protect himself, but the force of her blow carries through none the less. Maira lands on her feet and stands straight, her presence...changing. While she does not actually grow, somehow, she seems taller. Her aura whirls with the bright light of her Heart, swirling together with a darkness from the ghostly presence that protects her. She screams as the blast of cold is turned toward her, though it does not completely defeat her flame. Much of the ice turns rapidly to steam as the fires around her heat up to blazing. It seems to be time to let it all loose. She doesn't have much left. But she has enough for this. Maira opens her mouth, letting out an operatic yell as wings of flame form upon her back, her form blurred by the bloody, glowing mist that is currently Uist--the two juxtaposed, light and dark, heat and cold. Maira slings a large and very nasty fireball at Jafar. It is a choking heat, stinging with rage, blossoming like a deadly flower that lights up the night. Then, the misty form that is Uist detaches from Maira, rushing Jafar, his ethereal mouth posed to emit a fearsome battle-cry as he seeks to plunge straight through Jafar, passing through skin and flesh, through bone and marrow....passing through the darkness of his heart and ripping some of his life out as Uist comes out the other side, before returning to Maira--transferring that life to her.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Scimitars appear and slash at Palom! He runs around in circles trying to dodge them, but again and again they cut into him, tearing up his robes but fortunately not cutting too deep. Still, Palom cries out in pain -- that really stings! After the scimitars are done, Palom rises, his robes soaked with blood around the wounds. "You..." The boy stands tall and glares at Jafar. "You want _so badly_ to _hurt_ these people... to take their home! Why?! Why does it matter to you?!" The boy shouts, tears of anger and pain welling up in his eyes. "If all you want is hurt and pain and darkness..." Darkness begins to well around the young boy. "Then THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET!" The boy screams, and holds his staff in both hands before him. Reaper, show this monster what awaits him! The darkness around Palom dissipates, and a shadowy figure with a scythe appears momentarily over Jafar -- chilling him and trying to drain away his life before fading, to make him feel weak and old -- and then magical energy continues to bleed out of the young mage and gather in his staff as he focuses it. "As long as you use your power for evil and darkness... people like me will stop you!" He steps forward and levels the staff to point at Jafar. Inscribe the power of destruction into decaying matter! The ultimate spell of Mysidian Black Magic... FLARE! And then there's a brief sense of things falling apart, as Palom's magic tries to rip matter apart and release that energy in a mighty explosion around Jafar! (Fortunately, magic just plain ignores the rules of nuclear physics, so this explosion is much more localized and doesn't irradiate everyone around)

:'''[[Ursula]] has posed:''' First Persephone; now, Hades may not be a planet anymore, but it's definitely a battleship. Its broadside on the pirate ship is devastatingly effective, as is Sarafina's, if not broadside, chainsawside. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT! The bottom /falls out/ of the ship, pretty much literally cleaved in twain. Oddly, it doesn't fall like splinting pieces of wood, but rather is rapidly disintigrating into little bricks, kind of like LEGOs, for the Manhattan-literate. By the time it's reached the ground, there's nothing left of it but little puffs of Darkness. Good thing, too, because the fight down there is /fierce/. Minerva's holy shockwaves mix with Aerith's fire and ice with concussive effect, scattering Heartless left and right! Luso and Kaydin fight practically back-to-back, their swords hurled and swung, clearing a path for those subway-arrived civilians, who vanish through the portal gratefully. Tifa uppercuts the very last lieutenant, and then, finally, things fall /silent/ down there. Well, except for the screaming, crying citizens of Manhattan, but at least they're marginally safer right now. Several thousand more make a break for the portal, pouring across Central Park in waves. Up in the air, Reize's fireball -- as enhanced, dramatically, by Lily -- consumes Captain Hook in roaring flame. The boy's kick cracks loudly against the pirate's fabulous schnozz; he may well have broken it. "AH WON FUGET DIS!" Hook screams furiously. However, as he falls through the air, with the rest of his crew, they also disappear, each falling into their own individual portal, which quickly wink out of existence. Is it over?

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith landed, her defenses shining for a few more moments as she watched the pirate ship, heartless, and even that man named Jafar get blown to pieces. Her eyes closed as she sighed, relieved that it was... momentarily over. She was nowhere near relaxed. In fact, she kept her senses tuned even as she healed herself. Aerith opened her eyes and immediately sought out Tifa. They needed to regroup, big time.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart had just finished cleaning up some of the last wyvern, so she's seen jogging back to the portal "Phew, looks like we did it. At least the portal got protected." She has no idea what's going on behind the scenes though, for her its mission accomplished.

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF watches as the heroes wreck the stuff out of the group LEXUS wanted him to aid. He actually stops in his walk, moves the cigar to one side of his mouth to the other before canting his head to the side. In this programs mind, users being crushed by users made his life ever so much easier. After all, he didn't /have/ to really raise a finger to high to help and since things seems to go the other way now, CHIEF just decided to rest the pulse rifle on his shoulder, take a puff of his cigar and see just what would happen next. If he had to move in to attack; he would without hesitation, but really... He was in no rush. Nope. No rush at all. At least he can enjoy the fireworks and pirates falling into portals. "Oh well, I guess this makes my job easier. I wonder if I can find a shop around here with grenades or some such.."

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' There was a degree of satisfaction as Reize had done his damage towards the Captain. The ship itself seems to be breing down, crashing onto the surface. Reize is already reaching for Lily to carry her into his arms. He looks up at the Captain as he flies off, glaring, "Good!" Tag Captain Hook on the list of folks Reize has earned a grudge against. ...Let's hope that the Wild Saurian, Captain Hook, and Goug Zolom do not tag-team on the boy. Nevertheless, as the descending ship comes, Reize leans forward to scoop Lily into his arms into a princess carry, "Let's go!" And he leaps off, bringing his way to land on the ground with his girlfriend. 

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso's attacks cleaved into the remaining heartless with a satisfying squealch, downing it for good. "...Oh man! I did it? Hah! I did it!" Leaping back from the range of attack, Luso found himself back to back with Kaydin, panting heavily and looking about to survey their battle situation. It wasn't good. Not by a long shot. But even then, he grinned confidently and held Flametongue at the ready. "So, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding. You ready for some action?" The boy asked, not looking at Kaydin and keeping his eyes on the scattered forces and CHIEF. A chuckle is then given and he speaks again. "How many did you get? I bet I got twice as many as you did!"

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' Taking a deep breathe, Xanatos nods and listens to the radio chatter going on around him. But that isn't enough for him. He hits his thrusters and leaps/flies to the nearest rooftop to get a look at this, his city. His armor is battered and he is sopping wet, and he is clearly determined. Changing frequencies he speaks, alone on this rooftop listening to the battles being waged in the city, he looks out in every direction. Everything is going as he planned, but this was still his home. He takes a depe breathe once more and speaks softly. "Owen. This is Xanatos. Are they safe?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' Jafar is smirking confidently, as he watches Angantyr struggle against his unstoppable power. Mere muscle, braced by mists and shadow, cannot compare to Jafar's sheer elemental might. His eyes widen, however, as his arcane force begns to crackle, then is diverted, hammering a second cylinder overlapping the first, a Venn diagram where both halves are labeled "Failure" and the overlap is "Shame." "No... impossible!" Jafar protests, and his dismay distracts him. He hurls up another barrier for Angantyr to shatter; this one holds up much better, taking a few blows before Jafar's body takes the last, inflating his cheeks with violently expelled breath. One moment, Faruja is trapped behind a wall of swords, the next, he is stepping through the air itself, fur and steel alike glinting with holy power. Jafar turns to face him, but the spear punctures his side before he can even open his mouth. His knees lose strength as he gazes, speechless with rage, at the Burmecian's face. Has he learned a lesson about taunting Faruja's family? Probably not. Maira's screech is accompanied by the howl of heat-disrupted air as her fireball smashes into Jafar, probably forcing Angantyr back. It looks, for a moment, as if he has been burnt to ashes, but then his black cape is thrown aside from its shielding position, and he fires a burst of force straight through the approaching Uist. It does nothing to slow the creature--he can hurt intangible beings, but only if he uses the right method--and it rips through Jafar's lanky frame, dragging life energy with it as he exhales a gout of smoke. Apparently he absorbed much of the flame to save his life... and he doesn't handle it nearly as well as Maira. He drops to one knee. Then Palom, to put it simply, causes everything around the Sultan to explode. The ground is destroyed, the air consumed, and Jafar's greatly weakened defenses are battered about along with his body. He looks exhausted, burned, bloody, and most of all, offended. Iago has many talents, but discretion is one of his finest. Having disengaged from his draconic foe, he lands on Jafar's shoulder expectantly. Jafar raises his hand, even that motion costing his pummeled frame, and tosses a vial of pink dust at his feet, where it combusts into a massive and choking cloud of smoke, with arabesque curls and patterns. When it disperses, he is, of course, gone.

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin hurls his sword at a group of heartless, the sword running them through before he pulls the chain back and it rewraps about his arm and he readies his sword. "I guess I can stop playing around if you are going to give it a serious effort." He says calmly, he was breathing hard about the same as Luso but he kept the calm expression on his face. "I will take you up on that bet. Shame you are already losing." He says, not turning his head and keeping an eye on the remaining forces.

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' The battle--is it winding down? Is it over? Sarafina rubs at her eyes. This has been the roughest fight she's ever been in, she thinks, and she's been in many rough fights. And for a pirate ship, this was seriously packing heat! However 'comical' their actions may have been, well, just because something is comical doesn't mean it's not dangerous. She almost, in fact, misses it. But she has also seen plenty of ships fall apart before in her life. And the way this ship is falling apart is not like anything she has ever seen before. In fact, it makes her wonder, why did they get this ship to manhattan in the first place. She even asked about it before, if she could get her airship through the portal--and no, it's stuck in the World of Ruin. And this ship should have been stuck in the world it had come from too. She knows of LEGOS by this point in time, having been in Manhattan long enough. She drops down and snags a few pieces with her hands--carefully so as to not break them further. This battle, whether it's won or lost, for battles in the future, this may be a vital clue to bring the fight back to the Shadow Lords. She flits away--too tired and broken to keep fighting, but she can evacuate with her family, make sure MAira is okay. The TDA? She'll just have to have faith in them.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith blinked for a moment as the woman with the chainsaw flew off, her eyes narrowed as she tried to track her retreat from the field. Just as well, she'd ask who that was later. "Tifa, find Maira. See if she's okay."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart nods to Aerith "Alright." She doesn't know what's coming up, she won't argue with Aerith's judgment either, there's too much going on after all, and Aerith is more perceptive thans he is. She runs off, looking around among what's left of the people. At least most of the citizens managed to evacuate safely.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "What? You were playing around? Heh! I then I guess I have to get serious too!" Luso spoke good naturedly, despite his fatigue. He sheathed Flametongue and then drew the Kwigon Blade and Kotetsu, dual wielding them together. "And hey! I'm just...I was going easy on them, yeah!" Lifting the hand that was carrying Kotetsu, Luso rubbed the underside of his nose with his index finger, continuing to grin. "I'll blow past your score before you know it!" At that point, he had noticed Reize and Lily landing and waved over to them. "Hey! Thanks for the lift earlier! That was an epic move actually!" Lowering his swords back into ready stance, he then asked the other boy. "Where can I get me one of those things, huh?"

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Palom grins as he watches his power unleash upon Jafar. THAT'll teach that big meanie! Once Jafar has flead the field, Palom walks up to Maira since she's the closest (sort of) familiar face. "Do you fight these guys all the time? Is this world safe now?"

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' "Something as powerful as what he did probably means it is one of a kind. Though I wont argue if more can be gotten." Kaydin says as he keeps his sword ready as he gazes about. "It isnt over. Orders were to shut the portals at all cost so this is probably just the calm before the storm. More will be coming soon." He says as he looks about. "Find what healers we can and get those injured battle ready again. It may be best though for those who are severely injured to get out of here with the rest of the refugees." He says to those who can hear him.

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva has just snapped out of her stunned horror and no is looking to see who still stands she's alive a bit battered but she can keep fighting. Well battered compaired to everyone else now. She's trying to gather up with the others. "LUSO!?? Where did you get to." Tifa is spotted while she's searching. "Thank you, your aid was well placed. Still I not seen many monks with some skill at Magics."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira is....well, okay is stretching it. She's alive. She will need a good bit of time to recover from this ordeal once the adrenaline has left her and exhausted and the full extent of her wounds set in. She has been riding the tide of her power, but as Jafar disappears, defeated by their combined efforts, Maira's burning focus is beginning to ebb. Uist has used a great deal of the energy available to him, as well as a large amount of Maira's. Funny, she is never really sure who takes power from who. The flames subside, seemingly absorbed back into Maira's body. Of course, this means she has ruined yet another outfit. The tatters of Faruja's bowered robes hang from her form. She stumbles, looking toward Palom. "Have to keep the portal open....so many people...I...." and then she stumbles again, swooning.

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' Once the Boy with the Long Yellow Scarf lands, he would set Lily down, but she seems very comfortable around him. So, he keeps holding onto her with a sigh. However, it is a sigh in good spirits as he keeps a smile on his face. Truth be told, Reize is in pretty bad shap as well. However, he is glad that everyone manged to pull through. When the boy address them, Reize waves at his direction. A grin widens, "Oooi! Thanks!" Then, he starts waling up to the other boy, "Uhh, I can ask Skoll to craft one for you. I am sure I can make some deals with him in order to get one crafted!" He extends a hand towards the other teenager's way, "I'm Reize Seatlan! Pleasure to meet you!" He looks over to the resting girl, "This is Lily." And a familiar face arrives in his sights, "Oooi! Tifa!"

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' The fact that Jafar spoke not a word upon his royal arsekicking handed to him by the team of rat, dark knight, boy genius, and fire lady does much to life the rat's spirits. Feeling his blade stab into flesh? Even better. As Jafar makes his break away, the ratling lifts up the tip, licking the blood away. He's sure to let Jafar see it. Then, as the man fades away in smoke, the rat spits it out. "Fah. Disgusting. 'Tis the taste of snake upon it." Thankfully, the rat's rage quelled, he turns to his allies. Particularly, Maira. He rushes over to her. "My dear friend, I do not know what that was, but it was far too effective for your own health. Allow me see to your injuries." COMMENCE HEALZ. Also bandages. And gentle rubs to her whiskey colored hair. Someone's /worried/. The Squires too are at work, kneeling over their dead. Prayers, and crossings are given as they show their respect to those who lost their lives to defend this place. Faruja's ear perks as he listens to the radio. Hope, so high, slowly dims a touch. His jaw sets. Turning to Maira, he shakes his head. "We...must...damnit." He reaches forward, catching the woman as she swoons, tending to her and throwing his own robes over her body. "I know not what goes on below, my friend. But I shall see you to safety. And I shall guard this place with my life, on my honor as a Temple Knight of the Church. And as a nezumi." He turns to Palom. "Young Master Mage. Excellent work. Forgive me, but it seems these dark times are yet to continue. Shall you continue to lend us your aide in defending the people here?"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr watches as the Wizzard went down... Don't leave wounded deer, as he moves to land the finishing blow. However Jafar was smart, he knew magic, and knew that the best way to tick your enemies off is to always be prepared. Poof! And now Jafar was gone, pink mist causing Angantyr to cover his face and move away, cursing slightly that he could not finish the job. However, he was at his limit. He falls to a knee, mace falling on the ground as he doubles over in exhaustion. He needs a break, and a cure...and a hot bath with a beautiful woman. In that order.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' Is it over? At first, things seem that way -- screams start transforming into cheers, to some extent. Thousands of citizens make their way through the portal in a far more orderly fashion; whatever else anyone can say about today, this group has, without a doubt, saved many, many, many lives. But then the laughter starts. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It's female. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It's low, husky. Then high and grating; lady's got /range/. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" It will not stop. The skies above are suddenly revealed, stars revealing themselves one by one as that dark storm condenses into a single point, right where the apex of the Empire State Building used to be...

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' The darkness rises. Aerith glanced up toward where the tallest point in the city used to be, her eyes wide with shock... but not surprise. This was stronger than anything she'd ever sensed, and as the storm brewed, she twirled her staff into a fighting pose. "Here they come again!" she shouted. "Ready your weapons!"

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin coulda sworn he said something about them not finished attacking yet and low and behold, there was a evil voice in the air. He readies his sword as he watches the storm cloud. "My suggestion about healing the injured and the extremely injured retreating? I think people better get to it."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart waves to Reize, but that's just in time for the darkness to rise up.. "Uh oh..." She motions to Reize and the others nearby "Let's regroup together, we're going to need to work together more than ever now." She doesn't like the looks of this now. She wants to go back to Aerith as soon as she can.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Palom looks a bit confused at Maira. "Are you alright?" Imagine, channeling some kind of Dark Firaga being enough to make you collapse! Fortunately, Faruja catches her so Palom doesn't have to try to. He looks up at the strange rat-man, and nods. "Of course. What kind of future Sage would abandon them?" He looks around at the civilians hurrying into the portal. "How many people even _live_ in this city? How did they all _fit_? Is it... some sort of magic, that makes buildings bigger on the inside?" The young boy looks around at the laughter. "Who's that?!" He looks up at the strange sky, eyes following the dark storm. "Is something coming?" He clutches his staff in both hands, watching. Waiting.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Oh man, you could do that?" Luso asked, stabbing both of his swords into the ground and free up his hands. "I've got the gil if this Skoll fellow needs payment though! The Clan's treasury is pretty big after all!" He spoke with a bit of a proud air to it, grinning happily. Upon hearing the introduction, the boy reached out and took Reize's hand in a firm handshake. "The name's Luso! Luso Clemens, Proxy Leader of Clan Gully! Nice to meet you, Reize." Afterwards, the hunter heard Minerva's voice and looked off in her direction. "Heeeey! Over here, Minerva!" He called out, waving to get her attention. And then came that grating laughter. "What the--? Who is that!?" Luso demanding looking off in the direction that the Empire State Building /used/ to be. ..It only reminded him of his failure against LEXUS.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Faruja's ears fold back. Laughter. That /laughter/. It's possibly the worst thing he has ever heard in is life. For a rat with such long and sensitive ear, it's like nails scrabbling at a chalkboard. Turning about, lifting up Maira in his arms, the Burmecian glares out at that Darkness coalescing. Temple Knight Faruja Senra has had quite enough. "LORD IN HEAVEN, YOU DAMNED HERETICS ARE NOT ONLY OUTRIGHT EVIL, BLASPHEMOUS, AND MURDEROUS, BUT YOUR VOICES SCRATCH AND CLaW UPON THE SOUL! WILL YOU SHUT UP WENCH!?!" For such a tiny rat, the Burmecian's voice carries. He hopes Faruja nods to the Sage-To-Be. "Sage, is it? How rare. You shall do this 'Mysidia' proud no doubt." For once, there's no sarcasm. The boy may be arrogant, but he's powerful, and has the rat's respect. "Yes. Come. Let us get the injured out of here. Then, we sell our lives dearly. Come! Know you a warp spell?" Faruja doesn't wait for an answer. He simply calls upon white magic, and warps himself and his unconscious charge closer to the portal, beside his Squires. The rat raises his voice again. "Lady Gainsborough, Lily, Lady Lockhart, Ser Seatlan! Come! Together we must stand, my friends! 'Tis not yet done."

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' And... that laughter occurs. Reize offers a frown, turning his head towards the direction of the Empire State Building. That laughter drives a shudder from the boy. Not only that, the stars are revealing themselves as the darkness condenses into a single point. He clutches onto Lily, looking over his girlfriend. "...Lily, let's get ready to stand..." Reize is approaching Faruja, "Let's do this." 

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Slowly, Angantyr stands up. The laughter tells him that the woman fate has chosen is less beautiful, and more raging bitch. "Oh no, I couldn't just get a nice young pretty thing..." he says, and then looks at Faruja. "YEAH! WHAT THE RAT SAID!" he shouts at Maleficent. "Seriously though, you could have just shortened that to shut the *goosehonk* up." he quips to Faruja. "So. What are our chances?" he banters to him.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' David Xanatos's eyes go wide for the briefest of moments before he clears his throat and collects himself. With a hanged head he says softly, "No Owen. It wasn't your fault. It was mine." He sighs and then closes the frequency. He re-opens aohters though. Despite the news he recieved, he had a job to do. So he looked out over the city and began to organize troop moevements.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' A glance to the Dark Knight. "...Perhaps. But I find verbosity drives the point home oh so much better." A pause. Sigh. "Frankly? Pitiful. Mercenary, you have fought well. Nay, Ser. We shall need that 'power' of yours once more, I do believe."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith glanced at Faruja. Oh, for the love of... he'd have to sit there and take it for now, because his whole world would come crashing down if she told him that Kaydin had effectively defected. His words weren't lost on her, and she'd promised he'd always have a place with her and Tifa. Even if Pixi disagreed some. For the moment, she jogged over toward Faruja and nodded before pointing her staff in the direction of the ominous clouds, her stance firm and confident... despite the overarching fatigue she could sense from /everyone/. Oh yes... time to dig in.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "Don't call it that. Call it what it is. Darkness. I use darkness. Hell, I am darkness." Angantyr shrugs. "So that's a thing. It's been apart of me sense I was born." How much longer, he wondered...how much? The mace comes down, ready to be used once more. "Well, if we are going to go down...lets go down slaughtering as many heartless as possible...for all the good that it'll do."

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Before the boy can respond, Faruja teleports away with Maira. Palom casts Warp, and follows!

:'''[[Sarafina Carenze]] has posed:''' Sarafina Carenze lands near Palom and Maira. "We're running out of time! We have to get out of here!" She says because that's her role in life, saying the things that nobody wants to hear. The dark storm--is just another sign of things getting way out of hand. "But the evacuations..." Dion says. "We're out of time." Sarafina says. "Judging from what I'm hearing on the radio, we're /not/ winning that fight over the Heart. Homes can be remade and reclaimed, lives cannot. We're lucky to have managed to get as many people as we have."

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' "Get out of here. Everyone." Kaydin says as he walks ahead towards where the laughter is, gripping his sword tighter. "Everyone get out of here now! She will kill you all if you do not flee!" He bellows as he remains between the people and where Maleficient's voice is heard. One lone Dark Knight against all the shadow lords. Yes he is probably that dumb.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Before the boy can respond, Faruja teleports away with Maira. Palom never learned that spell, what with his focus on exploding people -- so he runs after them as fast as his little legs will carry him!

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith's eyes narrowed. "You really are asking for it..." She walked forward, right next to him. "If you're going to try and hold them all off by yourself, you need someone to support you, you idiot." It'd be the first time she'd called him that. "It's a noble thing, but... you need to show restraint."

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva stops cold at the laugh she looking aroudn somthing else is coming. They managed to deny the darkness some of the people of this world. She takes adeep breath and focuses. "It seems our fight is not yet done. Ser knight I stand with you." In another time, in another life they might have been enemies. In this life they are allies. She moves to help one police officer up and get him moveing. "Come, you done your part." She's ready to fight however but it may be time to flee.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' The spark of violet energy just hangs there, in the air, pulsing ominously. Gale-force winds begin gusting down the streets of Manhattan, no actual storm required, sending debris into the air. Some of it is quite deadly.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "That isn't nobility. That is stupidity." Angantyr says, and turns away. "I am not leaving yet, but I am not fighting a battle that we can't win. We are going to get out who we can, and that's all we can. Doing anything more than that is arrogance." he says, to the people assembled. "Lets go."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart doesn't know what's going on, and she hasn't found Maira either, but she found Reize and Lily at least, so she brings them back to Aerith, if they should follow at least "I don't know where everyone else is, but I don't want to get too far away from the portal right now...

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF has gone somewhere. Where ever he is gone is no longer known. So whatever threat comes forth, CHIEF may or may not get to witness it. Though most likely, he has pulled up a lounge chair, with a drink of some kind, and is watching the show from a distance. There may be Chips also involved. The ones with the waves and have a cheesy taste.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith nodded. "We'll have to do something about anything that comes our way then." No matter what it might be... But she still considered herself Kaydin's friend. "Look, as arrogant as he is, your fellow knight has a point. We're not going to get anywhere like this... and if we leave here, even one of us, this park is theirs."

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' "Yes. Yes, I understand the distinction now. What you speak of as Darkness is often referred to 'Abyssal' within the Church. Do remember that." Perk. Wait. A voice...is that...? Kaydin. The Dark Knight. From Baron. Fighting alongside them? For one long, long second Faruja finally registers the man's presence. Turning, he just /stares/, jaw dropping. Thankfully, there are Squires about to take both the dead bodies and poor Maira. Faruja finally snaps out of it, saluting them. "...Take Brother Holgresh and Maira home. Nay. /Templar/ Holgresh. Remember him, for his single life has saved more lives than can be counted this day. A true martyr. When the Lord takes us, may we all die so honorably." Reaching into his robes, he pulls out a tiny silver cross, pressing it to the fallen Squire-now-Templar's chest. "Leave. All of you. That is an order." Poor Palom! He'd have warped the boy with him if he knew. Now free of dead friends and unconscious friends, he offers them all a wave. "And send the Lady Inquisitor my apologies for missing tomorrow's poker night." Warp! With a swirly vortex of white light, he's right beside Kaydin. The Dark Knight gets a glare. "...Betray us, Knight of Baron, and I shall rip your throat open with my teeth. Otherwise...perhaps there is hope for you yet. Die well."

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' "...." Reize looks up towards Lily, hearing her whimpering. He sighs, then he looks up towards the sky. "..Yeah. There is no rest for the weary. Not this time. We have a lot more ahead of us, it seems." He frowns. And then Kaydin shows up. Reize's eyes become intense. The boy fully keeps an eye on the man for a moment. But soon, the boy shakes his head. This guy... Nevertheless, all what he says.. "Thanks for your help." Then, the boy looks over towards Faruja and the others, still watching everyone evacuate. While Reize leads Lily ahead, Reize cannot help but look at the ominous sky. "...I don't like this." He looks back towards Faruja, "..." Reize is under a difficult choice. The place is likely to be consumed by the Heartless. However, this is their stand against it. They have to keep them from destroying it. They have to. 

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' David Xanatosstays where is atop his building looking toward that light, and the sound of laughter. He narrows his eyes but his typing commands into the console built into the arm of his power armor. Steel Clan, what is left of them, swoop in and begin grabbing the farthest people on the safe avenue of approacha nd rocketing to the portal. Then after depositing them, taking off to grab yet more people. "I'm sorry." David Xanatos says softly to himself. He looks over at the commotion caused by Aerith and Kaydin and narrows his eyes some more. He's half tempted to shoot the Black Knight. He was part of the reason the defenses failed the other night. Maybe they would have won this farce if he hand't been there. Maybe for that alone he deserved to die. But for now, he could use him. Leaping from the building he lands in front of the Black Knight, his pony tail snapping in the breeze and just STARES with those eyes, eyes have likely sized the man up, and torn apart all of his weaknesses. He ignores everyone there as he speaks evenly. "Stay." He says the one word like a death sentence. "Stay and slow it down. And if you /survive/ choose your side. I had too." He makes a fist and electricty crackles along the talons. "I chose, and I stayed though I could have gone /anywhere/. Now it is YOUR turn. Stay. But then choose. May god help you though if you /ever/ stand in my way again." He then walks past Kaydin, the armored shoulder trying to ram him not so lightly as he walks past. "The rest of you!" Xanatos says as he walks toward the portal, his Steel Clan grabbing people. "Get people through the portal. Carry them if you have to. But I need you for the Coalition, so that this will /never/ happen again." Xanatos turns from where he stands at the Portal and looks at every hero he can see. "Don't be fools and Martyr yourselves. You will gain nothing but death. However if we work together, we can turn this defeat into a victory." He gestures to the people still running through the portal, "But these people need your protection. Not one confused Knight who is trying to do right. So come with me. Survive. Survive and with these events in your hearts, live to fight another day."

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith glanced toward Xanatos, her eyes wide. "You can't be serious..." She turned to face him. "Is it really that bad?" She'd seen a game of chess before, how it was played. This city was about to get captured, a very important capture at that. A high-value piece. But if they were being told to retreat... there was another play to be made. "I'm not going to do this lightly... tell me we're gonna take this place back."

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' "I want everyone to get out of here so I can fight without worry that I should have protected them." Kaydin says before turning to the rat. hearing what he said and then when xanatos approaches, he just maintains eye contact, not flinching, not backing down. "That was my plan. Now get everyone out of here." He says as he rams his shoulder back against Xanatos as if ordering the man back just as intently as he continues to walk towards the laughter.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso is more than willing to defend lives, but even he knew when enough was enough. He had not been able to explore all of Manhatten in the time he had been there and even then, there was a lot of people to be seen. At least before the crisis started. "...I'm all for fighting till the sword is exhausted, but...Is it really any good if we all fall with the world now?" He asked, listening to Xanatos' words. "......" What to do? ...He wanted to hear the others.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Palom may not entirely comprehend the idea of something he can't defeat, at least not in an immediate emotional sense. He may need to be bodily carried through the portal. This may be pretty much what the other Mysidians did with him during Baron's siege.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart nods as she hears Xanatos. She's fine with that. She moves to the back of the line of people, helping those that are slower to get through faster. She can carry some, she can push some when wheeled, either way none shall be left behind. Xanatos always had some better plans in mind. A city can be rebuilt, but the people don't come back to life.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr carries Palom with one hand, pointing him away from him. "Just keep firing that way kid." he mutters, before walking back towards the portal.

:'''[[Palom]] has posed:''' Palom is the best handheld weapon. Any heartless he sees get exploded, frozen, shocked, and/or sucked into the ground.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "Kid, we have to team up more often. I will call you Palomaga." Angantyr says, with a weird grin.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:''' The sparkle of violet light suddenly, and without warning, plunges into the ground somewhere across the island. There is no explosion. But when the Darkness comes, it comes all at once. It seeps up from the ground, and no sooner has it reached street-level do the many skyscrapers start collapsing; windows fall, then entire floors crumble. They turn into shadow even as they sink away. And out of that shadow rise thousands and thousands and thousands and /thousands/ of pairs of little yellow eyes. There is no one left to save. The portal is beginning to warp and rend, pushed to its limits by the cataclysmic forces literally tearing Manhattan apart.

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' Xanatos' words have the rat smiling. Ahh, he could learn to like this man. At least until he tries to order everyone out. Ordering. A Templar. To Retreat. To say the President gets a glare would be an understatement. But then tactical sense kicks in. A counter attack. Martyrdom wars with sense. It's a stalemate. Faruja glances to Kaydin. "Leave, stay, all the same to me. But if you must die here, you shan't do so alone. Worry not. I shall carry news of your repentance to the Lord personally. Mayhap he will forgive you of your crimes. Or you may live, and we Crusade against these heathens. The choice, is yours." It seems Faruja has left his own fate in the hands of a (former?) enemy. What will he do?

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "...What in the hell..?" Angantyr says as he looks towards... Oh god. The city...it is... "What...have..." he says, in utter disbelief. Without thinking he throws Palom through the portal, and leaps in after him. He can feel sorry for himself later...living to fight another day was in the cards for him. Xanatos said something about a group...but for now, he'll worry about not being a heartless. Discression being the better part of valor and all.

:'''[[Reize Seatlan]] has posed:''' Meanwhile, Reize is exhaling a sigh, looking towards Lily and Faruja. The leader of the Shard Seekers is taxed. This is a bad situation. Reize looks ahead to see that things are looking bleak. A faint smile is given. "Let's go, Lily...." He begins to help usher her out along with the citizens that should still be around. Reize is going to do his part to make sure none of the people are left behind. "Shard Seekers, getting the people out is our priority." However, this time.... This is the first time that Reize had come to witness a world falling before him. The first time his world was taken, he was away from it all. However, to actually witness it.... He can only start to feel for the people as the horror sinks in. He turns Lily's head waay to keep her from seeing the rest. And it is time for them to go. But Reize knows, in the end, they will have to restore it. They have to. 

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Boom. Aerith's eyes widened. Xanatos... had called it right. It was all for nothing, they had to go... and for some reason, Kaydin was about to stand against all this, by himself. It was a one way ticket to the Promised Land. But would she let him? Honestly, could she? Tactical sense warred with his status as a friend, someone she understood. The friend part won. "We've come too far... for you to just die here." With that, she would attempt to put her shoulder into his armor... and PUSH. "Move to the portal, you stubborn, ignorant, headstrong fool! This is the end of your fight for now!" She grimaced, grunted. "You are better to us alive than dead, so MOVE!"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Before he leaves, "Look. I am okay with Kaydin staying here and dying. I am completely okay with that. We will mourn your sacrifice."

:'''[[Minerva]] has posed:''' Minerva is about defending lives herself but he knows there comes a point they have to worry about their own surival if the Heartless get them too what can they do for the next world they will not stop them anyhow. "Luso dying here will surve no purpose the heartless will not stop here. She looks to Faruja and everyone else now. "WE ALL MAKE HASTE! We have lost go now or we simpley feed the Heartless." She'll walk over toe Faruja he's needed to contiune the fight she just looks at him for a moment. She mocves to strike a pressue point on Faruja and drag him away through the portal.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' ".......Crap." Seeing the sight before him. The image of the city twisting and changing...and the sight of thousands upon thousands of blinking yellow eyes. "......I think it's time to get out of there! We're definitely no match for that! C'mon Minerva! Everyone! Let's go!" True to word, Discretion is the better part of valor. Time to move. And so Luso turned tail sheathing his weapons and then running for the portal. Without a second thought, he leaps in, and is gone soon after...

:'''[[Faruja Senra]] has posed:''' "So this is the fall of a world. I hadn't noticed last time amidst the screams of my dying friends and the flames burning my flesh." Faruja manages to deadpan the entire thing as he watches a world break apart. Yup, he's totally going to stay here with Kaydin, just as he said. Stubborn knight go~ Or he means to. then there's a pressure point being struck. Faruja goes limp in Min's arms, exhaustion of two days worth of horrible injuries catching up. "...M'Lady. Had I the strength to do so, I would claw your beautiful face." Then...faint! The Templar's strength finally gives out. Thankfully, even with the plate armor, he's relatively light. Tiny rat.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' David Xanatos doesn't even look back. He jsut walks toward the portal a confident stride in his gait. He says nothing else, he doens't look back as his world, his home, his life, literally falls apart and is destroyed by the Darkness. He just walks. He doesn't turn around, but he stops at the edge of the portal and side steps to allow others past. He looks up, but stands there. Listening, taking in the sounds. Hearing who all is leaving. Who is staying.

:'''[[Kaydin]] has posed:''' Kaydin looks to Aerith, and seeing as she wont leave and she pushes him, he doesnt fight against her as he is pushed into the portal, instead letting her make the choice for him on staying or going and since she seems to wanna go, why not.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith just about SHOVED Kaydin through the portal, then took one last look at the dying world... and a sob threatened to tear itself from her. "I will find you... all of you... and make you regret this." With that, she made her hasty retreat!

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' When nobody else comes, Xanatos shakes his head. "All the world is a stage." He says softly. "And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts," He looks over his shoulder and nods once. "I will be back. Just as I planned." And then he steps through the portal.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr Vespar has retreated from the area, leaving himself open to Kaydin, Han Su Li, THE DARKNESS, CHIEF, Zargabaath, Oathkeeper, Ansem the Wise, Lionheart, Minerva Palom, Nacos, Aerith, Jafar, Sensitive New Age Dark Knights, Faruja Senra, Sarafina Carenze, EXCALIPOOR!, Oswald, David Xanatos, Luso Celmens, WORDS ARE HARD, Lily, Reize Seatlan, Old White Dead Men Ruling Spira, Tifa Lockhart, Maleficent, Omninious Laughter, Sho Minamimoto, Heartless 98, and Viewers Like You!

Blueshift

2012-12-10T06:06:21Z

Liz:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/09
|Location=Outside of Manhattan
|Synopsis=Jasmine tries to reach Manhattan before it's too late, but someone knew she'd try. She fails.
|Cast of Characters=Jasmine
}}
Jasmine was as much driven onwards as repulsed by the sense of terrible Darkness closing in on Manhattan. With every passing step, the knives twisted a little bit further into her skull, stabbing pain matched only by the pounding of her heart. This was the exact opposite of what she'd been doing, all this time... running towards danger, instead of away from it, ahead of it. But the calamity she sensed in the making was too urgent not to respond to. She /had/ to go to it, to stand against it, to lend herself to that world, before it was too late.

To do otherwise never occurred to her; she could only be what she was born to be.

She only knew one path to Manhattan. Destiny's path, up the great mountain.

The Heartless were waiting for her there.

Someone had known she would come, would have to come. That this level of threat would lure her out of hiding, and set her on this exact road.

Darkness lapped at her ankles, pulled at her wrists, closed like a fist all around her. At the last moment, she hurled her robe, and the companion that rode with her, concealed within it, clear of the fight.

"Run, Junior!" she begged him, when she saw the hesitation in his woeful blue eyes. "You're not safe here! I'll find you again -- I promise!"

Tail between his legs, black spots churning with each white-legged pace, the dalmatian puppy fled. Behind him, the princess took a deep breath, centered her stance, and clenched her fists.

"You might think I fight alone," she warned the Heartless surrounding her, large and small. "But you're wrong -- my friends are with me." She's learned so much from so many; from their bravery, their kindness, and yes, their various styles of kicking ass.

The way she crouches, lean and limber, like [[Jean Faraven]]. 
Then explodes into action with perfectly timed grace, like [[Quistis Trepe]]. 
Erupting into the fray, her form is fluid, a blurred balance of offense and defense, reminiscent of [[Celes Chere]]. 
When she mistimes a strike, she's hurled into a pool of clinging Darkness -- and tenaciously refuses to drown in it, hanging on with more strength than she knew she had, while remembering [[Riku]]. 
There are only seconds to escape, but she follows the example of someone who kept his head and thought his way through seemingly impossible odds: [[David Xanatos]]. 
Summoning the last of her endurance, she leaps gloriously out of the pit, dancing not with fury and desperation, but with an aspiration to see, create, and protect beauty, like [[Ivo Galvan]]. 
She lands directly on top of the Heartless who'd summoned the portal, and the sheer defiance with which she delivers that blow is reminiscent of another tiny figure opposing anyone who's wrong, regardless of size -- [[Faruja Senra]]. 
Riding this second wind, she lashes out with the aggressive efficiency of [[Angantyr Vespar]]. 
But rather than charging back into the heart of the fight, she keeps her distance, allowing the Light to deliver her blows while she repositions, much as an eye once fell to [[Avira]]. 
She guards herself with subtlety, the swirling, spring-stepped twirl of the pirate lord, [[Faris Scherwiz]]. 
In an echo of an echo, she lets her feet find the earth it yearns to defend, drawing strength from every point of connection, like [[Garland|a memory of Light]], the last spark left in a heart of unending Darkness. 

Eventually her momentum is such that the Heartless fade before her blows rather than allowing them to connect; their departure is as much a promise of return with renewed numbers as a retreat. And then she feels it shudder through her, a dissonant chord in the symphony of Life, like a blow to her soul, a piercing of her heart. Another wound in the tapestry of the worlds, crying out to be healed.

Overhead, a star snuffs out.

"I'm too late..."

Blueshift

2012-12-10T06:05:01Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/09 |Location=Outside of Manhattan |Synopsis=Jasmine tries to reach Manhattan before it's too late, but someone knew she'd try. She fa..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/09
|Location=Outside of Manhattan
|Synopsis=Jasmine tries to reach Manhattan before it's too late, but someone knew she'd try. She fails.
|Cast of Characters=Jasmine
}}
Jasmine was as much driven onwards as repulsed by the sense of terrible Darkness closing in on Manhattan. With every passing step, the knives twisted a little bit further into her skull, stabbing pain matched only by the pounding of her heart. This was the exact opposite of what she'd been doing, all this time... running towards danger, instead of away from it, ahead of it. But the calamity she sensed in the making was too urgent not to respond to. She /had/ to go to it, to stand against it, to lend herself to that world, before it was too late.

To do otherwise never occurred to her; she could only be what she was born to be.

She only knew one path to Manhattan. Destiny's path, up the great mountain.

The Heartless were waiting for her there.

Someone had known she would come, would have to come. That this level of threat would lure her out of hiding, and set her on this exact road.

Darkness lapped at her ankles, pulled at her wrists, closed like a fist all around her. At the last moment, she hurled her robe, and the companion that rode with her, concealed within it, clear of the fight.

"Run, Junior!" she begged him, when she saw the hesitation in his woeful blue eyes. "You're not safe here! I'll find you again -- I promise!"

Tail between his legs, black spots churning with each white-legged pace, the dalmatian puppy fled. Behind him, the princess took a deep breath, centered her stance, and clenched her fists.

"You might think I fight alone," she warned the Heartless surrounding her, large and small. "But you're wrong -- my friends are with me." She's learned so much from so many; from their bravery, their kindness, and yes, their various styles of kicking ass.

The way she crouches, lean and limber, like [[Jean Faraven]]. 
Then explodes into action with perfectly timed grace, like [[Quistis Trepe]]. 
Erupting into the fray, her form is fluid, a blurred balance of offense and defense, reminiscent of [[Celes Chere]]. 
When she mistimes a strike, she's hurled into a pool of clinging Darkness -- and tenaciously refuses to drown in it, hanging on with more strength than she knew she had, while remembering [[Riku]]. 
There are only seconds to escape, but she follows the example of someone who kept his head and thought his way through seemingly impossible odds: [[David Xanatos]]. 
Summoning the last of her endurance, she leaps gloriously out of the pit, dancing not with fury and desperation, but with an aspiration to see, create, and protect beauty, like [[Ivo Galvan]]. 
She lands directly on top of the Heartless who'd summoned the portal, and the sheer defiance with which she delivers that blow is reminiscent of another tiny figure opposing anyone who's wrong, regardless of size -- [[Faruja Senra]]. 
Riding this second wind, she lashes out with the aggressive efficiency of [[Angantyr Vespar]].
But rather than charging back into the heart of the fight, she keeps her distance, allowing the Light to deliver her blows while she repositions, much as an eye once fell to [[Avira]]. 
She guards herself with subtlety, the swirling, spring-stepped twirl of the pirate lord, [[Faris Scherwiz]]. 
In an echo of an echo, she lets her feet find the earth it yearns to defend, drawing strength from every point of connection, like [[Garland|a memory of Light]], the last spark left in a heart of unending Darkness. 

Eventually her momentum is such that the Heartless fade before her blows rather than allowing them to connect; their departure is as much a promise of return with renewed numbers as a retreat. And then she feels it shudder through her, a dissonant chord in the symphony of Life, like a blow to her soul, a piercing of her heart. Another wound in the tapestry of the worlds, crying out to be healed.

Overhead, a star snuffs out.

"I'm too late..."

Needles In A Haystack

2012-12-08T21:38:32Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/30 |Location=Faris' ship, between Costa del Sol and Bevelle |Synopsis=Jasmine and Faris discuss three princesses. |Cast of Characters=Faris..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/30
|Location=Faris' ship, between Costa del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=Jasmine and Faris discuss three princesses.
|Cast of Characters=Faris Scherwiz, Jasmine
}}
'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It is, as Jasmine might put it, a truly glorious day.

Sunlight dances on ocean waves, transforming their deep blues to dazzling crystal. A breeze, cool but not cold, tugs at clothes, pulls hair and fills the sails, like a thousand invisible, playful hands. Spirits are high, and perhaps none higher than that of the princess, who has conquered her crushing seasickness at last and emerged onto the deck.

Tears spring to her eyes from the difference in brightness -- it was dark, down in her cabin for two days straight. And perhaps they're elicited by the beauty surrounding her as well. She blinks them back stubbornly, and walks, somewhat unsteadily but with marked improvement, across the sea-tossed deck to lean out over the rail. Along the way, she brightly greets any sailors she crosses paths with, bidding them a good morning.

Her smile intensifies brilliantly as she finally enjoys the wind and the speed, the pure expression of freedom that a ship on the open sea represents to a girl from a desert palace.

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris has been a courteous enough pirate captain - he has made sure that the guests on the ship get what they need to be comfortable, even if it's a bit cramped, on top of water being limited, as it always is when one is out at sea.

Therefore, it is with some surprise when she sees Jasmine up on deck. She gestures imperiously to her second mate, and he takes over the wheel as they continue on their way.

Making her way quietly down the deck, she steps up next to Jasmine as they lean on the rail. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Keeping one hand gripped to the rail to hold her steady, Jasmine shifts sideways to beam up at Faris. The wind promptly tears her hair straight out of its two lesser ties to flow behind her like a raven banner; the pale blue ribbons go flying over the side, never to be seen again. In her current state of rapture, she hardly even notices. "It's exquisite," she breathes, aglow with a blend of reverence and enthusiasm. "Thank you so very much for giving me this opportunity. It's even better than I'd dreamed." That's one way to take 'had to flee an army of Heartless by any means necessary' in stride, at least.

She has trouble tearing her gaze away from the sea for long, but does her best, her warm gaze settling on the pirate lord's eyes. "Have you always known you'd want to spend your life at sea?"

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"I've been on the sea since I can remember." Faris comments, voice distant.

"I started out a young cabinboy and assistant when I was but a child; the ship I served on taught me everything I know. My magic, my swordsmanship... I eventually turned into a right regular sailor."

"I was built for the sea, though, I suppose. I had a friend, once. A water dragon, her name was Syldra. We were bonded; because of the bond, when the captain who took me in retired, I was voted to lead the ship." She smiles crookedly.

"But ... then our world started to fall into darkness, and I lost both Syldra, and my original ship. The crew is still the same, though."

"I have never been happier than I am right now, back on the sea. Yes, I did a bad thing, but.."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine has no trouble paying attention, once Faris begins her story; she turns her back to the railing, now, and gazes up at the pirate lord. Hers is a very warm, intent sort of listening, as though Faris' words comprise her entire world, and she bows her head with understanding, admiration, or, as the story goes on, with sorrow, in all the right places.

"I'm sorry your friend is lost," she murmurs, with the pained tones of someone who knows the feeling very well. One hand unconsciously drifts up to rest over her heart, and her quiet, gentle convictions are no less strong for their mode of delivery: "I know you'll find her again someday, though. Nothing and no one who's loved, is ever truly gone... Faris." It's the first time she's called him by name, rather than as Captain.

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"You sound like Lenna." Faris says, tilting her head slightly. "She was always very warm-hearted, and the like. I don't know where she is... trying to find a princess around here is a needle in a haystack situation."

Faris does not realize how funny that statement that actually is. Princesses around these worlds are too good at hiding, right, Jasmine?

"Thank you, Jasmine, for your kind words and your warm heart. It means a lot."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine does realize it, of course, and an ounce of wry humor infects her smile, tucked into the corners of her mouth. It's something of a giveaway. But then things get very serious, and so does she, bowing fluidly in return.

"No, thank you, Faris. If you hadn't given me passage, Costa del Sol might well be a ruin by now. I warned you that my company could be very dangerous, but you didn't hesitate... your kind actions speak louder than any words."

She tilts her head to the same side as the Captain did, matching her motion unconsciously. "Perhaps there is something I can help you with in return. I've met many people in my travels... please, can you describe Princess Lenna to me? In appearance, I mean."

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris is a perceptive sort, and she notes that smile. Faris' own widens slightly, and she shakes her head. "I'm a pirate, my dear. Danger isw my life."

"Lenna has blonde - sometimes pink - hair, green-blue eyes. She's shorter than I am - " Faris roughly gestures it by holding her hand up to her shoulders. The captain then hesitates.

After a few long moments...

She pulls a pendant out from underneath her shirt, holding it up for Jasmine to see. "She'll have a exact replica of this. It marks her as one of the *two* princesses of the land of Tycoon."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I don't think I'd make a very good pirate, other than maybe the sailing part," Jasmine admits, "But danger seems to be my life anyway." Her eyes narrow very thoughtfully, almost to slits, as Lenna's described, then widen with recognition when Faris pulls out the pendant; very quick on the uptake, she gets it immediately. There's surprise, certainly, but more than that, humbled pleasure for being trusted with such a private thing. "Your secret's safe with me," she promises instantly but solemnly. She'd die before she tells.

There's really only one thing to do. She unbinds her curtain of hair from the last of its ties by pulling off her headband for Faris to examine, which is revealed to actually be more of a circlet, set with a lovely blue jewel. "This stone is worn by the heir to the throne of Agrabah," she explains softly. Her nose twitches with sudden amusement, and her laughter, clear as a silvery bell, joins the rush of the wind and the roar of the waves. "So much for needles and haystacks... you couldn't swing a cat on this ship without hitting one of us."

She nudges her increasingly windswept hair back behind her ears, and her voice fills with joy. "As for Lenna... I believe I /have/ seen her. There was always something familiar about you... now I understand why."

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Piratry is a lot harder than it looks. It's not all 'ho ho ho and a bottle of rum', although at times, the rum figures more than one would figure. As you can see, in my case, we got ruined at the loss of a ship; or you could not be in a profitible area, or there might be too many of us!"

"But, I don't think I'd care, no matter what."

Faris blinks and peers closer at the circlet and the jewel. "Oh dear." She says, almost wryly. "I guess we're more common than a needle in the haystack." The crew isn't surprised - it's very likely they've known for awhile.

"But... ah, that's wonderful. The fact that she's alive is great news to me."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's smile is openly admiring of Faris' passion for her pirate's life, her contentment with her place in the world. "I don't think you would either," she agrees. "I wish..."

She trails off, leaving that particular yearning unspoken, for now, and enthusiastically shares her news of Lenna, instead. "Very much alive. She was at Castle Baron, and held off a fiery monster, all by herself. She escaped with the rest of us, afterwards... I don't know where she is now, but that's where her trail begins. It was only a few weeks ago." It feels like a lifetime.

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris leans over, gently touching Jasmines' shoulder.

"We all wish." The captain says, the compassion in her voice somewhat new to her. "I wish I could be at Lenna's side right now, when she needs me most to keep the light, the heart of our world burning. But..."

"As long as we keep hoping and wishing, that light of chance will not pass. I know it, here." She touches her shirt, over her own heart.

Faris sounds strangely-more princess like than normal. "But uh... hmm. I will go back around that way, then."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine opens to Faris' compassion like a rosebud in the sun; lines of tension fade out of her face, her back, that she hadn't even realized were there. Her stance relaxes, as though a great weariness has been eased, and, mirroring the taller woman, her arm reaches out to touch the pirate's shoulder, in turn, before turning it into a warm embrace.

"Yes," she agrees, simply, fiercely. "I know it too."

After she pulls back, a gust of wind makes the sails crack. Her eyes are immediately drawn to the rigging, then back down to the Captain. "Actually... I have a smaller wish," she admits with an impish grin. "I hate feeling useless. Would you teach me the ropes?" Literally, in this case. "I want to do my share, while I'm on board."

'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Most of the crew has averted their eyes, idly letting the Pirate King do her(his) thing. They're good like that. Thus, in the embrace, it is less awkward than Faris normally is with people watching.

"Teach you the... oh!" Faris laughs.

"I think we can arrange that, yes." She gives the woman a amused grin.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
If they aren't careful, the crew will be hug beneficiaries, too. In fact, in a few days, after a terrible calamity, that's essentially guaranteed. They /might/ be safe... for now.

Jasmine is fairly oblivious to the nuance of Faris' crew's polite turn away; she cuts through social awkwardness like a hot knife through butter, as easily as breathing, and as for the Pirate Lord's secret, well... girls hug boys sometimes! It hadn't really occurred to her that it could even be an issue.

"Really?" She sounds totally thrilled, like someone who's spent her whole life asking to be taught how to do useful things, and is accustomed to being brutally denied. Some princesses actually have to grow up in palaces, even if they'd rather be on pirate ships, alas. "/Thank you/! I'll make you proud to be my teacher." It's less sublime confidence as it is a sworn oath; she obviously intends to work hard.

Jasmine

2012-12-08T20:08:28Z

Liz: music~

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

-----

'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

[[Jafar]]: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

[[Aladdin]]: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

[[Garland]]: Jasmine recognized Garland immediately on an instinctual level. She bore witness within her own heart, all too briefly, to the incredible memory of Light that once dwelled within him. To the decline and fall of that Light, the self-inflicted wounds, the knife-stabs through the heart and soul that so skillfully forged his spirit into pure and endless Darkness. She respects what he once was, understands what he has become, and accepts him for exactly who he is. Like Jafar, Garland inspires a mix of fear, anger, and sadness; fear that she'll never be strong enough to prevent him from doing exactly what he wants, anger that he would ever have chosen to be what he is, and sadness at the outcome. She believes in the infinite possibility of redemption, and she wouldn't be who /she/ is without extending such opportunities to him, in innumerable quiet ways, while defying his agenda with every fibre of her being. Polar opposites on many levels, she is disquieted to find similarities within their duality; they are like, but so unlike.

[[Avira]]: ''"I'm glad you're safe."'' Jasmine first saw Avira defending Garden at a distance, and drew courage from the mighty warrior's example. Later, she noticed Kaydin transporting a captured Avira to Baron. She would not leave one of her allies, even one she'd never properly been introduced to, in the hands of their enemies. She could not do anything else, and still be herself; not long afterwards, they wound up traveling together, as Avira helped her flee the Heartless in Rabanastre. Having now had an opportunity to actually spend a little time together, Jasmine is quite impressed with the woman's competence, but moreso with her understated kindness.

[[Angantyr Vespar]]: ''"I hardly know you, and here I am pouring myself out for you. I'm sorry, but there is something about you that seems... Trustworthy. No different than how you saw me. Foolish sentiments for the both of us, for being strangers." "I think that trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness. I'm very glad I met you, Sir Knight. Angantyr. Thank you again, for all you've done for me."'' Jasmine and Angantyr met while independently launching rescue operations for Avira, in Baron, and made excellent impressions on each other. They departed as princess and mercenary guard for a forty-eight hour term of employment, and in that time became fast friends. She regards his friendship far higher than any coin, in fact. Jasmine has seen the Darkness in Angantyr, but believes that the man can find balance, with time, will, and self-respect; rather than try to talk him out of his revenge, she knows that only he can do that for himself.

[[Seith]]: ''"I can see /your/ Light."'' Jasmine was too busy dealing with other issues to participate in a fairly epic philosophical debate Seith was at the core of, but his willingness, even eagerness, to hurt, maim, or perhaps even kill innocent bystanders in order to make his points in a debate informed her first impression of him.

[[Faruja Senra]]: ''"As long as you stand up for what is right, the war is already won."'' Seen helping the poor and defying the dark at a distance, Jasmine was impressed with the Burmecian's compassion and fierce ideals... though he seemed a bit loquacious. She (largely incorrectly) blames herself for the Heartless' interruption of his charity event. Later, he helped her thwart a small army of Heartless, and she helped him remember the good reasons to fight, as well as the grim. They parted as friends.

[[Faris Scherwiz]]: ''"I have no love for violence, especially between those who still have their hearts, but such a ship would certainly fit my specifications of 'crewed by those who can defend themselves...'"'' Faris' total honesty about 'his' profession smoothed over what might have otherwise been a poor first impression; he's an /awfully/ pretty boy, after all, exactly the sort of person Jasmine inherently suspects. But she felt something in him that she trusted immediately -- with her life, as he swept her off on a pirate ship to flee an army of Heartless.

[[Ivo Galvan]]: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

[[Dr. Facilier]]: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

[[Ron Stoppable]]: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

[[Kaydin]]: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

[[Terra Bradford]]: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

[[Riku]]: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

[[Rapunzel]]: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

[[David Xanatos]]: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

[[Belle]]: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

[[Jean Faraven]]: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

[[Celes Chere]]: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

[[Quistis Trepe]]: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

[[Merilan Yursalin]]: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Music:'''

Sheherazade, Op. 35, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPB15Ma2o48 (Sheherazade's solos; the full symphonic suite is a lovely, recommended listen, though!)

Prince Charming, Jim's Big Ego: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v03rWmK4jiM

The Queen of Argyll, Wolfstone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqmq4iVY6zY

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

After The Serpent

2012-12-08T17:18:06Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/04 |Location=Faris' ship, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle |Synopsis=The morning after the events of 'They're On A Boat', Avira and Jasmin..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/04
|Location=Faris' ship, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=The morning after the events of 'They're On A Boat', Avira and Jasmine discuss the future.
|Cast of Characters=Avira, Jasmine
}}
'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
All around is an expanse of sea. Their position was completely unknown now, after the storm, and the very high birds-eye view the select few that went to fight did not reveal any land. They could rest assured, though, that the extensive sailing experience of Faris would get them back on course to Bevelle.

Following that grueling experience, Avira had to rest. After Angantyr had retreated to his cabin and Maira had followed, attempting to comfort him, Avira had taken a moment to catch some sleep as well. It only lasts a few hours.

Or rather, she only permits herself to sleep for a few hours. Her mind is too active, too busy to allow her to sleep restfully. Eventually, she gives up, and resorts to wandering the deck, helping out with the crew where she can.

Out of newly-formed habit, she does inquire about the status of Jasmine right now. If she didn't have to walk in on the princess sleeping, then she will not.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine sleeps for a long time -- peacefully at first, but then increasingly badly; by the end of it, she's in a tangled nest of sheets, hair, and cold sweat. When she emerges from the cabin, her bad night shows, in the tremors in her hands, slight stumble to her step, and the ghosts of tear-tracks below her haunted eyes.

She's trying to hide it, shoulders back and chin up; her smile is as warm as ever, like the sun coming up on her face when she sees and quietly greets -- and thanks -- members of the crew. But she's put her humble burlap robes and linen veil back on, though the sea is no colder than it was before. The odds of the Heartless having found her visually are zero; it must provide her with some mental security, for all that it's a constant reminder of her new life.

Avira runs into her on the stairs towards the deck. She was rather hesitantly creeping up them, to the extent that 'creeping' is in her movement vocabulary. Pausing, she looks the woman over rather thoroughly, apparently having to satisfy her worry that Avira's not greviously wounded before she can collect herself enough to say anything. "Good morning," she murmurs, after that pause. Her tones are full of remorse, somehow turning a greeting into an apology. "At least -- I think it's morning? I'm not sure how long I slept."

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Visually sighting the princess as she walks down the stairs actually brings a bit of comfort to the scarred huntress. That meant she was still here. Her condition looked less than stellar, even following sleep, though Avira does not need to really guess why this is the case. After what this princess went through...

Avira knows full well what it's like to be helpless. It's not an experience she wants to repeat very often.

Jasmine will note, when she spies the woman, that she no longer has her metal breastplate on her. That was completely destroyed by Angantyr's hand. Beneath that she apparently wears a leather sleeveless shirt that is semi-open in the back, held by woven leather straps. "Good morning."

Her words are just as remorseful, as if she was blaming herself for the Princess's current discomfort. "Ah, yes, it is morning, you've been sleeping for quite some time." Rather than continue down, her objective accomplished, she turns around and starts heading back abovedeck.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine isn't sure if she'd be better or worse off if this was the first time she'd been held in thrall that way; it brought back terrible memories, but would have been more horrible if those same memories hadn't at least slightly prepared her for the latest version.

But she's trying not to dwell on it, which means finding something else to think about, which, inevitably, means those around her. Following Avira up onto the deck, she pauses at the threshold of the stairs and peeks out, looking left and right, up and down, before setting foot outside. The gay, carefree creature she transformed into after overcoming her seasickness is gone... or at least in hiding.

She catches up shortly thereafter. "Please -- wait! I haven't had a chance to thank you yet. I saw everything. You were very brave... you have my gratitude, Avira." She's possessed of a tendency to phrase things in such sublimely hokey soundbites, like she's out of a classic tale, yet have their genuinely earnest, heartfelt nature shine through anyway. And indeed, there's no regret in /those/ words, when it comes to her thanks.

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
It's a shame too, since given the recent state of things, everyone on the ship really could use the the bright ray of sunlight that post-seasickness Jasmine was earlier. The sailors here have been working for hours to correct their course.

Still they work, though, determined to reach their destination.

"Hmm?" Avira slows, but she doesn't stop as Jasmine runs to catch up with her. "I...ah.." She looks to the ground, managing a small smile. The contrast between her right now and the cheerful, almost overly excited girl she was earlier is pretty stark. "I try. You're welcome, Jasmine. I could have done better but...ah...you're welcome." It doesn't even occur to her that the words are hokey or cheesy. From her, they sound like they're the truth.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Spring always comes to Jasmine's attitude quickly, after a winter, long or short, of discontent. Already she relaxes slightly, a bit of tension leaving the cords of her neck as the /literal/ sunlight washes over her. She smiles softly at Avira's self-depricating response, and shakes her head. "You were amazing," she insists. "Please don't beat yourself up over what happened. It's ... you can't ..."

Her hand splays outwards, as though she's grasping for the right words physically as well as mentally. After a moment, she has what she's looking for, and it seems like something of a revelation to her, as well, the words finding their way out of some part of her that's been lost for a long time. The princess looks her straight in the eye -- an unusually easy thing for both of them, since they're roughly of a height. "You mustn't blame yourself for other peoples' actions," she says at last, with a solemn compassion that comes from the empathy of shared experience, not the petty sympathy of pity. "Blame the ones who do selfish, destructive things, or forgive them if you can, but don't shoulder that burden. Just being true to yourself, in difficult times, is burden enough."

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Her face doesn't seem to change beyond that small, perhaps even forced, smile for those few minutes. She does eventually slow to a stop, standing near the towering mast of their tall ship. The same mast Avira had been dancing up and down earlier in pursuit of Heartless. A calloused hand reaches to touch it.

Jasmine might notice that her fingerless gloves are gone too. Avira's certainly lost some gear on this trip. Of course, that could be remedied later.

A blush does grace her cheeks. "Thanks..it's just that..." she trails off, coincidentally, at the same time that Jasmine does.

Then they look each other in the eye. "I..." she seems about to interrupt, but grows silent, the princess's strong words shining through.

That smile of hers grows a little warmer, no longer looking forced. "That's right. What the Heartless do isn't my fault. Damn Heartless..." she pauses, "What's important is, you're alright. Right?"

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's self-possession is such that Avira's blush and following warmth does not infect her with embarrassment but rather affection; she tenderly embraces the warrior, cradling her for a few moments as though she's the most precious thing in the universe.

Which she is -- it is Jasmine's nature to love without reservation, and it's one reason why events like Garden's large-scale violence, or the smaller-scale fight with the sea monster, affect her so badly. But focusing on the blessing, rather than the curse, is in her nature as well.

"I'm fine," she promises, and in this moment, it's true. When it's time to draw back, she looks Avira over again, and the missing gear seems to register this time, her gaze flicking to where the breastplate and gloves should be before returning to her face; she rarely focuses on items, her eye for the person beneath them. A result of weeding out well-dressed suitors over many years. "Will you be?"

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
The hug comes as a large surprise to Avira. Jasmine can actually feel Avira tense suddenly, but she doesn't push the princess away or anything like that. After an awkward moment in which Avira is apparently processing this development, she lifts her own arms and hugs her back.

Jasmine's hug is also far more affectionate than the ones she's had lately. "You promise?" she murmurs back to the princess, looking up at her with those brown eyes of hers once she draws back. She doesn't seem to entirely notice the subtle glances that indicate Jasmine's noticed her missing clothing.

Slowly, she nods. "Of course. I'll keep going." she smiles gently, "I must!"

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine bows her head affirmatively, when Avira presses her on truly being fine; /now/ it's her turn to blush, her golden-brown skin abloom with desert roses. Her eyes close for a long moment, as though she's internalizing something -- probably a lot of somethings, which will take more than three seconds to handle, but it's a start. When they reopen, they're radiant. "I promise."

Avira's own affirmation elicits a faintly reproving shake of the head, her own smile widening with frank admiration. "That isn't true, Avira. To fight, and to do what's right, even though it's hard... it isn't something you /must/ do, it's a choice you make, every time. And it's the only battle that really matters. As long as you keep going, I know everything will turn out in the end." She says it -- /I know/ -- like an axiom of existence, and with no little emotion, but not with the gleam of the blind fanatic. There's a warm, mysterious, almost mischievious glimmer in her eye, instead, like she knows a wonderful secret, and is sharing a little piece of it.

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira's waiting to hear the response for by now she's realized that Jasmine is not the type ot speak untruths. Every word she spoke now came from the heart with a sincerity that Avira could sense. To affirm this, she sees that look in Jasmine's eyes, when they sparkle with the life that Avira was much more used to seeing from this resilient teenager.

She grins a little. "A choice. A choice I always seem to pick the same option. I plan to keep going. As far and long as I can..."

Jasmine gets a curious look. Avira has picked up on that sheer "fact" of Jasmine knowing something. It was the look of someone who had insider information. "You're confident. I like that."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine nods encouragingly, and very respectfully, at Avira's grinning remark, but the compliment about /confidence/ sparks a wry laugh. "You're the first one to ever say something like that -- my attitude got me in a lot of hot water, back home." Just saying the word draws a shadow of grief over her for an eyeblink, but it's banished very, very quickly. "You seem very confident too," she says instead, and means it. "Very strong. Perhaps stronger than you realize. What you did for Sir Angantyr..." She always uses knightly honorifics with him, for some reason, "...it helped him. He'll need more of that. We all will, but one thing I've come to realize about the Darkness is that it is... isolating in a way I can only barely comprehend."

This time, her sadness lingers, but her convictions remain firm. "He has a hard road ahead, but he doesn't have to walk it alone. He's become very dear to me in our travels, but my being around..." She trails off, remembering his berserker screams, and the feeling in his heart. "...is dangerous, and to him more than most, for all his prowess in battle. I'm glad you're his Clanmate. Please, don't let him forget."

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"Has it now?" Avira laughs. "Do they take offense to your pleasant smile and kind words? Or is that dastardly knowing glance?" Seems she's trying to make light of such a thing, having no real idea of the sort of roles royalty must engage in at Agrabah. Which is, of course, significally different from where Avira is from.

Her smile widens at that compliment, truely touched, for months ago such words would have not been possible. But that grin fades a little as Angantyr is brought up. "Angantyr..." she says softly. "...he'll need all the help he can get. He...he scares me a little, Jasmine, I'm not going to lie. I've seen what's inside of him." She's personally fought what's inside of him. "It's overwhelming."

Falling silent, she listens once again to Jasmine's words. "I'm there for him, even if he scares me. He's my dear friend and clanmate. I owe him my life and my skill." Avira is even blushing a little as she says all this, though she seems largely unaware of it. "You're so full of light...is that really dangerous to him?"

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine just shakes her head, amused but not elaborative, about Agrabah. She doesn't seem so much reluctant to discuss her home as she is focused on another topic, now, though; further inquiry at another point could probably bear fruit.

Because she's quite serious about Angantyr. She seems very understanding about Avira's reaction to Angantyr's internal landscape, nodding slowly and seeming even sadder. "It's scary," she agrees, just as softly; one hand reaches out to squeeze the warrior's shoulder, as much drawing comfort from the contact as she's comforting. "I've seen it too. But I've also seen his Light -- and more importantly, his true desire to be more than revenge, even if he's afraid to admit it, especially to himself, because in doing so, he feels like he's betraying his family and his home." Evidently, when Jasmine listens to people, she /listens to people/. And then thinks about them afterwards. "It's overwhelming to us... imagine what it must be like, carrying that around all the time. We can't leave him to those who would turn him into a weapon of the Dark -- not because I fear his opposition, which I do, but because every single Shadow Lord I've met so far, all of them, seem incredibly unhappy. And he would be, too, because he knows what virtue is. To choose to deny it," there's a slight emphasis on the word 'choose', "Would wound him all his days. He deserves better, and only he can make that choice in the end, but the Dark would have him make it alone, so that it seems like the /only/ choice. That seems to be how they operate."

Let it not be said that the Light cannot get pissed off.

She actually paces during some of this explanation, as though walking off her distress; she's this strange mix of calm, analytical thought, great concern, fierce love, and, as she talks in depth about her observations of the tactics of Darkness, a rather extraordinary anger that rolls off of her like a flame. Apparently still waters run deep, sometimes. Avira's loyalty to her clanmate is very heartening, though, and the fury subsides fairly quickly, back to a more typical sunny tranquility, as she's distracted into talking about something else.

Leaning up against the mast and folding her arms, she clarifies, her light tones only partially disguising the very strong feelings -- anguish, guilt -- betrayed by her defensive stance, "No, but the Darkness I attract affects him rather strongly, as demonstrated. He'll be around it no matter what, but... since we started traveling together, at Baron, he's been exposed far more than he would have been otherwise. You all have. I won't allow that to continue much longer... everyone needs a break."

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Even Avira is saddened by her own reaction to Angantyr's inner darkness. She really wanted to be strong and face it fearlessly. The reality was she was still getting scared-such perfection was obvirously beyond her as far as this relationship went.

This time, Avira does not tense when the girl gives her shoulder an affectionate ssqueeze. What's most intersting, about what Jasmine says about Angantyr, is that there's a true desire for more than just revenge, which was something Avira had not picked up on before. Not in their conversations at least.

A grim look is on her face as Jasmine mentions one thing that really worries Avira regarding Garland and the other Shadow Lords. Would he ever become one of THEM? Jasmine doesn't seem to think so and this is intensely comforting to Avira, even though Jasmine is slowly growing incensed as she spays it.

A skeptical look covers her face. "Don't blame youself.." Though in this case, it really was her fault. Her light-filled heart attracted the darkness and just being around it meant anyone within its vicitnity could be pulled into the trouble. "But wait..."

She narrows her eyes, "Does this mean you're planning to ditch us?"

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine narrows her eyes right back; she doesn't give an inch. "After we try Sir Angantyr's idea of consulting these priests, absolutely. I've let you all travel with me far longer than anyone else, since Garden, because I like you all so much; being in your company has been a tremendous comfort to me. But that's the same reason I have to say goodbye. Which I will do -- I'm not planning to sneak away in the night like some sort of thief." She seems offended at the very idea, tossing her head, well, rather imperiously; her veil flies back, revealing her headband.

After she's blown off that steam, though, she softens. Her arms unfold, her smile returns, and it's almost as gentle as her voice. "This was never a permanent arrangement... it all started when I hired Sir Angantyr for /forty-eight hours/ so that I could get some uninterrupted sleep. I never intended it to go any longer than that, but..." She holds out her hands, looks down at them, then back up at the warrior, "...I made a friend. And then another, and another, and another. Don't ever think for a moment that I enjoy leaving people behind."

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Well, at the very least, Jasmine is up front about her decision to leave them both. Avira does respect this decision too since she realizes that she cannot follow Jasmine around like this forever. Angantyr certainly felt the same way, she's sure, for while he did enjoy the princess's contact, he would not receive any money if this continued.

"I hope one day you don't have to run anymore." Avira confesses, "I travel a lot but living the same way you do right now must be no less than exhausting." Avira smiles at the thought, though, of Angantyr being reached out for by Jasmine. It felt like forever ago when she was rescued from Baron's clutches. "I wouldn't dare think that you would enjoy leaving us."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Yeah, Jasmine's finances are not infinite, unfortunately, though a daring raid on the forgotten Tomb of the Agrabah Sultans might be in the cards someday -- why should Ashe get all the fun?

