paixaorpg | Light and Shadow [active]

While Yorda hadn't fallen unconscious when Ansem had attacked her, she had been hurt. The glowing princess panted a little as she was forced to follow Ansem, her gaze darting around the unfamiliar room they were in. She said nothing to Ansem, merely backing away from him as much as she could. She had to get away, she had to, and although she knew she could shift into her shadow form and activate a portal, she did not want to do that where Ansem was watching and might be able to follow here.

So she waited, trembling a little as she avoided meeting the man's eyes, wondering why he had taken her and what would happen to her now.

As much as she might have wanted to leave, Ansem was fully intending to keep her for as long as possible. True, the room itself had little to keep her from slipping into the shadows, but he would be able to sense that much. If she tried to leave that way, she wouldn't get far.

"My apologies for having to resort to such a crude method to bring you here. It was merely the most convenient method."

The frightened princess said nothing in response to Ansem's false courtesy, shrinking back from him again, her shoulders tense, her hands clenched into fists. At last, she spoke. "What do you want?" she asked, finally looking him full in the face. "Why have you brought me here?" She didn't know why she'd been kidnapped, but it was rather like being on the island again, with shadows attempting to snatch her up and bear her away at every corner. She'd felt safe before, in Paixao, but now she didn't know what to think.

"I have brought you here because you are unique," Ansem answered. "Such a pure heart as yours is rarely found in a shell of darkness."

It was as if she were a Princess of Light, but one unlike any of the ones he had seen. Those had been almost aggressively full of light, and most of the bodies of darkness had come with hearts to match, even if they were not so full of darkness as the body that contained them. Thus, she was something of an outlier and even if it was due to nothing more simple than her being from a different world that was yet a result.

Yorda did not fully understand what the strange man was saying. What was new and unique to him was something she had always lived with. She had been formed of both when she was born, and even though her mother had gravitated to the darkness, Yorda had always kept both forms, though she did't learn to even begin to control her powers until after her mother had died.

"What will you do?" she asked him, managing to meet his gaze for a moment before looking away. The glowing girl knew it was unlikely of Ansem to release her, even if she asked, and so the plea of it died before she could even begin to give it voice.

That was just the question, wasn't it? With something so new by his definition of things, he had no idea of where to begin. It would certain be a crime by anyone else's definition of things to darken such a heart. However it would be a crime by his own not to. But perhaps she had enough darkness for now. She bore it like a suit of armor. Either way, there was but one answer to her question.

"I haven't decided yet."

Somehow, the lack of answer frightened Yorda more than she would have been had Ansem actually given her a more straightforward response. The glowing girl gasped a little, clasping her hands in front of her chest as she nervously glanced around. She had to escape, somehow - and she knew that she could teleport away with ease. However, it wasn't merely Ansem's presence holding her back from doing it - it was the memory of her mother, and her mother's shadows, who had used identical means to control as well as capture Yorda. She did not want to use that ability if she could help it, not just yet.

Her mind awhirl with troubling thoughts, Yorda merely waited, watching to see what Ansem would do next.

There was a long moment of silence on Ansem's end as well, as he turned over the options he had. But in the end, there was only one real answer. If he didn't know where to begin, then he would begin at the beginning. He would start with that which he knew best. Darkness. More specifically, what manner of reactions he could force out of her darkness. Could he control it, as he did his own darkness and the lesser darknesses of his world?

"Come here," he spoke at last, shattering the gathering silence. He doubted the girl would listen, of course. But that wasn't what was important. He had given her the option to come willingly. He would not do so again.

Yorda, much to her own surprise, remained standing where she was. If she had been on her island again, the girl certainly would have obeyed - but the island no longer existed. Yorda was different now, stronger after a quiet fashion, and she would not willingly aid this man in doing whatever he intended to do. So she stood, in silence, her eyes lowered but her shoulders defiantly squared. The princess knew she could not hope to fight Ansem, but if refusing to obey her captor could put him off for even a moment longer, she would do it.

Once again, she thought of the people in the city she was close to, and hoped desperately that she would be able to see them again.

As he'd expected. She'd already shown herself to have at least some semblance of an ability to stand up for herself. It was a welcoming sign; even the least of the Princesses had been able to offer that. To little avail, in the end, but that wasn't his problem. They'd simply been the hearts he'd needed for his plan. Seven hearts of pure light, to open the final door to Kingdom Hearts.

Perhaps he would use hers to begin the process again. If the darkness could be stripped from her form... But that could wait for later. Instead, he reached out for her darkness, tugging gently on it as if to draw her forward.

"Come," he reiterated. Perhaps that would force her into movement.

