For Murasaki, the idea of life after death used to be nothing but pure fantasy, a delusion made by those who think that their actions warranted an unearned reward. She herself often dreamt of such things in her weaker moments, to be with her sister, and mend their relationship, but she would soon remember that she -reluctantly- was a Shinobi, and as long as she can work with the one who justifiably hated her, she could live with that, and keep living with it till her death. All things were equal there, and it would be sort of making up with her. And then she actually died.
To this day she couldn't fathom how her teammates and sister didn't remember the sheer terror those beady eyed monsters inflicted. Ryōbi's absorption, Ryōna's screams of agony that for once weren't filled with pleasure, her sister and Miyabi-sama's last moments before they were absorbed by the tinier ones, and turned into copies of it. And that giant, gaping hole in the sky that ate everything, and she meant everything. Hebijo, the Tokyo Tower, even Mt. Fuji itself, the whole world was devoured, and the last thing she remembered before waking up at that place was screaming for her sister.
She wouldn't deny that her experience in that place, the so called 'End of the World', was completely terrible. It was far far worse than that.
"Ngghh.."
She didn't want to wake up. Everything from her training to her senses was telling her that getting the hell out of here should be her number one priority, but that meant facing what just happened.
".!"
Sadly however, her sense of self preservation won out, and she jumped up, shuriken drawn. She quickly checked her surroundings, looking for any signs of destruction and death, but found everything to be remotely clean and in order. Well, for her room that was. Her multi-screen computer was up and running, a download bar on one, a two tabbed window on the other, and various forums on the rest. Her bed was just as unkempt as how she left it, and the food boxes she had the night before were just where she left them.
"...What's going on?" Her sister always cleaned her room when she slept, and it was something she had learned to tolerate, if only so she could pretend they were close. 'I would never wake up to a messy room!' "WHO ARE YOU?!" She yelled, her body shaking with fear for reasons she couldn't comprehend. "This isn't my room, where am i?!"
She didn't even blink before everything changed. "W-wha-" She backed away, finally realizing why her body was shaking so much. She whimpered, any sense of bravado shrivelling away as she stared at the tiny rock she found herself on, and the purple, infinite void that it was encompassed by.
"W-where am I?" She felt small, very very small. "Onee-chan? Miyabi-senpai?" She received no response. "Ryōna-san? Ryōbi-san?" Still nothing. "Am..am I the only one left?" Was this one of Suzune-sensei's mental exercises? That had to be it. "...I'll just wait this out." She calmly said despite her shaking body. "And then I'll pass and I can go back to my room."
You know that's a lie.
"HUH?!" Her eyes shot open. "What was that?" That was not something from her teacher! It wasn't even anything from Hebijo!
Your perception is astounding. If you weren't such a pathetic shut-in, then maybe you'd succeed in something outside of a forum argument! Picking a fight with that kid on the darkening of recent Tokusatsu was sooo worth your time!
It sounded like how she talked to herself in her head, and there were Hebijo Genjutsus made for such a thing, but it didn't sound so...evil. This wasn't the evil Hebijo touted, but something more primal, alien, wrong.
Congratulations for figuring out the obvious! Now let me be the first to welcome you to the end of your world! You're the only one aside from your much sexier and deserving sister!
"Onee-chan…" She narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to cry. "You're wrong! Onee-san would never die!" But memories of that massacre came to the forefront. "Y-you're just trying to confuse me!"
Oh no, this isn't a trick, and you were right, I'm not something created by your daycare center.
She paled. "A-are you...a Yōma?"
Hahahahahahah! Oh your sister wished I was a Yōma! Murasaki's breathing hitched as she remembered more. 'Oh Murasaki-chan! Murasaki-chan!' She cried for you, not her precious Miyabi-sama until her last breath!
"Oh." Was all Murasaki said. "She cursed me until her last."
Whatever floats your boat. The point is, you're all alone. No sister, no teammates, no computer, and no security blanket. Murasaki was confused. Ohohohohho! Let me explain it in simpler terms: where's that ugly piece of fabric? That disgusting doll that you treat more like family than your actual sister?!
She sliced where she heard the voice. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!"
Touch who? Murasaki's fury quickly dissolved as she realized what the voice meant. That's right little girl; where's little bae-bae tan?