"It kills me," she admits, the tears she's keeping inside her eyes leaking into her raw voice, "Every time. I'd... never really been allowed to make any friends before. It's such a privilege to get to meet such brilliant, strong, kind people. To see how you care for each other, and for the many worlds. People like you are what gives me strength to /keep/ running, Avira."

Straightening up, off the mast, she holds her hands out further, in a way that invites her friend's to join them. "And one day we'll understand the situation enough to stop being reactive, to go on the offensive and change things for good. I don't intend to run forever... and it would be both an honor and a pleasure to have you beside me, when that day comes."

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira would be honored to plunge a tomb on request of a princess. That was a sign of respect that not even words could properly address. More specifically, it's not an outcome that Avira expresses at all and it was these kinds of interaction make me glad that they used...

...3D. And not their home computers. "Jasmine..." a flush colors her cheeks again, this time at the princess's gentle compliment. Gives her strength to keep running! What an honor.

A thought hits her, "Do you have a Ma Belle? If you kept in touch with us that way. It'll definitely make someone's day."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"Yes... the fastest person to find me, by a mile, was Lord Xanatos. He cornered me within /hours/ of my escape from the attack on Garden, actually," Jasmine doesn't remember that part too fondly, it was a terrible blow to her amateur fugitive pride. Also a valuable wakeup call, though. "He asked me to stay with him in Manhattan, he thinks I'd be safest there, under his protection. I told him it would be nothing less than murder for me to stay in the most densely populated world I've ever seen for any sort of extended period, and so instead he gave me this."

She pulls out her Ma Belle, opens it... stares at it quizzically, head tilted to one side. Shakes it a little bit. Tentatively pushes a few buttons, with the innocent confusion of one raised in a world where the latest in computing is the abacus. "I think maybe the water wasn't very good for it. Or maybe it was the being-turned-to-stone-and-back part." It's very dead.

'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira thinks of their experiences here and in Rabanastre. She thinks of Jasmine staying in the densely-populated Manhattan. She thinks of the heartless forces she's seen arrayed against her thus far and how disasterous it would be if the magnitude of forces would come to Manhattan. Why, they'd have to insititute martial law or something ridiculous like that.

Oh the irony.

Jasmine, fortunately, does have a Ma Belle which would be great for contacting her. Except, "Hmm...yeah, the water is not good for those things. I'm afraid you'll need another one. Electronics and seawater don't work together very well." Though maybe that's a good suggestion for later. "But if you ever do get another one, which I think you should, I have a number you can contact me with. Angantyr has one too now."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I think having a Ma Belle is a good idea... unless they're being used to track people." Why, Jasmine, what paranoia! It's almost like you're constantly thinking of how to evade your enemies, all the time. "But if Lord Xanatos wanted me in the hands of the Shadow Lords, I think I wouldn't be here now," she admits. "The man is ambitious and proud, and very, very capable. But also... I think he really is trying to protect his home, and that he thinks the best way to do that is to end the invasion on the large scale. But anyway, yes, I'd be glad to take down your numbers." She reaches into her robe and pulls out a modern pen and a rather ancient piece of parchment.

Night Terrors

2012-12-07T05:45:08Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/06 |Location=Faris' ship, between Costa del Sol and Bevelle |Synopsis=Angantyr wakes Jasmine up from a nightmare, and they discuss fear and..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/06
|Location=Faris' ship, between Costa del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=Angantyr wakes Jasmine up from a nightmare, and they discuss fear and courage, weakness and strength.
|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Jasmine
}}
'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr has been quite after the ordeal.
 
He's come up a few times, to eat, to drink, make a supply run that didn't end in him having to pummel someone. However he's been more withdrawn, perfering his own company and distancing himself away from the crew except to do his part and then go back to his quarters. The days immediately after the incident were the longest, but he was also using those days to heal.
 
If one goes to his room now, he's resting the mace on the wall, while he pulls his armor over his body, leaving the helmet on the table and not putting it on quite yet. Rubbing at his face, he's starting to get a beard, and might have to shave it off, he observes.
 
He won't do so until he's on solid ground, and of course, has a good mirror to do so. But for now he's making the rounds, before sitting down on the edge of the bed. How much longer was this ship going to take? It was easier when he didn't have to think about things and could just act.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Suddenly, Jasmine screams.
 
She sounds completely terrified -- which is honestly rather unlike her, since most of the time when trouble comes, she keeps a notoriously cool head. It's dimly audible from her cabin, whose door is never locked for the simple reason that it's /possible/ Heartless could simply rise up directly from her floor.

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's scream is heard, no doubt getting everyone's attention.
 
Angantyr is on his feet, grabbing the mace and nearly breaking down his door to run through the lower areas, which thankfully is not a lot of space between his room and hers because of the size of the ship. He doesn't even hesitate, pushing people out of his way who are to slow to move...
 
And then breaking through the door mace raised.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The sound of Angantyr's entrance causes Jasmine to sit up on her bed, bolt upright. Her eyes are huge in her face, tearful, haunted and in stark contrast to her normally warm complexion; the blood has drained from her face. She's a tiny figure within the cabin's wildly tangled bedding, her arms instinctively drawing up around her knees. For a moment, she looks wildly about, her dark curtain of hair tossed this way and that by the motion.
 
Seeing the Dark Knight seems to bring her out of the worst of her confusion -- clarity enters her gaze, if not actual calm, and she realizes what's happened. "It was only a dream," she breathes, as much trying to convince herself of that truth as explain the situation to him (and anyone else in the hallway, who promptly go back about their business). Disentangling herself from her upright and locked position, she reaches out a hand towards Angantyr. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr lets out a breath...oh man. He slowly puts the weapon away and then walks into the room. He checks anyway, if only for his sanity and looks back to Jasmine...
 
"It's alright." he says, walking towards her, though not exactly sure WHAT to do. He's not, exactly, a source of comfort in this crew, he's just muscle. However, he just doesn't leave either, bending over to make sure she's alright, checking temperature and the like to make sure it wasn't some sort of sickness or poison.
 
"It's not the first bad dream you had, you were having one that night I was holding off the Heartless."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Not a source of comfort? That's what /he/ might have thought, but this moment is proving otherwise, as the princess looks at him with naked relief, like he's the thing in the world she most desperately needed to see.
 
When Angantyr comes closer to check on her, she reaches out to take his hand gently, then holds on for dear life, a tiny, warm pressure. "I can't actually remember the last time I had a good dream," she admits softly. "It must have been in Agrabah... before the Heartless came."
 
Jasmine slips off the bed. To meet the dark knight's eyes she probably would have had more luck standing on top of it, but she cranes her head back on her neck and does the best she can. Her request is quietly wistful. "Please... would you come with me to the Crow's Nest?" In those three happy days between seasickness and the serpent, it was her favorite place. She hasn't been back, perhaps out of concern of such exposure, but now the voyage is nearing its end.

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr pauses at the words, even as she's forced to look up at him like he's some sort of gi-oh wait, he is. He frowns, he can understand where she is coming from, it was the same for him after the fall of his home, and the various near...horrible experiences with his powers. He nods to her gently at least, he doesn't rebuke her touch, and infact lightly squeezes her hand to try and show some comfort.
 
"Sure." he answers her request. "I'm not sure what kinda company I'll be, but I'll at least come with you for a bit." he says, a bit weary.

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine squeezes back gratefully, then detects that note of weariness and frowns slightly. "We don't have to go all the way up there if you're too tired," she protests, hastily pulling on her brown burlap robe and linen veil, a disguise she's re-adopted since the attack, for more psychological reasons than anything else, one imagines, since the odds of her attracting Heartless /visually/ are essentially zero. "But I would very much like your company, which I would not trade for anyone's." She means it, her tones both firm and fond. Trusting. What happened out there obviously hasn't shaken her belief in the man one iota.
 
She leads the way up towards the deck, at least, moving swiftly and quietly. Her feet are bare, which helps; her traveling boots would take too long to yank on, and toes are good for keeping one's balance at sea, anyway.

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"No, it's okay, we can." Angantyr responds, "It's just been a long few days." he admits, and walks with her to the deck. His eyes look out over everything, giving a passing glance to watch out for danger. Her words giving him pause...he still didn't know how to approach this situation, how she trusts him so easily. He shrugs, non commental on it.
 
"Are you going to be alright?" he says, already starting to start climbing. "I mean, with everything that's happened."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"I know it has. I'm sorry." Jasmine's apology is quietly sincere, but not wallowing in angst; there's a clear sense of responsibility to it. Her eyes are also very active, even before they emerge onto the deck; there's always a distinct sense of constant vigilance about her, one that gives her away as a fugitive, actually, but perhaps does more harm than good.
 
It's night, but the moon is out, and so is that endless diamond sky. She doesn't look at it quite yet, apparently saving the view for her destination. Her climbing is graceful and steady, arms and legs nimbly finding purchase on the mast -- a fast learner indeed. The sea breeze is cool, and might be chilly if she wasn't keeping herself warm with all this motion.
 
"I can only do my best," she replies to the question, after a brief moment; she rarely answers that sort of query with some superficial, automatic answer. "I don't know if I'll ever be alright again, as long as Heartless are threatening the worlds." And her, but that's oddly secondary. "There's no point in pretending things aren't hard... but there's just as little point in letting myself stay troubled by it. My being miserable doesn't help anyone but the ones after me. I try to focus on the good, instead."

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"No need for you to appologize." Angantyr says, before finally getting to the top, and pulling himself up. He offers a hand to also help pull Jasmine up after a moment. Trying to make things a bit easier on her. He turns to look over the water, the moon beating down on it and creating a silvery glow.
 
He pauses at her answer after a brief moment, turning to look at her. "You know, Jasmine...it is alright to not be alright. God knows we all have our moments, and pretending that everything is alright doesn't help resolve anything. Will things be alright again..?" He puts his hands on the edge of the nest. "I guess that's something only you can answer. You take the good and the bad."
 
"God, listen to me, trying to give you a pep talk. I don't even believe the crap coming out of my mouth."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine shakes her head gravely at Angantyr's dismissal of her apology, but lets him change the topic. She lifts a brow at his offered hand, winks, and pulls herself up on her own. That sort of thing is important to her, sometimes.
 
Within the nest, she gazes back at him intently, soaking up every word. "I think you do," she contradicts quietly. "You've never been anything but honest with me, after all, Angantyr." A mischievious smile tucks itself into the corners of her mouth. "Last time we talked like this, before Rabanastre, you were the one who told me to let off on the self-deprication. I guess it's my turn."
 
She leans back against the railing, which is perhaps more dangerous than usual in a crow's nest, though her balance seems as effortless as it is upon the ground. Content to let the silence be what it is, she takes a moment to survey the sky, to let its glory dazzle and delight her. It doesn't seem to matter how many times she sees it, like this; she has the same humbled, awed reaction, every time.
 
But then, without looking down -- giving him privacy from her all-too-empathetic eyes, perhaps -- she does speak, softly as a whisper of silk upon the ear. "...would it help you to talk about it?" There's no real question what 'it' is.

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr takes a moment to think, he stands up fully, and then decides he's sick of standing, sitting down in the Crows' nest and looks up at the sky. He takes a moment to say anything, perhaps collecting his thoughts...perhaps being broody again.
 
"I try to be stright forward and honest. I don't like being deceptive, though the line of work sometimes requires me to be. I am like this because I want to not just be honest with those around me and those I know...but to be honest with myself. There is a...great deal that I have to do in a day, I wouldn't say it's like your power, but I have to make a effort to keep it under wraps, or at least direct it positively. It's a power that wants to destroy."
 
"Seeing the look of fear on their faces.." he says, "Turning my weapon on them, feeling that thing's voice inside my head, something stirred that I couldn't control. The fact that I almost slaughtered people I actually care about, because I was too weak willed to stop the flow of power.." he trails off, closing his eyes.
 
"They're afraid of me, and it's probably for the best."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine kneels down next to him. It's a tight fit, and their knees touch, but her diminuity makes up for his size; it's just possible. Then she listens, at first without looking at him, eventually drawn to do just that. It's easy now, of course, that the height differential is mostly gone.
 
She nods admiringly when he speaks of being honest with himself -- and understandingly at his statements about Darkness. Some might mistake it for philosophizing, but she does not; she knows all too well how badly the twin powers of the cosmology want to be wielded.
 
But when he talks about the fear, and the loss of control, the self-recrimination... she fills with something far more poignant than pity and more piercing than sorrow: a profound compassion.
 
"I'm not afraid of you. I fear the Darkness sometimes, but never the man... because while you may not have been able to keep that creature from using you, you stopped /yourself/ before it could do any lasting harm. Your love for your friends was stronger than its hatred. That's the opposite of being weak-willed, Sir Knight. True strength doesn't come from being invincible... you were vulnerable, at every disadvantage, but you fought, and overcame it."

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"You're not afraid of me because.." Angantyr considers the words again. "I...I'll be honest, I don't understand you. You've been through hell, the powers of darkness have destroyed your home, plague this world, and you barely know me and throw your trust at me without even so much as blinking?" he pauses and thinks about how to phrase it without being insulting, "How? How is it that you can do this, and not worry about your life? Hasn't it crossed your mind that I could turn you in, betray you to the Shadow lords?" he kinda just stares at her again, "Yet here you are asking me to protect you and now listening to my worries." he just shrugs his shoulders.
 
"I can't beat you." he says, laughing, "I don't think I could stand up to that. It's completely foreign to me, but at the same time it doesn't feel wrong either. Ha." he says, shaking his head. "I don't want to be invicible, Princess. I want strength, sure, but I don't want a power that would consume me...those stories never end well, too much would be lost for what I gained." he comments...
 
"I did...I only did so because of you and them, stopping me before I could do something horrible, waking me up from whatever darkness I was being drawn into. Are you saying that if it happens again, that I should just trust that they'll be there for me?" he asks, "Even with the look of fear in Avira's eyes?"

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
There's so much to respond to that Jasmine hardly knows where to begin. She's more confused by his first question than anything -- 'how is it that you can do this?' How can she not, when faced with the bundle of contradictions that he represents? Darkness and light, savage revenge and noble honor, a yearning for virtue even as he denies his own. Her brilliant smile is all the answer she gives, when he shrugs. It outshines the moon, like the sun's suddenly come over the horizon, and it's all for him -- the soft and the hard, the sharp and the smooth, the joy and the pain. She loves it all, accepts him exactly for who he is, without reservation, and expresses that without a single word.
 
But he gets her to break the silent streak with his joke. "It's not a contest!" she exclaims, when he laughs; she seems equally offended at the thought and amused at the sentiment, then falls silent again to listen to the rest of what he has to say.
 
His question isn't answered without thought, but there's no hesitation or diffidence in her voice once she's gathered her words. "I think that trust is not weakness," she murmurs at last. "You could have killed her, when she left herself open to tackle you, but you didn't. She did what she did because she believes in you, scary or not. If Avira can trust you to be strong enough to stop yourself from doing something terrible -- the least you can do is to trust her to care. But you should also listen to me when I tell you that we didn't stop you. You stopped yourself... and our reminding you of our friendship never would have worked if that bond wasn't real. The brightest light may cast the darkest shadows, Angantyr... but..."
 
She sits up a little straighter, her hands rising to emphasize certain words; a storyteller's pose. Her voice is almost hypnotic, clear and sweet and totally earnest. "Imagine yourself in a great hall, with all of the lights turned off. Total darkness. In your hand is a flashlight. A flick of the thumb sends a beam through the darkness; while the flashlight's beam isn't infinitely powerful, all of the darkness in the universe, if you could bring it into the hall, would have no effect on it whatsoever."
 
Leaning forward, she whispers a great secret: "There is no battle between darkness and light. The battle takes place in the thumb." In the choices you make. She trusts him to make good ones.

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr listen to this, he does listen. It is a lot to think on, a lot to conside...but after a few moments he nods to her. "The thumb, huh? That's a odd thing to say." he speaks, opening his eyes a bit more fully and looks up at the moon. "Maybe.." he finally says, focusing his gaze back on her. "I have to admit, my life has been better sense I met Avira. It's been a long time sense I allowed myself to trust, to believe in someone besides my own strength." he continues. "Then you come in, and without a second thought trust me, and...I can't say that I don't also feel the same. Despite the pain in your life...here you are trying to take the burden for others." he comments slowly.
 
"And your right...it was my desire to not hurt her that jarred me out of it. It's guilt, guilt and shame. I feel like I shouldn't have done that to begin with, that I should be stronger to resist it. It hurts, to see that look in her eyes like I did, but I can't, no I won't reject the reasons behind it. If I didn't care, I guess it wouldn't hurt." he pauses.
 
He looks at her, "What about you? I'm not the only one with pain, certainly there is something weighing on your heart if the nightmares persist? I wouldn't be a very good friend if all I did was share my problems with you."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine listens to Angantyr work his way through his thoughts; when staring at him doesn't seem quite right, they watch the moon together, but otherwise she meets his eyes, studying him patiently, warmly. The moonlight gilds everything in silvery light. Her eyes are luminous with it, and only moreso as he comes to his conclusion. She doesn't pass judgement on it one way or another -- it's his feelings that are important, not her opinion, though it's a very positive opinion -- but her gladness and approval for his choosing to face his feelings are a palpable thing.
 
When he turns it around on her, she can't help but accept that as fair. Goosebumps prickle on her skin, though, from a combination of the chilly night wind and her memories of the dreams. She burrows a bit more deeply into her robes, hands disappearing within her sleeves.
 
"It's my home," she says in a tiny voice. "And my family. I fear for them both."

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"It's not lost, right?" Angantyr says, "It exist, in the world. Heartless might have it right now, it might be ruled by an enemy...but it is still there, right? Right now you're not strong enough to take it...but." he says, "Maybe someday you'll weild the strength." he says, "I won't lie, the road's probably not going to be easy, you might lose things along the way.."
 
"That elusive dream that you dare not think of still exists: hope." he says, "Yes, the dark knight spoke of hope, don't tell anyone, I might get kicked out of the club." he grins, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
 
"Who knows, I might be inclined to aid. Because it's not a burden even you can hold on your shoulders. The fate of kingdoms is not something anyone can take alone."

'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine nods in agreement to essentially everything the dark knight has to say. "It's what they must be suffering while I gather that strength that I fear," she elaborates quietly. "And I also fear that Agrabah's troubles are tiny in the greater tapestry of events... and that it might simply disappear while I fight the bigger war. But everything that you say is true," and her gentle smile rekindles, "And to hear /you/ say it does me a great deal of good. Thank you."
 
She yawns, sleepless nights and those of sleep-worse-than-sleeplessness beginning to catch up with her. "It's true for you, too, you know. Your kingdom lives on in you... and its fate, written in how you live your life, is your path to walk, with others." There's a clear sense that she could go on, but chooses not to lecture or force the issue; merely acknowledging it is enough.
 
Stretching her arms over her head -- there isn't space up here to untangle her legs and stretch them too, though she resettles her hips -- is a very fluid, almost feline motion. "I should probably climb down... before I fall down."

'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr stands up, pulling himself to his feet.
 
"Yeah, probably a good idea. Take advantage of the rest you can get, Princess. And...thanks." he says, and then, "Now off with you. Go sleep, and try to have some better dreams."

They're On A Boat - Part One: The Storm

2012-12-05T00:42:42Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/02
|Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr, Avira and Maira to Bevelle. At first the trip is pleasant, but a devastating storm rises, and something waits for them in the foggy 'calm', afterwards... (GMed by [[Jasmine]])
|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Avira, Faris Scherwiz, Jasmine, Maira
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' After forty-eight hours of jello-boned, aching-stomached, spinning-headed seasick misery, the next three days of fair weather and calm seas rank highly among the best of Jasmine's life. She loves the ocean with the same dazzling exuberance that she loves anything, and embraces every aspect of shipboard life, throwing herself into scrubbing the poop deck as gladly as untangling fishing lines or hauling ropes. Her hands blister and bleed more severely than they ever did at Garden, and she endures it without a single complaint. The rigging becomes something of an obsession of hers, and she's utterly fearless up there, swinging from mast to mast, perching on the spars, and especially, spending long hours in the crow's nest, the breeze sweeping her hair behind her, just staring at the many faces and moods of the endless, wonderful sea, and its mate, the far-horizoned sky. Gazing up at the dancing stars, she can feel them looking back, beaming at her. And in those moments, she is on her balcony, surrounded by her family, home at last. Home. She's abandoned her robes and veil after the first couple days, and seems subtly more comfortable without them, her steps even lighter, her breathing more relaxed, as though she's shed some burden far more massive than a few pounds of ratty brown fabric. It's the Heartless, of course, or more accurately the lack thereof. For the first time since she fled the Palace, she actually feels... free. One night, she's sitting on the deck of the ship, her hands doing an inadequate job of weaving herself a hat to keep the sun off, out of dried chocobo greens that were waiting in the hold for feathered beasts who aren't here to eat them. Her expression is patiently amused, her grin set with a stubborn edge as the brim falls apart -- again. She watches the sailor next to her work on his basket, studying his hands carefully, then starts over for the sixth time. A sigh escapes her, the sound of utter contentment.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira really wants to love the ocean. She does, really, but it is highly stressful being on a boat made of wood and canvas, surrounded miles around by water when you can't swim, and you occasionally set yourself on fire during your sleep. Thus, Maira has just sort of not really slept, unless someone is watching her. Since she's not sleeping, she comes up on deck, thinking the breeze will help her stay awake. She smiles over to Jasmine, waving. "Oh hi! A Sailor's life for you hmm?" she says with a grin. At least Maira isn't seasick! That would really suck!

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr had been coming and going, his ability to use coordiors of darkness helps with gathering supplies on the run, with the added benifit of not having to stop. It's disconcerting for the crew, but it's something he's grown used to by those who do not use or have darkness in one's heart. However, more than once Angantyr came back rather injured...the last time he came back, however, not only was he injured, he hasn't come out of his quarters for a while. Something shook him up good, and he wasn't up for speaking with /anyone/. However, on this night, Angantyr has decided to leave his quarters and has done so by resting against one of the ledges looking over the dark water. The moon was high in the sky at this point, casuing him to take a long breath in of sea air. Angantyr, wonders, what would have happened if he had instead went into sailing. He was fairly good at map making, a skill he has had to let die over the years to work on his marshall training...but... He always did have a love of the sea. Avira and he had talked about it frequently, and one of their meeting places was an ocean. It also shows that he hasn't been sea sick once during the entire trip, for the little he's been on the ship initially.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Fun fact. Avira's not much of a fan of rough seas either. She spent most of those days above deck for it seemed that every time she went into a cabin during those times, she would get even more and more sick. The effect seemed to lessen the worst when she holed herself up in the crow's nest for an hour or two. Failing that, she'd try to keep herself busy to keep her mind off the misery. As a member of a clan, Avira's no stranger to work. Spending time not working would feel even wierder to her. Seems she's spent more than a moment talking to Angantyr, threatening to make the supply stops instead of him because he had this nasty tendency of picking fights with everyone! For a little while tonight, Avira spent it going through a book that she borrowed from Jasmine, who had in turn borrowed it from SeeD. It was some sort of guide to the extradimensional horrors and the like of the world-important, as they were heading for Sin's territory. But for now, she's finished studying. Unable to sleep in light of what she's been reading, she exits her cabin and heads out into the night. From there, it doesn't take long for her to spot that certain dark knight. For a few seconds, she considers sneaking up on him but quickly realizes that could end badly. Like with her thrown overboard. Instead, she approaches him from an angle that'll make sure he can spot her coming. "Hey. Also couldn't sleep much, hm?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Each time Angantyr's returned, Jasmine has gently tended his wounds -- or offered to -- without hesitation, question or judgement. Her worry is of the silent, supportive variety, the serene kind that has all of time for him to decide to open up to them, or not ever do so at all. She'd be there, all the same. She glances over at him, placing her terrible hat on her head and letting it fall to pieces in her hair, trying to make him, and the others, smile. "I'd like that," she murmurs to Maira, her voice a soft descant over the music of dark waves and silver moonlight. "If you want to sleep, I can watch over you." The other girl's predilection towards accidental fiery destruction is undisturbing to her, and there are plenty of buckets and plenty of sea. Take seven on the hat starts up, but her attention is no longer fully on her weaving. Rising gracefully, she picks at the greens with her fingers while crossing the deck in a rolling gait as steady as any pirate's, towards the night watch's hotpot. As she passes Avira and Angantyr, her greeting is dark-eyed and wordless, to avoid interrupting them further, but warm as the deserts of her birth.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira can't deny that she is tired. It takes her energy just to not release her magic accidentally, not to mention all the travel. She's never exactly been hardy either. "Really....? Maybe I should..." she replies. She looks over toward Avira and Angantyr, her head tilted slightly. She looks a bit puzzled. Her thoughts are obvious. "Ugh," she says, reaching up to rub her eyes. "Alright. Yeah. I'll try to rest..." she says, then lays down on deck, pillowing her head on some coiled rope. Better to be outside and closer to the water so she can, you know, be extinguished if necessary.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "Hmm?" Angantyr asks her, and shrugs. "No, not really. Something is...keeping me up. I can't tell if it's just something that happened recently or something is putting me on edge." he comments a bit before turning away from the open sea to face Avira which gets him in line to see Jasmine put the hat on her head, which fails spectacularly at being a hat. However, it was a wonderful joke because Angantyr immediately is trying not to laugh, putting a hand over his mouth and trying to look grim and imposing. It is failing horribly. Coughing after a minute he turns back to Avira, "What about you? Still sea sick?" he asks her, but the question is fairly generally open to both Jasmine and Avira. He glances at Maira not understanding her question and instead bids her good night. "Don't worry, if any heartless show up we'll point your sleeping at them." he says, with a grin. Luckily his UMP is very high. That's Use Magic Person. "We shouldn't be too much farther to the port. After that I guess we'll not have to be on the run for a little bit. Assuming everything goes according to plan and nothing unforseen or something ignored comes up."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "Is it your-" Avira is literally THIS CLOSE to actually saying 'Spider Sense' but aborts the reference altogether. Angantyr would not understand it and would, in fact, make him quite suspicious. Not that there wasn't a good deal of suspicion around her circumstances of joining the Clan. Besides, real spiders don't actually have any sort of sense like that. "-intuition?" she quickly fills in, which sounds far more reasonable and a good deal more flattering. He turns to face her then starts making this strage look...as if he's trying to not laugh at something. Avira looks downright confused-she wasn't looking seasick today and her color has returned, so what is he...? Glancing over her shoulder, she notes the approach of the princess and the homemade hat she is wearing. "Good evening, Jasmine. Nice hat." A grin follows. Looking beyond the princess, she spies Maira curling up on the deck to sleep. While she'd rather the mage sleep in a bed, she's pretty aware of the reasons for Maira to do that. Mentally, she makes a note of her location so she can check up on her friend every now and then. "That makes me wonder, Angantyr, if sleep-casting is possible. What a danger /that/ would be." Avira gives both Jasmine and Angantyr an embarassed smile. "Noooo, the seasickness is gone now. And thank Faram for that."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Jasmine's grave poker face makes up for Angantyr's lack of one; she makes a great straightwoman, apparently. One eye closes and reopens in an agonizingly well-controlled, marvelously slow, solemn wink towards the both of them, as she saunters by. "It's the latest fashion," she quips, bits of straw sticking out of her hair in all possible directions. She disappears into the forecastle, and re-emerges moments later with a tray of hot drinks balanced on one upstretched hand, and some bedding under the other. The drinks she leaves on a ledge near the Dagda folk. "We can always buy more, and there's water nearby," she justifies quietly of the bedding, placing the pillow near Maira's head, where she can perhaps roll onto it on her own, the blanket within snuggle-distance. The princess was terribly seasick as well, but is as unashamed of it as Avira seems to be embarassed. "I'm glad too," she agrees simply. "There's too much to see and do, to spend this journey below decks." Angantyr's promise of not having to run elicits a longing look and no objections, but it's somewhat unlikely she really believes anything will be that easy.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr is trying to be positive! It's a work in progress, but hey. "Yeah. Call it that." Angantyr rumbles after a few moments after observing Maira and shakes his head. "Well, she'll be nice and stiff in the morning...if not wet." he quips. However, he considers the hot drinks next, and takes one, taking a sip for a moment before speaking again. "I also had a run in with a kid who could weild darkness too, Avira. Very powerful too.." he pauses, "And had a death wish." he says, and turns away, as if that is all that needed to be said. "It could be what is setting me on edge, I'll admit." he closes his eyes. "Still, I can't shake the feeling easily." he takes another sip. Needs more rum, he observes to himself. A lot more rum.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Jasmine's deadpan reaction to Angantyr's amusement is what finally tips it for Avira. She openly barks out a laugh now befoer quieting herself. "I dunno Angantyr, I think I need one too." she says as Jasmine briefly leaves them to procure some drinks and bedding for Maira. She nudges Angantyr, "Eh, it'll build character. But seriously, Maira's actually been homeless most her life so I think she's got experience sleeping in odd places." Of course, Avira seems a little sad about this-there were a lot of things about Maira's life that made her kind of sad. "-Oh, thank you." She'll happily accept one of the drinks. "More fights, then?" Avira tsks, "You get all the fun Angantyr. I'm telling you, you need to let me make supply runs. Did you get a name for this one?" Avira turns herself so she's leaning her back against the ship's railing, that way she can see both her dark knight and the princess. "Other than Angantyr being...well, Angantyr, this trip has been fairly smooth. Metaphorically. I say the rough seas earlier do not count, no matter how sick it's made us."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Jasmine is unfailingly optimistic about the long-term big picture, but tends to not underestimate the challenges of the road to that happy ending. They're so much a part of her life, now, that she'd be a fool to forget them entirely. The core of her belief in the others comes down to the expectation of great strife, and complete faith in their ability to overcome it, to rise above. As she looks between the laughing Avira and now more serious Angantyr, who to her embody a great deal of the hope for the future -- people with complicated problems, difficult lives, who get knocked down and stand back up again and again -- a soft glow kindles in her eyes. She takes her own drink and wraps her chilled, cracked palms around the mug; steam rises from it to envelop her face. Maira draws out her protective instincts, and the half an eye she keeps on the girl is fond, and unrelated to any threat she poses to the ship. She watches over her peace, not her peril. "It's been marvelous. But there's a storm coming," she whispers, craning her head back on her neck to look up at the endless diamond sky, entirely lacking in clouds. It isn't a premonition of doom, from her lips, but a promise of change. "Don't worry, though... the dawn is brightest, afterwards."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr makes a noice at Jasmine's words, non-commental, but he silently agrees with her. It's going to be rough, but after that...well who knows. Bright or not, Angantyr has no intention of not facing the storm. Bullheadedness or shear determination, one or the other really and perhaps both. Despite Jasmine's hopes for him, there is a long dark road he'll have to walk. However, it is looking less and less likely it will be the road he has to walk alone. He has not entirely been able to decide what he thinks about this. Angantyr shrugs, he did not get a name from Riku, just a kid who had a death wish and a lot of power. Both these things don't boad well, assuming he lived. He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure at all and he kindof worries if that was something else that will weigh on his souls. "I did not know that." he speaks to Avira about Maira. "I really don't know her very well, besides her crazy nature," which Angantyr seems to like that. "I guess we all have dark spots to our pasts."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' A faint noise of contemplation escapes Avira when Angantyr shrugs off the question of names. So he clearly didn't get a name. Maybe that Leida character had an older brother wandering around wreaking havoc because this certainly doesn't sound like anybody Avira knows. Riku had done a good job of avoiding the huntress ever since she voiced suspicion about his magic that one time. Altogether, she was unaware of the darkness inside the silver-haired teenager. "Well...we are fellow VALKYRI." Avira explains to Angantyr, "She was one of the founding members, in fact. We do a lot of work together so you're bound to see more of Maira." Especially if Angantyr keeps popping up around her while Avira is outside of Ivalice. "Ah...yes...dark spots." The huntress goes silent for a moment, watching Angantyr, thinking. He was probably already suspicious about where she came from. Maybe she should just /tell/ him before he figures out she was lying on her own, like Mercade and Skoll did. But at the same time... ...nah, it didn't matter, right? "A storm...?" Avira murmurs, looking up to the sky. There are no clouds and the stars are out, quite beautifully tonight, in fact. She looks to Jasmine, concerned, but comforted by her words about the following dawn. "Then...we'll just have to weather it, right?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Jasmine watches Angantyr ruminate. He is troubled, and so she is troubled. One hand reaches out to clasp his shoulder reassuringly, strikingly warmed from the mug of tea. His description, and the timing and nature of the fight itself, leave little doubt in her mind as to what's bothering him. "He lives," she announces, abruptly but gently, the words quietly mingling with the ship creaking from one tack to another. Absolute surety rings in her voice. "You love to fight," it's just another matter-of-fact statement, and accepting, "But I think you do not love to kill. I'm glad." Shifting her weight onto one hip, she watches Avira watch Angantyr, and there's a moment of thoughtful silence. "We will," she affirms when addressed, with quiet conviction. No qualifications, no explanations or excuses. We'll weather it. Together. Then her expression dissolves into a yawn, but she sets her chin stubbornly; she offered to watch Maira sleep, and that means she needs to stay up. She takes another long draught of that very black tea.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr nods to Avira as she speaks about her friend. There was pause in her words, but Angantyr doesn't push her on what it is. Eventually it will come out, eventually she'll speak her mind, but until then he isn't going to press her on it. He has his own secrets, why would he question others about their own without reason? It's really as simple as that! "Well, Maira, is a good kid. Spontaneous nudity asside." he grins for a minute. Of course, Jasmine touches base on what is troubling him, and he raises an eyebrow...gosh, the Princess gets around? They might have put off somewhere while he was out...it actually made sense. Faris did mention the possibility...then the kids power over the portals was amazingly strong...stronger than his own. That was a bit concerning to say the least. "I do not take pleasure in it, no. It is something that happens when you fight, those who think they can save everyone with battle are only deluding themselves." he pauses then continues, "Kids even more so...what really got to me was just...how..." he shrugs, "Hopeless he seemed. Kids shouldn't be like that. It kind of touched a chord in my own past."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' When Jasmine announces that the boy Angantyr fought lives, Avira does feel a bit of relief. Though she knows Angantyr is not opposed to killing and has done so in the past, it's actually quite comforting for her when he abstains from doing so further. At the same time she had to wonder...it wasn't really her business, was it? Then why did she care so much? She turns away to look at the sleeping Maira. "Yeah." Avira smiles. "She is." Now Avira is silent, listening to Angantyr talk, a small smile on her face. There was /that/ side of him again. That 'softy' side of his that she hoped he'd never lose. "It's hard to imagine you as hopeless, Angantyr." she says softly, taking a long drink of tea.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira sure would hate to be called a kid by Angantyr. Luckily, she's asleep! Maira has been sleeping peacefully through the conversations it would seem, at least until recently. She begins to twitch in her sleep, followed not long after by a distressed moan. Ah, the nightmares. Luckily, she wakes up /before/ she sleep-casts. She jolts upright suddenly, throwing her arms above her head as if trying to stop the sky from falling on her head. "HUNAMUNGAFRA!" .... say what? Sleep nonsense, that's what.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Jasmine endures the raised eyebrow with a lissome shrug; normally she might raise her own right back, but she's feeling more solemn than fiesty. "His name is Riku." From inside her mug of tea, eyes on his while she drinks, she listens intently to his philosophy, and his observation. Afterwards, she nods, fractionally. She can easily see him feeling a connection; had thought of similarities between them before, in fact. "I trust him, too," she says softly, and leaves it at that. *** On the sixth day, the storm comes. It blows up out of nowhere. Sky meets sea in a cataclysmic crash that drowns the horizon behind impenetrable sheets of cutting ice, screaming wind, and torrential rain. The little ship crests mountain-sized waves, to tumble down avalanches of surf into abyssal trenches. It is not the piece of masterful craftsmanship and engineering that Faris may have once enjoyed; it creaks and moans, tossed to and fro by the impersonal but no less terrifying hands of fate. The crew is doing their best to react, but they're made sloppy by fear. It will take all of Faris' skill, not only in seamanship but leadership, to get everyone through this intact.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris was never one to hide down in her cabin. Of course, it helps when there's a epic-level storm out, and she no longer has a water dragon to help balance the ship. She's a pirate, arrr, and she'll see things through. Bellowing orders in a voice that has taken fifteen years to prime, the crew is not so sloppy by fear, but the sheer winds and the rain. Of course, when you're wrestling with the ship's wheel as it creaks underneath you, people tend to listen to you. "Get yerself down below or tied to something if you insist on being on deck!" She also bellows at her dear travelling guests... especially Jasmine, since who wants a nice, pretty lady tossed overboard? Not Faris - she's already been a overboard princess, herself!

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr walks on deck, even for someone of his MASSIVE GIANT MAN self, this was hard to stand. He grabs the mast as he walks by, aiming to get near Faris. "Captain," he yells over the storm and because he is technically captain, and that is just respect right there, "What do you want me to do?" he asks. He's really strong, which is a boon, and despite his weight, he seems to be doing alright balancing himself. "I think you're going to need all the hands on deck that you can get!" he shouts again over the winds and rain. He is already soaked to the bone, armor or no, and he's going to regret these life choices in the morning. "Of course we hit a storm and are almost there! What kind of trip would this be without some sort of disaster!" he complains, but with a grin to the Pirate.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira had been hoping for a metaphorical storm. This is just downright terrifying. The first few days of rough seas had made her thoroughly sick. By the time the storm has reached its height, Avira has already emptied the contents of her stomach somewhere on the deck in a very ungraceful manner. Any further attempts to vomit are met by dry heaves. For some time, she actually ties to make herself useful above deck, tying herself down and lending what strength she had to managing the sails as the wind picks up. What she ultimately does is follow Angantyr's lead, as he did seem to have some knowledge about how to handle himself around a ship. She too looks like a drowned rat. A miserable drowned rat really trying to prove herself not just to Angantyr, but to the whole world. "Tell us what we can help with!" she calls out, her voice barely audiable over the rain.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira is below deck because she's not so stupid that she would stand around on deck getting in the way or falling over board while the sailors are doing useful things. Maira is considering however, trying to go out, tie herself to something and attempt to help them weather the storm with her magic. She's pretty sure she could do /something/ and she's tired of being tossed around below deck, feeling useless. Alright. She has an idea. Maira gets to her feet and stumbles toward the door, only to be thrown bodily against the wall as the ship leans heavily starboard. She smashes her shoulder hard, crying out as she does so, but immediately gets back to her feet and makes a run for the door. Nearby, there is a coil of rope which she swiftly ties around herself before going up on deck. Immediately she is assaulted by the wind and rain. The storm roars like a hungry beast, the ocean flinging herself against the ship like a child throwing a tantrum. Maira takes a deep breath, looking over to see the captain and her companions gathering to, likely, either see what they can do to help or discuss their imminent watery graves. Maira scrambles across the deck, rope around her waist, and slides across the slippery surface until she can latch onto something solid. "I can maybe try to counteract the wind! Shelter the ship!" she cries, hoping she can be heard over the din. She's not /sure/ she can do it of course, but she is sure willing to try.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Jasmine has nothing to prove. Okay, that's a giantic lie; Jasmine has a great deal to prove, she despises her past of being taken care of while others put themselves on the line. But she's no fool -- this is a crisis situation, and this isn't about her issues, it's about Angantyr's very accurate assessment that everyone's needed. There are good storms for learning how to sail in a storm. This is not one of them, and instinctively she understands the seriousness of the situation, the very real peril they're in. Rather than challenging the howling winds with her comparably mellow voice, she simply raises an arm to Faris in a confident salute, expressing her belief in the captain's abilities before binding herself fast to the ship in a series of surprisingly impressive knots. She's been paying attention, the last few days. And a good thing, too, as the next wave isn't so much ridden out as crashed into; a gray-white wall of crushing water that sweeps absolutely everything that isn't tied or weighted down off the deck. There was a decent chess set that came with the ship, and the only one who's going to play on it now is Davy Jones. Perhaps literally... these are strange seas. Jasmine's vomit joins Avira's down in the locker, their shared ignominy eliciting a grimly amused grin that banishes the last of the fear from her eyes. Then she sets about reclearing pathways across the deck, the way she's seen the sailors do. Her tiny frame fights to keep the rough, sea-soaked lines clear of each other, so that the people who really know how to /use/ them can do so as quickly and cleanly as possible. The next wave rises, the wind snapping in an unexpected new direction; there's not much time.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris points at Ang. "Get on the mainsail rope!" The captain points at a length of wire where men are trying to hold it, but the waves continually are sending them backwards. Ang's strength can be used very well there. She then ducks her head to peer around the deck she sees Jasmine clearing the top deck, and Faris thanks whatever goddess of winds and seas and sails there are for -smart- travelers. "WATCH THE SAILS!" The poor shipmate up in the crows' nest, for the record, looks /absolutely miserable/. To Maira: "Do what you can, but do it quick - if this keeps up, we're going to be royall screwed!" Oh, Faris.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr doesn't pause, he runs for the mainsail roap. His hands move, grabbing the thing with his massive strength, and digs his heels into the deck as he starts to help hold it. Angantyr's giant size and boon of strength will make this easier (though not completely easy...this was daunting even by his standards) but with the help from the other guys on deck it was going to keep things steady. "Hey, in hinesight, that's a great name for a ship!" he yells at Faris, who might not be able to hear him. "Royally Screwed." he yells to the other Pirates about him, trying to get a chuckle out of them. No need to be grim when facing death, that comes later.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' It was a darn good thing Avira elected to tie herself down. She's a small person. As the water sweeps over the deck, she immediately loses her footing and slides over the boards until the rope jerks tight and stops her abruptly. Scrambling and flailing, she pushes herself back up onto her feet and stops suddenly, spotting not only Jasmine up here, but Maira. She was seriously contemplating retreating to below deck until she spies those two up here too. She rushes for the rail where she tied herself down and undoes the rope so she can move to elsewhere on the ship, following after Angantyr. She diverges to lash herself to the mast, quickly securing her lifeline before the next deck-sweeping wave strikes. From there, she takes hold of one of the lines to the sails. She didn't have Angantyr's raw strength, but it was something. Her fingerless gloves at least make the ropework slightly more bareable, but the strength of the winds begins to even wear away the thick leather on her palms.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' When the wave crashes toward them, Maira is unable to stay on her feet. Even though she's tied herself down, it sweeps her from her feet and slams her against the side of the ship. It is not a good feeling to be flung around like a rag doll. When the wave passes she gets to her feet, coughing and wiping salt water from her eyes. Yes. She has to do something about this. "I will do what I can!" she cries to Faris, then struggled against her mind to get her magic in order. A very difficult feat on a ship being tossed around violently on deadly seas. Deep breathes. Uist is there to help her. A glow surrounds the mage, a bubble of swirling air that forms something of a forcefield around her. Slowly, it begins to expand as she pours her willpower and her energy into it. She looks might she be able to do this, but it is going to take her a bit of time, and if she loosed her concentration? The magic weave of air will spiral out of control.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' The storm lasts for what feels like days and is actually hours. It isn't a sprint of work, but a marathon, though this isn't really obvious until afterwards, for the inexperienced; there are flashes of memory of critical moments, though all moments were critical. Angantyr anchoring the mainsail rope, steadfast amid chaos, when every other man on the line has to be called away to handle a loose sail. Avira anchoring /him/, when a plank of railing snaps off and bashes him off-balance. Maira mastering her fear and her magic, creating a tiny area of calm around herself, a place for brief but extraordinarily precious respite, where one can hear themselves think. And Faris shouting orders, spotting problems before they start. Up in the rigging, swinging from a rope, snatching the crows-nest crewman from certain doom, when he's falling. No one escapes unscathed. It's like being pounded, ground up and spat out by the elements, for hours, and hours, and hours. But through strength of arm, will, and heart, the ship and its occupants emerge relatively intact, not a single hand lost. The ceasing of the wind is as sudden as it began, ears popping in the desperately loud silence. The ship slows to a crawl, the ocean flat as a mirror, and the fog, extending seemingly infinitely in all directions, muffles shouts to whispers and makes visibility more than five feet away quite impossible. There is an ethereal quality to everything, enhancing tiny details even as the largest views are obscured. It is rather similar to waking up from a long nightmare to find oneself still dreaming.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr's head is a bit red from where the piece of the ship hit him. It wasn't much, ususally it wouldn't have phased him at all, but it was like a avalanche, there is just that little bit of energy that turns into a wave of death. That wave of death would have been his own, and the possibly the crews' if not for Avira's timely grab, managing to keep him balance and allow him to reget his grip. This takes longer...it's a storm, a windy one, and even for his power it takes a feet of strength. But Avira's help makes it possible. Finally, the calm comes and Angantyr looks down at the woman still holding him still. A grin comes to his lips as he finally dares to make a crack at the situation. "If it wasn't for the fact that you probably just saved all of our butts, I'd say you were just looking for an excuse." he quips. However, he aches...the effort needed to do what he did was tolling, his legs and arms feel like jello, but he still manages to stand taking a look at the area around him. "We're probably way off course..."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Most of the crew members are picking themselves up - the man that was saved from the crow's nest is doing a utterly admirable job of not throwing up over the side of the ship. Most of the others are slowly getting back into action, trying to take advantage of what little wind there is. 
"Storms do that." Faris says to Ang, shaking her head, her wettened-to-dark purple hair plastered to her head. "I'll get us back on course as soon as they've got the sails up." 
Then, in a rare moment, Faris looks at the crew and her guests, and praises them all. "You did wonderfully; I'm sure that moment of calm helped all of us get what wits we had left together, Maira. Jasmine, you're a solid rock in a moment of panic, Ang, Avira... we desperately needed your help." 
"Thank you all."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira is pretty shaken up. Every breath causes pain, and there is some blood from her scalp oozing down to her forehead and approaching her eye. When the storm suddenly passes, Maira's magic flickers out, falling apart now that she isn't there to maintain it. She is exhausted. More tired than she has ever been in her life. So tired she's up and come around the other side of tired, and couldn't sleep if she wanted to. She climbs weakly to her feet, looking around. "Is...is everyone alright?" she asks. Maira looks to Faris, nodding a little. She's disappointed that she couldn't have done more. She'd been hoping to extend it over the entire ship. She looks over to Ang and Avira then, the pair of them clinging to each other. Maira blinks. Hard. Ooooooh.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira comes out of this doubly glad she had her self anchored the whole time. How else could she, being a bit on the "runty" side. Then there was that one terrifying moment she saw the piece of sail come down. Angantyr's footing started to slip and in that second, despite the soreness and misery, she sprung into action, grabbing onto Angantyr tightly with both of her hands. Her grip held firm, even in spite of the wet and shredded gloves clinging to her hands. Still holding on when the calm comes, her arms are stiff and aching. When Angantyr teases her over it, the exhausted huntress actually looks a little flustered. "I dunno what you're talkin' about." she mutters hastily in an...odd-sounding accent. Coughing, she pulls away and slumps to her knees. Her head was pounding and her throat was dry-symptoms she clearly recognized as dehydration. "Ugh...I need water." Faris's thanks get a weak smile from Avira, "Well we did promise to pull our weight for this passage." The accent is gone. Struggling, Avira forces herself to stand and staggers over to Maira, reaching out a hand for her forehead, "Maira, you're bleeding."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' "The fog be thicker than the head after lentil stew night, and the wind be... false, cap'n," announces one of the more sturdy crew members, after a trip up and back from what's left of the crow's neck made under slippery conditions in record time. He has the easy grace of a dancer and the build of a linebacker, with his controlled fall back to the deck heartstopping yet completely within his means. The little ship tattooed on his adam's apple bobs up and down, his rattled nerves creating another storm on his surface, reflecting the man within. In all their years of sailing together, that piece of ink has never so much as wavered. "It ain't the air that's movin' us, in truth." His biceps bulge as he shrugs his mystified answer to the obvious response: 'what is?' The big ship rocks a bit to the left, as though there's something shifting underneath the invisible sea, which is itself currently hidden within those endless, rolling banks of fog. Then the man stumbles forward, his sudden, dramatic lunge quite at odds with the relatively sedate bobbing of the deck. He sways in perfect silence, then falls on his face... with a long, slender, black throwing knife piercing him in the shoulder blade and emerging in his gut. At that angle, it would have taken Faris in the heart, had he not jumped in its path. The knife explodes into spiraling swirls of black smoke. And /then/ all hell breaks loose, as a hail of knives, mixed with the occasional much less subtle black powder bomb, descend upon the boat... from above. Eerie yellow eyes wink in and out, difficult to see at a distance but unmistakably Heartless, and unmistakably crawling all over the masts and sails...

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira reaches up to wipe what she thought was water from her brow, only to find that it was blood. "Oh. Well...that'll happen," she replies, rather non-chalant about it. She may be in shock. This is likely the case. "I'm okay..." she replies, getting to her feet, only for all hell to break loose. She's expended all her energy. She is quite simply spent....and faints.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris grits her teeth. "That's what I was afraid of." She informs her shipmate, and then she braces herself as the ship lurches - and her dear kinsman takes a knife to the shoulder, and then the gut. "... heartless." Maira faints, and before Faris can question it, two crew members are helping to shuffle the girl below deck. She withdraws her blade, the mythril shining in the gloom, even as her hand digs into her long coat, a mythril ring shining in her hand as she launches it at the higher-up heartless. "ATTACK!"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "Yes. Heartless." Angantyr says, he can hear them...his blade moves, swinging in a massive arch as blades fly down at him. Angantyr AUTO-DEFLECTS one...straight to the shoulder! It stings! However, the massive mace swings upwards, sending a few of the blades right back towards the heartless jerkasses. He can portal, but the visibility thing is not on his side. Angantyr doesn't waste time, "I don't think you needed to tell me that. captain!" he speaks, before starting to start going up the side of the mast, up towards the heartless...or at least get closer to them. Getting closer allows him greater visibility, a cooridor opens up, and he slips through, getting towards the main part of the sails. Angantyr isn't fast, but he's steady, his mace moving to swing at anything within his reach. "Heartless or not, you all still die the same!" he shouts to them.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "Maira, you don't look okay..." Avira says, concerned. She reaches out to touch the girl's forehead, ready to call upon some good ol' Ivalician first aid. But before she can administer such healing, Maira faints against her. Thankfully, two of Faris's crew members are there to take her to the safety of the cabin. Just as she moves, one of Faris's crewmates bites it and shadow knives rain from the skies. "#&(*!" Avira expresses in an unladylike manner and whirls, looking upward, but seeing absolutely nothing by the occasional flash of yellow eyes above. Pushing past her soreness and thirst, Avira springs into action, scrambling up the rope rigging to the masts. Thankfully, her small size makes her pretty agile.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Faris' crew responds to her call with a vengeful roar, and are the first into the breach, skillfully clambering up the masts into... total silence. That moisture in the air makes it very difficult to tell what's going on more than a few feet away. These Heartless pirates aren't ninja, but they've definitely got terrain on their side -- infuriating, considering that this isn't even their ship. But suckers on the bottoms of their feet allow them to commit shenanigans against reason like hanging upside-down from the boom to slice at Angantyr from below, just as he exits his Corridor; Darkness may provide him passage, but against these foes, it does not provide surprise. Another pair wait until Avira's pretty high up her line, then start slicing through it like gigantic jerks. Still others are badly rattled by Faris' Moonrings -- one even explodes into the tiny green, blue, and yellow orbs of victory, which float in midair, eerily remaining at exactly their point in space relative to the ship as it continues to yawn a slow, syrupy course through the fog. They respond to this insult with more knives, reasonably enough, then they and all their buddies blink out of sight, repositioning themselves higher up the masts. One rips down his inky black trousers and moons the crew for good measure.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr gets nailed, it is a brutal assault as he's surrounded by the heartless, taking brutal amounts of pain from sword and claw... Before the dark knight falls off the side of the mast and smashes into the deck below. He bounces once, and rolls to the side coughing up blood and growling in pain. He does not get up right away, slowly pushing himself to his hands and feet... And then the darkness starts to pour out from him. He hasn't done this infront of the crew yet...but... The darkness pours out of his body, connecting itself to his armor. The armor itself changes dramatically, shifting into plate instead of the standard armor he wares. It all becaomes a solid mass of darkness, tendrills leaping off of it. The worst part is that looking directly at the armor was like staring into the abyss itself. The armor continues up till it covers his head. The full plate helmet claps on, leaving absolutely nothing in the terms of skin visible, as a crimson light seems to come behind the mask, giving the eye slits a glow. Slowly, he looks up, right at the heartless...

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris masterfully dodges out of the way, her lithe frame dashing around. She smoothly pulls out a small lance, pausing for a moment as she runs her hands over one half - it burning a bright red - and the second half, turning a icy blue. She then smiles. And -- doesn't attack? Instead she turns and smoothly claps her hands together, her magic being used in a swift motion as green light swirls around Avira and Ang, her eyes glowing as she does so in a moment of brief concentration. Any little bit helps, aye?

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira gets up pretty far and looks up, seeing the Heartless ahead cutting through the ropes she was climbing. Panic surges through her and she climbs faster, leaping up for that final dangling rung as the ropes are severed. The good news is, she makes it! The bad news is, with no bottom to anchor the rope ladder, the top swings free, with Avira on it. To make matters worse, it swings her right into the main mast of the ship and she smashes into it heavily. Desperate, she claws and clings to the mast so she doesn't plummet to the deck of the ship. "Rgrrrgh..." Her strength of heart pushes through and she claws her way up, reaching the main horizontal mast and pulling herself up to stand. Steadying herself with one hand, Avira draws the Spine with the other, magic immediately shooting down the length of the blade, encasing it in ice. With a grand swipe of the weapon, she directs this magic, which peels off the blade, at the pair of Heartless that had cut her rope ladder.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' With Faris and Angantyr both back down on the deck and thus relatively easy targets (as compared to many of the sailors, who are at this point flying through the air, in and out of sight, on ropes, or engaged in duels with other Heartless high on the masts), the Heartless reward this with a terrible bombardment of knives -- obviously being summoned from nothing, they disappear as quickly as they strike -- and rum bombs. Sweet-smelling black smoke mixes with the ghastly white fog. It would be rather lovely if it wasn't making it SO DARN HARD TO SEE. It's like being back in that storm, with blades replacing shards of hail, and concussive force replacing winds. Their one saving grace is that the Heartless are /so far up/, now, quite invisibly so, that their accuracy is pretty terrible. They're trying to compensate with quantity over quality. Meanwhile, Avira casts 'transform Heartless to health orbs' in one second flat; her non-metaphorical ice shards encase them utterly, and they fall off their perch. They disappear soundlessly below, but one cannot imagine they ended well, whether it was being shattered on some other part of the deck, or tossed into the drink. A more impressive specimen, every inch of his lithely sinuous black form tattooed in white (possibly including the parts hidden by his breeches), salutes her tauntingly with his cutlass from the next level up the mast. Like a gymnast on a balance beam, including the pointed toes, he awaits his opponent...

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Blade's rain down on Angantyr's new armor. The armor shatters and breaks under the attack, he flinches, and blood can be seen dripping through his various wounds...he's exhausted from the days activities, and he's barely standing now...but somehow... He still stands. Then he was gone, the Cooridors opening again, and this time he leaves the portal, right over the heartless with a mighty roar. The claws move, aiming to grab one unlucky Heartless, aiming to lift it into the air and start litterally draining the essence from it... Before his own blood and darkness mix together, creating a dark wave of energy, aiming to consume the heartless that get too close to him, hundreds of claws ripping from the shadows to consume whatever they can!

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris stares at the Heartless as they approach her. There was a pirate here, she's gone now - in a blurring burst of speed that would make -anyone-, ninja, warrior, racer proud, she manages to shift around the heartless attacks. She then smiles, an ... oddly dark one. She turns around, the twin lance, burning ice and glowing fire swishing through the air as she makes her way back into melee range as she attacks.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Like a pirate, it'd be pretty awesome for Avira to stick her sword between her teeth and keep climbing. Except the Spine is too big and too oddly shaped for Avira to get her mouth around it. With the rest of her prey now residing on the higher levels, she resorts to sheathing the spine behind her, she looks up and...spots that /different/ looking pirate-type Heartless. Avira's eyes narrow and she crouches, one hand bracing herself against the mast. Mustering her strength again and driving her battered body even harder, she leaps upward, catches the next level of horizontal mast with both hands, and swings herself up. With a flourish, out comes the Spine once more, and the huntress charges forward, leading with the pointy tip. Were she not be dehydrated, she'd be sweating profusely from the exertion right now. "THEY'RE UP HERE!" she calls down, "THEY'RE ALL UP HERE!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' The battle rages on. The rest of Faris' sailors seem to be acquitting themselves not honorably (yarr... u.u), but effectively (yarr! >:B), to the extent that they're visible; a pair of pirates unsheet one of the sails, loosening the lines so that they can use them as lassos to yank Heartless right off the masts and into the sea. Others have started to pull pistols, now that the Heartless at the top of the ship have no 'up' left to run to. Since nobody else has three adjectives and took a hit for the Cap'n, the ones that fall -- and very occasionally one does fall -- land with the solid thuds of knockouts, but it's not like they're bleeding out or anything. The Heartless assuredly did not approach Faris, but she approaches them with a vengeance; the antipode of ice and fire make quick work of one, two, three, six Heartless, blasted into the fog and out of the fight or poofing into more orbs. There's a virtual constellation of those grim little lights in the sky, now, more yellow than green or blue, which bodes poorly for the long-term viability of this fight if it goes on, but very well for the reward. These Heartless pirates were /loaded/ with munny. Desperately, they try to beat her back, throwing everything they have at her: knives, cutlasses, each other. They seem to be running low on bombs; thank god for small mercies. Angantyr feels the Darkness pour into himself, and the Heartless respond; some even hesitate for a critical moment, confused by the authority that his aura implies. That's right before they get totally wiped out by the wave of his void, by the dozens. From the tip-top of the crow's nest, where his corridor ultimately dropped him onto, he can JUST BARELY spot, through the fog, the shadowy sails of another ship, far enough away to explain why Heartless aren't swinging over in additional waves -- it's no longer in range for that -- close enough to explain where they came from. Then he may be distracted by Heartless swinging into the tiny, enclosed Nest with him, the whipcrack of their abused ropes heralding their almost vertical leaps. There isn't room for their swords, but claws are another matter... Avira may be fighting a single opponent rather than a large group, but he seems like their leader; many other Heartless pause in their fights to watch the duel with as keen an interest such seemingly mindless creatures can express, and are easy pickings for passing sailors, who swing onwards, saluting the warrior woman as they go by. The duelist lets her close, then in a trick of spiraling movement deflects the Spine at the last possible instant, sending it -- and her -- past him, despite the fact that this entire bar is less than a foot wide. He follows up by trying to plunge his cutlass into her back repeatedly.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr can barely spot the ship as he swings the weapon around himself. More knives and blades aim for him, and he just barely manages to stay alive. Energy flowing into him as he looks down towards Avira who is fighting the leader... He leaps from his spot and aims to litterally drop ontop of it as it swing's it's weapon towards Avira. "Captain! We got a ship off the bow! I think it's where the Heartless are coming from! It's still too far away for them to swing across!" he points it out for her, so that she can get orders sent out. The mace moves viciously, litterally aiming to just simply smash the thing out of existance with brutality.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Strange how this fight Avira's involved in is attracting a Heartless audience. Avira's too focused on her own fight to actually notice the watchers-and for good reason too. This struggle had already pushed her to her limit-she was beyond it now, running on her willpower alone. Her blade might have struck true had she not endured that storm previously. Instead, she lunges past the lead Heartless, the spine sticking into the mast behind it. Her back is wide open. It's easy pickings for the Heartless to jab his cutlass repeatedly into her semi-bare back. A yelp of pain escapes her and she lifts a foot, kicking backwards behind her to knock the Heartless away. Once she has some space, she yanks her weapon free and turns. Angantyr comes in with a vengence, much to her surprise, and Avira waits a beat until she thinks she has an opening. Then, with two mighty swings of the Spine, she unleashes to scything waves of sharp force for the leader Heartless that travel beyond the reach of her blade.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris moves - she is a fast person, as normal - she puts her strengths in evasion and skill, rather than strength; she prefers to sruvive and take awhile, than just bash them down and potentially lose an arm - and makes her way through the heartless. She tosses her twin lance at one of the crew members, who promptly uses it to try to slaughter some Heartless as Faris takes a few dangerous moves - she dashes up to the top of the main deck, where the wheel is, and launches herself off of it, landing half-way up the rigging. Once she's up there, she whirls her frame around it, climbing into the mass of heartless - at the last moment, withdrawing a shining mythril blade from her side. "Nothing we can do about it now! If we don't get the rest of these guys killed, we're the ones going to visit Davy Jones locker... permanently!" Then she promptly dives into the nearest group of Heartless she can see.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Faris plunges down through the fog, back down to the deck. She finds no Heartless to fight there, but once she gets to the opposite side of the ship, she does nearly trip over a veritable ball pit of orbs -- SO MUCH MUNNY, YARR -- which is interesting, since when defeated Heartless have been exploding into these leftovers in the main fight in the rigging, they've remained floating up there. It's like a night sky up in the sails, in fact, all those orbs. Getting up there again, she makes some more, leading her sailors to rally against every Heartless they can see. Which remains tricky, with the fog, but there's a definite sense of momentum... fewer and fewer remain unvanquished. Angantyr ditches the Heartless in the crow's nest, and left unaccosted, we'll never know what happened to them. Instead, he falls through the fog -- it makes it difficult to aim, and he nearly falls entirely past Avira's duel. On his way past, he smacks the duelist on the toe with a backswing. Then it's his turn to land in the ball pit on the top deck. And Avira, Spine in hand, draws an X in pure force, with two swings across the tattooed Heartless' entire body. The X glows brilliantly white, dims to purple, and when the dust clears, there's nothing less but more of those little balls, hanging in the air. It's very, very quiet, even taking into account that with the fog muffling noise, it's been hard to hear. So quiet that the fight must be over, and a dimly audible ragged cheer goes up as the sailors start failing to find Heartless to hit.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr hits the bottom deck...the armor starts to fade away as darkness whisps off him in greater chunks as he wills it to go away. He finally falls to a knee, the wounds starting to look dangerous now as he slowly starts to try and pull himself together. He took a beating in that engagement, more so than he normally does...but then again, Dark Knight's are known for their full offense, instead of their defense. He doesn't get up immediately either, he's nursing some pretty raw wounds, letting people cheer, and get money...and hoping nobody got spooked enough to try and finish him off.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Breathing hard from the exertion, Avira braces herself with a hand against the mast, smiling at their handiwork. She actually reaches out, experimentally, to touch one of those curious little balls these Heartless kept leaving behind. She knew what the munny ones looked like, but this was different. With no further Heartless to fight in the vicinity, Avira puts her weapon away, then looks down at the deck to Angantyr with concern. That darkness, that armor, it was what she'd fought that one day and it's surprising to see it again. Especially out here...did it mean something? Shakily, she starts to climb her way down, "Is everyone alright?" she calls out breathlessly, her body threatening to shut down from exhaustion at any moment.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Faris slides down to the main deck, tossing Ang a flask. It contains some sort of healing grog, that is undeniably liqour filled, but good at what it does. She then goes to check on Avira, a second flask on her. "I'm fine." The captain says briskly. "Maira fainted at the start, but she should be okay... has anyone seen or heard from Jasmine? I think she went with Maira, but..." Faris doesn't even look tired, even though he is.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' To recap: There was a storm, then the calm of impenetrable fog, and suddenly the Heartless showed up, swinging onto the masts and into the sails. They fought in the rigging virtually to the exclusion of all else, forcing the sailors to come to them, and retreating further upwards when pressed. But there are a bunch of the equivalent of Heartless corpses on the deck on the far end of the ship. Now the Heartless ship is leaving.
 <OOC> Avira says, "Oh fudgebuckets." 
:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr takes the grog and downs it without much of a response. He does, however, cough a bit roughly after finally getting it all down and tosses the flask somewhere. Slowly, very slowly, he considers the heartless ship... Wait...why is it leaving? That's... He squints, letting the gears turn in his head for a minute. "Where is Jasmine?" he asks Avira suddenly.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "...I didn't see her follow those guys that took Maira into the cabin." Avira says slowly, reconsidering the past few minutes. She looks around deck, plenty of guys, nearly passed out Angantyr, no Jasmine. "...one second." She rushes off to the cabin where Maira was taken and shoves through the door. Some commotion follows and Avira emerges, now looking rather frantic. "She's not here! She's not inside!"

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' "..." Faris has a sort of look on her face. The one that reads, /damn it all/. "Fuck." She'll apologize for languages later, instead she does two things - she gets up to the wheel and casts Aero straight into the sails, and wheels the ship around to start a chase. (She's done this before.)

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' There is time to collect some of those blue and green spheres, which sink into passing bodies, knitting wounds and rejuvenating energy; banishing the exhaustion of the storm, and the battle in its aftercalm fog. Between that and sheer adrenaline, it's a pretty heady brew right now. The sailors snap to, fixing up the chaotically strewn lines and sails so that their captain can get anything like mobility. The fog lifts as abruptly as it arrived as the ship simply finds its way out of it, propelled by Aero -- the bank remains, behind them. The sky is blue, the sea is bluer, the wind isn't blue but it's nice and gusty. Bracing. And an increasingly transluscent second ship is full speed ahead, straight into that wind, and making excellent time. Its planks are all of black, as are its sails, which are little more than ragged, rotting scraps of fabric. Ragged sails... what did that one brave sailor say, before he died? 'It isn't the wind.' Something's funny about the shape of the ship, too, though it takes a second look to really get it. It isn't full speed /ahead/... it's full speed /behind/. It is in full reverse, somehow, implying that all is not as it seems. Mounted on its prow is a very distinctive figurehead. By now its transformation has been going on for quite some time, flesh and fabric gradually transforming into beautifully 'carved' alabaster. Struggling against the spell, and the chains that bind her, with all her might, Jasmine spots Faris' ship finally coming out of the fog, and reaches towards it with arms outstretched. Then they're frozen that way, and the enchantment creeps up her dark canopy of hair. It's closing in on her face.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr watches with a horrified expression what happens next. Yes, horrified... He hasn't seen something like this before, he isn't a mage or knowledgable with whatever this is. His eyes narrow, there is just...something... Then darkness starts to spill out of him wildly. Darkness thrives on emotions...the darker the more it can thrive. Right now, there was just one emotion Angantyr was feeling. It was very simple, one of the basic primal emotions. Anger Pure, unrefined hatred. The darkness rumbles again, before he looks towards Faris, "Get me closer to that ship." he demands, pretense of civility gone. He doesn't even care about his own wounds. He doesn't even fully understand WHY he is so angry. A week ago she was just another face in the crowd, a week ago even if she were a friend, shit happens and people die... Now he was angry. Garland would be disappointed.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' For a few moments, Avira has disappeared below deck. It's not to mope or anything, because there will be plenty of time for THAT later. "Note to self, stick to hunting marks, bounty hunting and bodyguarding are right out." she mutters to herself as she picks through the chaotic wreck of detrius that now comprises blowdecks, everything having been jostled about due to the storm. She finally locates what she's looking for, water aside, and grabs what she needs before rushing above. Looped over her shoulder is a rope. There's a grappling hook on the end. It's at least good to see the ship speeding ahead and catching up. She heads to the fore of the ship to watch the chase, squinting ahead at that ship that had been causing so much trouble. She barely spots Jasmine before she's melted into the figurehead and her stomach turns. "...I've heard a thing or two about ships at sea with black sails..." Avira says. "..if they're true, we gotta catch that thing, and fast."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' Anger also boils up in Faris' throat. She barely knows Jasmine, but all she has to do is think about Lenna in that situation -h er dearest sister, her lands Princess, the heart that they depend on, and well... She looks over at Avira. "... most of those stories don't end well." She says, gravely. She does gesture to her crew though, who, no matter how injured, dive into work so they start to get up to speed.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' It's a good thing Faris is also cheating with magic, or this would be hopeless. Clearly as aware of its pursuit as its prisoner, the ship sluices back and forth through the water, on an impossible zig-zag course that has nothing to do with how ships are supposed to work. It uses the actual natural wind to its full advantage, forcing Faris and her crew to balance opposing forces; they can push with Aero, but not /directly/, because if they aren't very careful the winds will interfere with each other in a way that could end either in a) full calm or b) capsize. It's a question of angles. Faris is probably an excellent pool shark, because against all odds her little stolen ship continues to close, gaining inches, then feet. It's a choppy ride over the waves, swell-CRASH!, swell-CRASH! They're within range -- grappling hook, shadow jump, both -- just as the enchantment closes over Jasmine's face. Her expression, they discover as they approach, is permanently frozen into... a fierce, welcoming smile. She believes.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr moves. "Faris, support us." he says, and then he moves, aiming to litterally scoop Avira, who is easily portable given his size and strength. "Sorry, but this is the fastest way." he says, and then opens up a corridor of darkness infront of them. He turns, giving the crew a salute, and then Jumps through... There isn't enough time to finese this...which isn't something Angantyr is good at anyway, a he would no doubt end up somewhere on the deck. He immediately drops Avira to her feet and moves to pick up his mace. "So we just gota kill whatever is running this ship right?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Watching the chase is...interesting to say the least. Avira's not well versed in ships, especially the tall ships they're sailing and chasing right now. But she's pretty sure that they're not supposed to move as the one with the black sails is right now. Those rumors she's heard about this ship's sorcerous ways MUST BE TRUE. She's all ready to try the whole grappling hook thing for the -first time ever- when Angantyr wraps an arm around her waist and lifts her. "Wait, are you-" Her eyes widen as he opens the corridor. Cringing, she steels herself. She didn't like these corridors. It felt like she lost a small part of herself every time she went through one. Fortunately, it's over quickly and Avira lands on her feet, hand already reaching for her weapon. "You make it sound so easy." The usually brave Avira actually sounds a little nervous right now.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' "Crew?" "Captain?" Her best man asks, staring at her. "It's that time again." Every single one of them salutes her at her words. They know that there's a risk of no captain left after that sort of statement, and she gives them all a nod. The crew continues guiding the ship - Faris herself is only on it til she gets close nough to jump.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' It only takes a touch: when the first boots hit deck, they pass right through. Shimmering like the mirage it is, the black ship disappears entirely. Everyone lands on something smooth and slippery, but it's not wood; the 'thump' is all wrong, too sharp-sounding. This is a far tougher material, still black, but glossy with vitality. It gives a little bit underfoot, flexible in its strength, and here and there, there's a little bit of actual color; veins of electric blue. Jasmine remains a white statue, but is now suspended by dark chains that simply melt directly into a pair of towering spikes, the only two around. The wind of rapid, disorienting acceleration catches at cloaks and hair as everyone rises, higher and higher. Far, far below, Faris' ship starts resembling more of a toy boat, shrinking with distance. Its occupants stare up at one of the more impressive sea monsters they've seen in an active career of nautical freedom fighting. Behind everyone, black plates twitch, then shift backwards, revealing an elephantine orb of absolute Darkness, a pulsing void. It blinks again, and the eye begins to fill with crimson light. An ear-splitting screech shatters the air. Welcome to the head of the snake.

