[AIM RP/log - COMPLETED]

[repliku.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Repliku and Xenos
Content: Repliku and Xenos finally set out for the Fortress of Darkness and decide to crash there for the night. LOL haunted sleepover?
Setting: Muspelheim Gate, then Fortress of Darkness
Time: very late night Monday
Warnings: None, except Repli's mouth.

Much like the Lumen waiter, the guards at the doors (if he could call them guards) didn't seem to want to listen to logical reasoning.

"Come on, we just want to go out for like fifteen minutes, where the hell else would we go anyway?" Repliku, once more, had attempted to be the spokesperson for their little group and, once more, it wasn't working as the "guard" firmly shook their head.

"What business would you have outside?" The Paixaon looked perturbed at the mere mention of the word 'outside'. Repliku gave a frustrated sigh and stepped back.

"Xenos, you deal with them, I'm too damn tired to use words." It was a LONG walk to the other side of the city, one that took just about the entire day since Repliku didn't realize there were trains until they were a considerable distance away from the station.

Xenos glanced at Repliku, then up again at the strange guards. he didn't like them. They weren't dark, so there wasn't any reason he should mistrust them so...but there it was.

we're but prisoners of this tiny place

"Why is it forbidden to be outside? If we return, then you have no reason to worry. we don't intend to run away, or engage in illegal actifity."

"..." The guard didn't answer, yet the silence was clear: They weren't going to pass. Well, Repliku, being tired and cranky, decided to do it another way. Walking forward again, he withdrew his sword and made a motioning towards the gate.

"Alright, then open the gate or I'll fucking kill you and do it myself."

Whomever said brute force wasn't the answer to most problems was wrong wrong WRONG.

Giving a glance at the sharpened tip of the strange sword drawn on him, the guard gave a yelp and actually ran, dropping everything and fleeing to the corner. Presumably to get more help.

"OK, that worked..." The clone rushed to the gate, pushing against it in an attempt to get it open. He had no idea how these damned gates worked. Did they even open from this side?!

Xenos bit his lip. He would not, would not laugh and encourage Repliku! "They're going to have nightmares for months," he snerked, helping his brother shove the gate. "Rrrkk. I do hope" - he started leaning into the pushes - "that this isn't locked. Or - perhaps they pull open instead of push...?"

He'd never SEEN one of the gates open. he hadn't been here long, of course, but the gate gave the general impression of something more for decoration or symbolic purposes than anything. The hinges weren't rusty, but they were sort of...stuck. Plus the fresh coat of paint on the gate went into the groove between the two halves of the door.

"I don't think this gate has ever been opened before."

"Well, it's gotta be, if it's guarded... if it doesn't open what's the point of watching it?" The clone admitted, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to figure out the conundrum that was this gate. It didn't even look like the gate they went through last time, all covered with fake trees and such. It was flowery and kind of gay, if you asked him.

As if responding to Repliku's insultive opinion, the gate slowly began to creak open, causing the clone to jump back in shock. Whoa, what the heck? Well, looks like the gate opened after all, even though it was only a crack. Maybe that's where the guard had went.

"Oh, well, I can deal with this..." The clone reached forward to tug the gate further open until there was a space big enough for the both of them to squeeze through, which Repliku did quickly and quietly.

"Jeez, it's already night here too..." The clone grumbled from the other side.

Xenos perked as the gates finally parted! "Maybe they're symbolic of something or another?" he suggested, and squeezed through. He was larger than Repliku and a little broader-shouldered, so it took him a little more effort. He looked like a cat going under a door.

"Ow?"

He blinked a little as he emerged on the other side. Outside Paixao. A whole new reality, it seemed. No artificial light, just the moon and stars. ...It was darker here, but not Dark. ...It was...nice.

"If you mean symbolic of someone's fagginess, sure..." Repliku grinned, assuming Xenos was talking about the flowery decoration of the gate they just passed. He turned around, giving an apologetic glance to his brother as the 'older' clone had more difficulty going through, but they were out, at least.

As expected, Vexen's journal half died once more, refusing to call up a map. That was alright, because even in the dull light of the stars and moon Repliku could see a huge, looming shadow in the distance.

"That must be it..." For once in his life, Repliku actually looked worried as he turned to Xenos, studying his brother for a moment before speaking.

