"Wake up, moron!"
The boy's eyes fluttered open. He raised his arms and yawned, mouth wide. This was the fourth time the girl had interupted his nap and he had had enough.
"What? What coulld you possibly need from me now?" he demanded.
"If you don't get up right now and work your share of the load, the Forum is never going to be ready for the festival. And so help me if anything goes wrong I will personally end you in the most painful way I can think of!"
"Love you too, sis."
He got up quickly, as he had seen the kind of damage his sister could do in the right frame of mind. He glanced reluctantly at the to-do list pinned to his shirt. The first bulleted point on the list requested that he pick up the litter and clean up the general area.
"Did that."
He did in fact do part of his chores. The trash was picked up, the bulk of the Forum cleaned, and the concrete practically sparkled. The second note on the list said to paint the screen that covered the back stage wall.
"She wants it painted, eh? She'd better be ready for my masterpiece," he chuckled to himself.
He grabbed all the paint he could find and began to place his brilliancy on the wall. It wasn't until he was nearly half-way done that his sister realized what he had painted.
"Dammit Sichs, what are you doing?"
"You like it? I call it 'Essence of Tyranny'," Sichs laughed.
"It's just a picture of me yelling!"
"It has an uncanny resemblance to you, Selphie," said a girl from behind.
"Shut it Kairi, you'll just encourage him. Now Sichs, get this cleaned up, and start over."
"And if I say no?"
"Just please...," tears began to roll down Selphie's face, "Now look at what you made me do. You do absolutely nothing but cause trouble for me. I've been working for two months preparing for this festival and you've ruined it in one day. How can you be so...so...hEaRtLeSs?"
The word 'heartless' slowed and lowered in pitch. The sound grew louder, and louder still, until it hurt Sichs' ears. The vibrations of the word shook the ground. Sichs felt as if he was going to faint. Everything started spinning around at high speeds. He was going to throw up. He couldn't take it anymore. The mania soon died down to normalcy before he would have passed out. He shook his head to calm himself as Selphie ran off in a frenzy.
"Did you hear that?" Sichs asked, puzzled.
"Hear what? Anyway, maybe you should go talk to her. She looked really upset," Kairi lectured.
"Why should I care about her?"
"She is your sister."
"Half-sister."
"All the same."
"Fine, I'll go talk to her."
"Get going, you big sweetheart."
He winded through the roads and back alleys toward the beach where he was sure Selphie would be. Sitting on her favorite rock, contemplating the events of the day. When he got there, what he found was not Selphie, but a mid-size boy in a hooded vest, baggy shorts, and large shoes.
"Sora!"
The boy turned around to face Sichs with a wide smile. They began their routine handshake, but something was wrong. Sora was missing a few beats. Sichs fluidly pulled his arm from the shake and connected a punch to Sora's face in one motion. The hit was quite a solid one, and it nearly launched Sora off his feet. After flying a foot or so back into the sand, Sora got up slowly and wiped the blood mixed with earth from his face.
"What was that for?"
"You're not Sora!" Sichs screamed. He reached for a large splinter of wood from one of the row boats that had broken off during a storm. Holding it readily, he glanced menacingly at the Fake. the Fake lifted its hands and waved at Sichs, trying to goad him into attacking. Sichs dashed at the copy, swinging widly. He phased through it as his swing connected. Turning in horror, Sichs met eyes with the cackling doppleganger.
"You're not real?"
"How perceptive of you, Emblem."
"What?"
"It is of no importance now. Just unlock!"
The copy became shrouded in darkness. As the black settled, the Fake-Sora had changed into a black, hooded figure. The figure drew a strange, key-shaped weapon.
"The...Keyblade?" Sichs stammered.
"Not quite, but it is just as powerful."
The hooded man lunged at Sichs. Frozen in terror, Sichs did nothing to stop him. The key entered his body, yet he did not feel pain. What sounded like a door unlocking filled his ears, and an intense headache shot through his head.
"Look down Six, at your true appearance."
Sichs looked at his chest. It was brandished with a black, heart-shaped logo. An emblem. He didn't have enough time to ponder its meaning before he fainted. The shrouded figure disappeared in an instant, leaving the sound of one word in the air.
"Soon..."