melodiesofkupo | letter + voice

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letter + voice

[Early in the morning, almost as if it were timed, every single Native OC who was at the dinner last month and every Outworlder receives a similar physical packet. In it is, written in neat handwriting, a letter placed atop two different manila folders.]

Hey.

Most of you have never heard from me, but of those who have seen Futaba's notes on what we know so far, you may recognize my name. I am Takeshi Nakagawa, an Outworlder like most of you who receive this. Previously, I was a Hero of Light.

By now you've likely heard of the tale of Crystallis and how the journey ended for four of us. I was not one of them, but I witnessed their sacrifice along with countless others. It is because of their deeds that we are all here this day, for if they did not, all worlds and all universes would have been wiped out by a threat that posed to consume and assimilate them unto themselves and into an existence that doesn't know life or death.

I do not share this with the intention of scaring anyone, but to inform you all of what has been hinted at and danced around. What we may face in the coming months may well hinge on what we know.

As a promise for the future: I intend to keep sharing these words gathered here to every person who shows up in the Dream Width. 'Cuz those who turn their backs on the past risk history repeating itself.

I will post something on the network shortly after everyone should be receiving this. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me there or mail them to me physically. For those who arrive in the coming waves, you can always reach me via the contacts list if my name has not been grayed out.

We need to be prepared, and face whatever comes our way head-on.

Also, as some of this concerns a certain problem, do not share this with anyone outside our number until the world leaders agree to go public about it.

- Takeshi Nakagawa

[Said manila folders of information are labeled Crystallis' Status Report (outdated, obviously) and Addendum: the World of Ruins and the Aftermath. About three hours after the characters receive this, a post on the linkshell shows up. The voice is tired, likely from having worked on assisting with custom jobs all day. Yet his voice remains crystal clear:]

Hey. If you're not completely distracted by working on these custom jobs, you've likely seen the letters I've sent most of you by now. Ran out of paper while working on one for the Center employees. If not, take the time to read them before responding to this. For those who have: I expect you all have questions after the letter I sent. If I can, I'll try to answer them.

For those who don't know me, I'm Takeshi.

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[To say that the information Takeshi provided everyone had given Riku something to think about would be an understatement. He spent most of the afternoon and evening staring at the notes, reading and re-reading, making sure that there's nothing he missed. There's not much that can conclusively be linked between Crystallis and this world, but there are enough similarities to raise several eyebrows.

Low-key stalking Takshi's mognet announcement has also given him a couple of other things to think about. But it all leads to the fact that he has questions and the only person he really trusts to answer him is his replica.

Which brings us to why Riku is standing at Takeshi's door the next day, pizza box balanced carefully on one arm as he uses his other hand to knock. Who doesn't love a good food bribery?]

[He'd be surprised if they didn't give Riku something to think about, and ever since he basically exploded at Baiken... He's been kicking himself. It's been a long time since he snapped like that, the last time being in the heat of battle.

That said, he kind of expected he'd see Riku again soon. What he didn't expect was that it'd be the very next day, and with a pizza box...? Takeshi blinks, a bit of a teasing smirk crossing his lips.]

Didn't take you for a delivery boy.

[And he didn't even order anything. Tsk tsk. Still, he moves to the side to let the real thing enter unbarred. His apartment isn't much, and far smaller than the house they briefly shared at the Center, but hey; he's taken steps to make it feel a little more secure. Both in adding soundproofing (for... reasons) and purchasing some healing supplies; supplies which are currently arranged on shelves alongside a few sparse books in the living room as if they're decorations.]

Make yourself at home. [Or whatever it is you're supposed to say. He didn't have visitors often, okay?]

[He shrugs, not bothered by the comment, as he steps over the threshold and into the apartment. He takes a quick assessment of the room as he strolls inside and locates a table to set the pizza down on.]

I sort of banked on the idea that we'd share the same taste in pizza. Double pepperoni and cheese. [There's a not so subtle question in the way his gaze moves between the pizza and Takeshi. A silence 'is that okay?' lingering between them.]

Where do you keep your plates? Do you have anything to drink?

[He figures he might as well get everything set up so they can sit down and eat before getting to business. Food bribery only works if they can actually eat while he needles Takeshi for answers.]

Edited 2018-09-22 18:10 (UTC)

[It would be a sad, sad day if that was enough to bother either of them. Especially considering the fact he kept working at an item shop, and a private healing gig on the side.