They're On A Boat - Part One: The Storm

2012-12-05T00:42:25Z

Liz:

They're On A Boat - Part Two: The Serpent

2012-12-04T07:26:24Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/03
|Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr, Avira and Maira to Bevelle. At first the trip is pleasant, but a devastating storm rises, and something waits for them in the foggy 'calm', afterwards... (GMed by Jasmine; part one, which this is a direct continuation of, is at: [[They're_On_A_Boat_-_Part_One:_The_Storm]] )

|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Avira, Faris Scherwiz, Jasmine, Maira
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
LIGHTS
 
It's a beautiful day to die; the sky and sea are united in their determination to be the most glorious blue possible.
 
Faris' brave and hearty crew has fought sea monsters before, but none quite so massive. The sea bubbles and churns around the giant snake's enormous circumference. Just below the surface, his -- there is a distinctly masculine quality to the serpent, separate from the superficial imagery -- tail, which has three razor-sharp, rudder-like fins to slice through water and steel with equal efficacy, swirls in place, supporting his balance. For he's reared up vertically in the air, his head hundreds of feet above water. Look out: it's a very long drop.
 
The ship struggles in the chaotic waters, but under the skilled hands of its sailors, manages to stabilize its orbit. Round and around it goes; they might be able to escape, but all in all, it looks like they don't /want/ to. The armaments of the boat may not be up to their standards, but they have cannons, they have ballistae, and they have ATTITUDE. Yarr!
 
CAMERA
 
The view from the crest of the serpent's nose is rather spectacular, and also deeply worrisome. Ocean, ocean, ocean, as far as the eye can see, in every direction. If they /were/ close to their destination of Bevelle, that definitely isn't true any longer.
 
His scales are like mighty plates, harder than adamant and blacker than night. Layered on top of each other, they flicker up and down independently, as though constantly adjusting to the winds, which at this height are not inconsiderable. Tiny glimmers of an eye-popping (and probably poisonous) electric blue skin peek out beneath what narrow gaps there are, revealed in a single moment, then reconcealed by more scales.
 
Angantyr, Avira and Faris have landed, conveniently, right in front of one of his gigantic eyes. If one can call it that; its cavernous void is more absence than presence, the convexity of the orb of pure Darkness the only clue that there's anything there at all. Further down the slope, there's the cliff of the tip of its nose, beyond which, one imagines, are elephantine fangs.
 
The footing is slippery when wet, but merely slick when dry, and it does seem to be dry at the moment -- the monster's head must have been above water for quite some time. It shifts constantly but slowly, inhalation and exhalation
 
Above them, on the crest of the serpent's head, are a towering pair of horns, any one of which could house a villainous lair with room for a swimming pool and tea garden. Suspended between their tips is Jasmine, transformed into alabaster; six black chains, Darkness incarnate, wrap her torso in a giant X, melting directly into the horns themselves in an impenetrable knot. Her arms are desperately outstretched towards the last thing she saw, the sight of her friends in hot pursuit -- her smile for them is almost blinding.
 
It's impossible to say whether she's still smiling inside, if she's aware or asleep, if her mind is as frozen as her flesh. It might be kinder if that were true, for total immobility is a waking nightmare.
 
But a sense of pressure is gradually building up there, as though, somehow, she's desperately fighting alongside them.
 
ACTION

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr looks right at the massive head of the snake right before him.
 
"This is the second worst position I have ever been in." He says Idly to Avira. He starts to move, mace already in hand as he starts to approach, carefully, the head of the serpent...well, the part where the brain meat would be at. Angantyr considers his actions. If the Serpent swung it's tail at the Ship, that might be the end of everything right here, rather they save Jasmine or not.
 
Anger still courses through the man, but right now it was tempered by a great respect for something mightier than he expected. It doesn't daunt his determination, but it makes him more clear headed, he can't afford to be careless now.
 
Angantyr then breaks into a run, right for the side of one of the horns, and moves to hand off of it, before kicking from it and trying to slide down the side of the sea serpent's head. The mace moves to swing at the thing's scales, the cruel mace aiming to dig into the scales and slowly stop his decent...
 
Before he sends a fist right into one of the eyes of the giant monster.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira's a little too shellshocked for friendly banter with Angantyr at this second.
 
So this is what bumped the boat that one moment before the attack. It was a moment Avira had forgotten during the foggy struggle that followed. Even if things hadn't turned the way they did during this moment, this monster would have surely attacked them in the aftermath.
 
She's a little too rattled to notice how far out at sea they seem to be or else she would be commenting to Faris that, yes, they really do seem to be off course.
 
Her calloused fingers unwind from the rope at her shoulder and her other hand reaches back, tearing the Spine free. This creature is easily the largest thing Avira has ever fought and given their position, the very real outcome of just being flung off the beast to crash into the ocean below is daunting. Triumphing over this seemed impossible. Of course, so did surviving the end of the world.
 
"Give her BACK!" Avira calls out, tiny voice defiant in spite of her sheer, unbridled terror. The Spine is gripped with both hands and swung upward-while it would be tempting to charge at the beast's eye, she elects to keep her distance, releasing a trio of the silvery, slightly-crescent-shaped bursts of energy. The first two will form an X, though the final one will be a vertical line bisecting its center.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Let's be honest, compared to releasing the guy that ruined my whole world, this is quite possibly one of the third or second-worst things I have ever done." Faris says this with a sigh.
 
That's a story for later, though - instead, for right now, she twirls her blade around, and then dives forward, slicing wherever she can - trying to do more DPS than outright damage.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
At first, it's practically cause for celebration: despite the apparent absurd thickness and strength of its many scales, mace and Spine and Moonblade all seem able to dig into them for both purchase and damage. Black ichor gushes out of the wounds like geysers, whatever this thing has that passes for veins apparently very close to his surface. That's not that surprising, really -- serpents are cold-blooded.
 
But there's just so /much/ blood, and as it pours forth, it starts to thicken, congealing into many smaller (say, about the size and weight of the Spine, smaller as in 'insanely giant sea serpent', not smaller as in 'garden snake') snakes. Their fangs are as black as the rest of their bulk, making their thousand quick strikes very hard to discern, as they rise up around Faris and Avira.
 
The eye -- it's the right eye, for those keeping score -- takes two solid hits, or so it seems. Avira's energy star strikes first, Angantyr's fist not far behind, but the Dark Knight discovers first-hand what the VALKYRI might only suspect, from the way the silvery light doesn't so much splash against the orb as disappear within: it isn't solid.
 
Since he was using his mace for purchase, he doesn't fall completely inside, but there is a moment when the top half of his body is carried within by the force of his momentum. And so he is treated to a spectacular three-dimensional experience that the others only get in flatscreen, as crimson light dawns within the eye. It radiates out from the center in discrete bands of color, some ruby, some cardinal. They make the air feel heavy as a thousand feet of crushing ocean.
 
A hissing sound that up until now was unnoticable background noise, right on the edge of perception, resolves itself into three dangerous, intoxicating words. A phrase that demands obedience and promises reward for the worship he so obviously deserves.
 
"Trussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst in me..."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
When Maira recovers from her faint, she wakes up to be told by the crew that everyone else had taken off in pursuit of Jasmine, who had been taken by a...a...a...seamonster?
 
Eyes widening, Maira looks out over the ocean, chewing her lip as she tries to think of how she will possibly follow. What if they need her? Sure, they would probably be just fine without her, but the idea of being separated from them all almost sends her into a panic.
 
Looking out into the fog, Maira narrows her eyes slightly. "Uist ....Plot trajectory," she says, then begins to summon her magic to the forefront of her mind.
 
From above the leviathan's head, a flaming meteorite falls. As this object promptly crashes into the beast, it is revealed that it is actually Maira, fully aflame, and using herself as a weapon as she crashes onto the head nearby the others.
 
Just in time to be hit by the magical assault. Boo! Maira winces, reaching up toward her head as if in attempt to pull the voice out. Trust in a giant sea serpent? How about NO!

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Doing this level of damage isn't quite as satisfying as it is disgusting to Avira. There was just something unsettling about gushing black blood flooding out of this creature as if it was an oil spill.
 
Her thoughts to stay away from the eyes were well founded as she sees Angantyr nearly go /through/ them when he makes his attack. "Careful!" she shouts out to him, though currently more worried about the bloodnsakes pooling around her feet. Rather than remain still and be bitten, Avira leaps upward, clearing the creatures.
 
At the back of her mind, she hears a hissing that gradually forms itself into words. Right away, she can tell that they're from the creature. As they threaten to bury themselves deep into her mind with that power of suggestion, Avira's willpower-her /light/-suddenly surges, resisting. It feels like the mental equivallent of being guided away, following the flawless execution of akido.
 
Calling forth her magic, the Spine glows brightly, sheets of ice coating the blade. Her attack comes with her descent, landing atop the ridge of the serpent's right eye, the Spine stabbed downward. A second, much stronger blast of magic follows afterwards, channeled directly into the oozing wound she tries to inflict.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris is not well-built to deal with magical willpower-y things. She's the physical princess - this is Lenna's shtick, more than hers. So she winces, rocking back in her boots at the hit, gritting her teeth.
 
"Well!" She declares, utterly displeased.
 
"Sorry, I don't do the trust thing well." Her eyes flicker up to Jasmine, and Faris winces - but then she starts casting a spell, green lights wrapping around her, Maira, and Angantyr, since they all got directly hit.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
There is a moment where he falls inside the eye...it was a horrible moment, filled with intense pain and suffering...and then...darkness. Another field of darkness...a force more powerful than he currently holds..but a connection. The two have a similar bond with darkness, and then...
 
There is a horrible scream from Angantyr, the man who has taken blows that would be mortal to most people, and shrugged passed them with little effort, is now screaming because something is creeping into the edge of his awareness...
 
He pulls himself up, out of the eye...but it wasn't with his mace. A clawed hand, moves to help him climb...trying to get away from the eye...trying to get /away/. The darkness is like a haze over him, threatening to consume anything that gets too close, as the rest of his body starts to...change.
 
That dark armor shatters over his form, transforming into the horrible inner darkness that hides in his heart...
 
And he HOWELS like a barely controled monster as he finally hunches over. Breathing deeply...his will trying to gain control of his actions. The light from Faris' spell is consumed by the horrible flowing darkness that now spills out of him.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The hiss persists quietly in the background, now, a constant dark pressure delicately caressing the back of one's mind, waiting for a moment of weakness. But the eye itself blinks, and when it reopens, it's black once again. The most miniscule crimson point remains in its depths, providing the direction of its gaze, which flicks hatefully to each threat in turn.
 
Maira's meteor crashes onto his head like, well, punching a snake right in the nose. It tears scales right off of it, as it skids to a stop. These plunge down towards the churning ocean; one just barely misses the ship below, which is firing everything it has at the serpent's midsection, without a great deal of success. Revealed beneath is that electric blue skin, and a layer of ichor which rises up into a hydra's worth of snakes, eleven of their necks on a single tail. It strikes at the fire mage from all directions, snapping and tearing.
 
Avira lands on the serpent's eyeridge, which is a rockety ride after she stabs it deeply, because it twists its brow to glare right at her. To the extent that its eye /has/ a surface, the gel-like energy shudders around attack, then surges forward, trying to envelop the Spine and its wielder in sticky, corrosive darkness.
 
Faris and Angantyr are both surrounded by those wound-snakes, who rise up and up, climbing on each other to build a complex, sinuous sphere. Then they contract, all poisoned fangs and deadly scales... AROUND the Dark Knight, directly towards the pirate.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The Darkness pours off Angantyr is waves...the snakes curl around him, but do not strike, instead flying for Faris. Instead, Maria crashes infront of him...right in his line of vision. The sound that comes from Angantyr is...a combination of a howel and a screach, he struggles, as if trying to resist something...but then the mace swings, upwards, and then VICIOUSLY downwards towards Maria. He just keeps swinging, berserker like, trying to make sure that the thing infront of him stops existing.
 
He can't even talk, the darkness starts to settle inside of him, coaxing him...speaking to something deeper within his own heart. The willpower in all of the world seems to be unable to hold this back.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Thankfully, the Spine's serrated blade makes for a good grip inside the eyeridge of the snake. Avira grabs onto her weapon and holds fast as it shudders and twitches. Scrambling, she manages to keep her footing long enough before she notices the ichor that streams from the wound starting to move.
 
It creeps up, reaching up for her and wrapping around her weapon. A gasp escapes her and with a surge of energy, she barely pulls herself free just as the gel-like material makes a grab for her small self. She steps backwards on the serpent's head, holding her weapon, breathing hard.
 
Just as she looks up, she spots Angantyr...attacking Maira. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Avira calls out, suddenly realizing that she must not have been the only one to hear that voice of temptation. Her light may have been strong enough to drive it away but Angantyr didn't have that. He was filled with darkness-Avira has seen int.
 
Jumping down from the eyeridges, she runs after them. "Hang in there, Maira!" she calls out in an encouraging manner, "I'm coming! Focus on avoiding him! Don't let him hit you!!!"

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Well, that was one way to do things, Uist thinks as he watches Maira use herself as a projectile. It seemed to be effective at least.
 
Maira continues to fight off the voice in her head, using her own light to fight off the darkness that tries to invade. Her Heart says 'uh uh, no way buddy'.
 
That said, Maira is pretty damn freaked out by the black ichor that suddenly forms into a mini hydra that is not nearly mini enough for her tastes. As it starts to strike out against her with its fangs, Maira flares her magic, the air forming a barrier as the fire strikes out in retaliation in tendrils. Sure, she can do that snake impression too, the tentacles of flame striking again and again at the creature.
 
Now, she turns to see that she has landed near Angantyr. She doesn't have the time to assess his mood. She smiles, happy to see him. She opens her mouth to say something too him---then she is flying backward, ribs cracking in her chest as the mace slams into her torso. She lands, clinging to a bit of scale on the giant snake's head, coughing up blood as she tries to figure out what in the name of Holy just happened. Angantyr....had attacked her.
 
This is a very, very disturbing trend.
 
Maira looks up to see Avira running toward her, and for a moment she is afraid. Just a split-second, she worries Avira is hear to finish off what Angantyr begun. No, no way. She's here to help. Maira sends another blast of wind to send her upward, gaining purchase on the snake's head once more. She's hurting, but the regen Faris applied and the helpful energy of the buff from Avira is keeping her on her feet.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Ang, DON'T!"
 
Faris shouts, but it is seconds too late, as Maira gets mauled. She swears, and runs her fingers across the length of her blade, the magic turning it blue.
 
She'll apologize for her language later.
 
"Come on..." She mutters, striking out with her water'd sword, doing a complex dance of attacks.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Maira /detonates/ that hydrasnake. Bits fly everywhere, smoking in beautiful curls of burnt vapor. Then the darker part of them seems to fade away, revealing still blackened but no longer Black flesh. Faris does her fair share as well, eviscerating the myriad snakes around her as though the space is more full of water and blade than air. She is the eye of a storm of battle, everywhere at once.
 
The hiss seems to modulate its tone into a gurgling chuckle as Angantyr succumbs to his inner darkness. His vision clouds, first with red miasma, then with the void, and he stands alone within the prison of his own heart. Sensation washes over him, filling him with the /feeling/ of striking towards his prey magnificent in its power and terrible in its total lack of control. And that voice rewards him with blinding euphoria, every syllable burying itself into the ends of his nerves.
 
"Yessssssss... thissssssssss is what you are... sssssssssssssso beautiful..."
 
Back outside of the Dark Knight's mind, the sea serpent is getting tired of the other three not being nearly as obedient. That spark of red light in its eye explodes into the entire orb, then a gigantic laserbeam that burns and crushes all within its path... destroying all that it gazes upon.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Within Angantyr's own mind the darkness would not leave. Here, he was standing in what could be described as a baron waste land...nothing for ages, but grey ground, and darkness that filled the sky. He shudders, alone, trying to brace himself against the serpent's will, but it's darkness was already too deeply mixed in with the font inside of him. He could feel the light fading, try as he might to cling to it, it was slipping through his fingers as dark tendrils started to wrap around his legs, pulling him down. "N-no! This is...MY body..." he screams in rage against the serpent...but he could feel something within in the font...something that called to the other serpent...
 
"Uargh..." he says, darkness starting to burn throughout him...
 
The Armored form of Angantyr on the outside turns viciously towards Avira who shields Maira. She was here before...in this same exact situation, almost. This time, however, there is nothing of Angantyr visible. He turns, swinging his blade repeatedly towards her. Tehre was no holding back, he was trying to kill her with any means necissarily...but she can hear something, a cross between a groan and growl...
 
"Avvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiii-"

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris is pissed.
 
She has a pretty good GUESS on what's going on here - she's no Heartless understander, but the way Angantyr is acting, and other things, well... Faris grits her teeth. Meanwhile, the crew continues shooting at the heartless with crossbows.
 
First off, however, she has to deal with the fact that she's getting tossed around. After landing against something with a painful WHUMPH, the Pirate Captain gets back to his feet.
 
She touches her mouth, grimacing.
 
Then she smiles - and attacks.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
A sensation suddenly makes the hairs on the back of Avira's neck stand straight up. A brief glance over her shoulder confirms what she was suspecting might happen ever since she saw the great serpent's eye open in front of them: incoming big frikkin' laser.
 
She changes her trajectory suddenly, veering off to the side, striking out with her spine to allow it to dig into the snake's flesh as she rolls sideways, becoming dangerously close to falling off of the creature's snout. Only the spine prevents this.
 
Once the laser has passed, she wiggles her way back up, finding herself face to face with the berserk Angantyr.
 
She has seen this before. She barely lived through his rage. It took all of her willpower to stop him then. Though she lifts her Spine to defend, she cannot stop his blows, which completely brutalize her breastplate and tear it open. "Angantyr..! Stop! Stop! Please!" Picking herself up, she hurls herself at him, aiming to knock him to the ground and hold him there. Though it looks more like she's trying to hug him. Turns out she kind of is. The Spine has stuck itself into the snake's flesh nearby.
 
"Come on..." she pleads in his ear. Her very presence might as well be anethema to him right now, but to everyone else here, struggling against the snake, that willpower of hers can literally be felt. It's like getting a sudden taste of what drives Avira through every battle, in spite of lack of skill and experience.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Then, HORRIBLE LASER BEAM. Maira tries to protect herself again with that wall of magic, but it is nose use. The attack from the serpent is too strong, blasting right through her defenses. Indeed, it sends Maira reeling from the precarious location atop the creatures head and plunging toward the ocean below, unable to help Avira when Angantyr turns his blinded rage on her next.
 
The splash that is expected never comes.
 
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Maira surges upward carried by a fiery, winged form shaped like a large man, with wings of fire. Those who had been with her in Baron may recognize it.
 
Maira lands once more, fully ignited and wreathed in flames. Her eyes are wide and panicked as she sees that Angantyr has turned his attention to Avira. Maira rushes forward. What has come over him!? Avira would know better, and it would seem that she is on top of the situation...but she feels like she needs to help. He's lost in the darkness. What he needs is a torch to lead him out.
 
Maira moves over toward him and Avira, reaching out with her flaming hand to lay it on Angantyr's chest. The flames turn a holy-infused white, a light injected straight to the heart and echoing outward to bring a sense of peace to Angantyr and Avira both.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Faris stands alone against the monstrous snake, now, her mithral blade going snicker-snack against everything it can find -- more scales fall in a deadly rain, until she's finally at the unprotected skin, and her blade pierces the sea snake in a mighty energized blow that sends crackles of energy a good quarter mile in every direction.
 
"Foolsssssssssssssss! Ssssssssssssssssssstand againssssssssssst me if you dare, but you cannot withsssssssssssstand the sssssssssssssea."
 
And, arching his spine, the serpent dives towards the ocean. The wind whistles, then howls, the acceleration going from 'crushing' to 'free-fall' in very little time. Better hang onto something, here comes that water, with all the force of a concrete wall.
 
Meanwhile, inside Angantyr's heart, he feels the overpowering presence of darkness disrupted, very slightly, by the presence of others. White light -- his own light, so oft forgotten -- shimmers and grows into the shapes of those closest to him, those reaching out to him, to bring him home. It will hurt, to go back to taking responsibility for his actions, to not let the monster within do the driving. To be himself, a font of darkness so often surrounded by untouchable light. But perhaps he can believe that he won't have to hurt alone. Words return to him from a recent memory that could have been a lifetime ago: "Trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness..."
 
Whether or not he can believe in himself, perhaps he can take strength from his friends. As they draw strength from each other, Maira's flames suddenly exploding with power, Avira's will becoming palpable in the air, a shimmering, silvery Light. They are more than the sum of their parts, everyone bound together by something far stronger than malice can ever hope to imitate.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The darkness threatening to swallow him...
 
It all started to fade away, being absorbed in darkness but then.
 
A feeling of pressure on his chest, someone grabbing him can be felt. But the vision he was locked to was keeping him from seeing, but it was familar.
 
On the outside, Angantyr freezes suddenly as Avira holding him, she wasn't able to force him down, but the act was enough to stop his assault for the moment, the darkness fighting for the light in his heart. Maira lends her aid to him, the inside of Angantyr's heart was not surrounded by the light, as another familar presence was pressed on his chest. Then a third, once more, a light brighter than he could fathom is pressed into him. The font, neutral to it, releases Angantyr, but the feeling of something below lurking? It watches them, either passive or amused.
 
Angantyr's free hand moves up, grabbing Avira by the shou-
 
AND THE TENDER MOMENT IS RUINED BY JACKASS SNAKE!
 
A wave of water flows, throwing the pair into the water, but Angantyr presists, aiming to hold onto Avira as he aims to help throw her back onto the thing's face.
 
Angantyr comes back, the armor still pressed on him...
 
"You SON OF A-" OCEAN SPRAY!
 
He booms, running right for the spot right between it's eyes...
 
Then Anantyr rear his mace back, dark energy courses through it, what wasn't dispelled by the light surges through the weapon. "IF YOU WANT THE DARKNESS SO BADLY, MONSTER, HAVE MINE!" he booms...and swings the massive mace down in a powerful arch. The mace's head exploding with a wave of power larger than should exist.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
It worked. Maira can feel it working. She doesn't know how, but she knows that with their combined aid, Angantyr is fighting off the snake's influence. She begins to smile, pleased and hopeful...
 
Then, yeah. Jerk snake.
 
Maira is knocked away, finding herself falling once more toward the sea below. This is getting really annoying. Anger is rising. She knows she isn't suppose to just let her magic have its way, she is suppose to control it...Aerith's voice is there, telling her to tame the flames to her will instead of bending to theirs. But it is SO difficult.
 
Maira summons the wind again, slowing her descent toward the ocean, but unable to prevent touching completely. She goes under.
 
Beneath the waves, Maira is sinking. Strangely, she doesn't seem as concerned as she really should be, even though a trail of blood leaks from her, dispersed by the chaotic currents of the sea.
 
She's gathering for something. Her friends have been supporting her, and it is time to see that she does her part.
 
The water surges, the sky above growing dark with clouds that suddenly form. The air swirls, hot and moist, pulling the ocean upward into a giant water spout. With it, comes Maira, steam rising from her skin before she once more ignites. The mage steers the tempest into the serpent, followed by a spear of flame and a warriors cry, flying forward toward the snake. The voice is hers but not, a deeper tone carried with her as Uist manifests to lend his energy to her assault.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Oh, he--" Thankfully, FAris is kept from cursing further by uh, well, going face first into a mountain-wall of water. That /hurts/. She more tahn likely broke something, as well. She grits her teeth and eventually surfaces, swimming quite well, blade still in hand. "Right." She says. "Okay, let's see how you like this..."
 
She lets out a breath and then dives for the monster again. She does sea combat, she's perfectly capable of swimming and kicking butt.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
When Avira was introduced to Angantyr's inner darkness, she was torn to pieces. It doesn't occur to her that it could happen again right now. She's no Princess of Heart. She's not pure.
 
She's also not even strong enough to knock the six foot five tall man over, which is kind of unsurprising. Not that it really matters right now anyway since what she ultimately wanted to do was "stall" him until he came to his senses. Avira feels him grab her shoulder and while she would love to believe that they were successful, her nearest hand unwinds from him to snatch the Spine up.
 
The snake speaks and terror wells up inside Avira anew. This would be the OTHER thing she had started to anticipate in fear once the snake rose so high above the water. At this height, the impact...
 
She hits the water. It might as well have been solid ground, only solid ground you don't sink into. Already she's struggling and clawing but while she does know how to swim, that's usually when she's not in clothing and carrying a weapon. She starts to sink until Angantyr grabs her by the back of her collar and throws her back up onto the snake's face. Gasping for air, she spits water out and staggers to her feet. Something else was pushing her now, a power Avira could tell wasn't coming from within her, but somewhere else. A brown-eyed gaze is turned towards the frozen princess. "Soon..."
 
Only seconds later, she collapses to her knees again. Even with this act of exhaustion, she tries to make it useful and drives the Spine as deep down into the serpent's skin as possible.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Surging water. COLD water. Air, in the many tiny bubbles created by the massive belly flop; they dance about the maelstrom in all directions, obscuring the surface and the floor, the difference between up and down. Salt; the ocean, the taste of blood in mouths from the sheer jarring impact.
 
Then, relief: the surface found, Faris' new ship already making fast tracks towards the action, unwilling to be left behind no matter what the risk. And the risk is enormous -- now that he's in the water, his native element, the serpent is surely far more dangerous than he was. Indeed, his immense fins are already sweeping back and forth, creating roaring waves and rushing currents, turning the terrain to his advantage.
 
It isn't enough.
 
Faris dives straight back into the action, blade held forth to pierce at that weak spot she's created yet again. More of that terrible black ichor pours from it and starts to form into ghastly shapes...
 
...only for Maira to tear that water into her tempest; it dissolves within the spout, which slams into the serpent in turn, the flaming spear /burning away any ocean between it and its target/ before impacting. The sea snake roars his rage, snapping back with his terrible fangs...
 
...but Avira is still there, she never even left, held fast by her clanmate, and the Spine plunges down through his snout, piercing straight between those two fangs to further fork its gigantic tongue. His roar becomes a scream of fury...
 
...dwarfed in decibel by the boom of Angantyr's mace, and all his strength behind it, the Darkness his strength now, not his weakness, wielded against Darkness with open eyes and heart.
 
There's a terrible cracking sound, and all the black plates on the mighty serpent suddenly shatter, revealing the -- actually rather lovely -- iridescent blue creature beneath. He's beautiful in a sleek and dangerous way, not the least bit anthropomorphic, but it seems he was only infected by the Heartless, perhaps possessed, yet not a creature of the Darkness the way through.
 
His eyes, which without the veil of darkness are a sharklike, hungry gray, fixate on each individual in turn. Some combination of annoyance and gratitude flash through them; then he turns, and with a final, dismissive sweep of his tail, disappears into the depths, a different realm of darkness, one where he is master, not slave.
 
The black chains binding Jasmine shattered as well; heavy as it is, the alabaster statue still goes flying back with the final wave, no longer attached to the serpent. It begins sinking rapidly.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
The good stolen ship starts making its' way towards the group as the freed monster takes to the seas, rescuing anyone who needs it, and also to prep to get Jasmine back on board.
 
Faris takes a deep breath as she crests the wave, before diving back into the ocean, straight towards the Jasmine-statue. She will kill herself to help rescue the princess - or at least make sure Ang's teleportation skills got her.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr stares into the eyes of the serpent for a very long time. The two possibly share a moment...at least, in the way that an intelligent and old animal and a dark knight can. However, this present a new problem. Angantyr hits the ocean, the only thing keeping him aflot is the fact that he is increadibly strong. Faris see's a problem, and goes to dive for Jasmine, but she's also a statue. He grabs for Faris, who grabs for Jasmine. He grabs for Avira, to help him out, who no doubt will probably grab for Maira who has some sort of magic thing.
 
Anganty pulls, holding his breath and a corridor would open up for them easily to cross...
 
And drop them all uncerimoniously onto the deck of the ship. Angantyr is face first near the bottom, coughing out sea water and groaning in pain.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
'Where is Maira' it suddenly occurs to Avira, seconds before the young mage's spells strike the sea serpent. Relief washes over her and she remains holding on, driving the Spine down deeper until the creature calls out in deafening pain. From there, all Avira can do is hold on.
 
It's actually quite a surprise to find another creature underneath the darkness. Avira had been expecting it to disappear completely should they actually succeed against the beast. The short huntress stares back at the eyes, caught off guard, unsure what to think for a moment before she speaks, her words from the heart a final plea. "Set us down gently." she begs before the creature drops into the water. Right away, Avira is swimming for the statue with frantic energy. Faris dives down...
 
...Avira, as if knowing what's coming, grabs for Angantyr and Maira. Again through one of those corridors of darkness, but after all this, Avira can deal a little.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
It would seem that the combined assault is a success. Even a beast as great at that one eventually broke beneath the pressure they all put upon it. Maira registers the defeat as she rides the tempest, tossed by the wind as the black scales dissolve and the beautiful, terrible creature beneath is revealed. "Ooh...." she says, Uist's assistance finally running out. He tells her to take a breath, because she's going to be under the water again quickly.
 
All she thinks as she falls is; "damn it Ivo, you didn't actually teach me to swim!" then she hits the water feet first.
 
BLUB!
 
Alright, she's under water. She could fling herself out again with an aero spell...but she'll just end up back in the water again. Well, here goes nothing.
 
Maira flings herself from the water and arcs in the general direction of the others, splashing down near Angantyr in order to be grabbed by him and tosses aboard the deck of the ship. It's not exactly gently, and Maira gasps with pain as her most certainly broken ribs scream once more.
 
Then she lays there, wheezing and gasping for breath while she waits for her mind to clear. What happened to statue-Jasmine? Someone was getting her, right? Maira is pretty sure she can fix the whole...being stone business. Once she's taken care of anyway.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Down, down, down.
 
Only a pirate queen could ever have pulled this off. Anyone else would have lost the statue to the unforgiving deeps.
 
Knives of pressure nearly asphyxiate Faris by the time her desperate dive reaches Jasmine; at that point she's as deep as she's ever dared go without extensive preparation. The statue's outstretched hands provide an easy thing to grab, and when one is touched, in fact, the alabaster seems to give, far more than it should. So gently as to be almost unnoticable, the hand squeezes back.
 
As Faris presumably starts trying to kick upwards, buying time for the rest of them to catch up, the statue deccelerates... and in a moment best explained by 'magic', Jasmine is simply pulled straight out of it, though the statue was never hollow, and though it continues to exist, without her. The horrific souvenir of this experience sinks out of sight in no time.
 
Then Angantyr is there, and Avira. The serpent glances over his shoulder at them, as he departs, but there's no subtle wink, no toothy grin -- just a long, piercing stare before he's gone. Was he not sentient enough to speak? Or did he simply not deign to?
 
Together the four of them make the journey through Darkness to the light of the ship, beacon that it is, alone at sea. Jasmine falls bonelessly to the deck, completely limp.
 
There's a long moment where she's as motionless as she was as a figurehead. Then a very tiny smile curves her lips as soft radiance pours from her, warmly embracing each and every person on othe ship. Wounds are mended, bones restored, spirits replenished, all in a breathless moment of exuberant gratitude.
 
The light fades back into her skin, and the princess shifts, then falls from unconsciousness into a true sleep.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira's clearly not a high enough level yet to communicate meaningfully with giant-ass sea serpents. Well, at least it wasn't still trying to eat them.
 
The girl flops wetly on the deck, struggling to sheath her sword. Her own strength is gone after that ordeal in its entirety, from the heartless on the ship, to the infected serpent, to facing Angantyr himself. Struggling, she pulls herself into a seated position and starts to unbuckle the remains of her breastplate, removing the mangled metal.
 
Her eyes remain upon the recovering princess, which Avira is happy to no longer see encased in stone, but concerned to not see her moving at all. If only she had been more attentive...
 
It was an unpleasant lesson to learn for a novice adventurer, but an important one nonetheless.
 
Though the light does erase the wounds incurred from the ordeal, Avira still looks weary and tired. She doesn't pass out, despite the urge, and remains sitting there in silent vigil.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Oh hey, breathing is good. As Jasmine, non-stone, projects her aura of healing out toward them, the wounds on Maira begin to heal, making breathing a good deal more possibly and comfortable.
 
She sits up then, looking around, wide-eyed and shocked from what just happened. "Thank you..." she tells the sleeping form of the princess, then looks to Avire, Angan and Faris. "Lets never do that again, k?"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr's own wounds are both physical and deeper.
 
CRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
 
Okay more seriously, the man once everyone is off of him slowly rises to his feet, shaking his own body as water falls down it. Light bathes him again, he's less exhausted, thankfully, and he gives a look at Jasmine who is now peacefully out like a light. He thinks similar thoughts to Avira, but has come to accept that sometimes things can't be helped. His own actions during the encounter are not so easily forgiven. Even as cheers go out, and he turns as the armor finally fades back into the normal dark knight's attire...which is just armor but more chain than the dark plate that comes from his own darkness.
 
Then a bottle of grog is handed to him, he doesn't have much time to actually react, taking the bottle and looking at it for a moment. He takes a drink, and passes the bottle to Avira, before starting to move below deck.
 
BROOD BROOD BROOD!

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"We might not have a choice." Avira says distantly, "The next time it happens." Well, not true, there was always a choice. She couldn't make the decision to stand by idly though. "You're okay, right Maira?"
 
Angantyr passes by, giving her a bottle of grog. Avira watches him wordlessly as he goes. She starts to move, but for a brief moment, she sees him coming at her, mace held high. Unable to help herself, she shudders and takes a drink, failng to follow for now.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira watches Angantyr swig and walk off, frowning softly. Yes, he can't be feeling very good right now. She thinks of going after him, and if she'd been alone she would have. As it is though, she feels like maybe it would be an intrusion if she did while Avira was here and clearly knew him better.
 
The water-logged woman moves to sit beside Avira, leaning over to rest her head on her shoulder. "I'm okay...are you okay? Jasmine looks peaceful...I don't think Angantyr is okay though."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris watches Jasmine fall back asleep, and she sighs. She'll see the woman to a comfortable bed, as Ang goes off to brood, but for the msot part, the partially bloody, mostly-waterlogged Pirate Queen goes to captain the ship. She made a promise to get them to their destination, and she'll be damned if she goes off-ways for Heartless.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira really should go after Angantyr right now too! But she's clearly reluctant. Maybe even a little afraid. It only makes her feel worse, in fact, and disappointed. Part of her really wouldn't mind a hug from him now that they weren't in the middle of a storm or a battle. For now, though, she'll settle with Maira leaning next to her.
 
Transferring the grog to one hand, she lets her other arm lift so she can drape it around Maira's shoulders. "Exhausted. I could be better. I don't think he's okay at all, not after losing control like that. He doesn't want to hurt us." At least that's what Avira really wants to believe, deep in her heart.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira sighs. She could use a hug too. Though, she is sort of getting one, so yay! "Yeah..." she replies, looking off in the direction he went. "Do you think...it would help if I talked to him? It isn't...quite the same, but I know what its like losing control," she says, frowning gently. While she's never quite gone berserk, her fire magic has gone out of control too many times. It is almost a constant effort for her to keep it under control.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Below decks, the Dark Knight slips into one of the rooms that were given to them. He pulls off the helmet and sets it down, same with the mace. The armor is peeled off, and he lays down on the bed in short order. Those arms rest behind his head. He growls...closing his eyes, and those images of what he has done do not leave. He'll have to live with it...Garland would punish him for his weakness tonight...but right now, his tender mercies did not compare to Angantyr's own subconcious.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Even willpower can be exhausted. Right now, Avira is all out, else she might actually be going after Angantyr, "Somebody should talk to him. Maybe you should. You're on his good side, I can tell." For as much of a 'good side' there was. "And you're right, you do know about losing control."
 
Avira does not. Not in the 'overwhelming powers' sense. Control of her own course in life, maybe, but that was from a past she had buried. "Go on." she nudges Maira before taking another long drink of grog.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira places her arm around Avira in turn, giving her friend a gentle squeeze. "Alright Avira. I'll try. He doesn't really know me well or anything....but yeah, someone should," she agrees. "I'll be back! Don't drink too much of that stuff..." she says, eying the grog.
 
Maira gets to her feet and moves below deck, following Angantyr's likely trail of wet boot prints along the floor. She peeks her head in the door, finds that he is decent, and lets herself on in. She sits on the floor next to the bed and looks up at him with wide amber eyes. "So. That sucked, huh?" she says by way of conversation starter. She wants to tell him that he sure does have a mean swing with that mace, but that would be counter-productive.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr looks up after a moment, and looks at Maira.
 
He stares at her.
 
The camera pans back at Maira.
 
Then back to Angantyr. Then back at Maira.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OmPW3mamSE this plays.
 
"Yes."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Well, this is going well!
 
Maira breathes. You know, purposefully. She always breathes but she's /thinking/ about breathing, which is really strange but kind of akin to-- "You know, I have to be really on guard of my magic. I have to sort of...constantly be aware of it so I can suppress it. Otherwise, it runs away with my emotions....I've burned down buildings before. I have nightmares and I just wake up and the whole bed is on fire, and the room around me. Sometimes...sometimes people have gotten hurt."
 
Story time with Maira.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr continues to stare at her.
 
The music keeps playing.
 
"Yes. I can imagine." he says, in a way that infers that he is trying to be neutral.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
What is that weird music? That's really unsettling!
 
Maira blinks. Huh. Maybe she sucks at this.
 
.....
 
"So um...don't feel too bad about what happened, okay? I won't hold it against you and I know Avira won't either. Everyone is alright. And um...yeeeaah..." she says, getting to her feet and starting to back toward the door again.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The music continues.
 
"Maira." he says, slowly, "Thank you for trying." he says finally.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Trying. Not succeeding. She sighs, nodding. Nothing much else to say. The girl turns and leaves, finding her way back to Avira, likely, to report the spectacularly awkward failure.
 
Then Sleep.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The little ship, all broken
 
Went sailing on the sea
 
With sailors proud
 
And sometimes loud
 
They rode forth bravely
 
When night arrived in haste
 
The many stars shone bright
 
To guide their way
 
To shelter's bay
 
Bevelle, that promised light.

They're On A Boat - Part Two: The Serpent

2012-12-04T07:25:42Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/03 |Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle |Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/03
|Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr, Avira and Maira to Bevelle. At first the trip is pleasant, but a devastating storm rises, and something waits for them in the foggy 'calm', afterwards... (GMed by Jasmine; part one, which this is a direct continuation of, is at: http://finalkingdom.net/wiki/index.php/They%27re_On_A_Boat_-_Part_One:_The_Storm )

|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Avira, Faris Scherwiz, Jasmine, Maira
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
LIGHTS
 
It's a beautiful day to die; the sky and sea are united in their determination to be the most glorious blue possible.
 
Faris' brave and hearty crew has fought sea monsters before, but none quite so massive. The sea bubbles and churns around the giant snake's enormous circumference. Just below the surface, his -- there is a distinctly masculine quality to the serpent, separate from the superficial imagery -- tail, which has three razor-sharp, rudder-like fins to slice through water and steel with equal efficacy, swirls in place, supporting his balance. For he's reared up vertically in the air, his head hundreds of feet above water. Look out: it's a very long drop.
 
The ship struggles in the chaotic waters, but under the skilled hands of its sailors, manages to stabilize its orbit. Round and around it goes; they might be able to escape, but all in all, it looks like they don't /want/ to. The armaments of the boat may not be up to their standards, but they have cannons, they have ballistae, and they have ATTITUDE. Yarr!
 
CAMERA
 
The view from the crest of the serpent's nose is rather spectacular, and also deeply worrisome. Ocean, ocean, ocean, as far as the eye can see, in every direction. If they /were/ close to their destination of Bevelle, that definitely isn't true any longer.
 
His scales are like mighty plates, harder than adamant and blacker than night. Layered on top of each other, they flicker up and down independently, as though constantly adjusting to the winds, which at this height are not inconsiderable. Tiny glimmers of an eye-popping (and probably poisonous) electric blue skin peek out beneath what narrow gaps there are, revealed in a single moment, then reconcealed by more scales.
 
Angantyr, Avira and Faris have landed, conveniently, right in front of one of his gigantic eyes. If one can call it that; its cavernous void is more absence than presence, the convexity of the orb of pure Darkness the only clue that there's anything there at all. Further down the slope, there's the cliff of the tip of its nose, beyond which, one imagines, are elephantine fangs.
 
The footing is slippery when wet, but merely slick when dry, and it does seem to be dry at the moment -- the monster's head must have been above water for quite some time. It shifts constantly but slowly, inhalation and exhalation
 
Above them, on the crest of the serpent's head, are a towering pair of horns, any one of which could house a villainous lair with room for a swimming pool and tea garden. Suspended between their tips is Jasmine, transformed into alabaster; six black chains, Darkness incarnate, wrap her torso in a giant X, melting directly into the horns themselves in an impenetrable knot. Her arms are desperately outstretched towards the last thing she saw, the sight of her friends in hot pursuit -- her smile for them is almost blinding.
 
It's impossible to say whether she's still smiling inside, if she's aware or asleep, if her mind is as frozen as her flesh. It might be kinder if that were true, for total immobility is a waking nightmare.
 
But a sense of pressure is gradually building up there, as though, somehow, she's desperately fighting alongside them.
 
ACTION

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr looks right at the massive head of the snake right before him.
 
"This is the second worst position I have ever been in." He says Idly to Avira. He starts to move, mace already in hand as he starts to approach, carefully, the head of the serpent...well, the part where the brain meat would be at. Angantyr considers his actions. If the Serpent swung it's tail at the Ship, that might be the end of everything right here, rather they save Jasmine or not.
 
Anger still courses through the man, but right now it was tempered by a great respect for something mightier than he expected. It doesn't daunt his determination, but it makes him more clear headed, he can't afford to be careless now.
 
Angantyr then breaks into a run, right for the side of one of the horns, and moves to hand off of it, before kicking from it and trying to slide down the side of the sea serpent's head. The mace moves to swing at the thing's scales, the cruel mace aiming to dig into the scales and slowly stop his decent...
 
Before he sends a fist right into one of the eyes of the giant monster.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira's a little too shellshocked for friendly banter with Angantyr at this second.
 
So this is what bumped the boat that one moment before the attack. It was a moment Avira had forgotten during the foggy struggle that followed. Even if things hadn't turned the way they did during this moment, this monster would have surely attacked them in the aftermath.
 
She's a little too rattled to notice how far out at sea they seem to be or else she would be commenting to Faris that, yes, they really do seem to be off course.
 
Her calloused fingers unwind from the rope at her shoulder and her other hand reaches back, tearing the Spine free. This creature is easily the largest thing Avira has ever fought and given their position, the very real outcome of just being flung off the beast to crash into the ocean below is daunting. Triumphing over this seemed impossible. Of course, so did surviving the end of the world.
 
"Give her BACK!" Avira calls out, tiny voice defiant in spite of her sheer, unbridled terror. The Spine is gripped with both hands and swung upward-while it would be tempting to charge at the beast's eye, she elects to keep her distance, releasing a trio of the silvery, slightly-crescent-shaped bursts of energy. The first two will form an X, though the final one will be a vertical line bisecting its center.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Let's be honest, compared to releasing the guy that ruined my whole world, this is quite possibly one of the third or second-worst things I have ever done." Faris says this with a sigh.
 
That's a story for later, though - instead, for right now, she twirls her blade around, and then dives forward, slicing wherever she can - trying to do more DPS than outright damage.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
At first, it's practically cause for celebration: despite the apparent absurd thickness and strength of its many scales, mace and Spine and Moonblade all seem able to dig into them for both purchase and damage. Black ichor gushes out of the wounds like geysers, whatever this thing has that passes for veins apparently very close to his surface. That's not that surprising, really -- serpents are cold-blooded.
 
But there's just so /much/ blood, and as it pours forth, it starts to thicken, congealing into many smaller (say, about the size and weight of the Spine, smaller as in 'insanely giant sea serpent', not smaller as in 'garden snake') snakes. Their fangs are as black as the rest of their bulk, making their thousand quick strikes very hard to discern, as they rise up around Faris and Avira.
 
The eye -- it's the right eye, for those keeping score -- takes two solid hits, or so it seems. Avira's energy star strikes first, Angantyr's fist not far behind, but the Dark Knight discovers first-hand what the VALKYRI might only suspect, from the way the silvery light doesn't so much splash against the orb as disappear within: it isn't solid.
 
Since he was using his mace for purchase, he doesn't fall completely inside, but there is a moment when the top half of his body is carried within by the force of his momentum. And so he is treated to a spectacular three-dimensional experience that the others only get in flatscreen, as crimson light dawns within the eye. It radiates out from the center in discrete bands of color, some ruby, some cardinal. They make the air feel heavy as a thousand feet of crushing ocean.
 
A hissing sound that up until now was unnoticable background noise, right on the edge of perception, resolves itself into three dangerous, intoxicating words. A phrase that demands obedience and promises reward for the worship he so obviously deserves.
 
"Trussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst in me..."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
When Maira recovers from her faint, she wakes up to be told by the crew that everyone else had taken off in pursuit of Jasmine, who had been taken by a...a...a...seamonster?
 
Eyes widening, Maira looks out over the ocean, chewing her lip as she tries to think of how she will possibly follow. What if they need her? Sure, they would probably be just fine without her, but the idea of being separated from them all almost sends her into a panic.
 
Looking out into the fog, Maira narrows her eyes slightly. "Uist ....Plot trajectory," she says, then begins to summon her magic to the forefront of her mind.
 
From above the leviathan's head, a flaming meteorite falls. As this object promptly crashes into the beast, it is revealed that it is actually Maira, fully aflame, and using herself as a weapon as she crashes onto the head nearby the others.
 
Just in time to be hit by the magical assault. Boo! Maira winces, reaching up toward her head as if in attempt to pull the voice out. Trust in a giant sea serpent? How about NO!

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Doing this level of damage isn't quite as satisfying as it is disgusting to Avira. There was just something unsettling about gushing black blood flooding out of this creature as if it was an oil spill.
 
Her thoughts to stay away from the eyes were well founded as she sees Angantyr nearly go /through/ them when he makes his attack. "Careful!" she shouts out to him, though currently more worried about the bloodnsakes pooling around her feet. Rather than remain still and be bitten, Avira leaps upward, clearing the creatures.
 
At the back of her mind, she hears a hissing that gradually forms itself into words. Right away, she can tell that they're from the creature. As they threaten to bury themselves deep into her mind with that power of suggestion, Avira's willpower-her /light/-suddenly surges, resisting. It feels like the mental equivallent of being guided away, following the flawless execution of akido.
 
Calling forth her magic, the Spine glows brightly, sheets of ice coating the blade. Her attack comes with her descent, landing atop the ridge of the serpent's right eye, the Spine stabbed downward. A second, much stronger blast of magic follows afterwards, channeled directly into the oozing wound she tries to inflict.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris is not well-built to deal with magical willpower-y things. She's the physical princess - this is Lenna's shtick, more than hers. So she winces, rocking back in her boots at the hit, gritting her teeth.
 
"Well!" She declares, utterly displeased.
 
"Sorry, I don't do the trust thing well." Her eyes flicker up to Jasmine, and Faris winces - but then she starts casting a spell, green lights wrapping around her, Maira, and Angantyr, since they all got directly hit.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
There is a moment where he falls inside the eye...it was a horrible moment, filled with intense pain and suffering...and then...darkness. Another field of darkness...a force more powerful than he currently holds..but a connection. The two have a similar bond with darkness, and then...
 
There is a horrible scream from Angantyr, the man who has taken blows that would be mortal to most people, and shrugged passed them with little effort, is now screaming because something is creeping into the edge of his awareness...
 
He pulls himself up, out of the eye...but it wasn't with his mace. A clawed hand, moves to help him climb...trying to get away from the eye...trying to get /away/. The darkness is like a haze over him, threatening to consume anything that gets too close, as the rest of his body starts to...change.
 
That dark armor shatters over his form, transforming into the horrible inner darkness that hides in his heart...
 
And he HOWELS like a barely controled monster as he finally hunches over. Breathing deeply...his will trying to gain control of his actions. The light from Faris' spell is consumed by the horrible flowing darkness that now spills out of him.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The hiss persists quietly in the background, now, a constant dark pressure delicately caressing the back of one's mind, waiting for a moment of weakness. But the eye itself blinks, and when it reopens, it's black once again. The most miniscule crimson point remains in its depths, providing the direction of its gaze, which flicks hatefully to each threat in turn.
 
Maira's meteor crashes onto his head like, well, punching a snake right in the nose. It tears scales right off of it, as it skids to a stop. These plunge down towards the churning ocean; one just barely misses the ship below, which is firing everything it has at the serpent's midsection, without a great deal of success. Revealed beneath is that electric blue skin, and a layer of ichor which rises up into a hydra's worth of snakes, eleven of their necks on a single tail. It strikes at the fire mage from all directions, snapping and tearing.
 
Avira lands on the serpent's eyeridge, which is a rockety ride after she stabs it deeply, because it twists its brow to glare right at her. To the extent that its eye /has/ a surface, the gel-like energy shudders around attack, then surges forward, trying to envelop the Spine and its wielder in sticky, corrosive darkness.
 
Faris and Angantyr are both surrounded by those wound-snakes, who rise up and up, climbing on each other to build a complex, sinuous sphere. Then they contract, all poisoned fangs and deadly scales... AROUND the Dark Knight, directly towards the pirate.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The Darkness pours off Angantyr is waves...the snakes curl around him, but do not strike, instead flying for Faris. Instead, Maria crashes infront of him...right in his line of vision. The sound that comes from Angantyr is...a combination of a howel and a screach, he struggles, as if trying to resist something...but then the mace swings, upwards, and then VICIOUSLY downwards towards Maria. He just keeps swinging, berserker like, trying to make sure that the thing infront of him stops existing.
 
He can't even talk, the darkness starts to settle inside of him, coaxing him...speaking to something deeper within his own heart. The willpower in all of the world seems to be unable to hold this back.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Thankfully, the Spine's serrated blade makes for a good grip inside the eyeridge of the snake. Avira grabs onto her weapon and holds fast as it shudders and twitches. Scrambling, she manages to keep her footing long enough before she notices the ichor that streams from the wound starting to move.
 
It creeps up, reaching up for her and wrapping around her weapon. A gasp escapes her and with a surge of energy, she barely pulls herself free just as the gel-like material makes a grab for her small self. She steps backwards on the serpent's head, holding her weapon, breathing hard.
 
Just as she looks up, she spots Angantyr...attacking Maira. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Avira calls out, suddenly realizing that she must not have been the only one to hear that voice of temptation. Her light may have been strong enough to drive it away but Angantyr didn't have that. He was filled with darkness-Avira has seen int.
 
Jumping down from the eyeridges, she runs after them. "Hang in there, Maira!" she calls out in an encouraging manner, "I'm coming! Focus on avoiding him! Don't let him hit you!!!"

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Well, that was one way to do things, Uist thinks as he watches Maira use herself as a projectile. It seemed to be effective at least.
 
Maira continues to fight off the voice in her head, using her own light to fight off the darkness that tries to invade. Her Heart says 'uh uh, no way buddy'.
 
That said, Maira is pretty damn freaked out by the black ichor that suddenly forms into a mini hydra that is not nearly mini enough for her tastes. As it starts to strike out against her with its fangs, Maira flares her magic, the air forming a barrier as the fire strikes out in retaliation in tendrils. Sure, she can do that snake impression too, the tentacles of flame striking again and again at the creature.
 
Now, she turns to see that she has landed near Angantyr. She doesn't have the time to assess his mood. She smiles, happy to see him. She opens her mouth to say something too him---then she is flying backward, ribs cracking in her chest as the mace slams into her torso. She lands, clinging to a bit of scale on the giant snake's head, coughing up blood as she tries to figure out what in the name of Holy just happened. Angantyr....had attacked her.
 
This is a very, very disturbing trend.
 
Maira looks up to see Avira running toward her, and for a moment she is afraid. Just a split-second, she worries Avira is hear to finish off what Angantyr begun. No, no way. She's here to help. Maira sends another blast of wind to send her upward, gaining purchase on the snake's head once more. She's hurting, but the regen Faris applied and the helpful energy of the buff from Avira is keeping her on her feet.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Ang, DON'T!"
 
Faris shouts, but it is seconds too late, as Maira gets mauled. She swears, and runs her fingers across the length of her blade, the magic turning it blue.
 
She'll apologize for her language later.
 
"Come on..." She mutters, striking out with her water'd sword, doing a complex dance of attacks.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Maira /detonates/ that hydrasnake. Bits fly everywhere, smoking in beautiful curls of burnt vapor. Then the darker part of them seems to fade away, revealing still blackened but no longer Black flesh. Faris does her fair share as well, eviscerating the myriad snakes around her as though the space is more full of water and blade than air. She is the eye of a storm of battle, everywhere at once.
 
The hiss seems to modulate its tone into a gurgling chuckle as Angantyr succumbs to his inner darkness. His vision clouds, first with red miasma, then with the void, and he stands alone within the prison of his own heart. Sensation washes over him, filling him with the /feeling/ of striking towards his prey magnificent in its power and terrible in its total lack of control. And that voice rewards him with blinding euphoria, every syllable burying itself into the ends of his nerves.
 
"Yessssssss... thissssssssss is what you are... sssssssssssssso beautiful..."
 
Back outside of the Dark Knight's mind, the sea serpent is getting tired of the other three not being nearly as obedient. That spark of red light in its eye explodes into the entire orb, then a gigantic laserbeam that burns and crushes all within its path... destroying all that it gazes upon.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Within Angantyr's own mind the darkness would not leave. Here, he was standing in what could be described as a baron waste land...nothing for ages, but grey ground, and darkness that filled the sky. He shudders, alone, trying to brace himself against the serpent's will, but it's darkness was already too deeply mixed in with the font inside of him. He could feel the light fading, try as he might to cling to it, it was slipping through his fingers as dark tendrils started to wrap around his legs, pulling him down. "N-no! This is...MY body..." he screams in rage against the serpent...but he could feel something within in the font...something that called to the other serpent...
 
"Uargh..." he says, darkness starting to burn throughout him...
 
The Armored form of Angantyr on the outside turns viciously towards Avira who shields Maira. She was here before...in this same exact situation, almost. This time, however, there is nothing of Angantyr visible. He turns, swinging his blade repeatedly towards her. Tehre was no holding back, he was trying to kill her with any means necissarily...but she can hear something, a cross between a groan and growl...
 
"Avvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiii-"

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris is pissed.
 
She has a pretty good GUESS on what's going on here - she's no Heartless understander, but the way Angantyr is acting, and other things, well... Faris grits her teeth. Meanwhile, the crew continues shooting at the heartless with crossbows.
 
First off, however, she has to deal with the fact that she's getting tossed around. After landing against something with a painful WHUMPH, the Pirate Captain gets back to his feet.
 
She touches her mouth, grimacing.
 
Then she smiles - and attacks.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
A sensation suddenly makes the hairs on the back of Avira's neck stand straight up. A brief glance over her shoulder confirms what she was suspecting might happen ever since she saw the great serpent's eye open in front of them: incoming big frikkin' laser.
 
She changes her trajectory suddenly, veering off to the side, striking out with her spine to allow it to dig into the snake's flesh as she rolls sideways, becoming dangerously close to falling off of the creature's snout. Only the spine prevents this.
 
Once the laser has passed, she wiggles her way back up, finding herself face to face with the berserk Angantyr.
 
She has seen this before. She barely lived through his rage. It took all of her willpower to stop him then. Though she lifts her Spine to defend, she cannot stop his blows, which completely brutalize her breastplate and tear it open. "Angantyr..! Stop! Stop! Please!" Picking herself up, she hurls herself at him, aiming to knock him to the ground and hold him there. Though it looks more like she's trying to hug him. Turns out she kind of is. The Spine has stuck itself into the snake's flesh nearby.
 
"Come on..." she pleads in his ear. Her very presence might as well be anethema to him right now, but to everyone else here, struggling against the snake, that willpower of hers can literally be felt. It's like getting a sudden taste of what drives Avira through every battle, in spite of lack of skill and experience.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Then, HORRIBLE LASER BEAM. Maira tries to protect herself again with that wall of magic, but it is nose use. The attack from the serpent is too strong, blasting right through her defenses. Indeed, it sends Maira reeling from the precarious location atop the creatures head and plunging toward the ocean below, unable to help Avira when Angantyr turns his blinded rage on her next.
 
The splash that is expected never comes.
 
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Maira surges upward carried by a fiery, winged form shaped like a large man, with wings of fire. Those who had been with her in Baron may recognize it.
 
Maira lands once more, fully ignited and wreathed in flames. Her eyes are wide and panicked as she sees that Angantyr has turned his attention to Avira. Maira rushes forward. What has come over him!? Avira would know better, and it would seem that she is on top of the situation...but she feels like she needs to help. He's lost in the darkness. What he needs is a torch to lead him out.
 
Maira moves over toward him and Avira, reaching out with her flaming hand to lay it on Angantyr's chest. The flames turn a holy-infused white, a light injected straight to the heart and echoing outward to bring a sense of peace to Angantyr and Avira both.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Faris stands alone against the monstrous snake, now, her mithral blade going snicker-snack against everything it can find -- more scales fall in a deadly rain, until she's finally at the unprotected skin, and her blade pierces the sea snake in a mighty energized blow that sends crackles of energy a good quarter mile in every direction.
 
"Foolsssssssssssssss! Ssssssssssssssssssstand againssssssssssst me if you dare, but you cannot withsssssssssssstand the sssssssssssssea."
 
And, arching his spine, the serpent dives towards the ocean. The wind whistles, then howls, the acceleration going from 'crushing' to 'free-fall' in very little time. Better hang onto something, here comes that water, with all the force of a concrete wall.
 
Meanwhile, inside Angantyr's heart, he feels the overpowering presence of darkness disrupted, very slightly, by the presence of others. White light -- his own light, so oft forgotten -- shimmers and grows into the shapes of those closest to him, those reaching out to him, to bring him home. It will hurt, to go back to taking responsibility for his actions, to not let the monster within do the driving. To be himself, a font of darkness so often surrounded by untouchable light. But perhaps he can believe that he won't have to hurt alone. Words return to him from a recent memory that could have been a lifetime ago: "Trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness..."
 
Whether or not he can believe in himself, perhaps he can take strength from his friends. As they draw strength from each other, Maira's flames suddenly exploding with power, Avira's will becoming palpable in the air, a shimmering, silvery Light. They are more than the sum of their parts, everyone bound together by something far stronger than malice can ever hope to imitate.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The darkness threatening to swallow him...
 
It all started to fade away, being absorbed in darkness but then.
 
A feeling of pressure on his chest, someone grabbing him can be felt. But the vision he was locked to was keeping him from seeing, but it was familar.
 
On the outside, Angantyr freezes suddenly as Avira holding him, she wasn't able to force him down, but the act was enough to stop his assault for the moment, the darkness fighting for the light in his heart. Maira lends her aid to him, the inside of Angantyr's heart was not surrounded by the light, as another familar presence was pressed on his chest. Then a third, once more, a light brighter than he could fathom is pressed into him. The font, neutral to it, releases Angantyr, but the feeling of something below lurking? It watches them, either passive or amused.
 
Angantyr's free hand moves up, grabbing Avira by the shou-
 
AND THE TENDER MOMENT IS RUINED BY JACKASS SNAKE!
 
A wave of water flows, throwing the pair into the water, but Angantyr presists, aiming to hold onto Avira as he aims to help throw her back onto the thing's face.
 
Angantyr comes back, the armor still pressed on him...
 
"You SON OF A-" OCEAN SPRAY!
 
He booms, running right for the spot right between it's eyes...
 
Then Anantyr rear his mace back, dark energy courses through it, what wasn't dispelled by the light surges through the weapon. "IF YOU WANT THE DARKNESS SO BADLY, MONSTER, HAVE MINE!" he booms...and swings the massive mace down in a powerful arch. The mace's head exploding with a wave of power larger than should exist.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
It worked. Maira can feel it working. She doesn't know how, but she knows that with their combined aid, Angantyr is fighting off the snake's influence. She begins to smile, pleased and hopeful...
 
Then, yeah. Jerk snake.
 
Maira is knocked away, finding herself falling once more toward the sea below. This is getting really annoying. Anger is rising. She knows she isn't suppose to just let her magic have its way, she is suppose to control it...Aerith's voice is there, telling her to tame the flames to her will instead of bending to theirs. But it is SO difficult.
 
Maira summons the wind again, slowing her descent toward the ocean, but unable to prevent touching completely. She goes under.
 
Beneath the waves, Maira is sinking. Strangely, she doesn't seem as concerned as she really should be, even though a trail of blood leaks from her, dispersed by the chaotic currents of the sea.
 
She's gathering for something. Her friends have been supporting her, and it is time to see that she does her part.
 
The water surges, the sky above growing dark with clouds that suddenly form. The air swirls, hot and moist, pulling the ocean upward into a giant water spout. With it, comes Maira, steam rising from her skin before she once more ignites. The mage steers the tempest into the serpent, followed by a spear of flame and a warriors cry, flying forward toward the snake. The voice is hers but not, a deeper tone carried with her as Uist manifests to lend his energy to her assault.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Oh, he--" Thankfully, FAris is kept from cursing further by uh, well, going face first into a mountain-wall of water. That /hurts/. She more tahn likely broke something, as well. She grits her teeth and eventually surfaces, swimming quite well, blade still in hand. "Right." She says. "Okay, let's see how you like this..."
 
She lets out a breath and then dives for the monster again. She does sea combat, she's perfectly capable of swimming and kicking butt.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
When Avira was introduced to Angantyr's inner darkness, she was torn to pieces. It doesn't occur to her that it could happen again right now. She's no Princess of Heart. She's not pure.
 
She's also not even strong enough to knock the six foot five tall man over, which is kind of unsurprising. Not that it really matters right now anyway since what she ultimately wanted to do was "stall" him until he came to his senses. Avira feels him grab her shoulder and while she would love to believe that they were successful, her nearest hand unwinds from him to snatch the Spine up.
 
The snake speaks and terror wells up inside Avira anew. This would be the OTHER thing she had started to anticipate in fear once the snake rose so high above the water. At this height, the impact...
 
She hits the water. It might as well have been solid ground, only solid ground you don't sink into. Already she's struggling and clawing but while she does know how to swim, that's usually when she's not in clothing and carrying a weapon. She starts to sink until Angantyr grabs her by the back of her collar and throws her back up onto the snake's face. Gasping for air, she spits water out and staggers to her feet. Something else was pushing her now, a power Avira could tell wasn't coming from within her, but somewhere else. A brown-eyed gaze is turned towards the frozen princess. "Soon..."
 
Only seconds later, she collapses to her knees again. Even with this act of exhaustion, she tries to make it useful and drives the Spine as deep down into the serpent's skin as possible.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Surging water. COLD water. Air, in the many tiny bubbles created by the massive belly flop; they dance about the maelstrom in all directions, obscuring the surface and the floor, the difference between up and down. Salt; the ocean, the taste of blood in mouths from the sheer jarring impact.
 
Then, relief: the surface found, Faris' new ship already making fast tracks towards the action, unwilling to be left behind no matter what the risk. And the risk is enormous -- now that he's in the water, his native element, the serpent is surely far more dangerous than he was. Indeed, his immense fins are already sweeping back and forth, creating roaring waves and rushing currents, turning the terrain to his advantage.
 
It isn't enough.
 
Faris dives straight back into the action, blade held forth to pierce at that weak spot she's created yet again. More of that terrible black ichor pours from it and starts to form into ghastly shapes...
 
...only for Maira to tear that water into her tempest; it dissolves within the spout, which slams into the serpent in turn, the flaming spear /burning away any ocean between it and its target/ before impacting. The sea snake roars his rage, snapping back with his terrible fangs...
 
...but Avira is still there, she never even left, held fast by her clanmate, and the Spine plunges down through his snout, piercing straight between those two fangs to further fork its gigantic tongue. His roar becomes a scream of fury...
 
...dwarfed in decibel by the boom of Angantyr's mace, and all his strength behind it, the Darkness his strength now, not his weakness, wielded against Darkness with open eyes and heart.
 
There's a terrible cracking sound, and all the black plates on the mighty serpent suddenly shatter, revealing the -- actually rather lovely -- iridescent blue creature beneath. He's beautiful in a sleek and dangerous way, not the least bit anthropomorphic, but it seems he was only infected by the Heartless, perhaps possessed, yet not a creature of the Darkness the way through.
 
His eyes, which without the veil of darkness are a sharklike, hungry gray, fixate on each individual in turn. Some combination of annoyance and gratitude flash through them; then he turns, and with a final, dismissive sweep of his tail, disappears into the depths, a different realm of darkness, one where he is master, not slave.
 
The black chains binding Jasmine shattered as well; heavy as it is, the alabaster statue still goes flying back with the final wave, no longer attached to the serpent. It begins sinking rapidly.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
The good stolen ship starts making its' way towards the group as the freed monster takes to the seas, rescuing anyone who needs it, and also to prep to get Jasmine back on board.
 
Faris takes a deep breath as she crests the wave, before diving back into the ocean, straight towards the Jasmine-statue. She will kill herself to help rescue the princess - or at least make sure Ang's teleportation skills got her.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr stares into the eyes of the serpent for a very long time. The two possibly share a moment...at least, in the way that an intelligent and old animal and a dark knight can. However, this present a new problem. Angantyr hits the ocean, the only thing keeping him aflot is the fact that he is increadibly strong. Faris see's a problem, and goes to dive for Jasmine, but she's also a statue. He grabs for Faris, who grabs for Jasmine. He grabs for Avira, to help him out, who no doubt will probably grab for Maira who has some sort of magic thing.
 
Anganty pulls, holding his breath and a corridor would open up for them easily to cross...
 
And drop them all uncerimoniously onto the deck of the ship. Angantyr is face first near the bottom, coughing out sea water and groaning in pain.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
'Where is Maira' it suddenly occurs to Avira, seconds before the young mage's spells strike the sea serpent. Relief washes over her and she remains holding on, driving the Spine down deeper until the creature calls out in deafening pain. From there, all Avira can do is hold on.
 
It's actually quite a surprise to find another creature underneath the darkness. Avira had been expecting it to disappear completely should they actually succeed against the beast. The short huntress stares back at the eyes, caught off guard, unsure what to think for a moment before she speaks, her words from the heart a final plea. "Set us down gently." she begs before the creature drops into the water. Right away, Avira is swimming for the statue with frantic energy. Faris dives down...
 
...Avira, as if knowing what's coming, grabs for Angantyr and Maira. Again through one of those corridors of darkness, but after all this, Avira can deal a little.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
It would seem that the combined assault is a success. Even a beast as great at that one eventually broke beneath the pressure they all put upon it. Maira registers the defeat as she rides the tempest, tossed by the wind as the black scales dissolve and the beautiful, terrible creature beneath is revealed. "Ooh...." she says, Uist's assistance finally running out. He tells her to take a breath, because she's going to be under the water again quickly.
 
All she thinks as she falls is; "damn it Ivo, you didn't actually teach me to swim!" then she hits the water feet first.
 
BLUB!
 
Alright, she's under water. She could fling herself out again with an aero spell...but she'll just end up back in the water again. Well, here goes nothing.
 
Maira flings herself from the water and arcs in the general direction of the others, splashing down near Angantyr in order to be grabbed by him and tosses aboard the deck of the ship. It's not exactly gently, and Maira gasps with pain as her most certainly broken ribs scream once more.
 
Then she lays there, wheezing and gasping for breath while she waits for her mind to clear. What happened to statue-Jasmine? Someone was getting her, right? Maira is pretty sure she can fix the whole...being stone business. Once she's taken care of anyway.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Down, down, down.
 
Only a pirate queen could ever have pulled this off. Anyone else would have lost the statue to the unforgiving deeps.
 
Knives of pressure nearly asphyxiate Faris by the time her desperate dive reaches Jasmine; at that point she's as deep as she's ever dared go without extensive preparation. The statue's outstretched hands provide an easy thing to grab, and when one is touched, in fact, the alabaster seems to give, far more than it should. So gently as to be almost unnoticable, the hand squeezes back.
 
As Faris presumably starts trying to kick upwards, buying time for the rest of them to catch up, the statue deccelerates... and in a moment best explained by 'magic', Jasmine is simply pulled straight out of it, though the statue was never hollow, and though it continues to exist, without her. The horrific souvenir of this experience sinks out of sight in no time.
 
Then Angantyr is there, and Avira. The serpent glances over his shoulder at them, as he departs, but there's no subtle wink, no toothy grin -- just a long, piercing stare before he's gone. Was he not sentient enough to speak? Or did he simply not deign to?
 
Together the four of them make the journey through Darkness to the light of the ship, beacon that it is, alone at sea. Jasmine falls bonelessly to the deck, completely limp.
 
There's a long moment where she's as motionless as she was as a figurehead. Then a very tiny smile curves her lips as soft radiance pours from her, warmly embracing each and every person on othe ship. Wounds are mended, bones restored, spirits replenished, all in a breathless moment of exuberant gratitude.
 
The light fades back into her skin, and the princess shifts, then falls from unconsciousness into a true sleep.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira's clearly not a high enough level yet to communicate meaningfully with giant-ass sea serpents. Well, at least it wasn't still trying to eat them.
 
The girl flops wetly on the deck, struggling to sheath her sword. Her own strength is gone after that ordeal in its entirety, from the heartless on the ship, to the infected serpent, to facing Angantyr himself. Struggling, she pulls herself into a seated position and starts to unbuckle the remains of her breastplate, removing the mangled metal.
 
Her eyes remain upon the recovering princess, which Avira is happy to no longer see encased in stone, but concerned to not see her moving at all. If only she had been more attentive...
 
It was an unpleasant lesson to learn for a novice adventurer, but an important one nonetheless.
 
Though the light does erase the wounds incurred from the ordeal, Avira still looks weary and tired. She doesn't pass out, despite the urge, and remains sitting there in silent vigil.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Oh hey, breathing is good. As Jasmine, non-stone, projects her aura of healing out toward them, the wounds on Maira begin to heal, making breathing a good deal more possibly and comfortable.
 
She sits up then, looking around, wide-eyed and shocked from what just happened. "Thank you..." she tells the sleeping form of the princess, then looks to Avire, Angan and Faris. "Lets never do that again, k?"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr's own wounds are both physical and deeper.
 
CRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
 
Okay more seriously, the man once everyone is off of him slowly rises to his feet, shaking his own body as water falls down it. Light bathes him again, he's less exhausted, thankfully, and he gives a look at Jasmine who is now peacefully out like a light. He thinks similar thoughts to Avira, but has come to accept that sometimes things can't be helped. His own actions during the encounter are not so easily forgiven. Even as cheers go out, and he turns as the armor finally fades back into the normal dark knight's attire...which is just armor but more chain than the dark plate that comes from his own darkness.
 
Then a bottle of grog is handed to him, he doesn't have much time to actually react, taking the bottle and looking at it for a moment. He takes a drink, and passes the bottle to Avira, before starting to move below deck.
 
BROOD BROOD BROOD!

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"We might not have a choice." Avira says distantly, "The next time it happens." Well, not true, there was always a choice. She couldn't make the decision to stand by idly though. "You're okay, right Maira?"
 
Angantyr passes by, giving her a bottle of grog. Avira watches him wordlessly as he goes. She starts to move, but for a brief moment, she sees him coming at her, mace held high. Unable to help herself, she shudders and takes a drink, failng to follow for now.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira watches Angantyr swig and walk off, frowning softly. Yes, he can't be feeling very good right now. She thinks of going after him, and if she'd been alone she would have. As it is though, she feels like maybe it would be an intrusion if she did while Avira was here and clearly knew him better.
 
