Coup
A Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction
We deserved more than this. We were smarter. Ansem was stubborn.
So we took matters into our own hands.
Six apprentices. This is our story.
Epilogue: Of The Heart
Darkness, all around me.
Scrabbling for a hold.
The creatures…
No heart.
No Heart.
"So, your memories are gone, boy?"
"Yessir."
"What…does it feel like? To have no memories?"
"…Like a scattered memory that's like a faded dream. …But the pieces will line up, all in time."
Young Xehanort Corazón had arrived in Radiant Gardens one average day, with his only memory being his name and his only possession being a torn up, bloodied piece of paper with an odd drawing of a heart on it. He had been taken to the hospital for a broken arm, and was soon declared 'legally' insane. He always raved about the shadows coming at him…
It was the heart drawing that made Ansem the Wise take him in.
The world-renowned Ansem had rarely left his estate, the castle named Hollow Bastion, so no one bothered him when he checked Xehanort out of the hospital and took him to his home.
Now, it was years later, and Xehanort had been raised from scratch around science, making him one of Ansem's six apprentices.
"Guess what?" Ienzo sang as he entered the main hallways of Ansem's castle. He always had the innate ability to know if someone was in a room; sure enough, Ansem was there. "I got accepted for the college I wanted!"
Ienzo was the youngest of the six apprentices, having recently graduated high school. The school year was not over; he had passed early—with straight A's. All the girls loved him, guys envied him for being smart and athletic; despite his size, he could down anyone taller than him.
"Cun-grat-yoo-lashuns!" Braig slurred happily, now entering the room, holding out his arms with a flair. "School was easy for me."
Braig was the happy-go-lucky kind of guy who most would stereotype as stupid. He had nearly failed high school, but in college, his true colors shone and he flew through with flying colors. The professors all unanimously said they were shocked beyond reason at Braig's pass through college.
Ienzo eyed him. "You nearly failed high school."
"I meant college, dum-dum."
"Stop bickering, you two," Ansem chuckled. "Braig, go see if you can drag Even out of his laboratory. Find the others while you are at it. It is time for supper."
Boom!
Braig was walking down the hallways when an explosion rocked the floor. Blinking, he rushed to the nearest lab room, wrenching the fire extinguisher off the wall next to the doorway and spraying it into the room.
When the smoke cleared, Braig could see an exasperated-looking Elaeus. Elaeus was a fairly tall man with dark brown, wild hair. He would seem like a weightlifter than a scientist. He had a huge, muscular frame, but never hurt anything. He seemed to be both brains and brawn, but only one or the other when the situation demanded it.
Braig chuckled lightly, trying to ease Elaeus's obviously tense mod after having been sprayed with a fire extinguisher. "Uh…hi, Elaeus," he said timidly. "Supper is ready…"
"How many times have I told you, I can handle such a minor explosion as this," Elaeus said gruffly, crossing his arms.
"Sorry. Everything was on fire." …
"No, Braig, you are not coming in just to ruin my experiments. Not again."
Braig sighed at the voice. Dilan was Braig's complete opposite—serious where Braig was carefree, quiet where the other was loud. He rarely spoke up, and when he did, it was only to offer words of wisdom, input his opinion, or berate another.
"Supper's ready, bonehead," Braig groaned.
"I am sure I can completely abandon my hard work for a bite to eat," Dilan muttered sarcastically as he opened the door. Braig just sighed.
And, then, as always, there was the sour among the sweet—Even. Even was the oldest and the smartest of them, the only one surpassing him being Ansem. He was cocky, arrogant, and, as Braig joked, 'Probably was born to be, and will die, a scientist'. He hated when anyone interrupted his research; he would often lock himself in his lab for weeks on end.
A loud knocking interrupted Even's carefully places thoughts and ruined his concentration. He knew it was Braig; no one would be so rude as to knock so loud.
"Come in, Braig," Even sighed. "This had better be important."
"Uhm…" Braig said slowly, stepping into the lab. "Dinner?"
Even sighed once more. "I suppose a meal would not hurt… But you will pay for interrupting me."
"Keep telling yourself that."
And, there was Xehanort—the boy who lost his memory and still hadn't regained one, like he promised Ansem he would long ago.
Each of Ansem's apprentices were carefully chosen from the smartest in the city. But few fit the 'profile' of a scientist.
None of these apprentices had anything in common.
Except for one thing.
Their love of the heart.
"Congrats on getting into The Institute!" Elaeus said as cheerfully as his deep voice would let him sound as Ienzo entered the dining hall.
"Call it by the proper name," Ienzo corrected intelligently. "Radiant Gardens Institute."
"And we all know why they accepted you," Braig said, rolling his eyes.
"You barely got in," Dilan murmured.
"But I did get in!"
"Alright, enough of this," Ansem said calmly. "Congratulations, Ienzo, you deserved this."
"A toast!" Braig said in his cheerful demeanor as he held up a goblet. "To—"
"Is this wine?" Ienzo suddenly asked, holding up his own goblet. "I am underage, Braig."
Silence.
Then Braig laughed. "You deserve this!" he echoed jovially.
Ienzo just grinned and placed his goblet onto the table. "No thank you. I decline."
"Suit yourself," Braig muttered.
There was silence one again as they continued to eat and drink. The soft clinking of silverwear against plates was all that filled the silence for several minutes.
"So, Even, may I ask you what you have conjured up in your laboratory during your past few weeks of confinement?" Ansem asked humorously, though a glare was set on his face.
Even did not look up from the papers he was reading, his plate of food pushed to the side to make room for the apparently more important documents. His reading glasses were perched firmly on his nose, until he sighed and looked up, removing them.
"I have been very successful with minor experiments of no value to address to you; it would merely waste time," he said. "But I have succeeded with something you, Ansem the Wise, could never."
"Oh?"
"Indubitably." At this, Ansem rolled his eyes. "I think you will be very surprised."
"Quit beating around the bush, Even," Dilan growled. "Enlighten us. Please."
Even offered a small smile—a very rare thing. "I managed to capture the essence of a human heart."
Spoons clattered to plates, and a crystal goblet fell to the ground, shattering, spilling fine red wine over the floor.
It's starting out great!