Luckily he won't have far to look; there's a coffee table in the living room. He hasn't bothered with a dining table yet; though there are signs he likely made that table himself. If the scent of fresh wood and callouses on his hands were anything to go by. Takeshi shrugs, 'yeah, it's fine.' Hopefully he didn't look in the pantry; there were ingredients in there that'd make baking it from scratch simple.]

Upper cabinet, second from the left. Drinks are in the fridge.

[...Along with the pizza sauce he made a day ago and jarred it. Shh.]

[Also considering the fact that Riku is looking at being hired to work the counter in a weapons shop while he studies to become a airship pilot. Not exactly delivery but barely a step up from it.

Following Takeshi's directions, he enters the kitchen and makes a bee-line first to the cabinet, and then to the fridge, collecting plates, glasses, and drinks as he goes. He does notice the pizza sauce, but leaves it untouched. Clearly Takeshi has a purpose in mind for it other then the pizza currently sitting on his coffee table. Otherwise that means he would have been expecting Riku and the pizza, something the teen highly doubts.

Bringing all the items back into the living room, he begins arranging them on the table. Once everything is set up, he finally opens the pizza box, letting the fresh aroma and heat waves rolling off of it permeate the air.]

Dig in. [He pours himself a glass of soda as he waits for Takeshi to grab his slices, ruminating on where he wants to begin with his questions. He might as well start from the beginning.]

I saw the mognet post you made yesterday. You handed out a lot of valuable information but there's a couple of things I want to ask you.

[Items and weapons... Well, at least Riku wouldn't have to worry about the replica becoming his manager or anything. He smirks faintly, grabbing himself a glass of soda as Riku gets the plates and his own drink to the other room.

Riku, he had expected. The pizza, not so much. Honestly he'd almost expected Sora to follow, but considering the message still sitting in his inbox, he kind of doubts that the guy would.

He only grabs the one slice before he sits down; resting his glass on the table in front of him. Silly Riku; this is his home. Or at least as close to one as he'll have here. He takes a few bites, waiting for the inevitable questions to start and he almost takes a fourth when at last, he says something.

Aha.] Had a feeling you would. [To be fair, though - he imagined a lot of people did. It was a lot all at once.] Well? They won't ask themselves, Riku.

[Honestly, Sora probably would have come if Riku had told him what he's doing. But if=t had kind of been a spur of the moment plan that he made up only after pouring over all of the notes overnight.

And if he's honest, some of the stuff he wants to ask Takeshi is probably too personal for a mixed audience. He's not even completely sure that his replica will be that forthcoming with him.

It's safer to begin with the more standard questions.]

The notes say that the Eidolons were also present in Crystallis, but I couldn't find anything on what their purpose was. Was it the same as it is here? And was Bahamut also among them?

[There's so many parallels between the two worlds that it must mean something.]

[That would explain it. He pauses, thinking over the information he barely remembers.]

They were supposed to be protectors of the land, yeah. Something had corrupted them before our cycle began. I don't know the details, didn't ask, [Which he is now internally kicking himself over, by the way.] -but most were freed from their madness by the time I awoke in Aqures Ixen.

And yes, Bahamut was among them. Kalki corrupted him herself to buy her some time. Several of us didn't come back from that fight.

[He lets that sink in for a moment before nodding. More parallels but nothing substantial enough that they can know how things will go this time.]

He was also the Eidolon of Destruction there? [He's asking more for clarity then anything. It seems weird that they would have one of their 'protectors' be an entity of destruction. But maybe he wasn't always that.]

And it seems like whoever is summoning him wants us to fight him now.

He was made into one, yeah.

[There really isn't enough substantial evidence to back up that it'll be the same. Hell, they don't even know if it's the same Bahamut either. Some of the Eidolons of this world look completely different from the ones of Crystallis, but he's no summoner here and he wasn't one there. Something about the whole 'call out to another being for help' didn't really sit right with him and still doesn't.]

Looks like it, but, why Bahamut specifically both times? [What's so special about him?] There were four other "Legendary Eidolons" they could have gone for, but didn't.

Isn't that obvious? When you're looking to cause destruction, wouldn't it make sense to summon the Eidolon of Destruction?

[If there's one thing he's learned after all this time, it's that villains tend to go for the obvious.]

Did the other Eidolons ever help the heroes in Crystallis?

[He doesn't like the idea of relying on them for help anymore than Takeshi does, but if they are the strong forces that they're said to be, they might be the only way to defeat their foes.]

He wasn't the "Eidolon of Destruction" initially... He was their lord.