Perhaps luckily for Yorda, she had no darkness in her heart and was not in her shadow form. She felt something pulling at her, but steadfastly refused to move, despite it serving to frighten her more. A shudder ran through her body as she regarded her captor and shook her head, hands clenched into fists once again. What could Ansem possibly want with her?

Yorda lowered her eyes once more and remained where she was. She knew it would be useless to plead with him to release her, and she couldn't help but wonder just what had interested Ansem to begin with.

Intriguing. He had seen the girl wear her darkness himself, and yet it seemed almost as if it didn't exist in the form she showed now. He would need to see if he could force her into the darker of her two appearances later. But for the time being he would leave his rather crude attempts aside. He might not have gotten what he wanted, but he'd learned a slight bit more than he'd known before.

"If you will not, then speak. Tell me of your world. Tell me why you bear the darkness you do."

Unluckily for Yorda, she had never had anyone tell her that it was generally a bad idea to give someone like Ansem information on herself and where she'd come from. Besides, she was already on edge enough from being snatched away and brought to this strange place. She didn't need to strain herself further by attempting to resist whatever Ansem was going to do to her - but she would do it nonetheless.

Even so, she answered him. "I knew only my island," she told him quietly. "I was born this way."

To be quite honest, there was a god deal less of problem with telling her where she'd come from in a place like this. With people appearing to be generally unable to leave, he rather doubted that he'd be able to find her world. much less bring the full force of the darkness down upon it. No, for now it was only useful to understand more of who she truly was. But that would be enough for now.

"What was it like, your island?"

Yorda didn't know why this stranger wanted to know about her island. Rarely had anyone ever wanted to know before, often being more concerned with the here and now, perhaps. But she told Ansem about it nevertheless, about the birds and grasses, the tress and stones, about the ocean, which she had never been allowed to go near, and the warm sunlight she so loved. She told him about the windmill where the white doves liked to gather, and the castle gate (for her mother's castle took up most, if not all, of the island) which loomed large over all else in the courtyard.

She she told him of the shadows, ruled by her mother. The girl shuddered to recall them, bringing her arms up to wrap around herself - a way of bracing herself against those memories. But she did not tell Ansem of the horned boy, who had saved her.

Ansem, for his part, was quite content to listen, nodding at the appropriate points so as to indicate that he was still listening. Another small facade of politeness, and one he could likely go without, in this case. But habit was hard to break and it truly hurt nothing. Especially when he was learned more than enough from her simple explanations. It was quite a shame that he couldn't meet the girl's mother, however. It was always a pleasure to meet the other beings that had accepted the darkness as he had.

"Do you mean to say the is not your usual form, then?"

I have always taken this form, except rarely," Yorda replied slowly, shaking her head in response to Ansem's assumption. She had not yet quite learned to control her shadow form just yet, aside from occasionally taking it in short bursts. But she disliked that form, anyway; even if she hadn't learned to take on a more wispy form as of yet, much less one that revealed her face (as her mother's form had), she didn't like anything that reminded her of her mother. A part of the girl felt guilty for it, but the friends she had made here had all universally agreed that what her mother had done to her was wrong, and that she shouldn't worry about wanting to distance herself from that.

But at the thought of her friends, Yorda's breath hitched a little, and her eyes filled with tears. Would she be able to see them again?

Stranger and stranger, although Ansem had to admit that it did at the least match with her heart. Still, it raised the question of how she was able to so easily shift into a darker form without so much as a suggestion of such things on her heart. The simplest answer would be that she had inherited such things from her mother, but he hadn't imagined darkness was something that could be passed on through such methods. Unless...

Perhaps there was something unique about the darkness the girl bore. Something that let it be passed down from mother to child. Something... useful.

"Then may I assume the darkness to be a gift from your mother?"

After hesitating, Yorda nodded. She didn't know what Ansem truly wanted with her, or why he was asking so many questions about her abilities; no one had ever done that before, and though it occurred to her that he had a darker purpose (why else would he have kidnapped her?), the princess couldn't fathom why, not yet. She both wanted to know and dreaded the answers she would almost certainly receive regarding her situation.

"All that I am, I received from my mother." But the Queen wasn't made of light at all.

There was a slow smile from Ansem at Yorda's words. Finally there was something that he could speak to. Something that was not nearly as true as perhaps she thought it was. She had inherited the darkness. But she was not yet what she could have been, or even what she should have been.

"No," he answered bluntly. "You are a child of the darkness that has not even begun to accept her legacy. You're an anomaly."

