I changed my penname in case anyone cares, I used to be iheartatem... anyone want to try and guess what my new name means?
I know what everyone is thinking, another new story? Yeha well, plot bunnies love my brain and there are currently five hundred million in my brain right now, and I decided I like this one, sorry about the ending...
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Disclaimer: My lawyer says I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I 'm going to have to fire him I guess.
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Chapter One: Emerald
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The ground was thick with swirling purple fog that crept along silently. Everything else was black, making anything that might be there blend in prefectly, there wasn't a single star in the sky, and the fog didn't reach any higher than my knees, and it was so thick, I couldn't see my feet. I seemed to be all alone with the strangely colored fog. My feet stayed rooted to the ground.
"Don't stop moving or the Darkness will overtake you!" My breath hitched, it was that voice, the same voice that had been haunting my dreams for the past few weeks, and it was coming from behind me.
I turned my upper body only to see more blackness and purple fog.
"Get going." The disembodied voice commanded, causing me to turn again. There was no one, just the fog. I stayed still wanting to see what would happen.
"Don't believe me?" I started, I felt hands on my shoulders and the voice was right next to my ear. "Look down." A hand found the way to the top of my head, and forced it downward to look at my feet.
"W-what's going on?" The fog seemed to be engulfing me, slowly wrapping itself higher up my legs, now reaching just below my waist. I was frozen in fear, and the voice seemed to realize that.
"The Darkness prays on those with strong hearts, hoping to gain the hearts for itself, if you stay still too long it will devour your body and keep your heart for itself. Now move!" The hands pushed me forward and I stumbled, the fog detatched itself from my legs. I spun around hoping to see the owner of the voice, but I saw nothing.
"Who are you!" I meant it as a question, but it came out as a command.
"You're staying still too long." Arms wrapped around my chest as I looked down. The fog has started to creep up my legs again, and the arms were real! I yelped and jumped backwards crsahing into someone, which caused me to yelp again. The person I jumped into laughed, it was a nice laugh.
I turned my head hoping to see the person...
"Damn it!" I was lying in my bed, which was in my room, which was away from the purple fog and the Voice. I wanted a face and name to go with the voice I now knew so well. My floor was littered with magazines, books, clothes, and other meaningless crap. The desk by the window was littered with more papers and had an open sleek black laptop in the middle, the screen was black indicaing it was turned off. There was a blue skateboard in another corner that was covered in stickers. The walls were covered in micellaneous posters, from Linkin Park band posters, to postcards with pictures of different places on them. A bookcase stood next to the desk some shelves empty, books that had previously occupied it were on the floor. I groaned and literally rolled out of bed, hurting my ass when I landed on a book.
"Shit," I muttered picking up the book and placing it on the bookself. I went to the bathroom to do my usual morning rituals, afterwards I went to the kitchen to eat breakfast.
"Good monring, Roxas." My Uncle Cloud greeted me, he was standing at the stove making pancakes. Ever since I can remember I've lived with Cloud, my parents died when I was two years old in a car crash. Together Cloud and I lived above the bookstore that he owned. Many days after school I would help Cloud around the store. It was mid-summer right now, so I helped every day.
"G' morning Cloud," I sat at the table and he placed a stack of pancakes in front of me. I grabbed my fork and started to eat. Cloud sat down across from me, with a plate of his own and a newspaper.
"We're cleaning the attic today." Cloud told me as he unfolded the newspaper.
"We?" Usually Cloud would work in the shop and if something needed to be done I would be the one to do it.
"Shop's closed."
"Why?"
"It's the fourth of July."
"Oh, well why do we need to clean the attic?"
"I actually, just really need to find something, so it's more of a search."
"What are you looking for?"
"I'll tell you before we start." Cloud said mysteriously.
"When do we start?"
"After breakfast, there's a lot of stuff to look through."
"Yes sir!" I saluted him and started eating at top speed, finishing so fast it must have been a world record. "Let's go!" I stood.
Cloud laughed at my enthusiasm, "I still have to eat," He said looking pointedly at the half empty plate in front of him.