"Bebe-tan…" She felt around on her person, not noticing the lack of something on her chest. "Bebe-tan? Bebe-tan?!" Where was he?! WHERE WAS HE?! "BEBE-TAN!"
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! She fell to the ground and began digging through the dirt, heavy, panicked pants escaping her lips as the voice changed to that of Ryōbi. Keep digging you worthless NEET bitch!
"Bebe-tan! BEBE-TAN!" Awww, Murasaki-chan looks so cute! The voice said with Ryōna's tone. Ryōna-chan always thought she was a pathetic bitch, but you took it to a new low! Guess a pig can have standards, huh?! It took 44 seconds before she dug a hole through the ground she was on, and found that she was standing on a literal floating platform.
Do you understand now? The voice asked in her sister's voice, with the same dismissive tone. Take a good look at your final resting place. There was nothing below her, and the structural integrity of her only haven was precarious at best if she could dig through it that fast, but she didn't care about that. Now do you see little sister? You have no one, not even your precious little doll. You're all alone.
"He...he's gone…"She curled up into a ball, tears quickly pouring from her eyes. "He's gone...he's gone..he's one..he's gone, he's gone hes gone hesgonehesgonehesgonehesonehesgonehesgoneHESGONE!"
With a loud, piercing shriek, she pounded the ground as hard as she could! " She slammed the ground again, and again, and again! She yelled and pleaded, falling limp as her pounding slowed."Onee-chan, Miyabi-sama, Ryōbi-chan….why?" It was at this point that she would retreat to her computer, comfort herself with Bebe-tan, or gorge herself and let her family's genetics sort out everything, but as she hugged her arms to her chest, in an attempt to mimic the feeling of her precious bebe, she noticed something wrong.
"What the?" Something missing. "My boobs." She felt her chest. "Where did they go? Why am I so flat?!" And come to think of it, why was her voice so high-pitched? It didn't sound like the fake voice those shrill virtual personalities put on for their 3d characters, but that of a little girl. "Oh no…" She felt around her face and legs. "No...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
I'm impressed you managed to figure it out in such a short time. The voice mocked, sounding like her team leader, Miyabi. It hasn't been that long since you woke up, and once again you've done nothing but gripe and moan. Now you have all the time you want to yourself, forever alone, as the pathetic child that you are.
"..." She gripped her knuckles, she shut her eyes. And with a breath of finality, Murasaki uttered two words. "You win." Death was death. As shinobi, she and her sister were conditioned to accept that, to varying results. And now, the reaper she so lauded and adored in her favorite literature and at times wished would come to claim her, finally came. "I'm sorry, Onee-chan."
"You shouldn't be." Murasaki's eyes widened at the voice behind her, it's deep baritone sending shivers of fear down her spine. "How interesting. Your heart has regressed your body to a more innocent form, to protect you from the horrors this realm would inflict on you." If her instincts were telling her to run before, they were telling her to get out now. No, it was as if the idea of death would be preferable than listening to this man! " This realm plays tricks on those who are weak willed. It draws them in like worms to a fish, and once ensnared, you can't escape."
"Then I'm not going crazy?" She should be running! Why isn't she running?!
"No, but if I did not come along when I did, you would have become like many others, a Heartless. But fret not, your loved ones have not become one with this realm. "Her eyes widened. "Yet. I can return your sister to you, but first it requires effort on your part, starting with you retrieving the doll you so desire." She quickly turned around, revealing a very dark skinned, white haired man. He was completely transparent, floating above her with his arms crossed, and literally staring down at her with an imperious gaze. He was also incredibly thin, as if he hadn't eaten in days, and it was a struggle just to even be here.
He wore a black leather coat that was red on the inside and lined with yellow, with a large grey section that covered the lower half and shoulders of the coat. Upon closer inspection, Murasaki realized that this grey section seemed to be attached by several small pins or buttons around the hip and neck sections of the coat, as well as by a belt that wrapped around His back and attached to the rim of the coat. This overly elaborate coat was high-collared and completely unzipped, showing the second, shorter jacket he wore underneath.
The second jacket was white and high-collared, much like the outer coat. It was mostly unbuttoned and exposed his amazingly broad chest before being closed up by three buttons and two belts near his waist, only to flare outward again, leaving three buttons undone. Good lord, looking at his outfit was like an adventure in and of itself!"Because as luck would have it, a boy your age has stolen it, and stolen something from me as well. If you kill him and his friends, you should find it on his person."
