Connected Hearts - A PSL for Aqua, Ven, Terra, Link, and the TWEWY crew...

[aquawayfinder]

The connection between their hearts was strong. Stronger now that Aqua was alive again and had Terra and Ven's strength behind her. She lifted off the ground with her glider. The Aqua this Terra and Ven knew wasn't afraid of heights, so she was hopeful they wouldn't notice that she was terrified. Her armor hid much. And there was no time to be afraid. Link and Rhyme needed her. She focused on Link first, their connection stronger. Finding it, she flew her glider from the world, knowing that Terra and Ven would be right behind her.

She expected them to touch down in Shibuya. She didn't expect to find Link.... in the space between words. "L...Link?" He had no armor, it was dangerous for someone to be between worlds like this.... Fear for her friend swamped fear for herself. They needed to get armor on him, they needed to help... somehow...

Comments

[younghero]

"I don't know. I really don't. It shouldn't matter anywhere else, but, back there..."

Link trailed off. He shared the amount of concern they felt--not for himself, but, for the safety of the others involved.

[aquawayfinder]

"Then one thing we need to do while we are there is to figure out how to undo that and restore you."

[windslept]

How? Do you know how to do that? How to help him get back to normal from being one of those...Reapers?

[Ven asks, unsure on what this might mean. How to restore Link to his usual self again. But if there were a way, answers, it would surely be back on that same world, right? Terra gives a shrug in reminding Ven he has no more idea on this than the blond.]

[younghero]

I'd think Joshua would know. But, that doesn't help us when we first get there.

I...I was still myself mentally when they changed me. I refused to move or do anything with their stupid Game and their stupid rules.

[aquawayfinder]

"Or Mr. H. Of the two I'd sooner trust him," she said with an apologetic smile to Link, knowing he didn't like the man. "He;'s probably also the one who would know where Rhyme is, if she isn't at his cafe anymore. And if not..."

She stepped back and stood tall, her Keyblade appearing in her hand. "We have other options we can try," she said, firmly.


And then a small smile crept onto her lips and she looked back to Terra and Ven. "I promised to train Link if he wanted, after. Do the two of you want to help? It is the duty of a Master, after all..." the smile wasn't so small by the time she was done talking.

[windslept]

So we'll ask this Mr H first then.

[Terra says. It's a start at least? If he might have a clue once they get to this Shibuya where to find Rhyme, this friend of Aqua and Link. He and Ven blinks, eyes widening as smiles appear, Ven's probably a little wider in comparison as they give nods of agreement. Ven raising his hands and exclaiming a loud 'yes'.

Not that he has trained anyone before. But....well. They had to start somewhere, right?]

sorry!

[younghero]

I guess he's the only person who can help us.

[Link ventured a small smile at their enthusiasm, though. That outweighted his apprehension of trusting Mr. H.]

Re: sorry!

[aquawayfinder]

"He can help, hopefully. And we can help each other. Link you can ride double with me, alright? We need to follow the connection between our hearts and Rhyme's so the others can follow."

She took a deep breath to steady herself then summoned her glider. Then summoned her armor. One more breath and she got on. "Once you're on I'll put the armor over us both like when we flew over the walls."

She had a whole set of memories where this wasn't scary at all. She could do this. she could. For Rhyme.

[windslept]

Just lead the way and we'll follow. We can figure it out once we get there, finding Rhyme.

[Ven says, giving a nod as Terra adds on about keeping an eye out for this Joshua guy, giving a pointed look to Ven who doesn't seem to notice given he's busy summoning his own glider again and all. Terra does seem to want to keep an eye on Ven after everything, especially given Aqua mentioned Joshua and being careful around the younger of their trio especially.]

[younghero]

Okay. I'm ready when you are!

[Link wasn't particularly scared of anything, except failing and not being able to help Rhyme. That terrified him. ]

[aquawayfinder]

Going to presume he got on behind her. She wrapped her armor around them both and the glider lifted back to the space between. "Alright. Now we just need to focus on Rhyme... and let our hearts be our guiding key...."

She closed her eyes and tried to do what she advised, focusing on Rhyme.

[windslept]

[Terra and Ven get ready themselves, with their armor and gliders, waiting to follow when she and Link were ready. Telling her to take her time, to be sure. That they'd wait, there was no rush.

When they have their heading and start off, the two would follow. Whichever direction it might lead. They just assume it'll be this Shibuya place. When they finally do get going and all, they'll follow behind her, ready to support her and Link. Letting them take the lead in getting them there.]

[younghero]

[He hated Shibuya. A lot. The modern city was a far cry from his beloved Hyrule, or, even Termina. It was too big, too industrial. Not enough nature. Not enough life.

But, most of all, he hated Joshua and the Game.

He closed his eyes as well, and thought about Rhyme instead.]

