Drive: Darius Fetch

[Lore Moogle]

Darkness is a terrible thing. No amount of angst, no amount of stages of pseudo-maturing can explain this detail to its full extent. However, the emotionally fragile and weighed down minds have come to know how to feel it. Sometimes things need feeling rather than words, as the auditory trickery of the mouth often bends the flame of manipulation to its will. Touch can be more consistent, more rigid than the wave of the lips. But, the cold truth of touch can be a nasty bitch sometimes. That is what Darius has felt, the cold side of something so honest that he couldn’t stand the pressure of it. So, in his heart, he knew he needed to birth the blissful lies that would fuel his life to continue.

The boy was powerful enough to use his youth and imagination to create any sort of fuel, being a pyrokinetic child and all. So from his heart, he gave birth to Ellis. What more, he gave birth to the first focus he had for harnessing all of that rage and agony. The agony of being a child and making powerful decisions with too great of consequences. Every day he’ll wake from the nightmare of the dead, haunted by his actions as any fragile being would be. Every day he’ll know that any exile brought to his life was brought by his own action. And so, the nightmares began to grow more powerful. Ellis was always there to use her sweet words to calm him, becoming so much more than a partner. A friend. The first living being he could ever love, and even if it was a part of himself...Ellis grew into her own being.

Ellis would be free to live and grow, Darius merely being the parent of her sapling birth. Darius might have played the role of wild, idiotic buffoon. But there was a deeper, more intricate meaning to his words. The masks he uses to hide his double and triple meanings, the way he plays around the adult and child minds of those around him. This time, his words would be clear as day. ”Ellis.” The sprite would look into the boy’s eyes, the two within a void. ”Yes, oh dear basterd?” Smirks would parallel, and the two would just stare into each other’s as if they saw the inner hearts of one another. A perky smile slightly spread across the fairy’s face. A devilish one met Ellis’ from Darius’ face. ”You know, I’ll always protect you, right?” Silence. ”Yeah, silly Sally.”

Darius furled his brow, wondering why anyone else would get the term “Sally”, as it was his own form of verbal trickery to throw people off. People hardly made sense of his words, and yet Ellis understood. A part of him knew what she was, and yet he chose to ignore it. Ignore it like the fault over Twilight Town’s mass death rate was ignored. Raising his hand, as if pressing against glass, Ellis met with her own warm touch. Trying to embrace the fairy, she was trapped by the size of Darius’ body. ”I’ll never let you go.” ”You’ll never need to.” ”I’ll never let you crumble.” ”I’ll never faulter, don’t worry.” ”I’ll...Never harm you.” ”Darius…” Darius couldn’t help but cry.

No one saw or heard or felt the boy cry up close. No one but the sprite. This wasn’t the tears of fear, but tears of sadness, happiness, all bundled up. Darius didn’t know what to do if Ellis were to disappear from his presence. If she were to...vanish. He’d be lost, his conscience gone. ”I’ll never let your flame go out.” ”D-” ”Let me sing for you.” Ellis smiled, her own fiery tears shimmering away. An ominous light within the void lit up the water and fire that bled from their eyes. ”Baby, Let’s burn together....Let’s reach for the stars.” Ellis looked into Darius’ chest, nestling her head there.

”You and I? We’ll reach for the light.” They both felt some sort of despair, a mutual empathy over unknown reasons. ”So come on baby, burn by my side!” Darius suddenly heard roars of jazz-themed sounds playing over the void, but giving him enough room to be heard. ”I’ll never let you go, I’ll never let your light go out.” The sounds of snapping fingers in tune would come from unknown sources. ”Our love will soar! Don’t worry, it won’t be a bore...Let’s hope our love will last...forever more!” Finishing the song, Ellis began shining brightly, and a completely petrified tear-shaped bead of fire manifested. A string necklace resistant to its heat would pierce through the tip of it, allowing it to form a necklace sized for Darius to wear. ”Protect me always.” ”All the ash I create...it’ll never include you as rubble.” ”So stop creating ash.” ”I can’t. The fire...it’s. I can’t. I must…Burn away the corruption.” Ellis was frozen in thought, but eventually grew silent. ”Then keep your arms around me…at least for now. You’ll never know when you will lose me.” ”I’ll never let go.”

As the two fell asleep seemingly, the void began closing and the music faded. The light would dim, everything becoming black. As Darius would awake, he'd again be surrounded in ash. Curling up in a ball, he'd realize what he'd done. Ellis sprouted from thin air, smiling at Darius. "Shhhh...It'll be alright. Just smile....Just sing....Just keep your eyes on me." Darius would hesitantly rehearse his jazz-themed song, stuttering at some parts as he tried understanding what was happening to him. Maybe he was becoming too powerful without discipline or control, however Ellis would remain to keep a leash on him. Afterwards, he'd look at the fiery sprite with a self-loathing expression. "But Ellis...I did it again." "It's alright, Darius. It's alright. Just remember who truly loves you. Just remember who's really important. Forget everything else. Forget the worlds...whenever you get angry. Whenever that heat rises from within, just look at me. Then...it'll all be okay." Darius nodded, his whole body shaking from shame and fear. He still had Ellis, and that bit would be all it takes to ease his pain. Nuzzling against his chest, Ellis would place a hand on the fiery bead he wore as a necklace. "At least a part of me will always keep you under control until you really need to let loose."