Run. "Who are you? Run. "You can give me back Bebe-tan?" This man looked like an anorexic J-drama celebrity for god's sake, get out of there!
"That and more. Kill this enemy Shinobi, the one who caused this travesty, and I shall return your family." He grinned when her hair rose. The shadow over her eyes was a very nice touch. "You should be able to recognize him when you see him. He's the only one here aside from us with a human form."
"Tell me his name." RUN. "I'll kill him." RUN! "I'll kill him and mount his fucking head to a wall!"
Ansem, Seeker of Darkness grinned. "Excellent." He was quite confused as to how this girl was the only survivor. Surely he would have sensed humans becoming Heartless given the amount of negativity pouring from her, but it was only her. This needed further investigating. "Now then; listen closely…"
For the next couple of days, she prepared, starting with adjusting to her new body. Until she killed this 'Sora', and destroyed his weapon, the Keyblade.
Just looking at him made her seethe, from his giant dopey shoes to that jumpsuit to that comically oversized key. It was all so bright and peppy and screamed innocence, like those dime a dozen JRPG protagonists she always saw in ads online! If she were in her normal body she'd have no trouble killing him, but this was not her normal body, and she couldn't even fake her original form with a substitution jutsu!
She had no scrolls, her own powers were more than halved, and her hair had little of it's limberness left. She only had three of her shrunken on her, and if what she learned about Sora was true, that wouldn't be enough. But right now it had to be. For Bebe-tan, her sister, and her life, she would do anything, and killing a child wasn't the worst thing she'd done since joining Hebijo's ranks.
Now if only she could get off this rock.
Meditation was something all Shinobi learned how to do around age 5-ish. You'd be surprised, but with the proper motivation, you could meditate for hours on end. Hell, , one of the first meditation exercises she learned back when she and her sister got along was, 'stand still for 3 minutes or you get a knife in your sternum.' After that, having inner peace with one's self was pretty easy to do.
So for the next two hours, meditating was all she did. She sat in the Zazen style of meditation, her back straight, her legs folded in the Burmese posture(Where the ankles were placed together in front of the sitter) and her hands clasped. The first thing Ansem stressed was not to think of her rage and anger, suppress it, control it, for, the Heartless, the monsters who took everything from her and fed on hatred, sadness, and other dark emotions. If she succumbed to them in her current state, she would perish and become one of them, and in her current form she stood no chance of fighting them off..
It almost felt like only a few seconds had passed when the path opened for her. The grinding and collision of rocks caused her to open her eyes, where she saw a rickety, ramshackled path of earth in front of her, as though it was guiding her to her foe. It was made up of many things, a castle spire here, a highway road there, and even a tree. It was the first bit of civilization she had seen here, and she felt her spirits lift slightly.
Still, she couldn't be too careful. Cautious, she broke into a sprint within a few steps of walking, and found herself in a large, purple forest a couple minutes later, the trail collapsing behind her as she laid on the ground panting.
"Haa..haa…" Damn this body! 'Why am I so weak?!" That was a simple 2 miles! This was something she learned how to do when she was still starting out, she shouldn't be tired! 'How long was I even running?!' She realized that that was a very good question; how long was she actually running? She could count the seconds, but something told her that would be meaningless. It's as if time itself didn't matter here, more of a suggestion than an actual rule. She stayed on the ground until she recovered, and got back up, fighting back a shiver of disgust when she saw the path, a large forest, ahead of her.
"I hate this place." The trees were twisted in different shapes, from corkscrews to triangles to gnarled arms and body parts. They started normal from the root, but grew into these shapes with these things growing out of the gnarled, scaly bark. . They looked like fuzzy bugs all clumped together, moving at different speeds which made her skin crawl. There were lines and cracks that looked like blood veins pumping purple liquid into the the trees, and pimple like protrusions popping out of the veins that brought up bad, awful memories of puberty. Oh the Root of Calamity, her bloodline and the source of a lot of grief in her life. allowed her hedonistic, sedentary lifestyle to go without problems, but lord help you if you do not keep up with your training to maintain control of it, and seeing these things was making her shiver and want to scratch herself all over.
