I was trapped. There was only wall behind me, and before me stood the hooded, cloaked figure, impeding any exit I could have made. The figure crossed its arms and began to approach me. I slowly backed up to the wall, looking desperately around for anything to use as a weapon. All I could see was an old, broken crate. I quickly picked up two shards of wood and held them between my fingers, like knives.
"What do you want?" I demanded, my voice sounding strange and echoey in the deserted alley, bouncing off the stone walls around me.
The figure stopped, its arms still crossed. A low chuckle emitted from beneath the hood, not ringing nearly as loudly as my frightened question.
"I want you to accept that you can no longer run,"
the figure said. The voice was male, tenor and calm,
and with a familiar cadence that struck a chord somewhere in my memory. Who did I know that talked like this man?
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to quiet my voice and calm my racing heart. I still clutched the wooden shards tightly, my knuckles white and clenched. He uncrossed his arms, performing an elegant gesture somewhere between a shrug and a wave. "Oh, forgive me,
where are my manners?" Somehow, the statement seemed laced with irony, and I got the feeling that he didn't much care whether or not I forgave his rudeness.
"I'm called Marluxia." From the sleeve of his coat,
he produced a long-stemmed, pale pink flower, its petals unfolding slightly in the shivery breeze.
"What an interesting name," I replied, trying to stall.
The flower really jolted a nerve, and now I was racking my brains, trying to place who it was that this Marluxia reminded me of.
The pink blossom twirled slowly in his fingers as he stood there, regarding me from beneath the hood. 'Hawthorn,' I thought suddenly, not sure where the revelation had come from. 'That's pink hawthorn. Those flowers are in my garden at home, the one that...'
Marluxia.
M-a-r-l...
L-u-m-a-r-i-a...
Lumaria.
"Take off that hood!" I cried, hope bubbling up inside me. He seemed startled for a second, and then shrugged,
snapping his fingers. The hawthorn flower wilted instantly,
falling to the ground in a shower of dead petals. Slowly,
gradually, he raised both black-gloved hands to his head, paused for a second, and then lowered his hood.
It was impossible.
Impassive blue eyes stared out at me from an angular,
pale face with a straight nose, symmetrically aligned above a pair of full lips. His whole face was framed by what could only be called a mop of pale pink hair.
Strands stuck out in wild directions, wavering slightly in the breeze.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
There was one more test. "Yes, thank you."
"You're quite welcome," he replied sarcastically,
sweeping an elaborate bow that made my head spin with utter recognition. I could only stare. He'd come back. After three years of nothing, he was just back. Just like that.
"What are you staring at?" Marluxia snapped.
"Lu," I croaked. That one simple word seemed to trigger all my motor functions, and in an instant, I dropped the wood shards and began walking toward him, a huge smile on my face, my arms open wide.
"Lu! I can't believe you're back! It's been so long,
I thought you were gone forever and-"
I stopped short, gasping as the curved blade of an enormous scythe came level with my throat.
"Not one more step," Marluxia warned me... in Lumaria's voice.
"L-Lu?" I gasped, stepping back a little. "What are you-"
"I am not Lu," he said, the scythe remaining pointed in my direction.
"But... you... how?" I whispered. "You have to be...
you look exactly like him... nobody else would know the pink hawthorn... and the bow..."
"I am not the boy you think I am," Marluxia said evenly.
"Take a good, long look, Arlene. Lumaria's dead. I'm the shell that's left behind. His heart's been devoured,
and I'm the emotionless body that roams these worlds without it. Marluxia. Not Lumaria."
I stepped back one more step, tripped and crumpled to the ground, staring up in shock and horror at this man who wore Lu's face and used his voice... but now that I looked closely, I could see what differences I had been oblivious to before. In Marluxia's eyes, there was no trace of Lu's trademark twinkle of life, only a dark emptiness that seemed to yawn like a chasm within the dark pools of his pupils. His mouth, while so familiar in shape, bore not even a hint of Lu's warm smile. He looked at me with utter impassivity, waiting.
