Error Correction

Error Correction
Date of Scene:	16 December 2012
Location:	Castle Oblivion
Synopsis:	Part 6 of Hobo With a Shotgun-- now with special guest appearance. Beware sudden cliffhanger.
Cast of Characters:	Will Sherman, Riku
Tinyplot:	Hobo With A Shotgun

---

Will Sherman has posed:
Who knows how much time has passed sense they found the bars. Will had one, let Riku have the rest because well, he actually probably needs them. Will wasn't so sure what he was anymore, despite throwing on a good face for Riku. The images have subsided...well, at least, slowed down to a dull roar from time to time. Enough to let them sleep.

Right now, Will was awake, staring at one of the rooms. He had entered one room once, and got the same result as before. Another image of Loki, this one tied down like an animal thrashing when Sigyn was gone, pouring the venom out. It resonated with him a great deal than he had wanted, shutting the door and taking a breath. He rubbed his head...looking at the new door. Every door seemed to lead to another one of Loki's memories...his pain and suffering...but not /Will's/ memories...no those flowed freely everywhere else.

Will hesitates opening this door, honestly afraid of what he'll see next.

Riku has posed:
"Give me that." Riku grumbles, taking the proferred granola bar and furiously tearing the wrapping. This really should be somebody ELSES job. Sora would be able to do this. Reize-- well. Reize would TRY, but he doesn't think he would get through the explaination with his mind intact. He also might sadly hit on Sigyn in his quasi-charmingly oblivious fashion.

He could almost see the heart bubbles himself of him swooning over her warm caring smile. He finds himself lingering over these thoughts and the teenager blinks several times, staring into the distance for a long minute or so. He looks at the granola bar, and thumps himself over the head with it.

Right.

Focus.

Riku takes a chagrined bite out of the granola, rummaging around in the cupboards as something to do that will stall this conversation he has to have a little longer.

This-- all happened some time before-- in an era where some people thought they were starting first. So indeterminate time later, Riku is rummaging around in the box for another granola bar because he DOES actually need it. He wants something normal. It was just all too funny they were Honey Oatmeal granola. In a sort of-- dark humor way. He had also stalled conversation. What with one thing and another and him not actually being someone who can do this, he had just put it off.. Riku with the box in hand quietly stands up from where he has been propped against the wall, looking aimlessly through the house and eventually encountering Will hesitating before another door.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will...

Thunks his head into the door.

"I can't handle this shit anymore." he says, exhasperated. "I get it house, I'm not a real person, why do I need to keep seeing the thing inside me. What does this all even mean? What do you want me to know, or is it just here to torture me?! Great, I'm in hell! I always wondered what it was like!" he says, and thunks his head into the wall again.

He rubs his face, and turns aro-...

It's Riku. "....Oh how long were you there?"

Riku has posed:
"--Through at least to the second or third thunk." Riku offers the granola bar box and decides to just get this over with. It might not be pretty, or kind-- or even particularly helpful, but he's often been in this situation.

Nobody is going to like every story. Sometimes you have to just bear through it. "Sit down, Will. The house has appointed me the new provisioner of helpful information. So unless we get interrupted by another nightmare scene, I've got to say a few things and I don't have the boat and a giant expanse of dark water on hand."

Will Sherman has posed:
"Oh." Will says, and slides down the door and turns to face Riku.

He takes a breath, okay. "Alright, so you have a story from the house wants you to relay." he pauses. "I think the nightmares only happen when I open the doors. I tried to look at my mothers room earlier...got another eye full of horror. I really could use a happy story right now."

Riku has posed:
Riku raises his eyebrows a little and takes a seat himself, crosslegged on the floor with one side leaning up against the wall. He looks into the middle distance for awhile, chewing lightly on the inside of his mouth.

Riku looks at his hands after awhile, neatly puncturing the granola box after applying a little pressure. He watches this and repeats it several times, moving the box slightly out of position each time as he gathers his thoughts. Finally he puts the box in front of him. He looks up slowly from it to Will Sherman.

"..Do you remember when you first started using your powers to help people? Was it the man in the tophat-- or was it before?"

