The Black Sands

[superalan]

The young Sultan of the Black-sands sat upon his throne with his head in his hand, deep in thought. His lifeless kingdom spread before him, nearly all of it's citizens having been turned into walking shells long ago. As the shambled aimlessly Mozenrath stood still, thinking and thinking.

Recent covert trips to Agrabah had led to curious topics coming up. In particular interest was talks of the Cave of Wonders being purged of it's greatest treasure and it's power being wasted. While Mozenrath had spent years searching for the cave he wasn't too embittered that someone else got to it first, especially now that there was nothing he could do about it.

The second interesting topic, however, had been about strange visitors. From what Mozenrath could tell these visitors had shown up a few times, although their visits stopped somewhere around three years ago. These visitors allegedly did battle with creatures called heartless using the power of a Giant key. Through eavesdropping and more unsavory interrogation technuiqes all Mozenrath could learn was that the key had something to do with peoples hearts, and the darkness that lies within them.

In all his years studying artifacts Mozenrath had not once come across anything involving the power of hearts and darkness. Any commoner would have deemed the stories to be fanatical and dismissed these notions as simple story-telling. Unfortunatley, Mozenrath had become curious, and so he remained on his throne; thinking.

What would be his next move?

[Monica]

Even with eyes wide opened all there was surrounding her was darkness. It was something still frightening but over the weeks it was something she decided to grow used to, so she continued to walk along the darkness looking for some type of light that would lead her out. Alvita was no fan of the darkness, she knew what could happen if you let it over power you- and she even knew that being the creature that she was.... she could lose herself to it's strength. It did have a bit of perks, without it there was no chance she would of been able to leave her world behind to carry on her journey.

Thinking was something she easily got lost while traveling through the darkness, at times she would miss a source of light. An that almost happened once again, noticing the small glimpse of light fade away made Alvita run straight for it. As she grew close the light shinned brighter, and soon she found herself running out in the middle of a deserted town. It didn't take long for her senses to pick up death, and trying to turn back in empty hope of leaving this world she was to late. Her portal slipped back into the shadows before her turn had completed, leaving her to wonder as to where she had gotten herself to. This area seemed so empty, as if the life that once roamed freely was easily whipped away by this strange deathly source.

There was nothing to really complain about though, the less people the better in her own opinion. Whenever people found out about her being- they quickly raised arms trying to defend themselves- claiming she was a deadly force. She knew her powers were deadly, but to make accusations of her trying to steal hearts would of hurt her feelings… if she had any. Would this empty land make it easy to try and find answers? She made the only decision she could make, to just walk around and hope to find something helpful. ”I hope there isn’t a plague… … I can’t believe I’m saying this but… … this place creeps me out.”

[/color], talking to herself was another thing she was forced to grow accustom to, it helped her keep her thoughts straight.[/size][/blockquote]

[superalan]

In the midst of his thinking Mozenrath un-characteristically looked up. It was a feeling he couldn't describe, like something was out of place but he didn't know what, nor did he know how he knew. The feeling was prevalent and intriguing. He needed to know what caused it, but how? He was trying to pin-point something most other people would shrug off as nothing. Mozenrath was not most other people.

With a snap of his fingers his eel Xerxes was by his side, floating nearest his head. Mozenrath turned to his familiar, a silent nod being the only thing resembling communication that took place between the two. In a second the eel was off in a flash, floating throughout the city and showing Mozenrath everything he saw. For a while Mozenrath thought there really was nothing wrong. Xerxes eventually came across someone who was out of place, a young girl. Mozenrath was intrigued, while she was obviously not one of the mamluks that so populated his kingdom, she still didn't exactly seem alive. Mozenrath had to know more, and with a mere thought the eel received it's orders.

Xerxes stopped in front of the girl, hovering in her path and staring her right in the eyes. For a while he did not, did not blink, only stared. After a few moments the eel turned around the face Mozenrath's palace, looking back as if it was beckoning the girl to follow it. Mozenrath sat comfortably on his throne, eying the girl up and down, trying to figure out exactly who or what she was. He was intrigued, to say the least. Mozenrath wondered quietly if she was related to the supposed "mysterious strangers" in Agrabah as he waited for Xerxes to bring her to him.