"I... I believe you," I croaked.
"Good," he replied briskly. "It'll make this much less messy."
The scythe vanished, and Marluxia snapped his fingers again. From the shadows behind him appeared several shapes, strange and bizarre in their gait and appearance.
Several of them were small, and moved with a strange and almost acrobatic grace. They were wrapped in blue armor stamped with an upside-down heart blazon, and pointed helmets adorned their heads. Their fingers ended in wicked claws, and their eyes, yellow and unblinking, stared out unceaselessly from beneath the helmets. The others were diminutive robed figures who floated in the air at about head height behind Marluxia.
Their robes were colored in various shades and hues,
but all of them wore small pointy caps adorned with a gold curl, and the same unfeeling yellow orbs stared out from their inky black faces.
"I'd advise you to close your eyes," Marluxia told me,
with no trace of readable emotion anywhere in his voice.
"What are you doing?" I screamed.
"Arlene. The Organization needs new Members. Feel honored that enough memory remains in me to have chosen you."
"Marluxia! Stop! If there's any of Lu in you then please,
don't do this!" I begged him, tears forming in my eyes,
my breath hitching raggedly in my throat as I glanced wildly around at the approaching Heartless.
"Pleading can do nothing when the entity with whom you plead no longer has the capacity for sympathy," Marluxia told me. "And there is nothing of Lu left in me, save for a few scattered memories. I told you before: the Lumaria you knew is dead. Now stop whining, and I'll make this efficient."
The Heartless moved in, and he stepped back, folding his arms again. I curled up into a ball, trying to shield myself.
"Please!" I shouted one last time.
"I'll see you in the World That Never Was," was all he said, and then he was gone, vanished in a swirl of darkness.
I felt the tears of hopelessness coming on. This time there was no escape. I closed my eyes and bowed my head as the Heartless closed the final distance, determined not to watch the killing blow come down.
A few seconds passed, and I started to believe that maybe they wouldn't attack after all.
Then, there was a blinding explosion of pain from my midsection, as if someone had taken hold of my guts and was straining to rip them out of my body.
Then there was nothing.
Nothing at all.
"What do you want?" I demanded, my voice sounding strange and echoey in the deserted alley, bouncing off the stone walls around me.
The figure stopped, its arms still crossed. A low chuckle emitted from beneath the hood, not ringing nearly as loudly as my frightened question.
"I want you to accept that you can no longer run,"
the figure said. The voice was male, tenor and calm,
and with a familiar cadence that struck a chord somewhere in my memory. Who did I know that talked like this man?
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to quiet my voice and calm my racing heart. I still clutched the wooden shards tightly, my knuckles white and clenched. He uncrossed his arms, performing an elegant gesture somewhere between a shrug and a wave. "Oh, forgive me,
where are my manners?" Somehow, the statement seemed laced with irony, and I got the feeling that he didn't much care whether or not I forgave his rudeness.
"I'm called Marluxia." From the sleeve of his coat,
he produced a long-stemmed, pale pink flower, its petals unfolding slightly in the shivery breeze.
"What an interesting name," I replied, trying to stall.
The flower really jolted a nerve, and now I was racking my brains, trying to place who it was that this Marluxia reminded me of.
The pink blossom twirled slowly in his fingers as he stood there, regarding me from beneath the hood. 'Hawthorn,' I thought suddenly, not sure where the revelation had come from. 'That's pink hawthorn. Those flowers are in my garden at home, the one that...'
Marluxia.
M-a-r-l...
L-u-m-a-r-i-a...
Lumaria.
"Take off that hood!" I cried, hope bubbling up inside me. He seemed startled for a second, and then shrugged,
snapping his fingers. The hawthorn flower wilted instantly,
falling to the ground in a shower of dead petals. Slowly,
gradually, he raised both black-gloved hands to his head, paused for a second, and then lowered his hood.
It was impossible.
