A new version of Kingdom Hearts: Heart Fragments. I thank my editor, TruthOutrunsTheFiction, and my helper, Twenty-Twenty-One for all the help.
A brown haired teen stands silently with his sapphire eyes locked on the docks of an island in the distance. Actually, it's a group of islands, but only the main one catches his attention. This particular group of islands is known as Destiny Islands.
He's been looking for a place to keep a low profile. This place looks better than the other worlds he's been to. But even the lightly swaying palm leaves and supple ocean gusts still didn't do anything to help him calm down. For a while now, he felt as if he'd been living in a fox hunt. He was the fox and the hounds were bloodthirsty and ruthless.
There's no use getting comfortable in this place. He's being targeted by the Organization and he can't afford to let his guard down. They were constantly using him to "collect data" which often led to a bunch of painful experiments and scars that ached when the temperature changed suddenly. When they were finished with him, they'd send him on another mission to collect hearts. Striving to be whole just isn't worth being treated like a worthless lab rat.
This particular nobody is different from the rest. For as long as he could remember, he only had one feeling. Rage. It courses through his veins like a roaring fire that is, at times, extremely hard to extinguish. The smallest little setback or unfortunate coincidence could set him off.
The calls of seagulls, the bumping of the boats on the docks, and the screeching sound of an old weather vane in the wind kept sending chills of frustration down his spine. The sounds are somewhat disturbing and faintly familiar to him, like he's heard them somewhere else before.
Destiny Islands has rows and rows of colorful houses that sit on pillars above the water. The tops of these houses have rusty metal roofs- though they didn't take away from their overall beauty. Close to these beautiful houses are surfboard shops, that are equally as colorful, with all kind of odd painted on designs. On a wall, there is a mural of people sharing a strange star-shaped fruit. There are paintings of that same fruit on the side of boat hulls. They're charms on necklaces, bracelets, and are even on the covers of children's books in the display windows of nearby bookshops.
An old man walks out of the bookshop in fast, confident strides to sweep the steps. Just like his walk, his work with the broom is quick. He probably wants to get the work done so he can get out of the heat as quickly as possible. Out of curiosity, Selwyn works up the nerve to walk up to the man.
"Excuse me," he calls to grab the man's attention. "Why are all these star-shaped fruits everywhere?" he asks.
The old man's brow to knits together in what appears to be confusion. "You've never heard the tale of the Paopu fruit?"
Now Selwyn is confused. "Paopu fruit?"
"Yes. There's a legend that says if you share a Paopu fruit with someone, your destinies become intertwined. You become a part of that person's life forever. If you're curious or just wanna know more about them, there's a tree that grows just on the other side of the island," the old man points.
Selwyn looks in the direction that the man's slightly trembling index finger points. Was it a condition? He doesn't know, nor does he want to. Just as he said, there's tree. It looks small from where he stands, but he knows everything looks small from a distance.
"There's a festival coming up. People bring the person most special to them and share a Paopu. Are you planning to go?"
"I don't think I'll ever have the time to go. But thanks," he lies. There really isn't much for him to do, but a festival is a definite no. That would waste his time.
With his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, he lets his legs carry him in some random direction. Those same star-shaped fruits, the Paopu fruits, are showing up everywhere. One girl passed him wearing a plastic one on her necklace. And a man standing next to a store was wearing a Paopu pin on his jacket.
These fruit must really be something special if they're dedicating a whole festival to them. Whether or not there's some truth to the intertwined destinies thing made him think. If you share one with someone, did that guarantee a happy ending? What if you become destined to keep fighting that person or to keep disappointing them? What if...?
His thoughts are interrupted by a small body bumping into him. It's a small child with sandy blond hair and big brown eyes. He expected some kind of "sorry mister" or even a "my bad", but the kid just runs around him to meet the rest of his giggling friends.
'It's just a dumb kid,' he thought as he continued in a different direction.
Now the fruits are making him angry. They're literally everywhere. He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the people here pray to these things. No fruit in all the worlds can be this important.
The tree stays in his line of sight, taunting him. He doesn't dare look at it, now matter how much the curiosity ate away at him.
Something dark and fleeting steals his attention away from the fruits for a moment. It gives him an uneasy feeling that's painfully similar to his days in the Organization. Time stops, along with the people and activities going on around him. One of the Organization members is nearby and he feels it.
"Are you enjoying your vacation?" a cynical male voice hisses to him. Immediately, he takes a defensive stance and whips his head around to see which direction the voice is actually coming from, but quickly realizes it is possible. This is one of the many scare tactics he uses to make his prey feel small and trapped.
"Always a pleasure to hear from you," he speaks sarcastically. A portal of black and purple flames appear as a blonde man with cold blue eyes steps through. He's dressed in a long black cloak that falls about an inch or two above his ankles, which exposes the black boots he has on. It's zipped up all the way, but has a gap near the bottom so he could fight freely and comfortably. "Luxord," he finally spits out.