The water-logged woman moves to sit beside Avira, leaning over to rest her head on her shoulder. "I'm okay...are you okay? Jasmine looks peaceful...I don't think Angantyr is okay though."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris watches Jasmine fall back asleep, and she sighs. She'll see the woman to a comfortable bed, as Ang goes off to brood, but for the msot part, the partially bloody, mostly-waterlogged Pirate Queen goes to captain the ship. She made a promise to get them to their destination, and she'll be damned if she goes off-ways for Heartless.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira really should go after Angantyr right now too! But she's clearly reluctant. Maybe even a little afraid. It only makes her feel worse, in fact, and disappointed. Part of her really wouldn't mind a hug from him now that they weren't in the middle of a storm or a battle. For now, though, she'll settle with Maira leaning next to her.
 
Transferring the grog to one hand, she lets her other arm lift so she can drape it around Maira's shoulders. "Exhausted. I could be better. I don't think he's okay at all, not after losing control like that. He doesn't want to hurt us." At least that's what Avira really wants to believe, deep in her heart.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira sighs. She could use a hug too. Though, she is sort of getting one, so yay! "Yeah..." she replies, looking off in the direction he went. "Do you think...it would help if I talked to him? It isn't...quite the same, but I know what its like losing control," she says, frowning gently. While she's never quite gone berserk, her fire magic has gone out of control too many times. It is almost a constant effort for her to keep it under control.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Below decks, the Dark Knight slips into one of the rooms that were given to them. He pulls off the helmet and sets it down, same with the mace. The armor is peeled off, and he lays down on the bed in short order. Those arms rest behind his head. He growls...closing his eyes, and those images of what he has done do not leave. He'll have to live with it...Garland would punish him for his weakness tonight...but right now, his tender mercies did not compare to Angantyr's own subconcious.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Even willpower can be exhausted. Right now, Avira is all out, else she might actually be going after Angantyr, "Somebody should talk to him. Maybe you should. You're on his good side, I can tell." For as much of a 'good side' there was. "And you're right, you do know about losing control."
 
Avira does not. Not in the 'overwhelming powers' sense. Control of her own course in life, maybe, but that was from a past she had buried. "Go on." she nudges Maira before taking another long drink of grog.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira places her arm around Avira in turn, giving her friend a gentle squeeze. "Alright Avira. I'll try. He doesn't really know me well or anything....but yeah, someone should," she agrees. "I'll be back! Don't drink too much of that stuff..." she says, eying the grog.
 
Maira gets to her feet and moves below deck, following Angantyr's likely trail of wet boot prints along the floor. She peeks her head in the door, finds that he is decent, and lets herself on in. She sits on the floor next to the bed and looks up at him with wide amber eyes. "So. That sucked, huh?" she says by way of conversation starter. She wants to tell him that he sure does have a mean swing with that mace, but that would be counter-productive.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr looks up after a moment, and looks at Maira.
 
He stares at her.
 
The camera pans back at Maira.
 
Then back to Angantyr. Then back at Maira.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OmPW3mamSE this plays.
 
"Yes."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Well, this is going well!
 
Maira breathes. You know, purposefully. She always breathes but she's /thinking/ about breathing, which is really strange but kind of akin to-- "You know, I have to be really on guard of my magic. I have to sort of...constantly be aware of it so I can suppress it. Otherwise, it runs away with my emotions....I've burned down buildings before. I have nightmares and I just wake up and the whole bed is on fire, and the room around me. Sometimes...sometimes people have gotten hurt."
 
Story time with Maira.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr continues to stare at her.
 
The music keeps playing.
 
"Yes. I can imagine." he says, in a way that infers that he is trying to be neutral.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
What is that weird music? That's really unsettling!
 
Maira blinks. Huh. Maybe she sucks at this.
 
.....
 
"So um...don't feel too bad about what happened, okay? I won't hold it against you and I know Avira won't either. Everyone is alright. And um...yeeeaah..." she says, getting to her feet and starting to back toward the door again.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The music continues.
 
"Maira." he says, slowly, "Thank you for trying." he says finally.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Trying. Not succeeding. She sighs, nodding. Nothing much else to say. The girl turns and leaves, finding her way back to Avira, likely, to report the spectacularly awkward failure.
 
Then Sleep.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The little ship, all broken
 
Went sailing on the sea
 
With sailors proud
 
And sometimes loud
 
They rode forth bravely
 
When night arrived in haste
 
The many stars shone bright
 
To guide their way
 
To shelter's bay
 
Bevelle, that promised light.

Jasmine

2012-12-03T05:35:36Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

-----

'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

[[Jafar]]: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

[[Aladdin]]: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

[[Garland]]: Jasmine recognized Garland immediately on an instinctual level. She bore witness within her own heart, all too briefly, to the incredible memory of Light that once dwelled within him. To the decline and fall of that Light, the self-inflicted wounds, the knife-stabs through the heart and soul that so skillfully forged his spirit into pure and endless Darkness. She respects what he once was, understands what he has become, and accepts him for exactly who he is. Like Jafar, Garland inspires a mix of fear, anger, and sadness; fear that she'll never be strong enough to prevent him from doing exactly what he wants, anger that he would ever have chosen to be what he is, and sadness at the outcome. She believes in the infinite possibility of redemption, and she wouldn't be who /she/ is without extending such opportunities to him, in innumerable quiet ways, while defying his agenda with every fibre of her being. Polar opposites on many levels, she is disquieted to find similarities within their duality; they are like, but so unlike.

[[Avira]]: ''"I'm glad you're safe."'' Jasmine first saw Avira defending Garden at a distance, and drew courage from the mighty warrior's example. Later, she noticed Kaydin transporting a captured Avira to Baron. She would not leave one of her allies, even one she'd never properly been introduced to, in the hands of their enemies. She could not do anything else, and still be herself; not long afterwards, they wound up traveling together, as Avira helped her flee the Heartless in Rabanastre. Having now had an opportunity to actually spend a little time together, Jasmine is quite impressed with the woman's competence, but moreso with her understated kindness.

[[Angantyr Vespar]]: ''"I hardly know you, and here I am pouring myself out for you. I'm sorry, but there is something about you that seems... Trustworthy. No different than how you saw me. Foolish sentiments for the both of us, for being strangers." "I think that trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness. I'm very glad I met you, Sir Knight. Angantyr. Thank you again, for all you've done for me."'' Jasmine and Angantyr met while independently launching rescue operations for Avira, in Baron, and made excellent impressions on each other. They departed as princess and mercenary guard for a forty-eight hour term of employment, and in that time became fast friends. She regards his friendship far higher than any coin, in fact. Jasmine has seen the Darkness in Angantyr, but believes that the man can find balance, with time, will, and self-respect; rather than try to talk him out of his revenge, she knows that only he can do that for himself.

[[Seith]]: ''"I can see /your/ Light."'' Jasmine was too busy dealing with other issues to participate in a fairly epic philosophical debate Seith was at the core of, but his willingness, even eagerness, to hurt, maim, or perhaps even kill innocent bystanders in order to make his points in a debate informed her first impression of him.

[[Faruja Senra]]: ''"As long as you stand up for what is right, the war is already won."'' Seen helping the poor and defying the dark at a distance, Jasmine was impressed with the Burmecian's compassion and fierce ideals... though he seemed a bit loquacious. She (largely incorrectly) blames herself for the Heartless' interruption of his charity event. Later, he helped her thwart a small army of Heartless, and she helped him remember the good reasons to fight, as well as the grim. They parted as friends.

[[Faris Scherwiz]]: ''"I have no love for violence, especially between those who still have their hearts, but such a ship would certainly fit my specifications of 'crewed by those who can defend themselves...'"'' Faris' total honesty about 'his' profession smoothed over what might have otherwise been a poor first impression; he's an /awfully/ pretty boy, after all, exactly the sort of person Jasmine inherently suspects. But she felt something in him that she trusted immediately -- with her life, as he swept her off on a pirate ship to flee an army of Heartless.

[[Ivo Galvan]]: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

[[Dr. Facilier]]: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

[[Ron Stoppable]]: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

[[Kaydin]]: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

[[Terra Bradford]]: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

[[Riku]]: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

[[Rapunzel]]: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

[[David Xanatos]]: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

[[Belle]]: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

[[Jean Faraven]]: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

[[Celes Chere]]: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

[[Quistis Trepe]]: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

[[Merilan Yursalin]]: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

They're On A Boat - Part One: The Storm

2012-12-03T05:27:57Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/02
|Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr, Avira and Maira to Bevelle. At first the trip is pleasant, but a devastating storm rises, and something waits for them in the foggy 'calm', afterwards... (GMed by [[Jasmine]])
|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Avira, Faris Scherwiz, Jasmine, Maira
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
After forty-eight hours of jello-boned, aching-stomached, spinning-headed seasick misery, the next three days of fair weather and calm seas rank highly among the best of Jasmine's life. She loves the ocean with the same dazzling exuberance that she loves anything, and embraces every aspect of shipboard life, throwing herself into scrubbing the poop deck as gladly as untangling fishing lines or hauling ropes. Her hands blister and bleed more severely than they ever did at Garden, and she endures it without a single complaint. The rigging becomes something of an obsession of hers, and she's utterly fearless up there, swinging from mast to mast, perching on the spars, and especially, spending long hours in the crow's nest, the breeze sweeping her hair behind her, just staring at the many faces and moods of the endless, wonderful sea, and its mate, the far-horizoned sky. Gazing up at the dancing stars, she can feel them looking back, beaming at her. And in those moments, she is on her balcony, surrounded by her family, home at last. Home.
 
She's abandoned her robes and veil after the first couple days, and seems subtly more comfortable without them, her steps even lighter, her breathing more relaxed, as though she's shed some burden far more massive than a few pounds of ratty brown fabric. It's the Heartless, of course, or more accurately the lack thereof. For the first time since she fled the Palace, she actually feels... free.
 
One night, she's sitting on the deck of the ship, her hands doing an inadequate job of weaving herself a hat to keep the sun off, out of dried chocobo greens that were waiting in the hold for feathered beasts who aren't here to eat them. Her expression is patiently amused, her grin set with a stubborn edge as the brim falls apart -- again. She watches the sailor next to her work on his basket, studying his hands carefully, then starts over for the sixth time. A sigh escapes her, the sound of utter contentment.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira really wants to love the ocean. She does, really, but it is highly stressful being on a boat made of wood and canvas, surrounded miles around by water when you can't swim, and you occasionally set yourself on fire during your sleep.
 
Thus, Maira has just sort of not really slept, unless someone is watching her. Since she's not sleeping, she comes up on deck, thinking the breeze will help her stay awake. She smiles over to Jasmine, waving. "Oh hi! A Sailor's life for you hmm?" she says with a grin.
 
At least Maira isn't seasick! That would really suck!

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr had been coming and going, his ability to use coordiors of darkness helps with gathering supplies on the run, with the added benifit of not having to stop. It's disconcerting for the crew, but it's something he's grown used to by those who do not use or have darkness in one's heart. However, more than once Angantyr came back rather injured...the last time he came back, however, not only was he injured, he hasn't come out of his quarters for a while. Something shook him up good, and he wasn't up for speaking with /anyone/.
 
However, on this night, Angantyr has decided to leave his quarters and has done so by resting against one of the ledges looking over the dark water. The moon was high in the sky at this point, casuing him to take a long breath in of sea air. Angantyr, wonders, what would have happened if he had instead went into sailing. He was fairly good at map making, a skill he has had to let die over the years to work on his marshall training...but...
 
He always did have a love of the sea. Avira and he had talked about it frequently, and one of their meeting places was an ocean. It also shows that he hasn't been sea sick once during the entire trip, for the little he's been on the ship initially.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Fun fact. Avira's not much of a fan of rough seas either. She spent most of those days above deck for it seemed that every time she went into a cabin during those times, she would get even more and more sick. The effect seemed to lessen the worst when she holed herself up in the crow's nest for an hour or two. Failing that, she'd try to keep herself busy to keep her mind off the misery.
 
As a member of a clan, Avira's no stranger to work. Spending time not working would feel even wierder to her. Seems she's spent more than a moment talking to Angantyr, threatening to make the supply stops instead of him because he had this nasty tendency of picking fights with everyone!
 
For a little while tonight, Avira spent it going through a book that she borrowed from Jasmine, who had in turn borrowed it from SeeD. It was some sort of guide to the extradimensional horrors and the like of the world-important, as they were heading for Sin's territory. But for now, she's finished studying.
 
Unable to sleep in light of what she's been reading, she exits her cabin and heads out into the night. From there, it doesn't take long for her to spot that certain dark knight. For a few seconds, she considers sneaking up on him but quickly realizes that could end badly. Like with her thrown overboard. Instead, she approaches him from an angle that'll make sure he can spot her coming. "Hey. Also couldn't sleep much, hm?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Each time Angantyr's returned, Jasmine has gently tended his wounds -- or offered to -- without hesitation, question or judgement. Her worry is of the silent, supportive variety, the serene kind that has all of time for him to decide to open up to them, or not ever do so at all. She'd be there, all the same.
 
She glances over at him, placing her terrible hat on her head and letting it fall to pieces in her hair, trying to make him, and the others, smile. "I'd like that," she murmurs to Maira, her voice a soft descant over the music of dark waves and silver moonlight. "If you want to sleep, I can watch over you." The other girl's predilection towards accidental fiery destruction is undisturbing to her, and there are plenty of buckets and plenty of sea.
 
Take seven on the hat starts up, but her attention is no longer fully on her weaving. Rising gracefully, she picks at the greens with her fingers while crossing the deck in a rolling gait as steady as any pirate's, towards the night watch's hotpot. As she passes Avira and Angantyr, her greeting is dark-eyed and wordless, to avoid interrupting them further, but warm as the deserts of her birth.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira can't deny that she is tired. It takes her energy just to not release her magic accidentally, not to mention all the travel. She's never exactly been hardy either. "Really....? Maybe I should..." she replies.
 
She looks over toward Avira and Angantyr, her head tilted slightly. She looks a bit puzzled. Her thoughts are obvious.
 
"Ugh," she says, reaching up to rub her eyes. "Alright. Yeah. I'll try to rest..." she says, then lays down on deck, pillowing her head on some coiled rope. Better to be outside and closer to the water so she can, you know, be extinguished if necessary.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"Hmm?" Angantyr asks her, and shrugs. "No, not really. Something is...keeping me up. I can't tell if it's just something that happened recently or something is putting me on edge." he comments a bit before turning away from the open sea to face Avira which gets him in line to see Jasmine put the hat on her head, which fails spectacularly at being a hat. However, it was a wonderful joke because Angantyr immediately is trying not to laugh, putting a hand over his mouth and trying to look grim and imposing. It is failing horribly.
 
Coughing after a minute he turns back to Avira, "What about you? Still sea sick?" he asks her, but the question is fairly generally open to both Jasmine and Avira. He glances at Maira not understanding her question and instead bids her good night. "Don't worry, if any heartless show up we'll point your sleeping at them." he says, with a grin. Luckily his UMP is very high. That's Use Magic Person.
 
"We shouldn't be too much farther to the port. After that I guess we'll not have to be on the run for a little bit. Assuming everything goes according to plan and nothing unforseen or something ignored comes up."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"Is it your-" Avira is literally THIS CLOSE to actually saying 'Spider Sense' but aborts the reference altogether. Angantyr would not understand it and would, in fact, make him quite suspicious. Not that there wasn't a good deal of suspicion around her circumstances of joining the Clan. Besides, real spiders don't actually have any sort of sense like that. "-intuition?" she quickly fills in, which sounds far more reasonable and a good deal more flattering.
 
He turns to face her then starts making this strage look...as if he's trying to not laugh at something. Avira looks downright confused-she wasn't looking seasick today and her color has returned, so what is he...?
 
Glancing over her shoulder, she notes the approach of the princess and the homemade hat she is wearing. "Good evening, Jasmine. Nice hat." A grin follows.
 
Looking beyond the princess, she spies Maira curling up on the deck to sleep. While she'd rather the mage sleep in a bed, she's pretty aware of the reasons for Maira to do that. Mentally, she makes a note of her location so she can check up on her friend every now and then. "That makes me wonder, Angantyr, if sleep-casting is possible. What a danger /that/ would be."
 
Avira gives both Jasmine and Angantyr an embarassed smile. "Noooo, the seasickness is gone now. And thank Faram for that."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's grave poker face makes up for Angantyr's lack of one; she makes a great straightwoman, apparently. One eye closes and reopens in an agonizingly well-controlled, marvelously slow, solemn wink towards the both of them, as she saunters by. "It's the latest fashion," she quips, bits of straw sticking out of her hair in all possible directions.
 
She disappears into the forecastle, and re-emerges moments later with a tray of hot drinks balanced on one upstretched hand, and some bedding under the other. The drinks she leaves on a ledge near the Dagda folk. "We can always buy more, and there's water nearby," she justifies quietly of the bedding, placing the pillow near Maira's head, where she can perhaps roll onto it on her own, the blanket within snuggle-distance.
 
The princess was terribly seasick as well, but is as unashamed of it as Avira seems to be embarassed. "I'm glad too," she agrees simply. "There's too much to see and do, to spend this journey below decks."
 
Angantyr's promise of not having to run elicits a longing look and no objections, but it's somewhat unlikely she really believes anything will be that easy.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr is trying to be positive!
 
It's a work in progress, but hey. "Yeah. Call it that." Angantyr rumbles after a few moments after observing Maira and shakes his head. "Well, she'll be nice and stiff in the morning...if not wet." he quips. However, he considers the hot drinks next, and takes one, taking a sip for a moment before speaking again. "I also had a run in with a kid who could weild darkness too, Avira. Very powerful too.." he pauses, "And had a death wish." he says, and turns away, as if that is all that needed to be said.
 
"It could be what is setting me on edge, I'll admit." he closes his eyes. "Still, I can't shake the feeling easily." he takes another sip. Needs more rum, he observes to himself.
 
A lot more rum.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's deadpan reaction to Angantyr's amusement is what finally tips it for Avira. She openly barks out a laugh now befoer quieting herself. "I dunno Angantyr, I think I need one too." she says as Jasmine briefly leaves them to procure some drinks and bedding for Maira.
 
She nudges Angantyr, "Eh, it'll build character. But seriously, Maira's actually been homeless most her life so I think she's got experience sleeping in odd places." Of course, Avira seems a little sad about this-there were a lot of things about Maira's life that made her kind of sad. "-Oh, thank you."
 
She'll happily accept one of the drinks. "More fights, then?" Avira tsks, "You get all the fun Angantyr. I'm telling you, you need to let me make supply runs. Did you get a name for this one?"
 
Avira turns herself so she's leaning her back against the ship's railing, that way she can see both her dark knight and the princess. "Other than Angantyr being...well, Angantyr, this trip has been fairly smooth. Metaphorically. I say the rough seas earlier do not count, no matter how sick it's made us."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine is unfailingly optimistic about the long-term big picture, but tends to not underestimate the challenges of the road to that happy ending. They're so much a part of her life, now, that she'd be a fool to forget them entirely. The core of her belief in the others comes down to the expectation of great strife, and complete faith in their ability to overcome it, to rise above.
 
As she looks between the laughing Avira and now more serious Angantyr, who to her embody a great deal of the hope for the future -- people with complicated problems, difficult lives, who get knocked down and stand back up again and again -- a soft glow kindles in her eyes. She takes her own drink and wraps her chilled, cracked palms around the mug; steam rises from it to envelop her face. Maira draws out her protective instincts, and the half an eye she keeps on the girl is fond, and unrelated to any threat she poses to the ship. She watches over her peace, not her peril.
 
"It's been marvelous. But there's a storm coming," she whispers, craning her head back on her neck to look up at the endless diamond sky, entirely lacking in clouds. It isn't a premonition of doom, from her lips, but a promise of change. "Don't worry, though... the dawn is brightest, afterwards."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr makes a noice at Jasmine's words, non-commental, but he silently agrees with her. It's going to be rough, but after that...well who knows. Bright or not, Angantyr has no intention of not facing the storm. Bullheadedness or shear determination, one or the other really and perhaps both. Despite Jasmine's hopes for him, there is a long dark road he'll have to walk. However, it is looking less and less likely it will be the road he has to walk alone. He has not entirely been able to decide what he thinks about this.
 
Angantyr shrugs, he did not get a name from Riku, just a kid who had a death wish and a lot of power. Both these things don't boad well, assuming he lived. He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure at all and he kindof worries if that was something else that will weigh on his souls.
 
"I did not know that." he speaks to Avira about Maira. "I really don't know her very well, besides her crazy nature," which Angantyr seems to like that. "I guess we all have dark spots to our pasts."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
A faint noise of contemplation escapes Avira when Angantyr shrugs off the question of names. So he clearly didn't get a name. Maybe that Leida character had an older brother wandering around wreaking havoc because this certainly doesn't sound like anybody Avira knows. Riku had done a good job of avoiding the huntress ever since she voiced suspicion about his magic that one time. Altogether, she was unaware of the darkness inside the silver-haired teenager.
 
"Well...we are fellow VALKYRI." Avira explains to Angantyr, "She was one of the founding members, in fact. We do a lot of work together so you're bound to see more of Maira." Especially if Angantyr keeps popping up around her while Avira is outside of Ivalice. "Ah...yes...dark spots."
 
The huntress goes silent for a moment, watching Angantyr, thinking. He was probably already suspicious about where she came from. Maybe she should just /tell/ him before he figures out she was lying on her own, like Mercade and Skoll did. But at the same time...
 
...nah, it didn't matter, right?
 
"A storm...?" Avira murmurs, looking up to the sky. There are no clouds and the stars are out, quite beautifully tonight, in fact. She looks to Jasmine, concerned, but comforted by her words about the following dawn. "Then...we'll just have to weather it, right?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine watches Angantyr ruminate. He is troubled, and so she is troubled. One hand reaches out to clasp his shoulder reassuringly, strikingly warmed from the mug of tea.
 
His description, and the timing and nature of the fight itself, leave little doubt in her mind as to what's bothering him. "He lives," she announces, abruptly but gently, the words quietly mingling with the ship creaking from one tack to another. Absolute surety rings in her voice. "You love to fight," it's just another matter-of-fact statement, and accepting, "But I think you do not love to kill. I'm glad."
 
Shifting her weight onto one hip, she watches Avira watch Angantyr, and there's a moment of thoughtful silence. "We will," she affirms when addressed, with quiet conviction. No qualifications, no explanations or excuses. We'll weather it. Together.
 
Then her expression dissolves into a yawn, but she sets her chin stubbornly; she offered to watch Maira sleep, and that means she needs to stay up. She takes another long draught of that very black tea.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr nods to Avira as she speaks about her friend. There was pause in her words, but Angantyr doesn't push her on what it is. Eventually it will come out, eventually she'll speak her mind, but until then he isn't going to press her on it. He has his own secrets, why would he question others about their own without reason? It's really as simple as that!
 
"Well, Maira, is a good kid. Spontaneous nudity asside." he grins for a minute. Of course, Jasmine touches base on what is troubling him, and he raises an eyebrow...gosh, the Princess gets around? They might have put off somewhere while he was out...it actually made sense. Faris did mention the possibility...then the kids power over the portals was amazingly strong...stronger than his own. That was a bit concerning to say the least.
 
"I do not take pleasure in it, no. It is something that happens when you fight, those who think they can save everyone with battle are only deluding themselves." he pauses then continues, "Kids even more so...what really got to me was just...how..." he shrugs, "Hopeless he seemed. Kids shouldn't be like that. It kind of touched a chord in my own past."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
When Jasmine announces that the boy Angantyr fought lives, Avira does feel a bit of relief. Though she knows Angantyr is not opposed to killing and has done so in the past, it's actually quite comforting for her when he abstains from doing so further. At the same time she had to wonder...it wasn't really her business, was it? Then why did she care so much?
 
She turns away to look at the sleeping Maira. "Yeah." Avira smiles. "She is."
 
Now Avira is silent, listening to Angantyr talk, a small smile on her face. There was /that/ side of him again. That 'softy' side of his that she hoped he'd never lose. "It's hard to imagine you as hopeless, Angantyr." she says softly, taking a long drink of tea.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira sure would hate to be called a kid by Angantyr. Luckily, she's asleep! Maira has been sleeping peacefully through the conversations it would seem, at least until recently. She begins to twitch in her sleep, followed not long after by a distressed moan. Ah, the nightmares.
 
Luckily, she wakes up /before/ she sleep-casts. She jolts upright suddenly, throwing her arms above her head as if trying to stop the sky from falling on her head. "HUNAMUNGAFRA!" .... say what? Sleep nonsense, that's what.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine endures the raised eyebrow with a lissome shrug; normally she might raise her own right back, but she's feeling more solemn than fiesty. "His name is Riku." From inside her mug of tea, eyes on his while she drinks, she listens intently to his philosophy, and his observation. Afterwards, she nods, fractionally. She can easily see him feeling a connection; had thought of similarities between them before, in fact.
 
"I trust him, too," she says softly, and leaves it at that.
 
***
 
On the sixth day, the storm comes.
 
It blows up out of nowhere. Sky meets sea in a cataclysmic crash that drowns the horizon behind impenetrable sheets of cutting ice, screaming wind, and torrential rain. The little ship crests mountain-sized waves, to tumble down avalanches of surf into abyssal trenches. It is not the piece of masterful craftsmanship and engineering that Faris may have once enjoyed; it creaks and moans, tossed to and fro by the impersonal but no less terrifying hands of fate.
 
The crew is doing their best to react, but they're made sloppy by fear. It will take all of Faris' skill, not only in seamanship but leadership, to get everyone through this intact.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris was never one to hide down in her cabin. Of course, it helps when there's a epic-level storm out, and she no longer has a water dragon to help balance the ship.
 
She's a pirate, arrr, and she'll see things through.
 
Bellowing orders in a voice that has taken fifteen years to prime, the crew is not so sloppy by fear, but the sheer winds and the rain. Of course, when you're wrestling with the ship's wheel as it creaks underneath you, people tend to listen to you.
 
"Get yerself down below or tied to something if you insist on being on deck!" She also bellows at her dear travelling guests... especially Jasmine, since who wants a nice, pretty lady tossed overboard?
 
Not Faris - she's already been a overboard princess, herself!

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr walks on deck, even for someone of his MASSIVE GIANT MAN self, this was hard to stand. He grabs the mast as he walks by, aiming to get near Faris. "Captain," he yells over the storm and because he is technically captain, and that is just respect right there, "What do you want me to do?" he asks. He's really strong, which is a boon, and despite his weight, he seems to be doing alright balancing himself. "I think you're going to need all the hands on deck that you can get!" he shouts again over the winds and rain. He is already soaked to the bone, armor or no, and he's going to regret these life choices in the morning.
 
"Of course we hit a storm and are almost there! What kind of trip would this be without some sort of disaster!" he complains, but with a grin to the Pirate.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira had been hoping for a metaphorical storm.
 
This is just downright terrifying. The first few days of rough seas had made her thoroughly sick. By the time the storm has reached its height, Avira has already emptied the contents of her stomach somewhere on the deck in a very ungraceful manner. Any further attempts to vomit are met by dry heaves.
 
For some time, she actually ties to make herself useful above deck, tying herself down and lending what strength she had to managing the sails as the wind picks up. What she ultimately does is follow Angantyr's lead, as he did seem to have some knowledge about how to handle himself around a ship.
 
She too looks like a drowned rat. A miserable drowned rat really trying to prove herself not just to Angantyr, but to the whole world. "Tell us what we can help with!" she calls out, her voice barely audiable over the rain.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira is below deck because she's not so stupid that she would stand around on deck getting in the way or falling over board while the sailors are doing useful things. Maira is considering however, trying to go out, tie herself to something and attempt to help them weather the storm with her magic. She's pretty sure she could do /something/ and she's tired of being tossed around below deck, feeling useless.
 
Alright. She has an idea. Maira gets to her feet and stumbles toward the door, only to be thrown bodily against the wall as the ship leans heavily starboard. She smashes her shoulder hard, crying out as she does so, but immediately gets back to her feet and makes a run for the door. Nearby, there is a coil of rope which she swiftly ties around herself before going up on deck.
 
Immediately she is assaulted by the wind and rain. The storm roars like a hungry beast, the ocean flinging herself against the ship like a child throwing a tantrum. Maira takes a deep breath, looking over to see the captain and her companions gathering to, likely, either see what they can do to help or discuss their imminent watery graves. Maira scrambles across the deck, rope around her waist, and slides across the slippery surface until she can latch onto something solid.
 
"I can maybe try to counteract the wind! Shelter the ship!" she cries, hoping she can be heard over the din. She's not /sure/ she can do it of course, but she is sure willing to try.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine has nothing to prove.
 
Okay, that's a giantic lie; Jasmine has a great deal to prove, she despises her past of being taken care of while others put themselves on the line. But she's no fool -- this is a crisis situation, and this isn't about her issues, it's about Angantyr's very accurate assessment that everyone's needed.
 
There are good storms for learning how to sail in a storm. This is not one of them, and instinctively she understands the seriousness of the situation, the very real peril they're in. Rather than challenging the howling winds with her comparably mellow voice, she simply raises an arm to Faris in a confident salute, expressing her belief in the captain's abilities before binding herself fast to the ship in a series of surprisingly impressive knots. She's been paying attention, the last few days.
 
And a good thing, too, as the next wave isn't so much ridden out as crashed into; a gray-white wall of crushing water that sweeps absolutely everything that isn't tied or weighted down off the deck. There was a decent chess set that came with the ship, and the only one who's going to play on it now is Davy Jones.
 
Perhaps literally... these are strange seas.
 
Jasmine's vomit joins Avira's down in the locker, their shared ignominy eliciting a grimly amused grin that banishes the last of the fear from her eyes. Then she sets about reclearing pathways across the deck, the way she's seen the sailors do. Her tiny frame fights to keep the rough, sea-soaked lines clear of each other, so that the people who really know how to /use/ them can do so as quickly and cleanly as possible.
 
The next wave rises, the wind snapping in an unexpected new direction; there's not much time.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris points at Ang. "Get on the mainsail rope!" The captain points at a length of wire where men are trying to hold it, but the waves continually are sending them backwards. Ang's strength can be used very well there.
 
She then ducks her head to peer around the deck she sees Jasmine clearing the top deck, and Faris thanks whatever goddess of winds and seas and sails there are for -smart- travelers.
 
"WATCH THE SAILS!" The poor shipmate up in the crows' nest, for the record, looks /absolutely miserable/.
 
To Maira: "Do what you can, but do it quick - if this keeps up, we're going to be royall screwed!" Oh, Faris.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr doesn't pause, he runs for the mainsail roap. His hands move, grabbing the thing with his massive strength, and digs his heels into the deck as he starts to help hold it. Angantyr's giant size and boon of strength will make this easier (though not completely easy...this was daunting even by his standards) but with the help from the other guys on deck it was going to keep things steady.
 
"Hey, in hinesight, that's a great name for a ship!" he yells at Faris, who might not be able to hear him.
 
"Royally Screwed." he yells to the other Pirates about him, trying to get a chuckle out of them. No need to be grim when facing death, that comes later.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
It was a darn good thing Avira elected to tie herself down. She's a small person. As the water sweeps over the deck, she immediately loses her footing and slides over the boards until the rope jerks tight and stops her abruptly. Scrambling and flailing, she pushes herself back up onto her feet and stops suddenly, spotting not only Jasmine up here, but Maira.
 
She was seriously contemplating retreating to below deck until she spies those two up here too.
 
She rushes for the rail where she tied herself down and undoes the rope so she can move to elsewhere on the ship, following after Angantyr. She diverges to lash herself to the mast, quickly securing her lifeline before the next deck-sweeping wave strikes. From there, she takes hold of one of the lines to the sails. She didn't have Angantyr's raw strength, but it was something. Her fingerless gloves at least make the ropework slightly more bareable, but the strength of the winds begins to even wear away the thick leather on her palms.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
When the wave crashes toward them, Maira is unable to stay on her feet. Even though she's tied herself down, it sweeps her from her feet and slams her against the side of the ship. It is not a good feeling to be flung around like a rag doll. When the wave passes she gets to her feet, coughing and wiping salt water from her eyes. Yes. She has to do something about this.
 
"I will do what I can!" she cries to Faris, then struggled against her mind to get her magic in order. A very difficult feat on a ship being tossed around violently on deadly seas. Deep breathes. Uist is there to help her. A glow surrounds the mage, a bubble of swirling air that forms something of a forcefield around her. Slowly, it begins to expand as she pours her willpower and her energy into it.
 
She looks might she be able to do this, but it is going to take her a bit of time, and if she loosed her concentration? The magic weave of air will spiral out of control.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The storm lasts for what feels like days and is actually hours. It isn't a sprint of work, but a marathon, though this isn't really obvious until afterwards, for the inexperienced; there are flashes of memory of critical moments, though all moments were critical.
 
Angantyr anchoring the mainsail rope, steadfast amid chaos, when every other man on the line has to be called away to handle a loose sail.
 
Avira anchoring /him/, when a plank of railing snaps off and bashes him off-balance.
 
Maira mastering her fear and her magic, creating a tiny area of calm around herself, a place for brief but extraordinarily precious respite, where one can hear themselves think.
 
And Faris shouting orders, spotting problems before they start. Up in the rigging, swinging from a rope, snatching the crows-nest crewman from certain doom, when he's falling.
 
No one escapes unscathed. It's like being pounded, ground up and spat out by the elements, for hours, and hours, and hours. But through strength of arm, will, and heart, the ship and its occupants emerge relatively intact, not a single hand lost.
 
The ceasing of the wind is as sudden as it began, ears popping in the desperately loud silence. The ship slows to a crawl, the ocean flat as a mirror, and the fog, extending seemingly infinitely in all directions, muffles shouts to whispers and makes visibility more than five feet away quite impossible. There is an ethereal quality to everything, enhancing tiny details even as the largest views are obscured.
 
It is rather similar to waking up from a long nightmare to find oneself still dreaming.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr's head is a bit red from where the piece of the ship hit him. It wasn't much, ususally it wouldn't have phased him at all, but it was like a avalanche, there is just that little bit of energy that turns into a wave of death. That wave of death would have been his own, and the possibly the crews' if not for Avira's timely grab, managing to keep him balance and allow him to reget his grip. This takes longer...it's a storm, a windy one, and even for his power it takes a feet of strength.
 
But Avira's help makes it possible. Finally, the calm comes and Angantyr looks down at the woman still holding him still. A grin comes to his lips as he finally dares to make a crack at the situation. "If it wasn't for the fact that you probably just saved all of our butts, I'd say you were just looking for an excuse." he quips. However, he aches...the effort needed to do what he did was tolling, his legs and arms feel like jello, but he still manages to stand taking a look at the area around him.
 
"We're probably way off course..."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Most of the crew members are picking themselves up - the man that was saved from the crow's nest is doing a utterly admirable job of not throwing up over the side of the ship. Most of the others are slowly getting back into action, trying to take advantage of what little wind there is.
 
"Storms do that." Faris says to Ang, shaking her head, her wettened-to-dark purple hair plastered to her head. "I'll get us back on course as soon as they've got the sails up."
 
Then, in a rare moment, Faris looks at the crew and her guests, and praises them all. "You did wonderfully; I'm sure that moment of calm helped all of us get what wits we had left together, Maira. Jasmine, you're a solid rock in a moment of panic, Ang, Avira... we desperately needed your help."
 
"Thank you all."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira is pretty shaken up. Every breath causes pain, and there is some blood from her scalp oozing down to her forehead and approaching her eye.
 
When the storm suddenly passes, Maira's magic flickers out, falling apart now that she isn't there to maintain it. She is exhausted. More tired than she has ever been in her life. So tired she's up and come around the other side of tired, and couldn't sleep if she wanted to.
 
She climbs weakly to her feet, looking around. "Is...is everyone alright?" she asks. Maira looks to Faris, nodding a little. She's disappointed that she couldn't have done more. She'd been hoping to extend it over the entire ship.
 
She looks over to Ang and Avira then, the pair of them clinging to each other. Maira blinks. Hard. Ooooooh.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira comes out of this doubly glad she had her self anchored the whole time. How else could she, being a bit on the "runty" side.
 
Then there was that one terrifying moment she saw the piece of sail come down. Angantyr's footing started to slip and in that second, despite the soreness and misery, she sprung into action, grabbing onto Angantyr tightly with both of her hands. Her grip held firm, even in spite of the wet and shredded gloves clinging to her hands.
 
Still holding on when the calm comes, her arms are stiff and aching. When Angantyr teases her over it, the exhausted huntress actually looks a little flustered. "I dunno what you're talkin' about." she mutters hastily in an...odd-sounding accent.
 
Coughing, she pulls away and slumps to her knees. Her head was pounding and her throat was dry-symptoms she clearly recognized as dehydration. "Ugh...I need water."
 
Faris's thanks get a weak smile from Avira, "Well we did promise to pull our weight for this passage." The accent is gone. Struggling, Avira forces herself to stand and staggers over to Maira, reaching out a hand for her forehead, "Maira, you're bleeding."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"The fog be thicker than the head after lentil stew night, and the wind be... false, cap'n," announces one of the more sturdy crew members, after a trip up and back from what's left of the crow's neck made under slippery conditions in record time. He has the easy grace of a dancer and the build of a linebacker, with his controlled fall back to the deck heartstopping yet completely within his means.
 
The little ship tattooed on his adam's apple bobs up and down, his rattled nerves creating another storm on his surface, reflecting the man within. In all their years of sailing together, that piece of ink has never so much as wavered. "It ain't the air that's movin' us, in truth." His biceps bulge as he shrugs his mystified answer to the obvious response: 'what is?'
 
The big ship rocks a bit to the left, as though there's something shifting underneath the invisible sea, which is itself currently hidden within those endless, rolling banks of fog.
 
Then the man stumbles forward, his sudden, dramatic lunge quite at odds with the relatively sedate bobbing of the deck. He sways in perfect silence, then falls on his face... with a long, slender, black throwing knife piercing him in the shoulder blade and emerging in his gut.
 
At that angle, it would have taken Faris in the heart, had he not jumped in its path.
 
The knife explodes into spiraling swirls of black smoke.
 
And /then/ all hell breaks loose, as a hail of knives, mixed with the occasional much less subtle black powder bomb, descend upon the boat... from above. Eerie yellow eyes wink in and out, difficult to see at a distance but unmistakably Heartless, and unmistakably crawling all over the masts and sails...

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira reaches up to wipe what she thought was water from her brow, only to find that it was blood. "Oh. Well...that'll happen," she replies, rather non-chalant about it. She may be in shock. This is likely the case. "I'm okay..." she replies, getting to her feet, only for all hell to break loose. She's expended all her energy. She is quite simply spent....and faints.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris grits her teeth. "That's what I was afraid of." She informs her shipmate, and then she braces herself as the ship lurches - and her dear kinsman takes a knife to the shoulder, and then the gut.
 
"... heartless."
 
Maira faints, and before Faris can question it, two crew members are helping to shuffle the girl below deck. She withdraws her blade, the mythril shining in the gloom, even as her hand digs into her long coat, a mythril ring shining in her hand as she launches it at the higher-up heartless.
 
"ATTACK!"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"Yes. Heartless." Angantyr says, he can hear them...his blade moves, swinging in a massive arch as blades fly down at him.
 
Angantyr AUTO-DEFLECTS one...straight to the shoulder! It stings! However, the massive mace swings upwards, sending a few of the blades right back towards the heartless jerkasses. He can portal, but the visibility thing is not on his side. Angantyr doesn't waste time, "I don't think you needed to tell me that. captain!" he speaks, before starting to start going up the side of the mast, up towards the heartless...or at least get closer to them. Getting closer allows him greater visibility, a cooridor opens up, and he slips through, getting towards the main part of the sails. Angantyr isn't fast, but he's steady, his mace moving to swing at anything within his reach. "Heartless or not, you all still die the same!" he shouts to them.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"Maira, you don't look okay..." Avira says, concerned. She reaches out to touch the girl's forehead, ready to call upon some good ol' Ivalician first aid. But before she can administer such healing, Maira faints against her. Thankfully, two of Faris's crew members are there to take her to the safety of the cabin.
 
Just as she moves, one of Faris's crewmates bites it and shadow knives rain from the skies. "#&(*!" Avira expresses in an unladylike manner and whirls, looking upward, but seeing absolutely nothing by the occasional flash of yellow eyes above.
 
Pushing past her soreness and thirst, Avira springs into action, scrambling up the rope rigging to the masts. Thankfully, her small size makes her pretty agile.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Faris' crew responds to her call with a vengeful roar, and are the first into the breach, skillfully clambering up the masts into... total silence. That moisture in the air makes it very difficult to tell what's going on more than a few feet away.
 
These Heartless pirates aren't ninja, but they've definitely got terrain on their side -- infuriating, considering that this isn't even their ship. But suckers on the bottoms of their feet allow them to commit shenanigans against reason like hanging upside-down from the boom to slice at Angantyr from below, just as he exits his Corridor; Darkness may provide him passage, but against these foes, it does not provide surprise. Another pair wait until Avira's pretty high up her line, then start slicing through it like gigantic jerks. Still others are badly rattled by Faris' Moonrings -- one even explodes into the tiny green, blue, and yellow orbs of victory, which float in midair, eerily remaining at exactly their point in space relative to the ship as it continues to yawn a slow, syrupy course through the fog.
 
They respond to this insult with more knives, reasonably enough, then they and all their buddies blink out of sight, repositioning themselves higher up the masts. One rips down his inky black trousers and moons the crew for good measure.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr gets nailed, it is a brutal assault as he's surrounded by the heartless, taking brutal amounts of pain from sword and claw...
 
Before the dark knight falls off the side of the mast and smashes into the deck below. He bounces once, and rolls to the side coughing up blood and growling in pain. He does not get up right away, slowly pushing himself to his hands and feet...
 
And then the darkness starts to pour out from him. He hasn't done this infront of the crew yet...but...
 
The darkness pours out of his body, connecting itself to his armor. The armor itself changes dramatically, shifting into plate instead of the standard armor he wares. It all becaomes a solid mass of darkness, tendrills leaping off of it. The worst part is that looking directly at the armor was like staring into the abyss itself.
 
The armor continues up till it covers his head. The full plate helmet claps on, leaving absolutely nothing in the terms of skin visible, as a crimson light seems to come behind the mask, giving the eye slits a glow.
 
Slowly, he looks up, right at the heartless...

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris masterfully dodges out of the way, her lithe frame dashing around. She smoothly pulls out a small lance, pausing for a moment as she runs her hands over one half - it burning a bright red - and the second half, turning a icy blue.
 
She then smiles.
 
And -- doesn't attack? Instead she turns and smoothly claps her hands together, her magic being used in a swift motion as green light swirls around Avira and Ang, her eyes glowing as she does so in a moment of brief concentration.
 
Any little bit helps, aye?

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira gets up pretty far and looks up, seeing the Heartless ahead cutting through the ropes she was climbing. Panic surges through her and she climbs faster, leaping up for that final dangling rung as the ropes are severed.
 
The good news is, she makes it!
 
The bad news is, with no bottom to anchor the rope ladder, the top swings free, with Avira on it. To make matters worse, it swings her right into the main mast of the ship and she smashes into it heavily. Desperate, she claws and clings to the mast so she doesn't plummet to the deck of the ship.
 
"Rgrrrgh..." Her strength of heart pushes through and she claws her way up, reaching the main horizontal mast and pulling herself up to stand.
 
Steadying herself with one hand, Avira draws the Spine with the other, magic immediately shooting down the length of the blade, encasing it in ice. With a grand swipe of the weapon, she directs this magic, which peels off the blade, at the pair of Heartless that had cut her rope ladder.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
With Faris and Angantyr both back down on the deck and thus relatively easy targets (as compared to many of the sailors, who are at this point flying through the air, in and out of sight, on ropes, or engaged in duels with other Heartless high on the masts), the Heartless reward this with a terrible bombardment of knives -- obviously being summoned from nothing, they disappear as quickly as they strike -- and rum bombs. Sweet-smelling black smoke mixes with the ghastly white fog. It would be rather lovely if it wasn't making it SO DARN HARD TO SEE. It's like being back in that storm, with blades replacing shards of hail, and concussive force replacing winds.
 
Their one saving grace is that the Heartless are /so far up/, now, quite invisibly so, that their accuracy is pretty terrible. They're trying to compensate with quantity over quality.
 
Meanwhile, Avira casts 'transform Heartless to health orbs' in one second flat; her non-metaphorical ice shards encase them utterly, and they fall off their perch. They disappear soundlessly below, but one cannot imagine they ended well, whether it was being shattered on some other part of the deck, or tossed into the drink.
 
A more impressive specimen, every inch of his lithely sinuous black form tattooed in white (possibly including the parts hidden by his breeches), salutes her tauntingly with his cutlass from the next level up the mast. Like a gymnast on a balance beam, including the pointed toes, he awaits his opponent...

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Blade's rain down on Angantyr's new armor. The armor shatters and breaks under the attack, he flinches, and blood can be seen dripping through his various wounds...he's exhausted from the days activities, and he's barely standing now...but somehow...
 
He still stands.
 
Then he was gone, the Cooridors opening again, and this time he leaves the portal, right over the heartless with a mighty roar.
 
The claws move, aiming to grab one unlucky Heartless, aiming to lift it into the air and start litterally draining the essence from it...
 
Before his own blood and darkness mix together, creating a dark wave of energy, aiming to consume the heartless that get too close to him, hundreds of claws ripping from the shadows to consume whatever they can!

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris stares at the Heartless as they approach her.
 
There was a pirate here, she's gone now - in a blurring burst of speed that would make -anyone-, ninja, warrior, racer proud, she manages to shift around the heartless attacks. She then smiles, an ... oddly dark one.
 
She turns around, the twin lance, burning ice and glowing fire swishing through the air as she makes her way back into melee range as she attacks.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Like a pirate, it'd be pretty awesome for Avira to stick her sword between her teeth and keep climbing. Except the Spine is too big and too oddly shaped for Avira to get her mouth around it. With the rest of her prey now residing on the higher levels, she resorts to sheathing the spine behind her, she looks up and...spots that /different/ looking pirate-type Heartless.
 
Avira's eyes narrow and she crouches, one hand bracing herself against the mast. Mustering her strength again and driving her battered body even harder, she leaps upward, catches the next level of horizontal mast with both hands, and swings herself up.
 
With a flourish, out comes the Spine once more, and the huntress charges forward, leading with the pointy tip. Were she not be dehydrated, she'd be sweating profusely from the exertion right now. "THEY'RE UP HERE!" she calls down, "THEY'RE ALL UP HERE!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The battle rages on. The rest of Faris' sailors seem to be acquitting themselves not honorably (yarr... u.u), but effectively (yarr! >:B), to the extent that they're visible; a pair of pirates unsheet one of the sails, loosening the lines so that they can use them as lassos to yank Heartless right off the masts and into the sea. Others have started to pull pistols, now that the Heartless at the top of the ship have no 'up' left to run to. Since nobody else has three adjectives and took a hit for the Cap'n, the ones that fall -- and very occasionally one does fall -- land with the solid thuds of knockouts, but it's not like they're bleeding out or anything.
 
The Heartless assuredly did not approach Faris, but she approaches them with a vengeance; the antipode of ice and fire make quick work of one, two, three, six Heartless, blasted into the fog and out of the fight or poofing into more orbs. There's a virtual constellation of those grim little lights in the sky, now, more yellow than green or blue, which bodes poorly for the long-term viability of this fight if it goes on, but very well for the reward. These Heartless pirates were /loaded/ with munny. Desperately, they try to beat her back, throwing everything they have at her: knives, cutlasses, each other. They seem to be running low on bombs; thank god for small mercies.
 
Angantyr feels the Darkness pour into himself, and the Heartless respond; some even hesitate for a critical moment, confused by the authority that his aura implies. That's right before they get totally wiped out by the wave of his void, by the dozens. From the tip-top of the crow's nest, where his corridor ultimately dropped him onto, he can JUST BARELY spot, through the fog, the shadowy sails of another ship, far enough away to explain why Heartless aren't swinging over in additional waves -- it's no longer in range for that -- close enough to explain where they came from.
 
Then he may be distracted by Heartless swinging into the tiny, enclosed Nest with him, the whipcrack of their abused ropes heralding their almost vertical leaps. There isn't room for their swords, but claws are another matter...
 
Avira may be fighting a single opponent rather than a large group, but he seems like their leader; many other Heartless pause in their fights to watch the duel with as keen an interest such seemingly mindless creatures can express, and are easy pickings for passing sailors, who swing onwards, saluting the warrior woman as they go by. The duelist lets her close, then in a trick of spiraling movement deflects the Spine at the last possible instant, sending it -- and her -- past him, despite the fact that this entire bar is less than a foot wide. He follows up by trying to plunge his cutlass into her back repeatedly.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr can barely spot the ship as he swings the weapon around himself. More knives and blades aim for him, and he just barely manages to stay alive. Energy flowing into him as he looks down towards Avira who is fighting the leader...
 
He leaps from his spot and aims to litterally drop ontop of it as it swing's it's weapon towards Avira.
 
"Captain! We got a ship off the bow! I think it's where the Heartless are coming from! It's still too far away for them to swing across!" he points it out for her, so that she can get orders sent out.
 
The mace moves viciously, litterally aiming to just simply smash the thing out of existance with brutality.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Strange how this fight Avira's involved in is attracting a Heartless audience. Avira's too focused on her own fight to actually notice the watchers-and for good reason too. This struggle had already pushed her to her limit-she was beyond it now, running on her willpower alone. Her blade might have struck true had she not endured that storm previously. Instead, she lunges past the lead Heartless, the spine sticking into the mast behind it.
 
Her back is wide open. It's easy pickings for the Heartless to jab his cutlass repeatedly into her semi-bare back. A yelp of pain escapes her and she lifts a foot, kicking backwards behind her to knock the Heartless away.
 
Once she has some space, she yanks her weapon free and turns. Angantyr comes in with a vengence, much to her surprise, and Avira waits a beat until she thinks she has an opening.
 
Then, with two mighty swings of the Spine, she unleashes to scything waves of sharp force for the leader Heartless that travel beyond the reach of her blade.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris moves - she is a fast person, as normal - she puts her strengths in evasion and skill, rather than strength; she prefers to sruvive and take awhile, than just bash them down and potentially lose an arm - and makes her way through the heartless.
 
She tosses her twin lance at one of the crew members, who promptly uses it to try to slaughter some Heartless as Faris takes a few dangerous moves - she dashes up to the top of the main deck, where the wheel is, and launches herself off of it, landing half-way up the rigging.
 
Once she's up there, she whirls her frame around it, climbing into the mass of heartless - at the last moment, withdrawing a shining mythril blade from her side.
 
"Nothing we can do about it now! If we don't get the rest of these guys killed, we're the ones going to visit Davy Jones locker... permanently!"
 
Then she promptly dives into the nearest group of Heartless she can see.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Faris plunges down through the fog, back down to the deck. She finds no Heartless to fight there, but once she gets to the opposite side of the ship, she does nearly trip over a veritable ball pit of orbs -- SO MUCH MUNNY, YARR -- which is interesting, since when defeated Heartless have been exploding into these leftovers in the main fight in the rigging, they've remained floating up there. It's like a night sky up in the sails, in fact, all those orbs.
 
Getting up there again, she makes some more, leading her sailors to rally against every Heartless they can see. Which remains tricky, with the fog, but there's a definite sense of momentum... fewer and fewer remain unvanquished.
 
Angantyr ditches the Heartless in the crow's nest, and left unaccosted, we'll never know what happened to them. Instead, he falls through the fog -- it makes it difficult to aim, and he nearly falls entirely past Avira's duel. On his way past, he smacks the duelist on the toe with a backswing. Then it's his turn to land in the ball pit on the top deck.
 
And Avira, Spine in hand, draws an X in pure force, with two swings across the tattooed Heartless' entire body. The X glows brilliantly white, dims to purple, and when the dust clears, there's nothing less but more of those little balls, hanging in the air.
 
It's very, very quiet, even taking into account that with the fog muffling noise, it's been hard to hear. So quiet that the fight must be over, and a dimly audible ragged cheer goes up as the sailors start failing to find Heartless to hit.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr hits the bottom deck...the armor starts to fade away as darkness whisps off him in greater chunks as he wills it to go away.
 
He finally falls to a knee, the wounds starting to look dangerous now as he slowly starts to try and pull himself together. He took a beating in that engagement, more so than he normally does...but then again, Dark Knight's are known for their full offense, instead of their defense.
 
He doesn't get up immediately either, he's nursing some pretty raw wounds, letting people cheer, and get money...and hoping nobody got spooked enough to try and finish him off.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Breathing hard from the exertion, Avira braces herself with a hand against the mast, smiling at their handiwork. She actually reaches out, experimentally, to touch one of those curious little balls these Heartless kept leaving behind. She knew what the munny ones looked like, but this was different.
 
With no further Heartless to fight in the vicinity, Avira puts her weapon away, then looks down at the deck to Angantyr with concern. That darkness, that armor, it was what she'd fought that one day and it's surprising to see it again. Especially out here...did it mean something?
 
Shakily, she starts to climb her way down, "Is everyone alright?" she calls out breathlessly, her body threatening to shut down from exhaustion at any moment.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris slides down to the main deck, tossing Ang a flask. It contains some sort of healing grog, that is undeniably liqour filled, but good at what it does. She then goes to check on Avira, a second flask on her.
 
"I'm fine." The captain says briskly. "Maira fainted at the start, but she should be okay... has anyone seen or heard from Jasmine? I think she went with Maira, but..."
 
Faris doesn't even look tired, even though he is.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
To recap:
 
There was a storm, then the calm of impenetrable fog, and suddenly the Heartless showed up, swinging onto the masts and into the sails. They fought in the rigging virtually to the exclusion of all else, forcing the sailors to come to them, and retreating further upwards when pressed.
 
But there are a bunch of the equivalent of Heartless corpses on the deck on the far end of the ship.
 
Now the Heartless ship is leaving.

 
<OOC> Avira says, "Oh fudgebuckets."
 

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr takes the grog and downs it without much of a response. He does, however, cough a bit roughly after finally getting it all down and tosses the flask somewhere. Slowly, very slowly, he considers the heartless ship...
 
Wait...why is it leaving? That's...
 
He squints, letting the gears turn in his head for a minute.
 
"Where is Jasmine?" he asks Avira suddenly.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"...I didn't see her follow those guys that took Maira into the cabin." Avira says slowly, reconsidering the past few minutes. She looks around deck, plenty of guys, nearly passed out Angantyr, no Jasmine. "...one second."
 
She rushes off to the cabin where Maira was taken and shoves through the door. Some commotion follows and Avira emerges, now looking rather frantic.
 
"She's not here! She's not inside!"

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"..." Faris has a sort of look on her face. The one that reads, /damn it all/.
 
"Fuck."
 
She'll apologize for languages later, instead she does two things - she gets up to the wheel and casts Aero straight into the sails, and wheels the ship around to start a chase. (She's done this before.)

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
There is time to collect some of those blue and green spheres, which sink into passing bodies, knitting wounds and rejuvenating energy; banishing the exhaustion of the storm, and the battle in its aftercalm fog. Between that and sheer adrenaline, it's a pretty heady brew right now. The sailors snap to, fixing up the chaotically strewn lines and sails so that their captain can get anything like mobility.
 
The fog lifts as abruptly as it arrived as the ship simply finds its way out of it, propelled by Aero -- the bank remains, behind them. The sky is blue, the sea is bluer, the wind isn't blue but it's nice and gusty. Bracing.
 
And an increasingly transluscent second ship is full speed ahead, straight into that wind, and making excellent time. Its planks are all of black, as are its sails, which are little more than ragged, rotting scraps of fabric.
 
Ragged sails... what did that one brave sailor say, before he died? 'It isn't the wind.' Something's funny about the shape of the ship, too, though it takes a second look to really get it. It isn't full speed /ahead/... it's full speed /behind/. It is in full reverse, somehow, implying that all is not as it seems.
 
Mounted on its prow is a very distinctive figurehead. By now its transformation has been going on for quite some time, flesh and fabric gradually transforming into beautifully 'carved' alabaster. Struggling against the spell, and the chains that bind her, with all her might, Jasmine spots Faris' ship finally coming out of the fog, and reaches towards it with arms outstretched.
 
Then they're frozen that way, and the enchantment creeps up her dark canopy of hair. It's closing in on her face.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr watches with a horrified expression what happens next. Yes, horrified...
 
He hasn't seen something like this before, he isn't a mage or knowledgable with whatever this is. His eyes narrow, there is just...something...
 
Then darkness starts to spill out of him wildly. Darkness thrives on emotions...the darker the more it can thrive. Right now, there was just one emotion Angantyr was feeling. It was very simple, one of the basic primal emotions.
 
Anger
 
Pure, unrefined hatred. The darkness rumbles again, before he looks towards Faris, "Get me closer to that ship." he demands, pretense of civility gone. He doesn't even care about his own wounds.
 
He doesn't even fully understand WHY he is so angry. A week ago she was just another face in the crowd, a week ago even if she were a friend, shit happens and people die...
 
Now he was angry. Garland would be disappointed.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
For a few moments, Avira has disappeared below deck. It's not to mope or anything, because there will be plenty of time for THAT later. "Note to self, stick to hunting marks, bounty hunting and bodyguarding are right out." she mutters to herself as she picks through the chaotic wreck of detrius that now comprises blowdecks, everything having been jostled about due to the storm.
 
She finally locates what she's looking for, water aside, and grabs what she needs before rushing above.
 
Looped over her shoulder is a rope. There's a grappling hook on the end. It's at least good to see the ship speeding ahead and catching up. She heads to the fore of the ship to watch the chase, squinting ahead at that ship that had been causing so much trouble. She barely spots Jasmine before she's melted into the figurehead and her stomach turns.
 
"...I've heard a thing or two about ships at sea with black sails..." Avira says. "..if they're true, we gotta catch that thing, and fast."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Anger also boils up in Faris' throat. She barely knows Jasmine, but all she has to do is think about Lenna in that situation -h er dearest sister, her lands Princess, the heart that they depend on, and well...
 
She looks over at Avira. "... most of those stories don't end well." She says, gravely. She does gesture to her crew though, who, no matter how injured, dive into work so they start to get up to speed.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It's a good thing Faris is also cheating with magic, or this would be hopeless. Clearly as aware of its pursuit as its prisoner, the ship sluices back and forth through the water, on an impossible zig-zag course that has nothing to do with how ships are supposed to work. It uses the actual natural wind to its full advantage, forcing Faris and her crew to balance opposing forces; they can push with Aero, but not /directly/, because if they aren't very careful the winds will interfere with each other in a way that could end either in a) full calm or b) capsize.
 
It's a question of angles. Faris is probably an excellent pool shark, because against all odds her little stolen ship continues to close, gaining inches, then feet. It's a choppy ride over the waves, swell-CRASH!, swell-CRASH!
 
They're within range -- grappling hook, shadow jump, both -- just as the enchantment closes over Jasmine's face. Her expression, they discover as they approach, is permanently frozen into... a fierce, welcoming smile.
 
She believes.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr moves. "Faris, support us." he says, and then he moves, aiming to litterally scoop Avira, who is easily portable given his size and strength.
 
"Sorry, but this is the fastest way." he says, and then opens up a corridor of darkness infront of them. He turns, giving the crew a salute, and then Jumps through...
 
There isn't enough time to finese this...which isn't something Angantyr is good at anyway, a he would no doubt end up somewhere on the deck. He immediately drops Avira to her feet and moves to pick up his mace. "So we just gota kill whatever is running this ship right?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Watching the chase is...interesting to say the least. Avira's not well versed in ships, especially the tall ships they're sailing and chasing right now. But she's pretty sure that they're not supposed to move as the one with the black sails is right now. Those rumors she's heard about this ship's sorcerous ways MUST BE TRUE.
 
She's all ready to try the whole grappling hook thing for the -first time ever- when Angantyr wraps an arm around her waist and lifts her. "Wait, are you-" Her eyes widen as he opens the corridor. Cringing, she steels herself.
 
She didn't like these corridors. It felt like she lost a small part of herself every time she went through one.
 
Fortunately, it's over quickly and Avira lands on her feet, hand already reaching for her weapon. "You make it sound so easy." The usually brave Avira actually sounds a little nervous right now.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Crew?"
 
"Captain?" Her best man asks, staring at her.
 
"It's that time again." Every single one of them salutes her at her words. They know that there's a risk of no captain left after that sort of statement, and she gives them all a nod.
 
The crew continues guiding the ship - Faris herself is only on it til she gets close nough to jump.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It only takes a touch: when the first boots hit deck, they pass right through. Shimmering like the mirage it is, the black ship disappears entirely.
 
Everyone lands on something smooth and slippery, but it's not wood; the 'thump' is all wrong, too sharp-sounding. This is a far tougher material, still black, but glossy with vitality. It gives a little bit underfoot, flexible in its strength, and here and there, there's a little bit of actual color; veins of electric blue. Jasmine remains a white statue, but is now suspended by dark chains that simply melt directly into a pair of towering spikes, the only two around.
 
The wind of rapid, disorienting acceleration catches at cloaks and hair as everyone rises, higher and higher. Far, far below, Faris' ship starts resembling more of a toy boat, shrinking with distance. Its occupants stare up at one of the more impressive sea monsters they've seen in an active career of nautical freedom fighting.
 
Behind everyone, black plates twitch, then shift backwards, revealing an elephantine orb of absolute Darkness, a pulsing void. It blinks again, and the eye begins to fill with crimson light.
 
An ear-splitting screech shatters the air.
 
Welcome to the head of the snake.

They're On A Boat - Part One: The Storm

2012-12-03T05:23:13Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/12/02 |Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle |Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/12/02
|Location=World of Ruin Ocean, between Costa Del Sol and Bevelle
|Synopsis=After Faris procured a ship, she transports Jasmine, Angantyr, Avira and Maira to Bevelle. At first the trip is pleasant, but a devastating storm rises, and something waits for them in the foggy 'calm', afterwards...
|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Avira, Faris Scherwiz, Jasmine, Maira
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
After forty-eight hours of jello-boned, aching-stomached, spinning-headed seasick misery, the next three days of fair weather and calm seas rank highly among the best of Jasmine's life. She loves the ocean with the same dazzling exuberance that she loves anything, and embraces every aspect of shipboard life, throwing herself into scrubbing the poop deck as gladly as untangling fishing lines or hauling ropes. Her hands blister and bleed more severely than they ever did at Garden, and she endures it without a single complaint. The rigging becomes something of an obsession of hers, and she's utterly fearless up there, swinging from mast to mast, perching on the spars, and especially, spending long hours in the crow's nest, the breeze sweeping her hair behind her, just staring at the many faces and moods of the endless, wonderful sea, and its mate, the far-horizoned sky. Gazing up at the dancing stars, she can feel them looking back, beaming at her. And in those moments, she is on her balcony, surrounded by her family, home at last. Home.
 
She's abandoned her robes and veil after the first couple days, and seems subtly more comfortable without them, her steps even lighter, her breathing more relaxed, as though she's shed some burden far more massive than a few pounds of ratty brown fabric. It's the Heartless, of course, or more accurately the lack thereof. For the first time since she fled the Palace, she actually feels... free.
 
One night, she's sitting on the deck of the ship, her hands doing an inadequate job of weaving herself a hat to keep the sun off, out of dried chocobo greens that were waiting in the hold for feathered beasts who aren't here to eat them. Her expression is patiently amused, her grin set with a stubborn edge as the brim falls apart -- again. She watches the sailor next to her work on his basket, studying his hands carefully, then starts over for the sixth time. A sigh escapes her, the sound of utter contentment.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira really wants to love the ocean. She does, really, but it is highly stressful being on a boat made of wood and canvas, surrounded miles around by water when you can't swim, and you occasionally set yourself on fire during your sleep.
 
Thus, Maira has just sort of not really slept, unless someone is watching her. Since she's not sleeping, she comes up on deck, thinking the breeze will help her stay awake. She smiles over to Jasmine, waving. "Oh hi! A Sailor's life for you hmm?" she says with a grin.
 
At least Maira isn't seasick! That would really suck!

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr had been coming and going, his ability to use coordiors of darkness helps with gathering supplies on the run, with the added benifit of not having to stop. It's disconcerting for the crew, but it's something he's grown used to by those who do not use or have darkness in one's heart. However, more than once Angantyr came back rather injured...the last time he came back, however, not only was he injured, he hasn't come out of his quarters for a while. Something shook him up good, and he wasn't up for speaking with /anyone/.
 
However, on this night, Angantyr has decided to leave his quarters and has done so by resting against one of the ledges looking over the dark water. The moon was high in the sky at this point, casuing him to take a long breath in of sea air. Angantyr, wonders, what would have happened if he had instead went into sailing. He was fairly good at map making, a skill he has had to let die over the years to work on his marshall training...but...
 
He always did have a love of the sea. Avira and he had talked about it frequently, and one of their meeting places was an ocean. It also shows that he hasn't been sea sick once during the entire trip, for the little he's been on the ship initially.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Fun fact. Avira's not much of a fan of rough seas either. She spent most of those days above deck for it seemed that every time she went into a cabin during those times, she would get even more and more sick. The effect seemed to lessen the worst when she holed herself up in the crow's nest for an hour or two. Failing that, she'd try to keep herself busy to keep her mind off the misery.
 
As a member of a clan, Avira's no stranger to work. Spending time not working would feel even wierder to her. Seems she's spent more than a moment talking to Angantyr, threatening to make the supply stops instead of him because he had this nasty tendency of picking fights with everyone!
 
For a little while tonight, Avira spent it going through a book that she borrowed from Jasmine, who had in turn borrowed it from SeeD. It was some sort of guide to the extradimensional horrors and the like of the world-important, as they were heading for Sin's territory. But for now, she's finished studying.
 
Unable to sleep in light of what she's been reading, she exits her cabin and heads out into the night. From there, it doesn't take long for her to spot that certain dark knight. For a few seconds, she considers sneaking up on him but quickly realizes that could end badly. Like with her thrown overboard. Instead, she approaches him from an angle that'll make sure he can spot her coming. "Hey. Also couldn't sleep much, hm?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Each time Angantyr's returned, Jasmine has gently tended his wounds -- or offered to -- without hesitation, question or judgement. Her worry is of the silent, supportive variety, the serene kind that has all of time for him to decide to open up to them, or not ever do so at all. She'd be there, all the same.
 
She glances over at him, placing her terrible hat on her head and letting it fall to pieces in her hair, trying to make him, and the others, smile. "I'd like that," she murmurs to Maira, her voice a soft descant over the music of dark waves and silver moonlight. "If you want to sleep, I can watch over you." The other girl's predilection towards accidental fiery destruction is undisturbing to her, and there are plenty of buckets and plenty of sea.
 
Take seven on the hat starts up, but her attention is no longer fully on her weaving. Rising gracefully, she picks at the greens with her fingers while crossing the deck in a rolling gait as steady as any pirate's, towards the night watch's hotpot. As she passes Avira and Angantyr, her greeting is dark-eyed and wordless, to avoid interrupting them further, but warm as the deserts of her birth.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira can't deny that she is tired. It takes her energy just to not release her magic accidentally, not to mention all the travel. She's never exactly been hardy either. "Really....? Maybe I should..." she replies.
 
She looks over toward Avira and Angantyr, her head tilted slightly. She looks a bit puzzled. Her thoughts are obvious.
 
"Ugh," she says, reaching up to rub her eyes. "Alright. Yeah. I'll try to rest..." she says, then lays down on deck, pillowing her head on some coiled rope. Better to be outside and closer to the water so she can, you know, be extinguished if necessary.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"Hmm?" Angantyr asks her, and shrugs. "No, not really. Something is...keeping me up. I can't tell if it's just something that happened recently or something is putting me on edge." he comments a bit before turning away from the open sea to face Avira which gets him in line to see Jasmine put the hat on her head, which fails spectacularly at being a hat. However, it was a wonderful joke because Angantyr immediately is trying not to laugh, putting a hand over his mouth and trying to look grim and imposing. It is failing horribly.
 
Coughing after a minute he turns back to Avira, "What about you? Still sea sick?" he asks her, but the question is fairly generally open to both Jasmine and Avira. He glances at Maira not understanding her question and instead bids her good night. "Don't worry, if any heartless show up we'll point your sleeping at them." he says, with a grin. Luckily his UMP is very high. That's Use Magic Person.
 
"We shouldn't be too much farther to the port. After that I guess we'll not have to be on the run for a little bit. Assuming everything goes according to plan and nothing unforseen or something ignored comes up."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"Is it your-" Avira is literally THIS CLOSE to actually saying 'Spider Sense' but aborts the reference altogether. Angantyr would not understand it and would, in fact, make him quite suspicious. Not that there wasn't a good deal of suspicion around her circumstances of joining the Clan. Besides, real spiders don't actually have any sort of sense like that. "-intuition?" she quickly fills in, which sounds far more reasonable and a good deal more flattering.
 
He turns to face her then starts making this strage look...as if he's trying to not laugh at something. Avira looks downright confused-she wasn't looking seasick today and her color has returned, so what is he...?
 
Glancing over her shoulder, she notes the approach of the princess and the homemade hat she is wearing. "Good evening, Jasmine. Nice hat." A grin follows.
 
Looking beyond the princess, she spies Maira curling up on the deck to sleep. While she'd rather the mage sleep in a bed, she's pretty aware of the reasons for Maira to do that. Mentally, she makes a note of her location so she can check up on her friend every now and then. "That makes me wonder, Angantyr, if sleep-casting is possible. What a danger /that/ would be."
 
Avira gives both Jasmine and Angantyr an embarassed smile. "Noooo, the seasickness is gone now. And thank Faram for that."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's grave poker face makes up for Angantyr's lack of one; she makes a great straightwoman, apparently. One eye closes and reopens in an agonizingly well-controlled, marvelously slow, solemn wink towards the both of them, as she saunters by. "It's the latest fashion," she quips, bits of straw sticking out of her hair in all possible directions.
 
She disappears into the forecastle, and re-emerges moments later with a tray of hot drinks balanced on one upstretched hand, and some bedding under the other. The drinks she leaves on a ledge near the Dagda folk. "We can always buy more, and there's water nearby," she justifies quietly of the bedding, placing the pillow near Maira's head, where she can perhaps roll onto it on her own, the blanket within snuggle-distance.
 
The princess was terribly seasick as well, but is as unashamed of it as Avira seems to be embarassed. "I'm glad too," she agrees simply. "There's too much to see and do, to spend this journey below decks."
 
Angantyr's promise of not having to run elicits a longing look and no objections, but it's somewhat unlikely she really believes anything will be that easy.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr is trying to be positive!
 
It's a work in progress, but hey. "Yeah. Call it that." Angantyr rumbles after a few moments after observing Maira and shakes his head. "Well, she'll be nice and stiff in the morning...if not wet." he quips. However, he considers the hot drinks next, and takes one, taking a sip for a moment before speaking again. "I also had a run in with a kid who could weild darkness too, Avira. Very powerful too.." he pauses, "And had a death wish." he says, and turns away, as if that is all that needed to be said.
 