She began moving, not wanting to look at these things. "IhatethisplaceIhatethisPLACE IHATETHISPLACE!" Nothing here was natural. Nothing here was artificial. It existed but it didn't. That was what her soul was telling her IT was just so wrong, but she had no choice but to fight through it.
Heading through the forest, she came across many Heartless along the way. Those beady eyed little plushy things, fat bipeds in little jackets, colorful little monkeys pirate...ships… Murasaki reigned her anger in. 'These things were stuffed animals.' It was kind of hard to realize that when thousands of people were being absorbed by these creatures since you reasonably had other priorities, but it was hard for her not to lose her cool when she realized she lost her family and everything to a bunch of stuffed animals! And not just stuffed animals, they all looked like kid's toys of all types! Action figures, plushies, even the ones in the vehicles looked like something you'd buy off of Amazon or something!
But she knew she was no match for any of them with her current strength, so she had no choice but to avoid them at all costs, and keep to the shadows. At least her body retained that aspect of her training, thank god.
Thankfully, this forest was filled with caverns and would hide in the trees when a horde of those smaller Heartless would come rushing by, scurrying along the forest floor like a colony of cockroaches, with the same disgusting scritching of their legs that haunted many a young Hebijo newbie during initiation.
She would wrap around a rock and calm herself as best as she could, to the extent that the Heartless thought she was part of the scenery.
When the water was clean, she would hide in it for hours on end, holding her breath without the use of an air supply as the monsters drank or fed, none the wiser as to where she was.
And she would crouch in the grass and tiptoe for minutes on end around a gigantic, behemoth sized Heartless. She almost got caught a few times, damn those monkeys and their disgusting poo nearly waking it up, but she managed to get away from it all without getting seen once.
She fought her way through the disgusting trees and their growths biting back her bile, until she came out to a cliff overlooking a large, grey field. Thunder began to boom in the distance, a soft wind blowing her hair to the west as the Heartless below began to bellow, grazing on the grass below.
Uh-oh…. The voice came back, it's mocking tone not helping her panic as she backed away from the cliff. Those are the same ones as that big boy you tiptoed past, right? "She backed away from the hundreds of the giant monsters below, all of them the same species as the one she snuck by. She turned from the potential slaughter and went back the way she came.
Gutless coward. She ignored the voice, climbing back down the steep wall. She could just jump down, but that would make a thud, and that meant making noise. I should have figured you would take the easy way out. The voice continued as she made her way down, her ears twitching in case she needed to run. I mean come on! Your sister and your stupid doll are in danger! The boy is just beyond that clearing, and you're not going to do anything?! She placed her feet onto the grassy ground and slowly made her way down the hill, surrounded by trees on both sides. The voice then changed to Imu's. Do you need me to hold your hand, Murasaki-chan? She ground her teeth. Control yourself, control yourself….
I helped you so many times when you should have failed, as a good sister would. And This is how you repay me? She managed to tune the voice out, fighting back her tears as she listened around for any Heartless. You couldn't even muster up the courage to stand up to father, so I guess it makes sense that you…
Calm down calm down! Why couldn't she hear anything? ….Your stuffed animal gets more love from you than I do, where's the love? She could say the same thing about her sister's love for their leader, pot calling the kettle black! ...And don't think I can't hear you 'enjoying yourself'.
The wind stopped, as did Murasaki, her face turning red. Honestly, your room must smell like…. Don't let It get to you! It wants to turn you!….I spent so much time disinfecting that mess, all by hand, all for you… Small, audible squeaks of indignation left her lips. ….But I guess just like those fleeting moments of satisfaction, it's all just tiny and insignificant to you. The voice changed to Ryōbi's. Heh, no wonder you pussed out!
"SHUT UP!" Murasaki quickly put her hands to her mouth. Everything became still, and the darkness of the forest was soon filled with thousands of yellow eyes.
Ooo~psie! The voice mocked in Ryōna's voice, somehow making her pitch even higher. Should've kept your voice down!
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Did you guys hear something?"
"I sure did, Hyuck! That sounded like a girl!"
"Eh it's probably just this place messing with us! Now come over here and get some dinner!"
"Ok Donald!"
Murasaki screamed as a blanket of death encroached on her, jumping down the hill and into the den of beasts that she initially ran from. "KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Her screams got their attention, the group of monsters just staring at her in bewilderment as she ran away in fear before staring at what was chasing her. 'Don't look back don't look back!' Good news? Those Heartless would be too busy killing each other to focus on her! That's how animals work, right?
