Fragmentary Passage: Luso

Fragmentary Passage: Luso
Date of Scene:	07 July 2013
Location:	??? Destati
Synopsis:	Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices.
Cast of Characters:	Mystery Box, Luso Clemens
Tinyplot:	Fragmentary Passage

---

Mystery Box has posed:
Night falls and strange dreams crowd around the edges as the past comes filtering through a hazy lens of dreamscape fog. An empty playground shrouded by mist from the days before he ever touched the grimoire.

There are voices but they are only echoes, dim and unclear and distorted. A sky of thunderclouds roil low and menacingly. There is a sound of cracking ice. The playground begins to show these cracks as if it were made out of thin ice on the top of a dark lake instead of grass and concrete and asphault.

The cracks quickly spread until with a sound like splintering glass there is a sensation of falling. A splash of water. Drifting through a cylinder of darkness to the bottom where a stained glass image lay mostly obscured by dirt and sand.

To a place that seems.. distantly familiar, but with a staircase winding around this place of darkness that wasn't there s econd ago.. winding up to a ragged slash in the cylinder through which the sounds of a city are distantly filtering through.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso stood within this dreamscape, lacking his usual Ivalician clothing. He was in his familiar school uniform, standing at the playground. "...Wow, I haven't seen this place in so long..." But there was no one to be seen. Only echoes. "Hey...! Is anyone here?" He called out to the noise, wondering if someone would answer. No one did.

But what he did notice were cracks forming within the space. They quickly spread until the entire place shattered. "W-Whoa!" He cried, feeling himself falling back. A sensation of rushing water washed over him and he instintively tried to hold his breath, only to realize moments after that he didn't need to.

...Hadn't this sort of thing happened before?

With the breaking of the dreamscape, Luso was back in his usual flameboyant outfit, the memories of his school days vanished for now as he landed upon the surface of the obscured stained glass. ".....Where the heck am I?" Luso mumbled, taking a bit to walk across the surface, trying to discern the image below him. After a bit with no luck, he decided that his time was better spent elsewhere.

Wait a second, when did that staircase get there? The boy blinked a couple times before shrugging his shoulders and moving towards them, aiming to go upwards. It sounded lik activity was up wherever it was leading. Time to see just what was up.

Mystery Box has posed:
At the top of the stairs there as a green Ivalician countryside under a heavy rain. At the very edges were buildings that he could not quite place but who looked vaguely familiar. A dirt road already starting to churn to mud cut through the green hills.

The rain oddly fell through Luso instead of on him, as if he were some sort of ghost only observing this land stretching out ahead of him. There were also blades. Hundreds, many hundreds of thousands of blades peppering the hills around him. The ancient blades are embedded in the turf under the constant rain. Some of them are intricate while others are simple. Some proud and others humble.

But they are all dull and broken and very lifeless.

A vaguely male voice says abruptly at his elbow. "Where do you think this path leads?" In the backdrop, shrouded in mist until the voice had spoken (or simply had appeared like the staircase had) A luminous clocktower stands in the midst of the background, dominating it. Violet fire illuminates the place where the numbers are, numbered from I to XII with the big metal hands pointing to 'I'

There is a hooded figure there along with the voice, just like the staircase and the clock. An older boy about twice Luso's age pulls back the hood, silver hair sodden with the rain. "Forgive the theatrics, Luso Clemens. They are somewhat inevitable." They speak with a voice that is not quite one thing ot another. Like bits and pieces of different voices put together. "I needed a moment of your time.. unobserved, and that time is beginning to run short. Would you walk with me, perhaps only for a minute or two? I won't be long."

The unknown figure gestures to the winding path cutting through the countryside.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Coming out to the top of the stairs, Luso paused as he bore witness to the sight before him. It looked like a countryside, and those buildings in the distance. They were...somewhat familiar. But he'd need to get closer to be completely sure. And let's not forget about the rain.

"Whoa, that's some heavy rain!" He exclaimed, reaching behind him for some manner of umbrella perhaps. It only dawned on him moments after that...hey, he wasn't getting wet at all! The rain was actually going /through/ him. "...Now this is just weird." He mumbled after, raised a hand a bit to watch as nothing hit it.

A voice broke the boy out of his reverie soon after and he looked down by his side in surprise, and then back ahead, this time spying the literal sea of swords before him. All broken and dull, but swords nonetheless. And beyond them all, a clock tower looming.