What did he mean? Yorda stared up at Ansem, confused. She had always accepted who and what she was - while she preferred the light to the darkness, she didn't view being dark as a bad thing. "What is an anomaly?" she dared to ask, looking down again. There was still so much she didn't know, and while she'd asked several people around the city if they could explain things to her, she'd yet to hear any answers regarding her own light and darkness.

As for having a legacy, the glowing girl did not want to become like her mother, who received sacrifices of innocent children and used the darkness to cause harm to others. Yorda would never take the Queen's path.

"Something that is not as it should be," Ansem answered. The girl before him may have accepted the darkness - had to have accepted the darkness in order to change as she had - but that alone didn't mean that she was truly as she ought to have been. The simple fact that she had rarely taken the darker of her two forms was enough for Ansem. Things could always be darker, and after a slight pause he smiled, before holding a hand out to Yorda.

"I can fix matters, if you wish."

Yorda quickly shook her head at Ansem's offer. If he truly were able to fix whatever it was he considered to be wrong with her, he wouldn't have kidnapped her. The princess stepped back again, her back hitting the wall as she ran out of room. "You do not wish to help me," she told him, her voice quiet and trembling. What did he really want? Why had he decided to kidnap her? Where was she?

And most important of all, how were those she cared about faring in Paixao? She wished she could see them again. She wanted nothing more than to go home, to the deserted hospital inside the glittering city.

On the contrary. Kidnapping her had helped. He could hardly look into what he needed to with people on the streets interrupting. Besides, the creatures of light he'd noticed would surely have come running at the first sign of the darkness he was bound to need. It was better to do it here, where the creatures were barred from entry.

(Besides, there were fewer risks of people coming across it who shouldn't, this way.)

"I have every intention of helping," Ansem answered quietly. It was just that his help was perhaps not in Yorda's best interests.

"I do not believe you," replied Yorda, her eyes narrowing slightly at Ansem. She was scared - terrified, even - but she refused to give in to the fear she felt, especially now that she needed to be strong. The princess watched the strange man's face, doing her best not to flinch. She wondered what he was intending to do to her, why he had taken her, whether she would ever be able to get back to the city. SHe knew she could walk through shadow, but so could Ansem. What if he could somehow intercept her?

The glowing girl stayed silent now, her face even paler than it usually was. She wondered whether Mao and Urd knew she was missing, and worried over the Master finding enough food. What would happen to them?

Her fear didn't go unnoticed. It was odd, for a child born of darkness to have such a fear of what he offered. But no doubt the purity of her heart was to blame for that. Hearts were power, after all, and a pure heart could do any number of things. It would better to see it stained. A little darkness to temper the light. That was all he would need. A seed of shadow, nothing more. But he was quite content to wait to introduce it. There were few people who would be able to track her to this place.

"Then you will stay here."

At Ansem's words, Yorda's heart sank. She didn't believe he would have let her go to begin with, but now it was certain. But she could still leave. As soon as he left her alone, as soon as he walked away, she could take her shadow form and flee through the darkness. Of course, there was always the chance that he would follow her, but perhaps Yorda would be able to get somewhere safe by then. Fortunately for her, Ansem had only seen her weak attempt at knocking him back while in her shadow form. He didn't know what else she could do.

Even so, she couldn't hold back a shiver at his words. He was so calm and unmovable while he told her that, and didn't seem to care about anything but the darkness.

She could attempt to leave, yes. But Ansem wasn't about to blithely assume that she wasn't simply going to slip out. What he'd seen of the form she'd offered had been of little consequence, yes. But it was only natural a girl of such pure heart hadn't truly wanted to hurt anyone. Thus, it was simple enough to make the appropriate conclusions.

"I wouldn't advise escaping to the darkness. You'll get nowhere."

Yorda remained silent at Ansem's recommendation. She was no longer on her island; she had reasons to live, and reasons to believe she would live. She was no longer the meek, passive girl who wouldn't struggle when taken by the darkness. Even if she couldn't bring herself to cause harm to someone, she wouldn't simply give up. She would try again and again.

But she continued to say nothing, unwilling to give herself away and too afraid to say much of anything, anyway.

Silence. Normally, Ansem would have little complaint with silence. It meant there was no further need to speak, and nothing he would need to offer. That or it meant an offer was being considered. This silence was none of those. He could assume it was meant as understanding, yes. But whether or not he would have been assuming correctly was something he didn't care to know.

Of course, this wasn't to say that was going to simply leave it to chance. Nor did he truly intend to leave her in somewhere as cold and unpleasant of the basement of the building. Coldhearted he could be, but even he had limits. Besides, he knew for a fact that there were rooms that were shielded from the darkness and surely one of those would be better suited to someone of the girl's abilities.

"Come. There are better places for you to stay then here."