[Monica]

Blue and red eyes slowly swept around while she continued her slow exploration. The strange sensation that was crawling down her back would of brought fear to her heart, but instead her mind was racing with possible ideas as to how this town became so deserted. Sand filled the grounds, giving her the clue of this town being a part of a desert land- the thick air helped as well to that clue. The sky was so dark, then again her whole surroundings was filled with darkness, refilling her magic and energy. Another thing she was forced to grow accustom to, the darkness being able to help refill her energy- though it never was enough to help her.

A strange sense of someone watching her caught her attention quickly, she tilted her head to the side trying to listen for footsteps but strangely there was none. The feeling just grew more and more as if whatever was following her was right behind her. Quickly she turned her head and stopped in her tracks to try and catch the culprit, her eye brow raised and her suspicion grew upon seeing there was no one behind or following her. ”Hmm…” Way creepy.

[/color], slowly turning herself back around she took a step back in surprise of a floating eel. It just stared at her, she was very unsure to just freeze the thing and keep her guard up- but her thoughts changed when the creature seemed to try and hint her to go to the strange castle.

The eel continued to float and stare at her, Alvita guessed she was sticking out like a sore thumb. Her brow lifted once again as she stared back coldly at the eel, ”Shouldn’t you be in water?”[/color], not expecting this creature to answer she sighed and looked back to the castle ”If anything fishy happens you’ll regret it… You have my word on that."[/color] She had no trust to this eel, why should she? She was never welcomed anywhere she stumbled herself upon- so her only hope was that this wasn’t a trap. She turned herself to the castle’s direction and started her walk, making plans on how she would be able to handle any problems that might accrue.[/size][/blockquote]

{ooc: I hope I got the castle picture right.}

[superalan]

"”If anything fishy happens you’ll regret it… You have my word on that."

Mozenrath continued to watch as Xerxes lead the mysterious girl to the gloomy palace of the Black-sands. She seemed a little hesitant to follow the floating eel, something Mozenrath respected as entirley logical. If Mozenrath had to guess, he would guess she has no idea where she was. Her threats let Mozenrath know that she might not be as helpless as she seemed. When Xerxes finally lead the girl to before Mozenrath's throne the Sultan could only look up at her and smile a devious smile.

"Hello," it was a simple greeting, but with heavy implications. That simple hello carried with it a myriad of unspoken questions, questions which wouldn't remain unspoken for long. Mozenrath took a moment to look her up and down, this time in person instead of through the eyes of his familiar. She may have been cute, but something about her was off-putting, something Mozenrath couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I don't know if you know this," He began, "But you are very out of place here in my Kingdom." Her stare was empty, not like the empty stares of the mamluks, but a different and more disturbing type of empty. "I wonder what brings you here. Those who know of this place and still come are either very brave, or very foolish." He leaned forward in his seat, "Which are you?"

[Monica]

Alvita stayed as silent as the eel that took the lead, it was becoming more unclear as to what could possibly be waiting for her once they made it to it's destination. The trail was long and quite dull in Alvita’s opinion- who would want to live in such a depressing place? She may not be capable of feeling emotion, but she had enough memory to know what would of felt welcoming or not. An this town was reeking with emptiness, harshly reminding Alvita of the similarity they both shared- having no true essence of life.

Making their way deeper into the castle made her become more on guard, but that slipped away when she met the first sign of life. There was a strange sense about him, and her own existence stood out to him as well. It was something that either people did or did not have, the abilities to listen to that small voice that lets you know about a creature. His seemed- “Hello.” Alvita returned the welcoming jester with a nod of her head. Watching over him very carefully and listened to his short words- it was as if a broken record had begun to play when he spoke about her. Then came his question, she didn’t respond for a moment. Alvita glance around the sultans throne room carefully, trying to get a good of the empty place. ”Neither… just a out of place traveler, excuse me if I had intruded your empty kingdom.”

[/color].

