Claire took a staggered step away from the boy. Tendrils of darkness were rising from the ground and curling around the group's feet. A few members of the group were even being pulled into the ground as if it was not solid at all. Usami was crying out, upset that she could not stop this horrific nightmare.
Claire could barely think at all.
Wanda's arms were bound behind her by darkness and she was already in the ground up to her knees. She struggled against the darkness. "Claire...!" she managed to yell. "If your friend can stop this boy--!" Darkness whipped around Wanda and covered her mouth so that she could not speak.
"Your friend isn't as lost as he thinks!" Billy yelled, continuing Wanda's exclamation. He was resisting as well, pushing against the ground as the darkness pulled at his feet. "In the dark place, memories become reality. Usami herself was made from memories. Your friend and all that she is... all her power, you can bring that forth!"
Claire's eyes had become glued to Billy. She knew little of this "dark place" and what could happen here. What Billy was saying was complete nonsense to her.
"I don't know what you mean!" Claire exclaimed. She felt darkness start to worm itself around her waist. "Aqua is the strong one... Her heart, her will, her power, it's nothing I can compare to! Someone like me... could never bring forth her strength!"
"That's where you're wrong!"
Touma's words toward Claire suddenly cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, followed by the high-pitched shrieking sound that came every time the power of his Imagine Breaker came to use. As the dark tendrils had attempted to ensnare him and pull him into the ground like with everyone else, the boy was able to repeal the dark efforts to trap him, though only for the moment.
"People's hearts don't exist in a vacuum! From the moment they're born into the world, they're impacted and nurtured by the bonds they make with others!"
He didn't entirely understand how the whole of this Dark Place worked, but that was nothing new to him. Even after all his experiences with magic in his own world, even that was something that eluded his full understanding, yet it never stopped him from doing what he felt was necessary. His mind didn't understand the puzzle that only his heart was able to piece together; it was clear that the same principle applied here, and Claire could use the pep talk.
Clenching his fist tightly, attempting to wade through the dark magic attempting to envelop him and everyone else, Touma continued reaching out to Claire with his words.
"I don't know anything about this Aqua person or what she means to you, but... I've met enough people, seen the things they've seen and the bonds they made, to know that strength and willpower doesn't come from itself! You're stronger than you realize, Claire! And Aqua must have thought the same, I'll bet! That it was you who made her strong!" He exclaimed, yelling passionately as he oft did when the moment counted.
"No matter where Aqua is, in the whole wide multiverse, there's always a part of her that's always with you! A part that stays with you and only you! And the same goes for her carrying a piece of you wherever she goes too, don't you think?!" Touma went on. He may not have known much, but it was clear that Claire had a connection to this Aqua that transcended dimensions. Whole worlds could not separate what they had together. Just like Elliot and Nathan. Just like Honda and Wanda.
Surely, this was exactly the kind of power that could overcome the influence of the Dark Place.
"All you have to do is believe, not just in Aqua, but yourself too! Believe in her, not because you trust her, but because she trusts you! If this Dark Place can really make memories into reality, all we need to do is give it a taste of its own medicine! Let this bastard here know what's what and show him the power of Aqua's memory!"
Frantically, yet burning with resolve, Touma was hit with a realization that then prompted him to turn toward Bridgette and Nathan next. "Same goes for you two! You guys were the closest to Elliot, right?! If the darkness is just gonna decide to take him away from you on a whim, to reduce him into a memory, then let's use its own rules against itself and turn that memory of Elliot back into reality! We can still bring him back! We just have to decide it so! It's not enough to wish Elliot would come back! We're going to decide that Elliot will come back!"
People are the gods of their own lives, after all. The bizarre and the supernatural had always tried its hardest to encroach upon the normal world, but Touma had always been told that his greatest strength lied within countering this. Demonstrating the power of the normal, everyday world in which everyone was free to love, hate, live, and fight.
Finally, he turned to Vanitas again, clenching his fist with fiery determination.
"You might think you have the upper hand, bastard, but you have one thing confused! We're not trapped in here with you! You're trapped in here with us!"
@York @Lucky @mintyy @Alex Azure @Space_Candy @Jeremi @Jeremi @Yun Lee @Ver @Crunch @Sark @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
Bridgette's eyes widened at Touma's speech. Could they really bring Elliot back? Nathan felt someone clutching his hand as Bridgette got back up to her feet. "You're right. I fought through a city once to rescue him...but I lost him. I still blame myself for what happened to him." Her eyes were filled with determination. "He deserves a normal life and everything that involves!" She looked at Nathan with a smile on her face. "He deserves someone to love him."
@York @Lucky @mintyy @Alex Azure @Space_Candy @Jeremi @Jeremi @Yun Lee @Ver @Crunch @Sark @Gummi Bunnies @Capri
