Always

(Alright then, flashbacks it is! ) *****FLASHBACK***** Rebekah blushed deeply, embarrassed at seeing Callum shirtless, and even more so at the idea of him seeing her only in her bra. She could feel Aqua’s nervousness as well, but she knew that it was a slightly different kind of nervousness for her Inhabitor. Rebekah mustered a scowl in response to Callum’s playful look. “Don’t enjoy this too much,” she warned. She slipped her shirt off and let it fall to the floor, then proceeded to clean his wounds without looking him in the eye. With the first dab, she pressed in a little on his injury to make it sting more than necessary, making her point before cleaning the rest of the wounds gently again. *****PRESENT***** Rebekah gasped when Felix grabbed her hand and started to lead her away. She felt confused and disoriented. One moment, Reilly was about to attack her, then the next, Felix was there and the house they had been staying in was in flames. She shook her head, and it took her a few moments before she could speak. “F-Felix!” she finally exclaimed. She felt tears starting to burn in her eyes as she let go of his hand and threw both of her arms around his neck and squeezed her eyes shut, breathing in his scent. “Why? Why did you leave?” she whispered. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah faltered a little when she saw Joy’s sword fall, but she drew her eyes back to Corey. Because she had faltered, she was now a little too low, and with her current momentum and position in the air, she would end up hitting his shins. Just before making contact with him, she spread her arms wide so that she could grab his legs and throw him off balance.

Keilani wrapped her arms even more tightly around Troy as she gazed back up at him. She knew she was being selfish...so selfish. But she just couldn’t bear the thought of him going back and risking his life. She would be completely lost without him. Even if he made it out alive, he would inevitably be injured, and even just that thought broke her heart. But she didn’t want to put it like that. “Stay with me, Troy,” she pleaded. “I’m scared. I need you to keep me safe.” Knowing how selfless Troy could be, not just with her, but with all of their friends, Keilani wanted him to believe that her need for him to stay was more about herself, her vulnerability to danger. Otherwise, if he knew it was just about her desire for him to be safe, he might feel guilty not helping Mariah and Joy. She already felt enough guilt over it for both of them. She buried her head in his chest once more to hide her face and closed her eyes. “Don’t leave me...”

Very interested! I would just be over the moon if the game had been completely remade, though...

(So Number XV, before I do a Rebekah post, does this mean that we’re not doing the flashbacks between her and Callum anymore? I don’t mind either way, just wanted to make sure.) Mariah breathed a sigh of relief, a little too far away to see that Joy’s face had been singed. From her perspective, he still looked completely unscathed...for the moment. Bringing her attention back to Corey, she ran up the wall on the outside of the house, got to the roof, and leaped as high as she could towards their demonic opponent, hoping she would be able to reach him and punch him.

Very much so! But since I'm a big introvert, I also really love my time to myself.

Haha there's no option like "I'm not interested because I've never played Pokémon and don't plan to anytime in the near future..."

(Oooohhh wow, it’s good to be back! Haha but it’s a little confusing, trying to think about where we were a few months ago. I’ll only post as Keilani and Mariah, going with Not-with-a-whimper’s idea to restart the fight, since those two characters’ situations seem to be the simplest for me at the moment. Rebekah and Alexis, however, are gonna be a little more tough for me. So hi, everyone! ) Mariah shielded her eyes from the sun as Corey ascended into the air before he blocked its rays and cast a shadow over her and Joy. She started at the sight of the monster’s horrible fangs. The fire that issued from his mouth practically caught her off guard--she hadn’t expected anything like that at all--and she leaped out of the way just a little too late, her left forearm getting scorched, and she hoped that Joy had made it uninjured. ------------------------------------------------------------ Keilani raised her eyebrows and swallowed. “You’re right...maybe Naminé and I could.” She was only half responding to Troy, and half musing to herself. “Would it really work, though?” It sounded like an incredible, and daunting, task to take on, and for the first time since her adventure had begun, she was so afraid of failure that she wasn’t sure she even wanted to try in this case. What if it turned out that she and Naminé weren’t able to make what Troy was suggesting happen? What if they messed up and only made things worse, accidentally turned their allies against each other somehow? Or made their enemies stronger? Keilani shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of all the possible negative outcomes. This was her chance to do something, to be involved and important, to actually belong with the other Inhabitors who were risking their lives to save the entire world. She leaned her head against Troy and sighed. “Thanks, Troy. Naminé and I will definitely try.”

Yup, I bought Final Fantasy VII from the PSN.

