So, after four years of drafting, abandoning, mulling, returning, and repeating the whole process, I finally posted up this little tale! Honestly, I would've posted this up sooner, but it took a while for FanFiction to accept my character request, and then Final Fantasy had to come steal me away for awhile there and then exams...well, it's Summer Vacation...I'm back!
Please enjoy!
Project Dispersed Memories Part I
~*Introduction*~
There was just something so appealing about the last day of school.
Resting comfortably in my desk chair, thoughtfully chewing the tip of my pen, I remained one of the only students in that buzzing classroom that wasn't fidgeting their brains out. Light chatter filled the room, the harshness of the clock ringing in our ears.
Tick tick tick tick.
Such an uneasy sound. One that spoke of a promise to come yet showed us just how far away our freedom was, a mere two minutes that felt like forever.
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
The ultimate tease, I groaned inwardly.
And then the bell rang, its piercing scream echoing about the empty school halls.
For the first time since the beginning of the year, the school was completely and utterly quiet.
Then someone shouted.
Then another.
A cheer.
A high five here. A whoop there.
And then, before I even had one measly picosecond to cover my ears, the whole school erupted in an uproar.
There's really no way to describe the instantaneous chaos. Students ripped up papers and jumped around wildly, performing the most eccentric of dances, drunk on the taste of long awaited freedom. Teachers exclaimed the homework assignments at the last second, reminding us to stay good and clean, trying to reign in the chaos.
Like animals the monster-demon children ripped open the classroom doors and continued their rampaging in to the hall. I had barely managed to snatch up my backpack. In a whirlwind of confusion I found myself being herded outside, clutching onto my backpack for dear life, as I was spun out in to the hallway, blood still swirling around in my head. Hands grabbed for me, and my feet were trampled upon, but I paid them little mind. As I threw open the double-door exit, a violent ocean of stir-crazy students by my side, I could suddenly feel a whole year's worth of weight being lifted off my chest.
I took my very first steps towards the summer vacation of my junior year, a light feeling in my stomach, and electricity buzzing in my head. I took a deep, deep breathe of the fresh air.
Hmm...taste like freedom.
I exhaled.
My liberating moment was broken as people pushed pass me, forcing me down the walkway that led to the parking lot. I shifted and adjusted my backpack, my bearings completely upside down as I tried to regain my footing. I had barely any warning at all when something large and massive suddenly engulfed me in a crushing hug.
"Zexy-chaan!"
I squeaked. "Urgh, Wendy! You know I can never breathe when you do that!"
Wriggling out of the iron grasp, I whirled around to shoot a lethal glare at the perpetrator. A pair of eyes that were colored an orange that didn't exist in nature twinkled merrily back at me, doing well to instantly melt my petty anger.
"I merely do it to reassure myself that you'll react properly should you ever be attacked by some unruly male," the girl explained, flaring her nostrils. It was an impressive sight, considering her bright pink-and-blue hair and tie-die shirt.
I groaned and rubbed my eyes, an involuntary smile squirming on my face. "At least I'll always know that I have my Mar-Mar to protect me from these saidticular males." We both snickered. I turned to the two loitering teens by my side. A brother and a sister. Lisa and Sammy Becker, my two upper upperclassmen. Both of them towered over me, their blonde hair shimmering in the sunlight, dressed as if they were preparing to go to the beach. Their identical expressions were hauntingly similar as they smiled mirthfully at me.
Of course, they were twins.
"Well, you'll want to be on your guard tonight, little girl," exclaimed Sammy, his bright blue eyes flashing with childish excitement. He was practically bouncing in his Rip Curl flip flops. Sammy clapped a familiar hand atop my head. "If your dearest bookworm goes around in that adorable blue wig of hers, we just might have a riot on our hands."
I had the decency to blush. "Costume party, huh?"
"Naturally," said Lisa, her presence a lot calmer than that of her brother. Her blue eyes were critical. "It's our civic duty to throw an end of the year party, to set up the red carpet for SummerFest. You would know if you actually showed up, D." She glared at me in good humor, though the accusation was well implied.
I smiled, still heavily blushing, and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just playing hard to get."
They laughed. Sammy punched me playfully on the shoulder, a sentiment I returned with a smile. "Well, I hope to see you there anyway, D. Eight o'clock sharp." Both still smiling, the Becker twins joined the fleeing group of students, blending with the crowd.
