Exquisite Void

by The-Lesser-of-two-Goods

A boy's life as he knows it bends and distorts when his cozy, rural town is destroyed and his best friend disappears. Caught up in the mission of a ragtag group of teenagers, he struggles against the darkness plaguing the universe, the darkness within his heart, and the piece of himself he can't lock away behind a tough exterior forever.

1. Preface

(A/N: Yep, another one. Mostly, I'm working on a serious piece of fiction that I've just lost my drive to complete (at 2/3rds of the way through…) and I'm hoping some fun fanfiction will help reignite that fire.

A few housekeeping items before we get started:

1. This is not a serious piece of fiction. You're free to leave reviews and the like, but please remember that this is purely for fun. I'll consider constructive criticism in use for my serious writing, but don't really expect this specific fanfiction to change based on the advice you give me.

2. I don't have any plans to include any of the original KH cast in this fanfiction; I'm just stealing the KH universe. If that's not what you're looking for, sorry! I had my fill of writing Kairi/Sora/Riku and the rest of the gang a long time ago. There might be cameos or references here, but, as of this moment, I'm not expecting to include the characters in the greater narrative.

3. I include song lyrics before every chapter (it's just my jam), and I highly recommend you listen to the song while you read the chapter, because it helps to set the scene! Even the whole album it comes from would work (with the exception of, at least, the preface).

Alright, hope you enjoy my latest pile of trash!)

PREFACE

Shinobi Lite, "Memories"

The little towheaded boy didn't know it at the time (and how could he?) as he struggled to keep his sweaty palms steady on the monkey bars and kick his feet away from the plastic platform that the kid with the wild, brown hair, freckles, and silvery eyes would be his guardian angel.

He had been sitting on a swing since he arrived, not really swinging, but not sitting still, either. His mother, a lovely woman with curly, dark locks, a tall, thin frame, and the longest fingers Silas had ever seen was mostly chatting with the other mothers over by the bench, her anxious gaze flickering back toward her son every minute or so behind thick, circular glasses.

She was visibly younger than Silas's mom, with no real wrinkles to speak of and not a single gray hair. While she couldn't have been much older than his half-sister, she was, unquestionably, the brunet boy's mother.

Silas was at his dad's house, as he usually was. His mom could only see him on the weekends, for reasons Silas didn't quite understand. Most kids' parents lived together, but Silas's never did. They said they were never married.

The tall, sturdy man with a thick mustache and pink lips contoured by faint laughter lines mostly pretended to read his paper at the bench he chose, separate from all of the mothers. He was always shy about being the only father at the park.

A combination of the hot, sticky humidity and his own self-consciousness turned his hands into oil slicks. Silas was able to go all the way around the monkey bars twice last week, and couldn't understand why he couldn't do it, now. He wanted so badly to blame it on the strange boy, staring at him from the swings.

But he couldn't, because as soon as his left hand dropped, the boy had darted up from his seat and barreled toward the monkey bars. By the time the slippery ring finger on his right hand finally gave way and his body dropped to the ground, the silver-eyed boy was beneath him, and broke his fall.

It was a reckless move that helped no one. The stranger's lower lip was cut into as his lower teeth jabbed downward from impact. Silas dislocated his right index finger and had to wear a cast for six weeks and learn to write with his left hand. The boy's mom and Silas's dad each rushed over to the scene and they carpooled to the hospital. Neither boy would dare look at the other on the car ride there.

The only hospital taking emergency visits was this shoddy little place on the other side of town. They were able to take both Silas and his "savior" in at the same time, and the boys sat one bed away from each other, with the dividers pulled back. Only when the elderly nurse was applying a topical numbing agent to the stranger's lip did Silas dare to look over at him. He looked back and smiled this goofy half-smile, his eyes two crescent moons beneath thick, black lashes.

They were inseparable ever since.