Thanks for speaking for me, Not-with-a-whimper!! Haha since I haven't been here in a reeeaaaallllyyyyy long time. Yup, I would like to have an end in sight for this RP, and I would indeed love to see it through. As for time-skipping...I think two years might be a bit drastic, but I'll leave that up to the rest of you. I would, however, at the very least love to finish the fight between Corey and Mariah and Joy, though, because that seemed to be pretty epic until I stopped posting and killed the party. Haha sorry about that. But then after the fight's over we could time-skip! The flashbacks between Rebekah and Callum could be interesting to finish as well. Nah, it's not like I'll leave this RP again if we can't finish that fight or the flashbacks, it's just a personal preference. I'll leave that decision up to the rest of you as well. Either way, I can't wait to jump back in and finally conclude this awesome RP!!

Of course I have a PS3!!! I so cannot wait for KH HD Remix! I almost cried when watching the cutscene from 358/2 Days. :'D

I had a copy of BBS that seemed to be in perfect condition, but when I would play it, my PSP would randomly pop up with the menu asking "Are you sure you want to quit this game?" even when my finger was nowhere near the Home button. It would do this over and over again, which was particularly annoying when I was in the middle of a boss, and it got to the point where I simply couldn't play the game because that menu popped up so frequently. Tried other games with my PSP, including a different copy of BBS, and they all worked fine. My suggestion: get a new copy of BBS, it's probably the UMD.

(I'm so, so, SO sorry I've been gone, guys! Dang...I missed a lot. X'D) Keilani held herself close to Troy and looked back as they flew away. She gasped at the sight behind them. That monster was one of the most horrible things she had ever seen, and she could tell that he was extremely powerful. She felt absolutely useless, and wished she could to something to help. But at the same time, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Since she couldn’t fight, Troy was taking her somewhere safe...and maybe he would stay with her. She knew the thought was very selfish, but she couldn’t stand the thought of him getting hurt again, even at the expense of Joy and Mariah. “Troy...where are we going?” she whispered. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah’s eyes widened as Corey tried to grab her arm and breathe fire at her. She started to drop to the ground, but Corey still almost had a hold on her right before Joy blocked the attack. “Thanks,” she said. She got back up and charged at Corey again, attempting to kick him from behind. As she did, she noticed that Joy didn’t seem to be doing so well...like he was getting too tired, too fast. She wanted to help him, but she knew the only way would be to get rid of this guy. ------------------------------------------------------------ *****FLASHBACK***** Once Rebekah and Callum got back to the house, Rebekah helped Callum clean his wounds. “Callum...that was really brave of you to set yourself aside and let Vanitas take over to save us. Felix and I might’ve been dead by now if you hadn’t done that. Thank-you.” *****PRESENT***** Rebekah practically felt like she was being shocked by Alexis all over again when the news about Felix was delivered to her. “What...?” How could Felix feel that way? He was far from useless. He was brave and strong and a great leader, even without the influence of his Inhabiter. How could he not realize how much she needed him? She had never been a leader in her life...she didn’t even know how to handle his sudden departure, much less how to allow these people to depend on her. She swallowed, too overwhelmed at the moment even for tears, then glared at Reilly when he arrived. She had to fight. No matter what, she had to protect her friends. They were all she had left now. She charged at Reilly and swung her Keyblade at his stomach. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis caught Scott’s signal, and tilted her head up to look at the man. Damn...he’s a tall one, she thought. A little intimidating, at that. But she pushed those thoughts aside--she only had room to think of how good of a fighter she could be. She was a killer. Felix may have gotten the best of her, but it was only because of his Inhabiter’s power. She brought out Larxene’s knives and drew her fists back, ready to stab the guy. “You know what I would find really helpful? If you would drop dead.”

