Heart to Heart Talk

Heart to Heart Talk
Date of Scene:	11 October 2013
Location:	Lindblum - Inn
Synopsis:	Sometime after the encounter with Maleficent in Burmecia, Aerith attempts to keep Chita from falling too far into the darkness.
Cast of Characters:	Aerith, Chita

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Aerith has posed:
Was this... someone's heart?

Was this how it felt to be connected with someone, and if so, was the only way to do it in the halls of Darkness? She'd tried something foolish, she knew. But Chita ran away far too often, especially from her. Perhaps it was time to stop that.

But now she was here, in the depths of his very being, and she was shocked it'd actually worked. All it took was a brief effort of her will, and she was linked.

Aerith shook her head. Enough of that. She'd have time to consider it later. Right now, she had to bring him back, and that meant getting to the root of the evil that plagued him.

And so for her first time, she dived...

Chita has posed:
As Aerith descended into Chita's heart, she might be welcome to something quite strange. Where one might think a heart was whole, warm, bright - in the case of someone who was well-intentioned... something was off about the Viera's. Everything was dark, pitch black. Darkness seemed to cling and linger over everything. Blot out everything. It clung and stuck like tar to the creases and crevices. There was a platform right in the middle of everything, odd colors peeking out of the blackness that was covering it. Almost like stained glass being covered by a curtain. Yet, the platform seemed broken... cracked, vertically and down the center, part of it simply missing. Half of it was left there, atop the platform was the shape of a Viera.

Chita.

Yet he wasn't moving, wasn't speaking, wasn't doing anything other than staring off into nothing towards a bit of light - where Aerith had come in from. It was as if he was feeling drawing towards it, but something was keeping him there.

Something keeping him chained. Guilt. Sadness. Fear. Darkness.

Aerith has posed:
There he was.

But what was that he was on top of? What was that thing that looked like stained glass, broken and unfinished? And why did she feel so sad when she looked at everything wrong here?

Aerith lighted on the platform, some of the blackness clinging to her shoe as she stepped in it. Moments later it retreated from the light of her Spirit Staff, and she lifted it just a few inches off the ground, acting as if it were a torch. Indeed, the darkness retreated as if afraid...

But closed right back behind her when she'd passed. She looked behind her, a frown marring her soft features. "I know what this is." She looked toward the Viera as she approached. "You won't let go, will you?" She looked down at the stained glass floor. "Your heart is broken. That's what this is. It's broken, and no one's been here to take care of it." She closed the distance with Chita... and simply sat next to him.

Silence reigned as she sat there, sharing in his misery and sadness. Then she took in a breath and began to speak. "It's pretty all the way up there, isn't it? Just like a star."

Chita has posed:
That he had fought so long, lasted so long, in this condition - it goes to show just how hard he tried to succeed. How hard he pushed himself not to fail. Not to fall. He had told her before what Hades had done to him, had said he wasn't sure exactly what happened but something had happened. Perhaps it was this. Just this. The darkness was clinging to him as well the closer she got, it was more obvious anyways, almost like it was gluing him down. Chains of darkness wrapped around his arms and shoulders, holding him down.

At first, he didn't respond. Echoes in the darkness could be heard. Pained sounds, fearful sounds, regrets, worries... begging. Memories, perhaps, combined with the haunting of that weapon that had vanished. The cries of those that had fallen to the Back Beast. They had always haunted him, weak-hearted as he was, unable to push them aside fully. She was the first, truly, to know what was plaguing him. The cries of men, women... children... all terrified, begging anything and everything to save them. Something he'd failed to do.

"I'm sorry..." he mumbled softly to no one, truly, gaze still at the light, not even at the girl that was sitting next to him.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith glanced at him for a moment. It was then that she noticed the chains that held him in place, unable to move. Maleficent had defeated him soundly, but there was something else here... some reason why the glass image was missing. What could possibly have...

Her eyes widened. He'd told her something about someone taking something from him as payment, some kind of contract. It was something that left him... like this.

He'd taken a piece of the Viera's heart.

