Oh would you look at that? Instead of updating "In Our Free Time," I decided to throw up a short story which holds almost no context unless you know of my poke-ask blog on Tumblr. This particular story only served the point of establishing a social link between two characters. And honestly, I think I could have done a way better job. But then again, I've been bullshitting a lot of my work on that blog, so why stop now?
If you are easily triggered, please don't read this.
Journal entry #56 It's been a month or so since Kratos and I arrived in Silver Ore City. We're supposed to be waiting for Zach, Leon and Vanitas, but they've yet to show up. In fact, so have Madam Autumn and Xehanort for that matter. I'm starting to believe something is wrong, or something terrible happened to them. Maybe they froze on the way here. They probably allowed Leon to be leader for this, seeing as how he knows Silver Ore like the back of his hand. But that doesn't mean he knew how to get here from our current home. Anyway, I've had absolutely nothing to do these past few weeks except stay in my room. The only reason I go out is to buy groceries. Kratos is almost never home till later in the night. When he does stay home, he sleeps most of the day away. It'd be nice to have him around to speak with sometimes, no matter how rude he is. The last thing we actually did together was see Lyone beat the stuffing out of Gold. Speaking of Lyone, I have yet to see him the past few days either. Maybe he's still mourning Delilah. Would make sense. This is the place she died. Stepping foot on this land would cause such memories to rush back faster than Leon could get turned down.
—-
A knocking on the door caused the banette to raise her head from her journal. She looks towards the door a moment, before turning the attention back to her journal.
"It's open," she says simply. With that, the door slowly opened to revel Kratos standing outside the door.
"Jasmine, doll yourself up- oh wait," He snickers softly, which results in said banette throwing a pillow at him, which Kratos in turn dodged. "Anyway, I'm taking you out for a night on the town. You've done nothing but stay inside the past month."
Jasmine rolled her eyes. In one case, she really didn't want to do anything at the moment. Then again, she had been dying to get out of the house for an excuse, even if it was with Kratos.
And she did say she did have a strange need to speak with him.
"Ugh. Where to?" She asked. Kratos smiled and immediately spawned a rose, clutching it between his teeth.
"Oh, only La Reve." He responds, a slight smirk crossing his face. Jasmine immediately stood up. She honestly couldn't believe he'd said that. Did Kratos really believe that he could pull that off?
"You do know we're currently in the slums, and to have us walking into the richer side of the city is almost impossible?" She said, trying to reason with the ninetales.. "In fact, I think we'll be kicked out faster than Vanitas runs from Autumn."
"Oh? And where are they going to find tat person who can stop me? What was his name? Hm?" He smirks even wider. "Oh right, he doesn't exist." With that, he drops the rose on the ground. Upon impact, they immediately sport into a bouquet with a note attached to the side.
She walked over to the bouquet and picks it up. They really were beautiful flowers. But that was irrelevant. She picks the note from the side and skimmed it, before crumbling it up and tossing it aside.
Don't get your hopes up rag doll. Consider it a date, for small bit. However, we're only just casual acquaintances.
"FUCK YOU, KRATOS!"
—
There they were, easily walking out of the slums and into the restaurant. Jasmine couldn't believe how easy that was. Especially with posters of Kratos plastered across the city walls with ludicrously large rewards. What had he done to get inside so easily? Was he manipulating someone? That made the most sense, especially with how Silver Ore was set up by class.
Or did they really look as if they belonged up here?
"Don't look so surprised, you're a dead give away," Said Kratos as he slowly made his way to the desk. Jasmine made an effort not to act hostile towards Kratos. He was trying to do something nice, so it was the least she could do in return…
At this point, she allowed her mind to wander off to other topics. Ignoring the fact that they were not "showing their place" in the city and staying in the lower quarter, she began to think about how the others appeared to be holding up. At this point, honestly, she was convinced Leon was leading them through. Had they entrusted Vanitas or.. Zachary, then this would have never happened and they'd be here already. They could either be starving or freezing to death. Maybe both, if one of them hadn't resulted to cannibalism yet.
