maskormenacelogs | i left you unprotected in the fortress of your mind

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i left you unprotected in the fortress of your mind

WHO: Riku + anyone interested!
WHERE: dreams
WHEN: all month!
WHAT: Riku practicing dream stuff some more.
WARNINGS: body horror in thread 1

[Finally, Riku feels like he’s starting to get the hang of this.

It’s taken him a while -- experimenting on the vast stained-glass platform of his own dreamscape, trying to figure out what he can and can’t do in the dream world. The dreams he’s able to enter in this world are far different from the Sleeping Worlds, which really just felt like regular places to him. Perhaps that was because those worlds thought they were still awake -- they still played by the real-world rules, excepting the creatures that inhabited them. But Riku is the only Dream Eater in this world, and so he feels like he has a responsibility to try and at least banish what nightmares he can.

He’s been practicing trying to find specific people. Some are easier than others -- he’s been able to find Naminé fairly simply, but perhaps that’s because she’s physically the closest person to him at any point in the middle of the night. His friends are always the targets -- each night finds him visiting one or two people, peeking in curiously. He doesn’t always stay long, but if he feels either needed, particularly nosy, or both, he can be convinced to step in for a little longer. He’s not surprised when people don’t notice him -- often they seem to be too caught up in the dream to realize something’s wrong. Sometimes he gets incorporated into it, but sometimes he’s able to help elucidate them just enough to have a conversation. Riku isn’t sure what’s the best option -- if anything, he feels like maybe he shouldn’t tamper too much, but then, sometimes it seems like it’s better that he’s here, rather than ignoring it.

Tonight Riku stands on the Station of Awakening, staring up at the door. It’s never really felt welcoming -- after all, it is a reconstruction of the Door to Darkness he and Mickey trapped themselves behind -- but perhaps that’s just the other dreamers’ subconsciouses. It’s really hard to say. He’ll try a few people tonight, and then tomorrow a few others. Taking a breath in, he thinks of a particular person, tries to pinpoint them, and then steps through the door.]

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[Upon entering this particular dream on this day, all that surrounds Riku is darkness. There is no light to be had here. As Riku is able to see in the darkness however, he'll spy a certain someone standing in front of a mirror. The mirror itself is cracked in various spots and looks to be in the shape of a heart. Whenever he approaches this someone standing by this mirror, he'll turn his head and seem to have no eyeballs whatsoever and yet they stream tears of black blood dripping down from the eye sockets. It's then that Riku will be pulled into the floor by darkness away from this scene to another.

He's in another dark room, but this time there's nothing in there. It hurts. Make it stop. That's all Riku will hear on repeat until more words start to be heard. No one needs me. I'll never be good enough. It's only when Riku finds himself in the center of this room that he'll see the truth of what's going on; Kagami siting in the middle of the room on the floor curled into himself with a large shadow looming over him as it feeds off the darkness which flows out of him with every negative thought he has. The replica for his part won't notice Riku's presence, yet the shadow does and goes after him looking for a fight. It'll swipe its claws at him and make a loud shrieking scream as if to warn Riku to leave before things get worse.]

[Still a dream that was vaguely nearby but, going through that door will lead into what appears to be like how Riku and Gentarou first met. An endless void of darkness with pinpricks of lights shining around him like stars. Some are larger and brighter than others while some are clustered together in their own little galaxies but, the scene is as if he in the stars themselves. Or really, it was more like a child’s perception of how it would look like if stars were little lights floating around them.

Even in this expanse of darkness, it’s not silent. There’s this buzz of whispers, all kept at a low hum coming from every direction, as if the lights themselves were trying to talk to each other or to him.]

[As soon as Riku sees the atmosphere in the dream, he's on guard. The Keyblade is out without his really needing to think about it, and his summoning of the Dark Shield is on a hair-trigger, just waiting for something to come at him. The person near the mirror doesn't scare him -- no, rather it's the sight of Kagami in the second room that scares him. Not for himself, but for his brother. Those words around him -- they're familiar to him, because they're feelings he knows well.

But that Heartless doesn't want him to be here, and as soon as the Phantom makes any kind of strike toward him, even before it wails, Riku has his shield up and around him. Only once the first blows have been deflected and he has an opening does he hit back, slicing with deliberate movements. As he fights back he's moving, circling slowly, til he's standing in front of Kagami, huddled on the floor.]