[aquawayfinder]

Once the both of them were focused on Rhyme, Aqua felt a small pull and she turned her glider that way. They landed on Cat Street, just outside Mr. H's. She got down from her glider and vanished it and her armor. "Let'd all check that our powers work," she suggested. She reached out a hand and summoned her Keyblade. Then she focused and cast Curaga on them all. "That's the way," she said, pleased to have her powers. Part of her ad been sure they'd need pins again.

[windslept]

[They follow easily enough, letting Aqua lead. When they land, they're quick to dismiss their gliders and armor taking their cue from her that they probably wouldn't need it. When she says about testing their powers, both Ven and Terra summon their Keyblades too, doing a practice test of one of their spells before they give a nod, smiling and thanking her for the Curaga.]

Seems fine to me!

[Ven assures her as Terra says they should find this Rhyme if things are fine with their powers.]

[younghero]

[Link found he could summon the Master Sword—which was reassuring. He experimented with Nayru’s Love—with no luck. He didn’t dare attempt Din’s Fire for fear of it either failing or burning the city down.]

Well. Least I have my sword....

[aquawayfinder]

"More than last time," she said, comfortingly. She rested a hand on his hair. "Wait till we teach you how to use a Keyblade." She gave him a warm smile then stood tall, vanishing her weapon but somehow looking all the more ready for battle anyway.

"Let's go."

She walked into the cafe and looked around. Mr. H was just setting down a cup of tea when he saw them. In the cafe with him was Neku. He looked at them all as they came in.

"Well, speak of, Phones!" Mr. H said with a laugh. "These are the two I was telling you about. Blue and Ears."

"And I'll still have no luck reminding you of my actual name?" Neku asked, though it seemed almost habit as he stood.

"Sure, no problem, Phones."

"Thought as much." He slid his hands into his pockets, but not before they got a glimpse of the angry looking red timer on his palm.

"Of course those two I don't know," Mr. H admitted, hand behind his neck as he peered around Link and Aqua to look at Ven and Terra. And probably was trying to come up with nicknames for them as well.

"I'm Neku," he said to the others, more or less seeming to ignore Mr. H for the moment. Now that he knew who Mr. H was, he had no intention of actually ignoring him. But he was pretty good at faking it. Years of acting like he wasn't listening to anyone at all helped. "I was a player too, a while back. Guess I am again. I was friends with Rhyme... and Beat."

"Are you the one that the package was for?" Aqua asked, studying him.

"Yeah," he said, a bit grimly. "And if Josh ever gets brave enough ton talk to me directly, he and I are going to have a little talk about that."

[windslept]

Blue? Wait....Aqua's 'Blue'? She has a name.

[Ven pouts, but Terra seems quieter as they follow and encounter Mr H in the cafe. Along with some other kid. Who mentions Rhyme. Maybe he could help? If he knows the kid they're looking for? Terra tilts his head, listening.]

What package? If you know Rhyme, we're looking for her. Know where we might find her?

[younghero]

"He won't use anyone's real name. He knows 'em, he just doesn't care."

Link wasn't bothering to hide the Master Sword strapped to his back. Now that he had his weapon again, he wasn't risking the chance of losing it.

"Hi, Neku." Link gave the boy an apologetic look. "He wanted me to play again too, I just refused. If you want answers from Joshua, I'll hold off on killing him until he tells you what you need to know."

A certain hero was still incredibly furious. And, it was this sort of fury that created Shadow. Joshua had put people he loved in danger, and he wasn't quick to forgive that transgression, not at all.

[aquawayfinder]

Neku roughed his own hair, hiding the lower half of his face in his high collar. "Actually, he is sort of my friend. Kind of. I am going to deal with him myself, no killing, though." He pulled his chin and mouth back out. "That's how Josh thinks. But I refuse to see ending lives as an answer to life's problems. Besides, who knows if that'll just toss him into the games as a player again, restarting everything." He shook his head.

"Phones here has a plan though," Mr. H said, waving them to seats. "Players don't usually have help from the living who have nothing to do with this mess," he said, nodding to Terra and Ven. "But then nothing about this game is typical, is it?"

Neku nodded, then looked to Aqua and Link. "You are friends of Rhyme, you said?"

[windslept]

I wouldn't know what is typical. Just what I've been told from Aqua, really. But if we can help somehow. Aqua says Rhyme's a friend, so.

[Ven's willing to help. To at least try? If he can. Terra gives a nod in agreement next to the younger newest Keyblade Master. They're willing to help, if they can. They just might need to rely on the others to fill them in a little more as they go or something. Given they're newer to how things work here exactly and all, beyond what Aqua told them with the basics.]

[younghero]

Link kept quiet, willing to let Neku choose his own path. If he were truly friends with Joshua, then of course he'd be against killing the guy.

The Hylian sat down, reaching for the Master Sword once to make sure it was still present, and relaxing when he felt its hilt under his fingertips.

