Next chapter: School days.
Sora looked around the room and sighed, his head slipping through his hand as he did. 'Same as I remember it. Still boring, still a lot of homework.' Sora was sitting in his fourth class, Literature. At the moment the teacher was discussing a play he'd read before but barely remembered, LOVELESS. 'Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest...' Sora flinched when he heard his name being called and felt something form in his hand but he willed the phantom keyblade away, not willing to expose his secret in front of an entire class. He heard his name called again and he actually looked up, moving his eyes over everyone in a lame attempt to find out who called him.
"Sora!" Sora swung his eyes around and looked into the eyes of his teacher, Priscilla or Miss. P. "Yeah?" Priscilla sighed and repeated the question. "What was the gift the goddess gave?" Sora himself had wondered about this same question many times but he had never found an answer that pleased him. "Well Priscilla..." When a faint vein began pulsing in Priscilla's forehead Sora stopped, not knowing what he'd done wrong. "Sora, I know your new and all but please call me either Miss. P or my full surname." Sora nodded and started again. "Well Pris...Miss. P, to answer your question is like answering the question: Why was the world created with free will? No one knows the answer, the play was never finished so the gift of the goddess was never revealed. But there are many great speculations: peace, hope, the end of war, immortality, power...There is no definite answer, the question is too vague to answer fully."
Sora looked up at Priscilla, uhh Miss P and his answer was greeted with silence. He looked around and saw almost all the students staring at him, including Kairi. In fact only two people didn't look at Sora, Riku and a guy Sora didn't know. "What? Did I say something wrong?" Sora looked at the kids around him and looked back at Riku, who had finally looked up from the piece of paper he was writing on towards Sora. "Riku, what did I say?" Sora saw Riku shrug and look away. "I donno, ask them. But my guess is that their shocked by your answer. Not having an answer at all, that's something no one really does." Sora nodded his head and sat in silence, when the bell rang everyone started and gathered their things, except Miss. P, who was still staring at Sora in a mystified way.
Sora, Riku and Kairi walked to their next class and found out that they had the same class together again: gym. Kairi groaned and rubbed her right shoulder as if knowing it would hurt later. "I hate gym. The girl's always get the easy stuff while the guys get the things that are actually fun." Sora rolled his shoulders in preparation and mentally lowered his strength, not wanting anyone to know he could jump nearly a two story building in a single leap. "Let's get this over with. I'm bored already."
Less than ten minutes later Sora stood in a line with the other guys and looked at the typical gym coach. Sunburned, muscled beyond belief with a wrinkled face typical of drill sergeants. While Muscly, as Sora dubbed him, explained what they would be doing today Sora looked to his left at Kairi who stood staring at him from her side of the field. He grinned and stuck his tongue out, making her laugh. "Ten-shun!" Sora turned his eyes front and centre and saw Muscly in front of him, tendons in his neck straining as he scolded Sora. Sora endured the torment and passed the four or so minutes Muscly yelled at him by imagining knocking his teeth out with a baseball bat he'd seen earlier. "If only I could..." Sora whispered those forbidden words the same time Muscly yelled at him too, in his own words "Do the course ten times without stopping! If you so much as breath wrong you'll get detention! Got that!" And for his forbidden crime Muscly told him to do the course twenty times. Sora shrugged and rolled his sleeved up, flexing his arms as he did.
Sora took a deep breath and ran forward, using barely half the speed he could do. He grabbed the bar in front of him and hauled himself over without any effort at all. He ducked under the next and again hopped over the next, higher bar. And so he continued, first bar over next under, going over and under fourteen bars. His next task was to haul himself up a rope without using his feet. Sora grabbed the rope between his hands and looked up, up and towards the end of the rope, thirty feet up. He shimmied up, left hand moving over his right and vice versa, in less than twenty seconds he was sliding down, going so fast it looked like he actually floated up. When Sora touched the ground he turned his glare on Muscly, having not broken a sweat as he did the first two obstacles. He ran to the next and grabbed the bar above him, pulling himself up before lowering himself. He did forty pull-ups followed by twenty sit-ups. He got to his feet and went to the first obstacle again, literally jumping over the bars he had to get over and sliding under the other, lower bars.