I waved them both goodbyes, trying to ignore the sizzling glare my friend was pointedly shooting me. If was fairly difficult considering her contact coloring seemed to bore holes into me. When all of the students who mattered were out of earshot, Wendy clapped her hand on my shoulder and whirled me around. Her pouty lips were jutted heavily in a frown.
"You're not coming, are you?" she said instantly. I dropped my eyes and looked down at my shoelaces. She released me, stomping her foot. "There goes a nice boy openly flirting with you, and you can't even come to one of his stinking parties? It's not fair, D!"
The old feeling of petty guilt wormed its way into my stomach, but I was well acquainted with it enough to politely ignore it. "I'm sorry, but Aki wants to do something tonight. I promised I would hang out with her so we could play video games together." Her frown grew even heavier, and she crossed her arms, eyes narrowed skeptically.
"Mmhmm, and how does Aki feel knowing that she's the butt of every excuse you use in order to not socialize?"
Ouch.
Feeling the slight taste of shame welling the back of my throat, I placed defense, furrowing my brow. "The only reason you're upset is because I won't be there to help you flirt with Sammy."
I ignored the shameful sting as she flinched and flushed deeply. "H—he just likes talking to you better," she mumbled, fiddling her pinkies.
The shame grew heavier.
"I'm sorry, Wendy," I murmured. "But c'mon, it's summer break!" I clapped a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling brightly. "He'll be wrapped around your finger by this time August."
Wendy sighed. "Yeah…yeah, okay, fine, you win. You promise you'll at least come to SummerFest, right?"
"Of course I will!"
Wrapping me up in one more engulfing hug, she slapped an unsuspecting wet kiss on my cheek. I squirmed and groaned until she let me go.
"Ugh!" I screeched, roughly wiping my face. "I will talk to you tomorrow, Ms. Lambert." We both laughed again.
With those last words hanging between us, we wandered off in different directions, me, calmly strolling to the parking lot, and her, dashing off to the party going on by the gymnasium.
~*O*~
It was a half hour later. I was resting inside my car, lightly reading a book as I waited for the middle school to let out it's students. Suddenly, a petite little girl's face appeared outside my window, her eyes glimmering happily as she lightly tapped on the glass. I unlocked the car doors and waited till she hopped inside and buckled up before starting up my truck.
Aki, my eleven year old younger sister, had her iPod earphones in and was bobbing her head erratically, her pretty, chocolate brown hair swaying left to right. We both remained in comfortable silence as I drove us home. She then plugged the contraption into the adapter connected into the radio. Passion boomed out of the speakers, doing well to startle me out of oblivion.
"I've been looking forward to this all week," she squeaked out, bubbling with excitement. She seemed unaffected as her seat began rattling in beat of the song. "The ultimate Kingdom Hearts video game experience! Tonight!"
I turned down the volume before my eardrums could begin bleeding. I fixed her with a stern look. "Only if you don't have any homework to work on, dearest."
She shot me a don't-kid-like-that glare. The color of her eyes blurred and meshed together to create a beautiful, dark blue. It could either very gorgeous or frightfully scary. "Only Ms. Gomes gave us anything, and it was some book assignment. You know that that doesn't count as homework. All week, D," she begged pitifully. "All weeeek."
I laughed and rolled my eyes, making a show of considering it, cruelly playing with her anticipation. Then I said, "All right, we can play tonight. But I want to see you working that book tomorrow morning. Promise?"
"Promise!"
We interlocked pinkies and listened to her tunes the whole way home. A skull-aching headache was fast approaching, but I decided to ignore it.
A wise man once told me, never stand between a wolf and its prey. So when Aki nearly ripped open my car door and raced into the house, aiming for the console, I just grinned and let it go. Grabbing both of our backpacks and locking the car and I leisurely walked in after her. She was already ripping through the game cases. Assassin's Creed and Twilight Princess went flying through the air.
"Aha!" she cried holding up her prize over her head. Throwing our bags onto the couch, I unzipped my jacket and hung it on the coat rack, trying to keep my face as somber as possible.
"Hey," I protested as she pounced on the PS2, "at least wait until after dinner, you."
The reaction was almost instantaneous. She swirled around towards me, her short brown hair flying around wildly. Lighting crackled in her blue eyes.
"ALL! WEEK! D!"
"Then you can wait another two hours," I pointed out calmly. My grin grew somber. "Is this all you plan to do with your summer? Play Kingdom Hearts?"