"I know I was the one who suggested it, but you sure you wanna go there? I dunno what we'll find or if the place is even safe, but you know..."

"Vexen's journal is as halfbaked as he is," Xenos muttered when the device started throwing a hissy fit again. "It figures that it would crash and expire just when we ne...eed...oh."

That was a very large fortress.

"...Ah. It - it seems a waste to come this far and just turn back," he said, even though he was ridiculously nervous now. It looked like that building was eating the light. "We have to persevere to the end."

And why was that giving him a creepy deja-vu feeling?

Well, he got a point there. It was decided. To the creepy looming shadow that seemed to be devouring the night sky they go. Right. Repliku wasn't scared though. Honestly, scared of the dark? That was childish, and he was determined to show he was anything but, unlike his stupid original or that... other one.

"Alright then," He nodded, and the two set off their way. It actually wasn't that creepy to walk the plains of Paixao at night, since it was much more natural then the city itself. Though he didn't know if this could be called natural either - some of the grass as snow white and shining in the light, and while Repliku didn't know much about grass, he knew grass was usually... green.

Reaching the base of the fortress, Repliku looked up. Well, here they were.

"... Wanna knock? Maybe he's home."

"Ah?" Xenos looked up. he'd paused to pat the white grass, just staring at it in wonder. It was oddly pretty, for being something so completely and totally unlike normal grass. "...Oh. I - yes. we ought to knock before trying to barge in."

What would they do if he were home>

Just start asking questions?

He stood back up and went to the door, looking it over before reaching for the ostentatious brass knocker in the middle of it. Flashy decor, this. Not to say that it wasn't lovely. Just really...showy.

He gave the knocker three good hard WONKs against the strike plate, and waited.

Repliku stood back, prepared to defend against whatever may come their way. But nothing happened, just the echoes of the three knocks in the dark... OK, that sure was anti-climatic. What did they expect, the guy was dead.

While he was waiting for someone to answer, Repliku had taken another good glance now that his eyes had adjusted to the gloom of the moonlight. His eyes fell upon a statue of a person, standing as if to watch the front. He frowned, trying to get a better look at it.

Was that a statue of Ansem? He looked nothing like Xenos, now that the clone could compare the two. Completely nothing at all. If that was Ansem, then those guys were lying. What the hell were they here for then?

Of course, it could have just been some random guy. He didn't know if Ansem was vain and narcisstic to put a statue of himself up front for everyone to see.

"Hey, is that statue Ansem?" Repliku pointed it out. "If he is, then he doesn't look shit like you."

"I haven't the foggiest idea who that is," Xenos murmured, circling the statue. "It looks a little like you, albeit a lot prissier. Maybe it's you original?" He examined the base of the statue, wondering if he might find an inscription of some sort. "...I don't think it's Ansem though. This person's very young..."

There wasn't anything familiar about this place. That was a relief.

"Are you nuts?!" Repliku made a face the second Xenos suggested the statue could be of his original. "That guy looks too prissy and gay to me." Clearly, Repliku was a more cutting image of manliness.

Or some shit like that.

"Anyway, no one's home, so it's not breaking in, right?" He really hoped the door wasn't locked because he wasn't going to start looking for a key.

"I said he was far prissier," Xenos teased. "it's just a slight resemblance anyway..." He reached for the door-knob. "If it's abandoned we might be trespassing, but I doubt that anyone rightly cares who breaks in here, or climbs through windows. As long as no one sets this place ablaze and thus endangers Paixao, I suspect we can do whatever we want."

So there, twit guards!

He tried to turn the knob.

The door let out a creak and opened easily to Xenos's touch. Clearly, by the absence of light in the room except for what little moonlight was filtering through the windows, no one had been here for awhile. It looked like a regular old mansion, except... there was something sinister in the air.

"... Fortress of Darkness indeed. The hell are the lights?" Repliku commented, peering over Xenos's shoulder. Alright, of course the lights would be off if no one was here but... well, he expected something. But they just got in, so they might as well explore, right?

Xenos eyed the door. "Please shut up," he said to it. He squinted into the gloom. "...There's probably a light switch someplace, but whether or not the power's been cut off is another matter entirely..." He ran his hand up and down the wall nearest the door. "If we can't find a lamp, maybe - maybe we can try to conjure a light? Since it's our innate element, we ought to be able to summon at least a little will-o-wisp sort of flame?"