In less than half an hour Sora had finished the course from hell, sweat dripping into his eyes and breathing ragged. He walked over to Muscly and waited for the stupid man to notice him. When it became apparent Muscly was ignoring him he tapped him on the shoulder and waited. Without turning around Muscly snorted. "You're not done are you? Can't do a little work without complaining?" Sora snorted and walked out in front of Muscly. "I'm done. I've done it twenty times. And if you don't believe me ask her." Sora pointed with his chin towards the other gym teacher, who was the opposite of Muscly. Slim, wearing a dress, make-up the female gym teacher was attractive and nice, barely giving the girls any work. She had watched Sora do the hard labour with her mouth practically flopped open, eyes wide. "Now if you want me I'll be chilling out on the bleachers, with the girls." Muscly spluttered and moaned but Sora didn't stop, only stopping when he sat down on the bleachers. "Baka."
Sora leaned back against the bleachers and watched Kairi work, or what the female gym teacher, Melony, called work. As she 'worked' she talked to the other girls, laughing and smiling a lot, shooting Sora a look every now and then, letting him know she was talking about him. 'I wonder what she's talking about?' Sora looked back at Melony and saw her smile at him, calling him over with a wave of one of her well groomed hands. He stood up and jogged over, smiling as he did. "So your Sora. I can see why Kairi likes you. Nice job out there. But don't let Muscles over there put you down. If you do what he says he's gonna give you work." Sora smiled and chuckled once. "I dubbed him Muscly." Melony smiled in return and looked back at Muscly. "Yeah, it suits his petite stature. Muscly, I like it. Now how would you like to do something for me..."
Sora walked over towards the girls and called them over. "Can you all come over here please?" The girls stopped what they were doing and walked over, cautious looks on their faces. "Melony has had a talked with Muscly over there and we've come to an agreement. If you beat us in the obstacle course we do all the work while you chill. But if we win we get to chill." Sora grinned and called them closer. When they were whispering distance away Sora cupped his hand around his mouth and grinned even wider. "Melony said if we win it'd be unfair if you worked so she said you could chill as a bonus for giving your all." Sora stepped back and resumed his normal voice tone. "Alright, that's the rules. Your best against our best. Which would be..."
Kairi grinned and called the girls over to have a little group huddle. "Let me do it. I'll lose, it'll be close but I'll still lose. Besides I know Sora, he won't hold back." The girls nodded and Kairi stepped away, smiling widely as she did. "I guess it's little ol' me your going against Sora. I hope you don't beat me too bad." Kairi fluttered her eyelashes and talked with a very, very bad southern drawl. Sora chuckled dryly and nodded, smoothing his face as he turned back towards Muscly. "All right Kairi. I win and you get anything you want...You win, you still get anything you want from me. Fair ehh?"
Before the race started Sora and Kairi stood together, not touching but connected all the same. Muscly walked up to them and lifted up his enormous arm above his head and boomed with his deep grating roar of a voice. "Alright. Girls vs. Boys. Begin...Now!" Muscly lowered his arm and watched Sora and Kairi do...nothing. "C'mon now! Go!"
Sora and Kairi looked at each other and shrugged, hands reaching out to touch. "No hard feelings if I win Kairi?" She grinned and dipped her head up, her lips pursed. "Alright. Love you too." Sora brought his lips to bare and kissed Kairi, less than a second but a solid kiss. They got ready and grinned. "Go!" Sora shot forward with Kairi less than an inch behind him and jumped over the first bar, clearing it with a foot to spare. Kairi herself got over gracefully, her body almost horizontally to the ground as she spun in the air, body spinning like a top, over the bar. They both swung their bodies under the second bar and again cleared the higher bar.