Alexis opened her eyes and lowered her arms, having shielded her face with them. She could tell that she had been singed in several places, but she was more worried about where her enemies were at the moment. She looked around, her eyes stinging from the lingering smoke, and found that Felix was gone. She growled and was ready to try going after him when Scott started bitching about how he was hurt. She looked over at him furiously, but when she laid eyes on him, she could see why he was having issues. She let out a groan, half disgusted and half frustrated, then ran over to him and put an arm around his waist. With the other arm, she reached out and opened a corridor of darkness that would lead them back to the jet. “Come on...” she muttered to him. Despite her extreme anger at the situation, she felt that she still needed Scott’s help, otherwise she would have just left him to die. She gritted her teeth as they left Rebekah and Callum behind. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rebekah had no idea what to think when Vanitas freed her, but there really wasn’t time to think of anything, anyway. Aqua instinctively and protectively took over and scowled at Vanitas. “Don’t try anything funny,” she warned, though she could see that Vanitas had taken a bit of a beating. She walked out of the shop, and she could see that the sun was rising. She then turned back to look at Vanitas, and her face softened a bit. “And, um...thanks for saving Rebekah...and me. I thought we were as good as dead back there.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Matthew awoke as beams of sunlight hit his eyelids. He stretched and yawned, then sat up. “That’s strange...” Jack remarked. “What?” Matthew asked. “It seems like everyone else is gone. I could sense them upstairs last night, but they’re just not there anymore.” He then waved the thought away, not caring too much about their hosts, and switched of to a different subject. “You know, this whole sensing other Inhabiters thing is really strange. Wish I could do that back home.” Matthew shrugged and got up, then went to the kitchen and fried himself some eggs. After he ate, he put the dishes in the sink, not bothering to wash them, and got dressed. “Well, I guess we’ll be going now. Got to get as far from here as possible,” he mumbled. He went out the door and gave a small salute in the direction of the unoccupied house. “Thanks for your hospitality!” he said cheerily, though of course none of the people he had met the previous night were there to hear him say it. He then walked down the street and reached town within fifteen minutes, admiring a fancy hotel as he passed. ------------------------------------------------------------ Keilani was swept up by Troy, barely keeping a grip on her sketchpad. She was confused as to what exactly was happening, but she was totally cool with Troy being all knight-in-shining-armor-esque. She put her arms around his waist when she was able to find her footing on the glider. Mariah, however, snapped her wrist out of Troy’s hand. “Sorry, Troy, but I’m not going anywhere. You and Keilani go somewhere safe, and don’t try to help us! I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” She then ran outside, and her stomach dropped. James was there, and she could see that, once again, Sephiroth was getting the better of him. Her eyes then went to Joy and the...monster. There was no better word for Joy’s opponent. She ran at Chernabog from the other side to punch him.

Mariah tilted her head a little to the side. “You mean do I know something I could make? Of course!” she smiled. “I can make some great fried chicken, if that sounds good. We’ll just need to buy the ingredients at the store...because I’m guessing there’s no food here right now.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis snarled at Felix and grabbed Rebekah by the hair on top of her head, yanking her head back and holding Larxene’s knives against her throat. “I swear, Felix, keep that up and she’ll die!” Rebekah’s eyes went wide with fear, but she closed them, not wanting Felix to see how scared she was. No matter what happened, he had to escape. She wasn’t particularly excited about dying, but it was far more important to her that Felix stay alive. She held her breath and waited for the knives to slash her open, hoping it wouldn’t hurt too much before death came to her... Alexis noticed Vanitas charging at her from the corner of her eye and screamed in frustration. “Get the hell out of here!!” She let go of Rebekah and ran at Vanitas, shooting lightning at him. Rebekah was confused at first when Alexis let her go, but then she realized maybe she had an opportunity to escape...well, it would work better if she wasn’t bound so tightly to that chair. Aqua’s Keyblade was useless to her, far too big for her to be able to maneuver it to cut the ropes. She struggled against them, trying to free herself, and she could feel them rubbing her wrists raw, but they wouldn’t loosen even a little bit.

(No, Number XV, you're not ruining the moment. It's perfectly fine. ) Mariah looked down at the floor. She wished there was something she could say or do to comfort Joy, but she couldn’t think of anything. She figured the best thing would be simply to drop the subject for now. “Can I help you with dinner?” she asked, looking back up at him. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rebekah experienced a rude awakening when she was slapped across the face. She cried out in surprise and pain, and for a few seconds she was completely disoriented, trying to figure out what had happened to her and how she had ended up here...wherever “here” was. She saw people who looked vaguely familiar, and then things became a little more clear. Scott...Callum...Alexis. There was a voice above her. She looked up and saw Felix, dangling from a hook, and gasped sharply and unevenly. The sight made her sick to her stomach, and she could tell that Felix was losing a lot of blood. “Felix!” she screamed, and she tried to get to him...but she was tied down. There were tears in her eyes as she struggled to free herself, but it was no use. Alexis smiled wryly at Vanitas and Alex. “Hmph, well aren’t you just the most bothersome little brats? I’ll let Scott take care of you. I have some business to attend to.” She then looked up at Felix. It was wonderful...seeing her prey in such misery like that. “Do you really love her that much?” she asked him. “Aren’t you a little old for her? The way I see it, you’re only with her because she’s young and...” she turned and took Rebekah’s chin in one hand, lifting her face up to briefly examine it. “...well, somewhat pretty.” She smirked. “But I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” She placed her hand on the back of Rebekah’s neck once more and started to shock her. Rebekah realized what was going on. This was why she was here. So that Felix could see her tortured. She looked away from Felix, determined not to scream. But the shock was painful. Alexis was probably experienced with this sort of thing. She let out a moan. “Hm, let’s try that again,” Alexis said, giving Rebekah a more potent shock. Rebekah tried to hold it back...she couldn’t give Alexis the satisfaction...but her moan turned into a small cry. “What’s that? I can’t hear you!” Alexis shocked her even harder, and a full on scream escaped her throat. This time, Alexis held it out for several seconds, which seemed like hours to Rebekah. When Alexis finally stopped for a brief moment, Rebekah’s head dropped, and she was gasping for air, the tears streaming down her face. Alexis laughed hysterically. “Enjoying the show, Felix?”

