[ closed ]

[darkcharge]

Who: Vanitas & Asura
Which: Closed Log
Where: Asura's Farm
What: Talking about them shards
Warnings: None... I don't think?





[ Vanitas always takes the opportunity to go out exploring when it's going to be of some use to. The Dream Board asking for people to venture out is one of those said opportunities. He had done things like this before, prior to arriving in this place. It's not out of his nature to do that.

What he hadn't expected is the feeling that being close to those shards would bring. Vanitas could feel the pull and tug inside his own chest. That, too, is a familiar feeling that he had all but dismissed upon arrival here. It's a connection. Almost an invisible tether. While not quite as strong as when he had been bonded to several individuals or eve when he could feel Ventus no matter where he had been... It's still there.

That means he knows who is responsible. It's the reason that he's now making his way to where he had first come across the man that had given Vanitas a shard of his own, temporary it might be. More than anything, he has questions. Vanitas wants to know what's going on here. What is the endgame? What is he trying to do? What's going to happen?

How is it going to affect him...

As Vanitas sits on the fence, he knows that Asura will realize he's there. The guy can talk to him directly so chances are? He already can feel Vanitas sitting there. Waiting. ]

Comments

[abyssbound]

[ Yes, he can. And with the warmer weather as a side effect of his shards, Asura is already outside and... taking a dip in the lotus pond? The flowers are blooming out of season, and it'd be easy to miss him submerged up to his shoulders if one wasn't looking for him. He doesn't immediately acknowledge that Vanitas is present, opting instead to draw out a few more moments just basking in the scent of lotus before his eyes open and he pulls himself out of the water--fortunately still wearing pants, soaked through though they are. He has an inkling as to the purpose of Vanitas's visit. ]

Congrats on your engagement. [ He says instead as he approaches his visitor, well aware that's not what the kid came here for. ]

[darkcharge]

[ As if Vanitas would care about something like someone wearing pants or not. What does irritate him from time to time is the lack of being able to detect where someone connected to him is. It's a strange sensation, not knowing.

But the words from Asura's mouth derail his thoughts a bit. First he'd ask where he had heard this from but - ]

Were you listening in?

[abyssbound]

Not the whole time. [ Asura shrugs as he wrings the water out of his mass of dark hair. ] I took a peek when I felt your happiness through the shard.

[darkcharge]

[ Had he... Really been that happy? Vanitas thinks that might be a stretch? But then again... Probably not. He doesn't always identify his happiest moments. It's. Hmm.

Emotions he's still learning. ]

Then you likely heard our stupidity too.

[abyssbound]

[ Vanitas is still young, he'll learn eventually. Anyway, Asura just chuckles and shakes his head dismissively. ] I stopped paying attention past that. Whatever embarrassing things you may or may not have said is your own business.

[ He really is glad for Vanitas, though. Genuinely. If he has the opportunity to seek his happiness then he should go for it.

But Asura's smile vanishes quickly as he steps up to the fence and leans over it, staring out across the field. ] But you didn't come here seeking my blessing.

[darkcharge]

[ Just because things got off to a rough start doesn't mean that Vanitas hasn't come to respect Asura some. The guy is still something that he is trying to figure out. There are so many times that Vanitas just doesn't know how to make him and what he says out.

Though at least this time he's not surprised by the fact that the man is settling beside him. Asking questions and allowing for the tone of the conversation to shift. ]

Not that I would need it. If anyone didn't approve of Sora, they'd be pretty stupid.

[ Vanitas would be the one that they'd need to question... Yet the boy shakes his head and doesn't quite look at the other. ]

What are you doing with the other shards.

[abyssbound]

[ Asura doesn't answer right away. He's had many years of experience in being evasive about his true intentions, even if it makes him a hypocrite. The quirk of his upper lip in something between a smirk and a sneer should make it more than obvious that he doesn't intend on being straightforward here. ]

How far would you be willing to go to protect the one you love most? [ He answers Vanitas's question with one of his own. ]

[darkcharge]

However far I'd need to.