Her eyes narrowed. "What was his name again? Hades?" She nodded. "Yes, that was it." Her jaw tightened. "Fine. Now I know who to talk to."

She glanced around at the darkness. "But first, it's time to do something about this." She stood and cleared her throat. "Spirits, hear me. I open myself to you." She closed her eyes and spread her arms, motes of green light rising even from the pitch darkness. This, she knew. This, she was good at. "Commune with me. Reveal to me what plagues this tortured soul. I am your instrument... play me as you will."

Chita has posed:
The light surrounding her finally caused the depressed-looking Viera to raise his head and look quietly towards her. His eyes wandered her body briefly, looking at her from feet and slowly up before he seemed to lose focus and stare off at nothing in her direction.

As she continued, everything began to change, began to look different... it changed, into Goug. Into a first-person view, from his eyes, as he fought the rampaging Black Beast. It was a rough fight, but he, combined with an attack from Montag, managed to slay it. The beast fell, and suddenly everything changed.

Streaks of red and black came from the fallen form as it congealed into a blob of darkness and shot out over Goug, slowly pulling the hearts of those it connected with back towards it. The congealed form changed, compacted, tightened... into the form of a keyblade. A keyblade of darkness. or at least, what looked like one, briefly. Chita slowly walked towards it and as he got closer, it may be obvious that it was the weapon that he had previously that appeared in his hand. His hand reached out to grab it and darkness flooded everything once again. The world was gone.

Goug was gone.

The pain of the thousands of people that died that day, combined with the last thoughts before they died, flooded him all at once. Screams, begging, cries of fear and pain. Regrets. Hopes.

Anguish.

The scene changed briefly. The Shinra building. He was standing inside a room there, looking towards a female Shinra scientist. Rhiannon, if she knew her, a spear pointed at her throat. His whole body was shaking, his hand shaking, like he was trying to kill her but couldn't bring himself to do it. The look on her face was victory, as if she knew he didn't have it in him. The guilt that plagued him at that moment was probably quite obvious now too, the feeling of despair, of being unable to carry through with destroying the one responsible.

Aerith has posed:
No.

She'd met that woman before, met her in Seventh Heaven. She'd just walked in and inquired about something she had no idea about. But to think... to think that she was responsible for THAT? The destruction of an entire world?

Her eyes narrowed. There was no way the scientist had that kind of power.

She'd gotten information, sure. But it wasn't enough. She cleared her throat, blinked the tears from her eyes. The despair and anguish, for a brief moment, flooded her as well. "C-could you..." She took in a breath. "Could you show me more?" She had to know one last thing. If she could only reach that far, then this would make sense. She would know how to stop this... and perhaps stop something else.

Chita has posed:
That anguish of a thousand hearts was enough to drive a weaker person mad. It might have actually done that to him. Yet, he seemed to still be here, still seem to be reasonable. At least as much as one was in this state of mind.

Brief flashes of anger, of fear, came to existence. Unimportant things that were flashing here and there into sight in his heart. The scene changed again to the Underworld. Hades was standing in front of him, badgering him about the contract. Chita's voice could be heard telling him 'No, I will not kill Mercade'. Eventually Hades stepped in and seemingly ripped something straight out of Chita, from his chest, and flicked it out the window into Styx, only to punt his form away as the world seemed to break around him.

Then nothing. For a bit, there was nothing. It was as if he had started to fall away again, then more memories returned. Once again Chita confronting Rhiannon in her lab in the Shinra HQ. Banter and what seemed to be flirting was going back and forth, witty remarks followed by witty remarks, trying to verbally one up each other. Conversing about the weapon, about a sample of his blood, about Viera, and then...

Hopefully she wasn't too embarrassed as things transitioned because it seemed there may have been a brief night of passions followed by him feeling guilty about having let himself sink to such. A constant loneliness was plaguing him, though. Of feeling empty, needing to cling onto others to try and make himself feel full - feel alive. His fascination with Rhiannon, that no matter how much she disgusts him for her lack of morals, her actions... she still fascinated him. Enough that he had succumbed to such base things.

