crepusculum -i n. [twilight].
Act I, Scene Three: Crepusculum: On the eve of war.
come with me in the twilight of a summer night for a
while
tell me of a story never ever told in the past
Riku slipped on his tight-fitting gray overcoat. "Are you ready?"
Avarielle nodded. She had just gotten dressed as hurriedly as Riku had, putting on a sleek black pantsuit beneath a long, soft, cream-colored overcoat whose ends flowed after her almost like a wedding veil. She had also attached her three braids on the back of her head so her raven-colored locks wouldn't be in the way.
Riku was still gripping the two Keyblades in gloved hands. They lacked Keychains, which made him think that these blades were in some sort of raw state. Almost like they adapted to the form most suited to their wielder.
But he could think on that later.
Ava went through first and unlocked all the doors, her high-heeled boots clunking on the steps as she raced expertly downward. She was scared, but she didn't want Riku to know. She didn't want to know it herself.
take me back to the land
where my yearnings were born
the key to open the door is in your hand
now fly me there
They came upon the street suddenly, the cold and dark a contrast to the warmth and light Riku had experienced indoors in Ava's living room. He tied up his hood to hide his ears from the blast of frigid wind.
His dark sapphire eyes followed Ava's angel-like silhouette. He didn't think it wise for her to run ahead like that.
He was right.
The attack came quickly, a large, man-shaped Heartless swooping down from a large doorway. The thing flung itself at Avarielle, but she was quick. Now it was standing between her and Riku.
Riku let one of his arms swing back out of the way and pointed the other directly at his new enemy. He charged expertly, almost like he was fencing. His head was tilted slightly down as his weapon connected with the chest of the Heartless. It screamed shrilly, hurting the ears of its opponents before hopping up onto an overhang.
"Take it," Riku said, giving the so far unused Keyblade to Ava. It was a bit heavy, so he wondered how well she could wield it. She'd obviously never fought with the unique weapon before.
Avarielle took the handle cautiously, but before she could even go about getting a good grip on it, the thing glowed an iridescent purple, almost blinding them. It was now a mass of throbbing violet energy, morphing toward an unknown end. It grew long and thin, and, quite suddenly in fact, Avarielle was in possession of a seven-foot tall silver staff.
The weapon was topped with an ornate sphere, in which a shimmering crystal of a violently throbbing purple gleamed, spinning around slowly in its beautiful casing. Alternatively, on the bottom end of the staff, it was formed into what looked like a giant key.
This thing, somehow, was a Keyblade.
Riku and Avarielle had little time to wonder at it, and indeed there was so much that kept going unexplained, but this was because the enemy was ready to try his luck again.
"Watch out!" cried Ava, stepping backward. She wielded her new treasure easily, like the huge thing that stretched two feet above her head was somehow light as a feather. Now she put the Key in front of her, gripping it with two hands.
fanatics find their heaven in never-ending storming wind
auguries of destruction be a lullaby for rebirth
The creature plunged down, falling across Avarielle. Riku gasped deeply, his legs and arms poised to take it down.
Ava clenched the Keystaff and threw up both arms with all the strength she could muster. The Heartless, surprised at her new strength, flew up and back into Riku's black and silver blade.
It melted into gray smoke, leaving behind an awful smell.
"That's not the end of them. Let's go," Riku began to say, continuing past his companion for the main road. But Ava wasn't following. He spun around to look at her, only to find the woman staring at the clump of heavy air where the Heartless had just been.
"A Heartless…dead…" she murmured.
"We defeated it," Riku said coolly, swinging the Keyblade around to rest on his shoulder. "But there's hundreds more."
Avarielle's head turned in a graceful arc and her deep brown eyes went upward to meet his sapphire gems. "No one has killed a Heartless in fifteen years, and we were the ones to do it."
He offered her his free hand. "Avarielle…"
She shook herself out a little bit and renewed her handle on the Keystaff. "All right, Riku! Let's go get the rest of them!"
consolations, be there
in my dreamland to come
the key to open the door is in your hand
now take me there
Riku and Avarielle ran together into the night. They reached the large, open street, neon signs advertising the latest bets or the prettiest singers buzzing above, black concrete hard and cold below. The sky was open this evening, the blue-white stars shimmering in the midnight black curtain of night.
