"Daddy
"Daddy!" Screamed a small girl about 5 years old as she struggled to breathe. "Awww, sweetie ya gotta be quiet," a long limbed man with dark red hair said as he eased into the girl's mouth. "Stop it papa!" There was another little girl in the room, named Kairi. She saw that her father was hurting her sister. She watched in horror, trying in vain to drag her father away from Shiori. However, in vain it was, for he was much stronger. "Kairi be quiet or get out!" The little redhead was slammed into the floor by the man. She looked up from the floor at her sister. "Shiori…"she mumbled quietly. The other little girl, Shiori, was starting to turn blue. This was much unlike her usually light brown complexion. Kairi knew her father was doing something wrong. She knew that her sister was in pain. She should go tell Sephiroth. "Mmaafggg." Shiori was trying to say something, but her voice was muffled as the man shoved down her throat even further, rhythmically. Kairi immediately realized that something was wrong with her him. This was not Raii, her father, a usually kind and loving person. After gathering her thoughts on what to do, Kairi she rushed frantically out of the room. "Finally, I was waiting for her to leave." Raii mumbled, slamming the door. He released himself from Shiori. She began to cough and gag. Raii waited for a moment. After it seemed that she was finished, he lifted her up onto his high bed, crested with the mark of her mother's family. "Raii… please." She pleaded, trying to find any excuse to leave the situation. "May I go…mommy wanted me for my-my-my lessons." He smiled. Raii looked as if he was possessed by the devil himself. The lustrous gleam in his eyes overtook all memories Shiori'd had of his kindness. Raii ran his fingers through Shiori's silver, silky hair. "Hikari owes me. She owes me big time. Besides, it would do me no better honor than to deflower a child of the Strife generation and if it would piss off Sephiroth, then that works for me." Shiori had no idea of the words he was using or their meanings. Her mind only drew in fear that something worse than before was about to happen, the unknown beginning to settle in. She began to tremble, and Raii noticed. "Hey, hey now." He said soothingly. "Don't blame me for this. Your mother is the promise breaker. Now take this like she would and pull your dress up." Raii lifted her farther onto the bed. "Raii…please, no," Shiori pleaded even harder. She started to get the realization that something horrible was going to happen. Where was her daddy? Sephiroth was always there to save her. Where was he now? Raii's smile got even wilder as he pulled her Strife family crested dress further up her legs. He enjoyed watching her eyes open wider, in despair and a desperate plea. It was a sort of sick pleasure for him. "Hold on little Shiori," Raii said. "You will not enjoy this." He began to undo her dress, but just then, as if someone pitied her fate, and had heard Shiori's cry for help, her father stormed into the room, his rage at a father's maximum. He called out to her and looked straight at Raii, with hate and death in his eyes. He sounded odd. It was not a man's voice at all. Why did he sound like a girl? "Shiori?" Someone said. "Shiori. I-said- get-up-NOW!"
Shiori awoke with a start. Why did she keep having that dream? The people looked so familiar. It was as if she should know them or something. The dreams were not totally clear, but they'd haunted her for most of her life. What she really wanted to know was who the two little girls were, and who came in to save the other girl. It puzzled her so much, these dreams. But it seems she'd have to sort things out later seeing as her mother was starting to get agitated, so she'd better ponder over her dreams later, or risk being later for school. Or she could also risk facing Hikari's wrath. Shiori's mother, Hikari Haruna was the Destiny Islands' best doctor. She was gorgeous, and had red hair so dark, it was almost violet, and she also happened to have eyes the color of the crystal blue sea surrounding their Island. "I'm coming ma," she shouted back at her mother. Shiori threw off the covers, rushed out of the room and saw her twin sister, Kairi, coming out of the shower. She was surprised that Kairi was even up this early. 'I must have really slept in late if Kairi beat me to the shower!' Shiori thought. "Yo, Miss Shiori." Her sister called out. "Riku, Sora, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie are on their way over. We are all gonna walk together." They all went to the same school, South Star Junior High, with the exception of Riku and Wakka, who in fact were a year older than everyone else and went to North Star High School. "Okay, I'm coming." Shiori quipped. She really was not a morning person and didn't want to be bothered. "Jeez, chill out Shiori, it's not my fault that you're in love with Riku." Kairi snapped back, purposely baiting her sister. Shiori stopped. Shiori immediately grew agitated. "Riku-has-nothing-to-do-with-arrrggghhh!" But Shiori did not get to finish as Kairi had jumped onto Shiori face forward. Though she was relatively small, it was unexpected. "Ewww Kairi you are such a pervert! You can't just hop on top of me all half naked like that…I'm not Sora…" Shiori didn't finish as Kairi hopped off of her, blushing very, very hard. "But I'm the pervert…" Kairi started, but didn't finish as Shiori seized her chance to escape and ran into the bathroom and locked the door. "Whatever." Kairi said blushing, and then went off to her room to get dressed. Shiori put her ear to the bathroom door and when she was sure that Kairi was in her room, she happened to catch a glance of herself in the mirror. 'What a sight!' She thought. Sometimes Shiori thought she was adopted. She wasn't but she looked so unlike her mother and sister that it killed her. If she knew what her father looked like though, it would help her feel better. Unlike Shiori, Kairi shared their mother's hair and eyes. Kairi's hair was only neck length, but she and Hikari shared the color. Kairi'd had the privilege of inheriting Hikari's "Haruna blue" eyes. Shiori looked nothing like her mother. Besides their body type and hair length, they had nothing in common. For instance, Shiori had light brown skin, as opposed to her mother and sister's creamy light skin. Shiori also had silver hair. The skin thing wasn't a big deal, because her grandmam was brown skinned too. But to top off the total weirdness, she had purple eyes. 'Purple.' She thought. 'Who has purple eyes?' After a while, though, she'd given up on examining her flaws for the moment. 'Oh well, I'd better stop complaining and take a shower. Looking at myself in the mirror won't be a good enough excuse to stop mom from yelling.' She thought to herself. After she finished, dressed, and geared up, Shiori was downstairs. She sat down at the table, along with her grandmother and sister. "Hey Grandmam." Shiori greeted her grandmother with a kiss. "Hello sweetie." Her grandmother stated back. Kairi looked up from a magazine she was reading and frowned. "That shirt is a little too tight, isn't it sis?" Shiori looked down. She couldn't see anything wrong with her shirt. Or, to be truthful about it, she couldn't even really see anything from beyond the top of her chest for that matter. "Whatever do you mean sister?" Shiori asked, feigning innocence. "Don't play dumb with me." Kairi looked like she meant it too. "That is SOOO not fair," Kairi over dramatized. Then, Hikari walked into the kitchen. "What's not fair Kai?" She questioned her forever-complaining daughter. "You and Shiori get enormous jugs, and I get stuck with mosquito bites." Kairi replied tartly, pointing at her A-cup sized chest. "Stop complaining Kairi." Their mother said. "You look exactly like me. Isn't that good enough?" "Nope." Kairi said as the doorbell rang, stopping Hikari from giving her one of her famous "be happy with what you have" speeches. Their grandmother, who was in