[Which really, really leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Though that's also because of other... reasons...]

They did. We had summoners on Crystallis as well. From what I can see, the Job functions the same way.

[He leans back, plate balanced perfectly on his lap.]

Though I doubt you brought a food bribe just to talk about Eidolons.

So he became a force of destruction due to Kalki's manipulations, but here it's what he's known as.

[It's yet another coincidence on top of more coincidences. Riku can't help but think more and more that Futaba might be on to something when she says in her notes that this is the world that likely replaced the former one. But not entirely free from its history.

If only they had something more conclusive to link the two besides guesses and coincidences. But before Riku can begin diving even further down that rabbit hole, Takeshi's last statement causes him to become silent for a long moment. He caught on quicker than Riku would have liked, but he can't deny the fact that there probably isn't much he can hide from his replica.

He takes a sip of his soda to fill the silence before speaking again.]

I have a lot of questions about Eidolons and not much to go off of until we find one. I thought maybe your experience with them in Crystallis would give me an idea of how they'll react to us. [He pauses again for a moment before finally conceding with a shrug.]

And...I wanted to hear from you more about the Calamity Selves.

Exactly.

[There comes a point where coincidences become too many to remain just that; it becomes links that drive home that the likelihood the two worlds are connected much in the same way their worlds were. Are, in the others' cases.]

The ones we know and have access to haven't attacked the summoners yet, and the one we found a few months ago, Leviathan, only tested us to see if we were worthy of receiving Her power. I was in one of the teams who faced Her trials. [That should explain as much as he can about the Eidolons. He places the plate on the table before standing.] As for the Calamity Selves, I added all our research on them... much as I hated doing part of exactly what Vexen likely did to make me. A lot of it read like the darkness of the heart.

[And they both know exactly what that fully entails. He sighs and removes the outer part of his white mage robes, making the scarring on his neck visible. He drapes it over his chair before sitting back down. It looks more like finger scratches that went so deep, it marred his skin.]

When we were summoned by Crystallis to continue the cycle, part of us was taken by the Calamity. Everything about us that we deemed horrible and didn't want others to see, and what we refused to acknowledge. [He frowns.] It tried to remove our darkness, but we were still tied to it through Narayana. The planet deemed us still a threat because of it, and crystallized those who hadn't confronted it.

And those who were crystallized either woke up themselves, or as pawns of the dark. [He motions to his neck.] Some of these were from a version of Sora who was controlled by his Calamity Self. Also broke my right arm and a few ribs fending him off until he crystallized again. Because of it, I was one of the first to volunteer.

[Not to mention: he's disposable. At least, that's how he viewed himself at the time.] Anything I can answer about them, I will.

[The mention of Leviathan giving out trials peaks his curiosity, and he wants to ask more about that, but the lure of hearing about the Calamity Selves has a stronger pull. As Takeshi begins speaking about them, Riku nudges his plate onto the table and sits forward, his arms balancing on his knees. A captive audience.

Hearing them being described as being similar to the darkness of the heart is uncomfortable knowledge, but not surprising. How many times had his own darkness arisen to remind him of all the things about himself that he didn't want to admit? How many times had Xehanort's Heartless tried to manipulate him by using his weaknesses against him?]

So the only way to be free of the Calamity Selves is to admit to the things you've been trying to hide? It sounds like the crystallization only delayed the inevitable.

[The mention of Sora brings his mind to a halt. Particularly the part about him being the one who gave Takeshi those scars. He stares at them in half bemusement, half horror. If there is anyone who could successfully fight off the darkness in his heart, he would expect it to be Sora.]

...Sora became a pawn? Sora?

[It's going to take some time for him to wrap his head around this one. But when Takeshi mentions volunteering he knows that it's the best opportunity to get at what he really wants to know.]

What was it like...facing your Calamity Self?

The crystallization also removed any way for those like me to resist their other selves, too. We heard word of what it was like in the city where they were kept while their friends waited for them to wake up. None of it was good.

[As far as he knew, no one went back to check until months later, when it was all over.] That's why Sora turned, before being crystallized again like the others. [He frowns.] And not just Sora. There were others from home, too. Kairi and Aqua, if I remember correctly, were in the crystallized heroes wing of the hospital too. Used to visit every week. A few more joined them and countless others from different worlds, even Naminé. Never saw them awaken as what the locals wound up calling "Heroes of Darkness" though.

[Left unspoken is the fact that is more an elephant in the room beyond his own past beyond their worlds: he was the last of those from their worlds standing at the end. Takeshi's eyebrows furrow.]

