[closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

[darkinferno]

WHO: Dante + MANY PEOPLE
WHERE: All over the city + dreamscapes
WHEN: Between 10/3 and 10/13
WHAT: Nightmares and fog encounters!
WARNINGS: Mentions of character death, an NPC on a noose, murder. LOOK FAMILY FEUD WAS A THING, OKAY.

Comments

[destiny_key]

[It's a good job Dante reentered the fray when he did, because Sora might not have managed a second save. Already off balance from before, Sora rolls to the side as soon as he's no longer blocking. As Dante sends the other Sora flying, he manages to scramble back to his feet and attempt to put himself back into a fighting position.

He saw that look on Dante's face, of course he did. What it means, though, is a bit of a mystery. Or maybe it isn't, he thinks, remembering what happened the last time he went out into the fog. But right now his possessed double is trying to kill them, so maybe this isn't the best time.

Sora nods at Dante's words, though, a little more determined now. After the last time they fought together, it's a lot easier to imagine them coming out on top.]

Right!

[Sora dashes off in the direction he's told, and he can feel the adrenaline pushing him forward. The other Sora is finding his bearings again, so they'll have to be quick.]

[darkinferno]

[Dante darts to the left, mirroring Sora's movements. With two of them, the other Sora can't focus, can't block, and Dante can see the instant he makes his choice: that Sora jumps, trying to bound up to one of the other thrones.]

I don't think so!

[He follows without hesitation, jumping and kicking off of the nearest pillar, jumping onto the wave of power and riding it up. There's a familiar pink/purple glow around his body as he moves, and by this point using his flowmotion is more fluid than not, an ability he's finally starting to master after months of hard work and practice. He kicks off one, two, three pillars, and he's above the other Sora, twisting into his path and arcing his Keyblade overhead. He brings it down hard, and the force of it sends the other falling back down to the platform where Sora will be able to reach him, a momentary heap of boy.]

Sora!

[destiny_key]

[Sora sees it coming before Dante calls his name, his instincts taking over and moving his body before he can properly think about it. He bolts forward before the other Sora can hit the ground and positions himself underneath him, bringing the Keyblade upwards into a swing at the last moment.

The hit connects with a sickening sound, the sound of bones breaking and air rushing out of lungs, and the other Sora goes flying at the strength of the attack. He knows it had to be done, that the fog memory, no matter how fake, was real enough to attack and hurt them. It could have killed them. But Sora never, ever wants to hear that sound again, and he can only watch in horror as his doppelganger smashes into the same pillar that he had earlier.

Vaguely, he wonders if the other boy will get back back up. For everyone's sake, but mostly his own, Sora hopes that he doesn't. Up until this point, he's only fought monsters, and they hadn't even presented a problem in his head about ending them. Fighting a person, even a pretend person, was much worse, and he doesn't know if he can keep doing this. He didn't sign up for this.]

[darkinferno]

[He doesn't. Dante's just as thankful as Sora that the other goes down so easily--he's got the memories of fighting Sora already, a battle he feels conflicted enough about. He doesn't need to battle another Sora, this time of his own will...! But the other Sora hits the ground and dissolves into a cloud of mist, little bits of shadow that wisp away into the night. A moment later and the room around them begins to fade away too, dropping both of them to the ground below and leaving the two of them standing, alone, in the middle of the sidewalk.

It's no use pretending that he isn't shaken by everything that's just happened. Was this real? Fake? How does he know? Dante takes a look at Sora.]

Are you okay?

[destiny_key]

[Sora barely registers that they're back on the sidewalk until Dante speaks, eyes still watching the spot where the other Sora vanished. He can still feel his heart beating wildly in his chest, still on full alert from the previous battle.

He takes a deep breath before answering.]

I... Y-yeah. I'm fine.

[He pauses for a long moment.]

You?

[darkinferno]

[Oh, you know, he's fine. He just watched this other version of you get successfully turned into some evil monster hellbent on destroying him... no big deal. Dante runs a hand through his hair, giving himself a moment before responding.]

I'm all right.

I just hope what we just saw wasn't real.

[Even if everything else he's run into in the fog has been...]

[destiny_key]

[He doesn't respond to that. Either everything they just saw was fake, or... The other possibility is too awful to entertain. Sora doesn't want to think about how terribly his past life might have ended.

He shakes himself out of his stupor and tries to calm himself down. Letting his Keyblade dissipate out of his hand, he stoops down to snatch his backpack from where it had fallen off in the confusion.]

It's... it's too dangerous to stay out here.

[A pause. Dante is a jerk, sure, but Sora doesn't hate him. For some reason, he can't bring himself to full-out hate him. Either way, he definitely doesn't want the guy to get hurt or die.]

...My house is a couple of blocks down. D'you wanna come with? Or are you okay by yourself?

[darkinferno]

I'm fine.

[It's an instinctive response, one he would've given to anyone. But...]

I'll walk with you if you want, though. In case something else decides to pop up.

[destiny_key]

[Sora debates this in his head for a second, before nodding. He won't admit it, but he's scared. And he's too tired to deal with anything else that might come out of the fog by himself. He can handle walking two blocks with Dante.]

Yeah.

[darkinferno]

[And even though there's still a part of him that resents Sora, that wants to hold on to the resentment that had been so prevalent in so many of his memories... Dante can't deny the truth of his other memories, the ones that say that Sora's important, someone he needs to protect. Someone he cares about, almost as strongly as he cares about his close friends in this world.

And if that's the case, he can't just let Sora walk into another situation like that.]

All right, then let's go.