They reached the rope at the same time and Sora held his arm out to his love, not allowing himself to not help her. She grabbed his arm and he swung around, throwing her halfway up the rope before launching himself up the rope, reaching the top a second behind her. She let go of the rope and fell, her eyes closed as she plunged toward the ground, the people below gasping at her actions. Sora himself let go of the rope and shot down, overtaking his love easily with his added weight. He struck the ground and reached up, breaking Kairi's fall before he raced towards the third and last obstacle, using his preternatural strength to gain a massive lead. He finished a full thirty seconds before Kairi, not having broken a sweat or breathing heavier than usual. "I win. Hooray!" Sora clapped his hands in mock congratulations and took Kairi's hand as she finished the obstacle course. "Boys win. Ah well, always next time. Right Sora?" Sora grinned before dipping his head, kissing her. "Yeah, always next time. And now your prize..."
Sora and Kairi sat on the bleachers, looking at Muscly and Melony arguing about what they'd just seen. "They'll never figure it out. At least Melony will but she'll keep quiet about it." Sora looked at the kids around him and saw most of them staring at them, still stunned with what they did during the competition. Sora grinned when he saw Riku sitting on the ground twenty feet away, seven girls crowding around him, looking for a date to some or other dance. But as per usual he sat in silence and did nothing, not even looking at them. But his attempts to have them leave him alone wasn't as successful as it had been a couple years ago. Instead of looking snobbish and rude like he did a couple years ago now he looked as if he was playing hard to get, the girls doing everything they could to warm his cold heart.
Before long Riku stood up and parted the sea of girls, walking through their ranks towards Sora and Kairi, girls trailing behind him. When he sat down beside Sora the girls stood a few steps away, obviously eavesdropping on the conversation.
Sora chuckled and took Kairi's hand, smiling at the girls as he did. Some of them returned his smile but most shied away, obviously taking care to not come between Sora and Kairi. "You know Riku. Just pick one and the rest will go away. Works for me, no guys flirt with Kairi and the girls leave me alone." Riku looked at him and glared at the girls, the girls giggling as he did. "Doesn't work. I tried that with Nicole this morning, they just come on faster, blubbering away as they do. So I left Nicole, she was fine about it but I wasn't. Think I can leave and go somewhere else? Twilight Town maybe? Or Disney Castle?" Sora eyed Riku in disbelief and sighed. "Stop complaining. Just tell them to go away. And you won't leave the Islands, you know you won't. You'll miss them too much." Riku shook his head and glared at the girls, but they only fluttered their lashes and smiled at him. "Yeah our other little places have girls too. Especially Twilight Town. Our Dark place might work, but it's so boring, nothing happening."
While Riku complained to Sora and Kairi Melony looked at them strangely, as if she could see something no one else could. As Riku talked she saw his shadow move, move on its own while Sora and Kairi's shadows were barely visible. 'Strange. I wonder where they come from? Kairi's always been here but the two boys, their new. At least I've never seen them before. But the way they sit, the way they move...It reminds me of them. So much so that I can imagine them with their eyes. But Riku and Sora are too young, too young to have their power. One way to find out though. In a fight.'
Sora felt something change, barely a twitch in his heart but he knew. It was the same feeling he got each time something important happened. Like when Riku showed up in Traverse Town, and when he showed up again at The World That Never Was. 'What happened? What could possibly happen here?' Sora looked around and saw faint shadows part for his eyes to see what was beyond them. He caught a glimpse of swords out of the corner of his eye but when he looked again it was gone. 'Strange. Usually anything hidden by magic is revealed to me. The keyblade is after all the ultimate magic, it reveals incantations woven in the air. Most worlds are filled with ancient spells long forgotten, spells so worn down with time their purpose no longer exist. But here...Nothing. My house is filled with spells, spells I cast without meaning too. Even the Play Island...It's covered in spells.'
Sora saw Melony approach him, her light brown hair parted around her face, black gloves covering her hands. Sora frowned at her and saw her walk with a new strength, strength he recognized in warriors, people who have fought for their lives and won. 'She's been in a war. I don't know where but she's been through a war somewhere. And from the look of her she's good, not a mark on her.'
