The sun danced along the distant hills, the night coming closer with every second. Or, at least, what ever passed for night in Twilight Town; since the sun never truly went down, the darkness was enhanced by the hills, throwing the town into darkness when it sank to a certain degree in the sky.
So, to put it a little simpler, the hills blocked the light, and made the night time for Twilight Town. That fact was well known to the Organization, and, to be honest, nights in Twilight Town were truly magical. Axel hated to admit this, but he couldn't deny the beauty of the orange and dusky red bricks under the flickering lights dotting the streets. It was striking, and unlike anything else in the world. Well... worlds. He chuckled at that.
There was barely anyone out, the quaint citzens of Twilight Town considering sunset time to go home, and be with family. The only people out were a few late night joggers, and the odd cat. All the kids were inside, so most of the usual places were empty at this time of night.
Axel was too lazy to walk up the stairs, so he used a dark corridor to cheat his way up to the top, standing on the peak of a rooftop, looking out over the town. It was expansive, buildings grouped in semi circles and lines around nearly endless plazas, tram lines crisscrossing the whole tangled mess of a town, looping back over itself on the crest of the hills.
It was fairly beautiful, but Axel wasn't here for sight seeing. He was looking for someone...someone important. He had his orders, straight from the lips of the head honcho himself, and to refuse them was to risk death.
Or, even worse: no desert for a month.
Taking a step off the roof, Axel dropped down to the pavement, the wind wipping his cloak up past him, like angel wings, his shirt flying open around him. It must've looked amazing, if anyone had been there to see it: an angel falling from grace.
At the last second, a dark corridor spun open, and he dropped into it, landing unharmed on the pavement outside the woods. He left his shirt hanging open, the night air cooling his flushed skin. They were never allowed to remove their coats in the castle, except those rare bathing times, or at night, when they tossed and turned, and pretended to sleep. A fun quirk about Nobodies was the lack of need to sleep; an hour kept them going a week.
The woods were beyond the end of the station plaze, reached through a gaping crack in the otherwise flawless walls surrounding the place. The local kids dared each other to run through the woods, rumors of a shaking tree scaring most off, and the old mansion looming at the end of the path keeping all but the very bravest out.
Axel, however, felt no fear, striding into the darkness of the woods, the trees moving gently in the night...or not night. Here, away from the covered walls, the sun still dimly peered through, the forest bathed in a dusky orange glow that wasn't quite moonlight, wasn't quite sunlight.
"Really nice... mind trips are so fun when you're roughing it." Axel cracked, to quite literally no one: except for a small rabbit, darting into the bushes at his approach, there was no one there.
Ahead, just past the turn in the path, the house loomed: illuminated in orange, the place seemed like some sort of honest to god haunted mansion, the windows glowing as the sun bounced off them, the gauzey curtains in the top right window fluttering slightly.
The source of another of the "Wonder" going around by word of mouth: the girl in the window. The cause of his mission.
Namine was here... they'd pinned it down, after searches of all the worlds the organization could get to. They'd found traces of them in Wonderland, hidden high in the Lilliputt woods, but they were long gone by the time a recon team had been sent out.
Idily scratching his chest, Axel stepped up to the gates of the house, staring up at it.
From here, it wasn't impressive, merely a large mansion, ravaged by time and years of weather, run down, harmless...
And filled with secrets, present from the damn gates: The Unicornis sigil, plastered right on the lock for anyone who knew, anyone privy to the secrets of the worlds...
Secrets...hidden in plain sight.
A single touch blasted the gates open, the lock melting at Axel's touch. The gates swung open, the hinges screaming like dying souls. He winced, worried someone had heard it, but chuckled at himself, knowing he was too far out of town to catch attention. He was golden.
Well...nearly golden... a fist slammed into his back, and he grunted, arching away from the pain.
"Son of a..." He whirled, chakramas flamming into being in his hands, swiping at the attacker.
The silver haired man leapt back, landing a couple of feet away. He raised a fist, and a dark, wicked weapon spawned in a burst of darkness, looking like a shorter Keyblade. Axel chuckled.
"So you're it...our imposter, perp on the loose. Funny...I thought you'd be bigger."
The silver haired man's noise wrinkled, and he lunged, swiping at Axel's (stupidly) exposed chest, the blade glancing of the Unicornis seal on the gate post, sparks flying.
"Gah!" He turned, and Axel bent back, the blade only just grazing his belt buckle, the silver haired man swiping and dodging, going in for attack, and pulling back before Axel could parry, the whole fight becoming a mess of dodges and swipes, neither man getting in a good hit.
"Ah, guy, stop!" Axel shouted, finally snapping a kick at the mans' wrist, making it fling back, and drop the Keyblade. It vanished in a puff of darkness as it hit the grass, and the man grunted.
"Ugh." With a groan, Axel flicked his hands, the chakrams vanishing in firey wooshes. He took deep breaths, sweat staining his skin, while the silver haired man hadn't broken a sweat, and watched him calmly.
No..not watched. A grey blindfold was wrapped around his eyes, keeping his sight dark. How he fought, or even walked around, was impossible to figure out.
"So..are you done with these games now? I've got orders to take you back to the boss man." Axel huffed, swiping a hand through his hair.
"I'm not here for you." The man said, turning to the golden Unicornis seal, running gloved fingers down it. With a cry, his Keyblade came back to him, and he struck it, cracking the seal with a shower of sparks, making the seal just shattered pieces on the grass. Nothing anyone would notice, pry into to, or look at a second time.
"Why the heck did you do that?" Axel yelled, making a fist. "That seal is ancient...history!" He took a step forward.
"I have my own orders... " The silver haired man said, tossing his head. His hair flipped back, and Axel was weirdly reminded of a bad anime, or JRPG. Stuff Demyx often blackmailed him into playing with him. Not something you say in reality often.
"That seal is one of the last Unicornis seals in all the...in town. Don't you get that?" Axel grunted. "You've ruined our recon."
"Our?" The man glanced over his shoulder, and seemed to be holding back a smile, the corners of his lips lifted only just slightly.
"The Organization. My group. " Axel said simply, not wanting to delve into it more.
"I know of them." The man said simply. "And I know of Ira...the true owner of this house."
Axel's eyes widened. "What...what did you say?"
The man chuckled, and took a step back, vanishing into a dark corridor. Axel glared at the final wisp of smoke, as it vanished into the grass. The ruins of the seal glinted in the last light of the sun, the single piece Axel could see was intact being a bit of eye and flank. Totally ruined... and never repairable. The last sign of the history of this world...and all worlds.
"Saix is going to kill me," Axel groaned, waving a hand. The dark corridor surrounded him, and Axel faded into it.
The woods were dark, only a few shafts of light flitting through the trees. The golden pieces glinted in the grass, soon to be covered up by weeds and crabgrass. For now, the secrets of the mansion were kept, and the girl watching from the window sighed.
For now, he could sleep, and fate would take care of the rest. The Other had been to Twilight Town, she knew; she sensed him. Him... and the Puppet.. the other one that never should've been. The Copy.
She looked down at the paper in her lap, the bright crayon marks unable to truely make the drama of the incident stand out: The red haired man staring Riku down, fist clenched, as the broken seal glittered nearby.
She looked up at the wall, seeing the gilded statue on the shelf. Its eyes seemed to hold more secrets than she could ever figure out, more legends and past horrors than she could ever draw.
For now, all there was was drawings, white curtains, and a sigh, lost to the winds. The Other would come... it was only a matter of time. Fate was unchangable.