Drive: Katsurou Atsuregi

[Lore Moogle]

A blade flashed, and the darkness was split. By way of Katsurou's Reforged Moon, another Shadow had fallen. The blazing blade stood straight upwards, but soon, the flames were quenched. Katsurou was tired. Very much so. And, so, he moved to sit by a wall.

At this point, Katsurou had been studying the Heartless for a good few days. He had started to notice some things, some very crucial things. The Heartless were relentless, the darkness didn't affect them. In fact, it was almost as if the darkness... helped them. It wasn't much of a surprise to Katsurou. The Shadows he had come to be quite well acquainted with did seem to be made of pure darkness. But, he did consider something else strange.

What, then, was the case of those with emblems? The Heartless Emblem, as he had come to know it, was only on those Heartless that had more colors, and more skills. However, despite them shying from pure darkness, they seemed to still be impervious to Katsurou's own darkness. Hence why he had to use his fire. However... Why? What makes them so powerful?

And, then, it came to him. All Heartless, whether 'pure' or with an Emblem must be made of darkness, and the darkness must come from somewhere. Some of the Heartless with Emblems seemed to have a dark body underneath, but the majority of them was still normal. Perhaps, Katsurou thought, the darkness was stored in the Emblem? It seemed quite absurd, to him. The Emblems were just as colorful as the rest of the Heartless that had them. But... How else would it be possible that Katsurou's darkness didn't even pierce the outer, non-dark layers?

It was certainly insane, but it was what made sense. To him, at least. Katsurou was no scholar, but there was one thing he was. One thing he wanted.

He wanted to become stronger. He wanted to become a Reaper. And... Perhaps, the darkness was the best way to pursue this. And, so... Katsurou hatched his plan. He would create his own Heartless Emblem, and become partially Heartless. All without losing his own heart.

To him... It was an amazing plan. The benefits of becoming a Heartless... Without actually becoming one of them. Katsurou saw them all as primal creatures, with no real intelligence. Only bloodlust. Katsurou knew more. He was above them. And, he was going to prove it, by taking their power for his own.

Katsurou retreated to an alleyway. He took his seat. This was likely going to be a long process.

A spark of darkness came, in his hand. The darkness shuddered, like a flame, only it was less sharp and less erratic. Katsurou placed his hands apart from each other, about a foot in distance, and he sent the small amount of darkness between his hands, keeping it hovering there. It fluctuated slowly. This was not a perfect process. But, it was still worth a shot. Katsurou focused, sending flows of darkness from the palms of his hands. Slowly, slowly, the ball in between his hands grew to a more decent size. He kept working his darkness into the ball. Slowly, the ball came to touch his fingertips. And then, he ended the flow.

Katsurou had to resist the urge to wipe the sweat from his brow, now. If he were to move his hands, all would be lost.

Katsurou first focused on elongating the ball. The shape of the Heartless Emblem was the only thing in his mind. His focus was intense. Quite slowly, the shape began to form. Slowly, the heart shape formed. Slowly, the lower tail formed. Soon, the general shape was done.

Katsurou then began to slow his breathing, focusing entirely on the darkness in front of him. He focused on keeping the darkness still, completely still. If it fluctuated, the Heartless Emblem would be imperfect. Katsurou wanted nothing less than perfection. And, he would get nothing less than perfection. Katsurou was going to see this through to the end.

With intense focus, Katsurou kept the darkness in the perfect shape of the Heartless Emblem, now beginning to compress it. He was focusing on making the semi-ethereal darkness into something more corporeal. Something very strong, and very much physical. And so, he kept the most intense focus and pressure onto the emblem.

Suddenly, a bright 'shine' appeared from between Katsurou's hands. He clenched his eyes shut, and an arm instinctively shot up to block his eyes. Katsurou immediately realized what he had done. But, then, he felt something fall to his leg. He removed his hand...

And, there it was. A dimly glowing Heartless Emblem, in its familiar red and black coloring. Made of pure darkness. Katsurou reached out, and felt it. Strangely enough, though the item was completely opaque, the texture was that of glass, smooth and slick. Katsurou inspected it for a short time, before he looked over his shoulder, at a passing Emblem Heartless. He had just realized that the Emblems on the Heartless were generally around their chests. Katsurou kept in mind that he would have to place a string on this, or something, to allow it to keep around his chest. But, first, he clenched the Emblem tightly, rising to his feet. Katsurou walked with great conviction, towards the outside of the alleyway. He was very determined...

...to get some goddamn sleep. Gods above, this shit was tiring! He hoped he didn't have to go through it again. Sleep was the number one priority now. Then, he would learn just how the hell to use this thing.

It probably wouldn't be that hard.

-EXIT-
Drive Focus: Heartless Emblem Pendant created! Time for the judgement!