Will Sherman has posed:
"Before that.." Will says, frowning, "It...was a rough time in my life. It was one of those times...the loss of my mother was still fresh in my mind...my brother was also dead...his children were old. It was just me, I felt no connection to anyone, or I guess, I didn't want to feel connection to anyone. I was afraid, but..."

"I told you about her, Melody." he says, despite everything, he can't stop himself from smiling a little, "Why do you ask?"

Riku has posed:
"Because asking questions is probably a lot better than being jerked around by memories." Riku looks a little chagrined. "Although-- I probably would have punched somebody if they'd brought up anything from my home, so maybe I needed that. As a reminder, if nothing else, of the things that I hold onto. Silly or not." He rubs the back of his hand with the other, wincing slightly as he scratches his hand accidently. "Ow. Not used to that yet."

Riku rubs the spot of blood with his palm. "So. What do we know? We know the Aesir are mostly jerks, whoever they are. There was a big fight. Loki was sealed away. You washed up on a shore, and people took care of you, and you liked or disliked or wanted to punch people and I don't see how up to this point you are any different from anybody else except the smell. It's an amazingly effective anti-heartless weapon. I've probably burned out my nose."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will winces at Riku's accidently scratching himself.

He nods, once, "Yeah...yeah." he says, as Riku goes on. "I..." he says, looking away, "I guess..." and then the Joke. Will snorts a little, shaking his head.

"Heartless don't even have noses! It's been totally uneffective!" he complains, but not really. There is a faint hint of a smile crossing his features.

"Maybe...the house...wants to show me about Loki?" he guesses. "I can only guess.."

Riku has posed:
"I've-- actually got it on pretty good authority that it's more about you." Riku takes a bite out of a granola bar, tearing the wrapping paper and folding it up. He carefully puts the wrapping beside the punctured box.

"What does it feel like? I mean--" he laughs softly. "I know what being next to a luck vortex is like from the outside. You've been.. throwing a lot more of it around the more the heartless have shown up, and not only with.. with Manhattan."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will pauses...

"It's...hard to describe? I mean, I have never lived without my powers. Infact, it took me years to understand that people don't see strings like I do." he comments, "I...don't have a good frame of reference to answer that question. I mean...I have never been normal. But...sometimes I feel something when I use the powers. Something stirring almost...when I get angry, the wrath surges through me. Like when I punched a heartless mountain so hard it folded in on itself. I just...the anger was overwhelming. Other times, it made me more impulsive than normal. I guess?"

"I learned not to be arrogant with the powers, I learned that lesson the hard way. Sometimes, human will is stronger than any luck that I might hold sway over..." Will says, with a smirk. "What about you? How...does it feel? The Darknes? I never understood it myself...until Loki awakened....now I am just kinda afraid of it." he shudders a bit, "I could only see it's destructive power, through Loki's eyes."

Riku has posed:
"Ask Mercade when you find him. I showed him once.. as an instruction in how much I hated magic at the time." Riku smiles somewhat bitterly at the memory. "Now I've started to become more comfortable with the idea, and that scares me. The light is something people use to hide their betrayals behind. Their deceptions." Riku shakes his head.

"Never mind. I'm-- " his shoulders shake but he doesn't actually laugh. "I'm hungry all the time now. I think whatever time I had, whatever time I gave myself by taking in the darkness is running out. So I'm going to stop hedging around this. Whatever makes you Will Sherman is-- " he pauses, trying to get it straight. "It's several parts. Easy magic and stuff that's harder.. not as easy to reach. Sort of like darkness and light is to me. Every time you lash you, you strike out, you--"

Riku gestures but can't find an appropriate word. "You shred some part of yourself. The magic that-- I dunno. Keeps you Will Sherman. There's some part that binds instead of shreds, but apparently you haven't used it in a long long time of shredding bits of yourself."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will thinks about this for a long time, "I don't think that's quite right, Riku." he says, looking at the boy, "It's not that people hide their betrayals...it's that they justify it to themselves through the light. Instead of daring to be wrong, they try and spin it to make themselves look right. That they had to do it, that they didn't have any other choice." he says, shruging, "People don't want to be wrong, or make mistakes....even when it's natural to do so." he comments.

