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...

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[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.

*trap for Rhyme and beat, not Shiki.

[aquawayfinder]

"The grim heaper," Mr. H said, not helpfully.

"Minamimoto, the math freak," Neku clarified.

"Oh," Aqua said.

Neku nodded. "He was after the Composer's spot my second week, and really didn't bother most of the players, or try to control the other Reapers. Beat kept being sent by the others to erase me, but he didn't really try all that hard." Neku shook his head. "Anyway, wound up having to play a third time after that, and Beat was my partner. In the end..." He shook his head. "The way things ended up... All Josh had to do was shoot me again. Erase me and because of how things had gotten twisted, he would have won. I went from being his proxy to his obstacle. We faced off against each other. But as Mr. H keeps saying, trust your partner. Besides, even for all the things he'd done to us... he'd become my friend. And if he hadn't killed me in the first place, I'd never have woken up to what life could and should be. I guess I owe him. I couldn't shoot him. I waited for him to shoot me, then... wound up back in Shibuya. He didn't destroy anything. I thought..." He pulled off his player pin and toyed with it. "I thought he had changed."

"Oh he had. Just not in the ways any of us expected or predicted," Mr. H pointed out.

"Maybe... But I can't keep letting him do this. And I won't let him stop you if you two can help Rhyme and Beat," Neku said. "They're my friends too. If you can save them I'll do whatever it takes to help."

Aqua nodded. That was the kind of sentiment that she could get behind. She looked to Link, then to Terra and Ven. "An unbreakable connection." She held up her Wayfinder.

[windslept]

You waited for him to....shoot you?

[But Ven does give a nod, figuring more assistance couldn't hurt. If Neku knows this place and the people involved more. It makes sense to let him join them and help if possible. Even if he doesn't know the people everyone is talking about, doesn't mean he doesn't want to help. This is important to Aqua, after all. Terra gives a nod too and they both also hold up their Wayfinders with hers, a small smile at their lips.]

[younghero]

"I'm all for giving people second chances, Neku. My future incarnation's literal and figurative shadow basically tried to burn my homeland to the ground--and I can't think of him as anything other than my own brother now.

But, Joshua seems like he's kinda thrown his second chance out the window?" Link shook his head. He figured the other boy would do what he felt was right, he just...couldn't trust Joshua. Not at all.

He smiled though, at the mention of helping Rhyme and Beat, putting one hand over his heart and bowing slightly in thanks.

[twewy_npcs]

"I couldn't kill my friend," Neku said with a shrug. "Maybe I could have before I met Shiki, before I came here the first time. Would have spent the rest of my life running from what I did, that I took a life to save my own. But that would have still been about me, about my guilt. When I didn't shoot, it was about my friends. A bigger world." He glanced at Mr. H who seemed to be smiling slightly. Then he turned to look at Link and nodded.

"I'm still giving him another chance. Just... not as Composer."

"Oh?" said a voice from behind them. To some of them a familiar voice that just inspires a desire to punch the speaker in the face. A lot. Or maybe that came from knowing him. "What would I be then, Neku?" he asked with a laugh.

Aqua spun to face Joshua, Keyblade appearing in her hand.

"Well well, looks like quite the party, Mr. H. Pretty sure there is a rule against involving the living... Now. You saw to that yourself, didn't you?" he asked throwing a smirk at link as he played with his hair.

[windslept]

You could hurt your friend?

[Or. Could have. Ven isn't so sure he could. But he does evidently gather that this is complicated. With Link and Neku and their history with Joshua. He tilts his head as he listens to the both of them, glancing between everyone as they speak and he tries to follow what they are saying, or at least, mostly.

He starts when there's suddenly the unfamiliar voice behind them, turning with wide blue eyes as Terra raises an eyebrow at the new arrival. Terra easily gathering that this must be the Joshua guy they were talking about. That Aqua warned them about. He immediately goes to step between Joshua and Aqua and Ven in trying to protect his friends.]

Wh -- you're Joshua?

[younghero]

Link ranked Joshua right below Ganondorf on his list of least favorite people of all time. He drew the Master Sword and held it in two hands, completely willing to make it so Neku didn't even have to make a choice about harming his "friend".

