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Post by prythian on Aug 29, 2010 15:54:44 GMT -5
"Hmmmm." Malthus said, sitting on a fence at Sunset Hill. His newly acquired sword/key had vanished on the train ride up here as mysteriously as it had appeared. "I wonder... where did it come from? Why me?" He asked out loud, alone on the hell. The black-haired teen sighed, shaking his head. Too many questions, not enough answers.
"I suppose it must be like magic... though most people think magic isn't real here, I know better..." He reflected on being hit by Eve's magic, chuckling realizing that he'd won anyways. She hadn't really seemed to do anything significant, merely creating the magic through force of will... Wait a second.
"It appeared when I was going to lose, but I refused to lose... I'd mustered my determination at that point." Malthus blinked. He was on to something. "It disappeared when I was relaxing on the train ride, not thinking about anything really..." Experimentally, he held his hand up, concentrating.
In a flash of orange light, it appeared. He held it up to the glow of the setting sun, amazed. "I can bring it forth any time I wish... But as for what it's for, I'm not sure. There'd have to be a really large lock for me to stick it in, though. A giant key with a blade... mm, 'key-blade'. Keyblade. That's what I'll call it."
He waved it about, still sitting on the fence. "It'd be awkward to try and stick in a lock, though..." He pointed it at the sun and turned it, chuckling to himself. "Might take a bit of force to push..."
As it pointed at the center of the setting sun, the newly-dubbed Keyblade gathered the light onto its tip, and a beam shot towards to the sun across the waters. "What the?!" As quickly as the event had happened, it ended, leaving Malthus none the wiser.
"..." For some reason, he felt like he shouldn't be worried about this. While it filled him with unease, and was certainly important... whatever it was was something he didn't know. But, just to be safe, he made the Keyblade vanish.
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Post by blazingTactician on Aug 29, 2010 17:51:21 GMT -5
On the dusty path up to Sunset Hill, Konaa was breaking his self enforced code. He tried not to think too deeply about things- it just made everything more complicated and annoying.
But strange things were happening. Magic users were popping up like goddamn rabbits (is magic even hereditary?), he'd been having nightmares about flesh eating monsters, and....he'd met some monsters of his own. Those...shadow things.
Even he couldn't ignore the fact that something strange was happening. He had the feeling that it would soon culminate into something bigger..
Konaa heard a strange noise, coming from the top of the hill. More mysteries? Taking the rest of the hill at a run, he came across...
"Oh, it's...you."
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Post by prythian on Aug 29, 2010 19:42:39 GMT -5
"Forgot my name, hmm?" Malthus said. The voice sounded familiar, but he didn't remember his name. He jumped down off the fence, turned around, and then promptly jumped over the fence, being on the wrong side of it compared to Konaa. Tilting his head, he asked Konaa a question, eyes bright with curiosity. "Sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name. What's someone doing up here at this time of day? Most everyone's already gone back home." He, himself, didn't have a home, so the oddness of it didn't seem applicable to him.
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Post by blazingTactician on Aug 29, 2010 19:49:55 GMT -5
"I always come up here. It's less noisy."
He walked forward hesitantly, remembering that Malthus was a bit of a shady character. Still, he had saved Konaa's life from those things- so he couldn't be all that bad. Wait, right, that was his name, Malthus.
"You're...Malthus, right? Konaa."
He walked over to the fence, leaning forward against it, letting his arms fall over. "Well? I could ask you the same thing- what are you doing up here?"
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Post by prythian on Aug 29, 2010 19:54:32 GMT -5
"Needed a place to think. Lately, the rooftops have been less quiet." Malthus said, after nodding. He turned to look into the sunset. "...You know, I've lived homeless for quite a few years now. The sunset never ceases to amaze me... That burning horizon..." Hmm... that's a nice phrase... fits with the sunset on the Keyblade as well... think I'll call it that. It would probably strike Konaa as very odd, the peaceful way Malthus was talking. It was almost like he was lost in thought, which was close to the truth.
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Post by blazingTactician on Aug 30, 2010 15:34:37 GMT -5
He followed Malthus' gaze. He knew exactly what the thief was talking about- that eternal sunset. Konaa never tired of looking at it...somehow it just removed most feelings of unease and doubt from him. A quiet but furious tribute to what nature can do.
"Yeah. I'm glad it never goes away."
Noting the silence from the other boy, he turned his head to him, his typical look of bored reserve on his face.
"You're not as talkative as the other day. Something happen?"
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Post by prythian on Sept 19, 2010 12:49:07 GMT -5
"Well... the other day was... disturbing." Malthus said. "It... raised a lot of questions about myself I wasn't sure I wanted to answer. It's not often that I questioned if what I was doing was right... I almost found myself comparing who I was to those creatures... preying on others, in a way. Combined with Seifer remarkably not being an ass to me for once... I had to reexamine my values. I didn't like what I saw."
