A Place Where Nothing Exists

[Revan Maxwell]

In Correspondence to Angeals second Absence.

Cold. Warmth. Breath. Thought. All the sensations of life were lost to the young boy's body as his surfed over the gray waves of a Sea of Absence. The water was clear but murky; present, yet intangible. At the same time, all these things that is was, it was not, being a structure of all things the viewer weren't. Angeal could not see the waves, nor hear them. He could not feel the water's grit nor savor its sweet embrace.

Slowly, the boy opened his eyes, the veil that once covered them having been removed by someone. He blinked weakly as his vision became fixed upon the face that looked across from him.

The Goddess stood away from Angeal in her anthropomorphic form, her arms crossed in a manner in which gave her the impression of holding herself. Despite her optics being black orbs which occasionally were traced by single lines of colors, like when a reptile covered it's eye with it's second protective lens, the worry on her face was apparent. Her usually pale cheeks were a mix of lavenders and blues, signs that she had been crying. Angeal gasped in surprise, only to realize that his breath was halted as soon as he tried. He wasn't breathing. but he wasn't suffocating either. The sensation was unnerving, yet, at the same time, it relaxed him.

The Goddess smiled at Angeal's small movements and stepped towards him. To her, the keyblade Master was right side up and suspended in a wall of water, not face down in a sea as it would appear from Angeal's angle. Lightly, she placed her lips against the boy's cheeks. At that very moment, the great Sea that suspended him quickly retreated downward, releasing his weight. He simply fell into the Goddess' arms and was instantly upright with her. Below however, the water took on a brilliant display of different shades and hues of colors that began to spin and form wondrous things which lept from the Ocean only to fall back in and meld back again with the sea.

Angeal stared down at the intricate designs that formed the crests of each wave, the small changes in depth, a feeling he had never been able to experience because of his selective colorblindness. Everything had always been black and white. So to see this, was beyond beautiful for him. He stepped back and away from the Goddess, and examined her in color for the first time since he had meet her. Again Angeal gasped, astonished by her beauty. This time, however, he could breath. "How?" He asked.

The Goddess gave a weak smile to the boy. "Ever since you were born, you saw things in only in black and white. You were never given the chance to be amazed by anything. Anyone. Everything just looked the same, even if they were different. That was part of your strength." The Goddess smiled weakly at Angeal and ran a pale hand through his dreads. "You learned to judge and perceive situations so free of conscious with the utmost detail, even when fully involved emotionally. It was what made it so easy for you to up until you lost your eyes. Her gaze dropped. "It was also a curse of yours. It caused you to be so distant from everyone else." Angeal turned his head away, shamefully."You're afriad you'll met him aren't you? Get close to the very one who you're destined to fight, aren't you?" The Goddess released Angeal from her hug only to tug herself close to him again by the folds of his jacket. "How many of those people in that City could you honestly call your friends? How many have you actually gotten know off the field of battle, hmm?"

The Goddess slowly pulled away from the teen to gaze at the Sea of Absence to watch the birth and demise of the nonexistent creatures. "What about your brother? You've never actually shown him you cared about you."

Angeal grit his teeth and barked back, "That's a lie! I've stuck my neck out for them-"

"When fighting," The Goddess cut him short, turning around swiftly to glare at him.

Angeal bit his lower lip to keep him from talking, but his glare was sharp. "Answer my question." Angeal growled. "How can I see these colors all at once?"

The Goddess of Nothingness hugged herself again and let out a reluctant, shuddering sigh. "You're eyes have yet to heal. In the Realm of Nothingness, where you no longer have nothing to loose, you only gain what you don't have. For you, it was a means in which to see." The Goddess' body began to shake as she dropped to her knees. "F-for me, it was a means to keep you powers in control." She looked up at Angeal. "You removed the rings. You idiot! You're powers almost killed you! They could have over loaded your body. They could have-"

"You're afraid I'll become like I was before aren't you," Angeal responded in a calm fashion, one that shocked the God into glancing up at him. "I had to. If I didn't, I would have died." This time the Goddess away shamefully, because she knew it was true. "Being blind has handicapped me in a manner in which a underpowered me can't take. I know you're worried for me. Don't be! You, of all people, couldn't possibly understand." The Goddess was taken back by his statement, her eyes wide with shook at the manner in which Angeal addressed her in. He was calm, yet forceful. "You're an immortal, and further more, a creature not bound by the rules of reality. You don't know, and can't know what it feels like to be in a situation where you can't do anything but put yourself at risk, knowing full well that if it might take you dieing to save another life." Angeal' lefts fist clenched tightly as he held up his right hand, summoning his Kingdom Key to his hand.

The Goodess leaned forward, feebly throwing her hand forward in an attempt to stop Angeal from doing what it was he wanted to do. However, her attempts to entice him emotionally failed as where the tip of his keyblade was, a large purple pair of Grand Doors, not unlike the Door to Darkness, appeared. The Doors swung open with dramatic finesse. On the other side, was the a clear few of the outside face of the dome of the City of Light. Lowering his keyblade, the boy made his way to exit only to be stopped by a desperate voice. "Angeal.... Wait. Please!" The Goddess begged weakly. Now Angeal was the one who was truly shocked. The Goddess had never shown him weakness. Never. But now, here she was, on her knees, her eyes tearing up, and her hand outstretched.

