Daybreak Town

[Apollymi]

With the Master known as Luxu, was a raven-haired girl who watched as the man seemed to cover his own left eye as the girl below approached, with her Keyblade out in plain sight. The look of this girl's Keyblade was one which made Kairos' left brow raise, but soon enough it was mentioned by the Master with her, that she would fit into their friend group along with her name. "Hm, Master Invi has an interesting habit of picking strange individuals to hangout with him. Given the look of that Keyblade it wouldn't surprise me if she'd fit in nicely with me and Yuri," she mentioned. "Are you okay though? That was a freaky initial reaction..." mentioned Kairos as she continued to spectate below, though she seemed to be genuinely worried about Master Luxu. After all, spectating was the initial part of her job.

Meanwhile, the girl below watched as small shadows seemed to pop up all around her. "Oh? Little ones first? I can't use the new thing against something like this..." she said also seemingly to herself. Still, she moved forward, swinging that large axe blade in a very direct manner. She brought it down upon multiple little heartless. Their bodies, disappearing, as the heart at the top of her Keyblade filled gently red, taking up the bottom corner. "More! More... fill my beating heart more!" the girl sang happily while she tore through even more of the little heartless. Upon seeing this, Kairos managed to look mildly entertained. "Master Invi... is he collecting other people he thinks are sketchy just to keep an eye on them, because... I'd keep an eye on her too," stated Kairos, though she wasn't judging the lass, this was an outright bit of battle thirst she'd yet to see from anyone properly righteous. Still she understood why this girl could easily fit in with them, hell she made killing small heartless look funner to Kairos who already found the activity fun.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah... I'm fine," Luxu said, though he did have a very interesting initial thought regarding this girl's Keyblade. Given his own Keyblade and its connection to the Master of Masters, seeing this briefly made him wonder if his own future was different than what he'd come to expect recently. Still, it was nothing to worry about when considering the likelihood of Luxu actually doing such a thing with his own eye at any point. With that in mind, he was quick to move on to silently watching the girl named Himiko face the Heartless. It was a show which was, in a way, unfitting of someone chosen by Master Invi... but Luxu knew better, and even Kairos seemed to have a decent idea as to why this was the case. "Could be. Knowing him, I also wouldn't be surprised if he thought he could reform people he thought were in danger of being tainted by Darkness. If that's the path he's choosing, the Anguis Union is in danger."

[Apollymi]

Luxu claimed he was alright, and given this, it was enough for Kairos to fully devote her attention to the show being given below. She would also agree that such a show was very unfitting of a master like Invi who would likely see this kind of Heartless slaying, combined with the sorts of actions presented by this girl as something terribly close to Darkness. Kairos didn't seem to care one way or the other about such a thing, as she knew Darkness itself was nothing to fear. Even so, the girl named Himiko below seemed to be on the verge of something great.

More than a dozen small Heartless were dispatched by the swinging of the girl's axe-like Keyblade. And once they were gone the rest of the shadow coalesced into a form which was entirely different. It was a large Heartless with a giant shield with a dog on the front of it. It stood over the girl, with an intimidating aura the likes of which made her freeze initially. "Oh? You really are big... I'm shaking!~" she said seemingly happily. "So big I'm shaking!~ I can do it now!~" she mused seemingly excited. Kairos had her left brow raise as the girl instead of relying on her own Keyblade abilities or even trying to do something else, instead, aimed to try something else entirely. She produced from her chest an orb which was yellow in color, after concentrating on something specific. And then aimed to press it back into her chest. When she did this, something strange would occur and the girl's body would immediately be cloaked in darkness. Her eyes would glow yellow like a heartless and her Keyblade would disappear from her hands. The giant form of Heartless she faced, seemed to be a bit confused by her presence, it didn't immediately attack. While this happened, Kairos had been in the middle of a very different bit of conversation about Master Invi's choices and the apparent problems it would present to the Anguis Union. "Ugh, sounds like extra work. I don't mind an extra capable person or two... and she seems... strong and all but..." she paused watching the most recent development and had no idea how to properly analyze what she was seeing. "Uh... what the hell is that?"

[Bloodedge]

Himiko's battle against the Heartless eventually produced something unquestionably powerful for her to fight against. Daybreak Town had seen many Heartless in recent times, but ones such as what she now faced were becoming more and more common day by day. Luxu found himself wondering exactly how she would choose to face it, and what she produced in the end was apparently something she'd been waiting to use: the power of the Master Drive Form. Luxu wasn't at all surprised by the appearance of this transformation, but Kairos thought to question its existence. "Anti Form," he called it. "Drive Forms fracture the heart every time they're used. With overuse, or even misuse... there are random risks and rewards alike. From what I've seen, it's very possible to go into something called Final Form where all of your latent abilities are in perfect harmony, and you become something virtually unstoppable for awhile. But... there's an even bigger chance of this happening. Those orbs are part of your heart, but a heart will always try to repair itself somehow when its pieces go missing... so there's always a chance the Drive Orb and the heart will just shatter each other when they recombine, turning you into something like a Heartless with a one-track mind for whatever you had your heart set on. I've been trying to work out an alternative to Drive Forms since the first time I saw this."