fact, Hikari's mother, Hiroshima Haruna, called out sweetly. "Who is it?" "Ummm… it's us!" Sora's childlike voice rang out. Kairi raced to the door and she hurriedly unlocked it. "Thirsty," Shiori Mumbled. "Shut up," Kairi retorted. As the door opened, only Riku and Sora were standing there. Hikari shouted from the kitchen. "You all can come in if you want to." When they walked in, Shiori noticed the deficiency of people and commented, "Where is everyone else?" Riku and Sora looked at each other and smiled, as if sharing a private joke. "Well you see…" Sora started. "Well?" Said Shiori. "We can't say in here with all these-" Riku paused. "Adults listening." Hikari walked into the living room. "You can't say what?" She questioned. "If you can't say it around me or any other adult, you shouldn't be saying it." "Well, if you really wanna know…" started Sora again. "AH!" Hikari shook her finger in his face. "Just hush. Go to school. Learn something." "But it's the last day of school." Riku said. Hikari waved them off toward the door. Shiori, Riku, Sora, and Kairi filed out one by one. "Goodbye!" Hikari hurriedly said. "Bye Grandmam!" Shiori and Kairi both said. "Bye girls!" She shouted. "Don't get pregnant. As much as I would not mind having Riku and Sora for grandsons in law…"she broke off as Hikari went ballistic. "Mother, honestly!" She said as she slammed the door. They could still hear Hikari shouting loudly while walking down the street. "So," Shiori started, "Why isn't our good threesome of friends here?" They walked down the path south to South Star Junior High, while Kairi and Shiori eyed the boys suspiciously while they laughed hysterically. "Well, I guess you could call them that, since that's what they are doing." Sora said amusedly. Kairi looked at Shiori and knew that they were both picturing the same disturbing sight. Somehow the Wakka/Selphie/Tidus picture appeared in both of their minds, freaking them both out immensely. Being twins could do that to you. "Wow." Kairi said. "You know?" Said Riku. "Maybe we could do the same thing except-" "RIKU!" Warned Shiori. "Not like that. Maybe just Kairi and Sora and you and I." Riku innocently stated. "NO!" Kairi said giggling. "If you say so." Sora said in a board voice. They walked on to school, parting ways when they reached the street that Riku turned down to get to the High School. When the remaining three, Shiori, Sora, and Kairi, reached South Star, everyone was standing outside. The girls who usually hung with Shiori, the popular girls, or the "mini- mafia", as Kairi called them, saw her and beckoned her over. Shiori knew she would be lonely, because even though there were a lot of these girls, her best friend, Selphie would not be with her. "Bye Kai." Shiori sighed and said, leaving Sora and Kairi around a large group of people. Shiori slowly walked over to the girls she hung around with a sigh, and she somehow knew it was going to be a long, long day.
Shiori plopped down onto the couch when she got home. She was tired. Very tired. 'Why did Kairi have to get detention on the last day of school?' She thought to herself. 'That was a really stupid thing to do. Let's all cuss out our teachers on the last day of school!' She thought irritably. And to make it five times worse, Shiori had a really bad craving for tacos, and Kairi knew how to cook the meat the best. The phone rang. When Shiori looked, she saw that it was Selphie's cell phone. 'I am guessing that she, Tidus, and Wakka must be done.' She picked it up. "Hello, Selph-nasty." Shiori said. "Shiori?" Selphie asked, sounding upset. "Oh yeah," Shiori responded. Selphie sounded like she'd been crying. "I guess you heard huh?" 'She just got some, why does she sound so upset?' Shiori thought. "Yeah, I heard. What's wrong? You sound sad." Then Selphie began to cry into the phone. "Yeah there's something wrong. I'm at Tidus' house." Shiori was surprised. 'Did she get caught?' Shiori asked herself. "Why are you at Tidus'?" She asked. "We got caught because my dad came home early and he cussed me out, called me a slut and told me to leave! He told me I was no kin to him and that I was just like my good for nothing mother, and he hit Wakka in the face with one of his liquor bottles." "He what?" Shiori was amazed that Wakka hadn't kicked Selphie's father's ass for that. They all knew that ever since Selphie's mom left, her father began drinking and sometimes got a little violent, but this was sooo unexpected. "What did Wakka do?" Shiori was getting kind of excited. She knew that Wakka really wasn't the type to just take that from somebody. 'I'll bet that Wakka beat the crap outta him!' Shiori thought to herself. "He just left and went home after telling me that he wasn't mad and looking dead at my father and saying 'We should do this again Selph." Selphie blurted out. "Do you need a place to stay?" Shiori asked concernedly. "No." Selphie said. "Tidus' grandmother said that it would be okay for me to stay over here." Then, the line clicked. 'Who is it?' Shiori wondered. It was Riku. Shiori asked Selphie to call her back later. Selphie sighed and said "Ok. Bye then." Shiori switched lines. "Hello." She said. "Shiori?" Riku asked. "Yeah, what's up?" "Are you and Kairi doing anything tonight?" he sounded agitated. "No Riku, but if that's what this is about, then that foursome you mentioned is not happening." There was a pause. "I'm serious." Riku said. "Ok Riku, what's up?" Shiori said apologetically. "Can you and Kairi come out to the Island tonight? We all need to seriously talk." Shiori was confused. "Okay what time?" She asked. "Be there by about seven, ok?" He asked. "Sure Riku. We'll be there." She hung up the phone. 'Why is today going so badly?' She wondered. 'Everyone sounds like they had a bad day. But I'm getting the strange feeling that it is not over yet.' With so much on her mind and while waiting for Kairi to get home from detention, she fell asleep in the front room on their black leather couch.
Slam! Shiori jumped off of the couch when she heard the door slam closed. It was Kairi. "Damn all those teachers!" Kairi said, stomping through the family room. "I hope they all drown on the southwest island! Hell, I should do it myself…I'm sure Sora and Tidus wouldn't object to helping too much…" Shiori had heard her and said "Watch your mouth Kai." From the couch. "What?" Kairi asked, clearly annoyed. "I said keep your thoughts to yourself," Shiori said as she sleepily rubbed her eyes and got up. Kairi looked surprised. "But I didn't say anything." She said, confused. "Yeah you did," snorted Shiori amusedly. "You said 'Damn all those teachers'." 'How did she hear that?' Thought Kairi. "Because you keep talking out loud that's how!" Shiori snapped. 'Why is she acting so strange?' Shiori thought to herself. Kairi got mad. "I am not acting strange." She said. "I didn't say anything to you!" Shiori yelled. "Then why do we keep hearing each other then?" Kairi questioned. "It's not like we're reading each other's mind!" She blew up. They stared each other down. 'Bitch.' They both thought. And they both ended up hearing each other. "How the hell?" Kairi said. "Oh-my-god!" Shiori said "You didn't move your mouth!" Kairi was also astonished. "Neither did you." She stated. 'This is crazy,' Thought Shiori. Kairi screeched and put her hand over her mouth. "I heard that too!" 'So are we…does this mean…' thought Kairi. 'Reading each others' minds? I guess so Kai.' Shiori thought back at Kairi. Kairi got so excited that she had to speak out loud again. "Wow this is sooo weird." Shiori didn't feel that way. She felt as though she'd known how to do this all along, like it was natural or something. 'Where is this feeling coming from?' She thought. "What feeling?" Kairi asked. "Nothing Kai." "I wonder if we should tell mom," Shiori said. "Of course!" Kairi shouted. "Maybe she can do it too." Shiori thought about it. "I guess so." She said. "Maybe grandmam will have some advice or something for us about our newfound power."