Come on, then. You think you'll scare me off with that?

[Riku ends up staying not because he feels like there's something to solve here, but just because this is pretty. He's not really sure whose dream it is quite yet, though it does indeed remind him of the blackout.

He takes a few steps inward, head tilted back to check out the view. It's quite beautiful, actually. A normal expanse of darkness like this would not interest him -- but the stars make it clear he's not in just another area of the Realm of Darkness. There are stars there, sometimes, too -- but not like this. This reminds him of being back home, lying on his back on the sand, staring up toward what he knew were other worlds.]

Huh...

[ Netnavis don't dream - but certainly, humans do. And Magicman spends enough time as a human to sleep as one.

Even in dreams, though, he's rather organised. Things have a certain shape and a certain order, even if he's not actively in control of it. But there's a hazy, 'soft' feel to everything - colourful platforms and screens playing back fragments of memories feel almost fluffy, like touching or stepping on a semi-solid cloud. Even moving around, it's...floaty. Like moving through something just a little thicker than water.

It's calming here, if nothing else. Even though there's a void beneath, a point where platforms cease to exist, there seems to be no danger of falling.

Magicman's here, too, his form just as strange and fuzzy as everything else around. It flickers between his two bodies in a disorienting kind of static. He appears to be asleep, even when dreaming - or, at least, he's closed his eyes for a bit. It's hard to tell. ]

[This is a different type of dream than normal, he understands, and even as he enters he's looking for the dreamer. They're not always physically present in the dream the way he is -- but often they are, and Riku nods to himself as he confirms this suspicion. He comes across Magicman fairly quickly -- perhaps it's just a sense of where his consciousness must be, or perhaps he just got lucky.

At any rate, there he is, and Riku approaches cautiously, not wanting to wake him up if he can help it. Even if he wanted to rush, he can't, really -- the atmosphere is really strange. Magicman's appearance seems a little confused -- like it's not sure which it's meant to be. Riku folds his arms, looks at him for a bit. Well, he's asleep, so... it might be that he doesn't need him.]

[Kagami hears his brother and looks up as the Phantom goes in for an strike at Riku, determined to get rid of him. It onslaughts him now as it attempts to break his shield, but Kagami for his part remains where he is even after hearing Riku.]

... It won't stop until you leave.

[Despite the fact that Riku is alone in the dark void of what seems like space, the stars above feel like they give off a comforting warmth. As if they were actual people with the buzz of chatter going on between them. And with no sense of up or down in the darkness around them, if Riku wanted, he could probably go right up to them to the point where they actually surround him like fireflies.]

[ He fuzzes into something resembling 'consciousness' - in a dream, at least. When he senses Riku there, his form settles into his human body. Form dictates thought, at least to some degree. It feels more natural this way. ]

...Ah. Hm.

I don't think this is normal. [ He sounds a bit distant, a little puzzled, as he gently floats upright to face Riku. ] But then again, dreams aren't logical...

[ He tilts his head. ] Is this a visit, or are you part of the dream?

Ah -- sorry. This is a visit, actually.

[Well, he's lucid, so Riku can stay and chat. Magicman is one of the few people he's not surprised to find this way, as an AI.]

I'm a part of the dream only as far as -- I've left my body in the waking world. It's a new power, and I'm still trying to figure out the ins and outs of it, so I'm kind of just... going where I go. If I'm in the way of something, though, let me know. I know how to find my own body a lot easier than I know how to find someone else.

Well, sorry. I'm not going anywhere. This is ridiculous.

[He pushes back toward the Heartless, striking with the Keyblade and in the other hand, gathering Firaga. There's no darkness in this particular fireball -- going against an enemy like this, darkness is not what he needs.]

You can't possibly think I'm going to leave after what I've seen already.

[They are, indeed, welcoming. It's weird. He's still not certain on whose dream this is, but he can cross a few off the list he knows it's not. And he does, after a moment, flap his wings and let the weird atmosphere pull him upward. It doesn't feel threatening, if it's supposed to be. He feels a little like he's floating in water, maybe. Weightless, but able to propel himself with his wings more than with his legs.

Probably he shouldn't stay, but he's dying to figure out whose dream this is at this point.]

It's better if you do, now get out and leave me alone.