Edited 2011-11-14 02:13 (UTC)

Although she did not want to follow Ansem, Yorda did so, realizing she had little, if any, choice in the matter. At the least, Ansem didn't seem to mean her any immediate harm, and that was better than, say, the Heartless Yorda had encountered before. The memory of it sent a shiver down the girl's spine; it was lucky for her that she had someone to protect her on the occasions she had seen them, especially given what the creatures could do to her. She didn't relish the thought of having her heart ripped from her and spirited away.

As she walked, the princess remained silent, seeing no reason to ask questions for once - or perhaps her ordeal had already exhausted her to the point of not wanting to ask anything right now. Loneliness and fear was already warring inside of her, both emotions struggling for dominance; she had to fight to keep the tears out of her eyes and did not want to speak for fear of letting Ansem know how frightened she was. Surely he already knew; why exacerbate the matter?

The fear of having one's heart torn away was all too common among those who still had a heart to care for such things. He'd seen it over and over when his lesser kindred slipped out of the shadows to claim what was rightfully theirs. Needless to say, while he was not truly gifted in the matter of reading people's hearts (why read what you only intended to eat), he wouldn't have been surprised in the least to hear of her fright. For now, he was content to let the silence stretch on.

After a fairly brief walk, the two of them arrived at one of the rooms that Ansem had in mind, and he opened the door for her. He knew quite well that she had reason to doubt his attempts at being polite, but that wasn't about to stop him.

At least Ansem was polite. Frankly, it threw Yorda off guard, seeing as how before, she had grown used to her mother's shadows merely slinging her over their shoulder and carrying her off. She followed him, oddly put a little more at ease by the fact that he hadn't actually tried to hurt her in earnest. She didn't know what he planned to do with her, but perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as the other times. Of course, she had no way of knowing one way or another, but she would surely find out soon.

Nervously, the princess walked into the room after Ansem opened the door for her, watching him to see what would happen next. Yorda didn't want to show him how afraid she was, despite managing to feel a little better, but she knew she was trembling a little, and avoiding his eyes certainly wasn't helping.

For now, at least, he had no intention of hurting her. He wished more to understand, and that could just as easily be done without harming her. Not to say that he wouldn't if he needed to. It was simply that he preferred trying less-violent methods of approach first. Besides, the longer he kept himself polite surely the less likely to assume the worst of him show would be.

(Not that he cared. He simply wanted to minimize unfortunate accidents.)

"I'm afraid I must leave you here," he commented, after a brief moment of silence. "But surely this will be a more comfortable place to stay."

Yorda glanced around herself briefly, not wanting to turn her back on the man. The quarters Ansem had let her to were something one would expect more out of guest rooms rather than a prison cell. The windows told the glowing girl nothing; she could only see darkness and the vague outlines of something sharp, which frightened her. Wherever she was, she could not escape through the window, and she knew Ansem wouldn't simply allow her to leave, not after he'd gone through the trouble of kidnapping her.

She merely looked up at him, remaining silent as she regarded her captor, her passive nature regarding being dragged places coming to the fore - after all, it had happened constantly to her ever since her mother had revealed her ultimate plans for Yorda. Back on the island, there had been no way of resisting until the horned boy had come along. But would she be able to escape this time?

Of course. What passed as prison cells in City Hall didn't have quite the protections he had in mind for what he intended. These rooms did, and if it meant an upgrade in the potential comfort of his 'guest' he would simply need to make do with that fact. Her comfort didn't guarantee her complete safety. It only acted as a sort of buffer.

"I shall leave you here," Ansem spoke into the silence, before turning and closing the door behind him as unseen enchantments sealed the room from all darkness. There would be no escape for her that way.

Yorda's new quarters were certainly several steps up from the cage she'd had back home, though that did little to truly put her at ease. She watched Ansem go, waiting a few moments before moving to press a hand against the door. What happened next, however, shocked her. Instantly, bolts of lightning crackled around her, shooting towards the door and all but blasting it open, splintering it - the door was, after all, merely wood, not the enchanted stone her mother had used in the castle.

The princess was left staring in shock, clutching at her chest in pain as she caught her breath. She hadn't realized such a thing would occur, and so was not only winded by the slight pain opening even the weakly-guarded door had caused, but by the realization that she was, perhaps, not as trapped as she thought she was.

The thought died when she realized Ansem was still there, however, and immediately Yorda tensed, watching him, afraid of what he might do to her now.

Ansem had barely managed to get more than a few feet away from the door before it all but exploded out of its frame. It wasn't particularly difficult to realize why, either. Even at a relatively safe distance it was perfectly easy to read the signature of light all over the attack - or whatever it had been - and he couldn't help but scowl at it. A moment earlier and it was just as likely that he himself would have been in the line of fire. No, he couldn't bear to deal with something else of that nature.