"Where it leads...?" He couldn't rightly answer that question. Considering the fact that he didn't know. ...Or did he know? "...I don't know. But...there's only one way to find out!" Apparently that would be his answer. Calling it out to the mist, Luso watched as the clock gradually winded all the way up to I.

And then the hooded figure. Wow, this sure was an intricate dream... "Huh? Who're you?" He certainly didn't know anyone like this guy before him. Seeing the hood pulled back, it didn't help matters at all. ...Oh well! "A moment of my time?" The boy asked, crossing his arms in feigned thought. "Well. I guess it can't hurt. Not like I have a lot to do otherwise."

That said, Luso nodded and moved forward to join the older boy on the winding path.

Mystery Box has posed:
The older boy handwobbles. "Call me Lucas. That's as good a name as anything else." he chuckles faintly and walks along the road for awhile. "Hey. Do you know why your here?" He gestures. "I mean.. why your here before I showed up. Did they tell you anything or just keep you in the dark? A lot of people have been asking questions. About the worlds. About things that happened in the past. They didn't say anything?" The boy makes a gesture with one hand. "Old guy. Big pointed hat. Long beard? Goes by the name of Merlin?"

The older boy continues to walk and the Clock never seems to get any closer although the buildings in the background do. Gradually they find themselves in the midst of a town, the features indistinct like running watercolors. It could be any town although the architecture is vaguely something from Ivalice just like the countryside.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Lucas then. Alright." Withh a name to go to the face, Luso nodded and walked alongside him, listening to his questions. "Ehhh...why I'm here? Not really. I do sort of recall the place before this. Some voice telling me about darkness and...light. I thought it was just a weird dream." He paused then, bringing a hand to his chin to consider. "This IS a dream, right?"

He shrugged then, not seeming too bothered by things just yet. He watched the buildings in the distance get closer and closer while answering the next question. "Merlin? ...Ohhhhh! That guy! Yeah, he explained /some/ stuff to us. Like about how certain shards are needed to respore worlds, and how the Keyblade is needed to lock the world heart or something like that..."

Crossing his arms then, Luso looked about as they arrived in the town. ...It looked vaguely familiar, but at the same time, it wasn't. It was rather disconcerting in a way. "...But that's all I know for sure."

Mystery Box has posed:
Lucas walks over to a message board and looks at the postings there. He picks one up and moves it, revealing another one underneath it. "You know this has been going on for thousands of years?" he says over his shoulder as he examines the board that seems, like Luso, not to be effected by the rain. He turns to lean on the board, crossing his arms. Whether this is a dream or not is left up for debate.

"Heh. Of course not. The sorcerers don't tell people anything but what they want to hear." he shakes his head. "But I'm not the sort of guy who just tells people things. There's this whole history behind keyblades. Some of it's in there." he jerks a thumb at the clanhall. "About the way they were given to others and about the war that nearly shattered the universe once. But.. the sorcerers don't want anybody to know, because they think it'll happen all over again."

Lucas shakes his head. "But it's only some of the answers. And you can always just go back. I am, of course, all about people making choices."

The older boy evaporates in the heavy rain, leaving the doors of the clanhall open and the winding road that cuts back through the hills.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"What we want to hear...?" Luso asked, furrowing his brows slightly at Lucas' words. But even more than that, this keyblade thing has been going on for /how long/ now? It sort of blew his mind. "I had no idea..." And now he was curious. Oh so curious. Was this something he wasn't supposed to know? The notion gave Luso pause for about a second.

And then it was tossed to the wind.

Watching Lucas evaporate in the rain, the boy was pretty sure this was a dream now. But...all of this begged investigation. And investigate he would. Steeling himself, he examined the message board for a moment before forging on ahead. His destination? The clan hall.

He would get to the bottom of this. Or at least take the first few steps.

Mystery Box has posed:
The message board is like any adventurer board anywhere. Some advertisements, some postings.. but they were mostly bounty postings. Messages between people. Taken as an overall picture, it was people calling out for help. Calling across the distance.

Inside the Clanhall, a number of papers have been strewn about the empty space. Some of them have been tacked to the walls like impromptu messages. Some of them are crammed into tight spaces near the ceilings, only accessible by careful reach.

Others are partially hidden under chairs or rugs. The Clock, which ostensibly had been left behind or SHOULD have been, is easily visible from a window where it should be visible.