This was the person who had put his Zelda, his Shadow, his adoptive father at risk for the sake of a game. Needless to say, Link had no illusions of friendship when it came to the murderer.

The only thing staying his hand was presence of Aqua, Ven, and Terra. Link knew if he was too rash, too impulsive, something very likely could happen to them, and he couldn't allow that.

The Hero of Time merely adjusted his grip on the hilt and stared Joshua down.

Mr. H has sneaky plans. Surprising... no one.

[aquawayfinder]

"Back then he didn't have any," Joshua said, "Not really. And my fame clearly precedes me, isn't that an amusing twist?" And where he normally did seem amused by un-amusing things, he actually seemed a little annoyed now. He slid his hands into his back pockets. "Getting others to do your dirty work for you, Neku?"

Neku stood and shook his head. "No. They came on their own, because of you, Joshua. Because of the recent games. They came to help Rhyme."

"Actually, since that isn't involved in the rest, you lot okay with it if I take beanpole and spikes here to see to that? They were never part of the game, but they might have the best shot of fixing things. Rhyme obviously wouldn't be a player this time around, so with the composer's permission...."

Joshua laughed. "What do I care about some Noise? Fine, you, take the interlopers with you."

Aqua looked to Terra and Ven guessing they were who the two meant. "Terra. Ven. Please help our friend. Link and I will be alright until you return."

"How noble, Aqua was it?" Josh asked with a laugh. "You did a good job of foiling my plans last time, quite the pair of heroes aren't you two?" he asked with another of his giggles, throwing a smirk at Link.

[windslept]

Bean -- what? Us?

[Ven blinks, glancing to Terra with a raised eyebrow confusedly as he tries to follow what they were talking about. Permission? Noise were those creatures Aqua warned them about, needing pins or something maybe to fight them if their Keyblades didn't work, right?]

But....?

[Ven isn't sure what to make of it exactly. He's not sure he wants them to be separated like this. Terra doesn't look thrilled either.]

[younghero]

Link felt the need to explain to the other boys, what little he could. "Rhyme and her brother became Noise. That's what they call what remains of someone." His voice was thick with emotion.

He turned his glance back to Mr. H. "I thought you said only Reapers could control Noise."

Trust level for both Joshua and Mr. H? Somewhere in the negative thousands, but, he at least didn't want to hurt Mr. H.

[aquawayfinder]

"Actually most noise aren't made that way, skulls and skulls Jr are special," Mr. H said.

Aqua glanced at Terra and Ven. Then focused forward again. Her words were said to Link, but she trusted the new Masters to understand what she was really saying. "They're not reapers, but they might just have the key to the whole problem."


"As entertaining as this all is..." Joshua said with a laugh, "I'm a busy man. I have a game to oversee, after all."

[windslept]

This is....a lot to try keep track of. But the important thing is that we can help Rhyme, right? There's a way. Her and Beat.

[Ven says as Terra seems more focused on keeping an eye on Joshua, given Aqua's warning about the guy and all. Ven does not the use of the word 'key' though, in glancing to his Keyblade. He holds it differently to the other two in using a more backwards grip, and it might help in a fight here. They were here to help her friends though. Not necessarily to fight.]

[younghero]

Link gave Mr. H. a long, hard, humorless look. The Hero of Time did not like or trust the man, and those feelings were unlikely to change.

He gave Ven a small smile, however. "Thank you. She deserves a lot better than...that. Her and her brother both."

[aquawayfinder]

Her friends either didn't get what she was trying to say or did but refused to leave her. Fine. They'd free Rhyme and beat after.

"Not any more you don't," Neku said. "I'm challenging you, Josh. I'm taking your spot as Composer."

Joshua just laughed.

Mr. H shoved something into Ven's hand, since he was the closest. He nodded towards Aqua but said nothing, his eyes still on Joshua and Neku. In ven's hand were two Noise pins. Beat and Rhyme.

"Neku, do you really know what you're talking about? You want to take over the games? Pretty sure Link will go for your throat right off."

Neku shook his head. "I'm not going to be the same sort of Composer you are, Joshua. I'm going to change the games. You'll see."

Aqua was still standing ready, but flicked a glance at Link. She was unaware of the byplay between Mr.H and Ven behind her.