When was there time for us to exist?
o-o-o
"Idiot, put that down. We got in trouble last time you tried—Lea!"
An explosion sounded and the redhead grabbed him, dragging him away and laughing. Once far away, he released his wrist and shouted, "That was awesome!"
Collecting himself, he growled, "That was moronic."
"You love me."
He glared.
"Oh c'mon. Let's go do it again!"
"Do what again?"
The turned. A man glared.
"You're coming with me."
o-o-o
How old were we then? I believe I was sixteen, you fifteen. In other words… We were kids. They used children in their sick experiments. Children. If I had a heart now, I would be repulsed. I don't even exist. Foolish, was I, to believe I could fight this darkness and keep you with me.
Foolish was I to hold onto a promise.
Foolish to hope when I had no heart to hope with.
o-o-o
"Isa? Isa! ISA!"
"I'm up." He growled, shaking his head, "I'm up."
Lea collapsed, slinging his arms around him. He was starting to get bigger, he noticed. Once he had been a good five inches shorter but now he was almost the same. How long had they been here? "You scared me, you jerk!"
Not long enough for Lea to change. He found himself grinning despite himself. "I won't leave you. Remember? I've tried."
"Shut up." The relief was tangible.
"Lea." The redhead looked up, "I promise."
"…Promise what?"
He rolled his eyes and tugged the other boy off of him. "Promise not leave you. It's you and me here. No one else matters."
Lea stared at him for a moment and looked around at the others in the surrounding cells. Some less human than others—some monsters. "Kay. Then I promise to…"
"To?"
"To get you outta here. No matter how long it takes! No matter what I have to do!"
o-o-o
Who knew, years from now, we'd be here? Creatures neither living nor dead.
No hearts, no feelings, no emotions.
Both promises shattered.
If I could feel pain, I would. I would be enraged, hurt, betrayed.
Jealous.
But I cannot feel. I can only remember.
That was what you wanted. To be remembered. Even if you have left me. Even if we are not the same. I will keep your memories and you will exist when I can't.
o-o-o
"Watch out!"
There was a fierce pain on his head, a metallic taste in his mouth. And then he was hit again, causing the earlier pain to strengthen all the more. "Damn it!" He was shoved before he could be hit again and he felt heat surround them and a scream of rage resonated from his side.
He turned and saw Lea tossing fire around, fending back the cellmates that had once been humans but were now black monsters.
Once they were all gone, the redhead sunk to the ground.
His hair was crazy, he was taller than him now, his eyes had become a deeper shade of green.
But he was still him.
Isa had never been more grateful for that fact then at that time and slung himself, in a fit of uncharacteristic emotional intensity. "Why did you do that?"
The boy was stiff and then yelled, "Why did you! You're… You're wounded! And they probably won't treat you! Damn it, Isa, what about your promise?"
o-o-o
I sit here, contemplating the beginning of the end. Thinking back on how our friendship strengthened in that cell.
And how foolish I had been to cling to it.
o-o-o
"The boy is alive?"
The voice of one of the tormentors burned his ears and he turned, glaring at the silverhaired man. The leader. Isa wanted him dead. More than he had ever wished for anyone else to die, he wished for that man—that monster—to die.
"Hmm… what a strong will. To hold on now."
"Shut up! He's keeping his promise!"
There was silence and he tried to move up but was too weak, the fever messing with his strength. "A promise? And what might that promise might be?"
"None of your damn business!" Lea stood, leaping up and at the bars, snarling in rage.
The monster laughed. "He's lasted this long. Give him this. He's strong enough that he's become… an interesting specimen. Perhaps he can withstand even more tests."
"No! Don't… Stop hurting him! Hurt me!"
"Lea," he hissed, "don't you dare."
Both him and the man fell silent.
"You…. Haven't… gone through with your promise. You can't go yet."
He nodded and settled back down beside him. "You're right. Sorry, sorry. Don't worry, I'll keep it. But you have to stay strong for me. You have to get better."
He laughed hollowly. "I'm working on it."
"I'm not very patient."
o-o-o
To think you had worked so hard to nurse me back to health only for it to be ripped away. Slowly chipped out from under us, until we couldn't hold on.
o-o-o
"You won't take him back to that damn lab! He can't go near a window now!"
"And why is that?"
He kept himself steady in the corner, shaking with the effects of the enslaving moon. But he would fight it back, shove it away. This cell was so far from where the moonlight could hit him. He was safe here. Even if the amused monster was going to try and take this safety away.
"Because!" When that didn't seem to work, Lea growled, "You don't know him like I do!"
It was such a foolishly worded phrase. He let out a bark of laughter and then it turned into hysteria. He couldn't reign it in and continued until he was howling, feeling the tugging in his chest and face. The tightening of his muscles—
"Ah. That is why. How strange."
"Just stay away!"
o-o-o
All our resistance had done nothing.
In the end, we were still changed.
o-o-o
There was such an agonizing pain splitting him from the inside out. It was eating him. Hot and cold, probing and lashing. Whatever it was he just wanted it to end.
He screamed in anguish as the waves hit him.
"Stop…" He whispered, voice hoarse. "Stop. Please. Just stop."
Brought down to begging. It was terrible. But so was the pain.
It hurt.
Amused, deep, monstrous. The reply he received was, "Now why would I do that?"
"Please." He begged.
"No."
And the pain continued. Wave after wave, tearing and breaking him. His mouth felt dry, his throat burned from all his screaming, his muscles begged for an end along with his wails. But still, they continued.
Then, finally, it ended. "What a good boy, you are." He was mocked. "Not even lunging at us today." He fell to the ground, his arms and legs giving way. "Hmm… You aren't as strong as I had hoped."
Die. He wanted to say. Die and suffer.
But he remained silent, passive. Letting the monster take his results and leave him be.
Bread was given to him. A gentler hand brought him up and he looked up at green eyes. "Lea." He croaked and the boy—no. The man lifted him up and helped him get to the cell.
"This… is my fault." The man said softly, "If I hadn't…" He gulped down the water offered to him, "I don't… I don't get why they're so obsessed with you. Well, maybe I'm just not tested as much because I throw fits. Why… why don't you try it?"
He didn't reply but he slouched more, miserable.
"I'm so sorry, Isa."
And his friend cried.
o-o-o
It's over, it seems. Our plans.
For some reason… I had still hoped you'd keep your promise.
But now you're gone.
Existence erased by your own fire.
o-o-o
"Isa." He rose, already blocking his mind and preparing himself for the pain.
Lea was up, threatening the man and bristled. Shooting flames out of the cell until he ran out of mana.
And yet still, in the end, he was taken out.
For some reason, shortly after, Lea was, too.
Something was different about the men. He couldn't tell what.
They were both slung down, along with a nervous looking brunet and a straightfaced blond.
"You have served us well. Now we only have one final test…"
There was screaming and pain and something cold pushing into his chest—taking all the warmth out.
And then Isa was no more.
o-o-o
I became the puppet to bring us forward. To save us.
But in the end, I became the mask.
And you—you became obsessed with a foolish boy and broke your promise.
"Kingdom Hearts… where… is my heart?"
And where… is yours?
I'm so sad now. TT^TT