"Girls, girls. GIRLS! GET OFF OF MY 10,000 DOLLAR COUCH!" Shiori awoke to her mother's loud screaming. Kairi was still apparently asleep. 'Yes she's home!' Shiori thought. Their mother and grandmother were sitting in the kitchen discussing grandmam's clothing shares when she'd finally gotten Kairi to wake up. 'So we're going then?' Thought Kairi. 'Oh yeah.' Responded Shiori. They walked into the kitchen side by side. "Hello girls." Grandmam said cheerfully. "Hey." Both Kairi and Shiori said. "What's up?" Hikari asked, looking away from grandmam. "Well…" Kairi started. But then she broke off as she was elbowed by Shiori. 'What now?' Thought Kairi. 'We have to go!' Thought Shiori back. 'Go where?' Kairi thought, obviously confused. 'I promised Riku that me and you would meet them at the little island where we all hang out together at seven, and it is six forty-five now…' their in-mind conversation was broken up by Hikari's throat clearing. "Is their something you girls want?" She asked curiously. "No mom," Shiori said. "We were just telling you that we were all going to the island for a…um…end of school party tonight. Don't worry we'll be back later." "Ok then," Hikari yelled as her daughters rushed out of the door. "Have a good time!" She yelled. 'That was close!' Thought Shiori. 'So why do they want us to come to the island?' Thought Kairi back. They lived very close to the dock where Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Shiori put the boats that they used to paddle out to the island, so they were there in no time. "Hello?" Kairi said aloud and they stopped at the end of the dock. "Sorry Kai," Shiori mumbled. "I just was thinking about this new "mind reading" power of ours." Kairi looked puzzled. "I thought you were happy about it?" Kairi said. Shiori sighed. "It's just that…normal people can't do things like that Kai. What…what if we aren't normal? Stuff like this doesn't happen to normal people." Kairi thought about it for a second. "Of course we're normal." She said quietly. "I guess so…" Shiori said. "Well." Started Kairi. Attempting to change the subject. 'Let's go!' They both thought as they got into their boats and paddled of toward the Southwest Island. As she was paddling toward the island, Shiori was thinking, a lot. 'Mom told us that we weren't born on this island. Where did we come from? How did we get here?' She pondered this very deeply. 'No one has left this island-ever. Am I some kind of freak from another place? Was my dad some kind of mind-reading freak too, and that's why mom left him?' This was all too confusing for Shiori. She stressed a little bit more, and jumped as her small boat hit the sandy beach. Kairi had beaten her there. Apparently, Shiori had taken a little longer than her sister due to her stressing. She saw Kairi waving at her from further up the beach. 'C'mon.' Kairi thought to her sister impatiently. She slowly climbed out of the boat, still uneasy from her previous thoughts. Shiori started onto the beach and walked quickly until she caught up with Kairi. "Look, there's Riku and Sora!" Kairi whispered. Shiori had been so caught up in her depression that she hadn't even noticed Riku or Sora sitting on the dock watching them expectedly. When they got close enough, Shiori could see Sora smiling. "What took ya so long?" He said. Shiori looked down out of distraction. Kairi nudged her. 'What is wrong with you?' She thought to her sister. 'Just thinking,' Shiori thought back. "Soooo," Kairi said, "What is the point of this meeting guys?" "Good point Kai." Sora added. "What's up Riku?" This was the first time that Shiori had really paid Riku any attention since they'd gotten to the island. She looked at him. His sea green eyes burned with determination as he began to talk. "Well. I-I've been thinking…a lot." He started. "AND?" Kairi asked. "What's your point?" "I'm sick of being on this island!" He continued fiercely. "I just realized that there are other worlds out there and…" "You can't be serious!" Sora interrupted. "Other worlds? Dude, have you been sniffing paopu leaves?" Sora snorted. "Aw C'mon Sora," Riku retorted. "You have realized that Shiori, Kairi, and Ms. Hikari were not born on this island right?" "Well…" Sora began, scratching his thick brown hair. "Never thought about it that way." Kairi said. Kairi, Riku and Sora looked at Shiori. They all noticed that she wasn't adding to the conversation. "What do you think Shiori?" Riku asked. Shiori jumped out of her zone. "Well, umm what exactly do you plan to do?" She asked, still thinking, while at the same time hoping that her answer made any sense, since she really was not paying very much attention. "Well, that's the problem." Riku said. "I think we should go try to find the world or, even the place where you two are from, but I'm not exactly sure how to get there." Sora looked thoughtful. "Well, that puts a big wedge in your plan. But it would help if we knew how they got here in the first place." He stated. "I don't remember anything at all." Shiori said blankly, finally paying attention. "It's like my memories were washed clear out." "Neither do I." Said Kairi. "I remember that you all and your mother were found on the beach of the main island a while ago." Riku said. They all thought hard for a few minutes. Then Sora's face lit up. "Hey, we could make a raft, or maybe even a boat or something. I mean, if they were found on the beach, they probably took a boat of some kind." He said. "Wow Sora, that's not a bad idea." Riku said happily. "This could actually work. It's one of the most sensible and understandable things that Sora has ever said!" Kairi said excitedly. Sora dropped his head. 'Why do they all make me out to be the biggest idiot?' He wondered. Kairi and Shiori heard him and laughed out loud, of course with Riku and Sora eying the suspiciously. 'This will be an interesting summer.' Shiori thought. Kairi caught her eye. 'Oh yeah.' She thought back. "So when do we start?" Riku asked expectantly. "Tomorrow." Kairi said. They all agreed to start the next day. After waving goodbye, and some flirting from Sora and Riku, Shiori and Kairi got on their boats and headed home. When they reached the dock, after putting their boats into the storage, Kairi began to question Shiori's absentmindedness. "Are you sure you are ok?" Kairi asked. "You don't seem as happy about this as I thought. What's on your mind? I can tell that something's wrong." Shiori didn't even look up at her. "I told you earlier, I've just got a lot on my mind." She said. "I noticed that." Kairi said. "But I wanna know what you are thinking about. Why are you so worried about this?" Kairi asked. "It's nothing alright?" Shiori said, starting to get agitated. She knew that Kairi was only trying to be helpful, but she could be annoying at times. "Is it the mind-reading thing?" Kairi asked as they turned onto their street. "I said I'm ok, hop off, ok Kairi?" Shiori growled. Kairi was a bit taken aback. She'd just wanted to know if her sis was ok. Maybe she could cheer her up. Her jokes usually worked. "Sorry Shiori," Kairi started. "It's just that nobody's used to you not swooning over Riku ya know?" Then Shiori stopped dead ahead of Kairi, balling up her fists. "What?" Shiori said, almost in an animal-like snarl. "Jeez, calm down Shiori I was just making a joke." Kairi squeaked out apologetically. She hadn't meant to make her even angrier. Then Kairi was not prepared for what happened when Shiori turned around. Shiori's face had become almost demon-like, and her dark lavender eyes were now red. "A joke?" Shiori asked. "I really did not find that to be the funniest thing," She growled out. Kairi started to freak out, and backed into a tree. "S-s-s-sister! What's wrong with you?" As if things were not bad enough as it was, Shiori collapsed on the ground, beginning to screaming in agony. Then, she clutched her back, as blood came spurting from up and down her spine through her fingers. Kairi was wide-eyed in fear. "Somebody HELP!" She wailed into the darkness. Shiori's scream went a whole note higher when more blood gushed from the wound on her back, despite her efforts to keep it in her hands. Her eyes rolled until Kairi could see the whites, and she started freaking out. As if someone had heard what was going on outside people began to cut on their porch lights. At this moment in her life, Kairi saw the most extraordinary phenomenon she had seen since the two had found out that they could read each other's minds. Two triangular figures arose from Shiori's back and she attempted to stand up. Kairi could see the tears running down her sister's face as she quite horrifyingly realized what they were. They were wings. "Help me Kai…" Shiori cried out and collapsed on the pavement. Somewhere down the street, an old woman came out of her house, saw Shiori on the ground and started hollering for the police at the top of her lungs. Before the old woman could catch her breath to yell again, the door to the Haruna residence flew open and Kairi could make out through her tears, her mother, Hikari. Their mother ran out, raised her hand and yelled at the top of her lungs, "STOP!" And the old woman didn't move. Nothing moved. The crickets had stopped chirping, and the sea itself had stopped moving. Also, the old woman was frozen. "Mom?" Kairi asked. Her mother had just stopped time. It was awe-inspiring. 'I-it's like magic or something.' Thought Kairi, crouched over the lifeless form of her sister. Hikari took in a deep breath and was gone from her spot on the grass. POP. She appeared in front of Kairi. Kairi's jaw dropped. 'We do have some type of magic powers!' She thought. Hikari looked at her. "Well I wouldn't call it magic." She said. "I knew you could read minds too mom!" Kairi said ecstatically, but lost her static when she remembered her sister's condition. Hikari looked down at Shiori, and picked her up. Shiori made a noise that was barely audible. "So you found out." Hikari said quietly. "Grandmam told me that I couldn't hide your heritage from you forever, and she was right." Kairi gave her a blank stare. "Heritage?" Kairi said, obviously confused. "I see." Hikari mumbled out. "I will have to tell you everything." With that, Hikari said nothing more, and made her way to the house, Kairi following silently, a shadow in her mother's steps.