"Well how 'bout I get a head start? What're we looking for?" I asked.
"I need to find a small wooden box, it's very important, so if you find it, be very careful with it."
"Aye, aye sir!" I saluted him again again and as I was leaving I heard him chuckle.
Our attic was bigger than my room and filled to the brim with boxes upon boxes of pointless stuff. The only light came from a small window near the ceiling, which showed the amount of dust floating around. Stuffed between some boxes was an old full length mirror, that reflected my blonde spikes and blue eyes back at me. As soon as I entered the attic I grabbed the nearest cardboard box, which was oh so kindly labeled 'crap' and started to search through it. Most of which was inside it were books, pamphlets, golfballs, pictures, rope, and a coffee mug. It was indeed a box full of crap. After shoving that to the side I grabbed another box which was labeled 'books'. Inside it was a bunch of gold and silver medals and trophies, I snorted at the incorrect labeling and looked in another box. About five minutes later Cloud entered the attic, and after grumbling about the attic 'having too much crap in it,' he grabbed a box and sat on the floor next to me, looking through a box full of books that was labeled 'kitchen stuff.' We searched for hours finding nothing that even looked like a wooden box, instead of cleaning the attic like Cloud had said, we seemed to be making more of a mess. Around noon I was looking through a box labeled 'CDs' when I found a wooden box, with words carved into it, reading: Leo Pectus pectoris , I had absolutely no clue what it meant. I turned to Cloud still holding the box.
"Is this it?" I held out the box to him. Cloud turned to look at it and something flickered in his eyes. He examined the box and slowly shook his head.
"It's not the one I'm looking for, but the one I am looking for looks just like it, but with different writing." Cloud took the box from me and went back to searching, I followed his example pulling another box to me. Many more hours later Cloud let out a yell of victory, clutching another box in his hands, the carving on this one said, Flurry of Tripudio Flamma.
"Is that a different language?" I asked pointing to the carving.
"Yeah, I think it's Latin."
"You think?"
"I'm not a hundred percent sure."
"So that's the one you were looking for?"
"Yeah, thanks for helping."
"What is it?"
Cloud hesitated for a breif moment, "You remember those stories I used to tell you when you were little?" He asked. I nodded not sure where he was going with this. When I was younger Cloud would tell me stories if I ever had a nightmare, or if I couldn't sleep, they were always about the same thing, dragons, magic, and battles, I would always fall asleep in the middle of them.
"Remember the ones about the dragons and the necklaces?"
"Yeah..."
"The stories were true, and this is one of those necklaces." Cloud slowly opened the lid of the box, revealing an amulet that had a bright green emerald in the center of it, it seemed to gleam brightly daring me to touch it.
"Please, Cloud I'm not a little kid anymore, I don't believe in that kind of stuff." I said, reaching my hand out to touch the necklace anyway.
"The Darkness prays on those with strong hearts,"
I snatched my hand back, it was the voice again, and I was pretty sure that I wasn't dreaming.
"What's wrong?" Cloud asked, concern lacing his voice. My face probably looked as though it had seen a ghost.
"D-did you hear that?" My eyes slide from the necklace to Clouds face, worry was etched into his features.
"Hear what, Roxas?" He didn't hear anything, great, now I was going crazy.
"Never mind, I must've imagined it, I'm pretty tired. I was up late last night reading." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. I had been reading the night before but I wasn't tired. "Maybe I'll just go to bed."
"Okay..." He said, but from the sounf of his voice he didn't believe me at all. It was already six when I entered my messy room, too early for me to sleep, so I brought my laptop to my bed and booted it up. I didn't want to think of the dreams, the voice, or the stories Cloud used to tell me. I had already thought about the first two things a few days after they started, I hadn't come to any conclusions then, so what was different now? After my laptop booted up I opened an Internet Browser and typed in Yahoo. com. I wanted my e-mail and then maybe read a book. After I signed in I saw I had seven new messages in my inbox. The first was from one of my cousins, who lived in Destiny Islands. I opened and read:
To: Roxas Strife skiebluetwin
From: Sora Strife skybluetwin
Subject: Hiya Roxas!