Oh I don't know. I think you'd hear them fighting instead of, you know, them teaming up. SHUT UP! Oooh, the Behemoths are riding on the Demon Tide! STOP TALKING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!
Three hours later, and her body,unfortunately, was close to giving out on her. Her vision was blurring, and her chest was beginning to hurt. Hearing the horde within a hair's width of her, she managed to summon just enough energy to jump into the trees, going from branch to branch and then hopping on top of the canopy like it was a flat surface.
*SMASH!*
*SMASH!*
The horde responded by deforesting the entire area behind her. A stream of the abominations arced over her, causing her to immediately dart left, only for the stream to land and form a living, moving wall at her front. She tried the right, only to stop, barely avoiding the tiny gangly hands that tried to paw at her. She tried jumping up, but her body met a dome formed by the walls, their hands keeping her in place and absorbing into her skin.
Oh well. Imu's voice said. It's what an embarrassment like you deserves. It then changed to Ryōna. Ooooh, what are they gonna do to you?! Are they gonna give you the good old in and out treatment?! Ryōna-chan's so jealous right now!
All Murasaki could do was laugh. "I bet you would,…" What was she thinking, trying to run? "And I bet your sister would love to see it." This was it! She lost her family, lost 6 years off her life, and lost her strength! Her sister abandoned me for a reason after all. "Maybe a failure like me's better with a sister like yours." Yeah, that's right; a worthless bitch of a sister deserves someone like that crazy little midget. "At least I'd be of use to someone." That felt nice, so so nice. It'd be hard to disappoint someone that treated everyone like trash, no matter who they were.
Woow, you didn't even last as long as I thought you would! I didn't expect you to break that much, but it works for me! The Heartless that made the dome focused their yellow eyes on Murasaki as her laughter became more frantic and hollow. Enjoy her boys! Let the Root of Calamity consume you, and become the most Heartless of the Heartless!
"I think not." The Heartless dispersed, going back into the dark crevasses they spawned from. Ansem floated down to the broken child on the ground, staring at the shaking, laughing form. 'Well, this is embarrassing.' Given his track record of being beaten by superpowered prepubescents, most recently against a spiky haired one with big shoes whose voice hadn't dropped despite hitting puberty, he'd assume this one would take longer for the Darkness to break her.
"Hehehehehehee, am I good sister now onee-chan?" He was wrong. "I'm a stupid little bitch now, so you can stop pretending to care for me!"
Ansem groaned. "This is not going well." Her Heart was so corrupted by her own inner Darkness at this point, that she was on the verge of a total breakdown, which meant she would be a powerful Heartless, one he couldn't control. It was amazing that she hadn't become one already, because his own Heartless instincts were salivating at the chance to devour her! But he was no mindless beast driven by primal instinct, he was something far superior, even now in his weakened state. 'I shouldn't have left her to her won devices.' Was she even aware of what this realm did to her body, to her skin, hair and eyes? Probably not. He needed to get her back on track.
Which meant grabbing the voice in her ear by the throat. By his command, a hand of pure Darkness shot up from the trees and grabbed the air above the girl, revealing a pure purple, much older, and as Ansem noted, much curvier version of her struggling in his grip. "So you are the cause of her duress." He noted, his inner scientist reignited once more at the sight of the creature.
"What the fuck?!" It shouted, turning into a smaller girl with two long twintails and two different colored eyes. "How the fuck did you find me?!"
"And you're also a manifestation of her inner turmoil given form." He said, ignoring her as the thing transformed into a vivacious, taller girl with the same eyes as the last one, who seemed to enjoy her current position. He ignored the lurid moans from her and continued on. "I'm going to l hazard a guess, and assume you are taking the form of one of those depraved sisters she was rambling on about."
It changed back to the short, twintailed one. "Well aren't you clever?"It mocked. "That stupid bitch of a sister doesn't even realize that the wonder twins wanna kill her pwecious widdwe Miyabi-sama!" It transformed into a woman with glasses and green eyes. "Honestly, 'Onee-chan' would probably suck that woman's dick if she had one."
"Interesting." Ansem fix his gaze on the crying, laughing child. Time to see how this was possible."Libra." He let the spell work it's way into her body as he then spoke to the apparition. "I'm guessing her family has a history of fanaticism?" For now he would keep her busy.