He shook his head.
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Post by blazingTactician on Sept 19, 2010 16:39:44 GMT -5
Konaa started. "Seifer!? Wasn't an ass!? Sounds to me like you were dreaming."
He sighed. "I think I know what you're talking about, though. Lately things have been changing around here. A lot more magic users are around, and I've...met some people. You, for one. It's made me reconsider some things. Somehow, I feel as if my usual way of dealing with things isn't right. Like I'm running away from my real problem, you know?"
The boy scratched his head. "When did I become such a chatterbox? Sheesh..."
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Post by prythian on Sept 19, 2010 17:23:08 GMT -5
"Running away from problems... that was it exactly. Ironically, it's a problem I couldn't run away from... just refuse to see." Malthus sighed as well. "When I started... well, pretending I was stupid to manipulate people... I wasn't a nice person, and I thought it was the best way to not get hurt again. But part of the pretense became reality, and I realized, in the end, I couldn't avoid problems nor run away from them. I had to stand and fight them, I suppose."
He shook his head. "When I truly, utterly accepted that, this thing appeared." He held forth his arm to the side and, with a flash of orange light, Burning Horizon appeared.
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Post by blazingTactician on Sept 19, 2010 18:07:01 GMT -5
Jumping back at the appearance of the strange weapon, Konaa stammered out a response. "Wh-what is that THING? Is it key, or a sword? Or both!?"
The moment of surprise passing, he exhaled heavily and examined it. What a weird weapon. Yet, he had a strange feeling about it. Like it was more than met the eye.
"So you're saying you got that thing when you accepted that you had problems? Man, if only all weapons were obtained so easily."
"I think I get what you're saying. I thought everyone was dumber than me for worrying about small things...But in the end I've met some people who are a lot smarter than they seemed to be."
He thought of Emi, the eccentric girl who was certain there were worlds outside. She had contained a considerable intellect underneath her silly demeanor.
"I guess in the end, people are okay."
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Post by prythian on Sept 19, 2010 18:32:30 GMT -5
"Yeah, it seems to be both." Malthus said. "I've decided to call it a Keyblade, and even more specifically... Burning Horizon, after the sunset. Bit foolish of me, but..." He shrugged. "You are right. People are okay. If a thief like me can learn to stop pretending and try to make friends... and Seifer can be nice enough to offer someone help if they need it... then people who behave better than that should be just fine, right?" The Keyblade vanished as quickly as he'd summoned it.
"I get the feeling things are going to start changing a lot faster around here... like you said, more magic users have been popping up. Something tells me that's the least of the changes that are coming."
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Post by blazingTactician on Sept 19, 2010 18:39:56 GMT -5
Upon hearing Malthus' words, he turned out to witness the sunset, silent for a minute or so, head struggling with the problem of what was to come.
"There's a big world out there, I think. You've heard the legend, right? That there are worlds out there? Maybe it's not a legend after all. It could be connected to that key...sword, that just showed up."
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Post by prythian on Sept 19, 2010 19:08:25 GMT -5
"You and I both know that those legends have been around forever, because people want to believe there's more out there." Malthus said, dismissing it. "All the proof we've ever found points to, well, nothing. I must admit I want to believe it, because now... more than ever... I want to get out of this town. I want to see more. I know there must be more than this town out there, but I would never have enough munny to take the train anywhere. Unless I used my stockpile, but that's for emergencies, mainly."
He shook his head. "And I really don't see how a giant key that's also a sword would be connected to other worlds."
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Post by blazingTactician on Sept 19, 2010 19:41:32 GMT -5
"Well, it came out of nowhere, right? I don't know." He shrugged.
Turning towards Malthus, he gave him an odd look. "I'm conflicted. I know, and have been trying to ignore, that I have combat potential. But...I have no ambition. There's no desire for adventure in my blood."
He stepped back from the fence and fell backwards on purpose, landing on the ground with a soft thud, arms behind his back as he stared up at the clouds.
"I've never wanted to do anything other than relax and enjoy life, and that hasn't changed. Everything else just seems like a ton of work for nothing."
He closed his eyes. "I'll pass on certain death, I think."
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Post by prythian on Sept 19, 2010 20:41:14 GMT -5
"There might be the real difference between you and me, I think." Malthus mused out loud. "I face certain death all the time, and accept my combat potential as something that's just... well, me. But even that goes back to facing certain death. It's not safe on those rooftops, you know. Yet, most of my days I spend making incredible leaps, both up there and in the tall trees near that one mansion, you know?" He shrugged.
"If there's something out there, I'll find it. I have a feeling that there will be rewards for the stuff I'll do... even if they aren't tangible."
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