Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square-Enix.
The only thing I own is Suihei - Noxic is property of Arti-Collie, and Nyx Noir is property of Oblivion363
There had never been a time that she'd enjoyed traversing the depths of Radiant Garden. Not because she was afraid of traveling alone, because she had done that more than a handful of times, but because it had never been in her personal interest to see the World that had been wreathed in Darkness a year before up close and personal. But, the Castle was a place that enraptured her – captivated her, even. A place where so many things had happened, so many great, pivotal changes in her life had occurred towards the end of her first journey, that she couldn't help but follow rumours on the veritable treasure trove of information awaiting her.
Lighting had told her that long ago, experiments were said to be carried out in the depths of their Halls, and these experiments – dangerous as they were, had resulted in the second influx of Darkness that had threatened the Worlds years before they were born. Suihei liked to believe that since this place had been the birth of Darkness, then perhaps she would find what she sought the most.
Information.
Soulless were a peculiar breed. She recalled. Born of Hearts blinded by Light, their minds had been burned away by near religious zealotry. A dangerous thing if there ever was one. At the head of the Soulless was a mysterious organization called 'The Order of Light', creatures that excelled where the more monstrous Soulless beneath their command. Governed by their mindless conviction, they had begun an insidious plot to crystalize the Worlds during the time that she had been slumbering.
The Light was just as dangerous as the Dark.
It was a troubling turn of events, something that she hadn't been expected to be thrust into following her one year sleep, but she had never been the sort to complain. Once Lightning had let it slip, rather intentionally, that there was something beneath the depilated castle, Suihei knew she couldn't let this opportunity slip between her fingers.
So, earlier that morning, she had packed a bag, making sure to stock up on potions, ethers and elixirs on the chance that she was attacked by an errant Heartless or Soulless on her journey from the city towards the Castle. While it had taken some time to trek there, she had made short work of it by weaving through a few shortcuts with well-placed use of her abilities.
'Such a pain…' She thought to herself, keeping an eye out for any tell-tale flashes of black and purple or silver and gold just in case one of her less than favored 'friends' decided to pay her a visit.
As soon as the thought finished crossing her mind, Suihei had landed in a crouch courtesy of, well, a wall that had offered support for her quick motions. Agility was useful when gliding was still out of her reach, and she had to thank her parents for forcing her into gymnastics when she was younger, otherwise she would've long since been winded. Apparently her little trail had taken her through an underground cavern, probably the interior of the mountain the castle was built on.
"What a weird place…"
How astute of her to observe. Cavernous walls quickly gave way to a pristine columns that jutted up from between the floors. Emblazoned with a fleur de lis, and the roar of water in the distance told her that she was near a source of it—from her memory of exploring the Castle a year before, Suihei vaguely recalled that there was, in fact, a back entrance filled with magically enchanted ice, as well as rapid waterfalls beneath the depths.
The white was disorienting, almost blinding in a way that had the brunette shielding her eyes as she forced herself onwards. Oddly enough, no traps awaited her- maybe, just maybe, she'd been watching too many horror movies. She'd expected something waiting for her- but it was completely barren of life. Even if she was aware that this was – several thousand years old, it didn't stop paranoia from stirring in her heart. She was quick to suppress it, however, eager to continue on to her goal.
As she continued her stride uninhibited, she eventually found herself passing through the seemingly endless hall and found herself on a platform. Thirteen columns jutted out of the ground, and the roar of a waterfall proved her theory correct. A quick glance down, and Suihei saw that the water circled the platform, though it was discretely filtered through grates to maintain a constant level of water. Her eyes flicked forward once more, and as she stepped forward in curiosity, the dull rumble of age old cogs clicking and grinding against one another immediately caught her attention.
Generations. It'd been generations since anyone had stepped foot in here, and though she didn't know this, she could hear the strain of metal against metal. From the center of the platform where she stood, a computer terminal slowly rose from the ground. As she had enough time to get out of the way of it, a minute later had Suihei standing in front of a computer terminal.
While incredibly outdated in comparison to the transparent screens she was accustomed to, the computer still looked fresh. Clean. As if it had taken strides to keep itself in pristine condition, despite not being accessed for eons.
"This is definitely . . ."
Weird. It was weird. And she didn't like it. More than anything else, it made her feel unsettled, but if this is the trove of information she was looking for, then she'd take what she could. Suihei was almost disinclined to even continue – sorely tempted to turn around, if only because it felt like a wild goose chase.
The screen flickered a few times, drawing her attention once again.
'Enter username and password'. If that wasn't a pain in the butt, she didn't know what was.
Oh, why not? It wouldn't hurt to try, and she had no idea what she was getting herself into in the first place. At first, she thought she could do this a bit more – but a few minutes later, and even that became a monumental task. She tried everything she knew under the book 'sea-salt icecream', 'gummiblocks', and, in one childish twist, 'twilight town', but all she got in return was a blinking error message. Unable to bury the frustration that was building up in her chest, Suihei's fists bashed the keyboard. A brittle crack signified that she'd more than likely broken a piece of the delicate technology.
What a hunk of jun-
Her train of thought was interrupted by the dull hum of electricity saturating the air. Suihei's hazel eyes narrowed in apprehension, and as a precaution, she backed away from the computer terminal. Once again, the sound of age old gears groaning rattled through the air. Dust dotted the air for but a moment, before thirteen gates rose from slots in the floor surrounding her.
Well, one of these had to lead to somewhere.
The only question was, where.
I've decided after a lot of thought, that since Destati won't be a fanfiction of any sort, I'll be uploading whatever comes to mind individually - here, we have what would've come at the climax of Act II - exploring Radiant Garden in order to find information on a new Enemy. Of course, she'll have to work through every single one - the following chapters are two short previews of what could've been - peppered with a variety of snippets instead of - clear concise storytelling that I actually should be doing.