"It could be what is setting me on edge, I'll admit." he closes his eyes. "Still, I can't shake the feeling easily." he takes another sip. Needs more rum, he observes to himself.
 
A lot more rum.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's deadpan reaction to Angantyr's amusement is what finally tips it for Avira. She openly barks out a laugh now befoer quieting herself. "I dunno Angantyr, I think I need one too." she says as Jasmine briefly leaves them to procure some drinks and bedding for Maira.
 
She nudges Angantyr, "Eh, it'll build character. But seriously, Maira's actually been homeless most her life so I think she's got experience sleeping in odd places." Of course, Avira seems a little sad about this-there were a lot of things about Maira's life that made her kind of sad. "-Oh, thank you."
 
She'll happily accept one of the drinks. "More fights, then?" Avira tsks, "You get all the fun Angantyr. I'm telling you, you need to let me make supply runs. Did you get a name for this one?"
 
Avira turns herself so she's leaning her back against the ship's railing, that way she can see both her dark knight and the princess. "Other than Angantyr being...well, Angantyr, this trip has been fairly smooth. Metaphorically. I say the rough seas earlier do not count, no matter how sick it's made us."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine is unfailingly optimistic about the long-term big picture, but tends to not underestimate the challenges of the road to that happy ending. They're so much a part of her life, now, that she'd be a fool to forget them entirely. The core of her belief in the others comes down to the expectation of great strife, and complete faith in their ability to overcome it, to rise above.
 
As she looks between the laughing Avira and now more serious Angantyr, who to her embody a great deal of the hope for the future -- people with complicated problems, difficult lives, who get knocked down and stand back up again and again -- a soft glow kindles in her eyes. She takes her own drink and wraps her chilled, cracked palms around the mug; steam rises from it to envelop her face. Maira draws out her protective instincts, and the half an eye she keeps on the girl is fond, and unrelated to any threat she poses to the ship. She watches over her peace, not her peril.
 
"It's been marvelous. But there's a storm coming," she whispers, craning her head back on her neck to look up at the endless diamond sky, entirely lacking in clouds. It isn't a premonition of doom, from her lips, but a promise of change. "Don't worry, though... the dawn is brightest, afterwards."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr makes a noice at Jasmine's words, non-commental, but he silently agrees with her. It's going to be rough, but after that...well who knows. Bright or not, Angantyr has no intention of not facing the storm. Bullheadedness or shear determination, one or the other really and perhaps both. Despite Jasmine's hopes for him, there is a long dark road he'll have to walk. However, it is looking less and less likely it will be the road he has to walk alone. He has not entirely been able to decide what he thinks about this.
 
Angantyr shrugs, he did not get a name from Riku, just a kid who had a death wish and a lot of power. Both these things don't boad well, assuming he lived. He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure at all and he kindof worries if that was something else that will weigh on his souls.
 
"I did not know that." he speaks to Avira about Maira. "I really don't know her very well, besides her crazy nature," which Angantyr seems to like that. "I guess we all have dark spots to our pasts."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
A faint noise of contemplation escapes Avira when Angantyr shrugs off the question of names. So he clearly didn't get a name. Maybe that Leida character had an older brother wandering around wreaking havoc because this certainly doesn't sound like anybody Avira knows. Riku had done a good job of avoiding the huntress ever since she voiced suspicion about his magic that one time. Altogether, she was unaware of the darkness inside the silver-haired teenager.
 
"Well...we are fellow VALKYRI." Avira explains to Angantyr, "She was one of the founding members, in fact. We do a lot of work together so you're bound to see more of Maira." Especially if Angantyr keeps popping up around her while Avira is outside of Ivalice. "Ah...yes...dark spots."
 
The huntress goes silent for a moment, watching Angantyr, thinking. He was probably already suspicious about where she came from. Maybe she should just /tell/ him before he figures out she was lying on her own, like Mercade and Skoll did. But at the same time...
 
...nah, it didn't matter, right?
 
"A storm...?" Avira murmurs, looking up to the sky. There are no clouds and the stars are out, quite beautifully tonight, in fact. She looks to Jasmine, concerned, but comforted by her words about the following dawn. "Then...we'll just have to weather it, right?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine watches Angantyr ruminate. He is troubled, and so she is troubled. One hand reaches out to clasp his shoulder reassuringly, strikingly warmed from the mug of tea.
 
His description, and the timing and nature of the fight itself, leave little doubt in her mind as to what's bothering him. "He lives," she announces, abruptly but gently, the words quietly mingling with the ship creaking from one tack to another. Absolute surety rings in her voice. "You love to fight," it's just another matter-of-fact statement, and accepting, "But I think you do not love to kill. I'm glad."
 
Shifting her weight onto one hip, she watches Avira watch Angantyr, and there's a moment of thoughtful silence. "We will," she affirms when addressed, with quiet conviction. No qualifications, no explanations or excuses. We'll weather it. Together.
 
Then her expression dissolves into a yawn, but she sets her chin stubbornly; she offered to watch Maira sleep, and that means she needs to stay up. She takes another long draught of that very black tea.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr nods to Avira as she speaks about her friend. There was pause in her words, but Angantyr doesn't push her on what it is. Eventually it will come out, eventually she'll speak her mind, but until then he isn't going to press her on it. He has his own secrets, why would he question others about their own without reason? It's really as simple as that!
 
"Well, Maira, is a good kid. Spontaneous nudity asside." he grins for a minute. Of course, Jasmine touches base on what is troubling him, and he raises an eyebrow...gosh, the Princess gets around? They might have put off somewhere while he was out...it actually made sense. Faris did mention the possibility...then the kids power over the portals was amazingly strong...stronger than his own. That was a bit concerning to say the least.
 
"I do not take pleasure in it, no. It is something that happens when you fight, those who think they can save everyone with battle are only deluding themselves." he pauses then continues, "Kids even more so...what really got to me was just...how..." he shrugs, "Hopeless he seemed. Kids shouldn't be like that. It kind of touched a chord in my own past."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
When Jasmine announces that the boy Angantyr fought lives, Avira does feel a bit of relief. Though she knows Angantyr is not opposed to killing and has done so in the past, it's actually quite comforting for her when he abstains from doing so further. At the same time she had to wonder...it wasn't really her business, was it? Then why did she care so much?
 
She turns away to look at the sleeping Maira. "Yeah." Avira smiles. "She is."
 
Now Avira is silent, listening to Angantyr talk, a small smile on her face. There was /that/ side of him again. That 'softy' side of his that she hoped he'd never lose. "It's hard to imagine you as hopeless, Angantyr." she says softly, taking a long drink of tea.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira sure would hate to be called a kid by Angantyr. Luckily, she's asleep! Maira has been sleeping peacefully through the conversations it would seem, at least until recently. She begins to twitch in her sleep, followed not long after by a distressed moan. Ah, the nightmares.
 
Luckily, she wakes up /before/ she sleep-casts. She jolts upright suddenly, throwing her arms above her head as if trying to stop the sky from falling on her head. "HUNAMUNGAFRA!" .... say what? Sleep nonsense, that's what.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine endures the raised eyebrow with a lissome shrug; normally she might raise her own right back, but she's feeling more solemn than fiesty. "His name is Riku." From inside her mug of tea, eyes on his while she drinks, she listens intently to his philosophy, and his observation. Afterwards, she nods, fractionally. She can easily see him feeling a connection; had thought of similarities between them before, in fact.
 
"I trust him, too," she says softly, and leaves it at that.
 
***
 
On the sixth day, the storm comes.
 
It blows up out of nowhere. Sky meets sea in a cataclysmic crash that drowns the horizon behind impenetrable sheets of cutting ice, screaming wind, and torrential rain. The little ship crests mountain-sized waves, to tumble down avalanches of surf into abyssal trenches. It is not the piece of masterful craftsmanship and engineering that Faris may have once enjoyed; it creaks and moans, tossed to and fro by the impersonal but no less terrifying hands of fate.
 
The crew is doing their best to react, but they're made sloppy by fear. It will take all of Faris' skill, not only in seamanship but leadership, to get everyone through this intact.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris was never one to hide down in her cabin. Of course, it helps when there's a epic-level storm out, and she no longer has a water dragon to help balance the ship.
 
She's a pirate, arrr, and she'll see things through.
 
Bellowing orders in a voice that has taken fifteen years to prime, the crew is not so sloppy by fear, but the sheer winds and the rain. Of course, when you're wrestling with the ship's wheel as it creaks underneath you, people tend to listen to you.
 
"Get yerself down below or tied to something if you insist on being on deck!" She also bellows at her dear travelling guests... especially Jasmine, since who wants a nice, pretty lady tossed overboard?
 
Not Faris - she's already been a overboard princess, herself!

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr walks on deck, even for someone of his MASSIVE GIANT MAN self, this was hard to stand. He grabs the mast as he walks by, aiming to get near Faris. "Captain," he yells over the storm and because he is technically captain, and that is just respect right there, "What do you want me to do?" he asks. He's really strong, which is a boon, and despite his weight, he seems to be doing alright balancing himself. "I think you're going to need all the hands on deck that you can get!" he shouts again over the winds and rain. He is already soaked to the bone, armor or no, and he's going to regret these life choices in the morning.
 
"Of course we hit a storm and are almost there! What kind of trip would this be without some sort of disaster!" he complains, but with a grin to the Pirate.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira had been hoping for a metaphorical storm.
 
This is just downright terrifying. The first few days of rough seas had made her thoroughly sick. By the time the storm has reached its height, Avira has already emptied the contents of her stomach somewhere on the deck in a very ungraceful manner. Any further attempts to vomit are met by dry heaves.
 
For some time, she actually ties to make herself useful above deck, tying herself down and lending what strength she had to managing the sails as the wind picks up. What she ultimately does is follow Angantyr's lead, as he did seem to have some knowledge about how to handle himself around a ship.
 
She too looks like a drowned rat. A miserable drowned rat really trying to prove herself not just to Angantyr, but to the whole world. "Tell us what we can help with!" she calls out, her voice barely audiable over the rain.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira is below deck because she's not so stupid that she would stand around on deck getting in the way or falling over board while the sailors are doing useful things. Maira is considering however, trying to go out, tie herself to something and attempt to help them weather the storm with her magic. She's pretty sure she could do /something/ and she's tired of being tossed around below deck, feeling useless.
 
Alright. She has an idea. Maira gets to her feet and stumbles toward the door, only to be thrown bodily against the wall as the ship leans heavily starboard. She smashes her shoulder hard, crying out as she does so, but immediately gets back to her feet and makes a run for the door. Nearby, there is a coil of rope which she swiftly ties around herself before going up on deck.
 
Immediately she is assaulted by the wind and rain. The storm roars like a hungry beast, the ocean flinging herself against the ship like a child throwing a tantrum. Maira takes a deep breath, looking over to see the captain and her companions gathering to, likely, either see what they can do to help or discuss their imminent watery graves. Maira scrambles across the deck, rope around her waist, and slides across the slippery surface until she can latch onto something solid.
 
"I can maybe try to counteract the wind! Shelter the ship!" she cries, hoping she can be heard over the din. She's not /sure/ she can do it of course, but she is sure willing to try.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine has nothing to prove.
 
Okay, that's a giantic lie; Jasmine has a great deal to prove, she despises her past of being taken care of while others put themselves on the line. But she's no fool -- this is a crisis situation, and this isn't about her issues, it's about Angantyr's very accurate assessment that everyone's needed.
 
There are good storms for learning how to sail in a storm. This is not one of them, and instinctively she understands the seriousness of the situation, the very real peril they're in. Rather than challenging the howling winds with her comparably mellow voice, she simply raises an arm to Faris in a confident salute, expressing her belief in the captain's abilities before binding herself fast to the ship in a series of surprisingly impressive knots. She's been paying attention, the last few days.
 
And a good thing, too, as the next wave isn't so much ridden out as crashed into; a gray-white wall of crushing water that sweeps absolutely everything that isn't tied or weighted down off the deck. There was a decent chess set that came with the ship, and the only one who's going to play on it now is Davy Jones.
 
Perhaps literally... these are strange seas.
 
Jasmine's vomit joins Avira's down in the locker, their shared ignominy eliciting a grimly amused grin that banishes the last of the fear from her eyes. Then she sets about reclearing pathways across the deck, the way she's seen the sailors do. Her tiny frame fights to keep the rough, sea-soaked lines clear of each other, so that the people who really know how to /use/ them can do so as quickly and cleanly as possible.
 
The next wave rises, the wind snapping in an unexpected new direction; there's not much time.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris points at Ang. "Get on the mainsail rope!" The captain points at a length of wire where men are trying to hold it, but the waves continually are sending them backwards. Ang's strength can be used very well there.
 
She then ducks her head to peer around the deck she sees Jasmine clearing the top deck, and Faris thanks whatever goddess of winds and seas and sails there are for -smart- travelers.
 
"WATCH THE SAILS!" The poor shipmate up in the crows' nest, for the record, looks /absolutely miserable/.
 
To Maira: "Do what you can, but do it quick - if this keeps up, we're going to be royall screwed!" Oh, Faris.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr doesn't pause, he runs for the mainsail roap. His hands move, grabbing the thing with his massive strength, and digs his heels into the deck as he starts to help hold it. Angantyr's giant size and boon of strength will make this easier (though not completely easy...this was daunting even by his standards) but with the help from the other guys on deck it was going to keep things steady.
 
"Hey, in hinesight, that's a great name for a ship!" he yells at Faris, who might not be able to hear him.
 
"Royally Screwed." he yells to the other Pirates about him, trying to get a chuckle out of them. No need to be grim when facing death, that comes later.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
It was a darn good thing Avira elected to tie herself down. She's a small person. As the water sweeps over the deck, she immediately loses her footing and slides over the boards until the rope jerks tight and stops her abruptly. Scrambling and flailing, she pushes herself back up onto her feet and stops suddenly, spotting not only Jasmine up here, but Maira.
 
She was seriously contemplating retreating to below deck until she spies those two up here too.
 
She rushes for the rail where she tied herself down and undoes the rope so she can move to elsewhere on the ship, following after Angantyr. She diverges to lash herself to the mast, quickly securing her lifeline before the next deck-sweeping wave strikes. From there, she takes hold of one of the lines to the sails. She didn't have Angantyr's raw strength, but it was something. Her fingerless gloves at least make the ropework slightly more bareable, but the strength of the winds begins to even wear away the thick leather on her palms.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
When the wave crashes toward them, Maira is unable to stay on her feet. Even though she's tied herself down, it sweeps her from her feet and slams her against the side of the ship. It is not a good feeling to be flung around like a rag doll. When the wave passes she gets to her feet, coughing and wiping salt water from her eyes. Yes. She has to do something about this.
 
"I will do what I can!" she cries to Faris, then struggled against her mind to get her magic in order. A very difficult feat on a ship being tossed around violently on deadly seas. Deep breathes. Uist is there to help her. A glow surrounds the mage, a bubble of swirling air that forms something of a forcefield around her. Slowly, it begins to expand as she pours her willpower and her energy into it.
 
She looks might she be able to do this, but it is going to take her a bit of time, and if she loosed her concentration? The magic weave of air will spiral out of control.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The storm lasts for what feels like days and is actually hours. It isn't a sprint of work, but a marathon, though this isn't really obvious until afterwards, for the inexperienced; there are flashes of memory of critical moments, though all moments were critical.
 
Angantyr anchoring the mainsail rope, steadfast amid chaos, when every other man on the line has to be called away to handle a loose sail.
 
Avira anchoring /him/, when a plank of railing snaps off and bashes him off-balance.
 
Maira mastering her fear and her magic, creating a tiny area of calm around herself, a place for brief but extraordinarily precious respite, where one can hear themselves think.
 
And Faris shouting orders, spotting problems before they start. Up in the rigging, swinging from a rope, snatching the crows-nest crewman from certain doom, when he's falling.
 
No one escapes unscathed. It's like being pounded, ground up and spat out by the elements, for hours, and hours, and hours. But through strength of arm, will, and heart, the ship and its occupants emerge relatively intact, not a single hand lost.
 
The ceasing of the wind is as sudden as it began, ears popping in the desperately loud silence. The ship slows to a crawl, the ocean flat as a mirror, and the fog, extending seemingly infinitely in all directions, muffles shouts to whispers and makes visibility more than five feet away quite impossible. There is an ethereal quality to everything, enhancing tiny details even as the largest views are obscured.
 
It is rather similar to waking up from a long nightmare to find oneself still dreaming.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr's head is a bit red from where the piece of the ship hit him. It wasn't much, ususally it wouldn't have phased him at all, but it was like a avalanche, there is just that little bit of energy that turns into a wave of death. That wave of death would have been his own, and the possibly the crews' if not for Avira's timely grab, managing to keep him balance and allow him to reget his grip. This takes longer...it's a storm, a windy one, and even for his power it takes a feet of strength.
 
But Avira's help makes it possible. Finally, the calm comes and Angantyr looks down at the woman still holding him still. A grin comes to his lips as he finally dares to make a crack at the situation. "If it wasn't for the fact that you probably just saved all of our butts, I'd say you were just looking for an excuse." he quips. However, he aches...the effort needed to do what he did was tolling, his legs and arms feel like jello, but he still manages to stand taking a look at the area around him.
 
"We're probably way off course..."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Most of the crew members are picking themselves up - the man that was saved from the crow's nest is doing a utterly admirable job of not throwing up over the side of the ship. Most of the others are slowly getting back into action, trying to take advantage of what little wind there is.
 
"Storms do that." Faris says to Ang, shaking her head, her wettened-to-dark purple hair plastered to her head. "I'll get us back on course as soon as they've got the sails up."
 
Then, in a rare moment, Faris looks at the crew and her guests, and praises them all. "You did wonderfully; I'm sure that moment of calm helped all of us get what wits we had left together, Maira. Jasmine, you're a solid rock in a moment of panic, Ang, Avira... we desperately needed your help."
 
"Thank you all."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira is pretty shaken up. Every breath causes pain, and there is some blood from her scalp oozing down to her forehead and approaching her eye.
 
When the storm suddenly passes, Maira's magic flickers out, falling apart now that she isn't there to maintain it. She is exhausted. More tired than she has ever been in her life. So tired she's up and come around the other side of tired, and couldn't sleep if she wanted to.
 
She climbs weakly to her feet, looking around. "Is...is everyone alright?" she asks. Maira looks to Faris, nodding a little. She's disappointed that she couldn't have done more. She'd been hoping to extend it over the entire ship.
 
She looks over to Ang and Avira then, the pair of them clinging to each other. Maira blinks. Hard. Ooooooh.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira comes out of this doubly glad she had her self anchored the whole time. How else could she, being a bit on the "runty" side.
 
Then there was that one terrifying moment she saw the piece of sail come down. Angantyr's footing started to slip and in that second, despite the soreness and misery, she sprung into action, grabbing onto Angantyr tightly with both of her hands. Her grip held firm, even in spite of the wet and shredded gloves clinging to her hands.
 
Still holding on when the calm comes, her arms are stiff and aching. When Angantyr teases her over it, the exhausted huntress actually looks a little flustered. "I dunno what you're talkin' about." she mutters hastily in an...odd-sounding accent.
 
Coughing, she pulls away and slumps to her knees. Her head was pounding and her throat was dry-symptoms she clearly recognized as dehydration. "Ugh...I need water."
 
Faris's thanks get a weak smile from Avira, "Well we did promise to pull our weight for this passage." The accent is gone. Struggling, Avira forces herself to stand and staggers over to Maira, reaching out a hand for her forehead, "Maira, you're bleeding."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"The fog be thicker than the head after lentil stew night, and the wind be... false, cap'n," announces one of the more sturdy crew members, after a trip up and back from what's left of the crow's neck made under slippery conditions in record time. He has the easy grace of a dancer and the build of a linebacker, with his controlled fall back to the deck heartstopping yet completely within his means.
 
The little ship tattooed on his adam's apple bobs up and down, his rattled nerves creating another storm on his surface, reflecting the man within. In all their years of sailing together, that piece of ink has never so much as wavered. "It ain't the air that's movin' us, in truth." His biceps bulge as he shrugs his mystified answer to the obvious response: 'what is?'
 
The big ship rocks a bit to the left, as though there's something shifting underneath the invisible sea, which is itself currently hidden within those endless, rolling banks of fog.
 
Then the man stumbles forward, his sudden, dramatic lunge quite at odds with the relatively sedate bobbing of the deck. He sways in perfect silence, then falls on his face... with a long, slender, black throwing knife piercing him in the shoulder blade and emerging in his gut.
 
At that angle, it would have taken Faris in the heart, had he not jumped in its path.
 
The knife explodes into spiraling swirls of black smoke.
 
And /then/ all hell breaks loose, as a hail of knives, mixed with the occasional much less subtle black powder bomb, descend upon the boat... from above. Eerie yellow eyes wink in and out, difficult to see at a distance but unmistakably Heartless, and unmistakably crawling all over the masts and sails...

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' 
Maira reaches up to wipe what she thought was water from her brow, only to find that it was blood. "Oh. Well...that'll happen," she replies, rather non-chalant about it. She may be in shock. This is likely the case. "I'm okay..." she replies, getting to her feet, only for all hell to break loose. She's expended all her energy. She is quite simply spent....and faints.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris grits her teeth. "That's what I was afraid of." She informs her shipmate, and then she braces herself as the ship lurches - and her dear kinsman takes a knife to the shoulder, and then the gut.
 
"... heartless."
 
Maira faints, and before Faris can question it, two crew members are helping to shuffle the girl below deck. She withdraws her blade, the mythril shining in the gloom, even as her hand digs into her long coat, a mythril ring shining in her hand as she launches it at the higher-up heartless.
 
"ATTACK!"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"Yes. Heartless." Angantyr says, he can hear them...his blade moves, swinging in a massive arch as blades fly down at him.
 
Angantyr AUTO-DEFLECTS one...straight to the shoulder! It stings! However, the massive mace swings upwards, sending a few of the blades right back towards the heartless jerkasses. He can portal, but the visibility thing is not on his side. Angantyr doesn't waste time, "I don't think you needed to tell me that. captain!" he speaks, before starting to start going up the side of the mast, up towards the heartless...or at least get closer to them. Getting closer allows him greater visibility, a cooridor opens up, and he slips through, getting towards the main part of the sails. Angantyr isn't fast, but he's steady, his mace moving to swing at anything within his reach. "Heartless or not, you all still die the same!" he shouts to them.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"Maira, you don't look okay..." Avira says, concerned. She reaches out to touch the girl's forehead, ready to call upon some good ol' Ivalician first aid. But before she can administer such healing, Maira faints against her. Thankfully, two of Faris's crew members are there to take her to the safety of the cabin.
 
Just as she moves, one of Faris's crewmates bites it and shadow knives rain from the skies. "#&(*!" Avira expresses in an unladylike manner and whirls, looking upward, but seeing absolutely nothing by the occasional flash of yellow eyes above.
 
Pushing past her soreness and thirst, Avira springs into action, scrambling up the rope rigging to the masts. Thankfully, her small size makes her pretty agile.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Faris' crew responds to her call with a vengeful roar, and are the first into the breach, skillfully clambering up the masts into... total silence. That moisture in the air makes it very difficult to tell what's going on more than a few feet away.
 
These Heartless pirates aren't ninja, but they've definitely got terrain on their side -- infuriating, considering that this isn't even their ship. But suckers on the bottoms of their feet allow them to commit shenanigans against reason like hanging upside-down from the boom to slice at Angantyr from below, just as he exits his Corridor; Darkness may provide him passage, but against these foes, it does not provide surprise. Another pair wait until Avira's pretty high up her line, then start slicing through it like gigantic jerks. Still others are badly rattled by Faris' Moonrings -- one even explodes into the tiny green, blue, and yellow orbs of victory, which float in midair, eerily remaining at exactly their point in space relative to the ship as it continues to yawn a slow, syrupy course through the fog.
 
They respond to this insult with more knives, reasonably enough, then they and all their buddies blink out of sight, repositioning themselves higher up the masts. One rips down his inky black trousers and moons the crew for good measure.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr gets nailed, it is a brutal assault as he's surrounded by the heartless, taking brutal amounts of pain from sword and claw...
 
Before the dark knight falls off the side of the mast and smashes into the deck below. He bounces once, and rolls to the side coughing up blood and growling in pain. He does not get up right away, slowly pushing himself to his hands and feet...
 
And then the darkness starts to pour out from him. He hasn't done this infront of the crew yet...but...
 
The darkness pours out of his body, connecting itself to his armor. The armor itself changes dramatically, shifting into plate instead of the standard armor he wares. It all becaomes a solid mass of darkness, tendrills leaping off of it. The worst part is that looking directly at the armor was like staring into the abyss itself.
 
The armor continues up till it covers his head. The full plate helmet claps on, leaving absolutely nothing in the terms of skin visible, as a crimson light seems to come behind the mask, giving the eye slits a glow.
 
Slowly, he looks up, right at the heartless...

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris masterfully dodges out of the way, her lithe frame dashing around. She smoothly pulls out a small lance, pausing for a moment as she runs her hands over one half - it burning a bright red - and the second half, turning a icy blue.
 
She then smiles.
 
And -- doesn't attack? Instead she turns and smoothly claps her hands together, her magic being used in a swift motion as green light swirls around Avira and Ang, her eyes glowing as she does so in a moment of brief concentration.
 
Any little bit helps, aye?

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Avira gets up pretty far and looks up, seeing the Heartless ahead cutting through the ropes she was climbing. Panic surges through her and she climbs faster, leaping up for that final dangling rung as the ropes are severed.
 
The good news is, she makes it!
 
The bad news is, with no bottom to anchor the rope ladder, the top swings free, with Avira on it. To make matters worse, it swings her right into the main mast of the ship and she smashes into it heavily. Desperate, she claws and clings to the mast so she doesn't plummet to the deck of the ship.
 
"Rgrrrgh..." Her strength of heart pushes through and she claws her way up, reaching the main horizontal mast and pulling herself up to stand.
 
Steadying herself with one hand, Avira draws the Spine with the other, magic immediately shooting down the length of the blade, encasing it in ice. With a grand swipe of the weapon, she directs this magic, which peels off the blade, at the pair of Heartless that had cut her rope ladder.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
With Faris and Angantyr both back down on the deck and thus relatively easy targets (as compared to many of the sailors, who are at this point flying through the air, in and out of sight, on ropes, or engaged in duels with other Heartless high on the masts), the Heartless reward this with a terrible bombardment of knives -- obviously being summoned from nothing, they disappear as quickly as they strike -- and rum bombs. Sweet-smelling black smoke mixes with the ghastly white fog. It would be rather lovely if it wasn't making it SO DARN HARD TO SEE. It's like being back in that storm, with blades replacing shards of hail, and concussive force replacing winds.
 
Their one saving grace is that the Heartless are /so far up/, now, quite invisibly so, that their accuracy is pretty terrible. They're trying to compensate with quantity over quality.
 
Meanwhile, Avira casts 'transform Heartless to health orbs' in one second flat; her non-metaphorical ice shards encase them utterly, and they fall off their perch. They disappear soundlessly below, but one cannot imagine they ended well, whether it was being shattered on some other part of the deck, or tossed into the drink.
 
A more impressive specimen, every inch of his lithely sinuous black form tattooed in white (possibly including the parts hidden by his breeches), salutes her tauntingly with his cutlass from the next level up the mast. Like a gymnast on a balance beam, including the pointed toes, he awaits his opponent...

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Blade's rain down on Angantyr's new armor. The armor shatters and breaks under the attack, he flinches, and blood can be seen dripping through his various wounds...he's exhausted from the days activities, and he's barely standing now...but somehow...
 
He still stands.
 
Then he was gone, the Cooridors opening again, and this time he leaves the portal, right over the heartless with a mighty roar.
 
The claws move, aiming to grab one unlucky Heartless, aiming to lift it into the air and start litterally draining the essence from it...
 
Before his own blood and darkness mix together, creating a dark wave of energy, aiming to consume the heartless that get too close to him, hundreds of claws ripping from the shadows to consume whatever they can!

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris stares at the Heartless as they approach her.
 
There was a pirate here, she's gone now - in a blurring burst of speed that would make -anyone-, ninja, warrior, racer proud, she manages to shift around the heartless attacks. She then smiles, an ... oddly dark one.
 
She turns around, the twin lance, burning ice and glowing fire swishing through the air as she makes her way back into melee range as she attacks.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Like a pirate, it'd be pretty awesome for Avira to stick her sword between her teeth and keep climbing. Except the Spine is too big and too oddly shaped for Avira to get her mouth around it. With the rest of her prey now residing on the higher levels, she resorts to sheathing the spine behind her, she looks up and...spots that /different/ looking pirate-type Heartless.
 
Avira's eyes narrow and she crouches, one hand bracing herself against the mast. Mustering her strength again and driving her battered body even harder, she leaps upward, catches the next level of horizontal mast with both hands, and swings herself up.
 
With a flourish, out comes the Spine once more, and the huntress charges forward, leading with the pointy tip. Were she not be dehydrated, she'd be sweating profusely from the exertion right now. "THEY'RE UP HERE!" she calls down, "THEY'RE ALL UP HERE!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The battle rages on. The rest of Faris' sailors seem to be acquitting themselves not honorably (yarr... u.u), but effectively (yarr! >:B), to the extent that they're visible; a pair of pirates unsheet one of the sails, loosening the lines so that they can use them as lassos to yank Heartless right off the masts and into the sea. Others have started to pull pistols, now that the Heartless at the top of the ship have no 'up' left to run to. Since nobody else has three adjectives and took a hit for the Cap'n, the ones that fall -- and very occasionally one does fall -- land with the solid thuds of knockouts, but it's not like they're bleeding out or anything.
 
The Heartless assuredly did not approach Faris, but she approaches them with a vengeance; the antipode of ice and fire make quick work of one, two, three, six Heartless, blasted into the fog and out of the fight or poofing into more orbs. There's a virtual constellation of those grim little lights in the sky, now, more yellow than green or blue, which bodes poorly for the long-term viability of this fight if it goes on, but very well for the reward. These Heartless pirates were /loaded/ with munny. Desperately, they try to beat her back, throwing everything they have at her: knives, cutlasses, each other. They seem to be running low on bombs; thank god for small mercies.
 
Angantyr feels the Darkness pour into himself, and the Heartless respond; some even hesitate for a critical moment, confused by the authority that his aura implies. That's right before they get totally wiped out by the wave of his void, by the dozens. From the tip-top of the crow's nest, where his corridor ultimately dropped him onto, he can JUST BARELY spot, through the fog, the shadowy sails of another ship, far enough away to explain why Heartless aren't swinging over in additional waves -- it's no longer in range for that -- close enough to explain where they came from.
 
Then he may be distracted by Heartless swinging into the tiny, enclosed Nest with him, the whipcrack of their abused ropes heralding their almost vertical leaps. There isn't room for their swords, but claws are another matter...
 
Avira may be fighting a single opponent rather than a large group, but he seems like their leader; many other Heartless pause in their fights to watch the duel with as keen an interest such seemingly mindless creatures can express, and are easy pickings for passing sailors, who swing onwards, saluting the warrior woman as they go by. The duelist lets her close, then in a trick of spiraling movement deflects the Spine at the last possible instant, sending it -- and her -- past him, despite the fact that this entire bar is less than a foot wide. He follows up by trying to plunge his cutlass into her back repeatedly.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr can barely spot the ship as he swings the weapon around himself. More knives and blades aim for him, and he just barely manages to stay alive. Energy flowing into him as he looks down towards Avira who is fighting the leader...
 
He leaps from his spot and aims to litterally drop ontop of it as it swing's it's weapon towards Avira.
 
"Captain! We got a ship off the bow! I think it's where the Heartless are coming from! It's still too far away for them to swing across!" he points it out for her, so that she can get orders sent out.
 
The mace moves viciously, litterally aiming to just simply smash the thing out of existance with brutality.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Strange how this fight Avira's involved in is attracting a Heartless audience. Avira's too focused on her own fight to actually notice the watchers-and for good reason too. This struggle had already pushed her to her limit-she was beyond it now, running on her willpower alone. Her blade might have struck true had she not endured that storm previously. Instead, she lunges past the lead Heartless, the spine sticking into the mast behind it.
 
Her back is wide open. It's easy pickings for the Heartless to jab his cutlass repeatedly into her semi-bare back. A yelp of pain escapes her and she lifts a foot, kicking backwards behind her to knock the Heartless away.
 
Once she has some space, she yanks her weapon free and turns. Angantyr comes in with a vengence, much to her surprise, and Avira waits a beat until she thinks she has an opening.
 
Then, with two mighty swings of the Spine, she unleashes to scything waves of sharp force for the leader Heartless that travel beyond the reach of her blade.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris moves - she is a fast person, as normal - she puts her strengths in evasion and skill, rather than strength; she prefers to sruvive and take awhile, than just bash them down and potentially lose an arm - and makes her way through the heartless.
 
She tosses her twin lance at one of the crew members, who promptly uses it to try to slaughter some Heartless as Faris takes a few dangerous moves - she dashes up to the top of the main deck, where the wheel is, and launches herself off of it, landing half-way up the rigging.
 
Once she's up there, she whirls her frame around it, climbing into the mass of heartless - at the last moment, withdrawing a shining mythril blade from her side.
 
"Nothing we can do about it now! If we don't get the rest of these guys killed, we're the ones going to visit Davy Jones locker... permanently!"
 
Then she promptly dives into the nearest group of Heartless she can see.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Faris plunges down through the fog, back down to the deck. She finds no Heartless to fight there, but once she gets to the opposite side of the ship, she does nearly trip over a veritable ball pit of orbs -- SO MUCH MUNNY, YARR -- which is interesting, since when defeated Heartless have been exploding into these leftovers in the main fight in the rigging, they've remained floating up there. It's like a night sky up in the sails, in fact, all those orbs.
 
Getting up there again, she makes some more, leading her sailors to rally against every Heartless they can see. Which remains tricky, with the fog, but there's a definite sense of momentum... fewer and fewer remain unvanquished.
 
Angantyr ditches the Heartless in the crow's nest, and left unaccosted, we'll never know what happened to them. Instead, he falls through the fog -- it makes it difficult to aim, and he nearly falls entirely past Avira's duel. On his way past, he smacks the duelist on the toe with a backswing. Then it's his turn to land in the ball pit on the top deck.
 
And Avira, Spine in hand, draws an X in pure force, with two swings across the tattooed Heartless' entire body. The X glows brilliantly white, dims to purple, and when the dust clears, there's nothing less but more of those little balls, hanging in the air.
 
It's very, very quiet, even taking into account that with the fog muffling noise, it's been hard to hear. So quiet that the fight must be over, and a dimly audible ragged cheer goes up as the sailors start failing to find Heartless to hit.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr hits the bottom deck...the armor starts to fade away as darkness whisps off him in greater chunks as he wills it to go away.
 
He finally falls to a knee, the wounds starting to look dangerous now as he slowly starts to try and pull himself together. He took a beating in that engagement, more so than he normally does...but then again, Dark Knight's are known for their full offense, instead of their defense.
 
He doesn't get up immediately either, he's nursing some pretty raw wounds, letting people cheer, and get money...and hoping nobody got spooked enough to try and finish him off.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Breathing hard from the exertion, Avira braces herself with a hand against the mast, smiling at their handiwork. She actually reaches out, experimentally, to touch one of those curious little balls these Heartless kept leaving behind. She knew what the munny ones looked like, but this was different.
 
With no further Heartless to fight in the vicinity, Avira puts her weapon away, then looks down at the deck to Angantyr with concern. That darkness, that armor, it was what she'd fought that one day and it's surprising to see it again. Especially out here...did it mean something?
 
Shakily, she starts to climb her way down, "Is everyone alright?" she calls out breathlessly, her body threatening to shut down from exhaustion at any moment.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Faris slides down to the main deck, tossing Ang a flask. It contains some sort of healing grog, that is undeniably liqour filled, but good at what it does. She then goes to check on Avira, a second flask on her.
 
"I'm fine." The captain says briskly. "Maira fainted at the start, but she should be okay... has anyone seen or heard from Jasmine? I think she went with Maira, but..."
 
Faris doesn't even look tired, even though he is.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
To recap:
 
There was a storm, then the calm of impenetrable fog, and suddenly the Heartless showed up, swinging onto the masts and into the sails. They fought in the rigging virtually to the exclusion of all else, forcing the sailors to come to them, and retreating further upwards when pressed.
 
But there are a bunch of the equivalent of Heartless corpses on the deck on the far end of the ship.
 
Now the Heartless ship is leaving.

 
<OOC> Avira says, "Oh fudgebuckets."
 

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr takes the grog and downs it without much of a response. He does, however, cough a bit roughly after finally getting it all down and tosses the flask somewhere. Slowly, very slowly, he considers the heartless ship...
 
Wait...why is it leaving? That's...
 
He squints, letting the gears turn in his head for a minute.
 
"Where is Jasmine?" he asks Avira suddenly.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
"...I didn't see her follow those guys that took Maira into the cabin." Avira says slowly, reconsidering the past few minutes. She looks around deck, plenty of guys, nearly passed out Angantyr, no Jasmine. "...one second."
 
She rushes off to the cabin where Maira was taken and shoves through the door. Some commotion follows and Avira emerges, now looking rather frantic.
 
"She's not here! She's not inside!"

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"..." Faris has a sort of look on her face. The one that reads, /damn it all/.
 
"Fuck."
 
She'll apologize for languages later, instead she does two things - she gets up to the wheel and casts Aero straight into the sails, and wheels the ship around to start a chase. (She's done this before.)

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
There is time to collect some of those blue and green spheres, which sink into passing bodies, knitting wounds and rejuvenating energy; banishing the exhaustion of the storm, and the battle in its aftercalm fog. Between that and sheer adrenaline, it's a pretty heady brew right now. The sailors snap to, fixing up the chaotically strewn lines and sails so that their captain can get anything like mobility.
 
The fog lifts as abruptly as it arrived as the ship simply finds its way out of it, propelled by Aero -- the bank remains, behind them. The sky is blue, the sea is bluer, the wind isn't blue but it's nice and gusty. Bracing.
 
And an increasingly transluscent second ship is full speed ahead, straight into that wind, and making excellent time. Its planks are all of black, as are its sails, which are little more than ragged, rotting scraps of fabric.
 
Ragged sails... what did that one brave sailor say, before he died? 'It isn't the wind.' Something's funny about the shape of the ship, too, though it takes a second look to really get it. It isn't full speed /ahead/... it's full speed /behind/. It is in full reverse, somehow, implying that all is not as it seems.
 
Mounted on its prow is a very distinctive figurehead. By now its transformation has been going on for quite some time, flesh and fabric gradually transforming into beautifully 'carved' alabaster. Struggling against the spell, and the chains that bind her, with all her might, Jasmine spots Faris' ship finally coming out of the fog, and reaches towards it with arms outstretched.
 
Then they're frozen that way, and the enchantment creeps up her dark canopy of hair. It's closing in on her face.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr watches with a horrified expression what happens next. Yes, horrified...
 
He hasn't seen something like this before, he isn't a mage or knowledgable with whatever this is. His eyes narrow, there is just...something...
 
Then darkness starts to spill out of him wildly. Darkness thrives on emotions...the darker the more it can thrive. Right now, there was just one emotion Angantyr was feeling. It was very simple, one of the basic primal emotions.
 
Anger
 
Pure, unrefined hatred. The darkness rumbles again, before he looks towards Faris, "Get me closer to that ship." he demands, pretense of civility gone. He doesn't even care about his own wounds.
 
He doesn't even fully understand WHY he is so angry. A week ago she was just another face in the crowd, a week ago even if she were a friend, shit happens and people die...
 
Now he was angry. Garland would be disappointed.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
For a few moments, Avira has disappeared below deck. It's not to mope or anything, because there will be plenty of time for THAT later. "Note to self, stick to hunting marks, bounty hunting and bodyguarding are right out." she mutters to herself as she picks through the chaotic wreck of detrius that now comprises blowdecks, everything having been jostled about due to the storm.
 
She finally locates what she's looking for, water aside, and grabs what she needs before rushing above.
 
Looped over her shoulder is a rope. There's a grappling hook on the end. It's at least good to see the ship speeding ahead and catching up. She heads to the fore of the ship to watch the chase, squinting ahead at that ship that had been causing so much trouble. She barely spots Jasmine before she's melted into the figurehead and her stomach turns.
 
"...I've heard a thing or two about ships at sea with black sails..." Avira says. "..if they're true, we gotta catch that thing, and fast."

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
Anger also boils up in Faris' throat. She barely knows Jasmine, but all she has to do is think about Lenna in that situation -h er dearest sister, her lands Princess, the heart that they depend on, and well...
 
She looks over at Avira. "... most of those stories don't end well." She says, gravely. She does gesture to her crew though, who, no matter how injured, dive into work so they start to get up to speed.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It's a good thing Faris is also cheating with magic, or this would be hopeless. Clearly as aware of its pursuit as its prisoner, the ship sluices back and forth through the water, on an impossible zig-zag course that has nothing to do with how ships are supposed to work. It uses the actual natural wind to its full advantage, forcing Faris and her crew to balance opposing forces; they can push with Aero, but not /directly/, because if they aren't very careful the winds will interfere with each other in a way that could end either in a) full calm or b) capsize.
 
It's a question of angles. Faris is probably an excellent pool shark, because against all odds her little stolen ship continues to close, gaining inches, then feet. It's a choppy ride over the waves, swell-CRASH!, swell-CRASH!
 
They're within range -- grappling hook, shadow jump, both -- just as the enchantment closes over Jasmine's face. Her expression, they discover as they approach, is permanently frozen into... a fierce, welcoming smile.
 
She believes.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr moves. "Faris, support us." he says, and then he moves, aiming to litterally scoop Avira, who is easily portable given his size and strength.
 
"Sorry, but this is the fastest way." he says, and then opens up a corridor of darkness infront of them. He turns, giving the crew a salute, and then Jumps through...
 
There isn't enough time to finese this...which isn't something Angantyr is good at anyway, a he would no doubt end up somewhere on the deck. He immediately drops Avira to her feet and moves to pick up his mace. "So we just gota kill whatever is running this ship right?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' 
Watching the chase is...interesting to say the least. Avira's not well versed in ships, especially the tall ships they're sailing and chasing right now. But she's pretty sure that they're not supposed to move as the one with the black sails is right now. Those rumors she's heard about this ship's sorcerous ways MUST BE TRUE.
 
She's all ready to try the whole grappling hook thing for the -first time ever- when Angantyr wraps an arm around her waist and lifts her. "Wait, are you-" Her eyes widen as he opens the corridor. Cringing, she steels herself.
 
She didn't like these corridors. It felt like she lost a small part of herself every time she went through one.
 
Fortunately, it's over quickly and Avira lands on her feet, hand already reaching for her weapon. "You make it sound so easy." The usually brave Avira actually sounds a little nervous right now.

:'''[[Faris Scherwiz]] has posed:''' 
"Crew?"
 
"Captain?" Her best man asks, staring at her.
 
"It's that time again." Every single one of them salutes her at her words. They know that there's a risk of no captain left after that sort of statement, and she gives them all a nod.
 
The crew continues guiding the ship - Faris herself is only on it til she gets close nough to jump.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It only takes a touch: when the first boots hit deck, they pass right through. Shimmering like the mirage it is, the black ship disappears entirely.
 
Everyone lands on something smooth and slippery, but it's not wood; the 'thump' is all wrong, too sharp-sounding. This is a far tougher material, still black, but glossy with vitality. It gives a little bit underfoot, flexible in its strength, and here and there, there's a little bit of actual color; veins of electric blue. Jasmine remains a white statue, but is now suspended by dark chains that simply melt directly into a pair of towering spikes, the only two around.
 
The wind of rapid, disorienting acceleration catches at cloaks and hair as everyone rises, higher and higher. Far, far below, Faris' ship starts resembling more of a toy boat, shrinking with distance. Its occupants stare up at one of the more impressive sea monsters they've seen in an active career of nautical freedom fighting.
 
Behind everyone, black plates twitch, then shift backwards, revealing an elephantine orb of absolute Darkness, a pulsing void. It blinks again, and the eye begins to fill with crimson light.
 
An ear-splitting screech shatters the air.
 
Welcome to the head of the snake.

Jasmine

2012-12-02T09:23:55Z

Liz: relationship update: faruja

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

-----

'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Garland: Jasmine recognized Garland immediately on an instinctual level. She bore witness within her own heart, all too briefly, to the incredible memory of Light that once dwelled within him. To the decline and fall of that Light, the self-inflicted wounds, the knife-stabs through the heart and soul that so skillfully forged his spirit into pure and endless Darkness. She respects what he once was, understands what he has become, and accepts him for exactly who he is. Like Jafar, Garland inspires a mix of fear, anger, and sadness; fear that she'll never be strong enough to prevent him from doing exactly what he wants, anger that he would ever have chosen to be what he is, and sadness at the outcome. She believes in the infinite possibility of redemption, and she wouldn't be who /she/ is without extending such opportunities to him, in innumerable quiet ways, while defying his agenda with every fibre of her being. Polar opposites on many levels, she is disquieted to find similarities within their duality; they are like, but so unlike.

Avira: ''"I'm glad you're safe."'' Jasmine first saw Avira defending Garden at a distance, and drew courage from the mighty warrior's example. Later, she noticed Kaydin transporting a captured Avira to Baron. She would not leave one of her allies, even one she'd never properly been introduced to, in the hands of their enemies. She could not do anything else, and still be herself; not long afterwards, they wound up traveling together, as Avira helped her flee the Heartless in Rabanastre. Having now had an opportunity to actually spend a little time together, Jasmine is quite impressed with the woman's competence, but moreso with her understated kindness.

Angantyr Vespar: ''"I hardly know you, and here I am pouring myself out for you. I'm sorry, but there is something about you that seems... Trustworthy. No different than how you saw me. Foolish sentiments for the both of us, for being strangers." "I think that trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness. I'm very glad I met you, Sir Knight. Angantyr. Thank you again, for all you've done for me."'' Jasmine and Angantyr met while independently launching rescue operations for Avira, in Baron, and made excellent impressions on each other. They departed as princess and mercenary guard for a forty-eight hour term of employment, and in that time became fast friends. She regards his friendship far higher than any coin, in fact. Jasmine has seen the Darkness in Angantyr, but believes that the man can find balance, with time, will, and self-respect; rather than try to talk him out of his revenge, she knows that only he can do that for himself.

Seith: ''"I can see /your/ Light."'' Jasmine was too busy dealing with other issues to participate in a fairly epic philosophical debate Seith was at the core of, but his willingness, even eagerness, to hurt, maim, or perhaps even kill innocent bystanders in order to make his points in a debate informed her first impression of him.

Faruja Senra: ''"As long as you stand up for what is right, the war is already won."'' Seen helping the poor and defying the dark at a distance, Jasmine was impressed with the Burmecian's compassion and fierce ideals... though he seemed a bit loquacious. She (largely incorrectly) blames herself for the Heartless' interruption of his charity event. Later, he helped her thwart a small army of Heartless, and she helped him remember the good reasons to fight, as well as the grim. They parted as friends.

Faris Scherwitz: ''"I have no love for violence, especially between those who still have their hearts, but such a ship would certainly fit my specifications of 'crewed by those who can defend themselves...'"'' Faris' total honesty about 'his' profession smoothed over what might have otherwise been a poor first impression; he's an /awfully/ pretty boy, after all, exactly the sort of person Jasmine inherently suspects. But she felt something in him that she trusted immediately -- with her life, as he swept her off on a pirate ship to flee an army of Heartless.

Ivo Galvan: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

2012-12-02T05:28:13Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/25
|Location=Agrabah Palace, Dias Plains, Jasmine's Dreams
|Synopsis=While Angantyr guards her body, Jafar invades Jasmine's dreams. He learns many dangerous truths there, and finds some easier to accept than others.
|Cast of Characters=Jafar, Jasmine
}}
:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
"Hey, Jafah. Do ya think this is a good look for me?" Iago's wings are spread wide enough to simulate the span of Jasmine's shoulders, and he stands on the very edge of Jasmine's vanity, one of her gossamer blue tops dangling from his wings. He's not tall enough to actually occupy it, but he tries to hold it in roughly the right shape, and to improve the effect he inflates his chest at the expense of his waist to simulate voluptuousness. He's painted some rouge on his bony yellow beak as well, in two circular shapes on either side.
 
Jafar turns to him, already snapping, "This is no time for your fo--" but is interrupted by the ridiculous sight, which threatens laughter. Iago sees his chance, and bats long, full lashes (where do they come from?), and Jafar doubles over with a brief bray of mirth. "Very amusing," he says dryly. "Now set that down."
 
"Why, you afraid we're gonna get more chump suitors coming around here if I don't?"
 
Jafar pauses for a moment, near Jasmine's bed. "Now that is a pity," he says. "If the rest of our world had not fallen away, I expect we'd keep receiving them for a few weeks at least, before word travelled."
 
"Hah! Yeah, too bad, those bozos had a /lot/ comin'." It was telling that even Jasmine had resented them; at least they kissed up to her. They didn't even see a Vizier as worth putting on airs for. Iago wipes his beak off with Jasmine's blue silk, and flaps into the air with a slight grunt of effort; he might want to lay off the sweets. "So why are we here this time? Some remodelling, maybe build an indoor pool? Oh, oh, how about a statue of me? I mean, we should build one of you too, of course, but maybe you wanna practice first so yours is..."
 
"We won't be getting /rid/ of the princess's chambers. She will be returning to us presently," Jafar interrupts, with a curling smile. Resting a hand on her pillow as if it were the head of a horse, he looks down at it and his own spread fingers, eyes narrowed. "Sixteen years of dreams in this chamber. I should be a very poor wizard if I could not make use of them."
 
Ten minutes later, all is in readiness. Iago is leaning against the bed, sweating and panting, having carried an ornate (and heavy) brass huqqah to the princess's chamber. It now sits on the bed, along with a crosslegged Jafar, who in his placid concentration looks more fakir than sultan. As might be expected, the huqqah is stylized after a serpent, with its widely spread mouth emitting a thin tube of a tongue. Lazy tendrils of smoke rise from gill-like holes on the side of its neck, and Jafar holds the thin rod at the end of the tube between two fingers. With a gesture, he unhooks the translucent, thin veils of silk around the bed, closing them all at once. Placing the mouthpiece between his thin lips, he inhales, a rich, gutteral bubbling rising from the serpent's throat. When he exhales, the smoke is an ethereal purple, like a summer twilight, and its presence reveals tiny, star-like pinpricks of light.
 
Iago shivers, feeling a sudden sense of the uncanny. He knows what those are, whether from context or instinct, he cannot say. Little fragments of dream, crystalized in the air, made visible by the strange purple spice Jafar had long ago taken from a clay jar in the lowest level of a forgotten pharaoh's tomb. The ancient dust does not just affect the air, however. Jafar's expression has gotten distant, his eyes milky. Iago no longer wants to be here.
 
"Um, Jafar," he ventures. "You gonna need..."
 
Jafar turns his head eerily, and stares at Iago with a blank expression, face sallow, pupils dialated. Iago feels as if he has called out to a corpse and awoken it. Jafar doesn't answer; it's as if he no longer understands the language, or perhaps even the physical world. That is answer enough in itself, and Iago takes wing, fleeing the chamber without a look back.
 
The stars begin to pulse in their unnatural twilight as Jafar's vision grows more sensitive. The silken canopy above is their firmament, the smoke their milky glow. The gurgle of the huqqah no longer belongs to Jafar; it is the universe, inhaling and exhaling. The numerous pillows around him are the petals of a white flower, their fragrance suffusive, and he is right in the center of them.
 
Jasmine. All around him, Jasmine.
 
It would not be accurate to say he found her, or that a bridge was built between them spanning the vast distance. The soul knows no distance. This ritual would be no easier if she were in the next room, and no harder if she were at the ends of the earth.
 
The body can run. The mind can hide. The soul simply is.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Since the events at Balamb Garden, Jasmine has slept very rarely, and only very lightly when she does so. This is understandable: a fugitive on the run, alone, with her hunters seeming to rise from the very ground beneath her feet whenever she stops long enough to allow them to do so... cannot stop for long.
 
She has developed the mental art of 'sleeping with one eye open', not dropping her vigilance entirely even when unconscious, with ferocious speed. But then, she always was a fast learner.
 
And it both helps and harms, that the ever-approaching Heartless weigh down upon her spirit; sometimes, despite the constant black exhaustion she's been forced to accept as the price of her freedom, she CANNOT sleep, so tormented is she by the chilling breath of Darkness on the back of her soul's neck, the sense of impending danger too great to ignore. When she manages to overcome that, her catnaps are torturous, and woefully brief.
 
Now, for the first time in weeks, pushed beyond all endurance by the hunt and a taxing and hopelessly naive detour into Baron, she has arranged for a guardian, someone eager to fend off the Heartless long enough for her to rest, not for a minute, not for an hour, but for a night and a day. Her guilt in allowing someone to risk themselves in this manner, even for gold -- especially for gold, really -- is added to her subconscious ledger. But she needed this so desperately, and he seemed both eager to help and truly able to do so; his selfless and ferocious display on the battlefield earlier convinced her, reluctantly, to allow him to try.
 
She gradually relaxes, going totally limp, and in doing so reveals exactly how much tension had been in her body before, built up over terribly many trials and fears. She sleeps like a child, curled up into a tiny ball of fabric and hair. She's terribly vulnerable; no wonder she hired some muscle.
 
Surrounded by wave after wave of Heartless, held off by a man and her trust in that man, Jasmine lets herself fall into the dark embrace of true, sweet, deep oblivion, at last...
 
***
 
For a long time, she simply walks in Darkness, then runs from it, as it begins to seep into her spirit, cloying, toxic, corruption incarnate. The void is absolute. There is no light to guide her flight except for her own, and like a beacon it draws all the horrors dwelling within to her, ever faster, unerringly honing in on her radiance. Before long, her thighs are burning with strain, her breath is coming in ragged gasps, and she can't tell whether the stitch in her side is a pulled muscle or a jagged wound from a terrible claw that she more felt than saw.
 
As soon as it occurs to her that this cannot truly be a land of nothingness as long is there is /land to run on/, it disappears, and she falls, falls, plunging through the abyss for so long that up and down cease to have any meaning at all. Her screams are ripped from her lungs by a cackling sillhouette, and when she inhales for fresh air, the Darkness pours in, choking her, drowning her...
 
...she lands in Balamb Garden.
 
It is as though the attack never happened; children, refugee and student alike, run and laugh and chase a ball through the hallway, startling a Faculty member into a fierce lecture, and birds in the window to flight. Crowds of people more her age bustle down into the atrium, animatedly discussing boys, and Triple Triad, and boys who play Triple Triad. The sun shines down, fiercely, filling her with warmth and strength, and she can feel herself returning the favor, uplifting the very world around her with the same strength.
 
No one speaks to her, or even seems to see her; this is increasingly distressing. Eventually, someone walks right through her, and she looks down at her hands, wonderingly -- has she become a transluscent, incorporeal, is her spirit all she has left?
 
But she seems so solid. And in that instant, when she realizes that she's not the ghost, /they/ are, these are the ghosts of children and peers who were surely slaughtered in the attack on Garden, the walls shatter around her, revealing a tableau of the battlefield outside, frozen in time.
 
She sprints through it, pausing beside the fallen, broken bodies of friend after friend after friend, trying to revive them, to heal what has been lost, to bring back what once was hers: a sense of safety, but more importantly, of community, of belonging, that she had never truly had before. The miserable isolation and mortifying helplessness of fifteen years mewed up in a Palace, allowed to do nothing useful and meet next to no one, come crashing down on her, but self-pity does not do more than make the corpses laugh at her, their lips twisting into rictus grins, and she discards it.
 
The dead are the dead, they are cold and unmoving, and as her field of vision widens, so does the bloody count of people who have given themselves for her, willingly or not, knowingly or not. Refugees and Returners and SeeD, yes, but also Heartless, who transform back into Agrabah citizens, many bodies deep, all entangled with their newfound neighbors, the poor of Rabanastre.
 
Every single one wears the face of the boy in the marketplace.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
The courtyard is quiet, muffled under heaps of corpses. The walls are shattered, gates splintered, but though silence prevails, it does not seem as though much time has passed since the battle. It is as though Judgement came and the living simply evaporated. Even the bullet casings lie as if they had just been spent, tendrils of oddly purple smoke rising from their gleaming husks.
 
A dry tapping sound. Bent with loss, thin as famine and withered as pestilence, a man is approaching, through the splayed planks of the gate, his beard nearly reaching the ground. He stares at Jasmine as he plods forward, each step requiring preparation. She cannot help him. Dreams make you wait.
 
When the waiting is over, the old wretch stands in front of Jasmine on his three legs. Rheumy eyes lift to her face, then across to one of the crumbled walls. Its pieces look oddly brittle, shards rather than chunks, as white as a kitten's teeth, and with a curved shape that does not match the wall. Why? There are no accidents in dreams.
 
Jafar bends, taking a shard of the wall in his hand, no bigger than a thumbnail. He offers it to her, but not there, not in that war-blasted courtyard. He offers it to her in the hallway of the Palace. He is her father, though he is still the same skeletal man. She is a tiny child, too young to know she must remember things, and so this memory had been lost until now. Between them, on the floor, a shattered teacup of finest white china. It had been Jasmine's mother's, and then it was Jasmine's, and now it belongs to no one but the God of What Never Comes Back.
 
"If you take this from me," Jafar her father says, though the Sultan her father had not, "it will be whole once more. But it will also break once more, soon enough. This power has always been yours. You may revive any thing or any person you have ever loved, but only to kill them. Is it worth it, to you? To keep them alive by killing them ever and again?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Anticipation is agony. The princess has lost her kingdom, her family, and forcibly loses her friends as quickly as she makes them. To help others is all Jasmine has left, and though she does it for them, freely, and not for herself, to stand by while the dried-up husk of a man approaches her, forced to watch him struggle across the battlefield, unable to rush forward to render aid, is its own kind of torture.
 
It makes her eager to bend her head to hear his words, to meet his eyes unflinchingly, to await his pleasure, whatever it may be, that she may serve, and ease his pain.
 
Instead, he presents her with a precious shard of her past... one of the oldest guilts of all, a diamond in the rough of toddler memory. Sometimes the greatest treasures are those you never knew you possessed. Sometimes the greatest burdens are those you never realized you were carrying.
 
Jasmine's father had not sharply chastised her for tripping and dropping the teacup; he was simply, quietly sad, and she learned a different lesson from that day than she might have otherwise. If he had ignored her completely, she might have discounted the value of beauty. If he had been furious, she might have opened up to his attention like a flower in bloom, and found pleasure in shattering more valuable things.
 
'All is lost to time,' said the Sultan, in his younger, wiser days, gathering her into his arms, and speaking not of the cup but its previous owner, 'But that does not make our time together any less precious, knowing it will end.'
 
Staring with narrowed eyes at the shard, the little princess looks back up at her father, biting her lip thoughtfully. She turns the enigma over in her mind, screwing up her tiny painted toes on the marble floor to help her focus, rocking back and forth on her heels. Sitting, statuesque, in one place, has long been one of her traits, but only if she has something to occupy her, like a book or a pen (or a brush).
 
When Jasmine thinks deeply, she thinks best while in motion.
 
"It doesn't matter if it's worth it to me," she replies after a second, a heartbeat, a year -- dreams make you wait -- her sweet, high voice clear as a bell, beautifully enunciating phrases far beyond her years. A truth gradually dawns in her face, as she comes to recognize it, her eyes wide and wondering once more.
 
"What counts is how they feel about living anew, then dying at my hand. If that is their choice..." Her voice wavers, and she hesitates. It is an ironic struggle, one who raged against having no choices of her own, having difficulty with the choices of another. And though she knows what she must do, part of her shrinks from that duty. It is so painful, murdering them, being the poison in their veins, the dagger in their back, the tremor in their heart.
 
"...it hurts, Father," she admits finally, in a low whisper, full of shame at herself for daring to whine, gaze unfocused, forlorn, lost. She hates to admit weakness of any kind, but if she cannot unburden herself upon her Father, who else is there? The absence of a tiger makes itself known like a plucked string in the air, but she does not see it behind her. "It hurts all the time. But... if they truly wish to be brought back... the needs of the people outweigh my own."
 
A tiny hand, painted with a henna mandala that burns with a pure white flame, reaches up towards her father's face, but cannot reach alone; she is too small. "How do you handle power like this?" she asks in tones so raw as to be broken. "What should I do?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar knew the risks in coming here. Here he is just a soul. Mind was always his weapon, with body a more recent and secondary ally, because of his newfound powers. There were a thousand ways he could destroy her if he could come here whole, as an agent of evil, ploys intact. Unfortunately, all he can do is join her in dreaming, with all the powers and weaknesses of a dreamer. Age and mystical training have given him insights into the world of the dream that he counts on for an advantage, but here he is forced into a profound honesty. For Agrabah's most dedicated liar, this is somewhat terrifying.
 
He cannot even intentionally disguise himself in this place; as he began the ritual, he meditated on this alternate identity. This old man was a part of him, and so Jafar can wear his face here, but at any time the dream might strip it from him. Now he is Jasmine's father--there is some archetypal truth somewhere in that monstrous falsehood, or it would not be possible--but if the context changes, so might he. He might be dreaming this, but this is not his dream.
 
His weapons of disdain, cloaked sarcasm, pretention, fastidious politeness... they are all gone. He cannot keep her away, and so she can hurt him. A pain he would enjoy is now a pain he has to experience, as he watches this little girl-woman contend with loss. His parents are dead, too. It is expected, he is old and it was time; Jasmine is young and so it is a tragedy. Those are society's rules. The rules for a son, even a wicked son, are different.
 
He holds out the shard. She holds out the pure white flame. Neither is yet willing to take the other's gift. "You ask about /should/ when there is no /should/," Father tells Jasmine. "The dead wish for nothing. You can ask yourself, what would she have wanted? You can tell yourself, this is how he would like things. But they are beyond all wanting, forever, and no wish can change that." This last is not philosophy, to Jafar, it is immutable arcane law. "When you bring them back, it is as they were, not as how they might be today. You cannot use their desires as an excuse to avoid making a choice yourself. Not this time." There is bitterness there.
 
Father extends the shard a little further. "Take it. You are not ready to let them die the final death, the quieter death. If you were, we would not be here." In this Palace hallway named Balamb. "This power is like any power. You have it for yourself, or you do not have it at all. A mountain has more 'power' than any man could dream of, but it does not act on its desires. To be forced to abide by the desires of others is shameful, but to make them master of even your innermost choices is waking death."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"/Wrong/," Jasmine responds fiercely, defiantly, to Jafar's immutable arcane law -- she says the word with fiery conviction, absolute belief. At the core of her being, she embodies the ultimate answer to that law: hope. She burns with it, growing and changing from adorable toddler to luscious teenager in a few moments. There was hardly a gawky in-between, which was as much curse as blessing, in her line of work, such as it was.
 
Her eyes burn as well. Then all of her does; she becomes pure flame, then a candle's flame, dream logic shaping the wax into the facsimile of a certain oil lamp. She is mighty in her diminuity, all the light of the universe condensed into such a tiny, delicate thing.
 
As she burns, she smells of her namesake, of course. The perfume is faintly blue, spiraling swirls that caress the air.
 
"/Nothing/ is so lost to the darkness that it cannot return to the light. It just takes time, and will... and faith. The belief that it can be done. Nothing that is loved is ever truly gone."
 
Balamb is rebuilt at a dream's pace, flashes of workers here and there, construction equipment puffing along. There are setbacks, and difficulties -- even another attack, that comes in the form of a thunderstorm, full of purple lightning -- but SeeD persists, and their home is restored.
 
It sits next to Agrabah, on the Sultan's model table.
 
Her flame dances, spreading forth its petals gladly, blossoming with luminous joy. She reaches up and touches the shard, and it transforms, back into the teacup. There are no flaws, no cracks; it is not a thing that merely was. Already it holds a different flavor of tea than any it contained before its crash. "Love is stronger than death," she whispers, as though admitting the greatest, most hidden secret anywhere. And perhaps she is.
 
The teacup starts to fade away, dissolving into her heart. "It hurts, but it's worth it. They're all worth it. /You're/ worth it."
 
Is she onto him? Yes or no, nothing pleasant lasts for long in the princess' dreams, not with the battle for her survival raging just above her subconscious. It's like a constant tension, and it haunts her dreams like a whispering undercurrent. Once in a while, it becomes a roaring river.
 
It's about to be a crashing waterfall.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
It would not be so strange, for Jasmine to know him. Indeed, it's inevitable that she does, the only question is whether that knowledge is firm enough to be retained should she remember the dream. 'I had a dream... my father was in it, but he was also Jafar.' Such things are normal in dreams, and indeed in any interaction of the soul. Such is the genesis of friendship, hate, and love; identification with facets of other people, taking them into oneself.
 
Jafar is no longer Father when he looks down at the Balamb diorama, but Famine again. /Why/ is this disguise so essential to his identity that even his soul can take it on? What has starved and withered him? Whatever it is, it makes it hard for him to look at Jasmine as she becomes a living candle-flame. Her brightness cannot hurt his eyes here; it is something else. He cannot help but part the fingers he shields his eyes with, however, as he watches the cup disappear into her chest, only to be reborn pure, /new/ as kitten's teeth... and, significantly, changed.
 
His eyes fall to the tea, as petals float fragrantly past him. It's a very different shade. It's hard to distinguish dark liquids, but it looks purple. Purple seeps through this dream where it can, though it is not corruption. Jafar's eyes are still open, back on the bed, staring into desert twilight. A dream absorbs sensation.
 
"Don't be naive," Famine half-coughs. His voice as Father was more refined; it is now wheezing and hoarse. "Perhaps your tutors spoke of King Menzentius and his surpassing cruelty? Of all his crimes, the greatest was shacklingly the living to the dead, that the rot might spread and fester. That is your love. Revive them and kill them, or let them turn to dust at last, whichever you please. But do not bind yourself to corpses!" Spittle is starting to fly from Famine's loose lips, his outrage has built to a fervor, and the walls of the palace creak and buckle with the deep, churning river of Jasmine's soul, his emotions wracking the marble even as they wrack his bent and ugly frame.
 
"Your love means nothing to them," he continues. "They are NOT worth it, they are by /definition/ worthless... and SO AM I!"
 
The pillars nearby, if they were hollow, could easily have contained several elephants, and it is said they took two thousand slaves to drag from the quarry. Exaggeration, surely, but their strength is obvious. When they shatter, when they practically explode from Jafar's anguish and Jasmine's hope, it is like the world being unmade; the sound fills everything, even the small chunks of stone pound the floor like thunder. A solid wall of rich violet water erupts from the wall, blasting the palace apart, the great burnished spires groaning like wounded titans as they slough down. Water sweeps over Jasmine and Famine alike, a river with roughly the dimensions of the palace itself churning past.
 
The initial rush of aquatic force dies down somewhat, leaving the untouched Jasmine and Famine hovering above a giant, vibrantly colored waterfall. Famine is panting, loose teeth clenched, eyes wide.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
For an instant, they were both totally submerged, as a sheet of violent, violet water swept past them. But dream time is strange, and they remain suspended in that instant, floating -- not drowning, as Jasmine was earlier in her nightmare -- and staring at one another.
 
Assailed by the aqueous blast and, more importantly, by Famine's cutting fury, the candleflame gutters in the wax lamp, which itself tumbles end over end, battered about. It is the exact hue of the liquid, which is resolving, in taste, to be exquisitely pure and sweet. The flame is not; it turns electric blue, then orange, progressing through lower and lower temperatures as it fights for its own survival. Its expression, condensed onto a smaller and smaller face, is devastated, as though Famine's words have sliced past all her shields and impaled her, straight in the heart.
 
There's an instant in that instant where it seems to have gone out completely, all but the tiniest spark.
 
But that seed of light blossoms once more, and Jasmine erupts from it, full-sized again but still composed of that white radiance, which could be fire, but perhaps never truly was, all along. She is vivaciousness incarnate; life pours from her, the infinite potential for growth shining in her eyes, her hair, her smile... she is Bounty to his Famine. Where he is sunken and hungry, she is lusciously curved, full. His withering is her flourishing vitality, his constant dissatisfaction not only her abundant wealth, but her joy in what she has, the exuberant urge to spread it across the land, that everyone can partake. It's an appropriate analogue in more ways than the philosophical, considering the harvest of power, on every level, that she embodied as an heiress, and only does moreso in some eyes, as a Princess of Heart.
 
Her feelings can be hurt, but not quenched entirely. Her gaze is level, now, shocked out of her ecstatic revelation, but smouldering within it is no less pure emotion. Bounty studies Famine's face, and her acceptance of him is unwavering, her luminous face made more poignant by the sadness underneath, the concern. It is not superficial pity, but something more fundamental.
 
"I will remember your lesson, for there is wisdom in your caution, to treasure the living above the dead. But I bid you, think of Orpheus and Eurydice," she observes gently in the sudden silence, after the wave has passed. It's a conversational counter, to be sure, but it sounds less like a riposte and more like tidings of gladness, delivered with no interest in oneupsmanship, the debate enjoyed for its own sake. "Their love defied death... and what truly separated them in the end was... insecurity. If Orpheus had only believed in himself, theirs would have been the happiest of endings."
 
She moves forward, arms outstretched, to enfold Famine warmly, to clasp him to her breast; it is rather like bathing in the heart of a star. Being reforged in the fires of creation. Nothing exists there but love, and so nothing is lacking. Through a mirror brightly, Jasmine sees Jafar's many strengths and many faults, and seems to embrace them all freely, without hesitation.
 
"Of course you're not worthless," she reassures him fiercely, whispering the truth, golden, precious beyond measure, in his ear. It floats around him like a halo, ultimately coming to dwell, shining, upon his brow. "Saying such things does no one any good, but you least of all. You mustn't be so cruel!"
 
Plunging downward in smooth, opaque sheets, the waterfall freezes in place, to reflect him as he might be, if he allowed himself to appreciate the many wonderful aspects of himself, of his life. No longer is he old and miserable, but flushed with youth, strength, and more importantly than either, the wisdom of the heart so long denied him. She guides him towards the vision slowly but inexorably. "You claim to desire respect above all things, but how will that ever be yours if you don't even respect yourself?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Famine does not grin or cackle at his victory, if it is such, as Jasmine is snuffed out. There is a grim satisfaction in having his dark views confirmed, but one of the weaknesses of pessimism is that being proven right is not a joyous occasion. Her light is gone, the world is as he knew it to be. Welcome to reality, princess.
 
Then a white starburst, shimmering motes of light wafting away from Jasmine's yearnful form, her beauty and completeness. She is curves, he is lines; she is silk and he is sticks. She wants for nothing, he wants for everything. Again Famine shields his eyes, but this time he lets his hand drop after a moment. The other flaw of pessimism is that it is so resilient. But is that resilience not proof of its correctness? As beautiful as she is, can she last?
 