[Apollymi]

Kairos soon received an in-depth explanation of the functionality of Drive Forms. The idea of vibrating one's heart apart just to try and recombine it for potential positives sounded way worse when explained in such a way. She was glad she'd not really tried such a thing honestly after being told about it, in Agrabah. Even so, she got to watch something very interesting happening below her as she had these thoughts. "That is kind of a lot to have happen just for power. Perfect harmony every once in a while, or potential complete break and tunnel-visioned Heartless... bad trade," she mentioned. Still as she continued to watch something amazing happened.

Himiko's heart had been set on defeating this Heartless, and as such she moved to attack at incredible speeds, she'd not been shown to possess before. She moved about practically on all fours, lashing out with quick movements of her hands and feet which battered the shield held by the heartless hard enough to make it shift backwards as it tried to maintain its footing. "Pretty strong though, if one was guaranteed to go back to normal, and wouldn't potentially get an entire crew turned against them for looking like a Heartless it would be interesting," she mentioned. "Also lack of Keyblade, that is a pretty big negative..." she said calmly. Even so, the lack of Keyblade didn't seem to be bothering the lass who was fighting as the hits to the shield finally made it fall backwards, revealing the Heartless behind it, who would be dispatched by a series of flashing claw marks which seemed to apply poison of some sort to the creature before it ultimately perished the the girl was left standing wide eyed without a target, in her darkness encased form.

[Bloodedge]

"It has been temporary in every case I've seen thus far... but that might easily be based only on the goal someone has when they trigger the form," Luxu explained. The more he thought about this transformation, the more he came to wonder something which may give him the answer he sought. Keeping this in mind, he muttered something under his breath. "Why would the Keyblade stop acknowledging a heart just because it's fractured..." he wondered. Regardless of his mental tirade, Himiko had not yet begun her transformation to a normal state, despite having defeated the Heartless she previously targeted. Thinking it best if he kept this one from moving to another location like this, Luxu made use of his teleportation to appear where the Heartless once stood. From this new location, he stared down Himiko with a great deal of curiosity. "Actually... they look like Darklings..."

[Apollymi]

According to Master Luxu this particular transformation had been temporary in every case he'd seen it. This was good news to Kairos as it would be an extreme negative to have a free roaming Heartless, former Keyblade wielder running around their home town. She also felt it would likely be difficult for her to explain being around when such a person was disposed of. Soon enough, Master Luxu had teleported down to the area that the Heartless had disappeared from, putting him in a direct path of the girl in her darkened form. Since her goal had been to defeat that particular Heartless she didn't immediately attack the man, but instead stared back at his curious face. Kairos for her part in this, soon joined the master, though by much more conventional means, having jumped down the side of the building she was atop, her body cloaked in magic only to perform a flip or two and land behind the girl. "Uh? What's a Darkling?" she asked as she watched Himiko's body finally returned to normal. The girl's entire body aimed to fall backwards, after she regained her original form, albeit completely drained of energy. "Welp, that's new. Is it normal for them to just fall apart after something like that?" Kairos asked having opened her arms to catch the blonde girl who seemed to be no threat to anyone now.

[Bloodedge]

Luxu didn't stop staring at any point, even as Himiko began reverting to her normal form. Something was truly bothersome about this transformation as a whole, and he was very keen to find out exactly what he was missing in his thought process toward fixing it. In the meantime, Kairos was keen to know what exactly a Darkling was. "Right, I guess I can actually tell you important things now, huh? That's going to take some getting used to. A Darkling is a special type of Heartless born of a Keyblade wielder. They lose their connection to the Book of Prophecies' power, but they remain human enough to speak... even though they are stronger than normal Heartless and can poison your heart with their attacks," he explained while stepping toward the fallen Himiko, holding out his left hand which glowed with an orange aura. "Esuna." Luxu's spell was cast on the girl, boasting a healing power which would cure her of the ailments spawned as a result of her transformation.