When they got into the house, Kairi followed her mother as she laid Shiori on the leather couch, not caring that with the way she was bleeding, it would need to be replaced. After a few minutes Grandmam walked into the living room. Hikari was crying quietly into her hands. Hiroshima Haruna looked at Hikari and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "It is time." She said in a soothing voice. "I-I-I…" Hikari stuttered. "I'd hoped that it would not come to this, mother. It hurts… so much… to think about it all over again." Grandmam sighed. "I know, but it has. So it is time to face the secret that you have kept from them. They deserve to know." Hikari breathed in deeply and sighed. Kairi looked at her mother and grandmother expectantly. Was she about to figure out what in the world was happening in her life? Though Hikari looked lost in thought as she looked sadly at Shiori's lifeless body on the couch, she asked Kairi "What do you want to know?" Kairi was so exited. She was about to find out where she'd come from and who she really was. 'But… what about Shiori?' She thought. Wondering if her sister would ever get to know this new…input on their past. Grandmam heard her granddaughter's thoughts. "Your sister is not dead, she's just… apparently had a very serious-" Hiroshima looked at her daughter. Hikari filled in for her, "She's just had a very serious tantrum I guess." Kairi looked at her sister lying as if she was dead, and it was her funeral, across the couch. 'She's too out of it to hear any of this.' "Well?" Hikari asked. "Do you want to know or not?" Kairi didn't know what to ask first. "Umm, ok." She started. "Who are we, and what exactly are we that we can do all this weird magical stuff?" "Good question." Grandmam said brightly, trying to lighten the mood. "Well." Hikari said shakily. "First of all, we, as in you, your grandmother and I, are all members of the prominent Haruna Clan." Kairi looked surprised. "We belong to a clan?" She asked. "Yes we do." Grandmam answered proudly. "And not just any clan," she continued. "The Haruna Clan is a family of demons who have been around since the world was in creation." "Wow!" Kairi said in awe. But then she thought of something. "Mom?" She asked. "If we were so rich, why don't we live in a big mansion or something?" Hikari almost laughed, almost. "A Haruna? Live in a mansion? Darling we had a whole castle for the entire family in a place called The Radiant Gardens." Kairi's eyes got big, but she tried to keep an air of maturity, seeing as she was now royal and all. "I see." Kairi said simply. "But why are we here now?" Grandmam sighed. "You see Kairi, we were made to leave when…" but Hikari stopped her. "Please mother," she begged. "Let me tell her. I should have told Shiori and her a long time ago." Grandmam wasn't sure that Hikari was ready to tell this, but she trusted her. "Alright." She said submissively and allowed her daughter to speak. "Why, mother?" Kairi said, wide eyed in anticipation like a child waiting for Santa. "Why did we leave?" Hikari took several deep breaths. "Well, a long time ago, about eight years to be exact, I was too wrapped up in some business about a neighboring family to be paying attention to you and Shiori wandering about the castle. You both had been bothering me for a while about something. I'd told you to go find R-r-r…" She broke off when Shiori began to move on the couch. "Kairi?" She asked. Grandmam cried out in relief. "I told you that she'd be alright!" "Yes, but I won't be able to control her if it happens again." Hikari said. The wings slowly began to fade as Shiori tried to sit up. "Wh-what happened?" She asked confusedly but couldn't say anything else as Kairi hugged her, despite her blood soaked clothes and the now blood soaked couch. She sniffled. "Shiori, I thought you were dead! You changed and-and… I'm so sorry for what I said to make you that angry." Hikari pulled Kairi away from Shiori's embrace. "You provoked her!?" She asked. "It wasn't on purpose." She said quietly. Hikari then regretted her choice of words. "Why did I get so angry?" Shiori asked, unsure of what was going on. "You are of the Strife bloodline." Grandmam said. "It's in your genes. When a child of Strife gets angry, even the grown ones, they become demons and cannot control who they hurt, or kill if you really provoke them." "Hold on now." Kairi added. "I thought that we were Haruna?" "And you are." Said grandmam. Shiori was getting frustrated. Nobody was making any sense, at all. "What the heck are you guys talking about?" She yelled. It got quiet. "Your grandmother and I were telling your sister about our…heritage before you woke up." 'That makes sense.' Shiori thought. "It should." Hikari said. Shiori was surprised that her mother had heard what she'd thought. "Mom can read minds too!" Kairi said. "I kinda guessed that." Shiori said blandly. She was slightly angry that they had started such an important family conversation without her. Shiori looked at her mother. "So I guess you are finally gonna tell us huh?" She questioned. Hikari was shocked at her daughter's boldness of words. The Strife attitude in her was showing, and her usually demure daughter could not be found at the moment. "I guess you really are a Strife." Hikari said with a smile on her face. "Is that my real last name?" Shiori asked curiously. "Yeah," added Kairi. "Is that our real last name?" Grandmam looked at them piteously. "I wish it were that simple." Kairi was puzzled. "Why isn't it?" She said. "Well first of all," Hikari started. "Both of you don't have…." She broke off. "Don't have what!" Kairi and Shiori said in unison. "You both don't have the same father!" She said loudly, and buried herself in grandmam's arms, the usually loud and yelling Hikari disappearing slowly. "WHAT!?" The girls said and jumped off of the couch. "I-I-I'm so sorry girls, I'm such a whore! I know you wish that you had a different mother who wasn't so…so…scandalous!" Hikari said, crying still, in grandmam's arms. They girls both felt bad for making their mother feel so upset, even if for some odd reason they were two twins without the same father. "Wait mom." Shiori said quietly. "It's okay; we don't think that you're a whore!" Hikari lifted herself up. "You don't?" "No mom!" Kairi said. "It's only two different people right? Besides, we all make mistakes." "Yeah." Shiori added. "The only thing that matters is here and now, and how you can correct your mistakes." Grandmam smiled at the maturity and the great understanding of her grandchildren. They were growing up so fast. "I guess so." Hikari said, sniffling. "On that fact." Shiori put in, just wondering.. "How in the world can we be twins?" Grandmam and Hikari flinched. 'Something I said?' Thought Shiori to Kairi. 'I don't know.' Kairi thought back. 'But at least we're getting some answers here.' Shiori gave her a stern look. 'But at what cost?' She finally thought. "Well…you see…." Hikari started wringing her hands, and broke off from talking. Grandmam saw that Hikari was uncomfortable, and spoke up for her daughter. "As you said, your mother made some really bad decisions a long time ago and isn't proud of them so LEAVE IT AT THAT! But you can ask a different question if you like." Grandmam said, reverting back to her normal, quiet, grandmother voice. "You never finished telling me why we left." Kairi said. "Oh, right." Hikari said. "Well, as I said before, I'd told you two to go play with Raii and bother him while I was trying to get a peace agreement made with another clan." Both Shiori and Kairi had questions from that sentence alone. "What's a clan?" Shiori asked. "Who is Raii?" Kairi said. "A clan is a family of people or beings who all share the same last name and family traits." Grandmam answered. "We are all part of the Haruna Clan, so we are all demons." "WOW!" Shiori said mouth agape. 'A demon huh?' She asked herself. 