"This way Jasmine," Kratos chimes, snapping said banette out of her thoughts. She follows the ninetales through a maze of tables before he suddenly stops by a booth next to a window. Kratos steps on to one side and sits, while Jasmine does the same on the other side. Immediately, her eyes drift towards the champagne. Kratos catches her eye and lets out a soft sigh. "I wouldn't if I were yo-"
"Shut your face," She said bluntly as she began to unscrew the cork. "I realized the past month that I have terrible taste in men, and I was a deadbeat mother that said nothing about it. Not only that, I was an irrational ditz that caused us trouble on multiple occasions. I. Need. This." With that, she poured herself a glass of wine and drank it, letting a soft sigh escape her lips as she put the glass down.
Oh boy, this'll be a long night.
—
Despite Jasmine's outburst, the dinner was actually quite relaxing, so Kratos would say so himself. Great food, and he actually was able to have a fairly pleasant conversation with the girl. Nothing too big, just nonsensical small talk with an occasional joke here or there.
For a moment.
In the background, what has once been light music playing in the background, was now gone. Immediately gone. Heads snapped towards the stage at the abrupt end. There was a faint sound of slurred arguing could be herd for a few moments, along with some backround chatter. Most of it clearly translating to "What's going on?" A few minutes later, the air is now filled with the sound of the someone falling, along with the smashing of a table, a few dishes and some unlucky eevee who got caught under the weight.
"Well, there goes one part of the ambiance," Kratos says in a slightly disappointed tone. Jasmine takes a look at Kratos, then she allows her eyes to drift back toward the stage. She ponders her thoughts a moment, almost hesitant to do what she was about to do. And in retrospect, it didn't seem to be the best idea as she allowed her eyes to drift to the now half empty bottle of wine.
Oh, what the hell. She got up front her seat and slowly makes her way toward the stage. Kratos eyes here curiously. Normally, to figure out what she was doing, he'd enter her mind, but the fact that ti could be simply nothing was a bit off putting. He watches her as she makes her way up the stage's small steps and over to the microphone.
The banette looks back to the other musicians on stage. "Hey, can you all feel your way through a piece?" She asked. A smeargle, who at the time ad been playing piano, nods in her direction.
"It may be a bit difficult, but I'm sure we can pull something off," he responded. Jasmine smiled at him and turned back towards the mass of people now staring dead at her.
"Then let me take the lead, sugar," she chimes. The banette snaps, trying to establish a tempo for the song. Kratos watches from afar curiously. Was she really planning to sing for the crowd?
I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.
Oh. So she did. It was at this point that the smeargle began to chime in, having found the key she wanted rather easily, and it flowed beautifully with her voice.
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.
Kratos could feel the absolute intensity in her voice. The passion, it really supported the piece well. Had it been dull, the song would have been also. That much, is common knowledge. However, something about the way she let her emotions take control. Where were they coming from, anyway?
I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over.
There was definitely a small pause at the end of the verse. The banette's face visibly darkened. And that made Kratos's answer absolutely clear. She was definitely referring to Vanitas.
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
I'll remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead"
Kratos left his thoughts alone. He'd ask her about this later. Or not. Maybe it would be best not to bring it up, and instead just compliment her as he originally wanted to do, without his speculation.
—-
"Beautiful singing, I must say," Kratos chimes as he lightly nudges the banette's side with his tail. Jasmine stumbles a bit, but nudges him back upon gaining her footing gain.
"Thank ya, sweetheart," she says, a slight slur evident in her voice. Kratos let out a soft sigh. Immediately after she was done with her light performance, he immediately made a b-line back to their booth and downed the rest of the previous bottle of wine, along with half of a second before he had suggested not drinking another drop until they had gotten home.
The two stayed a bit silent for a few moments, till a small whistle broke the silence. The two stopped in their tracks. Kratos turns his head to face the sound's owner only to spot a mightyena. He steps closer to the two, his eyes fixed on Jasmine only. Said banette eyed the mightyena curiously as he got closer.
Uncomfortably closer, inch by inch.
"That was a great show you put on there, sweety," He says, a small smirk crossing his face. "You have a beautiful voice, and I could listen to it ll night if I could." He inches his face towards Jasmine and begins to whisper into her ear. "You wanna make that dream a reality sweetheart?"