I was there when she faced hers, and Crystallis still- [He shakes his head. He knows he didn't fail her, but it feels like it; and he still saw her as a friend.] That's just it: you're never free. Not really. Though considering we don't have crystals and can only have one active job at once? I'd say you won't have to worry about it like we did.

[He lets that sink in for a moment while he debates how much detail to go into his own Calamity Self. Screw it; it's likely obvious at this point.]

...Facing my own shadow, was something I wish I could have done on my own. It isn't just admitting to the things you're trying to hide. It's others seeing those aspects of you, too. [His eyes narrow as he stares at an empty space on the table, hands clasped in front of him as he rests his elbows on his knees. There was a lot he tried to hide.] Everything you denied, everything you hid, thrown into your face. For me,

Well, you likely heard of the theory of alternate realities by now, right? ...We're unwitting proof that's true in some cases.

I hid everything from my past from the point when I faded away to the point I woke up in that plaza. I tried to forget I wasn't the sole survivor of what that witch did to our worlds. My anger at being the one who lived while countless died.... and not wanting to fade away forgotten and failing to protect the ones I love.

What...happened to them? Did they all wake up?

[It feels strange talking about these things, because while he knows these things did happen to Sora and the others, he has trouble reconciling them with his own memories. For him, Sora and the others hadn't gone anywhere else. But in some alternate universe, possibly this universe, they had. And bad things had happened. And the part that eats at him the most is the fact that he's far too late to do anything about it now.]

You don't think the Calamity Selves could happen here. [It comes out of his mouth too flat to be a question, but he can't help reiterating it, like it should be comforting. Maybe at another point in time it would be, but after hearing about what Takeshi and his friends had to go through, to be relieved that he's being spared feels like cowardice.

His eyes fall shut as Takeshi describes how others had to see what you've been hiding. It reminds him too much of how it had felt for Kairi and Sora to see him wearing the face of Xehanort's Heartless. For them to know how far into the darkness he'd had to sink. If he could he would have hidden that forever. But now he knows better.]

I don't blame you for wanting to hide away from all of that. I understand it. But it sounds like by hiding you gave your Calamity Self plenty of fuel. What did it feel like to have the truth come out? Did the weight of the past feel any lighter?

Some did. I didn't get to see much of the aftermath before I was summoned here. Most likely went home or stayed on Crystallis, if not leaving with others.

[His mothers were examples of the third option, but he wasn't going to see much of the aftermath, anyway. He had affairs to set in order before he... went back. A finger brushes against the pendant that yet hangs across his neck. He never got to.]

Not in the same way, if it does. [That much he's certain.] And it didn't. Facing one's Calamity Self is shining a light on what remained hidden. Accepting it is only the beginning. [It's living with it afterward that's the real test.]

[Accepting it. He knows that's the truth. While their experiences might be different, he can't help but see the similarities. Only by accepting his faults, his actions, his darkness, had he been able to start off on his own path.

He's still working on living with it. But it's gotten easier every day. Mostly.]

But once you accept it there's less to fear. [A small smile appears on his face.] You accused me before of being afraid of the darkness. It was true at the time because I wanted nothing more then to be free of it. But once I realized that I couldn't, that it was a part of me, I didn't feel so afraid anymore.

[He looks down at his hands, fiddling them in his lap. He's not sure he can look Takeshi in the eyes while he says this.]

Maybe you were my Calamity Self. [He shakes his head.] That sounds bad. I don't mean it to sound like I think you're evil...now. I just mean...you helped me see things about myself that I never wanted to. But I think it was...necessary.

[Way to make things awkward.]

Edited 2018-11-04 02:03 (UTC)

[One day, he might tell him just what his actions' consequences were. For now, he'll concede that the real thing had a point. A good one, too.

It even earns a huff of amusement, instead of anything else.] I believe the term your looking for in this case is a shadow. No calamity involved with us.

[He got what the other meant. And he'd long accepted what it would be, what it would take, to become more. The memories he gained since helped with that.]

I was a tool, and an idiot. So if whatever blind loyalty I had to the Organization that made me helped, you're welcome. [Though the way he says it likely gives away a lot before he outright says it.] I... don't remember much of the time before going topside. A few fragments have come back, thanks to time and trying to pull on a few of those links, but most of what I know was written on reports another collected.

[Thanks, ~~Obama~~ Vexen and Larxene.]

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letter + voice

action; a day later

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