"Yep." It answered, switching back to its host's true form. "That idiot sister of mine was so blinded by her devotion, or at least that's what this idiot thinks. It'd be funny if I didn't love her so much." Ansem said nothing, letting the spell continue to feed him information. "But enough about me; let's talk about you, oh great Ansem." It switched back to the short girl. "Specifically, what the fuck are you doing to her body, you perv?!"
"It's just a simple check-up." He answered. "That is all." Hmm, interesting. "The source of your existence, it's tied to her blood, correct?"
"How did-" It recovered from It's shock and put on a cocky grin. "You're right on the money! Sentience feels so damn good,and the freedom, oh 'it's amazing!" It looked down at its host. "For the most part anyway. Still stuck to her like sis to my leader, only less parasitic."
"I see." A malevolent force activated within your own bloodstream, what an intriguing, primitive concept. And it seemed she had the ability of transformation, which likely helped her Heart trigger this age regression. Heartless in a realm such as this, in a place so filled with negativity, wouldn't go for a child this young. If this was in another World then most definitely, but there was so much Darkness here that the tiny, uncomplicated emotions of a neophyte wouldn't even register. If she didn't make such a scene with that screaming, she would have been completely invisible to the denizens here. It was obvious to the Seeker of Darkness that this abomination wasn't responsible for Murasaki's current form; something else inside her was.
Ansem rubbed his chin and floated down to the 'ground', letting his feet touch the leaves as he walked up to the two. "My apologies for leaving you to your devices before I could fully explain myself. I too am -well, was- a being bound to a young host, but thanks to a shared menace of ours, I am unable to fully manifest."
"Yeah I can see that." It answered,. If It didn't know any better, It'd swear that he was gonna keel over soon!"Still haven't given a good reason why she should knife the little shit. Once she calms down from her little TEMPER TANTRUM-" It directed at Its host. "-She's gonna start rubbing those braincells together and start asking questions. And no offense, but she's been on the internet enough to wise up and realize that you're pure evil."
"You have a point." He admitted as the creature tried to escape his grip, all to no avail. Subtlety was more of his Nobody's strong suit after all. "Perhaps you can enlighten me on something."
It grumbled, continuing to test Its bonds by shapeshifting into different girls, and failing each time. "Well go on thent. Not like I'm going anywhere."
"Indeed." Ansem agreed. " I find myself confused as to what you are. You are no Heartless, and yet I can tell that you are no demon, you are not alien or Cryptid, and yet I can feel a deeply ancient power within you."
"I see I see." It said sarcastically, nodding Its head. "Go on."
" It is as though you are her very blood itself, and yet you obviously are not." It opened Its mouth to retort, but he interrupted It "Do not try ot lie to me. I was a doctor of many different professions, and I have your life in my hands. If I say this girl's blood is not her own, then it's not her own."
It transformed back into the twintailed girl and gritted Its teeth. "...Fine." It relented. "You're right on the money. Hell, I'm not even sure how I'm even alive, but while the NEET here was sleeping on her little island, I went through my baby years." It looked up to the sky. "This place? I don't know what it is, but I like it! It gave me so much freedom, so much power, I can't get enough of it!"
"Including the power to restrain that bear spirit residing within her?"
It whistled. "You were thorough! Yeah, that's her Guardian Spirit right there, A Shinobi won't be on a team for long without one!" It let out a dark chuckle as it switched to a woman wearing glasses. "That worthless furball had been trying to inject some common sense into her, telling her to run from you, or not to listen to me. This realm also empowered it, but not to the extent that it strengthened me." It gave a grin far too big for the girl's face. "And thanks to my 'sister's' mental state, that bear isn't coming out anytime soon."
"Thank you." Ansem replied. "But you do know what I am about to do, correct? I've scanned enough of her mind to know that she is quite media savvy, and therefore you should realize that I am not here for her benefit. Or yours."
"Ok?" It retorted with a roll of Its eyes as it turned into that perverted heterochromic girl again. "And what do you expect cute little me to do right now?" It let out a moan as It asked that. "I can't even escape right now!"
He blinked. "Oh." Usually back when he asked a question like that, they usually screamed or begged for answers as to why he was doing this. It was rare for his victims to grasp the situation so quickly.