Each notice has a single word on it that is highlighted and circled. These are what they say.

Victory-- circled in red pen on a bounty posting underneath a chair.
Dividing Line-- Crossed out on a advertisement pinned to a map of Ivalice.
The Last Key-- Underlined several times and crammed into a jar on a high shelf.
Endless -- Circled in blue pen and halfway hidden under a rug.
Tower of Voices -- Written forwards and backwards on a folded piece of paper near the door.
Zero Point -- Taped to the back of a chair.

There is a tattered notice at eye level near the front door. It reads only. "There is never time for everything."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Entering into the Clan Hall, Luso searched high and low, occasionally coming upon various papers all displaying some word or another crossed out, circled, folded, or some other manner. Eventually having found what he figured was all of them, he sat down at a table, spreading out all the papers in front of him.

"Victory...Dividing Line...The Last Key...Endless...Tower of Voices...Zero Point...And finally, there is never time for everything..." The boy repeated everything he had found, bringing a hand to his chin and stroking thoughtfully. "...Wow, this makes no sense!" Was his initial reaction, but he shook his head and thought a little harder.

"Okay, okay...The Last Key must be referring to a Keyblade, I bet. Dividing Line...maybe that's the divide between Light and Darkness? Victory...I'm guessing one side won maybe..." Luso went on in that manner, poring over the notes tirelessly. "Tower of Voices though...Maybe that's an important place involved in all of this, but...I've never heard of it." A sigh escaped from him then as he turned his gaze away from the clues and over to the window and out at The Clock.

"...Huh."

Mystery Box has posed:
When he looks back to the notes, all of the papers are blank except for the words that are underlined or circled.

There is a faint aura of pressure that moves through the room. The papers seem somewhat different now in the wake of that pressure wave. Each of them has a tenuous feeling of unreality, like whatever they might be holding back could rupture at any time like a soap bubble.

They lay not together but slightly apart. They lay in no specific order. They just exist. Pockets of investigation waiting for a priming touch.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Looking back to the notes, Luso was surprised to find that only the clues were remaining on the paper. "Whoa..." But something was off. He just couldn't help but shake this /feeling/ permeating throughout the room. And he was no closer to solving things. This was some sort of puzzle, wasn't it?

...Only one way to find out, again. Deciding to try something, he began to rearrange the clues into an order that he figured made sense. Starting off with...

Tower of Voices, Dividing Line, Endless, Zero Point, Victory, and finally, the Last Key.

"There, that looks good!" Luso exclaimed, nodding and then standing up to look over the arrangement of clues once more.

Mystery Box has posed:
There is a surge of voices. A mental whiplash as one after the other is touched.

There is a sound of bubble wrap popping in quick succession. Images and sounds and knowledge trying to cram itself sideways into an already crammed shelf of the mind.

White thrones. A feeling of dread. The smell of dusty air. A single heartbeat. A woman's voice. The drawning of swords, a blast of energy fierce enough to be a detonation.

Then more, and more, compounded on itself until hundreds, thousands of different images are trying to crash into the same space at the same time.

It takes only a moment, and then it passes. Each of the clues burn slightly luminous as they fade back into actual ink and words again.

Maybe.. you should only touch one piece of paper at a time.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso blinked, feeling disoriented for a moment as the visions hit him all at once. "Whoa...!" Okay, that didn't work, but he was closer now. Deciding to sit down, lest he trip over his own feet now, the boy reached out nd took hold of the first piece of paper in the order he set.

The Tower of Voices.

Mystery Box has posed:
The world is white.

It is so stark.

It is blindingly so. A white room. There are a number of what can only be called thrones winding up the sides of a spiraling staircase. Each of them is absent but there is a feeling, a sense of dark and terrible presence in each of these empty seats of differing heights.

The stairs continue to spiral upwards. Sometimes it will twist and the perspective will shift and what had become the top of the stairs is now the bottom of the stairs.

The dark presence increases as each empty throne is passed. There is evil there, if there is anything with a CAPITAL E. It feels like passing each throne is like passing through a series of barriers and with each barrier, the voices get louder. People in trouble. In need. People crying out. There is a need, crushing and immediate, for someone-- ANYONE to answer them.

The sound of breaking glass. Angry voices. Landing blows.

At the very top of the stairs is the last and louder barrier. Beyond it is a small and blindingly sparce white room with a single last throne. It is utterly silent, a ringing silence where an echoing nothing sits-- an ABSENCE so great that it nearly draws the silohuette of that dark presence in the air as a shimming place of void.