He HOPED so, anyhow.

"OW! Dark! Foot! CHAIR!"

"H-huh?!" For a moment, Repliku thought Xenos told him to shut up but it became apparent he was talking to the creaky door. Oh good, because Repliku would have screamed. So much for being manly. Oh well, whatever worked.

Nodding to Xenos, Repliku wondered how one would have gone about conjuring a light when... well he really had no clue what the heck he was doing anyway. Finding another light source would be the first course of action then.

"Ahh! Are you OK?" Repliku fumbled around and caught Xenos's shoulder (he hoped that was Xenos... yep, it was). He guided his brother towards the wall and began to feel around, hoping to stumble across a switch or something.

"So uh... about that whole conjuring light thing, have any idea how to do that?" The prospect of finding a light switch without another source of light seemed bleak.

Xenos limped a little. "I don't know really. I think. I think maybe it has to do with focusing the energy?"

Picture the flame in your hand. Will it into being with your energy and your strength of heart.

He put his hand out, palm up. "If this doesn't work I'm going to look and feel very very stupid," he murmured, and started concentrating. Feeling the energy flowing up throughh his feet, into his head, spreading warm throughout his body, running to his fingertips. Light. warmth. Flame. Fire. Come to be.

"Heh, you're not the only one," Repliku assured him, stepping back to see if Xenos could do it this time. He would try himself, but he couldn't even begin to try to will a light into his hands. He just wasn't that kind of spell-casting person, he supposed.

Watching for a moment, Repliku frowned. It didn't look like it would work...

And then he swore he saw something sputter.

"Hm?"

Xenos felt something sputter. Like a struck match, only mental. He was doing it right. he just needed to focus a little harder, push a little more.

"Please," he murmured, and focused harder.

*pop* was the sound of the little light coming into being. Xemnas let out a delighted laugh - then made a noise like a wet cat when it went out! "Oh, curse it all the way to next year."

He tried again. Summoning it now was easier. IT hovered above his palm like a fat firefly.

Repliku gave a start when he saw the light form, grinning madly. Alright, he did it! Now they cou-

Damnit.

Xenos looked like he pretty mastered it, summoning up another ball of light that stayed that way. It did look like a firefly, although there was definitely something eerie about the glow. Probably the location they were in. Either way, the little ball of light illuminated much, but to Repliku's despair, no light switch was to be found.

He did find the stairs though.

"Up or down? I don't think there's much here..."

"I suppose up?" Xenos lifted his hand, and the light hovered a bit higher, little spirals of blue and purple drifting through its white corona. "If there's a library, I don't think it would be in a basement. Books are paper, and paper moulds in the damp, and basements are damp."

He'd been reading everything he could access in his journal lately. Repliku had to whap him once to make him go to sleep.

"I don't think anyone would put books in a basement. Even a crazy magus..."

He went up one step. Then two...

"What?" Well, Repliku supposed he didn't doubt it but the information was oddly specific. Too bad, he was more interested in what was downstairs. If Ansem had anything to hide, it would probably be down there, but whatever Xenos said. It wasn't like they could (or he would) split up anyway.

"Heh, how do you know this crap? Alright, let's go!" Repliku impatiently tugged at his brother's arm, practically dragging the older clone up the stairs. What was there to gain by hanging around some stairs?

The upper halls were just as lavish as the lower floor, with doors all over the place.

"Aaaaa--" went Xenos as Repliku towed him along like a very big kite. The firefly-spell bobbled ablong behind him and managed to look as annoyed as a little ball of glowing magic could.

"You don't have to - agh - hold on--"

There was something odd about this place - this fortress of doors. Some of those looked familiar, and really, they shouldn't have. He was all of a week old. Nothing should have been familiar to him, but the nagging sense of deja-vu persisted.

It hit him right between the eyes when he was a set of double-doors with coloured glass inset. Those stopped him cold, and he stood and STARED at them, remembering - what?

doors opening and tendrils off dark seeping out, and that feeling of elation, of total joy - here, here was the answer to everything he didn't know, everything he'd striven for, the source of all--

"OW," he said, and clutched at his head. It HURT.

