.Another Side. Another Story.
I.
Ch. I
Burning Sky
"What's going on... It's as if... the sky is burning... I've never seen such an impressive sunset. I wonder if it is a bad omen."
Ameron Arumi took a last look out the window, observing the flaming, liquid sky, and then she took a seat in one of the soft crimson armchairs of the living room.
The woman was holding a cup of coffee and a saucer, ocasionally sipping some more of the addictive liquid. Her full, wavy black hair was pulled in a loose ponytail, and streaks of white were visible in it, shamelessly showing off her age.
"I'm sure it's not. Don't worry, Ameron.", said her husband, and he put down the heavy book he had been reading."Although you're right... it is the deepest red i've ever seen on the Midgar sky."
"They must be talking about it too, don't you think?"
"Kira and Kirie? Most definately.". The man chuckled. "They talk about anything and everything... I think Kirie does most of the talking."
"Of course she does, she's your daughter, isn't she?"
The woman smiled, a flicker of intelligence and wisdom in her eyes, and lifted the cup to her lips once again.
It was a peaceful, quiet existance there, in the green surroundings of Midgar, an unspoiled eden, far from the dangers and the greys of the city. It had been a wise decision, moving out, building a house... Their children, the smart yet quick-tempered Arumi twins, with playful storm cloud coloured eyes and black, rebellious hair, stunning good looks and bravery to envy, were their pride and love. Nothing could have ever been better- of course, there were always small fights and pains, but nothing to worry about.
"It's so beautiful, Kira, look!"
Away from home, on a beautiful field, Kirie layed on the ground, loving the feeling of grass on her bare arms. It was near the end of summer, the trees were stil green though, and the weather was heavenly.
The 15 year old girl's eyes were searching the sky's depths, in awe of the colours, of the strange shapes of the clouds, amazed by the cold feeling that all of that had some meaning.
"It's... different.", affirmed ? Kira, giving the red sky a somewhat skeptical look. It was bloody, and unnatural, at least that's how he saw it. It was not normal. it was threatening.
"Oy, loosen up. Different doesn't mean bad. Different, this time, is beautiful! I love the sky.", replied Kirie, smiling at him. "I always loved the sky!"
"I know, Kirie."
There was some sort of rare biterness in her brother's voice. '...You've told me a thousand times before', she could imagine the thought flashing through Kira's mind.
"What in Heaven's wrong with you? I said relax!"
"You could shut up, Kirie, I've got a headache."
"You mean I talk too much?!"
Kirie sat up, clenching her fists. She shook her head to make the few blades of grass that got stuck in her hair fall off, and straightened her clothes.
"Please, Kirie, i don't feel like..."
"Too late you moron! You'd better think twice before insulting me!"
"I only said..."
Kira ran a hand through his hair, trying to settle it down, since the wind was making it go up in all directions possible. It was all too much, the noise, why couldn't she just shut up- she never listened to him, she was always like this. It all sounded like hellicopters ? trying to land on his brain.
"Can't you ease up for just a little while, bro? I say something and that's it, I talk too much, i am stupid, right? Is that what you mean?! I hate you so much sometimes!"
"You..."
Kirie watched him attentively ?, in all of her fury. Why wasn't he shouting back at her? Kira spoke then, slowly and calmly.
"You are such a nuisance. You are not stupid, you're just annoying. Such an annoying little girl, Kirie, grow up. Of all pests you are the worst. I hate having you around me."
'I didn't mean it like that...', he thought next. But he was not in the mood to talk, so he let it be.
Kirie, meanwhile, was trying to hold back the tears. She parted her lips, trying to say something, but she was speechless. He meant it...! She could feel it in his voice, in his attitude that day.
She turned around slowly, and saw the sky.
'Damn the sky! It's all your fault! I didn't do.. yes, I did nothing, it's all... your fault'
Impossible to keep quiet now, no matter how much she tried. She sobbed. She hated it when her brother saw her crying.
So she ran towards the house, and slammed all the doors in her way.
"Blimey, Kirie! What did you do again?! Don't slam the doors!", shouted Aidan, her father, after her.
"Aidan, darling. Let her be."
Ameron put her cup on the small coffee table in front of her, and wondered where Kira was.
'Beautiful red sky tonight, turning to crimson as the night comes, what are you hiding?...'
Kira sighed, getting up on his feet. It was getting dark, so it was time to head into the house. As he walked lazily, he thought about what to say to Kirie, but scraped everything from his mind. 'It's not my fault she's a crybaby' he thought, as he entered the house. He didn't answer to his father's question, heading straight for his room, jumping on the comfy bed. As he stood there, thinking about the sky, with dark thoughts, he fell asleep. It seemed after 10 minutes to him , when he woke up, too see his father holding a sword, and Ameron holding Kirie. "Huh ? What's happening ?" Kira said, as he shook his head.
"Kira, hurry up, we don't have time for this !" Aidan replied, grabbing and pulling him up. "You will leave with your sister, and you won't stop until you reach the city. There, you'll meet someone who will take you somewhere far " he instructed, but the teenager protested.