Alexis made her preparations, taking out a bottle and pouring some of its contents onto a piece of cloth, making sure it was just the right amount. She only needed Rebekah to be knocked out for a couple minutes, and using this would ensure that she was out for the right amount of time. Hitting her in the head or shocking her...that was a bit more unpredictable, time-wise. She closed the bottle and put it away, then carefully placed the soaked cloth into her jacket pocket. Time was up. Alexis opened the corridor and waited for Rebekah to step through. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rebekah’s head whipped around when the corridor appeared. There was no explaining this to Callum. “Please, Callum...don’t follow me,” she begged. She then ran through the portal and found herself in an open field, facing Alexis. “If you don’t want anyone following me, you should close the corridor now,” she said, trying not to sound too desperate. “Oh?” Alexis said. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” She reached out her hand and the corridor started to close. “Where’s Felix?” Rebekah demanded, a sinking feeling settling into her stomach. “Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon enough. I’ll bring him to you. But I need to make sure you won’t fight back with me.” She walked towards Rebekah slowly, her eyes shining. Rebekah summoned Aqua’s Keyblade again and got ready to defend herself. “You know, for some reason this is sounding more and more like a trap to me.” Now she wished that she hadn’t charged ahead of Callum...it might be too late for him to come after her now. She hoped that whatever happened, he could at least make it through the corridor in time to see. “What did you do with Felix?!” she demanded again. “Like I said, you’ll see him soon!” Alexis shot just enough lightning at Rebekah to knock her down and possibly daze her for a split second. Rebekah dodged it and shot Triple Blizzaga at Alexis, who jumped out of the way, but still got hit in the leg by the attack. She ignored the pain, ran at Rebekah, and slashed at her with her knives. Rebekah blocked several of the attacks and even managed to hit Alexis in the arm a couple times, but then Alexis’s knives made contact with her side. The pain distracted Rebekah for an instant as she clutched the wound and bent over slightly. Alexis smirked and warped behind Rebekah and grabbed her waist with one arm, whipped out the cloth from her pocket, and held it over Rebekah’s mouth and nose with the other hand. Rebekah started to scream and tried to fight Alexis off, but swinging the Keyblade at an adversary who had a grip on her from behind proved to be awkward and, well, incredibly difficult. As she tried to draw a breath to scream again, she inhaled a scent that was sickeningly sweet, and she started to feel dizzy and detached from her body. She realized what was happening and attempted to hold her breath, but she was already slipping into unconsciousness. It wasn’t long before she lost control of herself and had to breathe in again...and this time, everything went black. Alexis sighed as the Keyblade dropped from Rebekah’s hand and her body went limp. “Didn’t expect you to go down without a fight,” she muttered. Rebekah had somehow managed to hit her in the back with her weapon before passing out, and it hurt like a bitch. Alexis threw Rebekah over her shoulder and opened another portal to the butcher shop. “Hey, boys!” she said mock-cheerily when she arrived. “Look who I brought!” She placed an unconscious Rebekah on the metal chair and tied her wrists to the arms of the chair. Alexis put her hand on the back of Rebekah’s neck and looked up at Felix. “She was wanting to see you. She’ll be awake in just a moment, then you can say goodbye to her.” Rebekah began to stir. Alexis waited eagerly for her to wake up so that she could make her scream in agony in front of Felix. Felix may be able to pretend to be tough while hanging on a meat hook...but seeing his loved one in pain would probably be a different story. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah followed Joy. “Are you okay?” she whispered, her voice full of concern and sympathy. “I just can’t imagine what’s going through your head right now...” ------------------------------------------------------------ Keilani nodded and settled down on a dusty couch, one of the few furnishings here, in the living room. She decided she had nothing better to do than to draw, so she started drawing the outside of the house as she remembered it from just a few seconds ago.

