"Did you know that each star up there in the sky is its own world?" The young brunette pointed up at the sky with a wondrous smile on her face, her sky blue eyes glinting almost as brightly as the stars themselves. "Really?" The girl's younger brother looked up at the sky as well, his eyes beginning to shine alongside his sister's. "You're not making that up, are you Leda? Riku told me the same thing a couple days ago….you two aren't making fun of me again, are you?" The young, spiky-haired boy pouted cutely, making Leda laugh as she ruffled his adorable spikes.
"Oh, my little forgetful Sora…Riku told you a few days ago and you're acting like this is the first time you've heard about any of this? No, we're not making it up. Remember the two people who came to Destiny Islands not too long ago? They told me and Riku what I'm telling you now."
Leda began walking along the sand, kicking off her shoes and relishing the feel of the sand in between her bare toes. She giggled and then began to run, knowing full well Sora would follow her with more questions. She wouldn't have all the answers but she'd try her best to make her brother happy.
….
"Hey, Sora… We'll be together forever, right?" The brunette clad in a red dress with white sleeves and a black hood connected to the dress alongside baggy, yellow boots looked at her brother with her head tilted to the side, making her pigtails flop into her face. Her brother laughed at the picture she made, making her give a mock frown. "Now why would you ask a question like that? Silly Leda…Of course we'll always be together. You're my sister. You think I would ever forget you?" Sora clasped his sister's hand in his, making her smile endearingly and giggle as a faint breeze tickled their skin.
The seventeen-year-old girl didn't know why she felt the need to ask that question. But…recently something had felt off. She had never been much of a fortune-teller but something in the air just felt different. And not in a good way. Even with her brother's words…the feeling inside her only eased a little. But she hadn't changed much from when she was little. Whatever it took to make Sora happy, she would do. She just hoped that whatever dark and menacing thing was coming for them…didn't get in her way of doing that.
….
The hand holding her arm tightened its grip, causing Leda to flinch and instinctively try to get away. "What do you want from me? Who are you?" The silver-haired man grinned sadistically, an evil glint in his orange catlike eyes. "The real question here is…what can you do for me? My name is of no importance. But you….Leda, are a rare sight to behold." He pushed her back into the rough bark of the palm tree behind her, smiling the whole while. "You are so young and pure hearted…yet the keyblade has not chosen you. I must know why that is."
He gave an impatient tug on her arm but Leda dug her heels fiercely into the sand, glaring at the man with pure venom and hatred in her eyes. She didn't know exactly who he was but the way he was making her heart pound told her that he must be one of the reasons why she and Sora got separated before he began his journey to the other worlds to try and save them. But…who was he?
The man's black, body-length cloak billowed around him, making him look as if darkness was not only emanating from him but also like he had been created from the very depths of the blackness itself. But Leda would stand her ground. Her heart might be pounding against her ribcage as fiercely as a horse's hooves against the race track and as fast as a hummingbird's wings but she refused to let her fear show, or get the better of her. People never made good decisions based on fear.
She looked off in the distance, the sun's rays beautifully enhancing everything they touched, and saw her brother looking happy and determined…his eyes full of hope. She knew he'd give anything to find Kairi. And she would do anything to make him happy…She wouldn't let anything get in his way of finding the girl he cared the most for. She'd do anything so he could have that outcome in his future.
Her fingers uncurled out of the fist her hand had currently been balled in, and her hand went limp in the man's grasp. "Will you leave him alone?" Her voice was quiet, nothing but a bare murmur as soft as the whispering wind. The man chuckled, low and deep in his throat, like a cat's haughty purr. "Of course. For now at least. But he wants to find that girl he cares so much for, does he not? If you come with me…that will give him just the head start he needs."
The brunette sighed, her eyebrows furrowing in mental anguish. She had also promised she would protect Sora. But if she went with this man…she'd be leaving him alone, defenseless. No…he had his keyblade. And Donald and Goofy. And not to mention Riku. They would take care of her little brother until she could return and do so herself once more. "Alright. I'll come with you. But you have to keep your word that you'll leave him alone at least for the time being."
She glared fiercely at him, her protective instincts as strong as mother lion's will to protect her cubs. "But of course," he repeated, his voice beginning to take on an eerie lull, which…for some reason, made Leda dizzy. She wanted to get one last glimpse of her brother, but…the world was becoming a canvas splashed with watercolor, all the colors blending together as they slowly faded.
When she awoke, her head was still spinning, taking timeless seconds to right the world in front of her eyes. She was now in a dark room…quite a contrast to the bright beach she had been on before. Her eyes strained to make out her surroundings, the first thing they happened to land on being a pair of black boots surrounded by a fluttering black coat. "Well, well…look at what our leader happened to find."
The man had long dark hair in a pony tail with a grey stripe running down it, somewhat like a skunk's, and an eye patch covering half of his face with a scar underneath it. All in all, he wasn't the prettiest sight Leda had ever seen. He roughly grabbed her chin with one of his gloved hands and smirked as she tried to pull away. "Ah, a feisty one. From what he's told us…it is an anomaly that the keyblade hasn't chosen someone like yourself. Yet, at least. And when it does…we'll have someone to collect our hearts for us. Well, someone else. It's no fun with just one keyblade wielder, now is it?"