It shifted back to the twintailed girl. "Look, I don't like this mess down here. I want her body. I want her original body. And unless you can get me at least the first thing, I'm going to make her fight to her last breath."
"I see." Ansem knelt down to Mursaki's face and held her chin, pointing her head upward. His analytical mind took in everything, her wide, unresponsive eyes, the fixed, crooked smile on her face, and the mumbling torrent of self deprecation leaving her lips. "Kill Sora and his friends and I shall grant you what you desire. Weak as I am, undoing a seal or granting those powers I cannot use is almost required for my profession."
His teachers back when he learned the ways of the Keyblade taught him such. As long as he drew from the Light -or Darkness in this case- he could give someone enhanced physical, mental, and cognitive abilities using that person's own inner power. Ienzo called it a 'status buff with God Mode activated', whatever that meant. "Now then, Murasaki….look into my eyes."
Don…. D…. I...! There was something very familiar about that voice, something that felt familiar to Murasaki, as if it were a part of herself that she should embrace. But as of right now, she was no match for the Seeker of Darkness's power.
"Excellent." The Heartless said, he and the child staring at each other. If that didn't work, he'd just talk to her like a normal person, but he had enough of pawns being too smart for their own good. "The eyes are the gateway to the Heart, and right now, I can see everything. About you." Thanks to Libra, he could see more than everything. Her strengths, her weaknesses, her fighting style. "Embrace your hatred for that boy. Focus not on your fears or your insecurities, but on Sora, Donald, and Goofy."
"..." It stared at him. 'We're fighting people with names like that?'
"He took everything from you, and he's the only obstacle in your way to getting your life back." He gave her a soft, somber look. "Think of how proud your sister would be to see that you saved her, that you truly loved her enough to fight for both your lives in a weakened state. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Doesn't that sound perfect?"
"Y-yes." The foggy-eyed girl's eyes glowed a vibrant yellow. "Onee-chan will be so proud of me."
"Yes, she'll be very proud. And she'll love you oh so much." A soft, sad smile came onto her face, which contrasted the wicked grins from Ansem and the creature in her body. "You'll earn her love, her respect. It will be wonderful."
"Yes...wonderful." Ansem was this close to laughing out loud; this was going too perfectly! "And you say that I can do it by myself?"
"Not by yourself. You were on a team after all, and killing those three is a team effort." His teeth were bared in a savage grin. "So let me help you, partner."
The creature blinked, Its skin tingling "What are you-" It began before It felt everything. "Ho~ly shit! HOLY SHIT!" Murasaki woke up, head turning rapidly in confusion. "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
"HUH?!" Clarity had returned to her face, and a renewed sense of panic. "Where am I?! What's going on?!" The child slapped her cheek to calm herself down, realizing that her new acquaintance was staring down at her. "Ansem-san?" She should be recoiling at the sight of this anorexic weirdo touching her...but after all she's been through since coming here? Fuck it.
"Good evening." He said to the sacrificial lamb. "It seems you require my help."
And so began a three day drilling of the wayward ninja's psyche, all under the guise of training. While she couldn't use her full strength until the spell on her form was released, there was enough of her talents retained for Ansem to work with. And he needed to work fast.
This child, if left alone, could prove disastrous, for both him and his Nobody counterpart. If she ever conquered her demons and managed to control her Darkness, he had no doubt that not only could she eradicate him at his current level of power, but that thing birthed from her body could also absorb him into itself. And he had a feeling that this was his own fault.
He could not only sense the Power of Waking weaving it's way throughout the universe, but his own taint in the timestream was felt as well. And it was something he came to realize when he and that thing were cooperating in getting her up to a barely adequate level.
He knew things, things that didn't come to pass. Sora and his former host defeating his Nobody counterpart a year from now, their power skyrocketing to an unfathomable level. His Somebody being recompleted, and then his defeat at the Keyblade Graveyard...this broke all the rules of time travel he had come to learn, and thanks to the two previously mentioned factors, time had changed to such an extent, that he was emaciated, weak, barely able to put up a fight against that brat and his animal tagalongs. But fate had been kind to him.
Whether it be by that miserable demon in the volcano those three avoided, or Murasaki herself, Sora and the King's friends would die, or Murasaki herself would perish. Either or, it would be a win for him.