Perspective shifts and it's a sword in the stone. A crackling, shimmering something jutting from the throne like power incarnate.

Power enough to defeat all evils and repel all foes.

Power enough to do.. anything.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso found himself staring at white.

Or more specifically, this room was white. Almost blinding in it's purity. Yet, someone seemed wrong still. Traveling through, Luso found himself going up a spiral staircase, passing by what seemed to be thrones of some kind. Each holding a presence more disconcerting than the last.

It was horribly confusing. Sometimes, it seemed like perspective was shifting. Sometimes, it felt like he was moving all wrong. But eventually, he made it to the top. The journey there was accompanied by the growing sounds of voices. People seemingly in trouble. Luso frowned at this and spoke up. "Hello? I'm here! Who's out there?"

There was no answer, just the sound of glass shattering and people yelling. Finally up at the top, he could spot one last throne. There was no one sitting in it, yet, the very fact that no one was there seemed to create a presence all it's own. The pressure was so great that Luso wound up taking a step back inadvertently. "What the..."

But before he could deliberate upon this mystery any further, perspective shifted once again. This time what was before his eyes was a sword. A sword embedded into the surface. "......" Quietly, Luso regarded this sword. This power. It was incredible.

...But it wasn't his to take.

Shaking his head, Luso turned his back on the sight.

Mystery Box has posed:
The clanhall returns.

There is a chiming and the Clock outside reads "IV" with four chimes almost shaking the entire clanhall underneath his feet. The tower was there in one moment and then gone the next. Everything has returned to the way it was before, with the papers stretched out on the table.

The Tower of Voices paper is completely blank.

Luso Clemens has posed:
And then everything went white again. Once his vision returned he was sitting back in the clan hall. The rumbling beneath his feet gave him pause and he looked out of the window at the clock. "...I get it now." Luso mumbled to himself, looking over the papers. There was limited time to see only a select few of these...clues.

"So I won't be able to look at all of them." That was his theory anyway. "It's IV now, so...I can look at two more before the clock strikes XII. ...I think." Nodding to himself again, Luso pondered just what to see. He already checked out Tower of Voices, so...

Luso reached out, picking up the paper with the words 'Dividing Line'.

Mystery Box has posed:
The ground cracks and splits apart with a sound like splintering glass. It is a short fall to the next series of clues. A short fall through dusty air that parches the lungs and reddish black stone carved by massive amounts of force. Ravines and craters are commonplace on this battlefield.

The landscape is broken up into small areas of frozen time. There is a /massive/ tower in the distance made up of darkness and starry sky. Above it is a radiant moon, vaguely heart shaped through which a grand radiance pours down. The battlefield has been chopped up into these artfully displayed dioramas and filled with empty suits of armor bearing ancient and rusted blades.

In between these places are corridors of dark glass that extend out into the distance. In fact, the entire battlefield, seen from a sufficient height would paint out a stained glass window much like how this dream began. Each island tells a silent story of loss and struggle. Victory and defeat.

This is not just one time. One place. The tower and the moon is a constant as much as the clock was before. They are changeless. Enduring. Every other scene.. comes from an endless stream of variations. Clothes and attitudes and armor change, but the reasons stay the same.

There are just as much cry for vengeance as cry for salvation. Just as many big dreamers whose whims would save the world from itself or conquer it. Just as many who reach for the impossible. For the return of those lost to darkness. For the salvation of a town or a city or a nation. For the very resurrection of the dead.

And the moon overhead and the tower is the line drawn in the sand pitting all these hearts against each other. Other forces can be felt in the background as well. The agents of some fell chaotic force sowing discord. It is sometimes innocuous and sometimes overwhelming and ominous. All profiting from the bloodshed, no matter which side 'won' -- prolonging and escalating the conflict.

Lucas stands regarding a trio of warriors in armor, an unarmored and elderly man holding one of their number by the head. Holding them off the ground as a stab of ice races across their armor. He walks his away around the small island unhurriedly.

"Things don't stop simply because their reasons are forgotten. The sorcerers meant to hide it. To bury the worlds in forgetfulness and rewrite the story to their liking. But that is not how things work. This story.." he gestures to the picture before him and then around them. "And every story begins the same way. And it will end the same.. without caution."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Finding himself in a new place, Luso looked about, finding the tower of darkness in the distance and the vaguely heart shaped moon in the sky above to be the only things that seemed to persist. Everything else though; keyblades, armor, dusty ravines and craters...this place looked terrible. Like a massive battle was fought here time and time again...