"Heavens no!" she exclaimed, her eyes bulging. "If I do that then I just might get sick of it! That just won't do. However, tonight is the perfect night for an extravaganza!" She hesitated for a moment, let exhaled loudly. "Sigh, but I guess if it's on your orders I shall postpone such amazing plans."
My eyes grew wide, and I touched my chest in shock. "For me?"
"For you."
She reluctantly tucked the game away, and trotted over to the kitchen. As I placed the disturbed game cases back in the wall-unit I could hear the clatter of dishes and furrowed my brow when I heard the telltale sounds of someone pouring a bowl of cereal. A few seconds later she reappeared inhaling a bowl of Fruit Loops that didn't even have any milk.
I gaped. "This is dinner to you?"
She looked up at me with a cheeky grin. "It's all a matter of perspective."
There was no hesitation as she jumped over to the TV and started up the console. I rolled my eyes and began to massage my temples.
Let the summer-time festivities begin, I thought as I settled onto the couch. The SquareSoft logo floated onto the screen.
~*O*~
At one point in our lives Aki and I had blithely wondered the bare minimum of how long it would take to finish the first Kingdom Hearts game. It took a few days of crunching numbers (does the secret fight with Sephiroth count? How about synthesis material gathering?) , but in the end it took us a bare minimum of forty hours. Too long.
Aki, the little warrior that she was however, was determined.
No DS, no PSP, just the three main console games IN ORDER! she had exclaimed.
A relief, if you asked me.
But there we were perhaps twelve hours later. It felt like four o'clock in the morning by the time I finally roused myself from sleep. Stretched out on the couch, I blearily looked about the room. The electronic clock glowed in the darkness.
Three fourty-six?
Uuurrggh...close enough.
Ignoring the sudden wave of dizziness, I struggled up to my feet, and tried to get my bearings.
The living room, for one thing, was a complete, utter disaster. Chips and soda cans littered the floor in a disgusting Picasso. It almost as if we had housed several pigs here for three weeks rather than two teenage girls playing a video game. The light from the TV made the whole thing feel as if though I was in some sort of B-rated horror movie. Ugh, creepy.
The illusion was shattered when I saw Aki cuddled up on the floor, and I suddenly remembered the real nightmare. Re: Chain of Memories was cradled close to her like a stuffed toy. I could only guess she had been meaning to rest her eyelids before popping in the next game, finally sick of hearing Sora's voice before it hit puberty.
Okay, okay, so we started the game at four thirty…do the math…eleven hours? Yesh, and I didn't even make it to six…
I was quick to turn off the TV, never wanting to see that blasted Continue screen ever again. Jostling the case out of her greedy hands I lifted the poor girl into my arms and began the strenuous process of carrying her up the stairs to bed.
Our house had four bedrooms. Before Dad left for overseas he had had the master bedroom, while Aki and I had our own rooms tucked away in the back of the house. One more room was usually reserved for a guest. After Dad had left, I inherited the master bedroom, as I rightfully deserved it, leaving the used blue room covered with anime posters in the complete mess that I've left it in four years ago.
Aki's room was very tranquil. It was painted a sort of deep purple that made me sleepy just looking at it. She was all into that zen business, relaxation and what not. One time she went through a kind of Feng Shui phase, telling me how off my aura felt. I had laughed.
Tossing her headfirst onto the bed she immediately snuggled into the pillows, muttering what suspiciously sounded like "Mar-Mar, don't leave…"
I chuckled.
Flipping off the lights and leaving her to enjoy her dreams I sauntered over to my room with distant fantasies of my own warm bed. It most certainly was a master bedroom, with an adjoining bathroom and walk-in closet. It was the bed I loved so much, with its silky, caressing sheets, and was wide enough to comfortably hold a family of five.
Telling myself to wait just a little bit longer I walked to the bathroom (resisting from turning on the lights, as I knew my retinas would probably catch fire) and felt my way in the darkness for my toothbrush and paste. My mouth tasted vaguely like pizza and taco sauce. Scrubbing down my teeth to the very root I blearily looked at my reflection.
A dreary, disheveled young girl stared back up at me, her hazy green eyes distant and tired as she tried focusing on me. Even in the darkness her abnormally pale skin seemed to glow. Pulling back my hair I drank from the tap and spat out the toothpaste, feeling fairly better with minty breath. Shaking myself, I looked back up to the girl and smiled broadly at her.
I trudged into my room and dove face first on to the four-poster bed. Quickly becoming lost in the sheets I reached out for my pillow, buried my head as far in as it could go and emptied my mind of all things logical until there was nothing left but a ballerina performing the waltz on top of Big Ben.