Masking her spoken words had become a difficult task as time went on, being alone was possibly the cause of it but she would rather place the blame of that on herself. She spoke very calmly hinting no emotion behind her tone, as if her odd color eyes wouldn’t of been enough to carry out the task. She made it aware that she had noticed how lifeless the man’s kingdom was, an explanation would have been nice but it was nothing she expected nor really cared about. There was one thing she knew would be difficult to try to talk her way out of, her sense of style compared to his- for a change the darkness didn’t bless her with a proper disguise. She was wearing just a plain white tee shirt and a black shirt that hung around her waist and went down to her mid thighs. Her legs were covered by knee high black stockings and her shoes were casual heels, on her wrist were many bracelets. By one look anyone would judge this girl wasn’t a fighter, and she would try and prove that point by talking her way out of trouble.

She quietly ran a hand through her hair and twirled some around her finger, there was still a question she had refused to answer just yet. The question of her knowing she wasn’t part of his kingdom. That would be something to keep to herself unless there would have been a fair trade of information. Instead she decided to ask a question of her own, ”If you do not mind me asking, why is your kingdom so deserted? Has there been a plague recently?”. She could not allow the presence of death to be ignored, and strangly enough she could see it hover over him- although the man was thin he did look healthy and filled with life.[/blockquote][/size]

[superalan]

The girls answered was unsettling to Mozenrath. Although it wasn't what she said but how she said it. There was no emotion in her voice; not a hint of any of the usual things the sultan was used to dealing with. Fear, greed, anger, laziness, pride: these were all things Mozenrath was cunning enough to use to his advantage, but the girl before him had none of those things. It wasn't that she was in-corruptible, it's that as far as Mozenrath could tell, there was nothing left to corrupt. The sultan was not dealing with someone who was dead, like he was used to, he was dealing with someone who was never truly alive.

”If you do not mind me asking, why is your kingdom so deserted? Has there been a plague recently?”

Mozenrath could only smile at that question. There were so many ways to answer that question. He could lie and tell her he was the last survivor, but she would have no sympathy to show. He could tell her truth, that he made his kingdom like this out of shear malevolence, but she would have no fear of him to show. So many possible answers and yet Mozenrath knew that to the girl before him, they all might as well be the same.

"One could call it that, although I find it to be more of a curse." He said, examining his gloved hand, "Everyone here is a victim of someone else's cruelty. The majority of them are a victim of my cruelty." He lowered his gloved hand and placed it upon the arm rest of his throne, "so whose cruelty are you a victim of?"

[Monica]

His next question made her empty expression change to confusion. It was something that was only asked around her a couple of times, though it was never directed at her. Her friends, at the time, all tried blaming this cruel act on others, the universe, life… just none of those answers seemed appropriate for her to answer. To her she didn’t care why she was forced to live this life, it was just a life that was granted to her. His glove was originally the source of her attention, but after his question she found herself looking more to the wall behind this man, as if it held the answer. She stared at it before looking down to the floor, it was a question that was to personal yet- it wasn’t.

”Um…”

[/color] She looked up about to give an answer before a smile broke through and she shook her head. There was only one answer she knew was proper and truly fitting to his question, ”My heart.”[/color], just answering it seemed to of brought something out of her. The smile softened on her face and she carefully masked a calm emotion, she didn‘t want this conversation to focus on herself- her idea was to try and change it. ”I guess it’s a curse that can strike us all, so you best be cautious- um…”[/color]. An eye brow lifted, she didn’t know this mans name.[/size][/blockquote]

[superalan]

"Mozenrath."

He gave his name as soon as he saw the eyebrow raise. He didn't even think about it, it was an immediate reaction caused by his pre-occupation with the current subject. A victim of the cruelty of her own heart; it sounded like something out of a bad melodrama. A girl, heart-broken and wandering, unable to cope with the pain in her heart. Mozenrath didn't quite think that was the case though. She wasn't heart-broken, she was heart . . . nothing.