[He follows those words with narrowing his eyes and slowly getting up from his spot, now making his way to another part of the room as the heartless phantom seems to be now attacking as a guard for Kagami by barracking Riku from getting any closer to him.]

[Or maybe it's like floating through space???? And as he approaches the lights, he might hear little snippets of conversation once he gets close enough.

"You and I have zero chance of becoming friends."

"Gen-chan! I'm going to space!"

"You are the trashiest of trash."

"All that friendship crap really pisses me off."

"When I do what dad says, everyone hates me. Is what I'm doing really so wrong?"

"Can you understand what it's like when there's no place for you in the whole world?!"

"I did something I could never be forgiven for."

"Kisaragi. You were right this entire time."

"Everything's fine. Because we're friends."

All the voices are different but the last one, that should be recognizable to Riku. ]

[Riku listens.

He lets the lights lift him, and as he reaches them -- sound. Dreams are strange, but it seems to him that they often contain memories of the people from the waking world. Some of the voices don't mean much to him. But some of them -- "I did something I could never be forgiven for." -- some of them hit too close to home, and deep in thought he nearly misses the clue the dream gives him as to its source.

The last person speaks, and Riku does pick it up. Now he knows whose dream this is. But he's not sure whether it's supposed to be a good one or not. Those stars felt welcoming, but some of those voices did not. For now, though, he'll let things play out as they're supposed to.]

[The dream shifts and Kagami lets the creature protect him. Riku weathers the blows, standing straight with the Keyblade held in front of him, parrying its strikes.]

Why do you think I'm here?

[Even with the words being said, everything still does feel warm. Listening in longer, the same voices will repeat again.

"To think that the Queen will be having a prom like this with trash like you. This is the best night I could have imagined."

"After hearing you root for me, how am I supposed to abandon you?"

"You know, Gentarou. I'm happy I joined the Kamen Rider Club."

"I'll follow you into hell, Kisaragi."

"Kisaragi. No matter what happens, please protect your friends."

There's still a constant warmth from all the voices, even though what they said before weren't so nice. And the sources seem to be from the brighter stars around him all densely clustered together. Likely from the friends he is closest to.

Although that one voice from before that said they did something that couldn't be forgiven. Maybe if you search for that one, you'll find out what happened.]

Oh. Well, [ he says, only pausing a little ] that's unexpected, but I don't mind it. You're free to look around, if you like.

[ He shrugs, easily; now he's conscious, he has greater control over his own movement, and he glides around Riku lazily. ] Not that it's very interesting, though.

So is this power just limited to people you know, or...?

[ The dream Riku enters is vast, the ruins of a great City. But a fairly modern one, and if he's ever seen pictures of Manhattan, perhaps he'll recognize some of its features. At least, the ones that are visible.

It's clear that this City has been long dead, since reclaimed by the Earth. Where it may once have been dead, everything is alive and overgrown, toppled trees covered in vines and moss, empty alleys becoming gardens of wildflowers, trees that aspire to the heights of the skyscrapers still standing. Everything is green, as far as the eye can see.

But for all the ubiquitous signs of life, out here in the wilderness that was once the City, there is no indication that anyone else is here except Riku. Every now and then, he might catch a giant white moth swooping overhead, far out in the distance, but no people.

But who's to say, it's a big place. ]

To be honest, I don't know. Sometimes I can't identify the dreamer, but that's not necessarily because I don't know them.

[Riku looks thoughtful, sitting down where he's standing.]

It's -- just weird, I guess. My dream power, I mean. But -- is this your dream all the time, though?

[He steps out of the Door onto the roof of a building, buried in vines. To get to the edge of it, he has to wade through vegetation just deep enough to trip you up, and nearly ends up casting Fire just to get himself untangled at one point. But he makes it across and looks down across the cityscape, ruins that stretch out ahead of him in every direction. Riku looks down, below where he's standing -- there's pavement there, at least, despite roots breaking it in many spots, grass lining the edges of buildings.

He steps off, unafraid of hurting himself -- this is a dream, after all, and sure enough his descent slows before he reaches the bottom. Wings spreading, he touches down and picks a direction to head in.

It quickly becomes evident whose dream it is -- as soon as he sees one of those moths, he makes the connection. Not because of what it is -- he's never seen one of them fully grown -- but the lack of colour, and the fact that it's an insect at all helps him put two and two together. Riku knows that if he heads too far away from the dreamer's location inside the dream that he'll start to find himself in a space of less and less detail, so by moving he's hoping to eventually find Kanaya. It might take awhile, though.]