"Dad, I will stay and fight with you ! " he said, with a fierce look. "I will not leave your side, and I won't run away ! I wan to protect this place !" Kira shouted. "Mom and Kirie should go, 'cause I won't !" right after he finished, a heartless jumped through the window, landing on Aidan's back, running its hand through the man's back, and taking out his heart, eating it.
As Aidan was engulfed with darkness, another heartless repeated the process on Ameron. Before something could happend to Kirie, Kira grabbed his father's sword, jumping in front of his sister.
"What do you think you're doing, you idiot! Kira!"
"Will you shut up, sis ?" Kira replied, slashing some of the aproaching heartless. "Just stay here, and lemme get us outta trouble " he said, with a encouraging smirk, jumping in front of some other heartless, slashing the hearts out of them.
As more came inside, he had to leave his sister and go defeat the newly arrived heartless, that were also more powerfull than the others. He was thrown out a window, being cut by the shattered glass, and fainted in the grass.
Back inside, a more menacing looking heartless appeared from the floor, catching Kirie, who tried to fight her way out, in his large hands.
"The mistress shall be pleased" the creature whispered, dissapearing with the girl, which was now unconscious, through the floor.
After two hours, a stranger jumped the fence of the Arumi household, stopping in front of Kira. He kneeled down, taking something from his bag, and then ripped a piece of material from his cape, pouring the liquid from the bottle he took a few minutes earlier on the piece of cape, wich was placed on Kira's forehead.
At breakfast time, the young boy woke up, remembering what happened the other night.
"Owwww " he complained, not seeing Eurynimos, who was standing at his right.
"Are you okay, young man ?" the demon asked, turning to the still burning campfire, over wich was resting their meal. Kira looked dumb, and he knew that. But still ...
"Who are you ?" he asked, running a hand trough his unruly black hair. His storm grey eyes were studying the demon, not very sure about what to say.
The young man by Kira's side smiled, and took off the hood of his cape. His hair was light brown, rebelliously defying any rules of normality: it shone with a light of its own, and had a way of waving in the wind that was eyecatching, and somehow fascinating to watch... But it was his eyes that stood out even more. His turqoise irises glistened in lime lights. His face looked as smooth as stone.
'What the hell is he?!', thought Kira, his eyes wide at this shocking apparition.
And the boy, who looked about 17 or 18 years of age, noticed his amazement. Or was that repulsion...?
"Please do not mind my strange looks", he said, with the same calm and content voice. "My name is Eurynimos Agathodaemon- but call me Yu."
"How the heck do you want me to not mind your looks?! What in the world are you?"
'That was awfully rude, I must say.', thought Eurynimos, smiling in amusement.
"I am a demon. I was born in Agrabah, and I am 16 years of age. And I am pleased to meet you. And, don't worry, you have nothing to thank me for."
"Sorry, thanks, but--"
"Ah, that's better!", interrupted Yu, who obviously needed nothing more."Now get up, you've been sleeping all night and half a day, and you've kept me from doing my work."
"Your work?"
"Yes. I have a sister. I must stop each and every one of her plans, or make them cancel each other, without her realising that it was me."
"Gee, aren't you a great brother.", replied Kira, standing up. Yu gave him a knowing glimpse just as Kira stood motionless in shock--
"Yes, Kira. You're not that much of a great brother either now, are you?"
Without having the necessary concentration to notice that Yu knew his name without ever asking him for it, Kira panicked. Silently. On the inside. Then he overcame it. Like he always did.
"Tell me! You must know!", he shouted, grasping Yu by the collar, rather violently.
"Easy. I am not fragile, nor weak. I could kill you in half a second.", Yu growled, and threw Kira off with the strenght of twenty men. "You don't want to fight me. Think!"
Think, think, think about what? He remembered everything, Aidan, his father, and Ameron, both turning to monsters because of his incompetence - him fainting - and... Kirie?
"Please, tell me! You must have found her too! She's alive, right? You took her somewhere!"
"No, actually I did not find her.I do know where she is- but silence, please. I have reasons to believe she's safe for now."
'Wait, what the'
"You're such a freak, man! How the ... how the hell do you know my name!? How do you know about Kirie if you didn't find her here? How did you throw me--", Kira stopped for a moment, looking at the distance between them, "--ten feet, and it didn't hurt.. at all?"
Eurynimos, in the meantime, sat down by the fire again, looking at Kira. He sighed when Kira finished asking his questions.
"You are so rash. Please have patience. Sit down, our meal is ready!"
'Is he insane?', Kira asked himself. And then, he did as Yu told him. He sat down, patiently waiting.
"Good. Like I told you before, I am a demon, one of the few that do not hide themselves. As a demon, I have my very own special abilities. I can see your past by looking into your eyes. I can show you my past by looking into your eyes, or I can show you anybody else's past that I know- this implies past thoughts. But not the future, never the future. This way, I was able to steal your memories when you looked at me for the first time."
