10 Black Feathers [Voice]

[first_darkness]

[ With winter coming around, the days are getting shorter. It's a much more pronounced effect than it was back on her world, with frost and snow being rare in all but the most northern and southern regions.

It's not that she minds the cold. It's annoying, but it doesn't affect her the same way it would someone whose primary reliance is on flesh and blood.

No, what she minds is the reminder that she's alone. It's not something she thought she'd care about. But between the last experiment where she interacted with so many people, approaching her third year in this place, and the strange lack of comfort from this darkness which isn't her own, Saten is finally facing the fact that this is the first time in her entire life that she's really been alone.

She takes the opportunity presented by the warmth of the heat wave to settle down on the roof of CH7, just as the sun begins to set. Watching dying light is always comforting in a twisted way. ]

Who else out there is aligned with darkness?

Comments

[first_darkness]

[ She gives a small, angry noise. ]

How disgusting. Brazen and disgusting.

[ A soft 'hmph'. ]

This was useless.

[stilldontgotit]

Disgusting?

What gives you the right to say that? I don't know how darkness works where you're from, but in my universe, it almost always leads people down a path to destruction. Pushes people to become power hungry, vengeful, and twisted.

Case in point? People lose their hearts all the time because their darkness gets out of hand.

[You're barking up the wrong tree, Saten.]

Darkness is just as natural as light. Just about everyone's got a little of both, and I'm not saying the light's perfect. When I pushed my darkness away, it sure didn't help, but how is embracing both disgusting? Isn't it better than shunning one or the other?

[first_darkness]

I have every right to say it. I've heard the same lies in my world over and over again since I returned to it. Views and ideologies warped to serve one man's ego. A whole world had been turned against my descendents for the sake of destroying them. A world I created.

Everything I know has shown me that light is poison. Nothing good comes of bowing to it.

[stilldontgotit]

But that's a different world with different rules. I'm not gonna say your experiences don't matter, but they don't reflect everyone across different universes.

Things work differently where I'm from. Hearts have equal light and equal darkness initially, and it's not until people tap into the darkness that things change. You want poison? Try having your senses twisted completely. Try losing control of your own body because you opened your heart to darkness to find strength.

And for the record, I'm not bowing to anyone or anything.

[first_darkness]

That sounds similar enough to my world. Didn't you get the power you wanted?

[ Really it's sounding to her like you didn't read the fine print. Darkness can come with losing control of your body if you screw it up. ]

[stilldontgotit]

No. I got possessed by a deranged man who wanted to destroy all the worlds. That, and guilt. Plenty of it.

I got over it. I improved, but sticking to a path of darkness didn't get me there. Everyone I ever met who's strayed down that path became consumed by it. I'm lucky because I figured out a way to use darkness without losing myself again.

I made that choice for my friends. They're what keeps me going more than anything else.

So no, just because I don't shun the light doesn't mean I'm following someone's lies.

[first_darkness]

Then that's your weakness. Accepting a power you can't control doesn't mean that power is at fault.

[stilldontgotit]

And one man's actions don't put light at fault, either.

Besides, everyone I've known who sided with the light hasn't faced the risk of losing their heart. Darkness is pretty unstable by comparison, even if I can control it now.

[first_darkness]

They do when that man is light.

[stilldontgotit]

Which doesn't apply to every world. Where I'm from, light isn't any one person; like I said before, it's half of just about everyone's heart.

[first_darkness]

Do you know that for sure? Your world has sounded plenty like mine so far.

[stilldontgotit]

Well, I'll put it this way; that darkness I was talking about? It comes from within, not from some outside source. And while there are creatures made out of darkness and people born with pure hearts of light, they're just elements of a complete being. I mean, there's Kingdom Hearts, which is the heart of all worlds, but that's about as close as it gets.

[first_darkness]

... That last part is the only one that sounds strange.

[stilldontgotit]

But that's just it. Every heart comes from Kingdom Hearts. It's the source of all hearts for both people and worlds, and light and dark are just components of them, with every person's inner darkness being unstable and destructive by comparison.

Probably doesn't help that it's usually tied to negative feelings like anger, hate, and jealousy.

[first_darkness]

... Disgusting.

[ And now we've come full circle. ]

[stilldontgotit]

Maybe, but to me it's normal. Might be wise to consider other worlds more, rather than assuming they all follow familiar rules.

But like it or not, I'm sticking to the path that's worked for me. Better than just sticking to blacks and whites.

[first_darkness]

I'm not that inclined to when darkness is villainized in other worlds as well.

Blacks and whites are plenty when you decide your own morality.