Now the wind racing over Riku's smooth, masculine features no longer felt cold; instead, it was a refreshing reminder that he was alive. He wondered how long it had been since he had last remembered that.
A pool of Shadows was under the street before them, glowing eerily beneath the orange, blue, and red billboard plastered on a nearby building.
"They're here, just beneath our feet," Riku warned, sliding the Keyblade from his shoulder. He slumped down into a battle-ready position, Ava close beside him doing the same. She came up and put her back against his. They had the feeling they were surrounded, and they weren't that far off.
The Shadows came up from their concrete lair, shifting form into a batch of two-foot creatures with huge, jagged grins and triangle-shaped heads. Each monster bore two small daggers.
"These are going to be difficult…they're so small!" Avarielle whispered to Riku out of the corner of her mouth.
"Just cut them all down with one blow!" Riku took his own advice, swooping low and letting his blade form a wide arc. The seven or so Heartless directly in his path vaporized instantly. One, who was merely brushed by the attack, climbed up on the actual Keyblade itself.
Riku's brain caught up with recent events and released to him a rush of adrenaline. His muscles throbbed with power. He jerked the Keyblade to the right, leaving his opponent stunned on the ground. Before the little creature could react, he swung the Keyblade over and down to crush it from above.
Meanwhile, Ava's staff had started glowing again. However, this time it did not change in shape. A wave of energy spread from her in all directions.
Riku was knocked to the pavement. He looked up to see the woman turning in a slow circle. Her eyes were closed, the Keystaff hugged tightly to her chest. Riku guessed that it was unlocking within her.
Magic?
The newly formed mage turned to look at him, a nervous smile gracing her lips. "Riku, I feel this power within me—it's so strange!" She put on hand over her heart. "What is this thing you gave me?"
Riku climbed back onto his feet. He looked around to realize that the power Ava had just released had eliminated all remaining Heartless from this place.
"Let's talk about it later," he said when he saw a small throng of Heartless scampering off in the distance. He recognized a few of them as recovering from blows he and his partner had just dealt. His ice blue eyes focused with concentration.
"Ava, I think those Heartless are heading somewhere."
"What?" She came forth to him, her white coat trailing behind in the smoke.
"Let's follow them. I get the feeling it's important." Now he was having strange intuitions about Heartless? Yet another mystery for him to puzzle out.
They swept through the night, coats trailing behind the young man and woman. After this first battle, they had become suddenly aware that they were merely cards in Fate's hand, and just now were being put into play.
i believe in fantasies invisible to me
in the land of misery i'm searchin' for the sign
to the door of mystery and dignity
i'm wandering down the secret sun
It took them quite a while to find the Heartless again, but there was no doubt they had come across a great discovery when it was made.
Hundreds of Heartless—at least two or three, but the way they blended together into one swarming mass of evil made it seem like a thousand could be present. They were all crying out to each other in shrill voices. Riku had realized long ago that here the Heartless could speak, even in a language that rang cruelly in human ears.
Avarielle was covering her ears now, cradling the Keystaff between her arm and side as she used both hands to block out the repulsive sound. Her eyes held something deeper than fear of what she was seeing now—they had the look of someone just awoken from a nightmare of the past.
They were standing at a crest of a hill on the edge of town—at least it seemed closer to the edge of town than anything Riku had seen so far. Down below them stretched a valley brimming with the swarming Shadows, all gathered around something the man now squinted to make out.
The bigger monsters were up against—well, whatever it was—curiously scratching and screeching about it.
"Is that a door?" Avarielle cried, overcompensating due to her lack of hearing.
Riku shook, actually shook, when he realized what she meant.
The Heartless were surrounding a Door. A huge, single, black hole of a Door, on either side of it the infinity of Caelestis, but very clearly outlined by a pulsating blue line drawn jaggedly in the air.
They were trying to open it.
Ava's hands came shakily down. "Riku, what does this mean?"
"I might know…but I hope I'm wrong."
The Heartless were trying to get out.
come with me in the twilight of
a summer night for a while
tell me for a story never ever told in the past
take me back to the land
where my yearnings were born
the key to open the door is in your hand
now take me there
to the land of twilight
________________________________________________________________________
the ironically appropriate song, "key of the twilight," is by yuki kajiura, and can be found on the .hack//SIGN anime OST