Kingdom Hearts: Oblivion

The first thing to register should have been panic, fear, maybe a little bit of triumph perhaps? It was hard to tell what emotions should have been present when all Fritz could really do was stand there and be genuinely surprised that he'd struck a blow. Nothing was able to register yet, but there was a bit of confusion. Maybe? He did genuinely wonder why this kid wasn't bleeding normal blood.

Instead of pulsing red blood, it appeared to be a black, inky ooze. Fritz stared with his lips parted, trying to understand what it was that he was seeing. He tried to comprehend, but he didn't have much time to register much of anything before a loud ear splitting noise shot through the air. Fritz flinched and covered his ears from the sound.

In the flash of a few seconds, their opponent here had been speared by a lance and Fritz staggered back. The boy had been impaled by Aranea's weapon, pinned and helpless there, hopefully down, hopefully no longer a threat.

Snapping his attention to her as she spoke, he swallowed and nodded his head. "I didn't really think I could... be much help, but..." He looked back to their opponent and just had to ask, "...Is he... Is he dead?"
 
The book looked at a loss, a little unsure on how to feel or what to do. She had a feeling she knew why, but this was already a lot for the boy to take in. One thing at a time.

First things first.

Examining the tip of her spear, she was just as concerned as he was about the black ink streaming from Tidus' wound. "In whatever capacity he was alive.." She frowned, touchign the tip of her lance with a gloved hand to wipe off some of what remained there. She rubbed it between her fingers, watching it fizzle and dissipate on the air. "Darkness... but how?"

She turned her gaze upon Fritz. "This look anything like what you encountered back in your home world?"
 
Darkness. Is that what that stuff was?

It looked so familiar and left a strange lump in his gut that he didn't much like. It left a lot of questions in his head. One question was whether or not he had stuff like that inside his own body, too? Had he been touched by that same darkness? He'd been affected by something. It was just a matter of what. Tidus hadn't been affected quite the same though, had he? Maybe it was different? Was it different? This boy hadn't been walking around like some empty, emotionless thing... not at all like Fritz. He seemed to be so full of bloodlust and anger. Fritz felt neither of those things... and not anything else either.

"There were people like this back home," he answered, "Maybe a little different, but similar, I guess. They turned into these monsters, and they attacked us. We escaped through this portal, but... I don't know anything after that. I don't what happened after. It was just dark. And cold. And I woke up here alone."

He could only shrug helplessly, assuming that they were all gone now. Dead and gone. Was he the only survivor? Probably. And some survivor he was, too, that even he hadn't escaped completely unharmed. Whatever happened between then and now, he lost something.
 
There was a nod given in response, more or less what she'd expected from a kid who'd only just arrived with no inkling as to what was going on within himself let alone the world at large. "Must be a lot to take in." She frowned, stepping up to his side and resting a hand on his shoulder. Leaning over in front of him, she looked deep into his eyes.

"What about you? You handled yourself better than most kids your age out there. Takes a lot of courage to play decoy and turn around to attack an unknown enemy. You should be proud. If your friend Kaiya is anything like you, I'm sure he's doing everything he can to come back." she gave a reassuring smile, trying to help him cling to that humanity. "You're not like Tidus."

She turned her gaze on the husk as what was left. It had started to disintegrate, peeling away into shards of darkness.

"What happened to him seemed different from the hollowed. Well.." She said nudging him with her elbow. "Unless you feel like throwing fireballs at me all of a sudden."
 
"Kaiya and I practice fight all the time," Fritz answered right away, "We do a lot of sneak attacks and stuff like that. We were pretty good at it. I mean, he was usually a lot better than I ever was." Hopefully that was a good sign. Fritz could readily admit that Kaiya was a better fighter, so hopefully he put those skills to good use and was surviving out there. Even if it could only be considered play fighting and they'd never truly fought a real opponent, skills were skills and one never really knew how bad or how good they were until they were finally put to the test.

"I'm sure he's doing alright wherever he is," he decided, "He's strong. I know he is." He had to have faith that he was okay, right?

Even though he didn't feel the joy behind it, he still smiled upon recognizing the little jab Aranea had made at him. "I definitely don't feel like throwing fireballs at you," he promised. He gestured with a hand towards Tidus. "I don't feel like that at all." In fact, apart from simply not feeling any emotion whatsoever, he did feel fine and seemed to be still himself.
 
"That's a good sign." She said, "And it seems like you pass the test as well."

Aranea gave a nod as if deciding something important, then stepped closer to examine the last remnants of Tidus as he began fading away into shards of black. She held her hand out for a moment, then paused, looking over her shoulder. "You are hollowed, but you're different somehow. I'm not sure what happened, but you didn't have a negative reaction to the darkness flooding the area and for the most part seem to retain majority of your sense of self. You can think and act without the darkness transforming you."

She held out her hand to the darkness seeping off Tidus' body. It shuddered as if being repelled at first, then slowly drifted toward her, coalescing into a single point. "I feel like there's going to be a lot of danger on the road ahead of you, so you're going to need a weapon that can stand against the heartless, and the skills to fend off someone like this on your own." Her face turned sour for a moment, "Or worse.."

As the body of Tidus disappeared, and the last bit of darkness was absorbed, the ball of darkness crackled and condensed itself down into something tangible. It was either rock or crystal, it was kind of hard to tell since it didn't shine of reflect any of the light around them. More like an empty void that anything solid. Yet Aranea grasped it from the air and gave a nod. Then she tossed it at Fritz.

"So me and the boys are going to train you."

(Sorry for the delay, Been going through some medical problems. Feeling a lot better now though.)
 
Though there was no emotional response that Fritz could drum up behind it, he was relieved that he didn't turn out like this. He hadn't been aware that this had been a test, but maybe it was however unintentionally, and it was good that he passed it. Had he turned into something dark and violent, he was fully and keenly aware that he wouldn't be able to feel any remorse or guilt towards anyone he should choose to attack and hurt or kill, but he was still so apprehensive even thinking about it. Maybe there was something in him emotion-wise that still managed to cling along with him... or maybe it was the fact that he at least remembered what it was like to feel and that was enough.

"I'd never want to turn out like that," he decided, "I don't want to hurt anyone. I can't... feel sad, but I know what it does feel like... losing someone." He looked up Aranea with resolve in his eyes. "I don't want anyone else to have to feel pain or hurt or grief. Not because of me." Maybe that was enough, too, right? If he didn't have his own emotions, he could work to protect those of others, right?

Catching the object tossed his way, he turned it over in his hands. Curiously, he examined the crystalline form, wondering just what it was. It came from the body of Tidus, that was obvious. Some sort of essence, he supposed, but before he could ask about that, he found himself to be more curious about her offer for training. "You would do that?" He wished that he could say he was grateful, but there was nothing to push through. Just nodding his head instead, he said, "Thank you. I'd like to be able to defend myself. I don't want to die... not like that. I need to find my friend... and a way to fix this... whatever it is." If it was at all possible to cure himself, he wouldn't stop until he figured out how.

(Welcome back and no worries at all! Glad you're feeling better!"
 
Aranea knew full well there was no genuine emotion behind the boy's eyes, but there was something there. Something kept Fritz from becoming a heartless, and maybe that would be enough to get him somewhere he needed to be.

She had a good feeling about this boy.

"That's all well and good, but how do you plan on fighting?" she asked, crossing her arms. I'll train you, but you'll have to decide how to use those skills. You'll need to pick a weapon that best suits you. For that, I'd suggest taking that essence to the shop above the accessory shop we passed on the way here. There's a special craftsman who can help."

(thank you! Was still having issues apparently, still feeling better by the day!)
 
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