Jasmine's expression darkened. "I can't even begin to explain how absolutely bad that was." She hissed. "I am not some toy you can just randomly pick up off the street. In fact, the only thing I may be saying if I did bother hooking up with you is 'Is it in yet?' Because most looking for an easy lay are never too big, or even good in general."
Kratos fought to hold back a laugh. "Shit, Jasmine!"
The mightyena seemed to ignore those insults almost entirely as he began to lightly kiss at Jasmine's neck. The banette pushes the male away from her, but he didn't seem to want to take 'no' for an answer.
"C'mon sweety don't be like that, turnin' down a nice guy like me," He chimes as he continues the assault on her neck. "I can guarantee I'll be the best you've ever had."
"Listen here-" But she couldn't get much more of a word in. The mightyena had lost a bit of patience and had finally attacked, catching the banette of guard with a swipe across the head with Iron Tail, knocking her to the ground. He then proceeded to pin her arms back, and Jasmine begins to struggle. "Get off of me!"
At this point, Kratos had seen enough. He swiftly pushes the mightyena off of Jasmine, knocking the wind out of him.
"I don't know where you get off treating a lady like that, but I'm sure she said no. So I would think you'd respect her answer." The ninetales huffs out his chest. "Or maybe 'no' means 'yes' and 'fuck off' means 'take me I'm yours' in your stupid little head?"
Kratos' remark was immediately met with a Sucker Punch he had no time to react to, immediately sending him back. Before he had time to get up, the mightyena had pounced on him, forcing him down to the ground. He immediately reaches down and takes a bite at the ninetales' neck. However, Kratos had moved his neck out of the way to avoid any serious injury, so it only grazed the side causing him to wince a bit and begin to struggle. The mightyena took a slash at Kratos' face, which lessened his struggle, before proceeding to take another few slashes at his chest before Kratos' struggling finally stopped.
"Kratos, get up!" Jasmine screamed. She couldn't be left here alone with such a person. She couldn't let this happen to her again. However, her remark caused the mightyena to retake notice in her and he immediately hits her with Sucker Punch. The banette yelps, a small trickle of blood flowing out of her mouth. Tears began to leak from her cheeks as she could feel him pinning her down again.
"Stop crying, bitch," He spat. "Your friend is down, ain't helpin you either. Now, I'm going to fuck your brains out whether you like it or not. So you better not make a sound, or I'll kill you." He smirked. "Oh, who am I kidding? This'll be the ride of your life."
"So sure about that?"
Heads quickly snapped in the direction of the fallen ninetales, who seemed to be glowing a rather dark purple aura. He slowly begins to stand, his eyes glowing a brighter shade of red than normal. His tails slowly brush against the wind, and for a faint moment, Jasmine could have sworn she saw a small pentagram on one of them.
"Release Restraint, level one." He hissed. His mouth opens up wide and a large mass of energy could be seen forming. The mightyena didn't know what to make of it at first, but he wasn't afraid. He had just taken him down easily. Why should he leave?
And that, was a mistake.
Before the mightyena could open his mouth to make a single snide remark, the ninetales fires his Fire Blast dead on, flinging the mightyena back as the flames engulfs his body. A blood curdling scream fills the night air along with the laughter of Kratos, who began to slowly advance toward the burning body. He stands before the mightyena, before swishing his tail over the body, dissipating the flames.
Jasmine stands there, terrified. She had almost been raped, again. She couldn't stop shaking, or crying. She buries her face into her knees and lets her tears streak across her cheeks. However, mere moments later, Kratos slowly nuzzles her to get her to look at him. The ninetales flashes her a smile and lowers himself down.
"Get on," he says. "Time to head home now, before another creeper shows up."
I feel as though I downplayed that last scene quite the bit. In fact, that's an understatement. I'm not proud of this much, but at this point, I've no credibility and I believe it's too late to earn any so I don't really care, especially with an overall tale as chaotic as Vanitas-And-Co, my ask-blog.
Thank you for reading, and I'm sorry you read.