[ Spoken quickly and decisively. Vanitas would do whatever it took. He doesn't care about things like morality when it comes to this. While it's a point of contention between Sora and Vanitas still, he would ( and has ) kill in order to keep the other safe. ]

[abyssbound]

So would I. [ Asura answers just as firmly and straightens up, no longer leaning over the fence. ] But the one I love isn't here in this dream world. [ He's out there, in the waking world, beyond the reach of this dream self. ]

We can't take our memories with us out of the dream, but dreams can affect the waking world if the dreamer is powerful enough. [ He's seen it happen countless times in his world. ] This is the answer I came up with to destroy that god of destruction.

[darkcharge]

[ He still only partially understands things. God of destruction... Vanitas doesn't really know how all of that has come into play. Is this person responsible for something that would tie into Asura's love life or what? ]

So you are drawing power from this world? From its core?

[abyssbound]

[ ...Sort of.

That question surprises Asura enough that he can't help but give a chuckle. ]

The opposite, actually. The shards are the conduit through which I'm drawing power out of my waking body and into this dream world.

[darkcharge]

Waking body...

[ Everything is still connected like that? Vanitas hadn't known this. How - ]

How can you be so sure?

[abyssbound]

[ Perhaps it isn't that way for everyone, but it certainly works that way in the world from which Asura originates.

He gives Vanitas a thoughtful look for a moment before one of his Spiritual Entity arms emerges from his back, the sharp spike of it arcing up to hover over his shoulder not unlike the tail of a scorpion. Asura reaches up to grasp the blade in hand, and with a sudden quick jerk of his wrist and little more than a momentary grimace of discomfort, he break off the end of it to hold in his palm. Like the shards out in the Wasteland, the broken piece turns obsidian-black, a dull red glow burning within. Within seconds, energy identical to that which now suffuses the dream world begins to flow out from it in waves. ]

The native power of the dream world is dreamotion, but this, [ His grip on the new shard tightens momentarily as the injured arm of his Spiritual Entity retracts into his back once more, ] this is the power of that god of destruction. [ His own power. ] That power is too much for anyone to control, but regardless of what happens, this dream world will recover.

[darkcharge]

[ Maybe it is just like that for Asura. In truth, Vanitas doesn't know. What he is, however, is patient. Allowing Asura to explain it the best way that he can.

There are so many questions that he has about why Asura is doing this. Vani has bits and pieces, yes. Realizes that this all has something to do with the person that Asura loves more than anything. But not how the two are connected. ]

Are you... Trying to destroy yourself?

[ Because he keeps talking about the god of destruction. But then he draws power from himself is from himself? Have they blended? ]

[abyssbound]

[ The answer to that question is not a simple one, but Vanitas isn't entirely off the mark. Asura lets out a single bitter huff of a chuckle, and the shard in his hand dissolves as he reabsorbs in through his skin. ]

That god of destruction is me, yes, but I wasn't born as the Destroyer. I gained that power to change an unacceptable fate, but the weight of those sins is what keeps me from walking in the light. Someone must bear that weight, so this dream world is going to take some of it off my shoulders.

[darkcharge]

Let me make sure that I've got this straight.

[ Because complexity is something that Vanitas can understand. Doing things to be strong enough so that a goal or a desire can be obtained... He gets that. By now he has learned that, in reality, the things that he had wanted for himself aren't innately 'evil' but sometimes that doesn't matter.

Vanitas is still pretty "meh" about that over all, but at least he understands that aspect of it. ]

Something happened or was going to happen and you didn't want it to. So you took on this what? Power with some sort of negative side effect? Now you want nothing to do with it so instead of dealing with it, you're shrugging it all off on everyone else and this world...

[abyssbound]

Yeah. [ Asura answers with a self-deprecating grin. ] That's exactly what I'm doing.

[ There's a bit more nuance to it than that, but Vanitas's words aren't wrong. ]

I never claimed to be a good person.

[darkcharge]

Implying that what? I am?

[ Because he isn't. Not really. He's still stubborn and selfish. Still greedy and prickly. Doesn't go around doing good deeds. ]

Look, I don't care that much. At least not about this world, I don't. Do what you want, but know it it starts giving what's mine problems...