Selena picks up the strips of paper that were left on the top of her desk and look over the sloppy, handwritten text on the yellowing paper. Eyes squinting at the text, she does manage to make out the words written on the front side of them. “ ‘Tickets’?”
Flipping the paper over, the black ink seems to be bleeding through the other side and merging with the surrounding letters. Now, if only she could make out the rest of the handwriting.
" Inevitable, huh… " She supposed she could not argue with that. That though no change had been made to prevent what was to come, advancements had been made to further it. Of that there was no doubt. Even if she did not like it, even if it stirred an ache deep within the foreteller's heart.
Hands clasped atop of her lap, curled inwards into fists drawn taut - as if that would soothe what thrummed through her very being, a glance was cast sideways. The neutral eyes of the fox, concealing the uncertainty swimming within the pair it masked, fell onto her fellow master. Her friend. " Knowing where we're heading… " To a war, where friend would turn upon friend, and rivals strike down rivals once and for all. Where there would be no real victor, not when the cost was so high. " Does it not bother you, too? "
‘Fetch’ quests always annoyed Calcifur. Go here, do the thing, grab the macguffin, blah blah blah. It was always the stronger, lazy adventurers that had fetch quests. This time, someone had ordered something from Kabartmak’s shop, and who would’ve guessed that they were ‘too busy’ to go and get it. . . Lazy !?&#...
Calcifur, being the little gremlin that he is, had made a sarcastic remark about the guy, so he got stuck with the fetch quest. It wasn’t hard to get to Ka’s shop, nor was it perilous, but it was still annoying... Except for the portal that just appeared near the front door... This could be interesting.
He knew better than to just Go Through random portals, so he’d wait where he was to see what came out of it.
♥︎ Riku was still trying to figure out who exactly the snake masked wielder was- so his surprise wasn’t as noticeable when he ended up coming across a similarly dressed to the other but wore a leopard mask instead. He was determined to figure out just who they were after all this wasn’t helping them while they felt that not everything was alright as it seemed. Especially considering the other keyblade wielder had helped them out.
After Chirithy had given her the note, she had initially planned to surprise him as soon as Gula found the cake. The cake itself hadn’t been baked by her and the keybearer had to call in a favor for it. Artemis had hoped that the cake itself would brighten his day but as she watched from a hidden corner in the shadows, it seemed that her choice in gift was far from that.
She pulls herself away from her hiding spot and slowly approaches him. “...Gula?”
There was no time to write a note. There was no time for Artemis to leave any sort of written message behind. The room is in disarray and enormous claw marks left their scars on the floors. The ancient tomes and books have fallen to the floor and yellowing, fragile pages are stripped from their spines. The small cauldron of fire opals is knocked over with their contents scattering seemingly everywhere.
Where there was once a locked door marked with sigils is gone and the frame is splintered as if something large has burst from the other side. The aforementioned door is on the top of the shelf on the other side of the room and broken in two.
Although faint, there is a scent of blood and there are fresh droplets of red on some of the pages which were so cruelly ripped out. A certain mask is scattered in pieces. There is an outline on the floor where the desk used to be that is suspiciously clean except for remnants of a Corridor to Darkness that must have been used recently.
Although she is not there, the room spoke louder than any written message she could have written.
~~~
Her body screams against her as she ran. Artemis almost trips up at the mountain path shook with the footsteps of a certain creature giving chase. Just a bit further…I’m so close. She thinks before her legs give out on her at the mouth of a cavern.
GIVE IT UP, SELENA! IT’S THE END.
With her head already pounding, she grimaces at the voices, distorted and horrible like nails on a chalkboard. Turning to face the monstrous creature she knew used to be five humans, Selena summons the Heartsickness keyblade with one hand and struggles to stand. She points her keyblade at them, but she’s swaying and unsteady. Tired…so…
IT’S YOUR FAULT! ALL YOUR FAULT JUST DIE DIE DIE!!
Her other hand grips the hilt, steadying her aim meant to a conjure spell despite running on empty. An unintended burst of light blasts from her key toward the Skeleton in the Closet.
For the briefest of moments, Selena is not on Europa. Everything is dark with a faint source of light coming from below, and the air is suffocating. The one step forward she took sounded as if she stepped on glass pieces and she is. One glance down would reveal that Selena stood on what used to be stained glass.
Selena doesn’t get the time to fully grasp her new surroundings as she gets torn away from it immediately. There is nothing except darkness filling her vision, but everything seemed to be okay. The darkness is inviting her to sink her exhausted body in and rest her weary head. It’s safe here, they told her, Rest. She accepts their invitation.
In reality, the keybearer has sustained a potentially fatal blow. The monstrous creature has smacked her away, flying further down inside the mouth of the cavern like a ragdoll, with enough force to break bones. Her face is bleeding from several cuts, perhaps the result of a specific broken mask, and scrapes. She isn’t moving. She is barely breathing.
Her keyblade falls to the ground and fades away.
An enormous wolf with a body of silver flame is preventing them from getting any closer to Selena and has engaged them in a battle. A large but smaller wolf with a body of darkness is standing guard at his keybearer’s side, ears back and watching the fight. Both of them are unaware that their keybearer is drifting away.
~~
Note: Skeleton in the Closet FC is Almagam Alpha from The Evil Within
“I’m sure.” Her reply is short and blunt, if not a bit cold. Artemis did not expect to find the other in this outside world, but she is internally surprised that the leopard-masked being recognized her despite her differing appearance and attire. Her own mask is off and her black hood is up instead, so the mask’s enchantment to change her hair color shouldn’t be lingering.