'That explains a lot of really crazy stuff that's happened over the years.' She thought, smiling. "Kairi," Hikari said. "Raii was your father." Kairi clammed up. "My dad?" She said quietly, unsure of whether to be exited or, or… whether to feel some other emotion she'd never had the joy of experiencing before. "Yes Kairi, your father." Grandmam repeated. "Then who was my dad?" Shiori said. Hikari smiled. 'Ah Sephiroth.' She thought to herself. "That was his name? Sephiroth?" Shiori asked. "Sephiroth Strife." Grandmam said dreamily. "Currently the head of the Demon Strife Family and a Commander of his region." Shiori had thought that her dad was just some no-name drunk, and that he would have just been one of her mother's mistakes but lo and behold he was some kind of powerful demon lord. Shiori got a lot of ideas from this. 'Soooo, am I some kind of demon princess?' She thought aloud, but wasn't answered. All this praise toward Shiori's father made Kairi felt kind of low. "Didn't my-um-Raii have some kind of noble title? Or even a last name for that matter?" Kairi asked, slamming her fist on the living room table, upset at the way that her mother and grandmother were glorifying a man who wasn't even there for Shiori. Both Hiroshima and Hikari immediately felt bad for making Kairi feel so low. "Of course he did Kai." Hikari said soothingly. "Your father was Raii Urameshi, a former Lieutenant of the region. Your father and Shiori's were best friends." "Former?" Shiori asked. "What happened to him?" Grandmam and Hikari flinched uncomfortably again. 'Another bad question.' Shiori thought to herself. Their mother took a really, really deep breath and after a lot of silence, finally got out "Raii was killed b-b-by Sephiroth when he-" "What!?" Kairi yelled. Grandmam got angry. Kairi shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and gotten angry so quickly. And besides, grandmam had very sensitive ears. "Will you quit that yelling?" She asked in a stern tone, one that was usually only held by Hikari. Kairi got angry too. Shiori didn't know what to say. Neither did Hikari. All she could do was watch while her mother and daughter had a shouting match. "Well-I- am-so-sorry-that-Shiori's-psycho-dad-killed-mine!" Kairi yelled at her grandmother. Grandmam's blood boiled. 'This insolent child!' She thought to herself. 'Yelling at an elder. Why if these were the old days, and she were my child, she'd be punished.' Shiori felt so horrible. She didn't know what to say to make the situation better. And hearing everyone yelling at each other out loud and in thoughts was driving her crazy. There was absolutely nothing she could say at this point to make the situation better. She couldn't. Shiori could see her grandmother's anger climbing an immense mountain higher. Hikari knew of her mother's famous 'Lions Roar', and did not want her daughter to experience it this way. "Please mother don't say anything, Kairi really doesn't know what hap-" But grandmam ignored Hikari's plea and lost her temper, almost destroying everyone's eardrums. "WELL IF YOU'D STOP YELLING YOU'D KNOW THAT WE ARE NOT TRYING TO JUSTIFY YOUR FATHER'S DEATH! BUT IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT SEPHIROTH KILLED HIM BECAUSE YOUR FATHER HAD BEEN POSSESSED BY A DEMON CALLED NOIRIKOTSU AND WE CAUGHT HIM RAPING YOUR SISTER! BUT IF YOU MUST BE ANGRY ABOUT IT THEN KNOW THAT AFTER HE WAS RIDDEN OF THIS DEMON, THAT HE FELT SO HORRIBLE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, THAT RAI ASKED TO BE KILLED SO THAT IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN! SO I AM SORRY THAT YOU COULD CARE LESS ABOUT OUR FAMILY'S ANGER AND THE PAIN OF YOUR SISTER!" Grandmam roared at the top of her lungs. The whole house got quiet. One minute passed where all Kairi could do was stare at the floor in embarrassment. "He-raped-me?" Shiori got out quietly. 'I-was-raped?' She asked herself. 'Why don't I remember any of this stuff?' Then, all of a sudden, it hit her. The man in her dreams with the red hair must have been Raii, and the two little girls were she and Kairi. 'That means…' She thought. "Means what?" Hikari asked. "The man with the silver hair is my father." Shiori stated in awe. "Sephiroth did have silver hair, yes." Hikari said, looking from her mother to Kairi over and over again, rubbing her ears painfully and silently hoping that her magic was still in motion and that the neighborhood was still frozen. Kairi still wasn't talking. She was too horrified at what grandmam had just yelled at her. It destroyed her inside that someone would be so evil as to try to rape her dear sister. Her own sister. To anyone, for that matter. When the room got too quiet, Shiori tried to lighten the mood of the house by saying, "This is officially the strangest night of my life." Shiori said as she turned to Kairi, trying to make her talk to her again. She didn't blame her sister for this Noirikotsu's crimes. It wasn't like it was her father's fault. He had been possessed. Though it did disgust her, a lot, she was not angry. But apparently Kairi hadn't heard her because her gaze was still transfixed on the floor. Shiori sighed. "So we are all demons or something right?" She asked Kairi. She shrugged. "I guess so. But it's not a good thing anymore, since I am now the daughter of a demon rapist." She got up and began to walk out of the room. They all looked at Kairi. Hikari didn't want her daughter to hate the demon in her blood, so she grabbed Kairi's hand and said "Kairi, if it makes you feel any better, it was not Raii's fault. It was Noirikotsu's fault. Your father was completely human, and in being so he was prone to any type of demon magic." Kairi snatched away. "Oh great! So I guess that this makes me…hmm, a hanyou, now am huh? If you think that the fact that someone else was in his body makes the situation any better, or if you don't think he could have stopped himself from hurting my sister, then I don't know who you are Hikari Haruna." After she said this, she walked up the stairs and into her room. Everyone was stunned. Kairi's words were so paralyzing, they were snake bites in Hikari's heart. All of the words hit Hikari. One by one. "Mom…" Shiori started to say but grandmam raised her hand. That called for silence. Hikari just sat there staring ahead toward the door. Shiori could see, and smell the saltiness of the tears welling in her mother's eyes. 'I guess being a demon gives ya these kinds of senses.' Shiori thought to herself. There was nothing that she could do. After watching her mothers for a while, hoping they would say something to make her feel better, like when she was younger, she finally gave up and started for the stairs. "Well I am going to bed." Shiori called while beginning to walk up the stairs. Before she could totally ascend from the living room and Hikari's thoughts, she heard one thought, a question, loud and clear. 'Hariyami, my beloved father.' She said sobbingly. 'What can I do now? What would you do?' Shiori could listen no more. It was too horrible hearing her mother come down on herself like that. Her premonition had been right. Today was long and psychotic. As she walked down the upstairs hallway, she could hear Kairi crying. For a second, she considered going into her room and talking to her. But she knew that when Kairi got mad, all she wanted was her space, and kept walking. Shiori kept on to her room and stripped of her bloody clothes, and took them out to the trash. After a long hot shower, and about an hour of trying to get any blood off of her and her beautiful silver hair, Shiori put on a tank top outfit, and tried to get some sleep. 'Think positive thoughts.' She told herself. Well, she did have the raft-building to look forward to. 'When that raft is done, we're going to travel to the place that I was born.' And with that thought in mind, she dreamt dreams of silver haired men, and castles full of her demon relatives.