At that point I became lost in dreams.
~*O*~
You can often tell how great your day is by how your morning goes, a wise man once told me.
Arising from sleep the next morning I remained in a sort of Twilight Zone, that state just between asleep and awake. I could vaguely remember the details of my dreams, which involved an erratic collage of drowning toy dolls and dancing syringe needles. Creepy.
Eventually I began to fully wake up, staring listlessly out the window. The weak rays of morning peaked through the curtains, pleasantly alighting the room. I yawned, smacking my lips and shaking myself. It was then that I heard some sort of shuffling downstairs. Looking at the clock I groaned. Ten forty-six? Dear lord, if that girl couldn't go a measly six hours without Kingdom Hearts I was going to seriously start considering an insanity plea.
Figuring it wouldn't be good to start the day carrying last night's filth on me, I jumped out of bed and hopped over to the bathroom. Starting up the inviting shower, I shimmied out of my clothes and stepped into the gushing stream of warm water. Feeling the knots in my shoulder uncoil, I began to lather up, smiling contently.
Doubtless the rest of the week would be nothing but Aki's would go on to complain about how they always kill the best characters. She would compel me to fight all the bosses on Re: Chain of Memories because she hated that damn card system, yet was far too loyal to the characters to abandon the game entirely. We would also probably catch deadly diseases that came about due to extreme laziness. Who would want to go back to that?
Well, Aki wasn't the first of our family to fall into obsession for Kingdom Hearts, after all. I had an unhealthy obsession with fictional video game characters before it was cool.
Besides, spending quality time with my dearest sister was just enough to keep Wendy off my back about my 'antisocial tendencies'. Not to imply that I was using my sister for that purpose; but it was convenient.
Only after I was sure my hair smelled like a rose garden I began the painstaking process of rinsing out the shampoo. I reluctantly shut off the water and shivered as the merciless cold air kissed my wet skin.
Just think, once this is all over and done with, I can probably drag little Aki to the beach, I thought, mind drifting to the beachside towns and carnivals and surfs. No, Wendy would never forgive me if I missed SummerFest…
My fantasies were rudely interrupted when I heard a loud knock on the door. I jolted up in surprise and looked into my room, still in the disarray that I had left it. Who would be knocking? Certainly not Aki, she never knocks, much rather believing in brutal entry, a habit that led to more than one embarrassing incident.
However, the knocking sounded again, this time much more urgent. I hurriedly threw on a bath robe as I briskly walked towards the door. Upon throwing it open, I was surprised to see Aki there staring up at me with wide eyes. Before I had time to open my mouth she whispered, "There's someone downstairs."
I blinked. Then I slowly blinked again.
"What?"
At first I couldn't believe her and assumed she had made up some sort of sick joke. The look in her blue eyes was enough to convince me otherwise, and I placed my hands comfortingly on her shoulders. "Who is it? Is it a robber?"
She shook her head fretfully, her shoulders shaking with fright. "No, it's—it's…I was… he was just lying there…I…" Looking a second away from crying, she bit her lip and looked down at her feet.
"What is it?"
"It's Vexen," she said finally.
My jaw slacked with open surprise. What did she say? Vexen? Poor thing, she must be hallucinating. Like she was reading my mind, she was already shaking her head, tears threatening to spill. "It's true, Dianna! The hair, the coat, everything—it looks just like him." Grabbing my hands she tried to tug me into the hallway. "C'mon, see for yourself!"
The panic in her tone suggested she wanted me to see it if only to prove that she wasn't insane. I myself wasn't so sure. The trip downstairs was an eternity (myself being acutely aware that I was still in a bathrobe), my logic warring with my sensibility. I knew that Aki was a very reasonable girl, and that it takes a lot to get her to become anything even close to scared. I also knew that it would take something earth shatteringly traumatic to cause her to mentally snap.
But Vexen in our house?
What could she have seen?
When we entered the living room, where not six hours ago I had woken up, my mind went blank. Aki squeaked and hid behind me, clutching my hand like she was five years old again, the both of us trapped in a haunted house.
There he was, exactly how my sister had described him with a few extra horrifying details. Flat on his back, platinum blonde hair in disarray, his black uniform wrinkled and charred. Vexen, Number IV of Organization XIII, utterly passed out in my living room.
~*O*~
To be continued...
And so it begins...
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Comment Question of the Day:
What do you like to do on the first day of Summer Vacation?
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~DM-sama