Leda huffed at him, the glare never leaving her face. "What are you going on about? What's all this about collecting hearts and what does the keyblade have to do with any of it?"
"So our master's puppet speaks as well. She's not just a lifeless doll. Interesting." The strange man put a hand to his chin in serious thought, his small smirk growing wider with each passing second. "Don't worry…we'll make sure that in the times ahead you're provided with some fun, too." And with that, the man walked away leaving Leda more confused than ever. She realized with a jolt that her hands and feet were both bound with chains. And now that her eyes had had enough time to adjust she was now realizing she was in some sort of cellar, or perhaps a basement.
A shiver of fear made her spine stiffen, her shoulders tensing against the concrete wall she lay propped up against. No. She wouldn't let the fear take over. She was doing this for Sora. He was quite literally the light of her life. If she didn't protect him…that light would go out, channeling the worlds into a corner of darkness so small, there'd be no way to ever get out. He wasn't only her savior, but everyone else's as well.
Her head shot up as footsteps echoed in the damp, eerie room and she was surprised to see a different man in front of her now. "Why, hello there. You must be my new test subject. It's nice to meet you." The blonde-haired man smirked. "Nice to meet you too, freak show. And who are you calling test subject? What are you planning to test me on, hmm? Or is some secret pertaining to your kind's diabolical plan?"
Leda sneered, only making the man's callous grin grow wider. "You actually might be the one." He pulled out a stethoscope and placed it on her chest, making her yelp at the instantaneous cold of the steel. Her glare was quickly back in place, only continuing to grow as the man murmured things to himself like, "Very nice…what a strong, steady beat that is…." "Vitals seem to be better than average even under current conditions…" "Time to test her physical limitations…"
Her head shot up at the last comment, her diamond blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What? Test out my physical abilities? How exactly do you plan to that, smartass? You can't exactly keep me down here to do so." The man smirked. "I know that. So how about you follow me." He knelt down and released the catches holding the locks to the chains around her. She stood up warily and shook of the links of rusted steel, stretching her limbs at the same time.
The man motioned toward the set of stairs he had come down and Leda's shoulders hunched defensively. She hated being bossed around. Do it for Sora. Do it for Sora. That was the mantra she forced on repeat in her head, knowing full well it would be the only thing to keep her sane from here on out. She had a feeling that whoever these nut jobs were…they didn't have the most obvious things in store for her. And where was the silver-haired man from before?
All these thoughts swirled inside her head as she let the man lead her up the stairs. She wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her until she was pushed forward, stumbling over her big, yellow boots to catch herself before she ended up doing a major face plant. They were in an open room with steel gray walls and a weird design on the floor. It looked like some sort of arena in a weird, twisted way.
She looked in every direction, none of the men from before around, making her feel nervous. She was being tested, right? No need to be nervous. All she had to do was have a little faith. She curled and uncurled her fists to release some of her pent up tension and only half a second afterward, she was pummeled to the ground, having been attacked from behind.
She grunted and looked up, quickly releasing a stunned gasp. Some weird sort of creature was in front of her, moving its limbs like it was boneless, and moving quickly and agilely like a cheetah, but also floating and flipping around much like a dolphin. Leda felt her adrenaline go up a notch, kicking into overdrive and she leapt to her feet, dodging out of the way before the weird creature could land another hit.
The more steps she seemed to take, the more of these strange creatures seemed to appear and creep up on her. If it had just stayed fair game, she might have been able to take the creature out. But with all its look-alikes, she highly doubted it. She dodged, jumped, spun every which way, her fists and feet punching and kicking in numerous flurries of attacks. She felt them closing in on her but she dug her feet in, growled and shoved them all away with a physical force she wasn't even aware of possessing.
It didn't destroy the creatures but they stopped moving after that, not moving any closer toward her again, thank God. She couldn't take another closing-in like that. She gasped for breath, collapsing onto her knees as the aftershock of her adrenaline began to make her limbs go numb. The sound of applause brought her head back up, her pigtails flopping over her shoulders, making her look furiously indignant.
"Taking on one Dusk and defeating it isn't much to be proud of. But holding your own against a horde of them with no weapon whatsoever… I can see why you have Vexen intrigued." This time a slate-haired man was in front of Leda, a cynical expression on his face. Thank God…Leda didn't think she could take one more person sneering at her the way the other two had.
"Why are you all so interested in both me and the keyblade? What do I have to do with any of it?" With a cryptic tilt of the head, the man answered, "You might have more to do with it than any of us even believe. You maybe even have nothing to do with it and we're just following a false lead. It takes quite a bit to impress me and so far…you're managing to do so."
The man grasped her arm and began to drag her out of the room and into a set of maze-like hallways. It all looked so confusing. Like someone had done an architectural sketch after eating a butt load of sugar. It just looked….wrong somehow. Once again, Leda was then pushed forward, left cursing under hear breath as the silver-haired man walked away. She blew out a heavy breath, the wave of air catching her bangs and flipping them to the side of her face. "So….left alone again, huh?"