"Hope requires strength to maintain, and all despair requires is weakness. A man will never run out of weakness, but no man has infinite strength," Famine tells her. "You cannot last like this forever. Cloistered princess, Agrabah's crown jewel. You have not yet begun to be tested, and so you misunderstand the lesson of Orpheus. Did any man love more truly? And yet he could not endure." Famine begins to cackle now, low, more sad than triumphant. "I almost be-lieved you for a moment. Then I remembered you have only taken a few /paces/ on the marathon the rest of us have endured our whole lives. Come, tell me again of self-love, you who are praised by all. Tell me it is not love itself that is flawed, but gold-thr...oated... Orpheu..."
 
Famine is stilled, embraced physically and spiritually. Hugging him is like hugging a ribcage, and though there is a jerky-like toughness to his frame, it is still rickety and achingly thin. His beard drapes over Bounty's shoulder as his lower lip wobbles. It's one thing for Bounty to love herself; he disdained that as little more than the delusion of an overly praised child, who suitors allowed to win games, who was apologized /to/ if she made an error around anyone but the Sultan himself. It was another for her to love him, perhaps even more so in this wretched state. Famine stammers his own pronoun softly, eyes turning guilelessly to his own reflection, that of Jafar the sage. Still thin, still ugly, with little change in his dark fashion sense, and yet his face is scarcely recognizable to him. He is placid, his cheeks less gaunt, the shadow under his eyes fainter; self-hate does not consume his body. More importantly, he looks back at himself without pretense or guile. For so long has he been lying that he wears honesty like a mantle, his eyes windows instead of mirrors. This is a man who has real friends, and indeed real enemies, who actualizes himself in relationships rather than manipulating others. This is a man whose soul does not burn with a thirst so profound and permanent that he does not even recognize it as such.
 
Famine does not return to the hug, but he buckles into it in anguish. Seeing what you could have been can be a terrible punishment. "How dare you... show me this neutered mirage? This happy ignoramus? No one respects him, he's just too stupid to realize it!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Bounty says nothing more, expressing her feelings through the the deed, and not the word, of love. His protestations of strength and weakness, tests and failure, wash over her no more effectively than water over a stone. They pass quickly, and she remains, indefatigable, having not ignored them but /listened/, intensely, then stayed with him regardless. Her eyes are turned towards his, and within them he is not ugly at all. She sees the tiniest fragment of light in his heart, and what it could be if only he embraced it. And his darkness is there as well, but no more scorned than an ear or a thumb. It is part of him, and that's okay.
 
They are interrupted by pinpricks of sickly yellow light emerging from the icy purple cascade, shattering the mirror, fracturing it into a thousand and one falling razors. Eyes. Uncountable eyes. Jasmine stiffens, then, by the time the Heartless -- recolored by the waterfall, which is fast transforming into familiar crimson sand -- emerge, she's turned to flee. "They're after me. We have to go! Come on!" By the third exclamation, her voice contains a low roar.
 
Yanking him onto her suddenly broad, black-and-orange back, the tigress of Agrabah tenses like a coiled spring, then is off like a shot. No tiny kitten, she. Her muscles bunch and release beneath him, legs silently bounding forward, steadily putting distance between them and their pursuit, the huntress having become the hunted but, if not relaxed within her role, well-practiced at it. It's like riding a furry avalanche, a shooting star falling through darkness, in perfect control of herself but nothing else.
 
It's an open question, whether she knowingly rescued Jafar from the Heartless, or just some depressed old man. If she would have saved anyone, everyone, or especially him. At times she seemed a creature of marvelous and dreadful clarity, but now... pure instinct. And her instinct is protection.
 
But will he choose to ride the tiger, or join the wild hunt?

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
There is much that is rotten in this man. He has betrayed everyone who ever trusted him, murdered, lied, all for his own pride. If there is a germ of good in him, perhaps it is built around the fact that he, like all humans, wants to be happy, wants to connect to others. It may not be enough, but it is enough for Bounty, right now, and that is something.
 
Jafar does not hesitate in his decision. He may not be able to use deceit to get what he wants, here in the dream, but he still /knows/ what he wants. He wants to know where she is, and following her while she flees in the dream is the best chance he may ever have. He sits astride her muscular body and fills his bony palms with striped fur, hunching his bent back further to stay on.
 
It is exhilarating; a tiger's sheer strength and grace makes even a horse seem inert. It's like every motion could be a deathblow, every leap an attack, and yet the deadliness is in a calm stasis of opposing forces and stretching limbs.
 
"I do not fear them," he admits, because his dream self cannot understand why he would not. "They endanger you, not me."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The tigress' flight is like a retrospective journey. It shows Jafar everywhere she's been so far, through the lens of the Heartless she's encountered. The potted centipedes of Agrabah, and the dark swordsmen, both of whom chase her from Balamb to this day, they come first. Then, shadowy Huns: the Land of Dragons. Awful plant creatures: Golmore Jungle. And on, and on, she's confronted by creatures of all shapes and sizes, from such a wide range of places within mere weeks that one insight is painfully obvious:
 
Jasmine has been /cheating/. One way that she's managed to evade the Heartless is by not moving in a straight line between two places. Exactly how she's done so is less than clear, but there are only a few competing theories and all of them boil down to the same source: Darkness. Ironic, that she's passed through others shadow lords' portals and corridors to circumvent her hunters, able to do so freely, untouched by the corruptive nature of such places because it simply cannot find a foothold in her spirit.
 
The second defining attribute of her journey is loss. Every few paces of her brief marathon, when the next wall of Heartless appear around a corner to bar her way, someone helps her... and suffers for it. People jump out of the darkness, illuminated in crystalline detail, to strike down her latest assailant, and then be struck down in turn. The tiger's furious roar as she occasionally cleaves through Heartless herself is nothing compared to its soft, agonized bellow of grief at the pain she causes with her mere passage.
 
If he can remember those faces, and find their owners, he now has a fresh supply of individuals the princess cares for. That in itself is not a spectacular gain; he already holds all the cards he needs, and it's undeniably true that she'd give of herself to help a total stranger. But these heroes -- and otherwise, it seems she really does take all kinds, touching their hearts briefly before having to move on -- might know, better than anyone else, where to find her.
 
She cannot respond to his admission directly; she's a tiger, and tigers cannot speak with their mouths. But he can feel the pressure of her soul against his, full of sorrow at all the trouble she's causing others. She feels like a harbinger of doom, and is acting on those protective instincts, more and more often, by isolating herself. /Rejecting/ the freely offered aid of others, protecting them from protecting her, she flees friendship as frantically as she flees Darkness. But, being who she is, she cannot help but make new bonds wherever she goes, only to break her own heart when she leaves them again.
 
It is a cruel fate for someone who has craved true connection all her life.
 
But, in her feline way, she seems to be thinking about what he said, weighing his words. And in a dream world, such musing quickly becomes reality; her strides take on new purpose as she runs not /from/ her problems, but /towards/ something that she wants him to see.
 
The tigress comes to an abrupt halt in front of Jafar as he might most happily view himself, not flush with honesty and good nature, but as sorcerer supreme. His eyes crackle with ultimate power realized; terrible power that also flows freely from his mouth, his fingertips, and, of course, his staff. He's about twenty feet tall. Every line of his person is fearsome authority embodied, from the ominous glint of the red gem on his turban to the razor-sharp points of his shoes.
 
Heartless spill out of him, comically tiny and misshapen. They form in his footsteps, wriggle out of his cloak, rise out of his shadow, and compared to him are no more important than an ant is to a boot. But there's nothing funny about the way that with every new addition to his army, he grows darker, and smaller, and stranger.
 
In a few moments, he is indistinguishable from his minions.
 
It's about as heartfelt a warning as he'll ever get about the dreadful price of using Heartless, delivered from a primal awareness in Jasmine's subconscious that she has yet to fully comprehend, when awake.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Dream-Jafar doesn't even fully understand why he wants to find Jasmine. He must possess her, he must own her, this is all he knows. His heart therefore pounds with excitement as he gathers so much information so quickly; it's not fully reliable, as some of these events might well be imaginary, but it's such a perfect start, and certainly there is no doubt, now, that ground pursuit alone will never avail him. How strange, that she finds herself safer in the void than he is.
 
At least until now. Famine's lips twist back with pleasure.
 
Faces kaleidoscope past as the tigress flees through her own past. Jafar tries to pick them out; many are unfamiliar to him, but they have seen Jasmine, and if he finds them, they could help ensure he does, too.
 
Finally, they stop beneath the great black monolith of Jafar himself, arched mantle-shoulders spread like bat wings, a living dynamo of arcane power. A surge of pride fills his chest, and this time, /he/ is the mirror; he becomes himself once more, instantly standing beside Jasmine rather than as her rider, staff in hand, cloak unfurling like a ship's sail behind him, black and thin and terrible. He grins down at her confidently, but it may not be clear it was him all along... because in a sense, it wasn't, just like Jasmine is in a sense not herself at the moment. She is a stand-in; no, a facet, a sublimation. There is no true Jasmine, no true Jafar; they are /all/ true.
 
Watching himself corrupted, watching the veins in his hands turn purple and swollen, only to burst where they knot and release tiny monsters instead of blood, Jafar blanches. He turns slowly to Jasmine, seeking the truth in her eyes as his body begins to decay into evil: lumpen, misshapen, barely able to stand. When its knee buckles, he looks to want to run to her like a son to a mother, to hide himself. But denial kicks in like a hissing valve, his mind rescuing itself.
 
"Liar," he accuses her. "Here I stand." He lifts both hands, one grasping his staff. His body is whole and sound... or as whole as it ever is, anyway. "Master, not slave."
 
Subtly, his thumbnail twitches. Or did it? It was such a tiny motion. Like the sandy hatch of a trapdoor spider.
 
Jafar jerks air into his lungs with a sudden heave, eyes blinking wildly, fists clenched in the robes over his thighs. Once again he is surrounded by petals of Jasmine, once again he is wreathed in twilight. Sweat drenches his sallow face as he pants; this is the trouble with dreams, any real catharsis is generally strong enough to wake the dreamer.
 
Mopping his face with a hand, Jafar shivers, or rather, learns that he has been shivering for some time. The spice wracks him; he feels sick.
 
He hopes it is the spice.

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

2012-12-02T05:27:42Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/25
|Location=Agrabah Palace, Dias Plains, Jasmine's Dreams
|Synopsis=While Angantyr guards her body, Jafar invades Jasmine's dreams. He learns many dangerous truths there, and finds some easier to accept than others.
|Cast of Characters=Jafar, Jasmine
}}
:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
"Hey, Jafah. Do ya think this is a good look for me?" Iago's wings are spread wide enough to simulate the span of Jasmine's shoulders, and he stands on the very edge of Jasmine's vanity, one of her gossamer blue tops dangling from his wings. He's not tall enough to actually occupy it, but he tries to hold it in roughly the right shape, and to improve the effect he inflates his chest at the expense of his waist to simulate voluptuousness. He's painted some rouge on his bony yellow beak as well, in two circular shapes on either side.
 
Jafar turns to him, already snapping, "This is no time for your fo--" but is interrupted by the ridiculous sight, which threatens laughter. Iago sees his chance, and bats long, full lashes (where do they come from?), and Jafar doubles over with a brief bray of mirth. "Very amusing," he says dryly. "Now set that down."
 
"Why, you afraid we're gonna get more chump suitors coming around here if I don't?"
 
Jafar pauses for a moment, near Jasmine's bed. "Now that is a pity," he says. "If the rest of our world had not fallen away, I expect we'd keep receiving them for a few weeks at least, before word travelled."
 
"Hah! Yeah, too bad, those bozos had a /lot/ comin'." It was telling that even Jasmine had resented them; at least they kissed up to her. They didn't even see a Vizier as worth putting on airs for. Iago wipes his beak off with Jasmine's blue silk, and flaps into the air with a slight grunt of effort; he might want to lay off the sweets. "So why are we here this time? Some remodelling, maybe build an indoor pool? Oh, oh, how about a statue of me? I mean, we should build one of you too, of course, but maybe you wanna practice first so yours is..."
 
"We won't be getting /rid/ of the princess's chambers. She will be returning to us presently," Jafar interrupts, with a curling smile. Resting a hand on her pillow as if it were the head of a horse, he looks down at it and his own spread fingers, eyes narrowed. "Sixteen years of dreams in this chamber. I should be a very poor wizard if I could not make use of them."
 
Ten minutes later, all is in readiness. Iago is leaning against the bed, sweating and panting, having carried an ornate (and heavy) brass huqqah to the princess's chamber. It now sits on the bed, along with a crosslegged Jafar, who in his placid concentration looks more fakir than sultan. As might be expected, the huqqah is stylized after a serpent, with its widely spread mouth emitting a thin tube of a tongue. Lazy tendrils of smoke rise from gill-like holes on the side of its neck, and Jafar holds the thin rod at the end of the tube between two fingers. With a gesture, he unhooks the translucent, thin veils of silk around the bed, closing them all at once. Placing the mouthpiece between his thin lips, he inhales, a rich, gutteral bubbling rising from the serpent's throat. When he exhales, the smoke is an ethereal purple, like a summer twilight, and its presence reveals tiny, star-like pinpricks of light.
 
Iago shivers, feeling a sudden sense of the uncanny. He knows what those are, whether from context or instinct, he cannot say. Little fragments of dream, crystalized in the air, made visible by the strange purple spice Jafar had long ago taken from a clay jar in the lowest level of a forgotten pharaoh's tomb. The ancient dust does not just affect the air, however. Jafar's expression has gotten distant, his eyes milky. Iago no longer wants to be here.
 
"Um, Jafar," he ventures. "You gonna need..."
 
Jafar turns his head eerily, and stares at Iago with a blank expression, face sallow, pupils dialated. Iago feels as if he has called out to a corpse and awoken it. Jafar doesn't answer; it's as if he no longer understands the language, or perhaps even the physical world. That is answer enough in itself, and Iago takes wing, fleeing the chamber without a look back.
 
The stars begin to pulse in their unnatural twilight as Jafar's vision grows more sensitive. The silken canopy above is their firmament, the smoke their milky glow. The gurgle of the huqqah no longer belongs to Jafar; it is the universe, inhaling and exhaling. The numerous pillows around him are the petals of a white flower, their fragrance suffusive, and he is right in the center of them.
 
Jasmine. All around him, Jasmine.
 
It would not be accurate to say he found her, or that a bridge was built between them spanning the vast distance. The soul knows no distance. This ritual would be no easier if she were in the next room, and no harder if she were at the ends of the earth.
 
The body can run. The mind can hide. The soul simply is.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Since the events at Balamb Garden, Jasmine has slept very rarely, and only very lightly when she does so. This is understandable: a fugitive on the run, alone, with her hunters seeming to rise from the very ground beneath her feet whenever she stops long enough to allow them to do so... cannot stop for long.
 
She has developed the mental art of 'sleeping with one eye open', not dropping her vigilance entirely even when unconscious, with ferocious speed. But then, she always was a fast learner.
 
And it both helps and harms, that the ever-approaching Heartless weigh down upon her spirit; sometimes, despite the constant black exhaustion she's been forced to accept as the price of her freedom, she CANNOT sleep, so tormented is she by the chilling breath of Darkness on the back of her soul's neck, the sense of impending danger too great to ignore. When she manages to overcome that, her catnaps are torturous, and woefully brief.
 
Now, for the first time in weeks, pushed beyond all endurance by the hunt and a taxing and hopelessly naive detour into Baron, she has arranged for a guardian, someone eager to fend off the Heartless long enough for her to rest, not for a minute, not for an hour, but for a night and a day. Her guilt in allowing someone to risk themselves in this manner, even for gold -- especially for gold, really -- is added to her subconscious ledger. But she needed this so desperately, and he seemed both eager to help and truly able to do so; his selfless and ferocious display on the battlefield earlier convinced her, reluctantly, to allow him to try.
 
She gradually relaxes, going totally limp, and in doing so reveals exactly how much tension had been in her body before, built up over terribly many trials and fears. She sleeps like a child, curled up into a tiny ball of fabric and hair. She's terribly vulnerable; no wonder she hired some muscle.
 
Surrounded by wave after wave of Heartless, held off by a man and her trust in that man, Jasmine lets herself fall into the dark embrace of true, sweet, deep oblivion, at last...
 
***
 
For a long time, she simply walks in Darkness, then runs from it, as it begins to seep into her spirit, cloying, toxic, corruption incarnate. The void is absolute. There is no light to guide her flight except for her own, and like a beacon it draws all the horrors dwelling within to her, ever faster, unerringly honing in on her radiance. Before long, her thighs are burning with strain, her breath is coming in ragged gasps, and she can't tell whether the stitch in her side is a pulled muscle or a jagged wound from a terrible claw that she more felt than saw.
 
As soon as it occurs to her that this cannot truly be a land of nothingness as long is there is /land to run on/, it disappears, and she falls, falls, plunging through the abyss for so long that up and down cease to have any meaning at all. Her screams are ripped from her lungs by a cackling sillhouette, and when she inhales for fresh air, the Darkness pours in, choking her, drowning her...
 
...she lands in Balamb Garden.
 
It is as though the attack never happened; children, refugee and student alike, run and laugh and chase a ball through the hallway, startling a Faculty member into a fierce lecture, and birds in the window to flight. Crowds of people more her age bustle down into the atrium, animatedly discussing boys, and Triple Triad, and boys who play Triple Triad. The sun shines down, fiercely, filling her with warmth and strength, and she can feel herself returning the favor, uplifting the very world around her with the same strength.
 
No one speaks to her, or even seems to see her; this is increasingly distressing. Eventually, someone walks right through her, and she looks down at her hands, wonderingly -- has she become a transluscent, incorporeal, is her spirit all she has left?
 
But she seems so solid. And in that instant, when she realizes that she's not the ghost, /they/ are, these are the ghosts of children and peers who were surely slaughtered in the attack on Garden, the walls shatter around her, revealing a tableau of the battlefield outside, frozen in time.
 
She sprints through it, pausing beside the fallen, broken bodies of friend after friend after friend, trying to revive them, to heal what has been lost, to bring back what once was hers: a sense of safety, but more importantly, of community, of belonging, that she had never truly had before. The miserable isolation and mortifying helplessness of fifteen years mewed up in a Palace, allowed to do nothing useful and meet next to no one, come crashing down on her, but self-pity does not do more than make the corpses laugh at her, their lips twisting into rictus grins, and she discards it.
 
The dead are the dead, they are cold and unmoving, and as her field of vision widens, so does the bloody count of people who have given themselves for her, willingly or not, knowingly or not. Refugees and Returners and SeeD, yes, but also Heartless, who transform back into Agrabah citizens, many bodies deep, all entangled with their newfound neighbors, the poor of Rabanastre.
 
Every single one wears the face of the boy in the marketplace.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
The courtyard is quiet, muffled under heaps of corpses. The walls are shattered, gates splintered, but though silence prevails, it does not seem as though much time has passed since the battle. It is as though Judgement came and the living simply evaporated. Even the bullet casings lie as if they had just been spent, tendrils of oddly purple smoke rising from their gleaming husks.
 
A dry tapping sound. Bent with loss, thin as famine and withered as pestilence, a man is approaching, through the splayed planks of the gate, his beard nearly reaching the ground. He stares at Jasmine as he plods forward, each step requiring preparation. She cannot help him. Dreams make you wait.
 
When the waiting is over, the old wretch stands in front of Jasmine on his three legs. Rheumy eyes lift to her face, then across to one of the crumbled walls. Its pieces look oddly brittle, shards rather than chunks, as white as a kitten's teeth, and with a curved shape that does not match the wall. Why? There are no accidents in dreams.
 
Jafar bends, taking a shard of the wall in his hand, no bigger than a thumbnail. He offers it to her, but not there, not in that war-blasted courtyard. He offers it to her in the hallway of the Palace. He is her father, though he is still the same skeletal man. She is a tiny child, too young to know she must remember things, and so this memory had been lost until now. Between them, on the floor, a shattered teacup of finest white china. It had been Jasmine's mother's, and then it was Jasmine's, and now it belongs to no one but the God of What Never Comes Back.
 
"If you take this from me," Jafar her father says, though the Sultan her father had not, "it will be whole once more. But it will also break once more, soon enough. This power has always been yours. You may revive any thing or any person you have ever loved, but only to kill them. Is it worth it, to you? To keep them alive by killing them ever and again?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Anticipation is agony. The princess has lost her kingdom, her family, and forcibly loses her friends as quickly as she makes them. To help others is all Jasmine has left, and though she does it for them, freely, and not for herself, to stand by while the dried-up husk of a man approaches her, forced to watch him struggle across the battlefield, unable to rush forward to render aid, is its own kind of torture.
 
It makes her eager to bend her head to hear his words, to meet his eyes unflinchingly, to await his pleasure, whatever it may be, that she may serve, and ease his pain.
 
Instead, he presents her with a precious shard of her past... one of the oldest guilts of all, a diamond in the rough of toddler memory. Sometimes the greatest treasures are those you never knew you possessed. Sometimes the greatest burdens are those you never realized you were carrying.
 
Jasmine's father had not sharply chastised her for tripping and dropping the teacup; he was simply, quietly sad, and she learned a different lesson from that day than she might have otherwise. If he had ignored her completely, she might have discounted the value of beauty. If he had been furious, she might have opened up to his attention like a flower in bloom, and found pleasure in shattering more valuable things.
 
'All is lost to time,' said the Sultan, in his younger, wiser days, gathering her into his arms, and speaking not of the cup but its previous owner, 'But that does not make our time together any less precious, knowing it will end.'
 
Staring with narrowed eyes at the shard, the little princess looks back up at her father, biting her lip thoughtfully. She turns the enigma over in her mind, screwing up her tiny painted toes on the marble floor to help her focus, rocking back and forth on her heels. Sitting, statuesque, in one place, has long been one of her traits, but only if she has something to occupy her, like a book or a pen (or a brush).
 
When Jasmine thinks deeply, she thinks best while in motion.
 
"It doesn't matter if it's worth it to me," she replies after a second, a heartbeat, a year -- dreams make you wait -- her sweet, high voice clear as a bell, beautifully enunciating phrases far beyond her years. A truth gradually dawns in her face, as she comes to recognize it, her eyes wide and wondering once more.
 
"What counts is how they feel about living anew, then dying at my hand. If that is their choice..." Her voice wavers, and she hesitates. It is an ironic struggle, one who raged against having no choices of her own, having difficulty with the choices of another. And though she knows what she must do, part of her shrinks from that duty. It is so painful, murdering them, being the poison in their veins, the dagger in their back, the tremor in their heart.
 
"...it hurts, Father," she admits finally, in a low whisper, full of shame at herself for daring to whine, gaze unfocused, forlorn, lost. She hates to admit weakness of any kind, but if she cannot unburden herself upon her Father, who else is there? The absence of a tiger makes itself known like a plucked string in the air, but she does not see it behind her. "It hurts all the time. But... if they truly wish to be brought back... the needs of the people outweigh my own."
 
A tiny hand, painted with a henna mandala that burns with a pure white flame, reaches up towards her father's face, but cannot reach alone; she is too small. "How do you handle power like this?" she asks in tones so raw as to be broken. "What should I do?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar knew the risks in coming here. Here he is just a soul. Mind was always his weapon, with body a more recent and secondary ally, because of his newfound powers. There were a thousand ways he could destroy her if he could come here whole, as an agent of evil, ploys intact. Unfortunately, all he can do is join her in dreaming, with all the powers and weaknesses of a dreamer. Age and mystical training have given him insights into the world of the dream that he counts on for an advantage, but here he is forced into a profound honesty. For Agrabah's most dedicated liar, this is somewhat terrifying.
 
He cannot even intentionally disguise himself in this place; as he began the ritual, he meditated on this alternate identity. This old man was a part of him, and so Jafar can wear his face here, but at any time the dream might strip it from him. Now he is Jasmine's father--there is some archetypal truth somewhere in that monstrous falsehood, or it would not be possible--but if the context changes, so might he. He might be dreaming this, but this is not his dream.
 
His weapons of disdain, cloaked sarcasm, pretention, fastidious politeness... they are all gone. He cannot keep her away, and so she can hurt him. A pain he would enjoy is now a pain he has to experience, as he watches this little girl-woman contend with loss. His parents are dead, too. It is expected, he is old and it was time; Jasmine is young and so it is a tragedy. Those are society's rules. The rules for a son, even a wicked son, are different.
 
He holds out the shard. She holds out the pure white flame. Neither is yet willing to take the other's gift. "You ask about /should/ when there is no /should/," Father tells Jasmine. "The dead wish for nothing. You can ask yourself, what would she have wanted? You can tell yourself, this is how he would like things. But they are beyond all wanting, forever, and no wish can change that." This last is not philosophy, to Jafar, it is immutable arcane law. "When you bring them back, it is as they were, not as how they might be today. You cannot use their desires as an excuse to avoid making a choice yourself. Not this time." There is bitterness there.
 
Father extends the shard a little further. "Take it. You are not ready to let them die the final death, the quieter death. If you were, we would not be here." In this Palace hallway named Balamb. "This power is like any power. You have it for yourself, or you do not have it at all. A mountain has more 'power' than any man could dream of, but it does not act on its desires. To be forced to abide by the desires of others is shameful, but to make them master of even your innermost choices is waking death."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"/Wrong/," Jasmine responds fiercely, defiantly, to Jafar's immutable arcane law -- she says the word with fiery conviction, absolute belief. At the core of her being, she embodies the ultimate answer to that law: hope. She burns with it, growing and changing from adorable toddler to luscious teenager in a few moments. There was hardly a gawky in-between, which was as much curse as blessing, in her line of work, such as it was.
 
Her eyes burn as well. Then all of her does; she becomes pure flame, then a candle's flame, dream logic shaping the wax into the facsimile of a certain oil lamp. She is mighty in her diminuity, all the light of the universe condensed into such a tiny, delicate thing.
 
As she burns, she smells of her namesake, of course. The perfume is faintly blue, spiraling swirls that caress the air.
 
"/Nothing/ is so lost to the darkness that it cannot return to the light. It just takes time, and will... and faith. The belief that it can be done. Nothing that is loved is ever truly gone."
 
Balamb is rebuilt at a dream's pace, flashes of workers here and there, construction equipment puffing along. There are setbacks, and difficulties -- even another attack, that comes in the form of a thunderstorm, full of purple lightning -- but SeeD persists, and their home is restored.
 
It sits next to Agrabah, on the Sultan's model table.
 
Her flame dances, spreading forth its petals gladly, blossoming with luminous joy. She reaches up and touches the shard, and it transforms, back into the teacup. There are no flaws, no cracks; it is not a thing that merely was. Already it holds a different flavor of tea than any it contained before its crash. "Love is stronger than death," she whispers, as though admitting the greatest, most hidden secret anywhere. And perhaps she is.
 
The teacup starts to fade away, dissolving into her heart. "It hurts, but it's worth it. They're all worth it. /You're/ worth it."
 
Is she onto him? Yes or no, nothing pleasant lasts for long in the princess' dreams, not with the battle for her survival raging just above her subconscious. It's like a constant tension, and it haunts her dreams like a whispering undercurrent. Once in a while, it becomes a roaring river.
 
It's about to be a crashing waterfall.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
It would not be so strange, for Jasmine to know him. Indeed, it's inevitable that she does, the only question is whether that knowledge is firm enough to be retained should she remember the dream. 'I had a dream... my father was in it, but he was also Jafar.' Such things are normal in dreams, and indeed in any interaction of the soul. Such is the genesis of friendship, hate, and love; identification with facets of other people, taking them into oneself.
 
Jafar is no longer Father when he looks down at the Balamb diorama, but Famine again. /Why/ is this disguise so essential to his identity that even his soul can take it on? What has starved and withered him? Whatever it is, it makes it hard for him to look at Jasmine as she becomes a living candle-flame. Her brightness cannot hurt his eyes here; it is something else. He cannot help but part the fingers he shields his eyes with, however, as he watches the cup disappear into her chest, only to be reborn pure, /new/ as kitten's teeth... and, significantly, changed.
 
His eyes fall to the tea, as petals float fragrantly past him. It's a very different shade. It's hard to distinguish dark liquids, but it looks purple. Purple seeps through this dream where it can, though it is not corruption. Jafar's eyes are still open, back on the bed, staring into desert twilight. A dream absorbs sensation.
 
"Don't be naive," Famine half-coughs. His voice as Father was more refined; it is now wheezing and hoarse. "Perhaps your tutors spoke of King Menzentius and his surpassing cruelty? Of all his crimes, the greatest was shacklingly the living to the dead, that the rot might spread and fester. That is your love. Revive them and kill them, or let them turn to dust at last, whichever you please. But do not bind yourself to corpses!" Spittle is starting to fly from Famine's loose lips, his outrage has built to a fervor, and the walls of the palace creak and buckle with the deep, churning river of Jasmine's soul, his emotions wracking the marble even as they wrack his bent and ugly frame.
 
"Your love means nothing to them," he continues. "They are NOT worth it, they are by /definition/ worthless... and SO AM I!"
 
The pillars nearby, if they were hollow, could easily have contained several elephants, and it is said they took two thousand slaves to drag from the quarry. Exaggeration, surely, but their strength is obvious. When they shatter, when they practically explode from Jafar's anguish and Jasmine's hope, it is like the world being unmade; the sound fills everything, even the small chunks of stone pound the floor like thunder. A solid wall of rich violet water erupts from the wall, blasting the palace apart, the great burnished spires groaning like wounded titans as they slough down. Water sweeps over Jasmine and Famine alike, a river with roughly the dimensions of the palace itself churning past.
 
The initial rush of aquatic force dies down somewhat, leaving the untouched Jasmine and Famine hovering above a giant, vibrantly colored waterfall. Famine is panting, loose teeth clenched, eyes wide.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
For an instant, they were both totally submerged, as a sheet of violent, violet water swept past them. But dream time is strange, and they remain suspended in that instant, floating -- not drowning, as Jasmine was earlier in her nightmare -- and staring at one another.
 
Assailed by the aqueous blast and, more importantly, by Famine's cutting fury, the candleflame gutters in the wax lamp, which itself tumbles end over end, battered about. It is the exact hue of the liquid, which is resolving, in taste, to be exquisitely pure and sweet. The flame is not; it turns electric blue, then orange, progressing through lower and lower temperatures as it fights for its own survival. Its expression, condensed onto a smaller and smaller face, is devastated, as though Famine's words have sliced past all her shields and impaled her, straight in the heart.
 
There's an instant in that instant where it seems to have gone out completely, all but the tiniest spark.
 
But that seed of light blossoms once more, and Jasmine erupts from it, full-sized again but still composed of that white radiance, which could be fire, but perhaps never truly was, all along. She is vivaciousness incarnate; life pours from her, the infinite potential for growth shining in her eyes, her hair, her smile... she is Bounty to his Famine. Where he is sunken and hungry, she is lusciously curved, full. His withering is her flourishing vitality, his constant dissatisfaction not only her abundant wealth, but her joy in what she has, the exuberant urge to spread it across the land, that everyone can partake. It's an appropriate analogue in more ways than the philosophical, considering the harvest of power, on every level, that she embodied as an heiress, and only does moreso in some eyes, as a Princess of Heart.
 
Her feelings can be hurt, but not quenched entirely. Her gaze is level, now, shocked out of her ecstatic revelation, but smouldering within it is no less pure emotion. Bounty studies Famine's face, and her acceptance of him is unwavering, her luminous face made more poignant by the sadness underneath, the concern. It is not superficial pity, but something more fundamental.
 
"I will remember your lesson, for there is wisdom in your caution, to treasure the living above the dead. But I bid you, think of Orpheus and Eurydice," she observes gently in the sudden silence, after the wave has passed. It's a conversational counter, to be sure, but it sounds less like a riposte and more like tidings of gladness, delivered with no interest in oneupsmanship, the debate enjoyed for its own sake. "Their love defied death... and what truly separated them in the end was... insecurity. If Orpheus had only believed in himself, theirs would have been the happiest of endings."
 
She moves forward, arms outstretched, to enfold Famine warmly, to clasp him to her breast; it is rather like bathing in the heart of a star. Being reforged in the fires of creation. Nothing exists there but love, and so nothing is lacking. Through a mirror brightly, Jasmine sees Jafar's many strengths and many faults, and seems to embrace them all freely, without hesitation.
 
"Of course you're not worthless," she reassures him fiercely, whispering the truth, golden, precious beyond measure, in his ear. It floats around him like a halo, ultimately coming to dwell, shining, upon his brow. "Saying such things does no one any good, but you least of all. You mustn't be so cruel!"
 
Plunging downward in smooth, opaque sheets, the waterfall freezes in place, to reflect him as he might be, if he allowed himself to appreciate the many wonderful aspects of himself, of his life. No longer is he old and miserable, but flushed with youth, strength, and more importantly than either, the wisdom of the heart so long denied him. She guides him towards the vision slowly but inexorably. "You claim to desire respect above all things, but how will that ever be yours if you don't even respect yourself?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Famine does not grin or cackle at his victory, if it is such, as Jasmine is snuffed out. There is a grim satisfaction in having his dark views confirmed, but one of the weaknesses of pessimism is that being proven right is not a joyous occasion. Her light is gone, the world is as he knew it to be. Welcome to reality, princess.
 
Then a white starburst, shimmering motes of light wafting away from Jasmine's yearnful form, her beauty and completeness. She is curves, he is lines; she is silk and he is sticks. She wants for nothing, he wants for everything. Again Famine shields his eyes, but this time he lets his hand drop after a moment. The other flaw of pessimism is that it is so resilient. But is that resilience not proof of its correctness? As beautiful as she is, can she last?
 
"Hope requires strength to maintain, and all despair requires is weakness. A man will never run out of weakness, but no man has infinite strength," Famine tells her. "You cannot last like this forever. Cloistered princess, Agrabah's crown jewel. You have not yet begun to be tested, and so you misunderstand the lesson of Orpheus. Did any man love more truly? And yet he could not endure." Famine begins to cackle now, low, more sad than triumphant. "I almost be-lieved you for a moment. Then I remembered you have only taken a few /paces/ on the marathon the rest of us have endured our whole lives. Come, tell me again of self-love, you who are praised by all. Tell me it is not love itself that is flawed, but gold-thr...oated... Orpheu..."
 
Famine is stilled, embraced physically and spiritually. Hugging him is like hugging a ribcage, and though there is a jerky-like toughness to his frame, it is still rickety and achingly thin. His beard drapes over Bounty's shoulder as his lower lip wobbles. It's one thing for Bounty to love herself; he disdained that as little more than the delusion of an overly praised child, who suitors allowed to win games, who was apologized /to/ if she made an error around anyone but the Sultan himself. It was another for her to love him, perhaps even more so in this wretched state. Famine stammers his own pronoun softly, eyes turning guilelessly to his own reflection, that of Jafar the sage. Still thin, still ugly, with little change in his dark fashion sense, and yet his face is scarcely recognizable to him. He is placid, his cheeks less gaunt, the shadow under his eyes fainter; self-hate does not consume his body. More importantly, he looks back at himself without pretense or guile. For so long has he been lying that he wears honesty like a mantle, his eyes windows instead of mirrors. This is a man who has real friends, and indeed real enemies, who actualizes himself in relationships rather than manipulating others. This is a man whose soul does not burn with a thirst so profound and permanent that he does not even recognize it as such.
 
Famine does not return to the hug, but he buckles into it in anguish. Seeing what you could have been can be a terrible punishment. "How dare you... show me this neutered mirage? This happy ignoramus? No one respects him, he's just too stupid to realize it!"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Bounty says nothing more, expressing her feelings through the the deed, and not the word, of love. His protestations of strength and weakness, tests and failure, wash over her no more effectively than water over a stone. They pass quickly, and she remains, indefatigable, having not ignored them but /listened/, intensely, then stayed with him regardless. Her eyes are turned towards his, and within them he is not ugly at all. She sees the tiniest fragment of light in his heart, and what it could be if only he embraced it. And his darkness is there as well, but no more scorned than an ear or a thumb. It is part of him, and that's okay.
 
They are interrupted by pinpricks of sickly yellow light emerging from the icy purple cascade, shattering the mirror, fracturing it into a thousand and one falling razors. Eyes. Uncountable eyes. Jasmine stiffens, then, by the time the Heartless -- recolored by the waterfall, which is fast transforming into familiar crimson sand -- emerge, she's turned to flee. "They're after me. We have to go! Come on!" By the third exclamation, her voice contains a low roar.
 
Yanking him onto her suddenly broad, black-and-orange back, the tigress of Agrabah tenses like a coiled spring, then is off like a shot. No tiny kitten, she. Her muscles bunch and release beneath him, legs silently bounding forward, steadily putting distance between them and their pursuit, the huntress having become the hunted but, if not relaxed within her role, well-practiced at it. It's like riding a furry avalanche, a shooting star falling through darkness, in perfect control of herself but nothing else.
 
It's an open question, whether she knowingly rescued Jafar from the Heartless, or just some depressed old man. If she would have saved anyone, everyone, or especially him. At times she seemed a creature of marvelous and dreadful clarity, but now... pure instinct. And her instinct is protection.
 
But will he choose to ride the tiger, or join the wild hunt?

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
There is much that is rotten in this man. He has betrayed everyone who ever trusted him, murdered, lied, all for his own pride. If there is a germ of good in him, perhaps it is built around the fact that he, like all humans, wants to be happy, wants to connect to others. It may not be enough, but it is enough for Bounty, right now, and that is something.
 
Jafar does not hesitate in his decision. He may not be able to use deceit to get what he wants, here in the dream, but he still /knows/ what he wants. He wants to know where she is, and following her while she flees in the dream is the best chance he may ever have. He sits astride her muscular body and fills his bony palms with striped fur, hunching his bent back further to stay on.
 
It is exhilarating; a tiger's sheer strength and grace makes even a horse seem inert. It's like every motion could be a deathblow, every leap an attack, and yet the deadliness is in a calm stasis of opposing forces and stretching limbs.
 
"I do not fear them," he admits, because his dream self cannot understand why he would not. "They endanger you, not me."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The tigress' flight is like a retrospective journey. It shows Jafar everywhere she's been so far, through the lens of the Heartless she's encountered. The potted centipedes of Agrabah, and the dark swordsmen, both of whom chase her from Balamb to this day, they come first. Then, shadowy Huns: the Land of Dragons. Awful plant creatures: Golmore Jungle. And on, and on, she's confronted by creatures of all shapes and sizes, from such a wide range of places within mere weeks that one insight is painfully obvious:
 
Jasmine has been /cheating/. One way that she's managed to evade the Heartless is by not moving in a straight line between two places. Exactly how she's done so is less than clear, but there are only a few competing theories and all of them boil down to the same source: Darkness. Ironic, that she's passed through others shadow lords' portals and corridors to circumvent her hunters, able to do so freely, untouched by the corruptive nature of such places because it simply cannot find a foothold in her spirit.
 
The second defining attribute of her journey is loss. Every few paces of her brief marathon, when the next wall of Heartless appear around a corner to bar her way, someone helps her... and suffers for it. People jump out of the darkness, illuminated in crystalline detail, to strike down her latest assailant, and then be struck down in turn. The tiger's furious roar as she occasionally cleaves through Heartless herself is nothing compared to its soft, agonized bellow of grief at the pain she causes with her mere passage.
 
If he can remember those faces, and find their owners, he now has a fresh supply of individuals the princess cares for. That in itself is not a spectacular gain; he already holds all the cards he needs, and it's undeniably true that she'd give of herself to help a total stranger. But these heroes -- and otherwise, it seems she really does take all kinds, touching their hearts briefly before having to move on -- might know, better than anyone else, where to find her.
 
She cannot respond to his admission directly; she's a tiger, and tigers cannot speak with their mouths. But he can feel the pressure of her soul against his, full of sorrow at all the trouble she's causing others. She feels like a harbinger of doom, and is acting on those protective instincts, more and more often, by isolating herself. /Rejecting/ the freely offered aid of others, protecting them from protecting her, she flees friendship as frantically as she flees Darkness. But, being who she is, she cannot help but make new bonds wherever she goes, only to break her own heart when she leaves them again.
 
It is a cruel fate for someone who has craved true connection all her life.
 
But, in her feline way, she seems to be thinking about what he said, weighing his words. And in a dream world, such musing quickly becomes reality; her strides take on new purpose as she runs not /from/ her problems, but /towards/ something that she wants him to see.
 
The tigress comes to an abrupt halt in front of Jafar as he might most happily view himself, not flush with honesty and good nature, but as sorcerer supreme. His eyes crackle with ultimate power realized; terrible power that also flows freely from his mouth, his fingertips, and, of course, his staff. He's about twenty feet tall. Every line of his person is fearsome authority embodied, from the ominous glint of the red gem on his turban to the razor-sharp points of his shoes.
 
Heartless spill out of him, comically tiny and misshapen. They form in his footsteps, wriggle out of his cloak, rise out of his shadow, and compared to him are no more important than an ant is to a boot. But there's nothing funny about the way that with every new addition to his army, he grows darker, and smaller, and stranger.
 
In a few moments, he is indistinguishable from his minions.
 
It's about as heartfelt a warning as he'll ever get about the dreadful price of using Heartless, delivered from a primal awareness in Jasmine's subconscious that she has yet to fully comprehend, when awake.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Dream-Jafar doesn't even fully understand why he wants to find Jasmine. He must possess her, he must own her, this is all he knows. His heart therefore pounds with excitement as he gathers so much information so quickly; it's not fully reliable, as some of these events might well be imaginary, but it's such a perfect start, and certainly there is no doubt, now, that ground pursuit alone will never avail him. How strange, that she finds herself safer in the void than he is.
 
At least until now. Famine's lips twist back with pleasure.
 
Faces kaleidoscope past as the tigress flees through her own past. Jafar tries to pick them out; many are unfamiliar to him, but they have seen Jasmine, and if he finds them, they could help ensure he does, too.
 
Finally, they stop beneath the great black monolith of Jafar himself, arched mantle-shoulders spread like bat wings, a living dynamo of arcane power. A surge of pride fills his chest, and this time, /he/ is the mirror; he becomes himself once more, instantly standing beside Jasmine rather than as her rider, staff in hand, cloak unfurling like a ship's sail behind him, black and thin and terrible. He grins down at her confidently, but it may not be clear it was him all along... because in a sense, it wasn't, just like Jasmine is in a sense not herself at the moment. She is a stand-in; no, a facet, a sublimation. There is no true Jasmine, no true Jafar; they are /all/ true.
 
Watching himself corrupted, watching the veins in his hands turn purple and swollen, only to burst where they knot and release tiny monsters instead of blood, Jafar blanches. He turns slowly to Jasmine, seeking the truth in her eyes as his body begins to decay into evil: lumpen, misshapen, barely able to stand. When its knee buckles, he looks to want to run to her like a son to a mother, to hide himself. But denial kicks in like a hissing valve, his mind rescuing itself.
 
"Liar," he accuses her. "Here I stand." He lifts both hands, one grasping his staff. His body is whole and sound... or as whole as it ever is, anyway. "Master, not slave."
 
Subtly, his thumbnail twitches. Or did it? It was such a tiny motion. Like the sandy hatch of a trapdoor spider.
 
Jafar jerks air into his lungs with a sudden heave, eyes blinking wildly, fists clenched in the robes over his thighs. Once again he is surrounded by petals of Jasmine, once again he is wreathed in twilight. Sweat drenches his sallow face as he pants; this is the trouble with dreams, any real catharsis is generally strong enough to wake the dreamer.
 
Mopping his face with a hand, Jafar shivers, or rather, learns that he has been shivering for some time. The spice wracks him; he feels sick.
 
He hopes it is the spice.

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

2012-12-02T05:19:19Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/25 |Location=Agrabah Palace, Dias Plains, Jasmine's Dreams |Synopsis=While Angantyr guards her body, Jafar invades Jasmine's dreams. He le..."

Inch By Inch

2012-12-01T21:21:45Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/30 |Location=Hollow Bastion |Synopsis=Maleficent and Leida discuss events, past, present, and future. |Cast of Characters=Leida, Maleficent..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/30
|Location=Hollow Bastion
|Synopsis=Maleficent and Leida discuss events, past, present, and future.
|Cast of Characters=Leida, Maleficent
}}
:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
Maleficent schemes.
 
This is something of a redundant statement; one could just as easily have said 'Maleficent breathes' or 'Maleficent has creepy horns'. She plots and plans in her sleep, except that she never sleeps. Right at the moment, she's scheming over a jeweled but tarnished silver goblet, staring down into it with the casually intense interest of someone watching a really gripping talk show. Her spidery fingers dip into the liquid, running crimson drops around its edges, and making the wineglass not sing, but scream.

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
A nearby doorway sqeaks slowly inwards, its ancient metal hinges groaning at the abuse being heaped upon them by the massive wooden slab. The portal opens about halfway before a small figure steps through the gap.
 
Running her hands over the doorknob idly, Leida slips into the shadowy room with nary a sound to give her away. She pauses upon entering and glances about with faint curiosity. Her expression, as usual, is blank and placid like someone at peace with the universe or, more appropriate, living in their own.
 
The girl drifts over to a piece of furniature, inspecting various parts of it or objects upon it before moving on to the next. Eventually, her wanderings carry her towards the black-clad sorceress, despite that fact that Maleficent is so dark that she practically blends into the shadows.
 
Her eyes are drawn to the current object of the dark lady's rapt attention and she tilts her head to the side, peering up at it in silence.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
Any chair Maleficent sits on is a throne, from the most humble footstool to the plainest wooden rocking chair. Its essence is simply imbued by her presence to suit her purposes, without its shape twisting one bit. This is a major psychological asset in Shadow Lord meetings, where the seats at the round table are all ostensibly identical.
 
At the moment, her throne is an ornate armchair, straight out of Victorian England. It's impossible to tell what color its plush upholstery and fuzzy tassels would be in full light, but bathing in the darkness, they are a violet just barely above absolute ebony, touched here and there with fiery copper inlays.
 
With preternatural awareness that has nothing to do with sight or sound, her lips curve into a sinister, welcoming smile. Then they part, blowing softly upon the surface of the goblet; it ignites with sickly green flame, which rapidly expands into a globe more centrally placed in the room, for others' viewing pleasure.
 
Within, Heartless sack a town of some kind. There is screaming. Also crying. Hearts are extinguished, consumed, and converted by the dozens.
 
"When the cats are drawn away," she muses, amused.

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
The girl's eyes widen slightly as the sinister flames ignite, turning her head to follow the orb to the center of the room. The flickering green light dances in her eyes, a tiny mirror image of the doomed town reflected on the glossy amber surfaces.
 
Leida takes a few slow steps towards the magical image, lifting her hands to cup the fire between them without touching it and gazes into the globe.
 
"Look... a butterfly from the swamp is fluttering its wings..."
 
The essence of the darkness residing within her stirs at the horrific images being fed to it through her twisted vision, relishing the scene of suffering and torment. It takes these feelings in, absorbing as well the faint sense of empathy that the fragmented mind of its host feels for the unfortuante souls, wherever they might be.
 
"Everyone is dying..."

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
"No," Maleficent corrects contentedly, leaning back to survey the carnival of carnage in queenly comfort. "To become Heartless is not to die. It is to live freed of all pretention, of all the lies they tell themselves. To struggle for the only thing truly worth fighting for. We give them the power to take for themselves what they've wanted all along."
 
They advance upon a chubby little boy, no older than two or three. He clutches a stuffed bunny to his chest, lower lip quivering, eyes screaming for his mother. One reaches out a shadowy claw and extracts, then messily devours, a sparkly ball of energy from his chest. Within a heartbeat, the boy is floating a few feet above the ground, his eyes becoming yellow orbs, his features fading into inky homogeneity. A blue robe sprouts around his chest.
 
Raising his tiny hands to the sky, the latest Heartless summons a fireball to incinerate his nursery.
 
And Maleficent's dark smile is not only for the boy, but for the demon's taste of the boy's transformation. "It's been too long since you and I took in a show."

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
"Free...?"
Leida shifts her hands around the burning orb, peering at it from a different angle. "Not... dead..."
 
She shakes her head and lowers her arms, staring at the floor dejectedly. "Not yet... when does it end..."
 
The girl shudders as if suddenly cold and then lets out a soft cry of distress as the thing inside of her rises to the front of their shared consciousness. A faint nimbus of shimmering purple light wafts up from her skin like the haze of a heat mirage and when she turns to look at the witch again, the same light fills her eyes like full moons in the dead of night.
 
"Yes... it has... been a long... time...?" The voice that speaks is now composed of two distinct tones, one young and childish, filled with uncertainy at the words spilling unbidden from its mouth. The other is oily and dark, hissing with restrained hate and venom.

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
Maleficent's yellowed, beady eyes -- so similar to Diablo's, yet so much more -- narrow almost to slits as she regards the orb, and the being behind it. With a snap of her fingers as casual as hitting a button on a remote control, she mutes the feed, so to speak. And the word she speaks next is a dark name that time has forgotten, used only for dark purpose, in dark places.
 
Hollow Bastion qualifies.
 
She's as fond of it as she is of anything, and caresses the syllables silkily on their way out of her lips. When they escape, at last, in their entirety, they embrace that ultraviolet light like an unholy benediction.
 
"It will end," she croons, more cruel than comforting, "When you are ready to take the next step. I can only guide you, dearest, but the path is yours to walk."

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
Leida wraps her arms about herself, clutching her body tightly at the sound of the word that poisons the air with its mere utterance, made all the more foul by the origin. A thick white mist escapes her lips as the creature lets out a deep sigh at the touch of its own name in more years than it could even try to remember. It had almost forgotten it had one.
 
"We do... what we must... to survive..." The girl recoils instinctively from the memories that this statement evokes, shutting them out and the demon is glad to oblige for once. It no longer wishes to remember the horrible mistake that bound it to this meager form either. Ironically, the Heartless were ultimately responsible but it doesn't choose to bring that little point of contention up.
 
"We... no longer see... clearly..."

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
Maleficent does not directly control most of the Heartless, at any given time. Sometimes none of them. She /founded/ the Shadow Lords in part to delegate that responsibility, and the soul-tainting that goes with it, but it's also true that true, unsummoned, extant Heartless are, if not exactly a natural occurence, a fact of the shattered reality of the modern day.
 
That's not to say she wasn't responsible, directly or indirectly, for the demon's current situation. It's pretty likely, one way or another. But it doesn't trouble her, either way; it lives on, and its story continues, with more torment than it ever could have inflicted in its original form.
 
There's nothing like a little girl to turn brave heroes into idiots blinded by rage and frustration.
 
"And survive you have, gloriously. There is no fear more terrible, no pain more poignant, than that of betrayal, and to look at you is to trust you, in your present form," she points out. "But if it is clarity you seek, I could oblige you." For a price, goes unspoken but blatantly understood by anyone who knows the first thing about dark magic. Even if the Dark Fae wanted to do it on the house, some sort of sacrifice would still be required, to fuel the working itself.
 
She leans forward, lifting an eyebrow imperiously, waiting to hear what it's willing to offer. It need not be personal; using the possessions of others, physical or emotional, is the oldest move in the book.

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
The demon licked its lips; a decidedly human display of nervousness and yet another indication of how much it had been forced to endure in the merger of souls. Did it even have anything left to offer that would fuel such potent magic?
 
Perhaps it could offer something of the girl in the exchange but then she had very little left to give and it was only her current tenuous grasp on reality that made the foolish and the brave throw themselves at her with reckless abandon. She still had the spark of life, the hope of redemption that they latched onto. To give up that would certain doom it to failure and death.
 
As for itself, it had bonded to intimately with the its host that any trace of its original self were naught to be found, not in a way that would satisfy the magics, atleast. It was nothing more than a concept now. A legend from a world that no longer existed to speak of its atrocities, to frighten children with the threat of its mere existence. No, it all the ways that mattered it truly was nothing more than a shadow now.
 
Its arm brushed against the hilt of the blade fastened to its waist and the thought occured to it that it might use the ancient magic sword for such a purpose. However, the enchantments that bound it to the weapon were strong. Much much too strong for it to unravel. Perhaps even too strong for her. No... best not to risk it and be wrong.
 
After this short and silent deliberation, the girl's eyes staring blankly at ahead, she shakes her head from side to side slowly. "We have... nothing suitable to... offer..."

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
Maleficent rolls her eyes impatiently. Her hand flicks out, turning the screams of the nauseatingly green energy globe back on. Most of the village is in flames, now, and with a slight frown, she calls in some thunderclouds. From several dimensions away. Lightning follows, but also devastating, drowning rain.
 
"Can't let that town disappear completely. Wasteful," she sniffs with disdain, imagining the town being wiped completely off the map, all of its suffering forgotten. How droll.
 
Once that's been handled, she looks back over at the demon and its sword. "So go get something!" she suggests with slow, syrupy patience. Poisoned honey. "Bring me the shattered dreams of a hero, and I'll weave them into all the eyes you'll ever wish for."

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
The girl shies away from Maleficent, displaying the physical reaction to match the demon's mental one at her words. It knows the sound of deceit when it hears it and the witch has little patience when it comes to dealing with such trivialities.
 
Regaining control of its body, the creature inclines its head in a gesture of respectful acquiescence and the noble girl latches onto this action, taking it all the way into a full curtsey. Her metal 'skirt' doesn't suit the task very well, unfortunately, but she tries all the same.
 
"Ofcourse... we already... hunt..." It straightens up and looks back at her, the faint hint of a smile on its face. "The one called... Garland... has unleashed us... upon a place... called... Manhattan..."

:'''[[Maleficent]] has posed:'''
Deceit? No. Maleficent delivers on her promises, every time; building up a reputation over thousands of years as a dealmaker, so that when the moment arrives, hopefully in the near future, she can be a dealbreaker in the most spectacular way possible. Her smirk at the demon's quailing is pleasant enough; when he can't stand the clouding of his vision, he'll be back.
 
"Yes, it's the Manhattan-focused crowd I have to thank for tonight's entertainment," she murmurs agreeably, looking back at her flash flooded township, which is assuredly not a part of the island. Perhaps, if the threat to Manhattan wasn't so totally preoccupying so many heroically-minded individuals, they would have been able to protect this place. "One world in thousands, one star in the sky... it's not important if they win or lose, it's how one plays the game. Still... I hope they succeed. Good for the ego, and they are all very young." LEXUS, Negaduck, Riku.
 
With a twirl of a finger, the sorceress supreme summons an absence, which settles into her palm, congealed nothingness. A seed of the void. "Plant this in strange places, and stranger things will grow," she proclaims, flicking the seed into the demongirl's palms. "Tend it yourself, or give it to one of the others, I care not."
 
It's as much a dismissal as anything. She turns back to her view, where a few survivors are beginning the agonizing process of collecting what few corpses exist -- most have already become Heartless, after all -- and laying them to rest...

:'''[[Leida]] has posed:'''
Leida's hands cup together and catch the dark artifact, cradling it back and forth in her palms as she stares at its non-existance. A darkness deep and pervasive is all that looms back at her. Gently she presses it to her chest and the armor melts into bubbling oily shadows that swallows up the seed, keeping it tucked safely away from prying eyes.
 
"We shall do... as you say..." Turning away, the girl moves back over towards the doorway through which she entered and steps out into the long musty hallway that stretches across the length of the castle interior. The door creaks and whines behind her as it is pulled shut, closing in the dark presence and the scene of final nightmares upon an unknown world.
 
The creature wondered if it could trust the deal that had been offered. Certainly the witch would grant its wish but would it be in the form that it desired? Even its kind knew the hazards of dealing with such sorcerors.
 
Still pondering this, it set off down the corridor and began to settle in for another long slumber. The girl was already stirring, her presence annoying forceful in the absense of clear purpose. But Garland had already handled that little detail for him. With a hissing sigh, it sank into the depths of her mind and cloudy eyes filled with confusion and wonder peered out again, following the invisible bread crumbs laid out before them.

Bring Me To Life

2012-11-30T23:28:28Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/29 |Location=Traverse Town |Synopsis=Having sensed the terrible Darkness of Riku and Angantyr's battle, Jasmine follows it to the former's ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/29
|Location=Traverse Town
|Synopsis=Having sensed the terrible Darkness of Riku and Angantyr's battle, Jasmine follows it to the former's broken body, dying in an alley. Spoiler alert: he doesn't die.
|Thanks=No apologies for the Evanescence reference; when could it be more appropriate? ;)
|Cast of Characters=Jasmine, Riku
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' 

The first thought that filtered up from the ruins of his consciousness was that he was dying.
 
At least this is very much what he thinks dying should feel like. No fiery hell of burning mirrors. No echoing footsteps or mocking laughter.
 
Just this peaceful dimming of the light and the urge to sleep. Riku lay with his cheek warming the cool cobblestones, his blinded yellow eyes open and staring. He doesn't know where he is. The wild portal could have taken him anywhere. It had taken the last shreds of his willpower to fight the nightmarish images long enough even to do that much. Now they were gone. Garland's apprentice had hollowed him out. They had snuffed the dark flames at the peak of a raging blaze and his heart had stopped.
 
There was no more fire now. No more pain. The terrible, mind searing scream of the voice was gone. The greater darkness would have to be someone elses problem. Would Mercade eventually have to turn on his own friend? No. Riku couldn't see him doing that.
 
The light gradually dimmed. He curled himself around the last remaining spark of light. The light which had struggled against the dark blaze that had consumed him. It was only a whisper of thought anad memory. A faint echo of who he used to be. It was all that was left of him now. As it faded, there was a faint longing, as if a greater light were just out of reach-- just beyond his fingers reaching across the cobbles as he lay prone in an alleyway of Traverse Town.
 
He couldn't reach it. He couldn't even name it.
 
Riku finally gave up, letting it all slip through his fingers while he was surrounded by an endless darkness. He remembered Sora, and Kairi, and Destiny islands... and with the lulling sound of a familiar ocean filling his ears, the darkness didn't seem so terrible at all.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
As the final spark of light begins to wink out, it suddenly glows fiercely, as though a cool, sweet breath has blown upon a coal. It only takes the softest whisper to fan the flame from gray dust to white heat. It twists, and blossoms, becoming a girl.
 
A girl's hand, cradling his. /Refusing/ to let his fingers slip any further. It's delicate, and slender, but not unmarked by difficult times; the fingernails are unpainted, the palm a little bit callused. Strong for its tiny size, though its true strength is not physical.
 
Her other hand, guiding his head onto her knees -- she's kneeling beside him, leaning over him. Once he's resting on something softer than the stones of the alleyway, the hand drifts down to rest gently on his heart.
 
And then she opens her own heart.
 
Connection: momentary yet transcendent, infinite potential condensed into an instant of time and a boyful of space. For a single heartbeat, Riku feels what it is to be one of the seven conduits of Light, as his body completes the circuit, the fires of creation passing from her, into him, then back into the heart of the worlds. It's exhilarating, and terrifying. Power overwhelming, overwhelms. It has desires, perogatives, of its own.
 
But it loves him, all of him, his Darkness as well as his Light; the bright mirror to a darker one he once saw a vision of beauty in, it reflects him exactly the way he is, rather than as he could be, and sees no less perfection in the present struggle that is Riku. And so does she.
 
"Riku... Riku..."
 
...Kairi? No. The voice is different, though the concern, the compassion that throbs at its core is exactly the same.
 
"Come back, Riku. "Live!"
 
The fiery defiance of impossible darkness, clear as a bell, is as unmistakable as her face, as her features resolve from a luminous but anonymous young woman, into herself. Jasmine.
 
"Please..."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' 
Riku says, "Good morning sweetie. Bad dreams again?" His mom. Riku reached out for the memory, touching the edges as the light wraps around him. It does not muffle the insane screech, the deafening wail of darkness that reverberates around and around in his head but it makes him strong enough to bear under it without shattering.
 
The light is soothing water but not a tame thing. A healer, but not exactly a kind one. The water burns even as it heals him. He begins to thrash in secondary reaction to that antipode between darkness and light.
 
It loves him, but Riku doesn't love himself. He doesn't deserve it. He needs it but he can't have it. It's a struggle to see past the blinding brilliance but Riku tries to turn away, struggle away-- back to where it is calm and quiet and there is--
 
He catches a glimpse of it again, faded out in the powerful surge of emotion and terrifying light. The last piece of night swallowed by dawn. A finger of orange fire that cracks away from the collison of burning emptiness and shimmering light.
 
Riku wakes up, jerking forwards with his hand extended towards the invisible. Searing pain lances through his head as another repetition of the scream rakes across his conscious mind. He forces it away, bracing himself against it as he squeezes Jasmine's hand slightly. The muscles work but he feels disoriented and detached from his body from the healing magic. He also can't see very well, great patches of darkness making it difficult to see more than vague movement and shapes.
 
"Hello?" The words, the voice haven't quite registered yet so he sits there looking into the blank distance, turning his head back and forth.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"Hey there. Welcome back..."
 
His head is on clouds. Soft, shimmering, faintly opalescent blue ones; a silken fabric, in fact, that he's never seen before in any quantity. Pooled around them is a much more familiar brown burlap.
 
"Don't try to move just yet," Jasmine murmurs soothingly, serene, joyous with relief, once it's obvious to her that he's awake. In her mind, he was never /not/ going to be okay, failure wasn't even an option. Her hands, still on his heart and entwined in his own hand respectively, are as warm as his voice. She squeezes back, when he does, firmly but painlessly reinforcing the knowledge that he isn't alone, following his motion when he reaches out to grab nothing. "Easy now. Breathe."
 
Notably, she doesn't ask him what happened; either she knows, doesn't want to know, or wants to know desperately but doesn't want to hurt him by asking. Whatever the reason, she seems to be firmly in the present, and looking towards the future. As usual.
 
Sensing his pain, either directly -- a real possibility -- or just from his expression, the way he manages it, she sends a second pulse of Light through him. It's just as strong as the first one; she is not very good at settings between 'on' and 'off'. The latter is hard enough, as it is. It -- they -- love him just as fiercely, the second time.
 
With every breath, wounds knit, muscles mend, vitality is restored; the Light is not restful, but though the emotional response it drives may be painful, it, itself, is not. The fires of purification may not exactly be euphoria, but there's a blissful edge to them, one that sharpens to a razor's width of sweetness, just as it retreats.
 
For retreat it does. If he manages to look up, he can see the girl's face frozen in fierce concentration, as she does battle, not with what dwells within him, but within herself. Afterwards, when she's forced the gates of her heart shut again, turned the tap dry, she can feel the pressure building immediately.
 
But then, she can also feel the consequences starting to rise, on the edge of her perception. She's still got time. Not much, but some. Enough.
 
"Can you tell me who you are?" It's a clinical question, taught to her by SeeD in a first aid class that was great for teaching her the basics of battle-wound management ("keep it clean"), and totally useless for teaching her how to deal with herself. But no words that pass her lips ever escape casually, or automatically; in the fondness, the supportiveness, of her tones, she's already answered it.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' 
Riku gasps at the fierceness of the healing. Maybe it could stand to love him just a tiny bit less. As that thought passes through his mind, the faintest hint of a smile returns to his face. He felt raw and absolutely scoured.
 
Can I tell you who I am?
 
Now that. That is an interesting question.
 
It's one that is too complex for his bruised mind. Riku's shoulders heave slightly with reaction. His body starts to shake as he realizes that somehow he has lived through another night. That his path has been put in front of him again and there is no choice but to continue walking it. Perhaps the princess would have been better served to let him fade.. but he was not going to burden her with that. Not now. Not ever.
 
"I'm--" he swallows, trying to fight off the shuddering as he tries to focus on the source of her voice. There was almost a relief as he realizes there is no aching, demanding hunger. It was given freely when he had nothing but ashes. Riku is sure that the darkness in him will return when the princess has gone away, but for the first time in memory he is not troubled by it. There is a hollow ache in the place where it always pulls, and he turns his thoughts away before they can betray him by missing it. "I'm-"
 
Who am I again? Who am I pretending to be? Back to first principles.
 
"I'm.. Riku. Yes." he says in sad, tired little voice. "..I know who I am."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine has lost her home, her family, her friends -- many of them permanently, at Garden. No: she would not have been better served to let Riku slip through /her/ fingers, even if she knew his full situation. There is no path through the darkness that cannot emerge into the light. And after the sense of connection they just experienced, her awareness may be a very real concern.
 
She beams at him, with an innocent radiance impossible to counterfeit.
 
Nevermind.
 
"Good," she says simply, moving her hand at last from his heart to squeeze his shaking shoulders. The hand in his remains, becoming a hand /up/, as she rises, a slow, fluidly controlled motion, to give him plenty of time to do so... or to not be able to do so, in which case she can cushion his sinking back down. She doesn't expect that problem, but preparing contingencies is an act of humility that Jasmine embraces regularly. She doubts herself so fiercely, sometimes, while believing in everyone else.
 
Glancing off to one side, her dark canopy of hair rippling when she turns her head, she spots a solution to her time constraints: the nearby hotel. "Let's get inside," she suggests. "My ship's about to leave," more to the point, I'm leaving before Heartless attack Traverse Town again looking for me, "But you should get some sleep, and a meal, before heading off again." The matter-of-fact way that she states this will not easily brook contradiction, a subtle sort of firmness rather than overbearing domination.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' 
Riku actually does collapse to one knee before rising. He gasps in a small, needle sharp breath and has to grip her hand a little harder than he desires as he can feel something twist inside him. It felt like the entire inside of his being had been sunburned and movement was painful. The Light was a cheerful salt rubbing up against the wounds, both healing and at the same time aggrivating.
 
Riku has to hold on tightly to her arm for a minute as a surge of panic courses through him. He couldn't see. Riku closes his eyes for a moment trying to get his bearings. This manages not quite to be a mistake. His perilously weakened darkness makes the vision of the hearts of others so dim and distant he can only see the brilliant pillar of Jasmine's light through a deep and muffling fog. On the, ahem, bright side-- it doesn't immediately sear him for his proximity.
 
Riku shakes his head, opening his eyes and trying to make sense of the vague smears of light and shadow and movement around him. "I.." Riku's voice cracks from the strain and terrible doubt that begins to creep around his mind as he clears his throat and continues. "Lead the way."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine falls with Riku, a steadfast font of support until he's all the way back on his feet. Watching him like a hawk -- or a tigress, more suitably -- she seems to be following his problems, and perhaps even understanding them. She ducks her head remorsefully when he winces. "I'm really /very/ sorry," she whispers. Trying not to make things worse, she cradles his hand with extraordinary care, while hooking her arm around his in a guiding motion.
 
There's a surety, a confidence to the way she moves that's infectious. Surely there's a story there, because she's obviously led the blind before. "Try not to talk. Lean on me."
 
It isn't at all far to the hotel, where she pays, not in coin, but with some probably absurdly valuable tiny jewel, for the innkeeper to see to Riku's needs, and house him for up to a week, if necessary. She swiftly makes the transaction, and if her brief companion notices the underlying nervousness thrumming through her veins -- these sorts of everyday things are important to her, but still not trivial -- the innkeeper does not.
 
She doesn't let go of him until he's clearly safe, whether that's in a chair for a meal, or in a bed for rest, whichever he prefers. "I wish I could stay longer," she sighs wistfully. Then she sets her chin, preparing to do what's right, and hard. Just at the moment, leaving him is very much so; one gets the impression that nothing less than a life or death situation would stir her from his side.
 
Unfortunately...
 
"Hang in there, Riku," she bids him, by way of farewell. "Please, leave a note with the staff when you depart. So that I..." Her voice chokes a little, revealing how very touch and go things felt with him, lying there on those cobblestones, how afraid she was, "...know." Not that she'll be back to pick it up any time soon, one assumes, but all the same.
 
Her mental clock, which is marvelously attuned by now to the ebb and flow of Darkness lapping at her heels, announces that she has two minutes, maybe less, to get out of town. Nodding to him, and softly thanking the innkeeper, she disappears out the door without any further ado.

Jasmine

2012-11-29T17:45:44Z

Liz: relationship update: avira, angantyr, seith, garland, faruja, faris

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

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'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

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[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

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'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

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'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Garland: Jasmine recognized Garland immediately on an instinctual level. She bore witness within her own heart, all too briefly, to the incredible memory of Light that once dwelled within him. To the decline and fall of that Light, the self-inflicted wounds, the knife-stabs through the heart and soul that so skillfully forged his spirit into pure and endless Darkness. She respects what he once was, understands what he has become, and accepts him for exactly who he is. Like Jafar, Garland inspires a mix of fear, anger, and sadness; fear that she'll never be strong enough to prevent him from doing exactly what he wants, anger that he would ever have chosen to be what he is, and sadness at the outcome. She believes in the infinite possibility of redemption, and she wouldn't be who /she/ is without extending such opportunities to him, in innumerable quiet ways, while defying his agenda with every fibre of her being. Polar opposites on many levels, she is disquieted to find similarities within their duality; they are like, but so unlike.

Avira: ''"I'm glad you're safe."'' Jasmine first saw Avira defending Garden at a distance, and drew courage from the mighty warrior's example. Later, she noticed Kaydin transporting a captured Avira to Baron. She would not leave one of her allies, even one she'd never properly been introduced to, in the hands of their enemies. She could not do anything else, and still be herself; not long afterwards, they wound up traveling together, as Avira helped her flee the Heartless in Rabanastre. Having now had an opportunity to actually spend a little time together, Jasmine is quite impressed with the woman's competence, but moreso with her understated kindness.

Angantyr Vespar: ''"I hardly know you, and here I am pouring myself out for you. I'm sorry, but there is something about you that seems... Trustworthy. No different than how you saw me. Foolish sentiments for the both of us, for being strangers." "I think that trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness. I'm very glad I met you, Sir Knight. Angantyr. Thank you again, for all you've done for me."'' Jasmine and Angantyr met while independently launching rescue operations for Avira, in Baron, and made excellent impressions on each other. They departed as princess and mercenary guard for a forty-eight hour term of employment, and in that time became fast friends. She regards his friendship far higher than any coin, in fact. Jasmine has seen the Darkness in Angantyr, but believes that the man can find balance, with time, will, and self-respect; rather than try to talk him out of his revenge, she knows that only he can do that for himself.

Seith: ''"I can see /your/ Light."'' Jasmine was too busy dealing with other issues to participate in a fairly epic philosophical debate Seith was at the core of, but his willingness, even eagerness, to hurt, maim, or perhaps even kill innocent bystanders in order to make his points in a debate informed her first impression of him.

Faruja Senra: Seen helping the poor and defying the dark at a distance, Jasmine was impressed with the Burmecian's compassion and fierce ideals... though he seemed a bit loquacious. She (largely incorrectly) blames herself for the Heartless' interruption of his charity event, and while she'd like to meet Faruja again, with proper introductions, she's likely to avoid such shindigs in future...

Faris Scherwitz: ''"I have no love for violence, especially between those who still have their hearts, but such a ship would certainly fit my specifications of 'crewed by those who can defend themselves...'"'' Faris' total honesty about 'his' profession smoothed over what might have otherwise been a poor first impression; he's an /awfully/ pretty boy, after all, exactly the sort of person Jasmine inherently suspects. But she felt something in him that she trusted immediately -- with her life, as he swept her off on a pirate ship to flee an army of Heartless.