[Apollymi]

Kairos caught this particular girl, and Luxu went on to treat her. This was done while he mentioned he could actually tell her important things and explained what a Darkling was and the sorts of things such a creature could do. "Uh-huh, I do like important stuff, curious remember?" the girl mentioned of her own nature. Still, there was something bothering her about this entire situation and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. But in her trip to Agrabah she'd lost the use of her Keyblade for a short amount of time, and the Master Luxu made it sound like it was a simple matter to correct. "So, is it a disagreement too? Do they lose that stuff because their hearts don't agree with the transformations? Like what happened with me in the Cave of Wonders?" she questioned hands on her hips. Kairos was mostly prone to asking questions because she didn't have enough context to make a difference in her thought patterns. She was just trying to understand why a Keyblade Wielder could become a proper Heartless, and if that was at all connected to the lass becoming like a Heartless while using a dysfunctional Drive Forms. Speaking of the extra healing seemed to be doing its part as the girl finally seemed to stir though, Kairos had placed her against a nearby wall to await her waking. "Oh, what happened to me?"

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm. Well, Keyblades don't like the idea of their wielders showing weakness in their hearts. Dark Form can be considered a state of weakness until it becomes mastered, but this isn't someone just letting themselves be consumed by Darkness in the same way. So..." As Luxu spoke, he stood with a hand against his shrouded chin. He appeared to be onto something major, but in that very moment, Himiko stirred into a state of waking. When she rose, she openly asked what happened to her. Luxu replied without a moment of hesitation. "You won the fight, but your Drive Form failed. It wasn't your fault... but Drive Forms come with a risk of turning you into something similar to a Heartless. You came back, but I wouldn't recommend doing that sort of thing to your heart again," he said, soon coming to the conclusion he'd been inching toward all along. "Maybe... yes! Both of you, I want you to try something. Instead of calling out the power of your own heart, and instead of sending your heart's power into your Keyblade... try accepting the Keyblade's power into your heart."

[Apollymi]

Kairos soon got another explanation she'd been needing. It was interesting to note that the likeness between these moments wasn't necessarily connected but that Keyblades themselves didn't like the moments of weakness presented in the hearts of those who say, used Dark Form initially. "Hm..." Kairos managed thinking about it. But beyond that the blonde-haired girl was confronted with the cloaked young man who explained the situation she'd found herself in. "I got it then!~ That's soo good!~" the girl mused. The news that she'd messed up her transformation was strange to her though. "But, if it has a risk like that, then what is the point of it?" she asked pouting about not being able to use such a form anymore. But knowing that turning into a Heartless or anything like one, would be the last thing she wanted to do with her spare time.

Beyond this, Luxu seemed to come to some sort of strange conclusion and in so doing, he wished for the two with him to commit to trying a different sort of transformation with their Keyblades. Kairos of course had no problem with this, and considered it part of her duties as well. But Himiko wasn't as pliable about this point as she came to herself better. "Why should I do something like that? Who even are you guys? Why are you hiding your face? Why were you watching me?" the girl asked a series of questions in rapid succession. Such an incident caused Kairos to laugh directly, "Well at the very least, Master Invi is still choosing other extremely inquisitive people. I'm Kairos, by the way and I'm also a member of the Anguis Union the first one technically but it's whatever~" she said which made the blonde's eyes widen if only for a moment. "Oh you're the one, Master Invi spoke of..." she said which made Kairos' left brow raise. "Uh... I hope he hasn't been talking about me. Whether you do what he wants or not, I'll do it. Sounds like the opening of a good present~" Kairos mentioned as she summoned her own Keyblade in the form of the Eternal Flame. And made a mental consideration that she should probably switch it to its standard form.

[Bloodedge]

"That's exactly my point," Luxu said regarding the purpose of Drive Forms when their potential negatives were so great and unavoidable. "Invi was on the right track when he discovered Drive Forms, but the execution was wrong. It's too dangerous to rely on splitting your own heart, but I think I've found the best alternative."

Interestingly, Himiko had a rather fair reaction to what Luxu was saying. In giving it some consideration, Luxu determined that she indeed had no reason to follow the guidance of Kairos or himself. After all, the pair had suddenly appeared at a very suspicious time while speaking negatively about something she'd learned from her own master. Regardless, Luxu had no issues answering all of the girl's questions. "You should do it because it will be more effective than what you just did. You know Kairos now... my name is Luxu. My face is hidden just because my master told me to do it. And... we were watching you just to see how you dealt with those Heartless."

[Apollymi]

Himiko heard out what the faceless man had to say and she could at least see where he was coming from. Kairos on the other hand, understood what he meant completely. A form which required the constant splitting of a heart could be dangerous because of what it could cause to happen and it was a risk regardless of the level of mastery any person possessed. Besides that she didn't think it would be good for morale for any random Keyblade Wielder to turn into something which looked like a Heartless for any great amount of time. Regardless of this fact, there were some pretty valid questions brought up by the blonde lass and then immediately and directly addressed. She gave pause to the idea that her questions had indeed been answered and that they'd offered a great deal of information inspite of seeming suspicious initially. According to Master Invi she was supposed to observe and receive information without leaning in any particular way. "Hm, alright then." she said accepting the logic presented to her she summoned her Keyblade to her hand once more. "I'm Himiko! It's nice to meet you both. And don't worry, Master Invi didn't say anything bad about you..." she said to Kairos. "Now you want us to accept the power of our Keyblades into ourselves, so like the Drive form but in a different direction?" she asked for clarification.