Angeal turned to face her, his face static, void of emotion. The Goddess drew in her hand and placed it against her chest. "The time it takes for your body to adjust again to your power should be the equivalent to the time it takes for you're eyes to heal." The woman turned into her gaseous state, the lavender mist topped by a wolf's head. "And with this time, I'll teach you a few more of my secrets." Angeal tilted his head to the side, as if asking what she was getting at. "It'll be like old times," he finished.

The were a a long pause between the two as each glared intently into the eyes of the other. Finally, Angeal allowed himself to smile a bit, closing his his still vacant eyes. Holding up his hand, he formed a new blindfold out of Nothingness (seeing as while in the Realm of Nothingness, his powers had no repercussions on him) and placed it over his eyes as to become blind once more. "Alright. I'll stay. But the blindfold stays. I need to learn my lesson on getting power cocky."  

[Revan Maxwell]

Angeal stood poised in fighting position, a stern look etched to his lip. His clothes were slightly tattered, tell tale signs that he was engaged in a match, the opponent obviously the Goddess. Ever since he had dawned the new blindfold, the god had been pushing the boy's body to the limit while also testing his newly recovered Twilight powers and teaching him more techniques she had created for him. The Goddess, paced around the boy menacingly, switching from her Wolf form, to her mist form frequently in an attempt to throw off the boy's senses. In this exercise, she was allowing her steps to make nose, providing wind to form with each movement she made, however, she was also masking them. Just because she liked the teen didn't mean she was going to simply hold his hand and walk him through his lessons.

The Goddess let her face form into a menacing smirk as she lightly placed one paw down and used it and it alone to propel her body towards the boy. Mid-air, she transformed into her mist form and made her remaining head several larger than what it was before, her gaping maw wide enough to swallow Angeal. She came from his right side.

Angeal smirked to himself as he spun around to face what was his rear, putting the Goddess on his left. Holding out his hand he muttered, "Twilight Concerto." What looked like pulse of Silver Twilight energy shot from his hand straight into the Goddess' mouth. Moments later, the tail of her gaseous body was torn asunder by the beam. As it exited, it spit into three section and and doubled back around, coming back towards Angeal. The three beams converged on The Goddess' large wolf head, causing her to whisper sharply in surprise, sense pain was not something she could experience without the willingness to do so, at least not in this Realm. Still, the move was not done. At the point of convergence, the energy that collected erupted in a sharp manner, not unlike an explosion or one of Xeeres' sonic booms, which destroyed the the Goddess of Nothingness' remaining body.

Angeal remained with his hand held out to his side, his breath stilled to allow him better hearing. There was silence now. Nothing around him. No movement, no vibrations, no wind. Nothing. He sighed as he lowered his hand. "Phew. I barely caught that," he mumbled while crossing his arms. He turned his head upwards, compared to himself, since directions and orientation did not exist in the Realm of Nothingness. "You alright?" The Goddess sat Indian style staring up at him, her floor being Angeal's ceiling. A soft smile lite her face as she nodded silently before unfolding her arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Angeal retorted, smirking back.

"I said, Absent Canto," she chuckled. Angeal's smirk disappeared as he quickly began to jump back, flipping about as if dodging falling rocks. Sweeping, cartwheeling, and dodge rolling about. The Goddess wrapped her left arm around her waist and used it as a support for her right, placing the back of her hand against her chin in thought. Interesting. It wouldn't matter if he had the blindfold on. Absent Techniques neither make sounds nor actually appear in this Realm. However, he can still feel them. And I'm firing those shots at random. The Goddess looked up in a a way in which made her look like she was either confused or having a subtle realization. "Hmmm, isn't Absent Canto one of my killing techniques?" She asked aloud. She closed her eyes and made a cheery face. "Oh yeah! It is! Hey! Angeal! Don't-"

Before she could finish with her warning, she was struck down from behind, and her body quickly evaporated. Standing a few yards behind where the woman had been standing only moments before, Angeal knelt, breathing heavily. "Absent Canto," he managed through choked gasps. Then, "Twilight Hymn." The Twilight in Angeal's body was suddenly stirred and every muscle in his body tensed up in a manner that forced him to stand quickly. As soon as he was standing tall, his body relaxed enough for him to move about and a silver mist began to waft of his body. Twilight Hymn used Angeal's own Twilight Energy to recharge his body. However, now every movement he would make would hurt. It was like giving a car a jump start except, the jump was constant and didn't stop once it was going. This would have be the sixth time the boy had used it in the past six hours. The Goddess was working Angeal hard. And if he wanted to survive this crash course/general review, he'd likely have to use it several more times. "I'm beginning to think you're trying to kill me," he said, through gritted teeth.

The Goddess popped up in front of Angeal, her arms crossed again. "Well, what kind of a teacher would I be if I didn't sweety?" she cooed devilishly. "It's not like what's out there is going to treat you any nicer than me."

"Somehow, I think I could actually argue that point."