maskormenace | 7th dawn → video

7th dawn → video

[Riku's face, when he appears on the network today, is a little exasperated, and a little apologetic. Behind him, something tiny and black moves, and he picks his hair up and away from it, pulling it over his shoulder for lack of anything else to do with it. A sharp-eyed observer will note that the black thing is a wing. It's small, but it's clearly a pointy, leathery bat wing. Presumably, there's a matching one.]

So... I guess I was ported out.

[His very first port-out after a year and a half. What a strange experience. Riku pauses. He's pretty sure he... owes some people an apology.]

Uh -- sorry. From what I can tell it hasn't been very long, though...? A day or so tops, I think. I saw Kagami made a post, so I thought I should clear things up.

[He's surprised you all panicked, honestly...]

I guess I should thank you all for worrying, though.

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I think we will. We're not alone, after all.

I wasn't either. Never. But I'm glad you have help. That always makes it easier, huh?

It does. I think... being alone makes things almost impossible.

[Riku knows. He was only able to shake off Ansem's influence once he had help.]

I couldn't imagine actually being alone.

[He's always had Mikleo with him at the very least. Part of him obviously knew the seraphim were still with him even as the domains affected him and his resonance, even if he couldn't see them. Amid that initial panic the first time it happened. Even if to some extent he was shouldering things himself. He still had them and their support through it all.]

Still. I'm glad you're back and okay at least. I think you can tell we were worried a bit there.

[What an understatement, in some people's cases.]

I can indeed.

[He smiles quietly, tapping his finger on the screen gently.]

It was pretty obvious when I came back and Nike had sent me like ten messages.

I can't remember if I got back to more or less messages than that from Mikleo. But that is kind of a give-away, yeah.

I left the Porter building, and they were driving me home, and my phone kept going off. I had to call her back.

At least she knows you're okay now. But somehow that doesn't surprise me. Nike's...kinda stubborn like that. But it just shows she cares. A lot.

[Which is nice. Even if to some others it might seem a little overbearing.]

It does. She's a good girl. I appreciate it, though it was surprising.

[Riku doesn't find it overbearing. After all, his best friends are Sora and Kairi.]

I dunno. I'd expect it or something close to from her if I ever went home again. That's just how she is though.

[And really, it's not too bad. At least she doesn't add to the usual cacophony of seraphim talking and/or bickering in his head.]

Yup. I mean, you can't fault her for it. It's good of her, really. She cares a lot.

She does. With more people like her, there'd be sure to be way less Malevolence.

That's like darkness, right?

Probably similar enough? I mean, from what you've told me.

Yeah. That's how it seemed to me, anyway. Like... they seem to come from similar sources.

From the tension and negative emotions....yeah. It was tough, dealing with that at first. It made me feel sick. But Lailah and the others can't help with the humanized hellions. I had to take on that Malevolence to purify them myself.

[Take it on...]

You took it into yourself?

Yeah. I had to. Purifying human based hellions is different from the others. I couldn't get Lailah and the others to help with dealing with those. It had to be me.

... What does that do?

[Is it like back then, when he took on some of Maleficent's darkness, to tap into her power? He's not sure.]

Well, it's...taking in their Malevolence. Their negative emotions and tensions. I managed to purify them, but. I guess for other Shepherds, it got too much....

[They got overwhelmed and the Malevolence took hold over them. Made them keep craving more and more power. Or at least, in the case of at least one previous Shepherd.]

... I'm not surprised it became too much. That's dangerous. You're strong, to have managed to get past it.

I don't know about that. I wasn't alone. I mean, they couldn't take on that Malevolence themselves to help, but the others....they did support me through it.

[Sorey was kind of raised for the role. So it's not all that surprising he managed to pull through regardless.]

You're good to give them credit. It's true -- our friends help us stay strong, don't they? But it's true -- you did it yourself, in the end. I'd say you deserve credit for that, either way.

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7th dawn → video

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