About to randomly open on of the doors before him, Repliku immediately ceased and blinked, going to his brother's side when he heard the cry of pain. He frowned, eyes filled with worry.

"Xenos?" He took his brother's arm, looking around for a place to rest. Well, they could sit on the steps... "You OK? Need to sit down?"

This is exactly the reason why they came though. Even before entering this place, Xenos had been having strange headaches, acting oddly... Repliku initially believed it was because of those damn injections Vexen gave them, but... well, it didn't seem to be just that anymore.

"I'm - ow. Ow. I'm fine?" He really wasn't. Xenos leaned on the wall and caught his breath. it felt like someone had stuck a very large pointy object through his eye into his brain. And then swirled it around.

"It's just the same headache as before only more of it." That wasn't going to comfort Repliku. He looked up at his brother and for a moment wondered why does he care, after all i--

But that was nonsense. He hadn't done anythng to Repliku. well, except required a few bops to the head for acting like an enormous oddball, but that was par for the course. whatever Vexen had injected him with, they decided had probably affected his mind. Now it was leaving his system, so he was a bit off.

He looked at the double-doors again and suddenly wanted to yank them wide-open, reveal what was beyond.

kingdom hearts--

"Ow--"

grant me your power--

"Xenos, you're going to lie down. We'll wait until your head stops hurting," Repliku ordered, a tone of finality in his voice. Now that they got that settled, they had to find a place to lie down. He'd be damned if Xenos was sleeping on the floor.

Well, he kept looking at that door... It seemed nothing special to Repliku, but Xenos had a knack for finding weird things at very convienient times, so he decided that door was it. Clutching at the ornate handles, Repliku swung the doors open.

The room in question was nothing more than a bedroom, a very lavish and kinda fruity looking bedroom but a bedroom nonetheless. He couldn't even begin to fanthom why this Xenos kept looking here... But whatever. Maybe because his original used to sleep here. It did look like it suited the guy... he guessed.

"Xenos, you can rest in here. C'mon." Repliku took his brother's arm again, pulling him a little more gently into the room. Whatever, his brother's health mattered to him the most.

enos nodded dizzily and staggered into the room, leaning heavily on Repliku. "I just ow. It - I'll be fine? I promise this won't last long." The last thing he wanted to do was faint and have Repliku need to drag him home, or something, How undignified.

He felt weirdly disappointed by the bedroom. There was supposed to be something else behind doors like those.

the dark

Something more than just...stupid baroque carvings and dusty velvet.

wisdom

The bed squeaked when he sat on it and that struck him as funny for no good reason. He started to snerk.

"One would think that a great mage would be able to afford a good mattress."

"Nah, you can't help it. Just rest up." Repliku had to feel sorry for his brother, even though he was getting all of these random aches and pains, did he feel like he was being a bother to Repliku? Nah, that's what siblings were for, right? They stuck with each other until the bitter end, especially those you were born with. Besides, without Xenos, who else would Repliku have?

It scared him to think about it, but sometimes he got the feeling that, little by little, his brother was leaving and being replaced with someone... else.

He gave a smirk when Xenos commented on the cheapness of the mattress. Now that he thought about it, despite the ornateness of the door, the room was a bit shabby. This probably wasn't Ansem's room; he could already tell Ansem was the type who got nothing but the best for himself at the expense of those around him.

What a prick.

"Haha, this is probably a guest room. Ansem's room must be seriously decked out with all sorts of fancy shit. You know, he seems to be that kind of person."

"Mmm," Xenos agreed, sneezing a little as he put his head down on the dusty pillow. "This looks like a gothic bordello or something. I couldn't sleep in a room like this. I'd be convinced that a lot of slutty vampires were going to emerge from the woodwork and - start doing exotic dances or something."

He still owed Repliku a noogie for making him look up 'exotic dancing' on the journals. And 'goatse.cx'. THAT had blown out a few neurons.

"...I wonder what kind of person he was before? people don't just - come into the world bad, do they? something must have gone wrong in his mind, or someone must have done something to him--"

a needle full of black liquid

"...If he knew someone like VEXEN it's no wonder he went insane."

Vexen hinted that Xenos looked like someone he knew. That Xenos looked like Ansem. They had to have known one another. Were they friends or enemies? Maybe Vexen really disliked him because he looked like someone Vexen loathed?