He didn't hide the frown on his face as he turned back to Yorda. "Is this your idea of gracious hospitality? Destroying what I've given you?"

At the look on Ansem's face, Yorda took a terrified step back, shaking her head. She had never been able to control her power, but Ansem had no way of knowing that. "I did not intend to," she blurted, clutching at her chest with one hand. "I can not control it." She hadn't intended to say that last part, but Ansem so frightened her that she simply couldn't help herself. But something like that had never happened to her before, not with normal doors; she had always been able to close the door to her room without any problems. Why had it changed now? What was happening?

Lowering her eyes once more, Yorda did her best to stop trembling, wondering what in the world was going to happen next.

An uncontrollable power. The problems kept growing more and more the longer he attempted to keep her under control. If he attempted to keep her somewhere where the shadows were barred from entry she would simply blow the door off its hinges once again. And if he attempted to save the doors from such a fate she would simply vanish into the darkness. But if she either couldn't or wouldn't control her power than he would arrange to control it for her.

"Then it seems I must find another way to keep you here," Ansem mused, as he drew closer to Yorda. "But what would be the most suitable?"

Yorda was barely able to resist shrinking back again as Ansem drew closer to her, looking up at him as she tried, once again, to be braver. That was what Urd and Mao would be like in this sort of situation, anyway. Even if they weren't here, she could try to be strong for them. She didn't know why she had suddenly blasted open that door; it just seemed like a normal door for her, after all. She didn't know Ansem had enchanted it in order to keep her from leaving.

At his question, the princess had no answer. She wanted to escape. She wanted to be with her loved ones again, and she definitely didn't want to be imprisoned, and so she merely remained silent as Ansem mused on her situation.

There was a long moment of silence, as Ansem considered the possibilities. What would work-- ah, yes. That should do very nicely. Surely such a kind hearted girl wouldn't wish to be the cause of anyone else pain and she had been so kind as to offer up the name of at least one of her friends earlier. That was all he needed, and he offered a thoroughly unpleasant smile before speaking up again.

"I've been kind, so far. If you choose to leave, I will be less so. I imagine your Mao would make quite the toy for the shadows, don't you?"

When Ansem threatened Mao, Yorda stared up at him, scarcely able to believe it. But the look on his face told her he was perfectly serious. What could she do? Even her mother had never sunk so low - she had only been concerned with keeping Yorda in the castle. The girl's heart was pounding, tears coming to her eyes as she realized that if she wanted to protect Mao, she had no choice but to remain here.

A moment passed, and then another, and the glowing girl lowered her head. "I will stay here," she told him.

The sadness in her eyes was beautiful, if Ansem had any say. It told him that he had chosen wisely. To protect her friends no doubt she would have done anything. That his price was so simple would have been a relief, compared to what he could have done. Or, for that matter, what he might yet do. But she didn't need to know about that. The plans were uncertain - he hadn't been asked to harm her. Simply remove her for a time.

"Then you'll need a new room. One with a serviceable door."

Once again, Yorda said nothing, preferring to maintain her silence. Reassured as she was by the fact that Ansem hadn't locked her in a cage, at least, the knowledge that he would hurt Mao if she tried to escape had killed any hope of being able to slip out unnoticed by the strange man. For now, the princess simply stared at the floor, waiting meekly to hear where the other would take her next. It did not matter, since she had no hope of escape now, unless he decided to let her go. She banished thoughts of finding some way to let others know where she was - that would surely anger Ansem as much as if she simply tried to escape herself - and resigned herself to simply waiting for the time being.

For now, Ansem had no intention to take her anywhere. He would need time to arrange for a suitable set up to see what could be done with either her light or her darkness. Besides, it would be cruelty beyond belief to seek to put her through her paces so soon. Better that she be left to recover from the blow of her inability to escape. He wasn't here to break her heart. Merely to test its true limits.

"You should find most rooms near here serviceable," he commented. He had no intention of constantly leading her by the hand. Truth be told, if she wanted to stay in the room without a door it would offer further insight in her desires. "Ah, and one other thing. Don't presume to ask the others here to return you. It shall be treated as if you'd left of your own volition. Beyond that, you're free to tend to what you will. You and I will speak again later."

And with those words, darkness swirled up around Ansem and he was gone.

Light and Shadow [active]

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I'm so sorry! I didn't realize I was replying to the comment instead of the entry.

It's fine! I'm pretty sure I've messed up a time or two, too

Sorry, on hiatus, but I'll still try to manage a couple of tags. <3

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