Ivo Galvan: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

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'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

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'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

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'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

The Darkness And The Dawn

2012-11-28T03:10:35Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/25 |Location=Between Baron and Rabanastre |Synopsis=Jasmine hires Angantyr to protect her for forty-eight hours, so she can get some shut-e..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/25
|Location=Between Baron and Rabanastre
|Synopsis=Jasmine hires Angantyr to protect her for forty-eight hours, so she can get some shut-eye. The Heartless attack, as expected, but the philosophical discussions that begin are less expected...
|Cast of Characters=Angantyr Vespar, Jasmine
}}

OOC Note: This took place immediately after A Confluence of Fate; omitted is a +radio conversation between Jasmine and Angantyr, in which they introduced each other, hit it off, and she hired him to guard her for forty-eight hours, while she tried to get some badly needed rest.
 
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
 
After the battle, the dynamic, fierce Jasmine seems to gradually collapse into herself. The circles under her eyes, the tremors in her hands -- they're a lot more obvious when she's not busy channeling one of the great forces of the universe.
 
Although, if Angantyr has any sense of the cosmological balance, he quickly becomes aware that his forty-eight hour charge is, in fact, still /very/ busy managing her burden. A constant and nontrivial amount of concentration is always going towards keeping the Light from pouring forth to cover the land, heal the wounds of the worlds, set the universe into balance... it surges constantly. It wants to be /used/, but using it would draw down the Heartless with exponentially greater speed. It may be a holy power, but it isn't a tame one. And she doesn't stop having to deal with it just because it isn't visible. The reverse is far more true.
 
She's not hesitant, precisely, in dealing with the sellers of carriages, but she's definitely very willing to yield to Angantyr's experience. Haggling is not her strong point, and the occasional innocent stare she gives utterly commonplace things bespeaks her sheltered upbringing, and the fact that despite her fairly successful fugitive status -- she's gradually mastering the art of constant vigilance without LOOKING like she's constantly vigilant, her eyes flicking about more subtly than they once did, her reaction to unexpected sounds a little less jumpy -- she hasn't really had the time to stop and smell the roses and adjust to normal life. Whatever 'normal' means in this mish-mash of a maligned multiverse.
 
She pays Angantyr up front, with coins from some sort of inner pocket inside her voluminous brown burlap robes, and with a healthy expense account for meals, since being unconscious for as long as possible seems to be her goal. "Please wake me up if you run out," she encourages him, though in general she's pretty reticent now; it's obviously exhaustion. They only fight two packs of Heartless before hitting the road, and Jasmine lets her temp do the heavy lifting; there's no sign of the Light, that's for sure. At one point, she steps in, not because he needs any help, but because she really wants to lay down as soon as possible, flipping a Heartless over her shoulder in a smooth, vaguely judoesque throw, then ending it with an elbow drop to the throat.
 
No one can accuse her of not having the instincts for self-defense, but she seems oddly sad as it fades away. KILLER instincts, she lacks.
 
As she clambers into the carriage to curl up, catlike, on its floor, she studies Sir Knight, as she unfailingly calls him, for a long moment. "Thank you," she murmurs through a yawn, "For not selling me out. You know enough to be able to, but you won't; I can tell."
 
Her belief in him is almost a tangible thing, made moreso by her smile, undiminished in its brilliance despite her weariness. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr is, of course, good at getting a fair deal with the caravans. A bit of looking intimidating and actually BEING intimidating when necissary, and of course, playing bad cop to her good cop gets a good deal out of a poor soul. Of course, Jasmine no doubt pays him just a bit more because she's not as callous as he is. He observes her power as they walk...he understands it because he sits in it's wake...the shadow to the light so to speak. It is very interesting to him, he mentally catalogs it, because it might be worth something to someone...or maybe it will be useful to him in the future.
 
He understands the power of control she exhudes, because he too uses a strong amount of will to keep the darkness from taking over. It is natural, but darkness is still corruptive and powerful. It is not so much EVIL, as any cosmic force can be...but it is what it is. Heartless come and heartless go, Angantyr is not very pressed by them, he's a fighter...these things have been everywhere, and he kinda laments about the fact that they used to be on his side...well, vaguely. He usually gets to not worry about them, unless a particualry powerful one poses a big enough threat that he can get money for killing it. For now, the minions are more annoying than dangerous...he takes his time in disbursing them, because this isn't a race...it's a marathon.
 
However, her sudden interfearance in the last fight causes him pause...it was time to stop, and she needed to rest. The kinda rest you can only get by resting. So, they set down and he makes a fire.
 
For a moment, a tinge of guilt finds his way into his mind...would he? He is sure Garland knows about his doings, what if he called on him to do that? Garland was right, he was soft, he considers. He didn't have that edge that he kept fooling himself into having. He could do many horrible things, but there was a point...a no return point that he just can't pass.
 
"Hopefully, it won't come to that. Sleep. You'll still be here in the morning." he says, unafraid of what the night will bring. The mace lays upright near him, as his helmet rests on his lap.
 
Angantyr has been going for a while, to find Avira, now to watch over the Princess. White magic has kept him fit, but he knows this isn't going to last forever. It's a challenge...one he will not back down from either...there is a twinge of excitement in this. The chaotic nature of him showing through. He waits, when the time is right, he holds a hand up, and a dark barrier appears over Jasmine. Both muffling sound, and keeping her shielded. It was his darkness, so the heartless could only pass through if they beat him...
 
And if they beat him, well...that was a moot point.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine jerks in place when he starts to draw the dark barrier over her. "Please don't," she whispers, sleep already making her voice husky. "I... react strongly. It isn't philosophical, it's physical. Mystical. Not by choice." In fact, she constantly has more or less a Heads-Up Display of sources of Darkness; it's ironic, but taking the risk of growing accustomed to the Dark Knight's is a comforting mask that may help her rest more easily. Already, on the very, very edge of her considerable perceptions, she can sense the first wave coming in. They feel like they're about an hour away. She says so, the syllables barely escaping her before sleep finally, fully takes her.
 
At least she seems to trust him to guard her without the use of such an aid -- something of a major compliment, really. Alternatively, naivete that's about to lead to her death, or worse.
 
Her fall into darkness is too deep and total to be blissful, but she does gradually relax, going totally limp, and in so doing reveals exactly how much tension had been in her body before, built up over who knows how many trials and fears. She sleeps like a child, curled up into a tiny ball of fabric and hair. She's terribly vulnerable. No wonder she hired some muscle.
 
An hour later, right on schedule, the first Heartless arrive.
 
They're not locals. Crowned with turbans and armed with scimitars, they rush in with unexpected skill and coordination. Teamwork, even. These are survivors, hunters. They were summoned not by the princess' mere presence -- that'll come later -- but driven by someone with a terrible will.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Well...that is a problem. Angantyr uses the time he has to rest. Eating, not sleeping, but resting. He focuses his power, reaching out to look into the dark around him. Oh yes, here they come, he thinks...these aren't normal heartless. He seems the mark on them, they are someone's minions...not the wild ones. He sort of wishes he had the hinesight to set up traps, but it is likely to turn on him as it is for them. So he waits...the fire still roaring as he waits.
 
Then they come.
 
Angangty isn't a defensive fighter, he fights through sheer brutality...the good offense is a good defense. He runs, right at the first group, tearing into them almost like an animal. His mace moves, one handedly, as it's talon like spikes aim to tear through armor and whatever counts as flesh of the heartless. He spins, continuing his brutal strikes aiming to keep the Heartless back...making it dangerous for them to advanced, and singling out any that try and sneak by.
 
A old memory floods back to him...the Arcadians, flooding the city...his home, tearing it all down. For that moment, he dismisses it...no time for distractions. A life depended on him, though he was sure she wouldn't die...no he was sure a much worse fate awaited should he fail. The mace swings again, this time, both hands gripping the thing, aiming to draw it down on a single, very unlucky heartless.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The Heartless are dispatched with the efficiency that comes from long practice. There are a few tight places, especially around the fourth wave, which came only ten minutes after the third; that was when they were still Emblem Heartless.
 
Man, are there a lot of Emblem Heartless after Jasmine. They aren't all these desert-dwellers, either, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes; there are the dark swordsmen, but also these huge, vaguely obese ones in vests, and the centipede-like pots with spidery, shadowy legs that wriggle and claw and tear.
 
But eventually other varieties appear, an indirect documentation of the girl's journey, and the fortitude of whoever's out to get her, in creating all these new ones along the way. Massive, shadowy huns from the Land of Dragons. Misshapen jesters from New Orleans. Terrible plant monsters from Golmore Jungle. And on, and on, and on.
 
Jasmine continues to sleep in a virtual coma for several hours, but eventually it becomes restless and troubled. She thrashes about in the throes of a nightmare several times, but never quite wakes up. Other times, she weeps almost silently. All of her dreams are dark, it seems.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr's attack is brutal...
 
He barely gives thought to defense, only defending when he is sure that attack is not something he wants to test...or when he wants to get into a better position to KILL it. Which happens more often than you would thing...heartless mostly are not on the level of technical he is. Garland is a brutal master, and if not for his ability to adapt and perform...he'd be dead long ago. Darkness speaks to darkness, though...and he strikes them down as they come, disbursing them back to where they came.
 
Each line of heartless fall...but Angantyr starts to slow down. He's already passed his limit, but he pushes forward. SOMETHING forces him to...maybe it was that belief that someone believed in him to not be awful. To not think about himself over someone else...bah...he really is soft. "A soft hearted idiot." he says, barking out a laugh as he feels a blade through his shoulder, looking at the Shadowy Hun.
 
Grabbing it, and repeatedly beating his head into it until it disburses, he grunts...taking a few moments to drink a potion...
 
Then Jestures. "Goddamn it, I am NOT down with the clown." before he wades into them too.
 
Eventually, like a boulder weathering the tide of the river...he continues to break as the darkness shatters around him. Finally, the last plant monster is crushed under the mace, as he falls to a knee. Blood drips from the many wounds...and he breaths heavily, exhaustion pooring over him in waves. His eyes narrow...
 
"BRING IT ON!" he shouts, defiantly even as he rests. "I'M NOT DEAD YET!" finally, laughing...just laughing. "God I am such a moron." he finally mutters.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr's shout awakens Jasmine. She sits up immediately, instantly alert -- another relatively recently acquired skill, from the last few months. It's strange how this is what brought her out of it, since it's not like the many battles were completely silent, but there it is. After a few moments of ascertaining the situation, she relaxes... somewhat. Already, most of the dubious peace that sleep brought her is departing, though perhaps it could be called back.
 
She stretches several seconds more luxuriously than she really ought to, given what she feels on the move, closing her eyes again, just for a moment. "We're going to get them out of the ground very soon," she murmurs through half-veiled lids that only badly conceal the concern in her eyes, which she is too polite to express directly. But she's definitely worried about him, and just as obviously, from the quick way she tosses back her hair, unhappy that he's being harmed in her service, even though he was paid for it, and knew what he was getting into. It doesn't matter to her. She /hates/ it when other people get hurt because of her, for any reason, any at all. "Do you want to heal on the move, or do you want to be healed and stay, and I go back to sleep?" The healing, apparently, is not optional. It's not like they don't know where she is; she doesn't fear to draw on the Light for that purpose.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"If you are resting, then we stay." Angantyr says without skipping a beat. "So heal me and quickly get back to sleep. I am not going to turn down healing when I am in this state. I'm a stupid, not sucidal." he says, and also apparently going to stay alive. He says, forcing himself to his feet to make it towards the camp. "Also, sorry for waking you." he comments, "But the night isn't over and you're going to need to sleep if this is typical for you." he says.
 
"Reminds me of my first week of training." he says, and turns to sit down to rest, and accept her healing.
 
"Also, if they are going to come from the ground...I'd prefer you to rest in the caravan. I can't do anything if they just burst right through and drag you down. I'm good, but I haven't mastered that power yet."
 
Because Burrow is OP.
 
He takes a canteen of something, and drinks it. Probably to take the edge off of the fight...but maybe it is water (ha ha no).

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine doesn't stir for a long moment. Despite being awake, she's still dreadfully tired, and fighting off the chains of slumber is the exact opposite of what her mind wants to do. Opening her heart to the light without letting it spill forth to a suicidal degree is almost more than she can bear. Almost.
 
Eventually, marked only by the finest silvery-white shimmer and an exhausted, catlike grin, Angantyr's wounds close themselves without so much as a scar. The feather-light touch of holy power delicately caresses his spirit, restoring it to full strength as though he'd slept in a downy, cloudlike bed for a week. It is warm as an embrace of sunlight, sweet as an innocent kiss, gentle as a songbird's wing.
 
It's an open question why she doesn't simply do that for herself. Maybe she can't.
 
Afterwards, it takes his help to get into the caravan, and she's asleep almost before she hits its floor, but not before she thanks him softly for his assistance.
 
Seconds later, the first Heartless rise out of the ground, summoned not actively by her hunter but passively by her mere existence. They hunger for her Heart, and they would have it, if not for the Dark Knight's intervention.
 
For the next few hours, it's a mix of natural and Emblem Heartless. They come in squads, and in packs, and finally, on the far horizon, the main force of the army comes into view. Its presence mutes the dawnlit sky, as though filtering it through shadow. And it is then that Jasmine pokes her head out of the carriage.
 
She looks amazing, aglow with enthusiasm, optimism, the vivacious energy of the freshly awakened. There may have been more nightmares, but they don't seem to matter in the larger picture of the princess finally, finally getting a night of true rest.
 
"Good morning," she greets brightly. Her face falls a little as she sees the inevitable marks of these last few hours of battle, but they're banished effortlessly, now that she's energetic again. "You've done a marvelous job. I think it's time to go, however."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's spell restores the Dark Knight to fighting ability, but it is meerly delaying the inevitable. Darkness doesn't shy away from the light she brings, perhaps it is because it is bound to Angantyr, perhaps it is like she says. Maybe it is both, or none at all. However, renewed he stands again, fighting fit and nods to her. She thanks him...but he turns only to ready himself again. More would come...more would be banished again. The mace swings in his hand as the hours move...
 
Heartless disburs, heartless are smashed, and heartless come. However, near the dawn...
 
He breaths...my god, not even he can hold THAT off. However, most would run...he stands tall. Instead, he considers his options...the Caravan might be the option here, but will the chocobos be able to hold up? He wonders...
 
Then Jasmine comes out, a shining beacon of his troubles, and he can't help but smirk at the notion. However, he turns towards her and shakes his head. "I think you have a strong following among the darkness. I think you're something of a underground favorite." he continues, before sheathing the weapon. "The great thing about armies...even heartless ones, is that they move slowly. I think this is directed though...reguardless, lets go. We can easily out pace them." he says, helping her into the Caravan and takes the reigns of the Chocobos. Even after her healing, he is still ready to get a break soon...but he can still go quite the distance. Being tenacious is a virtue as the dark is concerned.
 
"I hope you got your beauty rest, because it might get bumpy to out pace them. Assuming we're not already surrounded."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine seems patiently wry, as Angantyr 'educates' her about the threat she continuously faces, usually alone. "This isn't my first..." she grasps for the right word, then remembers what she ran across, in one of the many worlds she's fled through, "...rodeo, I believe is the term. And no, we aren't surrounded."
 
She moves up to the wide driver's seat; there's more than enough room for two. One hand grasps the rail, lest she get bounced off by the rapid motion of the chocobos. The other produces, of all things, a hairbrush. Running it through her massive mane is a stunningly mundane thing to do during a deadly chase, but it seems to give her such a simple, quiet pleasure. It's a ritual that takes her back to happier times, essentially the only thing she has left from her old life.
 
While they go along, she occasionally directs him, down unexpected roads and perilously narrow pathways. Eventually it becomes obvious why, as they pass through a portal -- NOT one on the common maps, such as they're recorded -- from plains into lightly forested hills. "We can slow, a little," she calls over the wind of their velocity. "It will take them some time to realize where we've gone. Why don't I spell you on the reins for a while? Even knights need breaks, now and then."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr gives her a grin at the phrasing, not that he discounted her experience, but more at grim humor that he was trying to muster in a bad situation. The handling of the Chocobos is done by someone of ease. Agraba had horses, here Chocobos are the thing used...and it's obvious that he's not only familar with the beasts, but handles them quite well. Warriors and nobility are often the ones that do that, often both. He spurns them on through her directions, concerned after a few turns...these are often dangerous even for someone skilled perfectly in theset hings...and he's good, but not a master. Finally, through luck, they come into the potral, and finally are able to slow down. He brings the birds to a slower pace...good because he didn't want them dying on him. He doesn't question her hair.
 
No, we all take small comforts, even in the worst of times. He's paid to do this, not question her life choices. Finally, though, she offers to take the reigns, and he doesn't argue. Handing them over so he can finally recline back...his mace finally settles behind him, and his helmet goes off. His hair is short, dark like his other features, but short and a bit unkept. He rubs his hand over his face...yeah, going to need to shave eventually, he considers. He hates having a beard.
 
"A gracious employer you are. Most would treat me like the horses." he says, with a grin.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine returns his grins both times with her own warm, merry expression; despite their considerable peril, nothing seems able to spoil her good mood, and her lips are well-suited to joy. She often stretches, careful to not fall out of the seat in the doing, enjoying the feeling of being truly awake on so many levels. There is also the matter of once again traveling in the company of another; she's missed the companionship, even if in this case it is guaranteed by money.
 
"'Most' are wrong to do so," she counters lightly, "Unless they treat their horses rather better than I take your meaning for." Indeed, she manages the chocobos with a soft touch, often letting them take their rest as well. This is more than compassion for the animals, though they actively respond to her kind, fond feelings, their rapport natural and easy; pushed too hard, they'll founder, and that would be a disaster.
 
She takes her eyes off the road long enough to regard helmetless Angantyr for what is perhaps the first time. She studies him thoughtfully, as though recording the contours of his face, the hues captured by his hair, ingrained on her heart for all time. "May I ask you a personal question?"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
She's kinder, MUCH kinder than he is to them. "Heh, no, they don't. I've been to a few lands where horses are the standard, instead of Chocobos. Not many treat them any better than beats of burden. I digress though...the life of a Merc isn't kind, but by I can't complain about the benifits. Get to make my own hours, get as much as I can earn...no glass ceiling." he says, picking that phrase up from Avira.
 
Jasmine's gaze doesn't make him uncomfortable, he's used to stares...he doesn't seem to notice, or is good at pretending not to. Instead he takes the oppertunity to rest, and despite the trouble they are in...he almost looks like he is enjoying this though. Perhaps it is how he lives, but it's hard to say.
 
He raises a eyebrow at the sudden question usually he'd bite back, but...something just seems to get him to stare at her for a moment. Then slowly, "Sure. Go ahead."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's gaze is totally nonjudgemental, only curious and friendly. She inclines her head to one side as he explains the pros and cons of his career, and a quiet laugh is startled out of her at one comment. "The freedom to make your own choices. I can see the appeal of such a life."
 
Once she's secured permission to be nosy, is she /ever/, cutting straight to the heart of things with laser-like precision; she almost seems to look through him, though not past him, beyond the flesh to the spirit. Almost. Whatever she sees, it doesn't seem to trouble her. Rather the opposite, she's drawn to his complexity, his contradictions, his Darkness attracting her Light. And she'd like to understand them.
 
"What do you wish for, Sir Knight? In all the worlds, beautiful and dangerous, what is your heart's desire?" In Baron, they spoke briefly of the true meaning of darkness, and later of money, but something in her expression and intonation imply that she's sensed far greater depths to him than 'dark mercenary'.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
The small bit of light she sees...almost vanishes as she asks this question. It's there, but...something stirs in him...a healthy hatred...a strong desire for revenge.
 
"To explain that, I need to provide a little history." his tone is...colder, more distant. "My home, like yours, was destroyed. Not by heartless, but by the greed of man." he says, "A country who's only crime was existance near Arcadia. You know of them, doubt. The Judges of House Solidor have made their way around the worlds asking about the Darkness and the Heartless. Don't be fooled...monsters each and everyone. They are simply fighters for that house...not servants of law like their name suggests." he mutters.
 
"They came...killed my brother.." there was something about how the word killed was used to indicate that...PERHAPS it wasn't litteral, "Took our country from us without much of a war...destroyed everything important to me."
 
"So, what I want? My heart's desire? I want to destory Arcadia. I want to break them, make it so they feel what I felt, and completely remove their ability to do what they did to me or anyone else again. The countries brought forcefully into their fold may go back to how they were...I care not. I just want to see it gone."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine hasn't actually been exposed to Archades' Empire, of yet, but she listens solemnly to his words, breaking her gaze only to guide the carriage more carefully when they face an obstacle, now and again. Hers is the precious talent of being totally engaged by another's story, as though Angantyr has become her whole world; she nods in all the right places, and seems most saddened by parts of it.
 
Her sympathy is also empathy, as he's noted, and there's no mere pity within it, only sorrow, and predictably, a wish to ease his pain.
 
She doesn't seem taken aback by the darkness of his hatred, other than a concerned widening of the eyes. "I see," she says, afterwards, when he's drawn to a close. There's still no judgement, no disagreement, no attempt to talk him out of it. Only, in time, another question. "Who is 'them'? House Solidor itself? Arcadia's soldiers? Its noncombatants?"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
"Solidor and the Soldiers." Angantyr says, "But...to involve the empire is to no doubt bring innocent into the cross fire. War is not a clean thing...it is messy, destructive...full of pain and death." he says, very calmly. "I know the path I take will lead to pain and suffering...there is no way around it." he continues, "To stop now will make everything up till now meaningless." he finally says.
 
There is pain, a lot of it. The pain his tempered him the darkness controlled by will. However, despite everything, there is the sliver of light. It shines, no matter how much he refects on everything...how self depreciated he is, SOMETHING in him wants to make something better. If he was unkind, he would not have came for Avira, if he was so dispicable, he wouldn't have agreed to be here right now. She would be no doubt in the Shadow Lord's hands.
 
He closes his eyes, relaxing a bit more. "It is not the brightest of dreams, and if you're disgusted with me, I won't blame you." he says, willingly able to walk the path of the demon, but often those who walk the path do so because they can't see the other ways.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine rests a tiny, gentle hand on Angantyr's shoulder, and squeezes it, for whatever small comfort that's worth. Only when they're both seated could she really do such a thing, her inability to reach high places often a barrier to such a gesture. She senses his pain -- how could she not? -- but the light within, as well.
 
"You don't disgust me," she expresses simply and kindly without an ounce of patronization, only earnest forthrightness. "I don't think your feelings are bad, nor that you are wrong to have them. They are a part of you, and your awareness of them does you credit. But the fact that you assumed that I might feel that way suggests that you yourself see some of the problems with your goal." Her voice trembles slightly with intensity, as she suggests, "Hold onto that concern, as you go on, Sir Knight, and though it may make your path more difficult, it will also make it, and you, the stronger."
 
The chocobos have come to a complete stop, but she lets them pluck at greens; this conversation, apparently, is more important to her than a few yards of lead on her endless pursuers. Her reflections are thoughtful and very audible in the sudden silence, formed by the void of creaking wheels and bouncing seats.
 
"To become what you hate would be Arcadia's ultimate victory. And only that would make everything meaningless... there is no path through darkness that cannot emerge into the sun, in time and with determination... and often, after much suffering. It isn't turning back. It's moving forward."
 
Suiting action to words, she flaps the reins, sending the featherbrains back into a trot.
 
"I suppose that a silly girl's mere words can't do much, on their own, to help you find peace, but perhaps someday they can bring you light in darker times." Today being a fairly SUNNY day, Heartless and all, by the standards of her life.
 
And her own inner Light burns fiercely, reassuringly, subconsciously bolstering that tiny sliver within him, enfolding it, nurturing it, so gently and slightly that it's hardly noticible. But sometimes tiny feelings have large consequences, much later.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
His eyes open as he notice the stop, but by then the conversation had gotten...serious. He doesn't reach for his weapon, or his helmet, because she was still talking and assumed she wanted to focus on him. He frows, shaking his head at the foolishness of the gesture. However...well, what can he do? Those words...hold onto the concern. The words themselves cause him to think deeply about what his own words.
 
'There is no path through darkness that can not emerge into the sun..' he hears, and doesn't debunk her...no there are a few, but those paths can only be walked willingly, he imagines. Light and Darkness...how different were they really, he wondered? The words, despite everything bring some comfort to his troubled heart. However, it was still turbulant, as hearts are want to be. Who will turn up on top is anyone's guess...but the words are not discard out of hand.
 
"Oh spare me the self depreciation. You are no more sill than I am monsterous." he says, "No, you're right...Garland is right. I guess I am a bit softhearted for this buisness. At the same time...I don't want to kill that part of myself. I really do fear what will happen when...or if I do. I try to take things one step at a time.."
 
Then he pauses... "I hardly know you, and here I am pouring myself out for you. I'm sorry, but there is something about you that seems.." He finds the right word... "Trustworthy. No different than how you saw me." he laughs. "Foolish sentiments for the both of us, for being strangers."
 
The light speaks to it's own...the darkness is no less diminished, but the light is also strengthened. It's odd, they want to coexist here.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"No one can ask more of you," Than taking things one step at a time. Jasmine's observation is serene, easily said, yet imbued with great truth and acceptance, beneath the tranquility.
 
She grins at his piqued request, relaxing a little, leaning her back against the carriage behind them without losing a drop of her effortless, comfortable-yet-majestic poise. That sort of self-deprication doesn't really come easily to her, and she did mean every word she said, with all of her being; on the other hand, the only person in the world she tends not to believe in so completely is herself. She's constantly questioning her own decisions, challenging her path. Wondering what her true purpose is, and what her role in the worlds will be.
 
She's the only one who wonders, that's for sure. She is what she is, embodying the Light as strongly as it passes through her, a creature of hope and faith, love and kindness, and occasionally very fierce defiance. Whether it was drawn to her Heart and transformed her with its passage, or her own inner strength is what drew it in the first place is an academic question, because she was born one of the Purest Lights, though she still does not fully understand her own significance. She's never been anything but herself.
 
"I think that trust is not foolishness, and compassion is not weakness." That's all she has to say on the topic; she doesn't laugh, this time, her quiet gravity in marked contrast to Angantyr's joking around. But she's warm, all the same, as she adds, "I'm very glad I met you, Sir Knight. Angantyr." On her lips, the name is transformed into something pure and strong, a three-syllable compliment of massive proportions. "Thank you again, for all you've done for me."
 
It will have been forty-eight hours fairly soon.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr nods at her words, accepts the thanks at long last, and of course her money. He is still a mercinary, and he has a job to do. The ride is thankfully peaceful, at this point, and the two sit in silence for a bit after she thanks him. Then, he finally speaks, "You'd should go to Rabanastre, at least see Avira. The Shadows will think twice about attacking the place with such powerful people on the walls...Arcadia or not, I can not help but admit they have a disciplined army." he thinks. He's trying to act as if it's the safest option, but perhaps there is more to it all.
 
"Anyway, after that, I can take you to where you want to go, on the house. It may also give you a small breather and decide a more perminate arrangement." he comments, "Living on the run will not work forever."
 
"And no...you are right, these are virtues...I just wish I could subscribe to them more." he says, truthfully, without the barrier of what he keeps up to keep himself comfortable with what he is. "Besides...maybe that little idiot will come after you. I do so would like a second chance at smashing him."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Agony is revealed behind Jasmine's large, dark eyes, as Angantyr observes that her life on the run is not a permanent solution. "I know that your advice is sound," she explains, her voice soft and controlled in a way that her gaze is not. "But I..." So much for that; her voice breaks as well, cracking from sad memories. "So many have been lost, protecting me, usually knowingly but sometimes not. /Hundreds/ of people, entire battlefields. /Thousands/, by now. How can I stay /anywhere/ for any length of time? I'm a danger to everyone around me. A harbinger of doom."
 
She falls into what is obviously a repetition of justifications, thoughts that she's turned over and over in her mind but rarely vocalized. SeeD hasn't caught up to her yet, to demand these pre-readied explanations. "As long as I keep moving, every Heartless that pursues me isn't wrecking as much havoc as they would be otherwise. Sometimes I attract them deliberately, away from villages and other travelers." That gigantic pillar of light outside of Garden being the most dramatic occasion that started this round of fugitive life, but not the only one. "And I'm not /just/ running... I'm /briefly/ stopping in many places, making allies, meeting people, trying to connect them. I meant what I said to His Grace," Baigan, who apparently rates the noble title in her mind even though his snakearms covered her with terrible wounds, and his words with emotional ones, "We must all stand together, or we shall surely fall to the darkness, alone and disorganized. For that purpose, too, I travel."
 
Setting her chin -- stubbornly, regally, both -- she pushes back her dark canopy of hair and looks back up at Angantyr. "You're right that I should properly meet Lady Avira," she agrees reluctantly, apparently not beyond all reason. "If you would escort me to Rabanastre, I would be more in your debt than I already am." Money, in her mind, not adequate payment for the gift of the Dark Knight's blade, and also, perhaps, the beginnings of his friendship. She has NO IDEA that Rabanastre is Agrabah's new next door neighbor, and that in fact she's sending herself far more directly into danger than either of them have planned. Whoops.
 
Thinking about others is always easier for her than dwelling further on herself, and she's glad to let him change the subject. "If you wish it, it can become so." That was serious, and quite faithful; she does truly think he has it in him. Then, her grin becomes impish. "It just takes practice. Letting down your guard to connect to others can be scary!" There's truth in her quip. What follows afterwards is slightly teasing. "As for 'Sir' Kaydin... it's not the first time he's had a go at me. I've handled him alone before, but I would never deny you something that would bring you such pleasure."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr stares at her for a moment...
 
Pffftahahahahaha! He laughs, heartily at the story of her defeat of him... "My! I guess there is some darkness in you after all." he comments, "But I guess that is human nature." he grins at her. It is good to know that she too strugles with these things...and has darker thoughts. It adds a bit humanity to everything.
 
Which is important.
 
"Also, running...while you might think is best...does not solve anything. Even I agree that sometimes retreat is the best course of action...but sometimes you have to make a stand. You draw them out, sure...but more come in your wake." he comments.
 
"A plan of action needs to be thought about, and taken. Not just for your sake, but for all of the worlds. Whatever the heartless want from you...I feel, no." he says, calmly, "I know it's something they can not have."
 
"Reguardless. I can not command you, but I try and provide reasonable consul. The worlds are still a large place.."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It's hard to make out the blush on Jasmine's golden-brown cheeks, when Angantyr laughs at her, but roses bloom in them all the same. She ducks her head at his outburst, but her memory of the battle is very different. Alone and in great peril, it was the first time the Light within her erupted into conscious control, very much visible and somewhat terrifying. Before then, she hadn't had to struggle to keep it inside, but with that key turned, her heart unlocked, a new battle was joined that may never end.
 
But it's certainly also true that she has darker thoughts, as well. "I don't think that Darkness and Light are..." She thinks for a moment, trying to compose her words very carefully, and seems slightly unsatisfied with the results. "...it's not quite as simple as personality, or emotion. Because, oh yes... I do feel anger, sometimes. I'm all too human, Sir Knight."
 
For a single moment, her eyes fill with outright /rage/, the tumultuous fury over being driven from her homeland by a coup, being hunted like a fox. Fury at Jafar and his ilk, certainly, but also fury at her own powerlessness, her inability to protect the people and places she loves.
 
Unfortunately for her, the more she travels, the more she adds to that ledger.
 
After that moment, she lets the feeling fade. Sometimes anger fuels her, drives her onwards, but not right at the moment. What's left behind is the same as ever, unchanged by the darker emotion. Perhaps that's what makes the difference.
 
"Until I fully understand why they want me so, it's hard to plan, and my journey is an effective delaying tactic. But I have been working up offensive operations." He's noticed by now that she has a SeeD survival pack, which partially includes some books checked out of their library, to say nothing of the months of training they provided her more directly. "If I'm such magnificent bait, there's no reason I can't be used to lure Heartless into some equally magnificent ambushes of our own. The problem is that their numbers seem to be endless."
 
Her smile up at him -- already a shade more tired than it was before, as her many cares have come down upon her shoulders once again -- is full of respect. "I welcome your advice, of course. Please never hesitate to share it."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr pauses...
 
He thinks about this.. "Wait. You don't know why you are being persued...I mean, not from the wizzard's Heartless, but from the others?" he pauses...that was odd...it's true. Pure heartless were after her in great numbers...they were mostly masterless...only great masters of darkness could compel them...and even then, they were not a percise tool like the heartless that had marks.
 
He thinks about this...there is more. "Then the first move is an obvious one. We find out why. We find out WHY you are so important...knowledge is power, and it's time to have some of our own, eh?" he says. "I can talk to them, I have a few connections, and it might be costly." he says to her. "It is not without risk." he cmments.
 
Why was he getting involved? He doesn't know...but...something wanted to get involved.
 
"Speaking as someone well versed in darkness, and grew up in a house of paladins...light draws off different emotions than Darkness. Darkness, however, can be argued that it is MORE empowered by strong emotions...ususally hatred and pain...but anyone with a great desire can draw on it..."
 
"I digress. But I have offered my advice on what to do next."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine shakes her head slowly. "I was... unclear, forgive me. It's actually the opposite. I have /some/ sense of why the pure Heartless are after me, but 'the wizard' -- his name is Jafar -- is not acting alone, and not acting simply to control Agrabah. He works in concert with at least one other mighty sorceress, of whom I've only caught a glimpse, and not a name. She commands him to some degree, and he promised to render me unto her. She was... Dark. The only other person I've ever felt nearly so strongly about was with us in Baron yesterday." Garland. She doesn't name him, politely, since it's obvious that Angantyr thinks a lot of him, but neither can she hide the shiver that crawls up her spine at the memory of his mere /gaze/ turned fully upon her, only for a moment. Darkness of an order of magnitude that nearly knocked her unconscious with its mere presence.
 
"But if you wish to investigate this conspiracy, I will not dissuade you. You seem a man who weighs the risks fully before committing to action." Her gratitude dwells in her heart, warming her words and her smile. She bows her head, taking in his lesson on light and darkness, and quietly promises to think on what he's said.
 
"It was a worthy tangent, and excellent advice. Let us travel to Rabanastre. We'll see where things go from there." Nibbling her lip as though weighing a final thought, she finally requests, a bit regretfully, "Please, if it isn't too much trouble... would you mind taking the reins again? I would rest a bit more, if I can." She's not very good at being a mercenary employer, apparently. Or /very/ good, depending on perspective.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' 
Angantyr takes the reigns. "Yes yes..." he says, with a grin. "As for...them, they are called the Shadow Lords." he says, calmly. "I know who they are, but we both know only little about their interest in you. Garland, is the one you mentioned...he showed me how to contain the darkness and shape it without consuming myself. He's not as bad as you might think, but he's both brutal and terrible." he says, with a nod.
 
"We share a mutal origin, but I know that his interest in me is part of some greater plan...for good or ill." he says, "Anyway...and I think you for your vote of confidence.
 
He pauses...and considers their location...
 
"Another half day, I think , and we can be there. Maybe more...so plenty of time to rest. Though I should probably hunt us something to eat once we get a lead on the Heartless."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
"The Shadow Lords," Jasmine repeats softly, committing the name to memory and feeling both empowered by the first answer to so very many questions, and a bit scared by the magnitude that the organization must represent, that a person she's traveling with almost at random knows quite a bit about them.
 
Garland, on the other hand, she isn't fit to speak about further, and says so. "We hadn't met before. I will judge him by his actions, like everyone else," she murmurs. "As for hunting, let's please not risk the time lost on our lead. There is food enough in my pack to hold us both for a day or more. I can resupply in Rabanastre."
 
Succumbing again to her bone-deep weariness, which is greater than any one night's sleep can fully heal, she slowly sinks against the jostling wagon seat. She may not be able to collapse completely, but there is a degree of rest to be found, perhaps. Her head, pillowed by all that hair and a beige veil to boot, drifts largely unconsciously towards Angantyr's shoulder.
 
Trust is not foolishness...

Destiny Waits For No Cetra

2012-11-27T03:54:00Z

Liz:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/26
|Location=Targ Woods
|Synopsis=Aerith, running out of supplies, decides to make her own batch of what she's missing. Naturally, as with everything else in this world, things are not so easy, and she falls into a trap she didn't know was waiting for her. In the midst of the conflict, she discovers her purpose, and something that comes with it...
|Thanks=Thanks for running this, Jasmine!
|Cast of Characters=Aerith Gainsborough, Jasmine (GM)
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith makes her way through the forest, sunlight peeking through the trees as she gathers some herbs for a few potions. Lately she's been low on stock, and since the store prices have been going up in recent weeks, she figured she'd use her talents to make some of her own. Who knows? They might even be better than the stores! But that's not really her concern, she just wants to be prepared. So for the sake of prevention, she trims, cuts and gathers what she needs in a pouch, just so she can take it back home and get everything set up.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' At first it takes a long time to notice that something's wrong. The birds sing, the bugs hum, the Midgar Zolom sleeps off the pounding it recently received from a joint taskforce of caravan guardians. Life, glorious Life, surges strong and pure and clear. The sheer ferocity of the wilderness is unsettling to many urban folks, but it welcomes its daughter, its sister, its mother, with open arms. Marshes subtly firm up under Aerith's path; vines blow gently out of her way, the ones that can resist the urge to briefly twine around her shoulder as she passes them, reaching out to touch the Last Cetra, to convince themselves that she's truly real, that they aren't alone. But persistently, the hairs on the back of Aerith's neck start to rise, an evil feeling coiled at the base of her spine. Hours pass before she realizes what it is: Someone -- or something -- is watching her.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' And she can feel it. She feels the entire forest, all of it. Wild, yes. Gentle too. Many who were scared didn't understand, but she could. In fact, she couldn't help it. She asked, did nothing more, and it gave. She only took what was needed, what the Voice told her to take, and all was well. Aerith liked to think of it as a collaborative effort. She didn't just take, she gave back, helped to create something as much as she could. And so she moved from one spot to the next, aiming to get as many of her little pouches as full as she could and back before evening. But she could feel something else, too. Something all too familiar... And the feeling made her stop as her heart contracted, shrank, tried to squeeze itself into hiding. Her breathing quickened, shallowed. When they said these things were everywhere, they were not joking. Aerith stood perfectly still, right hand grasping the center of her staff, left hand clenched in a fist. The materia in her weapon and her bracelets began to glow with anticipation. They couldn't hide from her. Then again, she couldn't hide from them because of what she was. So she waited.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Aerith makes a critical error, when she blithely assumes that all things in the universe that might come after her are Heartless; that every piece of Darkness is of the same flavor, that all hunters are one. Perhaps she could have run and hid, after all. Because once she stops moving and indicates her awareness, everything happens at once. The ground underneath her opens up -- betraying her against its will, but suddenly its will is not its own, clasped in a vicelike grip by another presence. A presence of raw, pure malice. And so she falls and falls and falls, air and darkness rushing up to meet her, into a cavern below, landing in a black pool of shockingly frigid water. There are ledges to swim to, if she has the strength and the speed. But beneath her, the water stirs, first slowly and them more rapidly, as something starts thrashing, not taking kindly to its slumber being disturbed... And just barely visible in the depths, a lidless yellow eye opens.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' A scream tore from her throat as she fell without any warning or pretense, but that wasn't the reason she was deathly afraid. No, this presence was everywhere, even in the land itself. And it was deeper than anything she'd ever encountered, a vast, empty void. This wasn't hunger, it wasn't blind animal instinct. This... whatever it was... knew. It ''understood''. Her wail of terror was cut short by a splash in the waters below, and for a few moments, she found herself unable to move. Then those moments passed, fear replaced by the need for air. She swam to the surface, took a gasp of air, and headed for the nearest ledge. Hauling herself onto somewhat dry land, she fought for every breath she could get... and once she'd regained herself, she stood on shaky legs. Then the air thickened again, heavy with dread and malice. Aerith froze, her back still turned to the water even as it churned. Something forced her to turn, made her look at what emerged... and as she stared into the lidless yellow eye, Aerith screamed again. No one to help her, no one to call on for backup. Her mind was convinced she was going to die, and she couldn't do anything but scream...

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' The eye stares directly at Aerith, as though studying not her flesh but the deeper, most private and sacred parts of herself, and there's a terrible sense of recognition: it knows exactly what she is. Seconds pass as their gazes lock. And then a second yellow orb appears, down below, this dark eye opening to glare straight at her. And a third. And another, and another... The cavern explodes with freezing water as the dark being, patiently waiting in the depths of the world for its prey, erupts to the surface. It has had many names, given to it in many worlds, but its most famous, possibly, is kraken. It -- he, there's definitely a strong masculine presence about him, coldly aggressive and endlessly, infinitely hungry -- is all tentacles, studded with popping suckers and furry, slimy hairs. What isn't, is all envenomed teeth, said to tear holes in the very fabric of reality, and... those eyes. One gets the immediate sense that this is one tiny fraction of his overall mass, that he must continue further into the world, perhaps all the way out to a lake or the sea. All the seas, even. But even as he closes in on Aerith from all directions at once, to crush and stab and warp her simultaneously, to devour her whole and draw her into himself forever, her soul to be worse than extinguished, turned into something terrible, a cog in a far greater spiritual machine... ...She realizes something worse, still, setting a new record for awful cosmic realizations at a moment when things seemed like they'd already hit rock bottom. This being was once ''alive''. It isn't a spawn of Darkness, but twisted by it beyond recognition. In a very specific way: the Lifestream that flows through all beings, flows corrupted and brakish through the kraken. It is toxic. It is fundamentally wrong. Somehow, something... or some''one''... is turning the river of all souls to very Dark purposes indeed. Aerith's ears fill with the cries of tormented spirits, every person, place, or thing consumed by this purveyor of destruction. And dimly, almost totally drowned out by the chains it's bound to itself, the kraken's own spirit screams for release. The pure Lifestream rushes around the Last Cetra, buoying her, enfolding her. Its voice is her mother's, and her grandmother's, and the whole of her race, supporting her even as they intone their demand. You must fix this. She's the only one who can.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' The screams. For the love of all that's good, the ''screams''! Aerith falls to her knees at the utter hopelessness of it, the sheer insanity. Her mind is frozen with all the overload, her senses assaulted by the cries for help, for salvation, to just let them die even though they can't... She couldn't help, how could she? She had no idea what to do, how to pull them out and cleanse them! No one told her ''how'' to be a Cetra, just that she was one! Her responses were lost amidst the weeping and pleading, and in the back of her mind, she could feel the possessed ''thing'' close in on her. The screams died down and time slowed for what seemed like minutes, hours, a life time. Aerith opened her eyes... and saw the one woman she never thought she'd see again, a spitting image of her own likeness. She knew the dress, the figure, the eyes, the hair... "Mom?" Ifalna smiled. "We can't allow you to die just yet. But from here, we can do very little to help you." Aerith looked around, saw others. Many she didn't know, but on some level she understood who they were. They had the same presence, the same force that she could sometimes feel inside of her. And now she felt it again, only magnified exponentially. Aerith remained on her knees, only in shock instead of horror. It felt like she was five again. She didn't have to ask who they were. Part of her knew, though it didn't clue her in. "They're... they're all asking me to save them. I don't know if I..." Her mother placed a hand on her forehead. "You already have everything you need." Aerith shook her head. "This... Materia won't work against this. I can feel it, it's got so many ways to beat what I have..." She sighed, shoulders slumped. "I've dealt with a darkness that most would absolutely dread. Seen things that have made others run in fear. I've been in the midst of a battle that's part of a war none of us could have comprehended. I'm just so tired..." Ifalna nodded. "I know. I can see everything you've been through. But you have to stand up now and face this, because it's your responsibility. And besides..." She winked. "It can't counter everything." One of Aerith's brows rose. "What do you mean? Do you know something?" The ghosts, those of her ancestry, faded away. "Wait! What do you mean!?" Ifalna shook her head. "There's no time! You have to free them!" Aerith glanced behind her. The arms were speeding up now as time resumed its normal pace. She leapt over one of them before it could pull her down, the other two slamming into the stone floor, piercing it as if they were spears. Aerith took a fighting stance, her materia glowing fiercely. "If there's not much choice... I'll try everything I have!" With that, she aimed a glowing sphere of flames at one of the tentacles and let fly, making her best attempt at causing some damage.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' There are just so many arms. More than should be able to fit into the cavern. At first it seems like a trick of the light -- of which there isn't much, only the reflection of dozens of ochre eyes and Aerith's own materia -- but eventually she spots it happening head on, one tentacle ''phasing through another one'' to get a better angle. That is grossly unfair, to say nothing of creepy. Whatever time and torment has caused kraken has become, he is far from a merely corporeal being, in the modern age. As the flames come pouring in, he defends himself in the efficient and entirely conventional manner of slapping his pool, sending up a wall of chill water that quenches the fire spell easily. Then it keeps moving, towards her, trying to fill her mouth and nose and ears and lungs, even as one gaping maw comes lunging in with rending, ripping teeth...

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Not much time to think, move faster! Aerith's right hand shoves forward, and a pale green sphere of light surrounds her, forcing the wave to break on her defense. Her senses pick up the incoming mouth, full of jagged teeth, and she leaps upward, forcing it straight under her. She lands right on top, and breaks into a run, blasting a ball of lightning at one of the eyes.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' The lightning arcs at the eye, flashing a blinding blue-white as it forks and sparks in all directions. The eye detonates into a ghastly shower of ebony ichor... but since the entire creature is soaking wet, the lightning doesn't stop there -- it crackles up and down the monster's body, raising tiny burns -- and, ultimately, coruscates straight into Aerith, who is, after all, standing right on top of it. By the time the electricity has run through her, each of the welts raised on the kraken's flesh has scabbed over with bubbling slime, and begun to heal. But this isn't the loving caress of the untainted Lifestream. A face briefly forms in each sucking wound, formed of pus and goo and one of the many souls trapped within the dark creature, and it screams as its very essence is consumed in the kraken's reconstruction. Just as the scream abruptly cuts off, that dark eye opens, once again, as though it was never even gone. And Aerith is assaulted by an attack on another level, as that malicious presence tries to tear open her spirit, to leave her weeping and alone in the abyss of her own mind. He whispers to her of her many failures, all the people she couldn't save, the very Planet itself fallen, in its majority, to darkness. Black ropes of pure despair rise to bind her, even as the physical arms move in for another grab.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Oh shoot... The current passes right through her, and since she's wet as well it takes an awful short time for her muscles to freeze up. She gritted her teeth as the shock hit home, her face stuck that way for several seconds. Then part of her felt herself slip over the edge of the surface she ran on, and she fell toward the jagged stone platform surrounding the lake, demented laughter and traitorous thoughts, sounding much like her own voice, echoing through her mind. An aura of darkness began to creep over her even as a tentacle wrapped around her, joined by two more. Then they squeezed. Hard. Aerith screamed, half from the slow dementia her mind underwent and half from having her nerves treated to a rough wake-up call. The one side effect of having her back in action... was that another aura, a deeper green than that of her defensive ward from earlier, rose to counter the darkness. The streams of ichor struggled, fought... and died as her inborn heritage made the whispers of doubt and failure cease. Aerith grimaced as she struggled to get out of the grip of those arms, even as they pulled her closer to an open mouth, filled more with swords than teeth. "I know you're hungry... but let me ''go''!" Aerith channeled her energies, the materia on her bracelets flared, and within half a second, two spells went live. A thin aura of pale green flashed around the flower girl before she forced another sphere of flames, held in her hand like a grenade, right into one of the arms holding her. The explosion, she hoped, would be enough to make him loosen his grip.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' There's good news and bad news. The Fire grenade does, indeed, manage to impact directly with the arm, roasting one of the suckers (though it starts regenerating immediately) and causing the kraken to drop Aerith from its crushing hold. The bad news is that it drops her straight into the drink. Then it follows her, letting the water pull her downwards as it responds to her own passage. Just for good measure, some of its many mouths kiss the surface above, breathing out a freezing mist that ices it over, cutting out the last of the light, to say nothing of the air. The darkness is absolute. An underground river may not be a true void, but in some ways, the many sensations present that would be lost in space, such as the inhomogeneity of the water, which is dense with ichor and mutated algae in some places, and thin with disgusting oil in others, and the sound, that presses in on all sides, as much a palpable force as the gaze of its many eyes, that now stare at the girl from all directions. Transmitted through the water comes the pressure of its slow, steady, endless breathing, gills flapping in and out. But... there is no heartbeat. She only has the oxygen she brought with her in her lungs, and there's no escape to be found, up and down quickly losing coherent meaning with the surface sealed off by ice...

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' No. She saw this coming. She'd realized it from the moment the dark intelligence became known to her. This thing was warped and twisted, the strings pulled by something not of its own mind. And this intelligence had finally trapped her, caught her. It even intended to watch her die with a glee that defied logic. As if it /wanted/ to see her last moments. Maybe it was right. Perhaps this was it. The screams came again, weeping, shouting for her not to leave them. They almost made her lose her breath, such was the force with which they returned. Be quiet. Let her sleep. She couldn't do anything for them, any of them. Not like this. There was just one materia she hadn't used, one she never intended to use, because no matter how much of her will she channeled into it, it never did anything. She kept it around as a keepsake, a reminder of her mother, the last part left of the woman that raised her. "You already have everything you need." Then why didn't it show itself? What was she missing? Precious seconds ticked by as she attempted to hold her breath for as long as she could. Surely that one gem, known for merely being a piece of decoration tucked away in her ribbon, wasn't the answer, was it? The screams returned, and she shook her head. Just go away! She was trying to think, and she didn't have much time to do it! Yet they persisted, did not cease. They knew she was about to die, and they didn't want to let her go. Her brows knitted with frustration. Maybe there was only one way to get them to be quiet. So she made them move, made those wailing spirits that called out to her go somewhere else. She channeled the sorrow, the pleas, the wailing, right into the materia hidden in her ribbon. There, now let her figure out what to- A flash of light erupted from behind her, just where her ribbon tied her hair back. Aerith's eyes widened as she was flooded with new life. The voices silenced, the pain from her struggles lifted, if only for an instant. Her mind stopped bickering with itself, and in her confusion, she realized something. It'd never done that before, had it? If it glowed, shined, that meant she'd ''done'' something. Her eyes widened as this new piece of information struck home. With an instinct born of a fresh drive to live, to reach the surface and break through the ice, her brows frowned and eyes narrowed. She lifted her right hand, and as if on command, a blinding sphere of light so bright it cast a pale blue aura in places, emerged just half an inch from her palm. She focused, concentrated, knowing full well she was running short on air... When she let loose, she had no idea of what would happen. It was the first time she'd used a materia that she deemed inept, incapable of growing or giving life. What happened shocked her. The sphere of light shot forward in a ''raging torrent'', a stream of energy that lanced toward the creature like it was guided on rails...

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' Holy, in its tiniest form, a mere fraction of its full, anti-apocalyptic potential, meets the dictionary definition of unholy. The results are catastrophic. There is a space of time about ten heartbeats wide that defy description or even memory -- the mind is a blank, overwhelmed by the sheer cosmic force being filled by the Lifestream as it is meant to be, untainted, uncorrupted, pure. Afterwards, Aerith finds herself back on the ground of the forest, the sheer force of the explosion having launched her through the ice and out of the cavern she'd fallen into. There's no sign of the pool down there; it seems to have caved in, at least this section. Out of the ground come tiny, radiant spheres, will-o'-the-wisps by the dozens, howling softly as they're released, then disincorporate, seemingly fading away into nothing. They are not recognizably part of the Lifestream, for all that they feel somewhat like souls of the departed -- this is something else, something strange. Mysterious but not the darker puzzle: Who has been corrupting the Lifestream? How has he been doing it? Why would he do such a thing? What does he hope to gain? She may be safe, but this isn't over... the kraken, which may or may not have survived, was the symptom of a very dark purpose, enacted over a very, very long time. A game far longer than the recent merging of the worlds, and the chaos and instability that has come of it. Identifying the disease, much less healing it, may be the work of a lifetime.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith sputtered and coughed as she found herself above ground again, her clothing soaked through, staff still in her hands, the glow of the White Materia... yes, it had even spoken its name to her before she let loose the spell... fading out. She recovered after a few moments, getting to her feet in far less disorganized fashion than down there. She couldn't see anything from here, the lake had caved in. No idea whether these wisps she saw were the spirits being freed... or something else entirely. She touched one before it faded... "What are you? What was that?"

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' There is no answer as they wink out, one by one. Only the sound of the wind in the trees, as the chorus of Life strikes up its grand symphony, welcoming Aerith back from her unexpected journey.

:'''[[Aerith]] has posed:''' Aerith looks up at the wisps, her face placid despite their refusal to answer. Definitely too easy, the answers lay elsewhere. She closed her eyes and took in a breath as the very feel of life, of the energy that drove everything, warmed her bones and made her smile. Yes, answers would come later. The White Materia glowed for a brief moment, whined as if in question. What now, it asked? Aerith shook her head. She had no idea. So many new things all at once... the most disturbing of which was that the Heartless were not the only thing to deal with. It was her destiny, her duty, to find out what was tampering with the Lifestream in such a massive way. Oh, she knew the Heartless were responsible for chewing apart the energies of her world until they were at their dregs, but it wasn't the only world that had this energy. It was everywhere, inside everyone, and it was ''all'' at risk. But she didn't have to ask the reason why anyone would want it. Faced with its very presence, its essence filling her at that one crucial moment, she understood implicitly. Memories were knowledge. Knowledge was power. Power was change, and change was everything. Control over that much energy, Heartless or not, would shift the balance of everything that lived, be it of light or darkness. She could feel the hearts of millions crying out in pain, pulled by strings they had no control over. She would find the one with the strings and end them. Even Aerith knew that which was unnatural had to be removed, had to die. And she wasn't afraid of killing those who would destroy everything. The forest did not rebel to this, only remained silent. She could feel its acceptance, and she peered back down toward the collapsed cave. "Real shame... my bag's gone." She sighed and headed back toward Goug. "I can't come back here, either. It's too dangerous."

Flashback: The Fall of Agrabah

2012-11-26T08:34:29Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2012/11/14 |Location=Agrabah |Synopsis=ICly set on the very night Final Kingdoms launched, Jafar moves into what he thought would be the endgame of..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2012/11/14
|Location=Agrabah
|Synopsis=ICly set on the very night Final Kingdoms launched, Jafar moves into what he thought would be the endgame of his quest for total domination of Agrabah. The coup is swift and successful, but Jasmine escapes...
|Thanks=NPCs by Jafar: Razoul, Fakim, The People Of Agrabah; NPCs by Jasmine: Iago, Maleficent, The Sultan, Aneesa
|Cast of Characters=Jafar, Jasmine, Maleficent
}}
:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Wrapped in a black cloud of grief, Jasmine weeps for the boy in the marketplace, slain for the crime of helping her. Beheaded, just like that, by Jafar. She is inconsolable; her royal father tried to lift her gloom, without success, eventually retiring to his own rooms for the evening, while Rajah's steadfast, furry presence has soaked up a gallon of remorse without stemming the tide one bit. Eventually, limp with the exhaustion of her day's emotional whirlwind, she cries herself to sleep.
 
Her dreams are even worse than her waking life.
 
Shadows rise from the walls of the Palace, which rise to the clouds, seemingly impenetrable; but when she looks up, the stars wink out one by one. All in a rush, the moon is extinguished, leaving her in absolute darkness. No, Darkness; an entity all its own, it reaches for her, and no matter where she flees, it waits for her to cease her flight and absorb her when she is least aware. To snuff out her light forever.
 
With a gasp, the princess sits bolt upright on her chaise, suddenly wide awake. Something is dreadfully wrong. Vitally so. She can feel it like a pressure all around her, cloying and corrupted... her nightmare seeping into reality. A tingling presence makes itself felt from the back of her neck to coil around the base of her spine. She doesn't know what it is; she's had increasingly severe headaches as the Heartless have come closer and closer to the Palace, but that connection is not obvious to her.
 
What IS clear is that she can follow the feeling... perhaps to its source. Not entirely sure if she's awake or dreaming, Jasmine frowns, rises from her cushions, and pads silently through her hated, beloved prison of a Palace. She thought she knew every nook and cranny; exploring its labyrinthine chambers was her primary entertainment for many, many years. But as the sensation of wrongness, like a saccharine aroma, guides her to a wall she's never thought much of, it dawns on her that she's also never thought much about where Jafar rests his head. It's not like she's ever willingly sought him out.
 
Resting a slender, delicate hand on the wall, she can feel the vibrations beyond. From there, it's a matter of moments before she's tried the nearby lamp -- she has to leap to reach it, but does so gracefully. A door slides open in perfect silence; it's designed not to be heard, after all. As quietly as she can, Jasmine slips inside, leaving the door cracked open behind her.
 
The first thing that reaches her ears is kvetching... from a voice she's never heard before, or only heard at a distance and discounted as her imagination. It sounds like it's laboring heavily; panting intersperses the irritable words.
 
"WHY THE HECK ... DO I STILL NEED TO RUN ON THIS WHEEL ... WHEN YOU TWO ... ARCH ... GRAND ... HIGH ... WIZARDS ARE HERE?"
 
And then there's the least amused laughter she's ever heard. Simultaneously, it is the coldest sound she's ever heard. Inching forward, she cranes her neck around the spiraling stone staircase to catch just a glimpse of the speaker, a tall green(?!)-skinned woman clad in shadow, whose face, from what she can catch from the profile, is lined with cruelty.
 
"Your servant's complaints are most amusing, Jafar. I understand now why you tolerate such a lesser being in your service." Big talk for a lady with incompetent porcine underlings, but she's long since upgraded to Heartless. Much less backtalk.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar laughs richly. He's never had anyone to share his amusement at Iago with, save for some isolated moments where, say, he and the Sultan would both laugh at the parrot's reaction to a mouthful of crackers, but since those were for such different reason, there was little true cameraderie. Iago himself has been Jafar's only true confidante, and as sharp a mind as he had, having only a parrot to socialize with has been a (small) contributing factor to Jafar's considerable... strangeness.
 
Even as he's delighting in having another wicked mind to confide in, however, he's already cutting himself off from her with deception. This is the hidden cost to lying; he denies himself the connection to others that is so natural to Jasmine. He sees it not; it is his life, it always has been. He can only watch real friendship and resent it for being saccharine, facile... denied to him.
 
"Quite so, dark lady," Jafar intones with a slight bow. "Iago's incompetence has so many redeeming attributes that it is practically a virtue all its own." Lightning sparks from the great coils above, striking the rim of a vertical disk of green-black swirling darkness, from which steps a Heartless, which lopes down to join the increasingly cramped ranks of shadowy creatures lining the walls.
 
"The pieces are all in place, my queen, thanks to you," Jafar says, with an insinuating tone that is surely obvious to the cunning Maleficent in a way it never was to the Sultan: Jafar wants something. "In my gratitude, I have no choice but to cede the glory of commanding the Khayal--excuse me, the Heartless--to topple this weakened regime. I myself will make haste to secure the princess, that her power might be added to that of the others, and further our recently-mutual aims." Of course. /That/ is the only reason he wishes to secure her, nothing personal about it.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Maleficent's laughter may be unspeakably awful, but Jasmine begins to tremble at Jafar's. It is, indeed, a dreadfully personal sound. And quite unlike the sounds he's occasionally made at some Prince's half-witticism at a banquet. It sends daggers of ice into her heart, knives that twist as she hears the traitor Vizier call this stranger his Queen.
 
She's always suspected him. Always. He's been a part of her life for a long as she can remember, but as a young child she was always confused by why his smile never reached his eyes; even then, she could sense his ambition. She always expected that one day he would leave for greener pastures, probably in the middle of Agrabah's greatest time of need -- it's astounded her that he's stuck around this long during the Heartless crisis, and seemingly worked so diligently to thwart it.
 
It had gone a long way to convince her that maybe she'd been stubborn all these years, persisting, silently, in her suspicions. That makes this betrayal even more painful.
 
Fire rising in her eyes, she gets about a half inch into storming up there to confront him -- them -- when sanity reasserts itself. There is an army of shadows, straight out of her dreams, assembling up there. And worse: 'Wizards', said ... Iago. The parrot always seemed cunning to her, and in fact her father's brutal affection always bothered her deeply. It does not strain credulity, that he's fully sentient and speaking, to boot. She feels much the same about Sahara and especially Rajah, for all that they are wordless companions.
 
But... wizards. She freezes right where she is, conflicted.
 
There's a pause as the Dark Faerie considers her options. "She is why I am here; I care nothing for your little world. Everything else is meaningless." But, in the end, she has a certain grudging respect for petty revenge: "...Very well. Have your fun. So long as I have her, in the end."
 
That's more than enough for Jasmine. Swiftly, she retreats, closing the door behind her without so much as a pop. Jafar's words echo in her mind: 'the pieces are all in place.' The guards. She daren't call for them, perhaps cannot even be seen by them. And they are always, always posted outside Father's door; she cannot warn him without getting through at least a few. Her intimate knowledge of Palace layout leaves her in good stead as she makes her way back to her room.
 
She needs three things:
 
Rajah, who surely has not been co-opted. She'd stake her life on it, and she's about to.
 
The scimitar her Father forbade her to own, that she can reach him before it's too late. Her skills are miniscule, but she hasn't watched the Guard train all these years for nothing, then practiced in secret in her room.
 
And her share of the royal jewels, in case all goes ill.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
A deep blue midnight is draped across the sprawling City of Enchantment. Little swirls of wind-blown sand catch the moonlight, like glittering sparkles of magic in the air. In all directions, pure white dunes heap like sugar piles, a landscape both monotonous and arresting. Inside the walls, the palace's alabaster towers gleam as though they were coated in a thin layer of ice, but the heat belies this; even at this hour, Agrabah is warm enough to reward rest and punish motion.
 
Jafar, Grand Vizier, rarely has cause to venture outdoors, and the cool marble caverns of the palace protect him. Still, it is unusual that he chooses to wear such dark colors and multiple layers, even if they are in the light Arabian style. The truth is, his body is gaunt enough that it's all surface area; he loses heat very easily and actually requires some swaddling to be comfortable inside the palace. It is odd, then, that he shivers as he walks, on three legs as in the riddle of the Sphynix, his third tapping metallically. Always he has acted subtly, his venom slow. Tonight, he risks everything in one blatant gamble, and the thrill and terror are oppressive.
 
Jafar pauses outside Jasmine's chambers. Once more he comes to her room, this time as himself, and with an even more diabolical heart. He inhales, setting his face to fearful submission, eyes wide, mouth small. He enters, and gets down on one knee, eyes closed, head down, one palm laid sincerely across his chest. Humiliating himself like this does not hurt him; tricking others was always sweet enough to him to be worth it, and besides, this will be the last time. Even if he fails, he will never have to bow again. There's a certain nostalgia in the moment, and he takes pleasure in the role.
 
"Princess! Your highness, ten thousand apologies from your humble advisor, but a situation has arisen in the palace that simply cannot wait." His voice is high, wheedling, subservient. Iago, notably, is absent from his shoulder.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Her pockets are stuffed with treasure, invisibly so; one of the benefits of bedlah pants is that they can conceal a remarkable quantity of stuff without losing their poofiness. Rajah is awake and briefed, and curled around her practically like a shawl. Her scimitar is a plain device, a soldier's tool in every way, but she's been keeping it sharp, especially since the attacks on the city began.
 
Fully loaded, Princess Jasmine turns to begin her one-woman, one-tiger assault on her father's chamber, when... Jafar arrives. She's too slow.
 
But perhaps not yet too late.
 
Her mind races through her options. She probably can't take him; she knows, from the rare times that they've touched, out of courtesy or some awkward attempt at 'comfort', that he's frightfully strong, and a magician to boot. Plus there's the matter of that army of monsters. She cannot hope to overcome him with her small strength, and perhaps not even Rajah's.
 
But a battle of the minds... perhaps. Perhaps not, considering how successfully he's engineered all this. Even so, it's her best chance.
 
Carefully, without turning around, she holds the scimitar out to Rajah, who silently accepts it, cradling it carefully in his fangs. A single hand gesture, coupled with the terrible tension he can sense in her body, communicates her desire: follow, but at a distance.
 
Then she embarks upon acting the part of her life: the innocent girl she was five minutes ago. "Jafar," she murmurs, finding soft sleepiness somewhere in her voice -- she's still so tired, though the most alert she's ever been in her life. Her every sense is on edge, including the new one that she doesn't understand... and it's suddenly screaming to stay away from the Vizier.
 
But that's the one thing she mustn't do, not yet. Not until they're somewhere where she isn't cornered. Slowly, keeping hidden all traces of the pain it costs her to do it, she emerges from the shadows, into the golden lamplight of her chambers. "What is so urgent that it could not wait until morning?" Don't be a fool! her instincts scream, he knows you're up to date on the Khayal -- the Heartless -- at least. He knows you care, and he knows you worry.
 
Fear is easy to summon to her voice. It fills every part of her that isn't brimming with anger; the challenge is keeping the latter out, but she manages. "Is it," she hesitates, as though she dare not speak of such a calamity, "Is it the Khayal? I... I dreamed of them."
 
The best lies, she's long since learned, growing up in this house of vipers, are always seeded with truth.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar underestimates Jasmine. Some of that is sexism, but more of it is classism. She's a princess, she's never had to work for anything, or face challenges. And then some of it is simply out of his control; he doesn't fully understand what being a Princess of the Heart means, and can't imagine the potential she has, or that she might have sensed the dark powers he was unlocking. He just hasn't had enough time to talk to Maleficent yet... or get his voracious eyeballs on her library, which he assumes exists somewhere, and he lusts for profoundly.
 
Still, his suspicions would have been aroused if Jasmine had acted entirely confused. What did she /think/ might be happening, a parade? He rises gracefully, hand still on his chest, head slightly bowed still, but not so far that his serpent-slit eyes cannot look upon her. "A dream?" he says, feigning admiration. "The royal blood in your veins grants many gifts, your highness. Perhaps it is of import." He's lying shamelessly, until he realizes that he isn't. She's not just a princess of Agrabah, she's a Princess of Heart. Is this a normal dream she had, or a premonition? The latter idea chills him.
 
"But we must discuss that later," he says. "If I might beg your silence... can you hear it?" There's nothing to hear, really, just a faint breeze, and an almost inaudible hint of city noise, which can only be heard at all in the palace if the wind is right, but is always present.
 
No... it's always present /during the day/.
 
"The populace has gathered outside the gates, princess. Rebelliously they ignore the wartime curfew, and seek to protest the policies made necessary by these regrettably militant times. General Razoul even fears they will tear down the gate. Forgive my impertinence, Princess Jasmine, but only you can calm them at a time like this. Your father for all his wisdom and might is not always... I dare not go further, I merely beg you to speak with them."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It chills the princess, how skillfully Jafar attempts to manipulate her. He knows her so very well, at least superficially. And why shouldn't he? They've shared a home for her entire life. Obediently, Jasmine tilts her head to one side, to listen carefully for the sound. "I hear nothing," she protests softly, and why shouldn't she? That's how he's always seen her... credulous and pathetic. And maybe she has been, to allow this to occur. If only she'd been bolder with Father... somehow made him see this cobra at the heart of his court. Why wouldn't he listen to her? Why has he become so difficult to reach, the older and more eloquent she's become?
 
The passing breeze provides all the explanation required for the goosebumps raised on every bit of exposed flesh. She shakes herself out of her very real reflections, the motion sending cascades of luscious black hair pouring around her. It doesn't warm her at all. She is permanently freezing.
 
As though pettily blaming the Vizier for her own hesitation, she snaps, "Must you mince words even during an emergency?" Stalking out of her chambers -- got to get him away from Rajah, got to get him away from Rajah, got to create some distance so that Rajah can follow -- she furiously pushes aside the silken curtains of her door and sets a tremendously fast pace down the hallways. Now, at last, she allows some of her fury to leave her lips, scorching the very air. "The people have every right to be frightened, and to act on that fear. If the guards have harmed one hair on their heads... if you've dared commit more murder in the name of my safety this night..." she warns, eyes narrowing almost to slits.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar is forced to sweep back diagonally in a noisy flutter of red-lined black cape, his brazen staff planting down as he bows at her passage. His mouth twists in annoyance when he can tell it's safe; and he's very good at it by now, he's been making faces behind her back since she was a toddler. The people have the /right/ to riot, now, to disagree with the Sultan? That would have been one small consolation if he had lived to see her and her husband on the throne; watching her either lose that idealism painfully, or rule ineffectually with all her sickening compassion.
 
"I have come to understand your feelings on such matters," he tries to soothe, knowing that saying he /agrees/ with her feelings would not be believable, "and hope that you are able to resolve the situation without violence." He hurries along. Why is she walking so accursed quickly? He has to break into a jog to catch up, to lead her to the gatehouse, where the Sultan traditionally addresses his kingdom.
 
Deeper inside the palace, Razoul stands like a grim, broad-shouldered statue outside the Sultan's chambers. His hand is on the handle of his drawn scimitar. Already he has committed treason a dozen times, but it isn't getting easier. He's flanked by four palace guard, including the tall, skinny Hakim and the round blob Fazahl, standing on the threshold of an irreversable decision.
 
* * *
 
"The princess does not value your service. But she does not see the real you, nor has she seen the threat as you have. No one has," Jafar said, his words possessing a force of reason that could not be denied. Every one of them struck a chord of truth inside Razoul, even if it was a truth some part of him wanted to fight. "The Khayal are the most mortal danger Agrabah has yet faced, and require decisive action to defeat."
 
"This will require decisive action," Razoul had told Jafar sternly, as if the cowardly vizier would balk.
 
"You must protect the people. No one will survive if the situation persists as it stands presently. The Sultan awaits his own death, the death of us all."
 
"I know you don't want to hear this, Jafar, but the Sultan cannot protect us," Razoul decided.
 
"I must bow to your argument. But strength alone cannot defeat an enemy of infinite strength. The only leader for such desperate times is one with unmatched cunning and guile."
 
"Unmatched... unmatched cunning. You need to take responsibility for this, Jafar. /You/ need to lead us against the Khayal."
 
"What makes you suggest such an extreme measure, General?" Jafar asked, in his normal voice.
 
* * *
 
"It's the only way," Razoul says firmly. "It is this, or we all die. For Agrabah," he says, and his men echo it. They march into the bedchamber boldly. As they approach the Sultan's bed, one by one the guards drop to their knees reflexively, as if they cannot physically stop themselves, but Razoul grits his teeth and forces himself onward. "My lord," he says, he /commands/, "wake up."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine, of course, cannot counter Jafar's silent assertions; she herself is partially saying what she thinks he expects to hear, and is gratified by his oily response. But it's also true that her eyes have been opened as to the plight of her people. Until earlier today, she had no idea what kind of poverty existed in her kingdom. Surely her father does not know -- he is unreasonably proud of their prosperity, that he banished most traces of squalor in his mighty youth.
 
But bearing brief witness to the casual suffering of the ordinary citizen of Agrabah has not shattered her idealism, but rather inflamed it. It burns more brightly than ever, within her, and the words that spilled from her mouth were, on some level, raw, unvarnished truth. She's wise enough to know that a certain amount of violence is inevitable in a riot... but strong enough, she suspects, to prevent it, if it came to that.
 
Of course, it isn't really. Right?
 
She does not want to go to the gatehouse; a tiny, enclosed space like that, it's the only place worse than her chambers were. Rajah is a shadow within a shadow, behind them, intelligent enough to angle that scimitar so that it doesn't catch what little light there is, here in the heart of the night. He is absolutely, viciously silent in the way that only a great cat can be.
 
Jasmine has learned much from him as well.
 