Kairos nodded. "Yeah yeah, nice to meet you and all that. Sorry about the suspicious first meeting and all. Nice show, with the Heartless though, never seen anything quite like that before~" Kairos offered the lass before she watched this girl. She looked at the girl who only nodded. "Thank you~ I've been told first meeting with me are 'sketchy' too..." she mentioned making bunny ears with her finger tips before she closed her eyes and began to concentrate upon the power of her Keyblade. With such a thing being undertaken when Kairos was sure the girl's eyes were firmly closed she switched the Keychain on her Keyblade and grinned as the heart in the teeth thumped only once. Kairos looked at the black thorny form of this Keyblade only a moment before she closed her own eyes and reached out to it herself. She fully accepted the power of this Keyblade already but it took her a moment or two to get a feel enough for it to take it into herself. Doing so gave way to the transformation of this Keyblade, into a giant ring blade with an inner glowing edge as big around as her body, it also gave Kairos an overwhelming new bit of power. "Oh!~ Might be on to something with this one~" she said as she ran her finger across the inner edge of the ring blade. "I assume this is what you meant... not the other thing, but something different but similar," she asked of Master Luxu. Unbeknownst to her her clothing had gained a dark red color with an almost camouflage look to it and this would be most easily seen as she rolled around within the center of her ring blade specifically testing the extra maneuverability of it, as Himiko kept trying to achieve something.

[Bloodedge]

The newer addition to the Anguis Union offered her name as greeting, prompting no more than a nod of acknowledgement from Luxu. He knew her well enough already, but he'd avoid mentioning such a thing just to avoid the explanation of how he had such information. "Yeah, something like that. Maybe," he said regarding the potential alternative 'Drive' form. He had no data on this form whatsoever, but the theory in his mind was a mighty one worth taking to the experiment stage. If Kairos, Himiko, or both succeeded, he would be able to avoid rewinding time and having to think of something different. If they both failed, though... well, Luxu had gone farther back in time for worse reasons.

Both girls made an apparent effort to achieve some new form by accessing their Keyblades' powers. Luxu was content to watch and consider the validity of his theory. As far as he was concerned, Keyblades could unlock anything, and the wielder's potential should be no exception. The simple act of wielding a Keyblade made the impossible possible, so what would a greater bond between a Keyblade and its owner's heart accomplish? Only time could tell, though the wait was short thanks to Kairos. The girl Luxu had so recently taken on as an apprentice managed to find a new form reminiscent of Valor Form, and in doing so, she'd also managed to discover a Keyblade transformation in the form of a ring-blade. To accomplish this, she'd interestingly called upon her End of a Heart Keyblade while Himoko couldn't see. Luxu had seen the Keyblade of the other girl, and thought this was an unnecessary hide as a result, but that was neither here nor there. "Interesting. How do you feel? It looks like Valor Form, but I don't think you've sacrificed anything for it."

[Apollymi]

Kairos was having a good time of this apparent transformation. She rolled away just a little to remove her person from the center of her Keyblade and threw it into the air a couple of times watching it spin and recalling it to her person in various feats of minor acrobatics which seemed to make this ring blade twirl around her person while lashing out at invisible things before her. "I feel... light. And a little aggressive, like I should be hitting everything around me," she mentioned with an excited utterance as she caught this ring blade in her right hand only to spin it around her fore and twist herself through it feet first, before swinging said blade in front of her again. "I don't feel like anything is gone. I don't think I could give away anything like that... I'm not decisive enough for that..." Kairos mentioned. Though perhaps decisive wasn't the right word. She was by her own nature rather acquisitive and had the balanced type of heart, she didn't sacrifice physical feats for magic nor did she do the opposite. In this particular case she felt rather strongly that she could simply attack a ridiculous amount without fear of what would happen. There was one thing she needed to test she supposed, so she cast a small spell. "Aero!" instead of a single small burst of wind several small bursts radiated from the center of her person, spinning around her and spiraling outward. This circle of wind based spells spread for a great deal around her and made a happy giggle escape her.

While this happened Himiko gained something different. The only outward change in her appearance was an inverted color scheme, after a few moments communing with her Keyblade she seemed to have accomplished something. A small burst of light seemed to radiate from her person. She stood straighter and seemed to have a strange new grip on her Keyblade in this moment. "I think I did something... it feels pretty nice too~" she murmured only to look up and see that Kairos had a more obvious transformation. "I don't get anything cool, but I feel like I could do anything~" she mentioned with a light blush coming to her face. "It also didn't hurt. So plus... probably."