"I am not the one that needs to be cautious," He responded, perceiving her last statement as something of a threat, "This kingdom belongs to me, it's people are all shambling half-dead Mamluks under my control" He looked straight at her, deep in analysis, deep in thought, " Believe me miss, I'm quite familiar with curses." He took this opportunity to remove his glove and reveal the stark white bone of his hand beneath it, "I am a man who payed a price to be sultan of the black sands. " He glared at her, "Here, you are nobody"

[Monica]

She was a bit surprised to hear his reaction to her words, he seemed to of really been threatened. Thoughts as to why did not come to mind until after he reviled his... hand? "Here, you are nobody" "Tell me something I don't already know... your highness"

[/color] She answered quickly after his say, hearing the word 'nobody' always brought something out of her. It was a term she hated upon first hearing, though to try and defend herself... didn't come to mind. Already she could tell this man had enough problems of his own, he didn't need any more from her. Plus the strange word Mamluks caught her curiosity, it was a word she didn't even known to of existed. Still what he had to say brushed her off already.

”I really hate that word…”[/color] again she found herself make another remark. She took a breath in to calm what nerves she had, and just as easily as this ‘emotion’ came, it went away. ”Well I guess you weren’t kidding about that curse, excuse me but I was metaphorically speaking about the curse I was speaking about…”[/color] She had to interest in speaking of this ‘curse’ any more- so once again she smiled lightly and tried to change the conversation once again, ”So what’s a Mamluk?”. She wanted to move in closer to examine the glove and his hand, but still she stood in place watching his expressions. To her, that was far more interesting then his skeleton hand. It was something… magical- well to her at least.[/blockquote][/size]

[superalan]

Mozenrath heard the sarcasm in her voice, or at least he thought he did. In truth it went by so quick the sultan of the black sands wasn't sure if he didn't just imagine it. Her method of speaking was hard to pick up on, due to the fact that her words felt empty, hollow. When the girl said she hated the word 'nobody' it was the closest thing to an emotional response Mozenrath had gotten out of her. Her stored that tidbit of information away for later. When she asked about Mamluks the sultan's attention finally switched.

"Mamluks are those are dead, but have yet to die." Mozenrath put his glove back over his skeletal hand, "Just as my curse strips me of my flesh, it allows me to strip others of their soul." The Sultan finally stood of up from his throne, taking a step closer to the girl, "Nearly everyone in my kingdom is dead on the inside, the only thing remaining being the shambling corpse, still kept alive by the darkest of magics to serve me; that is a Mamluk." Mozenrath took another step forward, "They are the perfect slaves, and yet they are the worst companions."

He stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts, "I don't believe you've told me your name. or where you come from for that matter."

[Monica]

"My name is Alvita, and where I come... is out of your kingdom." She had her voice trail while thinking of a proper answer to her true whereabouts, she didn't give him a direct answer- knowing the type of questions that may pour out and smoother her. Thinking over his answer she was surprised on how much in common her and those Mamluks had in common, "I bet it must get quite lonesome... and am I jumping to the conclusion to add quite of an annoyance? I only say that because although they may seem under your complete control... you still don't have control of them."

[/color], should she try and defend those that shared a horrible faith like herself? She knew what it was like to not have a life, but the idea of someone barking orders and her mindlessly follow- that would of drove her to the ends of insanity. Her remark was as to these 'slaves' being forced to bend to his will... they would never meet his full desires.

"How pitiful for them... ... why do such a thing though? What type of emotion do you gain from stripping someone of what life they had? As if living was already a curse... why add more to the pain they hide- is your pain more important then theirs?"[/color] speaking so boldly, she already knew his curse would never have an effect to her. He was weak if he dared try to out lash on to her, but she knew it was always best to never judge one for their appearance. "Excuse me for my rashness... ... I just understand the burden they are now forced to bare... well not the part of someone ordering me around- but the dead part…"[/color] she half hoped- nothing... her mind reminded her of more important things to ordeal then try to carry the burdens that this kingdom was carrying. Her mission... "Is there another kingdom around this world? I am trying to gather some information and my time is running short, unless you hold the information I seek- I must be going..."[/color]