His arms cross themselves tightly over his broad chest and he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "Isn't it? But I didn't come here to get reacquainted with you. Xemnas is displeased with you, Selwyn. You haven't returned from your mission."
Selwyn glares as his hands curl up into fists. "I didn't leave on a mission. I left because I'm sick of getting poked and prodded for no reason. These experiments won't tell you anything about the heartless and he knows that-"
"Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose." The blonde man tilts his head to the side. He looks as if he's debating something within himself. "I've managed to talk him into letting you come back without any consequences. But only on the condition that you listen and obey." He smiles in an attempt to be friendly, but it only comes across as a cocky smirk.
"No," he frowns. "You can forget it. I'm done with the Organization and Xemnas. He can go find another Somebody to be his guinea pig because I'm not gonna do it anymore..."
The Gambler laughs. "A Somebody. Is that what you think you are now?" he asks with a hint of genuine curiosity. "No matter what you do or say, you will always be a Nobody. You'll always be one of us and you know that."
Realization sets in and his glare softens. He doesn't feel anything, just like Luxord. "Are you even really angry?" he asks. "No. Those are Pseudo-emotions. You feel nothing and you miss being able to emotionally react to things, don't you?"
Though his mouth opens to respond, no words come out. He misses the feeling of feeling, but not the Organization. They never did a single thing to help him and they never will. "I'm not coming back. End of discussion."
His smirk only widens as he chuckles. "Remember that you chose this path. Go on and chase after something you'll never find. Not alone, at least. You know we'll find you, Wyn, wherever you go."
He cringes at the nickname. Another portal appears behind him and he steps back, letting the faux flames consume him."And I'd hate to be the one to have to kill you..."
The anger that threatened to boil over inside him just seconds ago is gone now. Luxord's warning fades to a soft whisper as the world resumes its daily activities around him.
Selwyn stays on the island until the sun starts its graceful descent from the heavens down into the deep blue ocean. As it sinks, it gives off a beautiful crimson hue with hints of orange and yellow in it. Though he doesn't like darkness that follows sunset, he likes how the bright stars twinkle against that midnight blue blanket above him. It's a contradiction that he often tries to ignore.
He finds his mind wandering back to the fruit even when he tries to focus on other things. Like the fact that Luxord showed up earlier. If he can find him, then the entire Organization knows where he is already. No doubt they'll show up again, so he has to move quickly.
As the first star appears, he shoves his hands back in his pockets and starts walking. With a mind of their own, his feet take him closer and closer to the tree the man from earlier mentioned. It isn't that far from where he is now. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he's been subconsciously inching closer and closer to the tree all day. Maybe he wants to see it up close after all.
The walk takes all of ten minutes. Now, staring up at the large tree, he can see that it really isn't all that special. It doesn't even have any fruit on it.
"Figures. I knew it'd be a waste of time," he mumbles. Just as he starts to turn and walk away, the salty ocean breeze separates the leaves and reveals a small strip of yellow. Is this the fruit? He's seen so many plastic and painted ones that he almost thought this was a plastic one too. For the sake of proving his eyes wrong, he takes a hold of the trunk and lifts himself up until he can grab on to a branch. From there, he goes branch after branch until his fingertips graze one of the leaves connected to the fruit. He hesitates, but eventually reaches a bit further and plucks the fruit from the tree.
It isn't plastic. It's real with a shape that actually resembles a star. The strange thing is actually kind of heavy in his hands. Solid, even. He brings it to his nose and inhales. A part of him expects it to smell like an orange or an apple, but this is neither. It smells like...nothing. How can a fruit be so popular without even having a smell?
He smiles down at the fruit as he brushes his thumb against the surface. "Looks like you and I have a lot in common. We're both missing something and are being hunted by a bunch of crazies," he laughs bitterly. Does he feel crazy for talking to a fruit? Of course not. Though he does wonder why he expects a reply.
It'd be nice to have someone around that he can talk to. Just one time, he'd like to look back and see someone there ready to listen to whatever he has to say. Back in the Organization, everyone's too busy to listen. Well, there's Demyx, but he's almost positive that listening doesn't mean nod at the right times, then fall asleep.
The fruit listens. As if it has much of a choice. It can be a souvenir, a small reminder of this ugly yet beautiful world. "We should go. I'm sure you'd like to see another world, right?"
Silence. Why does he keep waiting for this thing to reply?
"Well, I didn't hear a no..."
Selwyn carefully maneuvers back down the tree- complaining the whole way -and lands on his feet as he drops to the ground. It's the last fruit here and he may never get the chance to see it again. So why not take it with him?
A laugh escapes his partially chapped lips. "You're a really great listener, you know that? I'll draw you a face later so I can really look at you. How 'bout that?"
No objections from the fruit. He's losing it, isn't he?
He shrugs and opens a portal to a new world. "The question is, are you a girl or a boy? No offense, but it's really hard to tell." His laughter echoes and fades as he walks through the portal, which soon closes in on itself.