When the time came to remove himself from the ash, Darius would make his way to the nearest forge in order to give the bead proper protection. But unlike any metal he has dealt with, unlike any stone or crystal, this bead was different. He wouldn’t just smelt it into a pendant, no. He had to take it into his hand and peer into it with the fiery connection it had to his heart. As fire soared from his hand and entangled the bead, it quickly absorbed whatever he released. The more he poured his magic, his will into the bead, the more it felt a part of him. But whatever he realized with Ellis was simply a lost thought. The revelations would just sink into the depths of his memory, unrecalled simply because he didn’t want to. Ellis would be her own person, leaving the last piece to ever be truly a part of Darius with him. She was off, for once. Not bound to Darius’ side. She was off, even though her power was only potent in the presence of her creator. So whatever connection this bead had to his heart, he needed to mend it into a safe haven of sorts. Raising his free hand, a hammer flew from the forge into his hand. With the clang against his gloved hand ringing through his ears, he realized where he was.

Again he was warped through space, and now he was within the Castle of Dreams. The forge was easily recognizable, someone he once knew managed it. In fact, the old man who repaired his ship had this very forge. Which led to something more interesting, his heart was starting to take control of things...aspects of his life and mind that normally shouldn’t be controlled by anything but the mind itself. As he slammed the hammer down, a bright flash consumed the room, releasing a pyre that would turn everything to ash. Drawing the fire back into the bead and the metal intended for its casing, magic would begin to forge a pendant of sorts. With even more smashes of the hammer, the volume of fire would increase. The building would shake before him, bringing the attention of the outside world. But as he banged on the forge, magic would forge his soul into passion and use that passion as a tool to protect Ellis’ fragment. What are you doing? I have to protect you. But not with fire! But my love is the sun. Stop calling yourself that! But...Ellis. Stop, I’m not Ellis. I’m the thing you’re banging on! You didn’t...You didn’t need to forge me. But you are Ellis! I can...hear your voice. You...have to be her. Removed of his clothes, Darius felt the heat cradle his body. Lifting the pendant up with a reddened hand, the boy looked into the orange-and-onyx pendant.

Shedding a tear, he extended his free hand out. Fire swirled around the symbol on it, and in that moment his body decomposed into fire and was sucked through a hole. Spat back into Neverland, Darius only thought how the might of the forge was withered away by the passion of his flame, looking down at his pendant. It spoke to him in the voice of Ellis, nearly resurfacing the memories of why it was such. Placing the pendant around his neck, he turned to see Ellis floating on by. The heat he felt from the pendant actually grew, and his heart pumped at the site of her. She noticed he was naked, which wasn’t the issue. The issue was how badly burned his arms were and face. But fire crawled along his body, restoring it to its former glory. ”Ellis.” Trembling and nearly losing flight, Ellis whimpered at the sight of the momentarily scorched Darius. ”D-Darius…” ”It’s alright. I’m the Sun, Bright and boasting. I can boast all day and you’ll still hear me from all the way across space…” Swimming through the air over to the pendant, Ellis put her hand on it and hesitantly nodded in agreement.

But there was something missing from the pendant. Sure, it held emotion and heat and connection. But there was something incomplete about the link between Darius and his flames. Ellis looked into the pendant, and knew like a phoenix one of her feathers were sealed within. She forgot about the time in the void as well, but the connection was still there. Darius felt a heat behind him, turning to see a monstrous figure of molten metal and wild flames. Arching over and looking down at the two, it was filled with undying rage. Darius summoned his Wildheart to his side, preparing to attack. The beast lunged at Darius, overpowering him and letting molten metal spew all over him. Ellis flew away in fear, screaming out to Darius. A glow pierced the veil of metal, as well as a shining figure. Springing from the molten casing, Darius gripped the monster’s face. It was apparent that his flesh was badly scarred. The pendant absorbed this embodiment of rage, and again fire consumed the boy.

Falling to the ground, Darius began to flash through his mistakes. The bombing, the bandits receiving his maps, the tethers he placed around Ellis. His breathing became odd in tempo, and his flesh kept wriggling and warping. Like a snake, the outer layer of his body tore off and was absorbed into the pendant, revealing a fresh skin. You need to face your fears… ”I...will” You need to understand what you’ve done. You need to repair it. You must build anew. ”I will….Ellis…” Ellis, viewing over his body, was thrown aback by the comment, wondering who the boy was murmuring to. In truth, the pain and agony and damage done to Darius was taken away by the pendant. Washed away as if he was a phoenix, but this wasn’t something he could just do on the spot. No, he would need to strengthen the bond to the pendant and in order to do that, he’d need to discover himself. Oddly enough, it had a keyhole on it. Temporarily washed of the emotional tension built up, Darius rose to a sitting position, raising a finger for the worried fairy to rest on.

A trembling smile grew, and the two locked teary gazes. What he had crafted was a gateway to his mind, not simply a piece from it. From the looks of it, his mind and his body and his soul were powerful enough to be tools of both life and death. Creation. Destruction. At least, for now, Ellis was there to keep such concepts balanced. Keep his emotions in check, and keep the pendant locked instead of turning everything to ash. Stop creating ash. Create...life. That's what it was...Ellis' tear encased was a breath of life. A repair to the rails of destiny, a symbol crafted into a tool of the cycle of life. It was a ray of hope that the Sun known as Darius would cast into the hearts of many as well as purify his own from the darkness of anger. And in his mind, he saw him kneeling before endless balls of fire. Half of his body scorched and the other half kept pristine and untouched by injury. Maybe he wasn't the sun, maybe he was a phoenix in service of it. But his radical passion was still unwavering. Darius was ready to continue his path.