[The place should look familiar: deceptively pristine buildings lined by trees, each one distinct and memorable in some fashion or other. The building style often tends towards the older, fancier fashions that try to boast of old money and older history. Clouds black out the sun, casting a dim shadow over the place and a slight hint of what really lurks here. Maybe it's all the associated memories of the location itself that lends towards an omnipresent feeling of being watched...

But there's things that don't belong there: in the distance, a lone hill by a tower that's thoroughly out of place in Maurtia Falls, and a tire fastened to a sturdy tree there by rope. It's in a spot just far enough that the sun can still reach it, giving a small beacon outside the gloomy, overcast city.

And the fact there is no one here at all. The streets, usually busy enough by people working hard to either ignore everyone or give the illusion they are, lie still. No cars line the roads. There's no sign that anyone was here at all, save the buildings themselves leaving silent monuments behind. And yet, the feeling persists.

The sky grows darker, blacks swirling into the grays. High winds trail the clouds like fingers towards that one hilltop, slowly dragging the shadow from the town with it. There's no wind below, leaving empty, still streets for Kidou to run through. His cape isn't the red cloak from when Riku saw him before, but a shorter blue cape, contrasting against a light yellow jersey and blue shorts.

Kidou's a fast runner, but he can't outrace the wind itself. The shadow stretches over the hill, slowly replacing it with darker and darker city as it goes along. That tower, the tire, all illusions dispelled by the darkening shadow. And as it vanishes, Kidou slows to a walk, then stops altogether, his cape falling still around him as he watches the shadow swallow the last remnants of the hilltop.

Soon, the clouds grow dark enough that there's barely anything visible around. The only remaining light stays over Kidou, but it's a sickly, strange light that casts an odd greenish tint over everything it touches. Kidou doesn't even try to move as the darkness starts creeping in towards him. Not even to look around behind him to check for an exit.

The only motion from him at all is his hands balling into fists.]

[It's like he stepped back into the real world. Riku takes a few steps across the pavement, and as he does he catches sight of that hill, how the sun seems to be focusing just on it, on the tire swing and the tower adjacent. This, then, is decidedly a dream. And it's true, he feels like he's being stalked, like there's a pair of eyes on him from somewhere he can't see.

He spots the boy next -- it seems usually he's placed near the dreamer when he enters a dream, but the way he'd reacted to him in the waking world means Riku isn't necessarily inclined to reveal himself right away. Instead, he hovers a little ways away. For now, he'll just watch. That light... nothing about it is warm. Instead, he's reminded very much of the eerie glow in the chamber inside Hollow Bastion where Maleficent and her council had done most of their meeting. Without really thinking about it he has the Keyblade in hand -- he'll let this progress, but he doesn't trust it one bit.]

["Gentarou." Are these his memories? Or just his imagination conjuring the people he remembers, trying to make sense of things? Riku can't say for certain. But he is interested in that particular voice -- those words that sounded so close to something he'd say himself. Riku does move, drifts in that direction a little, toward where he thinks he remembers hearing it. If he follows that.... what will happen, he wonders?]

[ It may not take him long. Dreams are weird like that, even when they aren't your own. It will be after he's crossed Times Square, where a black post has been erected, too black, as if it pulls in the City's intense sunlight in by its very nature. the only thing that seems to repel the vegetation, its surface is instead marked with nails, each having an individual symbol engraved on its head. Surrounding it in sentry are a series of statues. At least, they look like statues. It's hard to tell just what they might have when they're buried under so much moss, almost as though the world is trying to forget them. A barrier to hold the darkness at bay.

Just outside the Square, Kanaya is tending to a grove of purple rosebushes, not in the least concerned by the ominous scenery behind her, just carrying on as if she hasn't a care in the world. She doesn't even seem to notice that she has a visitor.

The moths do, however, and once he gets a closer look at one, the resemblance will be undeniable. While most of them perch on the surrounding buildings to watch him curiously, one lands nearby. She's enormous, over thirty feet long, and just her head is bigger than his entire body. She moves her massive lips close to him, and coos in greeting. ]

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i left you unprotected in the fortress of your mind

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