Like the way she can spring from reasonably casual jog to sudden, intense, beautifully fluid motion. Just as they reach the outer wall, she leaps into action, trying to pound past the gatehouse and around the corner, out of sight. She's very fleet of foot; running within the courtyards, when she could get away with such unprincessly behavior, was one of the ways she could badly simulate freedom. She's known to do so daily, in fact, rising with the dawn to take a perimeter or two, at the run.
 
But in this critical moment, her gait is arrested by shock: there ARE crowds assembled outside the Palace. It wasn't all a sham. And, inevitably, she can't help but be blinded by concern for her people, even in the middle of a coup: could she actually be needed here?
 
She stumbles and slows, exactly long enough for Jafar to react.
 
With better hunter's instincts than his ward, Rajah does exactly nothing. He continues to lie in wait for his moment.
 
* * *
 
The Sultan has also had troubled dreams, of late. His late wife, his beloved queen, weeps in them. Sometimes she rages. Either way, she is as brilliant as the dawn, exactly as he remembered her. "You are blind!" she cries. "You are deaf!" But always she continues, bafflingly to his hypnotized, befuddled brain that is so convinced that everything in the world is fine (except for Jasmine's pesky suitor situation): "You are needed! Your people need you! Our daughter needs you!"
 
"Whuh-whuh-what?" he sputters, his beard bristling, his moustache wobbling as wildly as his jowls, as he's forced awake for the first time in years. "Razoul! What is the meaning of this intrusion?" He can yet be imperious, in his bumbling way, and misunderstands the guards who have taken a knee all around them. Mostly, however, he sounds testy... until the mix of his dream -- Jafar may have been more right than he realized, about the bloodline of Enchantment -- and his confused awakening cause him to turn even paler than his decades indoors already have. Or perhaps it is simply a father's love for his daughter making him unconsciously wise. There are few forces more powerful in the universe, after all, especially when in conjunction with one such as she.
 
He has a terrible premonition, and suddenly -- somewhat foolishly, but also very rightly -- fears not for himself, but for his heir.
 
"H-has something happened to Jasmine?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
The massed crowd is there, just as Jafar said, but they are not rioting. They wait, as dazed as their Sultan at being rousted from bed at this hour by the heralds, gathered to hear a proclamation. When they see Jasmine, even running, a weary applause rises. Jafar, grimacing at Jasmine's speed, shoves forth his cobra staff and lets a bolt of red energy, suspended through motes of floating sand, strike her in the back, knocking her forward first, then dragging her her back rapidly, first along the floor, and then through the air. Laughing with pure, genuine glee at the sheer fun of manipulating physics with his new powers, Jafar twists Jasmine and pulls her upright to face him, her hands held to her sides, her body immobile below the neck due to a shroud of glimmering red, that turns her skin a sunset orange and her clothing a rich purple.
 
The crowd below could see little of this; they can only see Jasmine at all when she's in the gatehouse, and so they simply saw her run out, and then reappear as if she crawled back in or something. Well, it's not the strangest thing they've seen rich people do, what with all the suitors rolling through the main avenue. They wait placidly to be addressed.
 
"I cannot compel you not to scream," Jafar warns her calmly, "but I can squeeze you until you have no air to scream with. I take it your dream was more illuminating than you let on. It seems even a kitten has some deceit in her... admirable." His approval seems genuine. "Wave to the nice people, prin-cess," he instructs her in a friendly, baritone singsong, twisting her at the waist while leaving her legs facing him, and lifting her right arm until her hand is at the level of her face. Grimacing as he tries to learn the fine motion, he has her palm swipe back and forth, accidentally bonking her lightly in the cheek twice. The crowd doesn't notice, and their cheering is riotous. They don't get to see Jasmine very often.
 
* * *
 
The sound of the crowd reaches even Razoul and the Sultan. Razoul glances toward it, knowing his time is running short. "Your daughter is fine," Razoul assures him. "But I have my duty tonight, like all nights... only this night, you won't like it very much." His large, wide face works with emotion, and something boils out. "Didn't I serve you well? Didn't I love Agrabah? Didn't I love you, and your family, for my whole life?"
 
The brawny man controls himself. "I am here to depose you, my lord." Razoul's vocabulary isn't great, except insofar as it relates to his job. "For the good of Agrabah. Jafar is sultan, now. You had your chance to protect us, and you failed."

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The Sultan sits there on his bed, stunned by the tidings bourne to him on the lips of his guards; relieved by news of Jasmine, but staggered nonetheless. "General Razoul," he murmurs, "I have known you since you were a lad. I have loved you like a son." In a properly distant Sultanesque way, anyhow. He's very fond of Razoul, the only reason the man's incompetence has been allowed to persist, other than Jafar's influence. "What madness has seized you, that you would choose to destabilize the city at a time like this?" He looks very childlike, wide-eyed and staring, totally unable to comprehend the treachery afoot.
 
Until a name penetrates his consciousness.
 
"Jafar... you... you VILE BETRAYER!" The curse springs hotly from his tongue, and he stands up along with it. Even atop his cushions, he must crane his neck to look up at his men. But his glare makes him seem ten feet tall. "Take me to your new master, then. General." The title is made mockery of with his tone, yet he offers his wrists with great dignity. "But he is no Sultan... only a pretender." Razoul is not so great and terrible as Jafar will be; he retains his poise, for now, rage spots high upon his cheeks.
 
The cowering will come later...
 
* * *
 
Jasmine screams.
 
Who can blame a girl for trying? Besides, she's wanted to scream ever since she first felt the terrible presence of the mysterious shadowy woman, and events since then have not put her in a better state of mind. It's an outlet for the hysterics she's been so desperately suppressing. But she quickly discovers that Jafar is as good as his word; she is squashed by an invisible hand practically before her piercing cry is released, and spends the next few moments trying not to black out, as stars of asphyxiation dance before her eyes.
 
Afterwards, when she can breathe again, she glares daggers at Jafar... well, at the crowd, though they can't hope to catch the finer details of her face. Nor does the ex-Grand Vizier need to see it, to feel it; she radiates rage, that fiery defiance she's so famed for rolling off of her in waves. It has never burned hotter. If she were a flame, it would be pure white, without even the faintest hint of blue.
 
She does not dignify the man with words. Lifting her chin imperiously, every inch the queen she was born to be despite the flopping of her hands, she awaits his next move at /her/ pleasure, or at least somehow manages to make it feel that way.
 
In only one way does the remnant of her body she yet controls betray her distress, perhaps even her delicious despair: a single tear escapes her left eye, and, left unmanaged, rolls slowly down her cheekbone, to her chin, and finally, her swanlike neck.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
* * *
 
Razoul trembles. He is like a big child, sometimes, and he's been chastened by his father. But rage follows. "You are the one who has destabilized the city. I was wrong, I'm not deposing you. Because you haven't been the Sultan in a long time. And it's about time this city had one. Clap him in irons and take him to the courtyard, men." The guards slowly rise, glancing at each other. "I didn't say /tomorrow/, you buffoons. Sultan's orders," Razoul growls.
 
That seems to work. Hakim and Fazahl step forward, pulling the Sultan from bed, not roughly, and lock his wrists in manacles. They push him along behind Razoul, marching out into the courtyard.
 
Above, in the gatehouse, Jafar basks in the applause as if it was his own. He doesn't particularly enjoy hurting Jasmine physically by crushing the air from her, what he enjoys about it is silencing her, controlling her, shaming her. The freedom that never should have been hers to begin with--she, a mere walking dowry--was taken from her so easily by his new power. This is how it should have been all along. He has suffered all too much impudence from her.
 
"Oh, my my my," Jafar tisks with mock gentleness in his deep voice, seizing control of her head and turning it towards him. It's an external force, and though it is surprisingly precise, it cannot make her do anything a number of invisible hands couldn't; her tears are safe, and any control over her expression would be extremely crude. What he can compel her to do is turn her face up to him as she cries, denying her even the privacy of her dark canopy of hair. "Are those tears? Poor little girl. Perhaps you realize how thoroughly you have underestimated me. Perhaps you regret your treatment of me all these years. But what is happening tonight, my dear, is merely na-tural. What was artificial was a pampered, self-righteous girl like you having power over me, and one day soon, over all of Agrabah."
 
Jafar's voice had descended into a snarl around 'self-righteous,' but it lightens into an elegant courtier's tone again. "You have a decision tonight, Princess Jasmine, perhaps the first you have ever truly made. And you /are/ a princess, yes, even now. A desert rose such as yourself is a rare treasure worth coveting." Using the thin snout of the bronze cobra, Jafar touches Jasmine's jawline, then slides the cold metal up along it until it arrests one of her tears, which he then tosses away with a flick of his wrist.
 
"Your first option is to turn to your people--MY people--and announce our engagement. Hail the rise of the new sultan. Your father will live a life of luxury, and you will rule as queen, just as you were born to do." He leans in close to her, savoring her expression. The crowd can see it, and there's a general sound of discontent, which Jafar simply enjoys. "You do not relish this choice? Well, allow me to educate you about the other."
 
Stepping back, Jafar swipes his staff across his body, spinning Jasmine about as if she were dancing, to face the opposite direction, where Hakim and Fazahl have forced the Sultan to his knees in the courtyard. The vizier crosses his arms, releasing Jasmine's body down to the waist, so she can react more effusively to the sight of her father in irons.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
The cruelest realization of her own total powerlessness comes when Jasmine cannot even shudder at the touch of Jafar's staff; her body remains helplessly in the thrall of the shimmering crimson sands, limp, pliable. Vulnerable.
 
Her spirit is none of these things.
 
"My /treatment/ of you?" she murmurs furiously, incredulously, modulating her voice carefully so that it does not fall upon the crowd below, and thus necessitate cutting her off again. It purrs with anger. "You were raised to the highest honors in the land, honors that you rightfully earned! Grand Vizier, second only to my Father! He conceded your every whim, treated you like family! Your luxuries are no less than our own! And it all meant... meant nothing to you, just because it was a single step below a man who respected your wisdom utmost?"
 
Somewhere in this tirade, around the time her voice breaks on the word 'nothing', it -- and she -- undergoes a gradual transformation... from anger to another emotion. At first, it's hard to clearly recognize.
 
"Yes... I underestimated you. I truly believed that somewhere in your heart you enjoyed your lofty position, were gratified by the esteem of all Agrabah."
 
It's sadness. No, worse than that; it's pity. Actual sympathy.
 
"Your many victories tasting of nothing but sand, sand that slipped through your fingers, leaving you nothing but pain."
 
Her flow of tears had stopped at first, dammed by exactly the sort of self-righteous rage the sorcerer so despises, but now they come again... not for herself, not for her people, not even for her father, though her hands drifted up to her mouth in the gasping, woeful reaction he was looking for, back when the Sultan first appeared.
 
She weeps for Jafar.
 
And through her shimmering tears, she lifts her mournful gaze to meet his eyes, and see past them, somehow, to what lies beneath. To his unhappy essence. She inhales sharply, his suffering becoming her own.
 
"How miserable have you been, all this time... for you to be driven to /this/?"

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar can see that she wants to flinch, to shiver, at his metallic touch, and relishes the look in her eyes when she realizes she can't. /This is your reality now. Your desires, which have ruled me for so long, now mean nothing/.
 
Her outrage only makes him increasingly more smug. It's expected, and impotent. All of her various tantrums throughout childhood and adolescence have been; only a chance of birth made them have the force of state. Why should being a single step beneath a simpleton please him, when he was twenty steps more brilliant? What comfort were luxuries when he had to bow and kneel hundreds of times more often than any peasant?
 
It takes him a little while to understand the change. It's hard to comprehend, this scrap of kindness. He wasn't wrong about her: a desert rose blooms in spite of everything, in the worst conditions. Her sympathy wracks him, she can even see it; his shoulders hunch in a bit, his chin bows from its proud lift. "You wretched girl," he seethes, glad Iago is still churning that wheel, glad no one else is here to see her speak to him like that, and see his responding weakness. "You shed tears... FOR ME? I don't want your disgusting sympathy, I want your submission! Even now, you condescend? I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan! Your tears are as worthless to me as grains of sand are to the desert." Funny, he seemed to enjoy them a moment ago.
 
"And you lie!" he says, turning on her savagely, having just barely started to pace. "No one respected me. They would bow if they thought they had to, but held mockery and disdain in their hearts. They respected /you/, and for what? You have never done anything worthwhile in your life that did not pertain to hair maintenence. Only now will they respect me. Only now am I pure and true, a dark monolith that will rise over this kingdom and cast its icy shadow across history." Jafar's voice is becoming louder, more hoarse, less sane.
 
Drawing his staff back, Jafar looks for a moment as if he will strike Jasmine across the face with it, but instead it whips past her, and suddenly she is surrounded by a groaning crackle of twisting stone. The four corners of the gatehouse roof, each held up by a polished stone pillar, rip free as he completes the motion, sailing up high into the air, charting an arc down toward Razoul and the Sultan. The roof rams into the carefully watered grass of the courtyard, ploughing it up deeply enough to reveal the red, infertile soil beneath, and grinds to a halt near the startled Razoul.
 
The sky above Jafar begins to glow red, reacting to his rage, covering the crowd in a bloody hue as they begin shoving back into each other, trying to back away. "Say it!" he orders Jasmine, locking her limbs out straight. It's painful, but he's not /trying/ to hurt her to compel obedience. It seems to be simple carelessness. "Tell me I am better than you in every way!" he howls at her, saliva flung from his empassioned lips. She will not take this moment from him. He has suffered for it for so long.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
Jasmine's compassion withstands Jafar's fury, his intimidation. She stares up at him, maddeningly serene in the face of his insults. One eyebrow dares to lift, eloquently expressing her disagreement, as he rants on and on about how he had never been truly respected. In its silent insolence, it concedes that perhaps /she/ hadn't always been taken with him, but given the events of today, was that such an unreasonable reaction?
 
But when he moves to strike at her, then starts wrecking the palace, she finally shows signs of fear. She pales and shrinks away from him until his power over her is once again absolute, holding her light as a feather and stiff as a board, so to speak. Then she's lost that option. At first she winces, anticipating further violence. But then something in her alters, again, the tension in her body unlocking as though someone had opened her with a key.
 
Floating there, in the ruined gatehouse, the princess relaxes into the hold, mentally if not physically. By not fighting it, she spares herself some pain.
 
She probably earns some from her expression, though, ROLLING HER EYES like such a teenager. His tantrum, his five-year-old demands -- ones she's heard before, from a Prince that age, sent by a distant court to 'woo' her just last year -- she finds them tiresome. 'Are you quite finished?' her flashing eyes ask, impatiently, darting away to glance at the ruin of the rooftop, and, very briefly, her father. Then they glaze out again, and she's silent for many long seconds... weighing her limited options, perhaps? Preparing to submit?
 
The words, spoken with dawning awareness of their truth on far more levels than the physical (which is where, of course, they are the most false), drop from her lips like delicate baubles, carried on the unseasonal wind to the city:
 
"...You have no power over me."
 
Once more, very suddenly, comes that fluid transformation from inaction to action, poetry in motion, as she unleashes the concentration she'd been building from the moment she stopped actively struggling against the red sand and started feeling her way through it, getting a sense of its function, its true form, and her freedom within that form. It's far more clumsy a motion than she'd wish it to be, her shoulder lunging forward. She screams in agony as it pops out of alignment, then right back in, in a sickening moment of strain.
 
But the message could not be clearer to the populace below, as the rigid arm, and hand, both conveniently attached to her shoulder, slams up towards Jafar's face in what is surely an earth-shatteringly loud slap if it manages to land. Even if it doesn't, her defiance is blatantly obvious.
 
"You can't be both," she gasps through the red miasma rising before her eyes, not magical at all but the vocal objection of her body to such callous treatment, as Rajah chooses that moment to lunge in, body-checking the Vizier to try to break his concentration. "The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen... a path of darkness."
 
Even then, a degree of her sympathy remains.
 
"It's not too late... to turn back," she suggests, as she's half-dragged, half-carried away by the mighty tiger, her fists in his fur, his leaps devouring the distance to the stairs down to the courtyard. Still, her soft, sad voice reaches him, somehow. "Never... too late. But I was never... yours to claim. Do I not... belong... to your dark mistress?"
 
Her scimitar, worthless and precious, lies forgotten at Jafar's feet, dropped by Rajah when he went for the princess.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar does not punish her for her insolence, not physically. He hadn't intended to hurt her in the first place, but one shouldn't think better of him for it; his indifference to her pain is a different sort of bad, and his sadism is emotional, which is in some ways worse. It spares Jasmine what surely would have been an unpleasant punishment, though, as there are any number of horrible ways she could be twisted at the moment. Her eyeroll irks him, but on a shallower level; suddenly she is that frustrating teenager again.
 
Instead of hurting her, he thinks about how he will threaten her. Her father is the obvious route. There is that tiger, too, and the horse. He does not dismiss the idea of cutting her hair as silly, either. No one keeps something for the length of time Jasmine has been working on that long black tail without valuing it. He pauses in his thought as she relaxes, seems to work on a decision. His arms lower, his face quiets, and he glares at her, waiting.
 
Her statement of independence shocks him. He doesn't understand; if he were in her position, he would at least pretend to submit. What value is there in defiance that deception would lack? It simply boggles the mind. Then she is yanking, hauling herself as if from quicksand--or worse, drying cement--a wet pop announcing what was probably the worst pain of the princess's life. Jafar opposes her, but he's always a step behind, trying to drag the sand back into position around a lithe and wriggling form. Her slap lands like a snapping tree branch, almost dislodging the vizier's turban, the side flap half-covering his cheek as he twists from the blow.
 
"You," he says, and that word is filled with a fast-bubbling gurgle of rage. His staff flares up in a starburst of crimson, preparing some dark magic, but Rajah is there, his sheer size and weight ramming Jafar into the stone bannister on the palace side of the gatehouse. He seems more resilient than he once was, however, and it is not a mistake for Rajah to flee rather than try and press the advantage. Jafar throws himself to his feet with a thrash of his cape, flipping the bent top of his turban back into place, long, thin face twisted in a snarl.
 
Lifting his staff up with both hands, he prepares the slam the butt of it into the stone, to carve out a chunk to ride atop and pursue. He hesitates, however, his mind always ready to examine a choice from many angles. His power is nearly untested, at the moment, and if he fails, Maleficent will know. He will hear from her either way, but if it's the guards that let her slip, and not him, it will spare him some blame, at least. More importantly, he will not fail in front of Agrabah. At the moment they will have difficulty interpreting today's events, but if he goes out chasing in the streets...
 
Jafar sets his staff down. "Don't just stand there, fool!" Jafar howls down at Razoul. "After her!"
 
Jasmine hears alarm bells being pounded in the towers, sees palace guard spilling from every door. Jafar dusts off his shoulder mildly, and levitates his way down to the ground, walking over to the Sultan, who was left in the hands of two guards as the others peeled off after Jasmine. The grim-faced vizier looks down, far down, at his royal captive, and fills his palm with crackling red energy, letting it illuminate his gaunt features from below as his mouth curls in an anticipatory grin. When he speaks, the relish in his voice could only have been born of many years of greedy patience.
 
"Now then... tell me I am /better/ than you. In e-very way."
 
Jafar's cackle is audible to the fleeing princess, dry and wild, even over the pounding bells.

:'''[[Jasmine]] has posed:''' 
It all happens so fast.
 
Rajah takes her directly to Sahara; the silver-white mare is unsaddled but clearly raring to go, stamping a foot quite as impatiently as Jasmine rolled her eyes, moments ago. She finds her feet, and then the tiger's head finds them too, urging her up, up.
 
She barely has time to question who released her beloved steed, the creature only she and her mother could ever tame, when the answer presents itself amid a rush of sensory overload. The sound of rushing guards, their swordbelts all a-clatter, turbans askew, feet slapping against the marble floors, wars with Jafar's laughter and the extended ringing in her ears that just won't quit; vestiges of her abused shoulder. The smell of churned earth as they gallop past the lawn, and the sight of her father starting to go to his knees, then hesitating, jaw hitting floor as he sees this vision of his lost bride ride away.
 
It is the commoner Aneesa, Jasmine's nurse as a child and maid as a teenager, who has obviously set Sahara loose and is now wrestling open one of the smaller external gates. The pure, fierce gratitude and love in the princess' eyes as she realizes the truth is reason enough to have done it. The old woman may have been beneath Jafar's awareness as a possible avenue for revenge until now, but she gladly sacrifices that anonymity to spur her princess-daughter to freedom. To finally and absolutely throw open the gilded birdcage and let that girl fly free.
 
But she isn't free. Sahara may leap, gloriously, over the makeshift barricade of tables that desperate guards try to shove in her way, reveling in the wind and the speed, but Jasmine's heart was left back with her father. Looking over her shoulder, trusting to the horse's instincts for guidance, the last thing she sees is the Sultan's submission before Jafar, chubby arms thrust past his head, embracing the dirt. And then the guards, surrounding Aneesa, drawing their blades and --
 
-- she's past the palace wall, she's in the rioting crowd, now, and it's eyes front if she wants to keep her seat. It's a combination of impressive horsemanship, divine intervention and tiger roar that allows her to slice a path across the town square without trampling anyone. The guards pursue desperately, not nearly as careful of the people between them and their quarry, but no brutality is going to change the fact that she's on the four fastest equine legs in all Agrabah, arms wrapped around Sahara's neck, hanging on for dear life...
 
"I ran away." The memory, less than a day old, hits her like a stone wall. She leans close to the boy, confiding her secret and her solace, her pride and her shame. "I ran away, and I am /not/ going back."
 
How strange, some wild fragment of her mind reflects, that her life has transformed so completely in so little time. She finally has what she always wanted: escape from Palace life, adventure in her immediate past and forseeable future.
 
And now she'd do anything to go home.
 
"I will..." It takes her a moment to realize that she's swearing this oath out loud, but once she does, she goes through with it at the top of her lungs. Let them hear, and wonder. Let /him/ hear, and tremble... or laugh. "I will return to you!" Agrabah, people, father. Vizier. "With aid, and... with justice!" It's a promise.
 
Voice echoing around her, hair flying behind her, she disappears, into the winding streets and ultimately out to the desert.
 
'Free' at last.

:'''[[Jafar]] has posed:''' 
Jafar, from behind, is mostly the black monolith he described himself as. The monolith twists, in the courtyard, revealing his calm, smug face, confidence bolstered by the praise of none other than a Sultan. He drolls only one word in response to Jasmine's promise. "Good."

Maleficent

2012-11-24T20:16:36Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Maleficent
|age=Immortal
|image=Maleficent2.gif
|species=Dark Fairy
|sex=Female
|height=Sorceress: Tall, Dragon: Taller
|weight=Sorceress: Mostly Robes, Dragon: Heavier
|series=Sleeping Beauty
|styles=Sorceress Supreme, The Dire Dragon
|hometown=Enchanted Dominion
|alignment=Forces of Ruin
|group=Shadow Lords
|occupation=The Big Bad
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujzp9ffPwPM
|quote="You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me?! ME, the Mistress of All Evil?!"
|footer=Malevolently musing much masterful malarkey.
}}
'''Summary:'''

A sorceress of awesome power, Maleficent is the lord of Hollow Bastion, the founder and leader of the Shadow Lords, and the master of the Heartless. She is directly responsible for the fall of most of the worlds recently lost to Darkness, and indirectly responsible for virtually all of them. No one knows what her true intentions are, but 'total multiverse domination' is a reasonable guess. Her past is as shrouded in darkness as her present, but it's definitely true that she was behind the curse on the Enchanted Dominion, and was once defeated by a joint taskforce of Prince Phillip, Keyblade Master Aqua, and three meddling fairy godmothers, succumbing to a combination of their might and her own hubris. The good news? Apparently she can be beaten. The bad news? Being stabbed through the heart with the Holy Sword of Truth and cast into an endless pit of fire hasn't done much to slow her down.

''Skills:'' Phenomenal Cosmic Power, All The Space She Wants, Has Read Just Enough Of The Evil Overlord's Guide To Be Dangerous But Not Enough To Be Unbeatable, Big Entrances, Too Cool For A Villain Song, Has Diablo For A Familiar, Evil Is Petty But That Does Not Make It Less Scary, The Wickedest Witch Of All, A Fairy In The Worst Way, The Dragon In Every Way, Manipulative, Magnificent B-word

'''History:'''

It's Maleficent. She's THE evil sorceress, the dark fairy, the wicked witch. She might have been good once, but she's retconned anyone who might remember out of existence. Let's pick up the story after that: she's more or less the embodiment of evil, up in her ominously evil tower, surrounded by her hilariously incompetent minions, plotting multiverse domination for a living, with petty revenge as a part-time hobby.

Xehanort shows up and lets her in on a little secret: the existence of Kingdom Hearts, the Seven Purest Lights necessary to unlock it, which are the quick trip to power (as opposed to individually hunting down every last (in fact, theoretically infinite) lesser Dusk Princess to get the job done). Using 'not being invited to the christening' as a fairly flimsy excuse to get her hands on Princess Aurora's Heart, she curses the first Princess of Heart with a dire fate.

Eventually it comes to pass, despite the better efforts of Flora, Fauna and Merryweather; it takes the intervention of a Fated Prince and some pesky Keyblade Master to wreck aright, though not before she herself forces one of them to extract Aurora's Heart for her, at least temporarily. In the end, they drove her out of the Enchanted Dominion.

She went to lick her wounds, free Pete, and discover her power over the Heartless. With her dark sorcery, augmented by Xehanort's guidance and Ansem's arcane wisdom seized from Hollow Bastion, which she claimed for her own, she had an essentially infinite army; she went back and conquered, then destroyed, the Dominion, the first of many, many worlds that she cast into the darkness. Along the way, she recruited allies, spun into her web by trickery, deceit, and occasionally an actual tiny degree of respect. Maleficent will never share the power of Kingdom Hearts in the end, but it pleases her to promise petty pieces of the multiverse until then.

It took years to assemble the Shadow Lords -- an ongoing assemblage, really -- but what are years to an immortal? In a blink of an eye, all was prepared.

Now all she needs are the Seven Purest Lights, plus a Keyblade Wielder to extract their Hearts, and her victory is assured...

'''Character Personality:'''

Arrogance. Sublime, all-consuming hubris beats at what counts for Maleficent's heart, corrupted beyond repair by a Darkness she seeks to wield when in fact, it wields her, just one more pawn in Xehanort's machinations. She will rule the universe because no one but her could do it as well. She will plunge it into eternal darkness because only she is wise enough to decide when it should or should not shine. Until every being, living, dead, or otherwise, submits to her, worships her as the empress she is, the goddess, she will not be content.

She hates to be discounted, and god forbid she's ever ignored. The smallest slight engenders everlasting hatred, curses unto the seventh generation; the fact that her pettiness is itself practically a force of nature is not comforting, but terrifying.

And she acts the part: an overbearing, dominating, imperious Dark Queen straight to her core, she is elegant, refined, icily courteous when it amuses her and stunningly cruel absolutely all of the time. It isn't really an act, not anymore, if it ever even was. She can exhibit kindness, even -- ugh -- politeness, but it's always a sham, if a masterful one; she is stunningly manipulative. To earn her attention requires basic competence or, more unfortunately, the slightest bit of INcomptence; to earn her respect requires the traits she sees in herself. She has a certain tolerance for needless cruelty and triviality in others, because it justifies her own behavior. Because today, she is the only thing she could ever love. And even then, does she? Really? Does some of her terrible, destructive wrath stem from the tiniest shred of self-awareness of the monster she's become, the dragon that wears faerie form as a thin veil to set others at their ease?

No one will ever know, least of all her. Maleficent is no longer prone to introspection.

Of course, overconfidence is thus also her fatal flaw. She can hardly conceive of lesser beings outmatching her in any arena, though she's learned lessons from her very temporary defeat in the Enchanted Dominion some years ago. Like herself, Maleficent's plans are brilliant, devious, patient, and, ultimately, betrayed by their underestimation of the opposition, time and time again.

= Logs =
{{Character Logs}}
= Cutscenes =
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-24T09:01:22Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

-----

'''Abilities:'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

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'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Ivo Galvan: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

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'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

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'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

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'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-24T09:00:32Z

Liz: added a new picture~

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

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'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

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'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

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[[File:jasmine2.png|center]]

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'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

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'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Ivo Galvan: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

File:Jasmine2.png

2012-11-24T08:55:56Z

Liz:

Jasmine

2012-11-22T16:59:22Z

Liz: relationship update: ivo galvan

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

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'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Ivo Galvan: ''"Don't forget, when things get hard."'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. Later, she ran into him again, and once again he helped her flee the grasp of the Heartless. For the first time, she channeled the empowering aspect of the Light into another, and had the honor and pleasure of feeling what lay at the bottom of his heart. However, she was shocked and remorseful that her attempt to help him overcome the Darkness unintentionally forced him to relive a degree of trauma from his past. Once her momentary champion had won the day, she thanked him earnestly, then led the Heartless away, lest further association with her do him further harm, as it seems to hurt so many who want to help her. She hopes with all her heart that in the end, his momentary realization of his own quality might do him more good than ill.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

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'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-20T07:26:37Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

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'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

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'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn her over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Maleficent

2012-11-20T03:22:26Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Maleficent
|age=Immortal
|image=Maleficent2.gif
|species=Dark Fairy
|sex=Female
|height=Sorceress: Tall, Dragon: Taller
|weight=Sorceress: Mostly Robes, Dragon: Heavier
|series=Sleeping Beauty
|styles=Sorceress Supreme, The Dire Dragon
|hometown=Enchanted Dominion
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Shadow Lords
|occupation=The Big Bad
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujzp9ffPwPM
|quote="You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me?! ME, the Mistress of All Evil?!"
|footer=Malevolently musing much masterful malarkey.
}}
'''Summary:'''

A sorceress of awesome power, Maleficent is the lord of Hollow Bastion, the founder and leader of the Shadow Lords, and the master of the Heartless. She is directly responsible for the fall of most of the worlds recently lost to Darkness, and indirectly responsible for virtually all of them. No one knows what her true intentions are, but 'total multiverse domination' is a reasonable guess. Her past is as shrouded in darkness as her present, but it's definitely true that she was behind the curse on the Enchanted Dominion, and was once defeated by a joint taskforce of Prince Phillip, Keyblade Master Aqua, and three meddling fairy godmothers, succumbing to a combination of their might and her own hubris. The good news? Apparently she can be beaten. The bad news? Being stabbed through the heart with the Holy Sword of Truth and cast into an endless pit of fire hasn't done much to slow her down.

''Skills:'' Phenomenal Cosmic Power, All The Space She Wants, Has Read Just Enough Of The Evil Overlord's Guide To Be Dangerous But Not Enough To Be Unbeatable, Big Entrances, Too Cool For A Villain Song, Has Diablo For A Familiar, Evil Is Petty But That Does Not Make It Less Scary, The Wickedest Witch Of All, A Fairy In The Worst Way, The Dragon In Every Way, Manipulative, Magnificent B-word

'''History:'''

It's Maleficent. She's THE evil sorceress, the dark fairy, the wicked witch. She might have been good once, but she's retconned anyone who might remember out of existence. Let's pick up the story after that: she's more or less the embodiment of evil, up in her ominously evil tower, surrounded by her hilariously incompetent minions, plotting multiverse domination for a living, with petty revenge as a part-time hobby.

Xehanort shows up and lets her in on a little secret: the existence of Kingdom Hearts, the Seven Purest Lights necessary to unlock it, which are the quick trip to power (as opposed to individually hunting down every last (in fact, theoretically infinite) lesser Dusk Princess to get the job done). Using 'not being invited to the christening' as a fairly flimsy excuse to get her hands on Princess Aurora's Heart, she curses the first Princess of Heart with a dire fate.

Eventually it comes to pass, despite the better efforts of Flora, Fauna and Merryweather; it takes the intervention of a Fated Prince and some pesky Keyblade Master to wreck aright, though not before she herself forces one of them to extract Aurora's Heart for her, at least temporarily. In the end, they drove her out of the Enchanted Dominion.

She went to lick her wounds, free Pete, and discover her power over the Heartless. With her dark sorcery, augmented by Xehanort's guidance and Ansem's arcane wisdom seized from Hollow Bastion, which she claimed for her own, she had an essentially infinite army; she went back and conquered, then destroyed, the Dominion, the first of many, many worlds that she cast into the darkness. Along the way, she recruited allies, spun into her web by trickery, deceit, and occasionally an actual tiny degree of respect. Maleficent will never share the power of Kingdom Hearts in the end, but it pleases her to promise petty pieces of the multiverse until then.

It took years to assemble the Shadow Lords -- an ongoing assemblage, really -- but what are years to an immortal? In a blink of an eye, all was prepared.

Now all she needs are the Seven Purest Lights, plus a Keyblade Wielder to extract their Hearts, and her victory is assured...

'''Character Personality:'''

Arrogance. Sublime, all-consuming hubris beats at what counts for Maleficent's heart, corrupted beyond repair by a Darkness she seeks to wield when in fact, it wields her, just one more pawn in Xehanort's machinations. She will rule the universe because no one but her could do it as well. She will plunge it into eternal darkness because only she is wise enough to decide when it should or should not shine. Until every being, living, dead, or otherwise, submits to her, worships her as the empress she is, the goddess, she will not be content.

She hates to be discounted, and god forbid she's ever ignored. The smallest slight engenders everlasting hatred, curses unto the seventh generation; the fact that her pettiness is itself practically a force of nature is not comforting, but terrifying.

And she acts the part: an overbearing, dominating, imperious Dark Queen straight to her core, she is elegant, refined, icily courteous when it amuses her and stunningly cruel absolutely all of the time. It isn't really an act, not anymore, if it ever even was. She can exhibit kindness, even -- ugh -- politeness, but it's always a sham, if a masterful one; she is stunningly manipulative. To earn her attention requires basic competence or, more unfortunately, the slightest bit of INcomptence; to earn her respect requires the traits she sees in herself. She has a certain tolerance for needless cruelty and triviality in others, because it justifies her own behavior. Because today, she is the only thing she could ever love. And even then, does she? Really? Does some of her terrible, destructive wrath stem from the tiniest shred of self-awareness of the monster she's become, the dragon that wears faerie form as a thin veil to set others at their ease?

No one will ever know, least of all her. Maleficent is no longer prone to introspection.

Of course, overconfidence is thus also her fatal flaw. She can hardly conceive of lesser beings outmatching her in any arena, though she's learned lessons from her very temporary defeat in the Enchanted Dominion some years ago. Like herself, Maleficent's plans are brilliant, devious, patient, and, ultimately, betrayed by their underestimation of the opposition, time and time again.

= Logs =
{{Character Logs}}
= Cutscenes =
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Maleficent

2012-11-18T07:50:14Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Maleficent
|age=Immortal
|image=Maleficent2.gif
|species=Dark Fairy
|sex=Female
|height=Sorceress: Tall, Dragon: Taller
|weight=Sorceress: Mostly Robes, Dragon: Heavier
|series=Sleeping Beauty
|styles=Sorceress Supreme, The Dire Dragon
|hometown=Enchanted Dominion
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Shadow Lords
|occupation=The Big Bad
|quote="You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me?! ME, the Mistress of All Evil?!"
|footer=Malevolently musing much masterful malarkey.
}}
'''Summary:'''

A sorceress of awesome power, Maleficent is the lord of Hollow Bastion, the founder and leader of the Shadow Lords, and the master of the Heartless. She is directly responsible for the fall of most of the worlds recently lost to Darkness, and indirectly responsible for virtually all of them. No one knows what her true intentions are, but 'total multiverse domination' is a reasonable guess. Her past is as shrouded in darkness as her present, but it's definitely true that she was behind the curse on the Enchanted Dominion, and was once defeated by a joint taskforce of Prince Phillip, Keyblade Master Aqua, and three meddling fairy godmothers, succumbing to a combination of their might and her own hubris. The good news? Apparently she can be beaten. The bad news? Being stabbed through the heart with the Holy Sword of Truth and cast into an endless pit of fire hasn't done much to slow her down.

''Skills:'' Phenomenal Cosmic Power, All The Space She Wants, Has Read Just Enough Of The Evil Overlord's Guide To Be Dangerous But Not Enough To Be Unbeatable, Big Entrances, Too Cool For A Villain Song, Has Diablo For A Familiar, Evil Is Petty But That Does Not Make It Less Scary, The Wickedest Witch Of All, A Fairy In The Worst Way, The Dragon In Every Way, Manipulative, Magnificent B-word

'''History:'''

It's Maleficent. She's THE evil sorceress, the dark fairy, the wicked witch. She might have been good once, but she's retconned anyone who might remember out of existence. Let's pick up the story after that: she's more or less the embodiment of evil, up in her ominously evil tower, surrounded by her hilariously incompetent minions, plotting multiverse domination for a living, with petty revenge as a part-time hobby.

Xehanort shows up and lets her in on a little secret: the existence of Kingdom Hearts, the Seven Purest Lights necessary to unlock it, which are the quick trip to power (as opposed to individually hunting down every last (in fact, theoretically infinite) lesser Dusk Princess to get the job done). Using 'not being invited to the christening' as a fairly flimsy excuse to get her hands on Princess Aurora's Heart, she curses the first Princess of Heart with a dire fate.

Eventually it comes to pass, despite the better efforts of Flora, Fauna and Merryweather; it takes the intervention of a Fated Prince and some pesky Keyblade Master to wreck aright, though not before she herself forces one of them to extract Aurora's Heart for her, at least temporarily. In the end, they drove her out of the Enchanted Dominion.

She went to lick her wounds, free Pete, and discover her power over the Heartless. With her dark sorcery, augmented by Xehanort's guidance and Ansem's arcane wisdom seized from Hollow Bastion, which she claimed for her own, she had an essentially infinite army; she went back and conquered, then destroyed, the Dominion, the first of many, many worlds that she cast into the darkness. Along the way, she recruited allies, spun into her web by trickery, deceit, and occasionally an actual tiny degree of respect. Maleficent will never share the power of Kingdom Hearts in the end, but it pleases her to promise petty pieces of the multiverse until then.

It took years to assemble the Shadow Lords -- an ongoing assemblage, really -- but what are years to an immortal? In a blink of an eye, all was prepared.

Now all she needs are the Seven Purest Lights, plus a Keyblade Wielder to extract their Hearts, and her victory is assured...

'''Character Personality:'''

Arrogance. Sublime, all-consuming hubris beats at what counts for Maleficent's heart, corrupted beyond repair by a Darkness she seeks to wield when in fact, it wields her, just one more pawn in Xehanort's machinations. She will rule the universe because no one but her could do it as well. She will plunge it into eternal darkness because only she is wise enough to decide when it should or should not shine. Until every being, living, dead, or otherwise, submits to her, worships her as the empress she is, the goddess, she will not be content.

She hates to be discounted, and god forbid she's ever ignored. The smallest slight engenders everlasting hatred, curses unto the seventh generation; the fact that her pettiness is itself practically a force of nature is not comforting, but terrifying.

And she acts the part: an overbearing, dominating, imperious Dark Queen straight to her core, she is elegant, refined, icily courteous when it amuses her and stunningly cruel absolutely all of the time. It isn't really an act, not anymore, if it ever even was. She can exhibit kindness, even -- ugh -- politeness, but it's always a sham, if a masterful one; she is stunningly manipulative. To earn her attention requires basic competence or, more unfortunately, the slightest bit of INcomptence; to earn her respect requires the traits she sees in herself. She has a certain tolerance for needless cruelty and triviality in others, because it justifies her own behavior. Because today, she is the only thing she could ever love. And even then, does she? Really? Does some of her terrible, destructive wrath stem from the tiniest shred of self-awareness of the monster she's become, the dragon that wears faerie form as a thin veil to set others at their ease?

No one will ever know, least of all her. Maleficent is no longer prone to introspection.

Of course, overconfidence is thus also her fatal flaw. She can hardly conceive of lesser beings outmatching her in any arena, though she's learned lessons from her very temporary defeat in the Enchanted Dominion some years ago. Like herself, Maleficent's plans are brilliant, devious, patient, and, ultimately, betrayed by their underestimation of the opposition, time and time again.

= Logs =
{{Character Logs}}
= Cutscenes =
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

File:Maleficent2.gif

2012-11-18T07:49:36Z

Liz:

File:Maleficent.jpeg

2012-11-18T07:47:46Z

Liz:

Maleficent

2012-11-18T07:26:18Z

Liz: Created page with "{{Character Infobox |firstname=Maleficent |age=Immortal |species=Dark Fairy |sex=Female |height=Sorceress: Tall, Dragon: Taller |weight=Sorceress: Mostly Robes, Dragon: Heavie..."

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Maleficent
|age=Immortal
|species=Dark Fairy
|sex=Female
|height=Sorceress: Tall, Dragon: Taller
|weight=Sorceress: Mostly Robes, Dragon: Heavier
|series=Sleeping Beauty
|styles=Sorceress Supreme, The Dire Dragon
|hometown=Enchanted Dominion
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Shadow Lords
|occupation=The Big Bad
|quote="You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me?! ME, the Mistress of All Evil?!"
|footer=Malevolently musing much masterful malarkey.
}}
'''Summary:'''

A sorceress of awesome power, Maleficent is the lord of Hollow Bastion, the founder and leader of the Shadow Lords, and the master of the Heartless. She is directly responsible for the fall of most of the worlds recently lost to Darkness, and indirectly responsible for virtually all of them. No one knows what her true intentions are, but 'total multiverse domination' is a reasonable guess. Her past is as shrouded in darkness as her present, but it's definitely true that she was behind the curse on the Enchanted Dominion, and was once defeated by a joint taskforce of Prince Phillip, Keyblade Master Aqua, and three meddling fairy godmothers, succumbing to a combination of their might and her own hubris. The good news? Apparently she can be beaten. The bad news? Being stabbed through the heart with the Holy Sword of Truth and cast into an endless pit of fire hasn't done much to slow her down.

''Skills:'' Phenomenal Cosmic Power, All The Space She Wants, Has Read Just Enough Of The Evil Overlord's Guide To Be Dangerous But Not Enough To Be Unbeatable, Big Entrances, Too Cool For A Villain Song, Has Diablo For A Familiar, Evil Is Petty But That Does Not Make It Less Scary, The Wickedest Witch Of All, A Fairy In The Worst Way, The Dragon In Every Way, Manipulative, Magnificent B-word

'''History:'''

It's Maleficent. She's THE evil sorceress, the dark fairy, the wicked witch. She might have been good once, but she's retconned anyone who might remember out of existence. Let's pick up the story after that: she's more or less the embodiment of evil, up in her ominously evil tower, surrounded by her hilariously incompetent minions, plotting multiverse domination for a living, with petty revenge as a part-time hobby.

Xehanort shows up and lets her in on a little secret: the existence of Kingdom Hearts, the Seven Purest Lights necessary to unlock it, which are the quick trip to power (as opposed to individually hunting down every last (in fact, theoretically infinite) lesser Dusk Princess to get the job done). Using 'not being invited to the christening' as a fairly flimsy excuse to get her hands on Princess Aurora's Heart, she curses the first Princess of Heart with a dire fate.

Eventually it comes to pass, despite the better efforts of Flora, Fauna and Merryweather; it takes the intervention of a Fated Prince and some pesky Keyblade Master to wreck aright, though not before she herself forces one of them to extract Aurora's Heart for her, at least temporarily. In the end, they drove her out of the Enchanted Dominion.

She went to lick her wounds, free Pete, and discover her power over the Heartless. With her dark sorcery, augmented by Xehanort's guidance and Ansem's arcane wisdom seized from Hollow Bastion, which she claimed for her own, she had an essentially infinite army; she went back and conquered, then destroyed, the Dominion, the first of many, many worlds that she cast into the darkness. Along the way, she recruited allies, spun into her web by trickery, deceit, and occasionally an actual tiny degree of respect. Maleficent will never share the power of Kingdom Hearts in the end, but it pleases her to promise petty pieces of the multiverse until then.

It took years to assemble the Shadow Lords -- an ongoing assemblage, really -- but what are years to an immortal? In a blink of an eye, all was prepared.

Now all she needs are the Seven Purest Lights, plus a Keyblade Wielder to extract their Hearts, and her victory is assured...

'''Character Personality:'''

Arrogance. Sublime, all-consuming hubris beats at what counts for Maleficent's heart, corrupted beyond repair by a Darkness she seeks to wield when in fact, it wields her, just one more pawn in Xehanort's machinations. She will rule the universe because no one but her could do it as well. She will plunge it into eternal darkness because only she is wise enough to decide when it should or should not shine. Until every being, living, dead, or otherwise, submits to her, worships her as the empress she is, the goddess, she will not be content.

She hates to be discounted, and god forbid she's ever ignored. The smallest slight engenders everlasting hatred, curses unto the seventh generation; the fact that her pettiness is itself practically a force of nature is not comforting, but terrifying.

And she acts the part: an overbearing, dominating, imperious Dark Queen straight to her core, she is elegant, refined, icily courteous when it amuses her and stunningly cruel absolutely all of the time. It isn't really an act, not anymore, if it ever even was. She can exhibit kindness, even -- ugh -- politeness, but it's always a sham, if a masterful one; she is stunningly manipulative. To earn her attention requires basic competence or, more unfortunately, the slightest bit of INcomptence; to earn her respect requires the traits she sees in herself. She has a certain tolerance for needless cruelty and triviality in others, because it justifies her own behavior. Because today, she is the only thing she could ever love. And even then, does she? Really? Does some of her terrible, destructive wrath stem from the tiniest shred of self-awareness of the monster she's become, the dragon that wears faerie form as a thin veil to set others at their ease?

No one will ever know, least of all her. Maleficent is no longer prone to introspection.

Of course, overconfidence is thus also her fatal flaw. She can hardly conceive of lesser beings outmatching her in any arena, though she's learned lessons from her very temporary defeat in the Enchanted Dominion some years ago. Like herself, Maleficent's plans are brilliant, devious, patient, and, ultimately, betrayed by their underestimation of the opposition, time and time again.

= Logs =
{{Character Logs}}
= Cutscenes =
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-17T01:18:09Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV77nWMQgJI
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn him over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-16T22:26:21Z

Liz: relationship update: jafar

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUUotm1P4
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"I am a lord of darkness now, princess. I am a Sultan!" "You can't be both. The Sultan must be the guiding light of his people... and you have chosen a path of darkness. But it's not too late to turn back. It's never too late..."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters, much less pursue her across the multiverse to either make her his queen or turn him over to darker forces; some people are just full of surprises. Her feelings for him include a very real terror of what he might do to her loved ones and her people, fiery anger at his betrayal of her kingdom and of her, personally, as well as a deep sorrow: having realized how very empty he is inside, how his endless crusade for respect leaves him utterly incapable of simple happiness, she feels more pity for him than anything else. Deep down, she hopes he can overcome his sadness, and his madness, and be redeemed, but either way, she will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-16T19:56:48Z

Liz: relationship update: terra bradford

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUUotm1P4
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"At least some good will come of my being forced to marry. When I am Queen, I will have the power to get rid of *you*."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters; some people are just full of surprises. She is smart enough to fear him, but personally is more angry than afraid -- it's what he might do to her loved ones, to her people, that keeps her awake at night. She will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"Believe in me. I will keep my word. And... and if I can't... maybe you can keep it for me."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. She admires Terra's passion for children, and respects her need for time, time to heal from her difficult past. Beneath Balamb Garden, they discovered how much they had in common; as much as the Princess yearns for the Esperkin to be comforted by her promise that they'll see each other again, to trust her ability to evade Jafar and his Heartless, it is equally true that she herself trusts Terra to do the right thing, when the chips are down. The right thing may always be staying out of conflict: the best revenge, after all, is to live well. But she's deeply intuitive, and in Terra's expression, her clenched hands, her defiance, she can sense the inner conflict in this victim of cruel Empire... and the potential for her to discover she is more than her past.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

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'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-16T19:51:16Z

Liz:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUUotm1P4
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

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'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"At least some good will come of my being forced to marry. When I am Queen, I will have the power to get rid of *you*."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters; some people are just full of surprises. She is smart enough to fear him, but personally is more angry than afraid -- it's what he might do to her loved ones, to her people, that keeps her awake at night. She will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: ''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."'' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"I encourage you to see for yourself. But please, don't condemn them before you've even made it inside."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. From Celes' comments across various conversations, she knows the other girl has had a difficult past. Admiring Terra's passionate care for children even as she gently insisted the other girl see Garden before condemning it as an abusive orphan-child soldier factory, Jasmine earnestly hopes the two of them can be friends.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-16T18:24:58Z

Liz: relationship update: ron stoppable

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUUotm1P4
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

-----

'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

-----

'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

----

'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"At least some good will come of my being forced to marry. When I am Queen, I will have the power to get rid of *you*."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters; some people are just full of surprises. She is smart enough to fear him, but personally is more angry than afraid -- it's what he might do to her loved ones, to her people, that keeps her awake at night. She will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Ron Stoppable: '''"I... I'm glad to hear it. I think the day and night need all the help they can get. And... if everyone does their best, things will work out in the end."''' Jasmine ran into (fell onto, technically) Ron and Rufus on the Path of Destiny. Rufus and Junior hit it off immediately, and so did boy and girl; the princess found Ron's peculiar brand of humor quite delightful while being more or less immune to his awkward charms -- after years of handling Princes, it's really no big deal. His proclamation that he was a hero, fighting to save everything from, well, the bad stuff, she found downright inspiring: despite everything in the universe falling towards darkness, so very many people, great and small, were determined to stand against it, and she drew comfort from that. Promising to keep an eye out for 'Bueno Nacho', she parted ways before she could draw too much heat down onto him.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"I encourage you to see for yourself. But please, don't condemn them before you've even made it inside."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. From Celes' comments across various conversations, she knows the other girl has had a difficult past. Admiring Terra's passionate care for children even as she gently insisted the other girl see Garden before condemning it as an abusive orphan-child soldier factory, Jasmine earnestly hopes the two of them can be friends.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

----

'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

----

'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

----

'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Jasmine

2012-11-15T23:27:45Z

Liz: relationship update: facilier

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Jasmine
|age=15-16
|image=Jasmine1.jpg
|species=Human
|sex=Female
|height=5'1"
|weight=Unknown
|series=Aladdin
|styles=Princess of Agrabah, Princess of Heart
|hometown=Agrabah
|alignment=Forces of Restoration
|group=None
|occupation=Princess on the Lam
|themesong=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUUotm1P4
|quote=I am /NOT/ a prize to be won!
|footer=After spending a few months training with SeeD, Jasmine ran away to draw the heat of Jafar and his army of Heartless. She has very little time to master her newfound powers of Light, and she'd trade such mastery in an instant for an understanding of what they represent... what she truly is. Her burning question: What is a ''Princess of Heart''?
}}
'''Summary:'''

The quintessential headstrong, rebellious princess, Jasmine's royal birthright gave her everything... except for the freedom to make her own choices. Spirited and intelligent, but also deeply intuitive and kind, she saw nothing in the endless parade of suitors seeking her hand except for ambition, arrogance, and greed. Fifteen and facing the rest of her life in isolation behind high palace walls, with only her tiger Rajah for company, she ran away. Innocent and naive, she quickly discovered exactly how sheltered she'd really been. Fortunately, she's a very fast learner, and with the help of the first man to ever impress her, managed to survive the experience; then, the news that he paid in blood for her irresponsibility shattered her world completely. That very night, she sensed the danger of the Heartless and fled the clutches of Jafar and Maleficent, who will stop at nothing to steal the Heart of one of the Seven Purest Lights. Alone in the vast, warring realms, pursued by endless agents of Ruin, Jasmine is getting more adventure than she ever dreamed of. She'll do anything to save Agrabah and the universe; a true princess, she knows that the needs of the people outweigh her own.

-----

'''History:'''

''"Oh, father. Rajah was just playing with him. Weren't you, Rajah? You were just playing with that over-dressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed, weren't you?"''

Princess Jasmine is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah and a beautiful, brilliant, brave woman who died when she was very young. She's quickly growing up to be very like her mother, much to her father's mixed pride and chagrin. Her childhood was a lonely one, dominated by instruction in the manifold duties of rulership, or at least those deemed suitable for a woman. She studied dance and storytelling alongside laws and history, music as well as mathematics, embroidery and politics alike.

Mastering them all, she found great meaning in the lessons of justice and compassion, and deeply yearned for real responsibility and a way to serve her people, but resented that the whole wide world she'd studied was forever barred to her; fearing for her safety as the sole heir of the Sultanate, she was not allowed to leave the palace. The Sultan, the extremely creepy vizier Jafar, her lady-in-waiting and former nurse Aneesa, and the guards and servants forbidden from approaching her with familiarity -- that was her whole world, and it was largely an empty one. Not to be deterred from finding companionship, Jasmine befriended the animals of the menagerie, especially a tiger whom she called Rajah, as well as her mother's high-spirited horse, Sahara, who no one else had ever been able to approach, much less tame, since she died.

When she was but ten, six years before she was required by law to marry a Prince and secure a male heir to the throne of Agrabah, the first suitors began to arrive. At first she had no objection to serving her people in the expected manner, but as suitor after suitor revealed themselves to be nothing but arrogance and ambition, she grew disgusted, then extremely stubborn. She would marry for love as well as for duty; surely there was /someone/ out there who would allow for both criteria. A man truly worthy to serve Agrabah as its ruler would have to pass a litmus test of 'being a decent human being.'

Three days before her sixteenth birthday, no such prince had arrived, and her father would not be swayed on the topic of changing the law to allow her more time to find a suitable husband -- it had become a forbidden subject at dinner. She was as trapped as her beloved songbirds... only moreso, since they could fly freely into the blue sky when she released them, but she could not. Or could she? Distressed and desperate, she ran away from home, disguised as a peasant.

The big wide wondrous world was not quite as friendly as she'd expected; at first she wandered around happily enough, but a certain failure to understand the concept of 'money' to pay for the apple she'd kindly given to a starving child quickly had her in real danger. The intervention of a street urchin, Aladdin, rescued her hand, and she quickly discovered a kindred spirit in both cleverness and dissatisfaction with their lives. However, they were quickly interrupted by her father's guards, who had come to capture Aladdin for his many petty thefts; she tried to save his life in turn, by revealing her true identity and returning to the palace.

Unfortunately, on Jafar's orders, he was arrested anyway, and Jafar, noticing her interest in the boy, casually broke her heart by claiming he was executed 'for kidnapping the princess.' Jasmine was devastated; her irresponsible actions had serious consequences, costing the life of a nice young man whose name she had never even learned.

That night, her grieving reverie was broken by a terrible sense of danger, a feeling that burned behind her eyes and ran down to the base of her spine. She crept out of her room, only to overhear Jafar and Maleficent ordering strange creatures, the Heartless, to seize the city and its occupants and especially its princess. There was no way to reach her father in time; quickly disguising herself again, she fled for the second time in twenty-four hours, with monsters hot on her heels.

Though she was loath to leave the people of Agrabah in Jafar's clutches, Jasmine knew she could never free them alone. So it is that she's struck out to find aid -- an army, a Genie, maybe even a Prince -- whatever it takes to save her people. The wartorn state of all the worlds has not been lost on her, and she's beginning to wonder if she isn't caught up in greater events than even her world's.

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'''Personality:'''

''"How dare you? All of you! Standing around deciding my future."''

Jasmine is a surprisingly complex character for an early '90s animated feature, a bundle of contradictions. She's extremely clever, which tends to get her both into and out of a lot of trouble; she's highly educated academically, but completely innocent about certain aspects of the real world. She has a profound courage to her, a willingness to sacrifice herself to protect others, but can also be selfish, such as in her continuous refusal to marry to secure her father's throne for the next generation. (It's certainly laudable as well, an empowered young woman demanding better treatment, but from the perspective of dynastic responsibility, irresponsible.)

She is fundamentally compassionate at her core, quickly reacting when she sees anyone in need, though she doesn't always have the power to help them. This basic kindness, a love of people, is in part because she understands them so well -- deeply intuitive, she's extraordinarily skilled at reading people from a lifetime of suitor evaluation; she's excellent at relating to animals as well, and there are few wild beasts she couldn't tame with time and patience. She can be deceived, of course; she's not a living lie detector, just intelligent and perceptive (and also somewhat suspicious, especially of royal motivations).

Having been exposed to a great deal of royal arrogance and greed, Jasmine places a high value on selflessness, humility, and integrity. She tends to form very strong first impressions, but is also willing to grant second chances. Appearance is not the metric by which she judges another; in fact, she tends to reflexively distrust the beautiful, having met one too many Prince Charmings far darker on the inside than they were on the outside. That said, she values her own loveliness a bit more than she should, and takes a great deal of simple pleasure in taking care of her thigh-length hair. It's soothing. When she fled Agrabah, she packed a hairbrush for therapy reasons alone.

Never afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what she believes in, Jasmine makes a poor Princess (in the obedience sense), but would be a wonderful Queen. Her strong will cannot be thwarted by many obstacles; on the other hand, sometimes she clings to ideas out of pride and sheer stubbornness. Her standard response to opposition is royal arrogance, that particular stripe of intimidation; it's largely for show. She's quite friendly, even funny, by default, always interested in connecting with strangers and finding laughter and fun to combat the oppressive despair of the times.

Jasmine has always yearned for adventure, to see the world outside the Palace walls, and on some level she's actually enjoying the calamity she's caught up in, the grand journey she's been forced to take. She does and doesn't feel guilty about this; it's terrible to profit from her peoples' suffering, but there's no point in being continuously unhappy either, is there? She's doing everything she can to help them, and her misery would do nothing to ease theirs. Her heart is filled with light, and she can't help but find the silver lining in any situation.

Serving her people is Jasmine's highest calling, and right now Agrabah is in considerable distress. So are all the worlds, and Jasmine's a big picture sort of girl -- if pressed, she wouldn't place Agrabah's salvation above the multiverse's.

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'''Abilities'''

''"I was raised a princess, Aladdin, and a princess knows the needs of the people outweigh her own."''

In KH cosmology terms, Jasmine has a Heart of pure Light, making her one of the Seven Purest Lights, the Princesses of Heart upon which the fate of all worlds rests. She thus holds the power to open the Final Keyhole to Kingdom Hearts, can sense and hold back darkness through force of will, and can use the power of light to empower others. Her own heart is 'completely untouchable by darkness', incorruptible; among other things, this allows her to travel through the Corridors of Darkness without any negative effects.

(The distinctive downside of all that is having all the Heartless after her, forever, as well as anyone else who wants some cosmological leverage.)

Taking a nod from the animated series, she's also rapidly acquired some martial arts skills on her travels. (She's a ludicrously fast learner, arguably with photographic body memory, and keeps her body graceful and strong, as indicated by the pole vaulting in the first movie and various other acrobatics in the TV series, even before she was kidnapped to be formally trained. By amazons. Simply being around better fighters is teaching her at an alarming rate, while being in the hands of SeeD for several months advanced her ability to defend herself by an order of magnitude. They also taught her tactics and strategy, survival skills, introduced her to reasonably modern technology, showed how to drive...) Besides unarmed fighting, her preferred weapon is the scimitar; she used to secretly watch the guards train with them. She's also amazing with a whip (at least when she's evil, haha), though she dislikes the weapon's oppressive connotations. She's much faster than she is tough (especially given her lack of armor).

Her most valuable asset, however, will always be her brain. Jasmine is very quick-witted, well able to analyze a situation and come up with a course of action, for others as well as herself. She keeps a cool head, and makes an excellent leader in a fight, able to both coordinate a plan and inspire her allies.

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'''Relationships:'''

The Sultan: ''"Please, try to understand. I've never done a thing on my own. I've never had any real friends..."'' Jasmine loves her bumbling father, but yearns for him to understand why she's so unhappy trapped in the Palace. /He/ has all manner of war stories from his youth, after all, of which he's justifiably proud. On some level she knows that his overprotectiveness is his way of showing how he cares. With the fall of Agrabah to Jafar and his Heartless, she fears greatly for his life.

Rajah: ''"...except you, Rajah."'' Raised from cubhood by Jasmine, Palace life hasn't done much to slow this enormous tiger's ferocious instincts, with anyone but her. Rajah was Jasmine's bodyguard and confidant, and they had an understanding that didn't require a common language. She loves him with all her heart. They escaped the Heartless together, but were separated in a sandstorm -- he could be anywhere among the scattered stars, now. Jasmine is searching for him; she knows he must be out there, somewhere.

Sahara: ''"I know you're scared, and I know what you've been through. Look in my eyes... can't you see I'm frightened too?"'' Infamously temperamental, the favorite horse of Jasmine's late mother has never been tamed by anyone but her and her daughter. Jasmine escaped Agrabah on Sahara's back, but they were also separated in the sandstorm; surely they will be reunited someday.

Jafar: ''"At least some good will come of my being forced to marry. When I am Queen, I will have the power to get rid of *you*."'' Jasmine has never liked Jafar, able to see past his thin veneer of obsequiousness to the ambition and darkness beneath. Even so, she never expected him to overthrow Agrabah with a host of monsters; some people are just full of surprises. She is smart enough to fear him, but personally is more angry than afraid -- it's what he might do to her loved ones, to her people, that keeps her awake at night. She will bring justice to him, and peace to her kingdom, or die in the attempt.

Aladdin: ''"You're not free to make your own choices. You're just... trapped."'' Jasmine is haunted by the ghost of the boy in the marketplace who saved her hand from imminent removal by an overzealous, violent merchant. He was clever, funny, brave, and despite their extraordinarily different circumstances, she felt a powerful connection for about five minutes, before he was arrested, then executed for 'kidnapping the Princess'. She never even learned his name. Feeling responsible for his death, she's determined to see no more blood spilled on account of her irresponsibility, and her innocent, abstract compassion for the impoverished of her kingdom (and any others) has crystallized into an iron determination to truly help those less fortunate than herself.

Abu: ''"Oh wise Sultan, how may I serve you?"'' Jasmine took an immediate liking to Aladdin's monkey, but got the sense that the feeling wasn't mutual. :(

Balamb Garden: ''"You want me so badly, Jafar, that you'd slaughter all these people? Come after /me/, then, and leave them /alone/."'' After Jean Faraven brought Jasmine to Balamb Garden, she was struck with a dilemna. He, and others there, promised that it was the safest place for her... but her very presence was making it unsafe for everyone else. She knew she shouldn't stay for long, but Garden was intoxicating on so many levels, filling voids in her soul she never knew she had. Such as the simple, ordinary companionship of other teenagers, first and foremost, never mind the confidence that came from serious lessons in warfare, or the sense of security from having a fortress with wall-mounted cannon emplacements all around her, filled to the brim with the most capable fighters she'd ever seen. It was terribly selfish of her to remain, to endanger all her new friends, but she wanted so desperately to believe their promises that she'd be safe here, safe from the monsters that had chased her from her home, across more worlds than she'd ever imagined. She wasn't, and when Jafar and an army of Heartless came calling, many SeeDs and refugees paid the ultimate price for taking her in. She departed in an extremely dramatic fashion, deliberately crafted to draw the forces of Darkness away from her hosts. This gambit was successful, and Garden was spared, but Jasmine learned a (possibly wrong) lesson from this: she mustn't stay anywhere for long, not ever. Only by remaining in constant motion can she protect those wherever she goes, by simply not giving her enemies long enough to mobilize fully.

Dr. Facilier: ''"Thank you. Really. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. You've really got a gift, Doctor."'' Jasmine credits Dr. Facilier with saving her life, after he sheltered her from an army of Heartless who'd gotten a little too close, when she was too exhausted to escape them. She repaid him handsomely with a jewel her father had given her for her fifteenth birthday, which he, in turn, paid most of the way forward towards a tarot reading and a divination that beggared belief, but was comforting all the same.. She was skeptical about utilizing the services of his mysterious Friends On The Other Side, having been rather ill-used by mystical information brokers in the past, but his manipulation -- 'think of how many folks will die while you're figuring out what you need to push your future forward' -- was effective, and the price was right: a promise that she would come to him, once, when he called.

Kaydin: ''"Please surrender yourself to me. I don't want to fight an unarmed woman." "You have no idea how much you don't want to fight me."'' Jasmine caught Garden student 'David' sabotaging Balamb's defenses against an impending attack; they fought, she won, and in so doing discovered an entirely unexpected font of inner strength, tapping directly into her primal connection to the Light for the first time. Notably, he recognized her as a 'Princess of Heart'. She'd /love/ to know what that term means, having never heard it before. Unfortunately, he escaped his imprisonment before she had time to ask.

Terra Bradford: ''"I encourage you to see for yourself. But please, don't condemn them before you've even made it inside."'' Jasmine felt instinctively protective of Terra, a rather novel feeling for someone constantly subject to those same instincts from others. From Celes' comments across various conversations, she knows the other girl has had a difficult past. Admiring Terra's passionate care for children even as she gently insisted the other girl see Garden before condemning it as an abusive orphan-child soldier factory, Jasmine earnestly hopes the two of them can be friends.

Riku: ''"Stop putting yourself down all the time -- it doesn't help anyone, least of all you. Aren't you looking for your friends? They must think the world of you. The least you can do for them is trust their feelings."'' This young man dropped out of the sky nearly on top of Jasmine and startled her rather badly. He seemed well-mannered, suspicious of others' motives, and kind, making him quite a bit nicer than most princes she's ever met. Over the course of various encounters from an innocent picnic lunch to shared time at Balamb Garden to 'saving' each other from Heartless, they've discovered that they have quite a bit in common: bad choices in their past that led to tragedy, and a search for redemption, a need to set things right. There's something fascinating about Riku, something that both attracts and repels, entices her and sets her on her guard. She wants nothing more than to see him find his path, and believes, with her whole heart, that he can do so. He, in turn, has taken advantage of her faith to secretly mark her with a Recusant's Sigil; what he will do with continuous, perfect knowledge of her location and condition is an open question, for now...

Rapunzel: ''"I would be glad to help you [braid 70 feet of hair out of the gutters of Manhattan]..."'' Jasmine literally ran into Rapunzel while fleeing the Heartless, and the two girls became fast friends, as some of the first girls' close to their age either of them had ever met. Braiding Rapunzel's hair was badly needed therapy in a stressful time. Jasmine promised to let Rapunzel braid her hair in return, but apologetically had to take off before the Heartless caught up to her; she didn't want to put her new friend at risk.

David Xanatos: ''"Contact me when you learn something. When I am needed, I will come to you."'' Handsome, wealthy Xanatos immediately put Jasmine on her guard: her prince radar went DING DING DING!! She can't help but sense the ambition behind the smile, and the fact that he used technology to track her down more quickly than anyone else is both wondrous and terrifying. However, his apparent passion to help build a coalition to oppose the darkness led her to reluctantly accept his promise of help... and a telephone. He can obviously find her whenever he wants, anyway; she finds it unlikely that sustained contact with him is putting her at any greater risk (though the reverse may not be true). She worries that he'll eventually force her to stay in Manhattan, ostensibly for her own safety, his stated desire. But, for the time being, he seems to be convinced that what she's doing out in the world is the best course of action, or at least not something to be challenged lightly. Taking him up on his assertion that his resources are infinite, she's asked him to investigate the question of why the Heartless and Shadow Lords in general, and Jafar in particular, are hunting her so relentlessly. If anyone can find out, he can... and she can't afford not to put some measure of trust in such a powerful ally. If he tells her that she must go somewhere to advance their shared goal of protecting the billions of innocents from the darkness... she'll keep her promise.

Belle: ''"I will be your friend until the end of time."'' Jasmine and Belle discovered their oddly similar circumstances -- two young women yearning to live free, having left their homes to draw away the endless Heartless pursuing them -- in Traverse Town. They felt an immediate, fundamental connection, light calling to light, and decided to be fugitives together, rather than alone. The world is much less scary that way. Jasmine is terribly impressed by Belle's worldliness and maturity, and hopes to learn a lot from her, while doing everything she can to solve their mutual mystery and keep them safe. Ultimately this meant leaving her, by luring Jafar and the Heartless as far from Belle as possible; as long as no one realized there had been TWO of them at Garden, Jasmine hopes Belle can remain anonymously safe long enough to discover some sort of meaning behind their constant pursuit. Being on the run alone again, after traveling with her first true friend, is a thousand times harder, but Belle's worth it.

Jean Faraven: ''"I haven't been /caught/ before!!"'' SeeD Faraven gave Jasmine and Belle a ride, and thus a nice lead on their Heartless pursuers. She's staying at this Garden of theirs, exchanging intel on the Heartless, but she's reluctant to stay too long and endanger the stronghold with her Heartless-attracting presence. At one point she went with Jean to Traverse Town, and he (and others) saved her from being kidnapped by some sort of animate Heartless armor. She's grateful.

Celes Chere: ''"I don't think anything that's loved can ever truly be gone. It's out there. If we never give up, we can find a way to set things right, to bring what has been lost back into the light."'' Celes and Jasmine met at Balamb, and swore to mutually aid each other's cause. The first ally on a long road to save what has been lost. More personally, she was very impressed with the knight's attitude, but somewhat worried about the seeming lack of care for some of her Returner comrades.

Quistis Trepe: ''"I thank you, and I will do all in my power to aid your lost world, and all the others..."'' SeeD Trepe was the first to hear Jasmine's story at Garden; she opened Balamb's resources to the Princess' disposal, in the sense that a) she told Jasmine to equip herself properly before she left and b) that she ought to bring along an escort, provided by SeeD. Both good pieces of advice; Jasmine will take it, though she hopes the revelation of her royal status doesn't put Quistis at too much of a distance. This is the first time in her life she's enjoyed interacting with people anything like normally, and she's loath to give it up. Still, it's a small sacrifice, and there's so much at stake...

Merilan Yursalin: ''"Would you mind if I gave the Yarhi the lollipop?"'' Jasmine's first impression of the lovely aegyl and her adorable yarhi was awe. Her second impression, as they put themselves on the line to rescue her from Darkness, was gratitude. She'll repay Merilan for her kindness someday, and would like to get to know her better. Perhaps she could get cooking lessons...

Ivo Galvan: ''"Thank you for your concern, but perhaps you'd best look out for yourself!"'' Jasmine and Ivo were almost accidental partners in the arena, when the former was haplessly knocked into the fray, but they were interrupted by the Heartless crashing the party and trying to spirit her away. Ivo was one of many who fought fiercely to defend her, without asking a single question. During these events, she felt a brief connection to the young warrior, and a sense of tireless, swift strength, rather like the wind. She hopes they can meet again someday.

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'''Skills:'''

Badass Princess, Beware the Nice Ones, Also Beware The Tiger, And The Horse, Tamer of Beasts, But Not Poaching Belle's, Part-Time Deadpan Snarker, Multiverse Record For 'Most Rejected Suitors', Unimpressed By Prince Charming, Impressed By Compassion, Friend to All Children, And Living Things, Sometimes Fatally Friendly, Scourge of the Desert?!, Royals Who Actually Do Something, Flawless Cloak Disguise, Photographic Muscle Memory, Will Of Adamant, Or Stubborn As A Mule Depending On Perspective, If You Want Your Kingdom Saved Right, Do It Yourself, Heart of Purest Light, Pillar of the Universe, Serves Greater Needs Than Her Own, Darkness Detector, Ruin Magnet, Eternally On The Run

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'''Logs:'''
{{Character Logs}}

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'''Cutscenes:'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}