There was something soothing in his voice. He spoke clearly and slowly.. Kira found his eyes disturbingly weird, so he looked away from time to time.
"Another ability of mine," continued Yu, "is my superhuman strenght. You did not feel anything because you landed well. Because I threw you nicely."
"You said Kirie's safe? How do you know?"
His questions were obviously disturbing Eurynimos, who wanted to take everything slowly, and explain it all from head to tail... To keep him from being confused.
"Kira, listen to me. I know what I am saying..." Yu waited until his new 'friend' shut his mouth and stood there like the nice patient boy that he was...not. "I mentioned my work. My sister is in command of legions of powerful heartless. She has betrayed me, herself, our family and friends, and everyone else - although she still sais how much she loves her twin brother, Eurynimos, in front of everyone on some occasions. She wants to find me and absorb my powers. That is possible, you see, because we are related. We have the same blood running through our veins... I am fighting her like this, from the shadows, because i cannot oppose her alone. She has charming abilities,a beauty that surpasses any mortal's, and a soul more rotten than anything you've ever seen or heard of. She attacked you and your family. She is the one who took Kirie. I have friends that are my eyes and ears. They saw Kirie being taken away to Agrabah... to my sister's castle."
"So I need to find her and kill her, that rotten woman."
"You're hurrying again. She's far more powerful than myself, not only because she commands those foul creatures, but also because she is a mistress of cunning and cruelty. She can do things I could never imagine. You could not kill some heartless and protect your own mother! How in the world do you think you'd be able to kill Jezebel?"
'...Jezebel... So that is her name'
"...Could not protect my own mother..." ... Then he had to get Kirie back. Someway. "I don't get it quite well but... What I did understand was that this Jezebel bitch needs to get beaten up really bad. Yeah yeah, she's powerful and all, you've told me. But maybe if we join forces, I mean, I've got some friends that could help."
"Mortals?"
"You keep saying mortals! You mean you and your sister can't die?!"
"Not as mortals do."
"Whatever. Yes, they are mortals. But they're quite strong and smart and--"
"I hope they're smarter than you, anyway", said Yu. "Now, is there anything else you want to know?"
"Yes, but I don't think I need the answers to all of my questions so... I need to know if you'll help me get my sister back?"
"Of course I will, if you allow me to instruct you."
The last thing Eurynimos needed was a show-off fool. All of his plans, of his actions, would have gone to waste.
"And how do you know my sis's safe?"
"She is beautiful."
"She is the kind of beautiful young girls Jezebel would look for."
"Oh."
"There is one month until the beginning of the Ramadan in the lands of Agrabah. One week before the Ramadan, our people sustain the rituals of Al'awwal aswad layla barida and Attanee abyad layla casifa--"
"Hold it. Speak English." - Normally, he would have roared in laughter.
"The Ramadan is important for the Agrabah people, but not for us. It is a most blessed and venerated month of the Islamic year, when they faste and pray, and keep themselves from every sin. The Al'awwal aswad layla barida, which means "the first black cold night" is a ritual of ours, which implies a long, luxurious party and the feeding to the hungry of a living, young beautiful girl. The lesser demons are the ones that eat the body of the girl, while she is still alive and conscious."
"Crap."
"Indeed. The Attanee abyad layla casifa, "the second white stormy night", is a similar ritual, but the girl gets turned into a demon. I wish your Kirie gets the second treatment- although painful and tiring, the ritual leaves her alive and strong, yet forever captive, a prisoner and slave of Jezebel."
"That's insane. It's all a bunch of--"
"Look me in the eyes, Kira!"
Kira felt like being dragged in a storm, he felt his body turning into something imaterial. The moment he took control of his senses, he saw a large ballroom, in wich many demons were gatehred.
He saw Yu, ho looked verry happy, standing on the left of a verry beautiful woman wich he thought it was Jezebel.
"Let the Attanee abyad layla casifa begin !" he heard, and saw manny lesser demons gathering in the center of the hall. A cage appeared from the floor, in wich Kira saw a girl, a beatifull one. Just as he watch in awe, the cage opened, permiting the demons gathered around it to surround the girl, as they started to feast on the girl's body. He watched in terror, then turned his eyes to Yu, wich was laughing with his sister, drinking the wine.
The girl's scream was the last thing he heard, as he returned to the present.
"You bastard!" he yelled. He took the sword from his side, rasing it at the demon's neck. "You say you want to save people! But that girl ... and many other, I bet, you let them die ! Tell me why I shouldn't just cut your neck ! TELL ME NOW!" he yelled again, looking the demon right in his eyes.
"Kira, I understand your anger, but I was young. I did not know what it meant back then. Now I understand. I was wrong. You have the right to doubt me, but I ask you to believe me" Yu said. He looked calm, calm enough to make Kira drop the sword from his neck.
"I hate you" Kira said. "But still, I got a feeling wich says I can trust you" he finished. Yu smilled at him.
"Then let's concentrate. We'll go to those friends of yours, and then we'll start our journey"