It had now been a month since Shiori, Sora, Riku and Kairi began creating the raft. Not much had changed. Shiori and Kairi were speaking, as Shiori finally told Kairi that she never blamed her for what happened. But there was still a lot of tension between Kairi and Hikari. And today, the raft was officially done. Well, that was if they could figure out where Sora and Kairi were off slacking at. Sweat pored off of Riku and Shiori as they carried the raft toward the beach on their little island. They had been secretly making a raft. If they were caught by their parents, they would think they'd been sniffing paopu leaves. As far as all of the adults knew, no one had ever left the island. So why would a bunch of kids be able to? When Shiori and Riku reached the end of the beach and the start of the water, they put it down. Well, more like dropped in Shiori's case. Shiori caught her breath while Riku began to talk. "Where'd those two bums get to?" He questioned. "Who knows?" Shiori said back quickly while putting her hands on her knees and breathing hard. "What, you tired?" Riku asked. "I just eat this stuff up." He said, flexing his muscles. "We are all so impressed." Shiori said sarcastically. She looked up at the raft. It had been hard work, but when she saw her homeland, it would have been worthwhile. The raft was beautiful. 'Well, at least that's what Riku says' She thought. 'Who cares what Riku says?" Kairi thought back. Though they were separated from each other, Kairi and Shiori had learned that they could still talk to each other through their minds. 'Ya whatever, where are you guys anyway?' Shiori asked. 'We're coming!' Kairi thought back. "Hey! Earth to Shiori. Are you okay?" Riku asked, noticing her staring off into the ocean. "Yeah. I'm alright." She said in a bored tone. "Hey don't be that way." Riku began. "I'm sure imagining me naked can't bore you that much." He laughed. Shiori blushed and put up her fist. "Who said I was thinking about that?" She asked. "Well if you want me to I can always take off my clothes and…" Riku didn't get to finish, as Shiori knocked him down and not noticing Sora and Kairi coming closer, jumped on him and began punching him in the abs. They were both laughing. Then they heard Kairi clear her throat. "AHEM." She said. Shiori and Riku looked up into the faces of an interested Sora with his arms resting on his head and a very upset looking Kairi. "See Kairi, I told you that everyone was doing it." Sora said. Kairi popped him in the back of the head. 'Idiotic pervert!' Kairi thought to her sister. Shiori sniggered, and tried to hop up and regain her composure, but Riku pulled her back down. "Going so soon?" He asked. "Get off you perv!" Shiori yelled at Riku playfully and they began fighting in the sand. "Sooooo…." Sora said expectantly. "Don't even think about it." Kairi said sighing, quickly destroying any idea or fantasy that Sora had. When Shiori had given up, as Riku'd had her pinned and she couldn't get up, they both arose and dusted the sand off of themselves. They saw Kairi and Sora on the boat dock, feet dangling, watching the sunset. 'So romantic.' Thought Shiori. Apparently, Kairi wasn't listening, because she didn't reply. She and Riku walked over and sat down with them. "So we're leaving tomorrow huh?" Sora asked. "Yeah." Riku answered. "We'll be on the greatest adventure of our lives." Kairi said dreamily. "I just can't wait. Once we set sail. It'll be great." Sora laughed. "When did you get so poetic Kairi?" He wanted to know. Shiori smirked. "Kairi doesn't have a poetic bone in her body. She can't even spell." They all laughed together. A few minutes passed, where it was totally quiet, with Kairi resting her head on Sora, and Riku with his arm around Shiori. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the sunset. "Do we have everything?" Shiori asked, sad to be breaking the romantic moment. "I think so." Said Sora. "Maybe we should bring extra." Kairi suggested. "We all know that Sora eats like a wild hog." Sora's head dropped. "You insult me so…" He started, and a few more minutes passed. Riku looked at his watch and saw that it was getting late. "Well." Riku said, apparently not caring very much what Sora had to say. "As much as I would love do you on the beach Shiori…" Kairi laughed. Sora raised an eyebrow. 'I need better friends.' Shiori sighed to herself, pretending not to hear Riku's ruining the good moment comment. "I meant, do STUFF on the beach with you guys." He said with a smile on his face, looking at Shiori apologetically. "It just came out wrong." He stopped. "Anyway, we all need to go home and get our rest. Tomorrow is a big day." Sora smirked and hi-fived Riku as they both jumped into their boats to get home. "I guess we should go too." Kairi said. "Yeah, I guess." Shiori responded. When she got into her boat, Shiori's head began to hurt, and she began to hear strange voices too. Kairi saw Shiori clutch her head. "Are you alright?" Kairi yelled over to her. "Yeah I'm good. I've just got a headache." "Oh." Kairi said. "Well, come on then." So they paddled their boats to the dock of the main island. While they were walking home, Shiori's head began to hurt worse. The voice was becoming clearer to her as a male's. As smooth and as nice sounding as this voice was, it shouldn't have been invading her head. 'Who are you?' She asked. It didn't answer. 'Man I have problems!' Shiori thought to herself. "Tell me about it." Kairi said aloud, and smiling, obviously hearing her sister's self-conversation. By the time they got in the house it was about 8:50 pm, and mildly dark. Before Shiori got into bed, she got the feeling that she needed to tell her mother and grandmother good night. So she went into both of their rooms telling them goodnight after multiple hugs and kisses. As Shiori went upstairs for the night she was surprised to feel a tear running down her cheek. 'What is going on with me?' She thought while walking down the hallway. Once in her room, Shiori threw on a pair of shorts and her sleeping tank-top and hopped into bed. No sooner than she had closed her eyes, did she fall asleep. "Shiori." The voice in her head said in a dream. "Whaddaya want, I am trying to sleep Mr." She said to the voice. "I need a favor." The smooth voice said again. "WH-A-AT?" She asked the male voice once more. The voice continued. "Open the door." "What door?" Shiori asked sleepily. "The door to darkness." He said. "Why?" Shiori asked. "I am trying to sleep." The voice paused, and then began again. "You are the only one who can control it." "Can you please try to make some sense?" Shiori asked. "You are the most powerful female demoness in the world and only you can control Kingdom Hearts." The voice said once more. "Umm, okay maybe tomorrow okay Mr. Voice? I need to get some sleep; I have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight!" With that Shiori turned over and continued on into her dreamless sleep. "I see that I will have to do this the hard way." The voice said. "I will force her to open the door for me."