Aerith has posed:
So that was the guilt. On top of his defeat, and the confirmation that Hades had indeed taken half of his heart, it was that one act that caused him to sink even lower. Aerith simply observed, her features placid and serene. It was like watching a movie, only it actually happened. She closed her eyes after a while and turned toward Chita. "Spirits, speak now. I ask one question, and one only... will you have mercy on this broken heart? Will you forgive?" She knew the answer, but he had to know first-hand.

Chita has posed:
"How... am I supposed to forgive myself?" he finally asks, speaking, something other than apologizing. Chita turns to look towards her, the darkness creeping up on him a little more, one arm making the chains clink a bit as he tried to move it to reach out towards Aerith. "How... do I stop being a coward? How can I... how..." he trailed off before finally saying, "If I turn her over to others, they will kill her. If I do nothing, more will die... if I destroy the weapon, she will start over. If I aid her... less will die, but they will still die... and maybe, just maybe, a keyblade may be created. A Keyblade... to save us all. How am I supposed to choose between saving a few and maybe damning us all... or damning a few and maybe saving us all?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith grimaced. She had a feeling she knew who this woman was. But she had to know, to be sure. "What is this woman's name." It wasn't a question, more of an affirmation. "I'll answer you after you say it."

Chita has posed:
Chita started to speak, then stopped, looking away. He couldn't say it. He couldn't trust Aerith not to hurt her, or to have someone else hurt her. To kill her... to kill another. He couldn't do it, even to save himself.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed. She knew where this was going, so she shook her head. "I need to know so that I can solve this." A smile, then. "I promise not to hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it. What is her name, Chita?"

Chita has posed:
"No."

His will on this seemed resolute. Ironstead. "I will not tell anyone. I will not put another in danger like that. ... I could not live with myself if something I did lead to another being killed. I will not take that chance." then the words he had started with so long ago, "I'm sorry." He wasn't asking for forgiveness, he was apologizing.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed and gave a nod. "That's okay. I bet I can tell who it is already. You don't even have to say it." Rhiannon had told him something, promised him something. Made some sort of deal, perhaps. Something about a keyblade that could solve his issues. Aerith cleared her throat. "I asked you before what your truth was. You asked me what that meant, and now I think I have an answer for you. Your truth is this: That you won't let anyone in need go without aid." She smiled. "You won't stop in your quest for justice. You've faced this," she said as she gestured around her, "For so long, and it's courage itself to do it."

Aerith placed a hand on one of his chains, removing it from the shoulder it rested upon with a gentle touch. "But it's even stronger to move past it... to let go of it. These chains on you? No one put them there but you. It's time to take them off now, and I'll help you." She let the chain drop to the floor with a rattle, then raised her staff and channeled her energies into it again. The light from the weapon flared as she focused her will, pushing the darkness back. "Go ahead, take them off!"

Chita has posed:
Chita stared silently at Aerith as she spoke, as she made her claims. Was that true? Did it make sense? He became so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the chain over his right arm dropping down and vanishing into the darkness. A bit of the darkness vanished next to him, a bit of light starting to shine through from the broken pillar, a pane of what seemed to be glass visible, an eye, shut.

"Why... are you doing this for me?" he asked finally, softly, looking towards her. The confusion may be obvious on his face. "Everyone hates me when all I have ever done is attempt to protect everyone. Everything I've ever done has been my best attempt to do the right thing. Why... don't you wish me dead and gone too?" Even though he hadn't noticed the one chain was gone, Chita reached across himself with his hand to try and take one of Aeriths, trying to hold onto it. Clinging, perhaps, trying to greedily find his own comfort in another actually wanting to be around him.

Aerith has posed:
Greedy, perhaps. But everyone needed to be accepted, to feel loved, to have that sense of greatness. They needed to feel important.

Aerith grabbed onto his hand. "Because it's who I am. It's what I do. I can't help but be this way. Whenever I see someone hurting like this, I want to fix it. I might not know how to help everyone, but this?" She smiled. "This is how I can help you. And I think I can use it again if I try hard enough." She tilted her head to the right. "Smile for me?"