"Just what is this place...?" The boy wondered, walking along and observing every instance. There were slight variations in the people, the weapons, the armors, but the base conflict remained the same through each one. But there was more than that. The tower and the moon seemed to be drawing a line. A dividing line that separated the two sides and brought forth this conflict.

It was terrible.

"All of this fighting...for what reason?" Luso mumbled to himself, eventually spotting Lucas. He slowed down to a stop a few steps away from him, following the sight all the way to the scene of three people in armor facing off against an elderly man. And he seemed to be holding his own all the same.

"What the..." Lucas' words cut into his question and he listened. "...Wait, you mean that this is what really happened? This is the truth behind the worlds, the darkness, and the keyblades?" He looked all around at the various similar outcomes. Different people, different times, all the same conflict. "...This is ridiculous. Why in the world is all this fighting necessary any? There has to be reason!"

Mystery Box has posed:
"Because of that." Lucas points up at the luminous moon. "Kingdom Hearts. The source.. no.. have you ever heard the expression that all worlds are connected to the same sky? That is why."

The older boy shakes his head. "Everybody wants something. And Kingdom Hearts is the very essence of a wish. The universe is out of balance because of what happened so very long. The heartless are a symptom of that imbalance."

Lucas shook his head. "They thought they were being clever. They would not choose and uplift aspirants as in the old traditions. In the traditions that led to the fate that youve seen." He gestures to the blades. "All of these? Keyblades. Wielded by knights in the service of light or darkness. But the sorcerers feared the darkness and so chopped off their arms to spite their bleeding fingers."

He begins walking amongst the frozen tableaus. " They cast a wide and subtle net that would niggle and fish for those who were strong and stalwart. Those who were wise and compassionate. Those who were champions -- and eventually, to send dreams and visions to those chosen few. Chaos and darkness cannot intervene if they do not know whom to shatter."

He laughs quietly. "It's a flawed plan from the start. But.. then aren't they all?"

Lucas disappears and so does the dusty graveyard stretching to the horizon, leaving only the clanhall in it's wake. Everything seems washed out and somehow grey, everything taking on a monotone as the Clock chimes out "VIII"

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso remained quiet at Lucas' explanation of Kingdom Hearts, The essence of a Wish, and the imbalance of the worlds. "....The same sky..." He still found all this fighting ridiculous, but...suppose that one couldn't solve everything in one night.

And then there were the sorcerers. Apparently they knew a whole lot more than they were telling everyone. It was suspicious enough on it's own. And it certainly seemed like it was all that effective, like Lucas had said. But then, what /did/ he know?

Watching Lucas disappear, the environment soon followed and then it was back to the table. "....." It was VIII now. One more clue to pick, and then it was over. Which to choose? Luso's eyes swept over the remaining pieces of paper slowly before his eyes settled on...

The Last Key.

Mystery Box has posed:
The light this time at the touch of the paper is more of an explosion. A collison of great forces against each other that reaches out and rends the paper thin tissue of this dreamlike reality. Another flare of brilliant and piercing light sears across the reforming landscape like a spear.

A curtain of stars and galaxies makes up the terraced pathways of this tower to the heavens. It's the massive tower seen from far away now seen VERY up close and personal.

The tower itself seems crafted out of starstuff with the empty space in every direction giving an incredible vista of a ruined and barren world. Great scars and ravines have carved the landscape. Darkness has tainted and and corrupted the land. Light has seared and scorched.

A beam of darkness from the top of the tower collides with the spear of light and a pressure wave explodes from the antipode of forces that sets the tower to noticeably quaking.

Straight overhead, large and close enough almost to touch is a pillar of twilight energy. A spire that reaches up to the moon of this world which is a luminous blue and vaguely heart shaped. A powerful radiance pours down along with that eerie blue, pure energy pouring down along that spire of energy like a waterfall.

It is the nexus of perfect interconnection. A web that spans a universe. A complete and terrible unity waiting for a controlling hand. Power in it's purest context without mortal filter or constraint. The price, and the stakes, of this contest going on all around him.

Along the stairways and corridors of the starlight tower are the dead. Armored figures lay where they fell, discarded soldiers in an unknown war. The battle continues unabated up about, massive surges of light and darkness exploding against each other.