But he can't put off his own powers forever...

"Stop...being me?" he comments...Binding instead of shreding... "I never remember using powers like that...unless..." he says, looking at the door.

"I...think I understand. In order to know about who I am...I have to know about what happened with Loki. I just..."

"Shredding bits of me.."

Riku has posed:
"Yeah. She said this part would probably be next." Riku slowly gets to his feet, leaning against the wall. Je gestures to the door. "It's the doors, right? Well-- come on. We've got to see this through to the end."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will finally stands, hand on the door.

"She?" he asks Riku.

Riku has posed:
Riku rubs the bridge of his nose, internally cursing himself for the slip. "You're not the only one to get special attention this trip. Usually, we just trade off with the crazy."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will gives him a odd look, and shrugs.

"Alright.." he says, and then...

The door is turned. The room opens...

This time it's everything, completely surrounding them. Loki is still tied to the rock, however, Oberon is standing over him, as the Weird sisters flank him. "We are all to leave Avalon, as per my decree....even you." he says, to Loki, still bound in place. The snake removed, and Sigyn no where to be seen.

You would be a fool to release me, Oberon... Loki says, but it is not said...it is...FELT. The pure malice that radiates off of Loki is...beyond comprehension. Mad with anger and pain, sorrow and loss...Loki has stopped being a person...and more a force.

Riku has posed:
Riku reacts in a somewhat predictable fashion to the power of that sort of force 'speaking' at Oberon. He puts his hands to his ears in a futile gesture as the darkness inside him roils at the touch of that negative storm.

But-- he's been the direct and personal object of attention of that force, and he still punched them in their smug and maniacal face. Well-- technically, he punched Will Sherman. He also did so at the heart of a world, where his power to influence events and keep Loki pinned down was heightened, if only slightly.

Still, he stood against the voice of evil. Even if it was for the wrong reasons. This time, he doesn't fall. He slowly lowers his hands to his sides. Riku vowed to himself he would not fall. Riku takes in great lungfuls of air, his eyes wide and staring, blood dripping unnoticed from his clenched hands as he forces himself to keep on his feet.

Will Sherman has posed:
There is a hand on Riku's shoulder.

It is Will, looking concerned at him. He doesn't speak, instead he makes a motion with his foot, as if kicking a soapbox away. To which he gives him a small smile.

Events unfold, as Will's mind is forced to watch them again. Oberon looks down at Loki, "We have decided that in order to continue your sentance, you will be bound in the form of a human... Perhaps, then you will learn of your lessons, forced to be what you used."

The three sisters flank Loki now, their magic starting to filter through each other, and then Loki, completing a circuit of magic. The energy flows...finally starting to take shape into...something.

Loki's form shakes, wraithing in pain as the bonds that were his son are now wrapped around him. Slowly, wrapping more and more around him. Almost becoming a cage. Around that cage...a form started to appear...

The form, nearly complete, snaps his head back, but..

Oberon steps forward, magic flowing from his own hands, and into the already prepared spell. There is...a disruption. The magic doesn't...act like it should. Something...SOMETHING happens...a green bind wraps around the new figure. Some sort of unforseen change happens...and then...

Will drops to the ground. Oberon looking down at the creature looks...oddly at the newly formed...thing. "Not quite human, after all. Perhaps we were hasty in acting during the ritual." he says, as the three sisters pick themselves off the ground. The backlash causing them some pain. "Reguardless...give him to the Aeseir. We have no farther use of them, or you. Do this and return to your post."

Oberon was gone, leaving the young will to be gently picked up by the Silver haired woman... "Interesting." she says, seemingly looking at something, "It is not a human we have made. He is not too removed from us."

The other two make a noise of confusion, "This boy is not human..." she says, and then moves, "Let us go then, I doubt it will matter for too much longer. The Aesier have not forgotten Loki's transgressions."