Kairi woke up at about 9:48. Well, at least that's what her alarm clock said. 'Aw crap!' She thought. 'I've only been asleep for just barely an hour. Maybe I'm just restless.' Kairi looked out of the window toward the street, saw a girl walking and then turned away. Something was really wrong with that picture. Who walks around at night like that besides weirdoes, molesters, and total strangoids? She looked again. 'What the hell!' She thought. That was Shiori! Why in the world was she up right now when they had such a big day tomorrow. She should be asleep. Kairi decided to quell her curiosity and follow Shiori to wherever she was going. She quietly slipped on some clothes, and tiptoed down the stairs. She couldn't be caught. She and her mother were not exactly on speaking terms at the moment. Well, Kairi had wanted to at one point, but every time she looked at her mother, Hikari began crying, or looked away without a word, so Kairi'd given up for the moment. When she got outside, after running for a couple minutes she caught up to Shiori, but kept far enough away so that Shiori wouldn't detect her presence. All she could see of her sister was her long silver hair, and most of her pretty, thick brown legs. Kairi wondered why Shiori was so underdressed. 'Where are her clothes?' She thought to herself. All she had on was her nightshirt and a really, really short pair of shorts. Shiori really was pretty. 'Riku's so lucky.' She thought, feeling like a really ugly creature, compared to her sister. 'Wait, what am I doing?' She thought, ending all self pitying thoughts she had about herself. 'I have to figure out where Shiori is sneaking off to.' Shiori reached the dock before her sister and began to paddle off. By the time Kairi reached the dock, Shiori's boat was far away, but Kairi knew where her sister was going. 'She's going to the island, probably, where else?' So she jumped into her boat, and paddled as quickly as she could to the southwest island. Kairi had many theories as to why Shiori was going to the Island. 'Is she sneaking out to meet Riku? No maybe she's just checking on the raft.' Kairi wasn't really sure, so she was going to follow her all the way there. After eventually reaching the Island, she jumped out of her boat and stumbled, lost her balance and fell. 'Well this sucks!' Kairi thought, spitting out a mouthful of sand. She got up and looked around until she found Shiori's small, size 6 footprints. 'Booyah!' Kairi thought happily. Shiori's footsteps led to a small cave where she and Sora used to carve out drawings. She called it "their special place." Shiori slowly walked up toward the cave, thinking about the relationship between she and Sora. When Kairi eventually got nearer enough to the cave, she crept inside the small, damp cave and could just barely make out her sister's voice. "Master." Shiori said blandly. "I have arrived at the door." Kairi was so confused. Who the heck was she talking to? Her sister must have gone nuts. But what was even stranger, was that a man's voice answered her. "Good. Now open it. Use your heart. It is no longer completely pure, but by all means it shall have to do for now." The man said. Kairi had never been more confused in her life. Was somebody in there with Shiori? The voice didn't sound like somebody she'd met on the islands before, and Kairi never forgot a voice. She crept forward into the cave until she could see Shiori in front of a large door with no knob. That was the door that all of the island children had been trying to get open since… well since forever. Shiori lifted her hand to it, and light blasted through the spaces in the door, freaking Kairi out totally, and it opened. "It has been done my master." Shiori assured in a voice that seemed to hold no life. "You are a very good servant Shiori, now step through the door." 'No way!' Kairi thought. Her sister was actually going into some strange door after some strange man. 'I can't let her!' Kairi thought. She jumped up from her hiding place, making herself known to both her sister and this strange man and grabbed Shiori's wrist. Shiori looked at her. Shiori had those same lifeless white eyes, as the day they discovered their demonic powers. "What? An Intruder?" The male voice said stoically and with a hint of sarcasm. "We have no room for stowaways, Shiori. Destroy her soul." Kairi looked at her sister. Shiori was shaking and clutching her head. "What's going on?" The voice asked. "Do not fight it. Get rid of her NOW!" Kairi watched Shiori. She was fighting this man's control. "Fight it Shiori!" Kairi yelled. "You can do it." "I see." The voice taunted once more. "You are no Strife. Killing is not in your blood as I thought it was. I should find a real demon to do this job." 'He's trying to manipulate her.' Kairi thought. And it was working. "I am a demon," Shiori blurted out, her eyes dramatically changing from white to red. "Oh really," The voice said. "Then destroy her soul and come through the door now!" "Yes, master." Shiori said obediently. She put her hand to Kairi's head. "Shiori! What are you doing? It's me, Kairi. Don't you remember?" Kairi pleaded, paralyzed with fear for her life. She saw a tear run down her sister's face as she said "Goodbye sister, I am off to serve my master now." Shiori summoned something, and a white light blasted into Kairi through her hand, a very painful end for Kairi, ripping body from soul. When the door closed, before Kairi's body and soul could totally rupture, she thought she'd seen Sora, or just a near death illusion. Perhaps now, she could be with her father. Sora ran to her. "So-ra." She called out to him, feeling her soul being slowly shattered. She allowed herself to fall into his arms before everything went black.
Shiori opened her eyes in a damp, chilly place. She was woozy, she didn't have a clue what was going on, and this sure as hell was not her room. Then she remembered that it was the big day. 'Oh no!' She thought sleepily. 'I overslept.' Shiori shivered. She was cold, wet, and in total darkness. Attempting to get up, Shiori stood up abruptly, and was immediately yanked back down by her wrists. Shiori touched her wrists, wondering what was holding her. "Chains," She said aloud. Fear began to settle in her stomach, along with a brief moment of claustrophobia. She realized that she was not at home. Where was Kairi? Where were her mother and grandmother? 'Have I been kidnapped or something?' She asked the darkness surrounding her. 'I should stay calm and assess the situation.' She took deep breaths and began thinking, while trying to envision a better environment to keep calm. 'Okay, so I might be chained up in some wacko's basement. I need to think of a way to escape in case that sicko comes down here….' She heard bumping. 'That sounds like stairs. Someone is coming down.' She grew still and lie down as best as she could without causing herself too much discomfort. The footsteps were no longer coming down, but on her level. When Shiori heard a door open, her heart skipped a beat. She was more afraid than she thought she'd be in a situation like this. Kairi was the one who usually freaked, not her. As a dim light came on, Shiori shut her eyes and began to pray. 'God please, I don't wanna die! Don't let them kill me! I'll do anything!' Though Shiori's eyes were closed, the tears still ran and she was shaking from both the cold and from fear of the unknown. A few minutes passed. Nothing happened. Shiori opened one eye. Something was moving all around her. 'Maybe I'm just seeing things.' She told herself. She opened both eyes and confirmed that something was circling her. That something looked like freaky, ant-looking, black figures. "Oh my god." Shiori whimpered aloud. The things continued to go around her, in an almost confused fashion, as if they didn't know left from right, until Shiori couldn't take it anymore. She lost her cool, closed her eyes and began screaming, at the top of her lungs. "Helllllpppp! Someone helpppp meeee pleeeaassee!" The things swirled and vanished. Before she could sigh in relief, the chains around her wrist snapped and she was yanked up by her neck, full force. Shiori's eyes slowly opened, and the most gorgeous looking, sunset amber eyes stared back at her. Those burning eyes were accompanied by a face too, A very good looking face. Shiori forgot for those few seconds that she couldn't breathe, due to the fact that the person she was looking at was the best looking man she'd ever seen in her life. And when he spoke, Shiori totally lost her breath. "Wench. If you ever in your insignificant and meaningless life scream like that again, I will kill you myself. Is that clear?" She couldn't even speak. 