Sora watched Melony walk up the stairs and stop in front of him, her face tight in focus. "Who are you Sora? Really?" Sora saw Melony clench her right fist and he saw her dress fade away, revealing a black suit with a black tie. "You fooled everyone else but I see through your illusion. You're not normal. I can see that." Sora stood up and pushed Kairi and Riku away, his eyes sharpening with power he used only in a fight, a fight to save and protect, to maim and kill. "Yeah, and I can see through your disguise. Who are you, woman? Your name isn't Melony, is it?" Melony nodded with a faint smile and pulled out two rather sharp looking swords. "Yeah, my name isn't Melony. Beat me and I'll tell you my name."
In less than a minute Sora and Melony stood on the mat below the bleachers, most of the kids with Muscly in a circle around them. Word had spread rather fast that Sora and Melony were going to hack at each other with a sword. From the girls swarmed around Riku of course. Sora had suggested Riku be the judge, and Melony had approved.
Sora looked at Melony and swung the sword she'd given him around once, looking at it as he did. "What is this? Its light but strong. Balance is wide though." Melony chuckled and swung her sword around. "Yeah I guess. This is the sword every SOLDIER 3rd class is given. They can use their own sword but they tend to take one like this, only using their own sword if they reach 1st or 2nd. But enough talk. Let's do it."
Sora looked down at his SOLDIER sword and shifted it into his left hand, both to give himself a disadvantage and an advantage. An advantage because most people only fought with their right hand, unless they've been trained specifically to use both hands to wield a weapon. A disadvantage because he hadn't used his left hand alone, he'd always fought with a weapon in both hands or only with his right, but almost never with his left. "Here I come. Riku?"
Riku looked at both fighters and pulled a white cloth from his pocket, letting them know they were to start when the cloth left his hand. "Ready?" He looked at both and they nodded. "Fight!" Riku dropped the cloth and sprang back, Sora and Melony clashing where he stood a second before.
Sora sprang forward and brought his sword to bear, slashing wide at Melony as she did the same. Their swords locked and the white cloth Riku had dropped fell to the ground in two, cut in half when they clashed. Sora drew back and spun on his heel, a reckless move he only used when he knew his opponent wouldn't kill him. His sword cut through the air and met resistance, solid resistance. Sora pushed harder against Melony's sword but failed to gain even an inch. 'She's strong. I wonder how strong she is?' Sora drew back and narrowly avoided a strike to his shoulder. He saw Melony jump back as well and wait. Sora gathered his feet beneath him and jumped, taking to the sky. He saw Melony mimic his movements and they clashed in the air, both slashing to kill. Sparks appeared from the blades each time they clashed, becoming brighter and brighter the stronger their determination to kill became. When they finally settled back on the ground their swords were so notched that they resembled a saw more than a sword.
Sora looked down at his sword and examined the edges, chuckling when he saw the cracks marring the smooth steel. He took the blade between his fingers and bent the steel, the cracks in the metal becoming more and more pronounced as he did. When the blade was bent almost halfway the sword finally shattered, the cracks and notches in the steel giving way.
Sora watched the pieces of twisted metal fall to the ground and he laughed, he laughed in pure joy at the predicament he was in. "My my. This is a predicament isn't it?" Sora looked at Melony and saw her own blade break, the cracks much more pronounced than they had been in his own sword. "What now?" Sora chuckled again and stopped laughing, becoming serious once again. "Those toys couldn't do anything except snap. If you wanted to test me you should have brought bigger swords." Sora watched in amusement as Melony walked over to a wall, pulled on a tile and the wall slid up, showing hundreds upon hundreds of swords. When she had pulled six or so swords from the rack she came back, throwing the swords on the ground between them. "Pick one."