She looked around as very soft, practically silent sounds began quietly echoing all around her. She backed up a couple of steps and turned toward the opposite direction. Still nothing. Her eyebrows furrowed. She knew something was here. But what…?
Dark shapes then began to emerge from the floor itself (which was fricking stainless steel!) and surround her just as the other creatures had. These ones seemed boneless, too except they were black and smaller than the other ones had been. They had unnaturally bright yellow eyes and they moved like a cross between a spider and a monkey. Or like they were high. Something…
But there were more of them than there had been the first round. And they were ganging up on her. They seemed like actual shadows themselves. Whenever one would amble closer to her, one behind it would fade into the ground and end up closer to her as well, just at a different angle. How did you attack a shadow? Wait…these were the creatures that Sora had been fighting the night the storm had hit their island. But Sora had only been able to defeat them when they keyblade had appeared in his hands. And she didn't have one. She was royally screwed…
So she did the first thing her mind could think of. She ran. As fast as she could, looking behind her every now and again. Every other time she would look there wouldn't be anything behind her, but the times in between, the creatures would be even closer to her than before. She felt some of them clawing at her heels and she cringed, the dark poison from their claws burning her flesh. She turned her head back toward the direction she was running in and stopped dead in her tracks. Now the creatures were in front of her. She was trapped.
She fell to her knees as they all began climbing on her and clawing at her. Her skin, her hair, her clothes…everything was being tainted by the darkness…she could slowly feel herself withering away to nothing. She had to fight…but she was becoming so tired…her body feeling leaden and like it wasn't even her own anymore.
"Sora…" she murmured. "Sora!" She had promised she would protect him…and yet here she was failing him. And herself. She flailed, her limbs trying without success to push the darkness away. When her eyes were close to shutting for good, she saw a bright light. It wasn't just white, but it was a myriad array of colors. Red, blue, green, purple…she managed to weakly, barely lift her head to see a shape floating in midair, above her. She squinted, trying to make it out.
It was a heart…. Was it hers? How was she able to see it? She let her head fall back against the stone, cold floor, her eyes sagging shut for what would be the last time and managed to think of Sora once more…his smile, his kind heart, his strong sense of justice…. Even as she stopped breathing, her body being eaten alive by the darkness, her heart no longer in her body, literally making her a life-size doll…she knew that somehow she would continue to protect her little brother.
Those freaks had been able to get rid of her physically, but she'd find a way to come back. Even if it was just as a spirit, she'd continue to see her life's wish through. Keep Sora safe…
The creatures of darkness looked at the glittering speckles of stardust lighting up the space where their prey had just been. They looked around in curiosity. Where was their heart? They had ravaged the human's shell…now where was their reward? One of the creatures managed to look up as the others paced and ambled about in angry confusion. There…there it was, shining so brightly above them.
The shadows began to jump, all over one another even, to get to that magnificent, colorful energy-bursting heart. But right as one of the creature's claws reached out to grasp it, to tear into it…it faded away. The shadow landed with a plop on the floor, growing annoyed at the disappearance. The creatures all began to pace incessantly, trying in vain to somehow still reach that which they so desperately had believed would be theirs to devour.
The only thing that was now left with the creatures of darkness in the grey room was a yellow heart- shaped pendant that Leda had been wearing. It glittered faintly with the lingering remnants of Leda's essence, making the shadows stop and tilt their heads in curious wonder…
….
All I could make out was the ocean…and somehow the sky as well. The sky was muted by the blue, suffocating waves of the water now engulfing me. I somehow managed to pry open my eyes and blinked at my surroundings. Just water…the fading sky getting darker and farther away with each passing second. Nothing but darkness surrounding me…and what felt like an endless abyss full of suffering below me. I could still feel those creature's claws at my skin, making me shudder, my blue eyes still carrying a blank, numb expression.
After what felt like years upon years later, I began to see something below me. It appeared to be stained glass. I closed my eyes and didn't open them again until I felt my feet touch the surface of the glass. And as my eyes shot silently open once more…I could tell that the heart beating inside my chest…wasn't mine.
….
Author's Notes: Okay…wow, it's taken me this long to get my darling Kingdom Heart's OC's story out…^^; Orz…Anyways, this is the story of Leda, Sora's sister, and a certain someone else. You'll find out soon enough. ^^ Hee, I love being cryptic. Although if you already know me, you'll know who the person at the ending was.~ This story is dedicated to my dear friends: Avidtty (who got me into Kingdom Hearts; thank you honey!~) and sadlonelylittlegirl who is now my beloved twin Xion. ;w; They both have motivated me and encouraged me to the point of being in their debt so I am thankful for their kindness and love towards me. ;W;
If you have any questions, critique, etc…please let me know in a review. I know this isn't perfect, but I'd love to know what you thought, how I could improve, your guesses at what will happen next….^^ So I hope you enjoyed and hopefully I'll get to work more on this soon.
I hope the way I started it out wasn't too confusing. I started out with flashbacks to show a little into Sora and Leda's past and also to give a sense of foreboding. Please let me know what you think. ;w;
Kingdom Hearts and its characters belong to Square Enix/Disney.
~CuteVampireCollie