Shards of crystal rain from the sky at every impact.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Whoa!" Luso cried, shielding his face with an arm at the explosion of light, rending the dreamscape and bringing forth another reality. This would be his last journey into the past, would it? Deciding not to think too hard about it, Luso lowered his arm, staring upwards at the tower and then out across the terrace and into the empty space.

Down below, the land was ruined, barren. It looked as if great and powerful forces warred on this land, and this was all that was left in the aftermath. It reminded him of the Jagd. But now wasn't the time. Watching the opposing forces collide, Luso was forced to grip onto a guard rail to keep himself from falling. "Holy cra-Gah! What the heck is going on up there!?"

Quickly deciding that complaining wasn't going to solve anything, the boy steadied himself and then rushed off, aiming to try to ascend this tower to get to the bottom of this. Motionless armored figures littered the stairways and corridors, painting a grim backdrop to the scene. "Was this another keybade war...?"

Shaking his head, Luso pressed onwards, climbing the stairs. He could hear the sounds of battle going on above and outside in the empty space...crystal shards were raining down. This looked like an absolute disaster! "I've got to get to the top!"

And so he looked forward and resumed rushing up the stairs.

Mystery Box has posed:
There are several more cataclysmic crashes in which the entire tower seems on the very threshold of coming apart. At some point, darkness devoured the endless vista of the world below the tower and now this single last foothold is left as contested bastion.

This looks like the very last place left in the world, in the universe.

The darkness reaches up to the lower reaches of the tower, and there.. the millions of eyes can be seen. A solid sea of heartless in many thousands of different forms are clawing their way up the tower towards the spire. They crash against the base of the tower and it trembles.

They will be here soon.

At the very apex of the spire there is nothing to mark the great contest of wills except the energy spire that connects the starlight tower with that immediate moon. Even the din has been sucked from the air leaving the spire in ringing silence.

Hanging in the middle of that pillar of energy is a sword. Well.. actually.

It's no more a sword than it is a concept.

The intricate traceries jutting from the entwined spirals and curves are completely unsuited for a weapon that is more than decoration -- but it is far from decorative in bearing.

It is all that stands between anyone and entering the spire of energy. A last battered guardian with massive cracks and battle damage having wounded the ancient weapon, glowing lines tracing each and every one of these faults.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Ah, sheesh! It feels like this Towers gonna come crashing down at any moment...!" And that would not be the best turnout. Not at all. But something else catches Luso's attention then. Looking downwards, he can see darkness swalling up the lower reaches. ...And then countless yellow eyes. "Oh crap!"

Not wasting any more time, he bounded up the stairs, finally reaching the top where the energy spire could be seen. All was silent, but there was no time to rest. The Heartless were coming. They would be here soon. He had to move fast! But wait...

"What the heck is that? ...A sword?" No, not exactly, he could have sworn he saw one, but...maybe not. But there was certainly something there. "...Wow. ...Oh wait, the Heartless!" Luso then brought himself back to reality and dashed forward, stopping at the side of the last remaining guardian. "Hey! hey! The Heartless are coming! You've gotta do something!" He spoke frantically to the figure, urging him to move and fight.

He must have forgotten that this was a dream.

Mystery Box has posed:
The figure does not move but there is a definite feeling of presence, although not from the empty armor but from the sword hanging suspended in the energy field. The heartless begin to scramble onto the platform and worse, they begin to tower overhead. A living wave of darkness.

There is an intense feeling from behind as if something was observing. The sword? Weighing and considering. It is not good or evil. It is simply proud.

And it reads.. reads.. and reads.. and reads..

Memories and emotions and intents. The energy field expands slowly at first. The heartless reach up in an endless black tide, stretching far overhead and crashing down towards Luso. The energy field feels like cool, refreshing energy and passes over him without a sound. The field is shielding him as they make ready to defend against such terrifying odds.

The darkness crashes against the light barrier with that presence looking on.

White flash. And there is a explosion that pushes Luso back into the clanhall. Everything is completely grey and lifeless. Monotone and filled with a ringing silence. In hand is a sharp metallic fragment of white gold, like a shimmering part of the sword.

Luso Clemens has posed:
No response. The armored figure was already gone. "Gah, fine then!" Luso looked upwards as the literal wave of darkness loomed over him and then crashed down. Ready to stand and fight. Luso stood at the ready, showing no fear...or maybe it was just false bravado. Either way, the power of a mysterious barrier protected him from the torrential force of darkness.