Riku has posed:
Riku manages the edge of a grateful smile, wracked with pain that starts to fade as the events unfold and the voice-- the force that Loki has become after an untold amount of suffering, is folded away by the magic.

Then--something happens to twist the magic, to change it into what would become Will Sherman. He takes in a deep breath, wincing as he notices that he's punctured both hands. "ow." A wind trickles across the floor and up his body as he heals the self inflicted wounds. He tries to kick the door shut with one foot, grumbling.

"Never be like them, Will. Those guys are jerks. I-- don't know. I can't even a WORD big enough for them."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will watches this all...

"No...I don't think I could ever be that badly..." he says, "You have to really go to school to be that class of jerk." Will says, shaking his head. The image was gone...

"I think I can guess the rest...of this story...I think the Aesier threw me into the ocean." he says, "I can just...guess that." he comments...

"My powers come from Loki...or the ones I have been using do." he says. He tries to take all of this in, and looks towards Riku. "...She?"

Riku has posed:
Will is a lot like Sora in the fashion that once Riku has made a mistake in the story, he just continues to poke at it until Riku breaks down and tells him. As if giving in to the inevitable, Riku sighs and opens his mouth to explain. "Well I--" his voice is stopped in his throat. As easily as if his voice were a ribbon sheared by a knife.

A moment later, as he stares with absolute horror towards the far wall there is the sound of polite knocking. Someone is at the front door to this ancient and withered house of memories. The knock comes again after a polite interval of waiting. "He.. I--" he shakes his head. "He's here. Why didn't I feel him coming?"

Will Sherman has posed:
"Why...didn't I see him coming?" Will asks, staring at the door too.

"...We could just not open the door, he's being polite." he whispers, "Or maybe we could sneak out the back?"

Riku has posed:
It's because there is nothing to see. The threads-- part, as if an invisible voice was outside of destiny itself, and simply moving through reality not directly connected to it. It's beyond darkness. It is simply oblivion.

A moving piece of complete emptiness that Will can almost feel is staring straight at him. "You answer the door." Riku murmurs, already starting to step back away from it. "I'm going to run like hell for the boat." There is another polite interval, and then another knock. Each of them are completely identical. The same sounds, as if time has looped over and replayed the last few seconds several times after a short pause.

Will Sherman has posed:
"He's here for me too." Will complains...

"Alright. I'll distract him, you go for the boat." Will whispers, "Go out the back, along the right side of the house. If you hit it right, you can hit the hedge and get pretty far without much notice." Will whispers, "I'll run by him when I see you go." he mutters. Slowly, he walks to the door, waiting for Riku to go.

"Who is it? We're not accepting visitors right now. Especially if they have heartless."

Riku has posed:
Riku goes. He pauses for a moment, then slips out of the back door for the hedges. He looks towards the boat, thinking about moving around the house and stabbing the bastard in the back while they were busy being laugh-happy in front of Will.

"It will only take a moment of your time, Mr. Sherman. Surely an immortal as yourself can spare me a few minutes. There are also no heartless here. I have" he pauses briefly as if composing his words carefully before speaking. "sent them away."

Will Sherman has posed:
"You're being polite. What happened to brute forcing your way through things?" Will says, holding his hand on the door, perhaps thinking of unlocking it...it jingles just enough to try and keep his interest.

"Well, that's great. I am sure you'll bring them back once the door is open...so I need a assurance that you're not going to try and put your arm through my.." he pauses, "My friend, and try to break me open for the creamy angry god inside."

Riku has posed:
There is an actual faint moment of laughter. It is smugly dismissive, although a moment of anger curdles in the depths of the richly toned voice. "I see."

There is an ominous silence from the other side of the door. It stretches on for as long as a minute before the voice continues in tones of seemingly genuine apology and humor. "The actions of an errant shadow, I assure you. You'll forgive me if I believe breaking someone open is a little too--intimate for our short acquaintance. I believe dinner is required first."