"Yeah, we're her friends," he said quietly.

[aquawayfinder]

"Typical," Mr. H said, "Is a bunch of people who died wake up in the UG, the Underground, and are offered a chance to gamble for a second chance to live. Lots of cultures have stories like that, each UG runs its own way. And most of the times this is closer to the playing chess with death sort of story. In a typical game, something important is taken from the person that is part of them or connected to another player."

Naku nodded, leaning back in his chair a bit and nodded to Link and Aqua. "Rhyme's memories of her brother were taken as her entry fee. Or maybe they were Beat's, I was never clear on that one. Beat is her brother, he was... he was also a friend..." he said quietly, then shook his head. They took Shiki's body, and when we played she spent the whole week looking like her best friend, Eri," he said, having no clue that anyone here but him and Mr. H knew Eri. Though he should have guessed. "Me they took all my memories."

Mr. H nodded. "But then every now and again there is an anomalous game. Especially under certain Composers who enjoy loopholes."

"Like killing me to get me into the game the first time," Neku said a bit darkly.

"Yes, and that loophole was gone but where one closes..." Mr. H sighed.

Neku nodded and pulled a bullet out of his pocket and held it up. "Another is found." He looked to the other former players again. "My week was a bet between the composer and the conductor. The Composer wanted to destroy Shibuya. All of it. UG and RG both. Apparently that's his right," he looked disgusted at that. "But the Conductor has the right to make a bet to challenge any choice the Conductor makes. The conductor has to bet his very life, where as the Composer bets his choice. And if he looses, he might be challenged for his spot. Didn't know any of this then of course."

"Rules are rules, there are all sorts of things those of us who know aren't allowed to tell players unless they already know it themselves," Mr. H said with a shrug. "If I had told you, the game would have been called and best case it would have restarted with a new group. Worst case it would be declared a win for the Composer. My role is to monitor the game for cheating and keep it fair, no matter what I actually feel about it."

"Yeah. We're not discussing that," Neku said dryly. "Anyway. Shiki and I beat our week. Rhyme..." He hid half his face in his shirt again, shoulders hunching a bit. "There was a trap for Shiki and Rhyme. In the same place they died. Beat couldn't tell Rhyme why he didn't want to go there, because he knew she'd be hurt if she knew he was the brother she couldn't remember. Or maybe not being able to tell her was his entry fee. Don't know. But Rhyme... got herself erased saving Beat. Mr. H. here took him away to try to find a way to help them."

"Loophole. He couldn't win, so nothing said I couldn't save him. Of course Skulls didn't stay put while I looked into things that could help. He took the noise pin that was all that was left of Skulls Jr. and ran. Only to find out that without me he couldn't survive as a player without a partner, and that only a reaper could activate a noise pin. So he went and signed up with the reapers."

"For Rhyme," Neku said, a bit defensively.

"As you say, Phones," Mr. H said with a shrug.

"So our week ended and other than Beat the only ones left were me and Shiki. Which was when the composer dropped the bomb on us. Only one of the pair could win. I was the Composer's proxy. If I won... that would be it for Shibyua. Erased and replaced with whatever he wanted to build in its place. The Conductor declared that Shiki was the winner. But the Composer was allowed certain rights if his proxy made it to the end but didn't win. I was allowed a chance to play again. My memories were returned. Well, most of them. Couldn't remember how I died." His face was grim. "I promised Shiki I'd find a way to meet up with her. So I agreed. And then he..." he pushed his cup away. "He made Shiki my price. I would have changed my mind then, but he didn't give me a chance. Woke up in the Scramble again. Day one of a whole new game. That... That was when Joshua decided that he and I would be partners." He shook his head.

"So many loopholes got closed after that week," Even Mr. H seemed less than his usual cheerful self. "The Composer himself had a close eye on everything that week, but he also asked me for favors, which booth made it harder to maneuver but also gave me leverage to do what I could."

"Mr. H said that you guys played against Pi-face your week?"

"Pi-face?" Aqua asked.

[windslept]

Aqua told us some basics, yeah. About giving up stuff. But -- if Rhyme was eased, what can we do to help get her back? Who's Skulls?

[Was that Beat? Ven isn't sure he entirely follows with the different names from Mr. H. Terra frowns in hearing about the loopholes, crossing his arms. He's not sure he likes the sound of that. Mostly in that the Composer -- Joshua seems like he could so easily mess with them. With Aqua again. Or Ven this time.]

Who's to say this Composer -- Joshua, won't mess with things again when we try help Rhyme? How can we help? If he's already messed with everyone before, if he already killed you in the first place.

[younghero]

His expression darkened at the other boy's explanation of his and Joshua's interactions and describing just what Joshua had planned. As much as Link didn't like the city, it didn't deserve to be erased by some power-mad entity.


"Who is Pie-face?" Link didn't have any idea either.