And then everything went white again.

Once his vision returned, Luso found himself back in the clan hall. Everything looked grey and...lacking. The life had vanished from this place Or at least what little was left. "Tch...! These memories..." He grumbled, clenching a hand over the shard he held. Wait, shard?

Glancing down, Luso finally noticed that he was holding something. "Huh? When did this...?" Raising his hand, he examined the object closer, momentarily putting aside the lifeless state of his surroundings.

Mystery Box has posed:
And there was Lucas again, near the doorway where he had not been before. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He lifts two fingers and makes a faint wave with them. "So now you know a little bit more than you did. About power.. and the past.. and all the things that have come before."

He gestures to the fragment. "Keep that close. It might help you in times to come." he gestures for Luso to walk with him again and walks out of the clanhall. Outside however.. it's the playground that started this dream. There are the echoes of people playing, just silohuettes like faded memories.

"I'd like to ask you for something, Luso. You asked me if this was a dream and I didn't answer. But I wanted to see how you would react first. If I could trust you."

Lucas shrugs. "Believe me paranoid if you want. But I need help. To restore the old ways before the worlds, and everyone on them cascade into even further peril."

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Holy cra-" Luso jumped upon hearing Lucas, looking over that way and calming down. "You really have to stop doing that!" He paused at that, and then added on to his statement. "Or better yet, teach me how to do that! I'd be the ultimate ninja! Ahahahaha!" Finding a laugh in that statement, he straightened up and moved to follow after the older boy out of the clan hall and outside...

...to the Playground? What? He can hear voices of people playing again and there were no cracks about this time. That was a relief. Slowing down to a stop by Lucas, he glanced aside at him, listening. "Huh...So that's how it was?" Luso looked ahead at that, watching the various silohuettes moving about.

"To restore the old ways..." This seemed like a huge issue, and if what he saw wasn't a lie...it was even more important than anything he's ever seen before. "...Alright. If there's any way I can help, I'll do my best to do so."

Mystery Box has posed:
Lucas grins wryly. "I might just do that. It's very handy for sneaking around." Lucas seems to be standing on one side of the playground.

Some white lines separate him from Luso and he makes a 'come on' gesture. Color starts to come back into the world, but only on Lucas's side of the line. Luso and the place he was standing was still grey and lifeless.

"Alright. Come on then. Walk with me a little while longer. I'll tell you where we can meet up again."

He extends a hand to Luso and this seems important too for some reason.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Heh, right, coming, coming." Luso moved along, heading into the colored side of the world and taking Lucas' offered hand. He put the fragment away in a pocket meanwhile, sparing once glance back at the grey, lifeless side of the area before looking back on ahead again. "Okay."

Mystery Box has posed:
Lucas pulls him across. Color and life returns to the plaground. The silohuettes are no longer just echoes but rather people playing. Everything seems perfect and how it is supposed to be. The clock hands move to XII and somewhere, it begins to chime twelve loud tones.

"Look for me .. here."

There is a picture, an image, a flash of rolling green hills and a white expanse of castle in the middle of that green. Castle Oblivion to those who know it's name. A forgotten place of memory to those who do not. There is also a route sketched out in the air and mind. "And we'll get started."

They walk as the clock chimes, and the world contracts a little. Fog rolls across the playground and everything is folded away. The view contracts until the stained glass and the darkness returns.

Light dims and Lucas evaporates at one point as it does so. Moving from noon sunshine to sleepy dusk and evening.

Let the pieces fall where they lay.

Destiny or distortion.

Dream or prophecy or nightmare.

All things in their places, and at their own times.

And with the last light dying awa, the dream ends. The sharp fragment with it's intricate weave is still in hand. A keepsake of a strange dream.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Stepping across into the color and life filled side of the playground. Luso nodded, seeing an image flash in his mind. A castle. One he's never seen before. But the name. He knew of the name. Castle Oblivion... "Alright. I'll be there." He answered, looking off as the clock struck twelve. Just at that, fog rolled in and everything began to vanish.

"Oh here we go...I guess it's time for this dream to end." And with the last light vanishing, the dream ended.

Returning to reality then, Luso shot up in his bed. "Whoa! .....Oh. So it was a dream after all." But it felt so real at times. "....." He then remembered and reached into his pocket...