Riku sneaks around the side of the house. A man in his late fifties with meticulous white hair pulled back from his face by an elegant clip studies the closed door with idle patience. His clothing is vaguely Victorian and more suited to a winter climate. He is the same figure they briefly saw on the crumbling island of Riku's home, except.. not.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will takes a breath... Finally the door opens, but just a crack, with Will's face out of it.

He looks at him, "Huh, you look the same as that other 'shadow'. Okay, no, I lied, you don't. I mean, I guess you 'do' look the same, but not to 'me'." Will suddenly develops the ability to be a smug asshole.

"Sorry, my smug arrogant god-thing is a bit lax. So why are you here? I was pretty sure we're not liking each other, and uh...you know, you're sort of the reason my /my home is gone/."

Riku has posed:
The man frowns. It's not an angry frown, astonishingly. It's more of a disappointed expression, as if he was somehow expecting more from Will and that he was being sadly let down. Riku summons the shadowblade to hand as the man continues to converse with Will.

"You require an egress from this land of shadowy dreams, do you not? I am more than willing to contact an appropriate authority to do so. However, I have not come here to banter with a disappointly spoiled child. I have come to undo the harm my shadow has unfortunately inflicted on your young.. friend."

He couches this in air quotations just as Will used a long pause to distinguish. "Riku." he says without turning his head. "I do not suggest that action. Allow me to aid the both of you, and we can all be about our individual business."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will doesn't face palm...maybe he didn't notice Riku running for the boat.

Why isn't Riku at the boat?

GO TO THE BOAT RIKU.

"Riku's not here, he's somewhere in the house." he lies. "And hey, I am not being spoiled. I mean, seriously, how dare I get upset that you destroyed, or had a hand in, destroying my home. God, it is like mass murder is some sort of /crime/ or something." Will says, a bit heated.

"If you're expecting an immortal being like myself to be just as flat as you are, then you've come to the wrong godling. Might I suggest Hel? She seems more your t-" smack.

"OW! Who hit me?" he asks. Genuinely confused.

Riku has posed:
The man gives Will a look of amused long suffering. "I believe in the current venacular the expression runs 'You should cease striking yourself.' --Are you not even aware of where you are?" The man raises an eyebrow, looking at Will with a look of faint wonder. "Interesting, but ultimately inconsequential. Perhaps an object lesson is in order. Watch closely." He takes several steps back, composing himself as a lecturer about to take the podium for a long discourse.

He gestures to the air in front of him and Riku appears there. The teenager gasps, shadowblade dissolving as he crashes to his knees grabbing at his chest. "This is very worrying." Ansem explains to Will in a calm voice. "A simple summoning should not cause so much distress. It is" he pauses, as if making a mental notation.

"..actually of interest that you have survived this long, Riku. You have a very wrong will. It will, however, eventually fail you in the end unless the connections tying you to others are severed," he pauses as if examining something. "I see Malificent has been a very busy woman."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will growls...

Will moves trying to interpose himself between Ansem and Riku, dropping into a stance.

"You're starting to piss me off, mysterious talky guy." he pauses... "Maleficent?" his eyes narrow, "Look is there a point to all of this, or am I going to break your butt? Seriously, stop hurting him like that! If you got nothing else to say, then We're going."

Riku has posed:
Ansem takes a few moments to compose himself. There is another ominous silence, the beginnings of something dark beginning to shimmer from behind the man. The controlled anger bakes off him in almost palpable waves. He sighs. "Riku. As distasteful as it is, might I take this moment to remind you that if you leave this place with your heart entangled as it is, you will return to the world of reality the same slave you entered it as?" his eyes slide to Will. "And may I remind you, Mr. Sherman-- that an ounce of civility would grant you much? Maleficent is the dark sorceress who Riku ultimately serves. She is very clever in her manipulations. Shall I show you the hope and dreams she twisted in order to plant her hooks into the boy? It is it a fascinating study."

Riku coughs, grasping as if someone had put his heart in a vice and PULLED him along with it, a sudden sharp /yank/ that stripped him from one place and placed him in another as carefully as a collector repositioning a favorite doll. "Right. I've heard this before. You'll cut one set of strings so I'll just be YOUR puppet instead of anybody elses." he doesn't admit to himself that the sorceress is manipulating him. He knows it is true, but a voice whispers to him all the right things to turn his mind away, which is even further confirmation to Ansem of his assumptions.