'That voice….' Shiori thought. I've heard it before. The man, still holding her by her neck, pushed Shiori into the wall. "Do you no longer speak English?" He asked angrily. She simply stared at him. "Ah…" She tried to speak but her throat was closed due to her captor's vice grip around her neck. 'I see.' He thought, and released her. Shiori allowed herself to sink to the ground. "Where-where am I?" She asked, fear now leaving her. The man was intrigued. "Such confidence for one who was just minutes away from death." "I-I said where-am-I?" Shiori asked once more. "You are quite disrespectful. Address me properly, or you might find yourself ah-chained up once more." The man quipped back. Shiori shuddered. 'It's like this guy is emanating sexy and evil waves at the same time. He's so…so… controlling… and... .' Her thoughts were interrupted. "And dominating?" The man asked with a slight, and let me say slight, smile. "Ansem." Shiori looked confused. "What?" She asked. "Its my name, female." He said. "You can read-my thoughts?" Shiori asked the man she now knew as Ansem. "Yes." Ansem replied with his back to her. "I should thank you for your previous comments on how good I look." He looked Shiori dead in the eye. "You have boosted my ego tenfold." A slight blush played across her face. "You heard that?" She asked quietly. Ansem turned around, his long silver hair floating gently behind him. "Come." He beckoned to her. At that moment it all hit her. Everything. Piece-by-piece. "You!" Shiori said. "You're the voice I kept hearing!" Ansem looked at her with a stoic glance, shook his head yes, and motioned for Shiori to follow him. He looked her up and down. "Perhaps you might like some decent attire." He said sarcastically, and kept walking. 'How-mean!' Shiori thought to herself, not caring whether or not she was heard. Following Ansem into the darkness, Shiori wondered, 'Why am I even following him? He could be some kind of unregistered freakshow.' She heard a suppressed chuckle in front of her. "He heard me." She muttered under her breath. They slowly began to ascend the darkened steps Shiori had heard earlier, and she heard Ansem say "As much as I would not mind following young girls such as yourself around, I have much more important things to do." 'Disturbing.' Shiori mouthed, seeing as she figured that he couldn't read her lips as he could flip through her mind. They continued to climb the stairs, with Shiori following quietly, not saying anything. She was trying so hard not to break out crying, or screaming. 'I mean,' She mouthed, 'I could be walking the stairs to my death or something.' Just then, Ansem stopped and Shiori stopped too. Ansem mumbled something, and a door opened. "Aaahhhh!" Shiori shielded her eyes, since she'd gotten them used to the dark she'd been in and the abrupt appearance of light hurt them. When she opened them, her strange captor had either left her behind, or for a lack of care, disappeared. 'Where the heck did he go?' She thought. 'And where am I?' Shiori then took in the most beautiful scenery she'd ever seen in her life. She was in some kind of mansion…no a castle. The walls were painted in a church-like fashion, and the whole room seemed to emanate beauty. Then, Shiori became aware of a noise from a nearby hall. It was faint, but it sounded like a girl's. "So did you really let her out aniki? You know that mother did not like how otou-san locked people up down there, so you shouldn't do it either." Shiori was interested in whoever this person was, talking. "Xakierre…" Shiori heard Ansem's voice say. The two came into clear view from the hall. His masculine form and silver hair was totally incongruent to her tiny form and silver hair. Shiori assumed that they were coming towards her and waited for them. But then, they disappeared from sight. 'What in the world…' Shiori thought. 'They totally disappeared, like magic or something…I wonder if I can do that." Shiori continued to stare down the hall, wondering if her eyes had played some kind of optical illusion on her. She continued to stare until a voice burst out from behind, "OH, Aniki, she sure is pretty, why in the world would you lock up such a flower." Shiori jumped, not expecting that they would've snuck up on her like that. She turned around slowly. There was of course, her handsome captor Ansem, and apparently, by the way she was talking, his younger sister. "Hey." Shiori said slowly, attempting to cover herself, due to her lack of clothing. The girl walked forward and said, "Yo, I'm Xakierre, and what happens to be your name?" Shiori looked at Ansem, then at her. Despite her formal clothing, she talked like someone Shiori would usually hang out with. "Ummm…." Shiori started. She continued to look at Xakierre in awe, she looked much like herself. Except for her eyes though, she had eyes like her brother. 'And she's also a lot thinner than me….' Shiori thought. "Well?" Xakierre asked expectantly. "Shiori." She said. "Shiori?" Xakierre asked. "Does this Shiori I speak to have a last name?" "Yeah." Shiori said. "My last name is Strife. I'm Shiori Haruna Strife, daughter of Hikari Haruna and Sephiroth Strife." She said proudly. "And, the next head of the Strife family." She added, not sure whether or not it was true. Shiori looked at her audience of two. Ansem looked away; he probably didn't care too much. He was more worried about the grooming of his hair. But Shiori'd caught Xakierre's attention. "You're a Strife?" She asked in total awe. "That is one of the highest ranking families ever!" She yelled. "That is sooo cool." Shiori was speechless. 'I guess that title carries something after all.' She thought. "Don't amuse yourself." Ansem said sarcastically, obviously hearing her thoughts. "You are still beneath us." Shiori was speechless. 'How could someone so hot, be so-so… so ignorant?' She thought to herself. "Aniki-san!" Xakierre yelled at her brother. "How rude! The Strife family is one of the only remaining pureblood demon families! And besides, you know mother said to always respect other members of royal families." Ansem didn't say anything, but turned, and began to walk away. "Fine." He said. "You put up with the royal wench then, but keep her in your room." And then vanished, as he did earlier. "How in the world do you do that?" Shiori asked. Xakierre looked surprised. "Ummm, its just teleporting using darkness, don't you know that?" "I really didn't." Shiori admitted. "Yeah, Ok." Xakierre said. Then she noticed how Shiori was trying to shield her barely clothed form. "Would you like some clothes?" She asked, with a serious face. "Because seriously, perverts like my brother would not mind staring at you." Shiori blushed and cast her eyes downward. 'Would he really look at me?' She wondered. Then she pictured his response. He was the type who'd say something like, 'Don't entertain that thought, I'd rather look at myself.' Shiori laughed out loud and Xakierre raised a silver eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've cracked already?" She asked. "No, no." Shiori said, still laughing, "I was just thinking about your brother's response to that, that's all." "Oh." Xehanori said. "Well despite Aniki-san's attitude towards you at the moment, I think that he likes you." Shiori flinched. There was no way that she could possibly be telling the truth. "Really?" She asked in disbelief. "Yep. I mean, he practically bragged about you to me down the hallway, I wished that he would've shut up truthfully." Xakierre said. Shiori was shocked. She was also interested at the very same time. "That's um, nice…" She said, pretending not to really care. After a few minutes of utter silence Xakierre looked down at her feet. "Yeah, my toes hurt from standing on this floor." She said. "So follow me down to my room and then we can talk." Xakierre looked back at her. "And besides," she started, "Aniki-san might have spies in the room." Shiori didn't know what to say. Xakierre and her brother were both the same. She was a little less demanding, but overall, the same. So, Shiori followed Xakierre to her room, and at the same time, wondering where her life was headed.
HHHHxzdsfaddf