Impassive blue eyes stared out at me from an angular,
pale face with a straight nose, symmetrically aligned above a pair of full lips. His whole face was framed by what could only be called a mop of pale pink hair.
Strands stuck out in wild directions, wavering slightly in the breeze.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
There was one more test. "Yes, thank you."
"You're quite welcome," he replied sarcastically,
sweeping an elaborate bow that made my head spin with utter recognition. I could only stare. He'd come back. After three years of nothing, he was just back. Just like that.
"What are you staring at?" Marluxia snapped.
"Lu," I croaked. That one simple word seemed to trigger all my motor functions, and in an instant, I dropped the wood shards and began walking toward him, a huge smile on my face, my arms open wide.
"Lu! I can't believe you're back! It's been so long,
I thought you were gone forever and-"
I stopped short, gasping as the curved blade of an enormous scythe came level with my throat.
"Not one more step," Marluxia warned me... in Lumaria's voice.
"L-Lu?" I gasped, stepping back a little. "What are you-"
"I am not Lu," he said, the scythe remaining pointed in my direction.
"But... you... how?" I whispered. "You have to be...
you look exactly like him... nobody else would know the pink hawthorn... and the bow..."
"I am not the boy you think I am," Marluxia said evenly.
"Take a good, long look, Arlene. Lumaria's dead. I'm the shell that's left behind. His heart's been devoured,
and I'm the emotionless body that roams these worlds without it. Marluxia. Not Lumaria."
I stepped back one more step, tripped and crumpled to the ground, staring up in shock and horror at this man who wore Lu's face and used his voice... but now that I looked closely, I could see what differences I had been oblivious to before. In Marluxia's eyes, there was no trace of Lu's trademark twinkle of life, only a dark emptiness that seemed to yawn like a chasm within the dark pools of his pupils. His mouth, while so familiar in shape, bore not even a hint of Lu's warm smile. He looked at me with utter impassivity, waiting.
"I... I believe you," I croaked.
"Good," he replied briskly. "It'll make this much less messy."
The scythe vanished, and Marluxia snapped his fingers again. From the shadows behind him appeared several shapes, strange and bizarre in their gait and appearance.
Several of them were small, and moved with a strange and almost acrobatic grace. They were wrapped in blue armor stamped with an upside-down heart blazon, and pointed helmets adorned their heads. Their fingers ended in wicked claws, and their eyes, yellow and unblinking, stared out unceaselessly from beneath the helmets. The others were diminutive robed figures who floated in the air at about head height behind Marluxia.
Their robes were colored in various shades and hues,
but all of them wore small pointy caps adorned with a gold curl, and the same unfeeling yellow orbs stared out from their inky black faces.
"I'd advise you to close your eyes," Marluxia told me,
with no trace of readable emotion anywhere in his voice.
"What are you doing?" I screamed.
"Arlene. The Organization needs new Members. Feel honored that enough memory remains in me to have chosen you."
"Marluxia! Stop! If there's any of Lu in you then please,
don't do this!" I begged him, tears forming in my eyes,
my breath hitching raggedly in my throat as I glanced wildly around at the approaching Heartless.
"Pleading can do nothing when the entity with whom you plead no longer has the capacity for sympathy," Marluxia told me. "And there is nothing of Lu left in me, save for a few scattered memories. I told you before: the Lumaria you knew is dead. Now stop whining, and I'll make this efficient."
The Heartless moved in, and he stepped back, folding his arms again. I curled up into a ball, trying to shield myself.
"Please!" I shouted one last time.
"I'll see you in the World That Never Was," was all he said, and then he was gone, vanished in a swirl of darkness.
I felt the tears of hopelessness coming on. This time there was no escape. I closed my eyes and bowed my head as the Heartless closed the final distance, determined not to watch the killing blow come down.
A few seconds passed, and I started to believe that maybe they wouldn't attack after all.
Then, there was a blinding explosion of pain from my midsection, as if someone had taken hold of my guts and was straining to rip them out of my body.
Then there was nothing.
Nothing at all.