Rebekah jumped and pointed the Keyblade at Callum before she realized who he was, then she relaxed...or rather, relaxed as much as she could at the moment, considering that Felix had been taken. She had no idea what to say. Alexis had told her to come alone. What would happen if Callum came with her? Besides, she could sense Aqua’s concern at having Callum come along and probably being in danger as well... “I’m just...concerned about Felix, that’s all,” she replied shakily. “I’m not sure where he went and he won’t answer his cell phone, so I was just about to look for him. I guess the Keyblade’s a little unnecessary, huh?” She put it away before continuing. “What do you say we split up to look for him?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, Felix. This is just the beginning. Thanks for taking care of him, Scott. I’ll be back soon.” She opened a corridor and went to an open field in the middle of nowhere, miles from the butcher shop. Just a few more seconds before she opened the corridor for Rebekah to come through... ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah hesitantly stepped into the vacant house and looked around, mystified as to why Joy’s parents would have left. Keilani got out of the car and came into the house behind Mariah, not quite sure what to make of the whole situation. She wondered if they were actually going to stay here, and what they would do after they got settled. For some reason, she felt slightly uneasy about how quiet things had been for them, like they were in the calm before the storm. If they were going to start training, Keilani hoped it would be soon.

Larxene was caught off guard by Axel’s statement, but then she snorted. “Idiot. Nobodies don’t love. And after the way you betrayed Marluxia and me, I somehow doubt what you’re saying could be true in any way, Nobody or not.” “Sounds delightful,” Alexis replied to Scott. She smiled and reached into Felix’s pocket for his cell phone. Once she got it out, she found Rebekah’s number and called her... Rebekah woke up to her cell phone ringing. She sluggishly grabbed it and looked to see that Felix was calling her. Wasn’t he just across the hall? She accepted the call and put her phone to her ear. “Felix?” she asked groggily. “Not quite,” Alexis responded. Rebekah’s eyes flew wide open and she jerked up. “What...?!” “If you want to say goodbye to your precious Felix before I take him out, you’ll need to come see me. Alone, of course. Don’t let anybody know where you’re going, or Felix’s suffering will be that much worse. I’ll open a corridor for you in 90 seconds. Once it’s open, you have 30 seconds to step through, or you’ll miss your last chance to see Felix alive. Got it?” Alexis hung up without waiting for a response. She then addressed Scott again. “I do believe I’ll watch as you hang our guest up before going to pick up his date.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Rebekah ran her hands through her hair and breathed heavily. This couldn’t be happening. Felix had been right there across the hall, and now his life was in danger? Aqua only confirmed this when she told Rebekah she couldn’t sense Axel. Rebekah jumped out of bed and threw her clothes on, summoned Aqua’s Keyblade, and waited for the corridor to open. There was no way Felix was going to die tonight.

Alexis screamed in pain and anger when Felix punched her. She was tempted to just kill him now...but she knew she would regret it if she did. She needed to have her fun with him. Once Felix was on his knees, she grabbed at his throat with one hand to give him a painful electric shock.

“Watch me,” Alexis snarled. She ran at Felix and swept her leg across the floor to knock his feet out from under him, and also got ready to slash his cheek with her knives.

Alexis began to shake with rage, but managed to keep herself under control and brought out Larxene’s knives. Her voice was hardly her own when she said, “Oh, Felix, believe me, before I’m done with you, your face...no, your entire body will be contorted beyond any shadow of recognition. And even then, I’ll make sure death doesn’t come to relieve you for several more hours. If possible, I’ll even turn those hours into days.” She warped behind him and attempted to kick the back of his head.

Alexis grinned darkly. “Indeed we were. How’ve you been lately? And how’s Rebekah? Won’t you sit down?” She gestured towards an empty metal chair.

Rebekah hugged Felix and went to her own room. It took her a little while to fall asleep after catching Felix awake like that, and also being in an unfamiliar place, but when she finally did drift off, she slept deeply and peacefully. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis looked around the butcher shop with pleasure. So many nice toys to play with. She couldn’t wait to get Felix here. “So, they’re only four blocks away, you said?” she asked Scott.