...The scientist had had way too much fun with the damned needles...

Repliku sniggered. He had been the one to give Xenos those mental images. Hey, the network on Paixao was vast and he was bored. Besides, Xenos looked like he needed some cheering up! Alright, maybe something like Goatse would gross a person out more than cheer them up, but he thoght it was funny...

Roaming the room, Repliku became increasingly bored and headed to a desk, pulling out the chair and sitting so he was facing Xenos. He sat backwards, resting his arms on the back of the chair as he stared ahead. They didn't look around that much (hardly at all, actually) but... it seemed to be just a regular old house.

"I wonder what he had to hide," Repliku wondered out loud. "Why build a place like this in the outskirts of town? It seems normal enough to just put in Paixao..."

He wasn't really expecting Xenos to answer. In fact, he shouldn't have been speaking so Xenos could rest but... eh, he was bored.

Xenos batted at some floating dust. "I'm not sure. Perhaps he broke a law. If he was working with the dark in a city so aligned with light, he could've been evicted. Plus - well - working with ANY primal element is dangerous. Maybe they asked him to move so if his laboratory exploded, Paixao wouldn't go with it?"

but if he knew what he was doing, those were such foolish fears.

"...They seem really - homogenous. If he acted too strangely...I can see them casting him out."

--cast off my fears and plunge into the depths of darkness--

He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Also, if he was an ass, I can see the reason for evicting him--ow."

i am not afraid of the darkness.

There was a ringing in his ears now.

everything casts a shadow in a world of light

"Yeah..." Repliku nodded to all of Xenos's suggestions, because they all seemed plausible. Most likely because he was just... different from them. Well, even he was different and all the other foriengers must have different, but Xenos was exceptionally so, and it must have been the same for Ansem. Not to mention... he seemed to dabble in things that wouldn't have been tolerated in Paixao...

Yeah, Xenos seemed right. Then again, he almost always was. Where would Repliku be without his brother?

Hearing Xenos grumble in pain again, Repliku looked up, attentive and feeling guilty. He really wasn't making it better... He really should just let Xenos sleep, they walked so far, it wouldn't have helped Xenos one bit to just keep going like this.

Even weapons needed to rest.

"Xenos, we were pretty much walking all day, you just wanna crash here tonight?" The clone suggested, looking out a moonlit window. The room was shrouded in an eerie darkness with small patches of light illuminating some objects. It probably would look better in the morning.

"It'd probably help your headache. You can't do anything if your head hurts that much."

Xenos curled up a little and shrugged off his overcoat. "...I think that might be a good idea. I'm sort of seeing three of everything right now..." he squinted at his brother. "...well, now four. Four of you is three too many."

He smiled and scootched over a bit, amking room fopr Repliku on the bed.

"You don't mind staying with me? I know it sounds ridiculous and cowardly but I'd really rather not be alone in this room overnight. It's - "

with my knight by my side i am the unquenchable flame

"...I feel better when I'm with you, is all." Xenos looked at the pillow and pushed his two flippity bangs out of his eyes. "And now you doubtless think I am a giant pantywaist. But there it is."

"Damn right," Repliku nodded, content to just sleep in the chair. it was kinda comfy. But he cracked open a golden eye when Xenos scooted over, and ... Oh, he saw. Not that Repliku minded, of course. It was just him and his brother sharing a bed and there was only one anyway.

Hey, bed verses chair, he'd take the bed.

"Awww, is lil Xenos scared of the dark?" Repliku couldn't help but tease, making his way to the bed and flopping down at it. He grinned before turning away, making himself comfy on the bed. It was sort of lumpy and stiff from obvious disuse, but it'd do.

"That's why I call you my little brother... But I don't blame you, this place creeps me out too," Repliku admitted. "Night, Xenos."

Xenos flipped Repliku the bird, then put an arm around him. "The light's not bright enough. I think the energy here's off," he murmured, burying his face in his brother's hair. "I don't think it should have a purple halo. But - it's the first time I've done that. I might be wrong..."

As he dismissed the little light he thought he saw yellow eyes gleam under a dresser. ...No. Just the moonlioght reflecting off an ugly brass ornamental...thing.

"Mwrr."