She didn’t want to waste any more of her time asking this man of his sick pleasures. His answer proved the strange sense of death yet life- and seeing his had explained why the death seemed to be lingering over him. Even as he had walked closer to her, she could sense it moving along with him- as if it was a shadow that was destined to follow his every move. Shadow… ”I wonder what will happen to you when your time comes…"[/color] her head lowered as she spoke only to herself- her mind suddenly raced as to what his faith would bring him. His energy of a heart was low, probably due to the tainted decisions he had made. Would he later be doomed to share a ‘cruel’ life like herself? No, there was nothing dooming about being a Nobody- he wouldn’t be deemed such a luxury of being able to live after dieing. Or would he? Alvita found herself looking back up at Mozerath, trying to figure him out still- why was she drawn to his dark ambitions? Maybe it was the darkness she was being drawn to…[/blockquote][/size]

[superalan]

This speech given to him by the girl who called herself Alvita was unnerving. The only thing a ruthless and power-hungry dictator didn't like being told was that he wasn't in control, and that's exactly what she tried to tell him. He didn't believe her for a second, the Mamluks he created had absolutely no will of their own, at least that's what he believed. He had yet to see something that would shatter this belief.

It was when she asked him why he did it that he calmed down a little. Even he had to concede that to an outsider it looked like he was merely draining people left and right for no real reason. He had reasons, reasons mired in paranoia, but reasons none-the-less. He didn't want companions, he wanted slaves, and the Mamluks were just that to him. Mozenrath decided he did not need to explain himself to her, he would let her draw her own conclusions.


"Is there another kingdom around this world? I am trying to gather some information and my time is running short, unless you hold the information I seek- I must be going..."

"Information?" Mozenrath was intrigued, this girl had come seemingly from nowhere looking for something. "There is the kingdom of Agrabah not too far from here. If you're looking for people that'd be the place to go." Mozenrath looked at her, "What information do you seek, exactly?"

[Monica]

What information was she looking for? There were many ways she could try and cover her tracks but at the time she had no patience. ”Information on the darkness…”

[/color] Why not open his eyes to the worlds that lurk beyond his empty kingdom, to her she thought it would be quite interesting to watch his expressions a little bit more. His eyes though were the gate way to his heart, and from where she was standing it would be hard for her to see into his heart. Looking off she took one step close to him before speaking again, ”Out side of these walls, beyond the sky, are kingdoms filled with light and darkness. As I can tell here… you are trying to rule the darkness- but I deeply warn you Mozenrath… the darkness is not a place to play in. What ever is going on here… it may lead to this worlds destruction.”[/color] As she spoke she took small steps towards him. She wanted to read his eyes, see the glint of life that may still be held within them.

”I may sound crazy, but my whole being is even crazy for me to understand. As your people, I am stripped of life. When I spoke of my heart… I wasn’t lying. I am just a shell, created from the darkness that your kingdom is becoming engulfed with.”[/color] She stopped from her steps, standing a ways still from him and her attention returned to his hand, ”The curse that is draining your life, stripping the flesh from your body… is nothing compared to the curse that has blessed me life once again. So unless you know anything that would give me information of anything known as Keyblades or the Darkness…. I will move on to this Agrabah you speak of, and make an empty wish for the recovering of this falling kingdom.”[/color] She never spoken about her being what she was to anybody, and wanted to see what kind of reaction she would get- especially from someone like him.[/blockquote][/size]

[superalan]

Mozenrath knew when to speak and when to listen, and this was a time to listen. The girl spoke of many things, of darkness, of being lifeless. This would have shattered the perceptions of most people, living in their own closed-minded worlds. Mozenrath, however, had studied mysteries more horrifying than most people even dreamed of. When one does nothing but study mysteries, nothing seems impossible. It was intriguing, to say the least, to know that there were other places in the world to conquer.

When she mentioned what she was he took another hard look at her. At the very least it put his previous examinations of her into context. She spoke of curses, and that hers was far greater. Mozenrath did not know weather or not he agreed with her, but even he had to concede that her curse seemed dreadful. He contuined to listen until she said the word 'keyblade' and his interest peaked.

"Keyblade?" He said, now very interested, "I'm not sure, but there have been talks of a boy wielding a large key visiting Agrabah 3 or 4 years ago." He had been looking for information on this 'giant-key' for a while, and it seemed the information had finally came to him, "What exactly is this 'keyblade?'"