Chita has posed:
The silence remained until she broke it, and when she took his hand and spoke, he listened to what she had to say. She could probably feel him shiver faintly by the hand she had held, the darkness slowly pulling away from him before he slowly stood and looked down at her quietly, thoughtfully. "...thank you. Though..." he actually looked a bit embarrassed, not smiling at her so much as looking away, "Keep it up and you might find yourself with a new admirer. I admit I have a weakness for altruistic females."

A joke at his own expense, the darkness on the platform receding slowly. More of his heart began to let the light back in, though in the end... it was still only a fragment. There was still only so much left, even as he stood there, the one hand still in hers until she let such go.

Aerith has posed:
Only so much left... but it was enough. She'd saved what was left. How to get the rest of it back was a whole different bottle of wax, but she would find a way. This Hades was bad news, and she had a feeling it was not the last she'd hear of him. For now however, she raised her staff high, spreading the light throughout the hall, scattering it across the dais upon which they stood.

The radiance from her staff touched every wall, every inch of the stone and glass, and the darkness vanished from it, revealing what lay underneath.

It wasn't perfect. A big piece of it had been stolen from him and he needed it back... but it was there, and clean.

Aerith lowered her weapon and turned toward Chita. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."

Chita has posed:
An offer to leave... it was tempting. When she turned towards him, she might be surprised as he steps close and attempts to pull her into a hug. As strong as he was, it was quite gentle truly. "Thank you... for putting up with me. I am pretty sure you put yourself in danger and... if you ever need me, ever need my help... please." His hands dropped from around her to his sides, though one attempted to take her left hand, his right, and bring it up to kiss the back of it. "I owe you everything."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith giggled. "Be careful. A girl could get used to the chivalrous treatment." She glanced toward the opening she'd created. "I want you to accept yourself from now on. Warts and all. Now that we're here, you need to stay here. We'll do something about the rest of your heart, but if you want to keep what remains of it intact..." She looked at him again. "You have to love yourself."

Chita has posed:
He finally smiled, bringing the hand up again to playfully kiss at the back of it, with another kiss against the back of her fingers before letting go of it. "I could do such all day, I enjoy pampering good-hearted people. I am not sure I can, however... accept myself. I have never been comfortable in my own body since I was young. Since I was young I was treated different because I was male... expected to act different for being male. With Hades curse forcing me to openly be male... I have barely been able to look in a mirror without feeling exposed, like I should hide myself away. You ask a lot, Aerith. More than you realize. Not everyone is born perfect like you."
It may be obvious he is simply teasing her at this point, despite the honesty in what he'd said, his own problems with himself being quite simple, but still rearing itself constantly.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gave him a genuine laugh at that. "Are you kidding? I'm the farthest thing from perfect there is!" The laugh died down to a chuckle. "Just coming in here was dangerous enough, I could have broken something else. But once I got in and saw how bad it was, well I couldn't just sit there. This place really needed a good cleaning, and it shows." She looked toward the light again. "So don't get too comfortable with me. You might find something you don't quite like." She tightened her grip on his hand. "Time to go home."

Aerith pushed off of the dais with her heels, floating upward toward the exit she'd made. As they got closer, the light seemed far larger and brighter than it was from where they'd been sitting, and soon enough, they found themselves right in the middle of it. Before everything faded, Aerith gave Chita another smile.

"If it's any consolation... you're handsome, Chita. Never hide this ever again."

Chita has posed:
Chita laughs softly at that himself and goes along with her, though at the last thing she says, he nods. "Thank you again." And let himself be consumed by the light. A part of him briefly thought that perhaps he was simply passing over to the afterlife. Hell, he didn't realize this was his own heart. As far as he knew, Maleficent had fully done him in and all. Back in the real world... Chita was laying in a bed, bandaged and beaten and looking quite bad. But... he would live, but it'd probably be quite some time before he was conscious again, or knew what was going on.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith however would not only be fully intact, but would perhaps be awake within the next few hours, almost as if she'd experienced a lucid dream of sorts.

But even she realized that what she'd done was real, and a part of her mind knew that what she'd seen, she could never un-see. No, she would remember. She HAD to remember, because she might have to do this again with someone else...