Body: Hey Roxas, how ya doin? How's the weather in Twilight Town?
It won't stop raining here, I haven't gotten to swim all summer! I hope
it's sunny there! Even though you've probably been helping Uncle Cloud
in the store all summer. You should take a day off and hang out with
your friends. Well I got to go, hope to hear from you soon!
-Sora :D
Yeah, Sora and I had matching screen names, we thought it would be funny because we look almost exactly alike, only Sora had brown hair. At family reunions, Cloud, Sora, and I were called the Strife triplets, because we all looked the same, Cloud has blonde hair and blue eyes, like me. I quickly typed a reply, then moved on to the next e-mail, this one was from my best friend, Hayner.
To: Roxas Strife skiebluetwin
From: Hayner Mason topstruggler15
Subject: Beach
Body: Hey Roxas, did you realize that not once this summer have we
gone to the beach? We have to go soon, I'll pay, tell me what days you'd
be able to go, and I'll ask Pence and Olette. E-mail or call!
-Hayner :p
I made a mental note to call Hayner tomorrow and moved on to the next e-mail. It was another one from Sora, it was an animated e-card for the fourth of July. Sora liked to send people stuff like that, I never knew why. the next three messages were junk mail and I deleted them before moving on to the last message which was from my PenPal Demyx.
To: Roxas Strife skiebluetwin
From: Demyx Misu
Subject: Suuummmeeeeerrrr
Body: Heya Roxy! How's your summer so far? Mine has sucked beyond
comparison. But I met someone at an ice cream place, isn't that
awesome? I don't know his name, but he's so hot, he has silver/blue/lilac
hair, that does this cool emo-flip-py-thing :) and covers his right eye. He
was just sitting in a corner reading this book called, To Kill a Mockingbird,
have you ever heard of it? Other than him my summer has been horrible,
I have to go to the beach sometime soon.
-Demmy :3
I laughed as I read the part about Demyx's new crushes hair. Demyx isn't very articulate but I learned to deal with that when we became penpals. Demyx loved water so it was pretty surprising he hasn't gone to the beach yet. Demyx loves music too, he plays something called a sitar, and he lives in a city called Hollow Bastion. I typed a reply to Demyx telling him that my summer sucks too, and that To Kill a Mockingbird is an awesome book. Some peple might think that it's weird for me to have a gay penpal, but I know Demyx doesn't like me that way, and I don't have a problem with his sexuality. Fuck off homophobes!
When I looked at the clock I saw that it was already eight, I never understood why it took me so long to read a few emails. I grabbed a random book off the floor and laughed at the title, it was To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books. I smiled before opening it and starting to read.
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I must have fallen asleep. That was the main thought running through my head. I was back with the creepy purple fog, which had started snaking up my legs as soon as I got there. I examined my surroundings trying to take in as much as possible. But there was nothing to take in, only blackness and fog. Damn fog.
"Roxas," It was the voice again, I didn't even bother to turn, I knew he wouldn't be there.
"What, going to tell me who you are now?"
"Not exactly," I swore I could hear him smiling.
"Then what?"
"You need to get back." The voice said it almost sternly.
"Where?"
"Where you belong, where ever you are when you're not with me." Oh, he meant the real world. Not this dreamland my mind seemed to like visiting.
"Why and more importantly how?"
"I sense trouble, and tragedy."
"You can sense trouble and tragedy?"
He laughed.
"Well how do I get back? I would love to know."
"How did you get here?"
"I fell asleep."
"Oh, so this is like a dream to you, cool."
"How do I get back?" I growled to thin air.
"That's a good question."
"So you don't know?"
"Ah... no, sorry I have no clue how to get out of here, if I did I would be long gone."
"Exactly how long have you been here?"
"Don't know, a while."
"Okay, well are you just a voice or do you have a body too?"
"I have a body too."
"Why can't I see you then?"