"Indeed not. I want you unburdened especially of any connections to myself. I have traveled this path to Oblivion to rid myself of you, and possibly to spring you from the trap you have made for yourselves out of apologetic courtesy."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will Sherman wasn't a sucker. "And the price? Nobody does anything for free." unless you're the TDA.

"I don't get your angle, but that doesn't mean I'm exactly going to give you the keys to the kingdom because you come here and start acting friendly." he pauses, "Okay, not friendly, but more polite." he corrects himself.. "STOP!" he shouts, as he starts growling at Ansem. "Stop hurting him! He's not a toy, you monster."

Riku has posed:
"He is hurting himself. I have no part in the proceedings, Mr. Sherman. His body is rejecting the overshadowing that my errant shadow imposed on him." At this, Ansem looks truely angry. A furious spark gleams in his cold face as he remarks. "A regrettable and ham handed action." The lines of his face smooth to something like a stern and demanding father.

"However while you stand here and argue with me over terms, he will soon degrade into a common heartless. I do not believe any of us wishes this consequence of your inaction." Riku tries to get to his feet and cries out in pain, sagging back again to his knees. "Hmm." Ansem notes to himself.

"Even still there is no sign of outbreak. Perhaps it is more than a passive resistance." he taps his cheek twice as if interested in this development more than interested in talking to Will any longer.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will looks at Riku...was there something he could grab...or do to help.

Maybe it is Will's presence that is helping...who knows.

"Okay, great, he's not a heartless, I'd like to keep that like that, and you apparently don't want that. So are you going to tell us how to fix it or what?:

Riku has posed:
Ansem's eyes bore in Will with a furious intensity. He can feel that oblivion starting to deform as he looks for some way to help Riku, tendrils beginning to escape the containment. There is a flash of hideous and terrible hunger behind the iron control of the man. A desire for all life to be changed, uplifted-- and anything in the path of that uplifting erased from existance, not merely destroyed.

Riku's darkness is wildly out of balance with the light that still forms the core of his being. It is strangling it, the threads of his personal darkness seizing-- crushing the light. Greatly patches of those threads are tangled, almost burnt-- and they spasm every time Riku tries to get control of himself and crushes him even harder. He is in fact doing exactly what Ansem is saying. The harder he fights, the more he is destroying himself.

"It is very simple, Mr. Sherman. His darkness must be brought out, and his light defeat it. That is still the way of these worlds, is it not? The pursuit of balance?" His voice is dangerously low and calm. Riku is nearly insensate with pain, panicked at the utter loss of control and desperate to get it back even as it keeps slipping through his fingers. "And you promise Will gets out?" Riku yells in pain, or maybe just at the inside of his mind.

"Indeed. That was the initial offer. Your permission to exise your darkness in such a fashion, and in return, both you and Will are returned to the world of reality should you survive." Riku laughs harshly. "I've--- I've never been one for fine print anyways. It's--" he gasps. "Whatever happens, Will. It's okay. Just-- there's always the boat. You can-- you can still get out of here."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will doesn't even let Riku finish, "Not a chance." he says, arms crossed, "Your darkness needs it's lights punched out anyway." he says, "Anyway.." he continues, with a grim grin on his face, "I'm not about to give up on you now, because things are going to get rough," He looks at Ansem.

"So whatever, I'm not leaving. We beat this thing, and then we go home." Will looks at Ansem, "And if you renig, we'll break your butt."

Riku has posed:
"Charming." Ansem remarks to Will with that same look of long suffering disappointment. "I have your permission, I assume?" Riku coughs on another scream and manages to nod. The man nods. "Very well. I will contact the appropriate authority to extract the survivors from the castle environs. Good day, Mr. Sherman. Let us hope no 'breaking' of any sort is to be required between you and I."

Ansem disappears. No lights. No fanfare. He simply vanishes-- and then Riku begins to scream in earnest.