"I don't know, but I would move if I were you."
I looked down and yelped, jumping backwards at the same time. I hadn't realized I was standing still for so long, the fog had swirled all the way up to my belly button.
"Shit, I've got to remember about that."
CRASH!
"Did you hear that?" I asked, the crash was loud and it sounded like glass breaking.
"Hear what?" The voice sounded confused.
"Damn now I'm crazy in my dreams too."
"Roxas! Wake up!"
That had sounded like Cloud. Cloud was trying to wake me up.
"Roxas!" I was back in my bedroom and Clouds voice was hushed. It was still nighttime, and I heard another crash, it came from downstairs. Fear twisted my stomach as I sat up straight. I had fallen asleep in my clothes, my book laying on my pillow.
"What's going on?" I asked, I now heard voices downstairs and another crash.
"Listen very carefully Roxas, start packing, only stuff you need, and I'll explain to you while you do that."
I nodded and hopped of my bed grabbing my back and started to shove clothes from my closet into it.
"The guys that are downstairs, if you can't hear them you must be deaf, they're after that necklace that we were looking for, they will stop at nothing to get their hands on it and me, I need you to take the necklace and this- "He held up the first box we found, "to Hollow Bastion and talk to a guy named, Merlin, he'll be able to explain everything in more detail. Guard these with your life." He said ominously handing over the two wooden boxes. I took them and stuffed them into my bag, along with my laptop, just in case.
"What about you?" I asked quietly as I shoved a blue cell phone into my pocket.
"Someone's got to stay with the shop, right?" His voice was sad, he took out his wallet and handed me some money. "In case of emergency." He explained.
"Alright," I shouldered my bag.
"Go out the window and down the fire escape, don't let anyone see you, and be careful!" Cloud shoved me towards the window.
"Good bye, Cloud." I felt this strange desire to say it.
"Good bye, Roxas." He said, our eyes meeting for a breif second.
I waved to him as I slid onto the fire escape, I just noticed that it was raining. Great, now I can go drown in the rain, while running away from a bunch of people who desperately wanted something that happened to be in my backpack. Life's great huh? I slowly made my down the fire escape, holding tighly to the rails, if you hadn't noticed by now, I'm afraid of heights. Well not exactly heights, I'm afraid of falling. Finally I jumped to the ground with a small splash, I would have gotten on my knees and kissed it if I didn't have something to do.
I took of running just as lightning lit up the sky, thunderstorm, huh, bad omen for me I guess. I ran a few blocks, my feet making a splash with every stride, when I decided I was far enough away, and started to walk. After that I realized, I had no clue where I was going. Cloud said to go to Hollow Bastion, that was far away, my best bet would be the train station. That was in a different direction, great.
I turned on my heel at the same time a huge explosion ripped through the night. Oh no, oh crap, that came from the bookstore. Oh my god, someone blew up the bookstore, oh shit, shit, shit, shit.
That was when it hit me, Cloud was in the bookstore. FUCK Cloud! I ran faster than I had ever run before in my life. Back in the direction I came from, back to where Cloud was. Cloud, the one who has told me stories when I was little, the one I used to bake cookies with, the one I looked so much like, the one who gave me a home when no one else would, the one who labeled boxes wrong, the one who liked his coffee with a whole cup of sugar, the one- okay I think you get it.
When I finally got there the fire truck was there, along with police. I kept to shadows, the store completely destroyed, no way there could have been any survivers.
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OH- MY- GOD- I JUST KILLED CLOUD DIDN'T I? THE FANGIRLS WILL KILL ME!
I feel horrible, this chapter took me the longest to write out of anything and it seems too short to me. I feel like ripping my brain out of my head and splitting it between my two hamsters, my bird, my rabbit and my dog. I wonder if it would taste good...
Also sorry if it seems like it's moving too fast, but a lot more will happen in this story than Cloud dying, hehe, anyone guess who Demyx has a crush on? It's so obvious.
So let me know what you think, this is really my first story that has actual fighting scenes in it. :)