Sora eyed the pile of swords before him and shrugged, took a sword that looked promising and took his place. He looked down at the sword and examined it more closely. The hilt was fixed into the sword itself, no guard or anything else. The guard was literally part of the blade, a section of the steel cut away with a hilt fixed in place. The sword was heavy, the steel almost an inch thick and long, six feet at least. He examined the blade and eyed the edge, pleased with his choice. Sora looked at Melony and saw that she too had chosen a heavier blade. Her sword was strange, strangely designed, the guard a foot or so long. The serrated edge was seven feet long with seven pieces of steel protruding from the blade's edge, meant to tear instead of cut the flesh of those struck. All in all it was a good choice, especially because the gaps between the seven protrusions would provide grip on Sora's sword.
Sword in hand Sora faced Melony, the few wounds she'd given him burning. He hefted his sword and held it out in front of him, right hand in his pocket. "Bring it." Riku commenced the fight and Melony ran forward, sword held out to the side, edge towards Sora. Sora tried figuring out what Melony was planning but she reached him before he could, slashing her blade across him, ripping the sword from his grip. 'Sneaky.' Sora stepped back and watched Melony advance, not giving him an opportunity to reach his own sword. She slashed at him and Sora raised his arm, fingers splayed out to catch the blade before it tore him limb from limb. Sora heard gasps from the kids around them but he paid them no heed, focusing on the swing Melony directed towards him. When the blade was within reach Sora grabbed the back of the blade, shoving it down as he did. When the flat of Melony's sword was beneath him Sora jumped and stood on the edge, lashing out with his foot as he sailed over Melony.
Sora rolled when he struck the ground, smiling as he did. His foot had found its target, Melony's right shoulder. He heard a clatter behind him and knew Melony had dropped her sword, already grabbing at her injured shoulder. Sora walked over to his sword and hefted it up onto his right shoulder, left hand in his pocket. He turned and watched Melony shaking herself, picking up her fallen sword as she did. She swung around and Sora felt heat touch his face, fire passing his cheek. "Magic?" Sora looked at Melony and saw her hand ablaze with light, sword held in her other hand. "Yeah. Magic is fun isn't it Sora. Doing what you can't do, fighting at a distance."
Sora took in a deep breath and felt his sword cool, ice forming on the edge. "Magic it is." Sora looked at the spell Melony had thrown at him, freezing his sword into a solid chunk of ice. "Fine. You want to play like that. I'll do that too. Firaga!" Sora thrust his hand forward and a flame shot from his palm, burning the air with preternatural heat. He slammed his sword into the ground and the ice broke, small fragments still fixed to the cold metal. The firaga Sora had thrown was destroyed, lightning tearing it apart. He ducked to the side and felt his left side smoulder in pain, clothes falling away. He looked down at his chest and saw lightning crackle over his skin, shocking him again. 'She can use magic without saying the words, why am I surprised?' Sora dropped his sword and faced Melony, lightning crackling up his arm. "Thundaga!" Sora stuck his arm out and sent his spell forward, lightning shooting forward with blue might. Sparks descended to the ground and sprang through the air, bathing the area in blue light. Melony dodged the spell but the people behind her did not. When Sora realized his mistake he rushed forward, moving with speed he didn't know he had. But he wasn't fast enough, his spell moved through the air and reached out to ensnare the first student with blue light…
And stopped where it was, dissipating. Sora looked around for who had stopped one of his most powerful spells and saw a man, a huge sword strapped to his back with his hand raised toward where Sora's spell had been. "That was close." The unnamed man walked forward and Melony looked at him in shock. "Zack? Is that you?" Melony ran forward and stopped before the man, Zack, and looked into his eyes. "It is you." Zack nodded her head and smiled. "Hey Cissnei. How've you been?" Melony shrugged and dropped her sword, crossing her arms when she did. "Fine. I thought you were dead." Zack shrugged. "I did die in a sense. I woke up after Cloud left with my body still wounded, blood pooling around me. Let me tell you, it was tough. I even had to replace Buster Sword, cause I gave it to Cloud."
Each time Sora heard Cloud's name he frowned, left palm tingling with the remains of his last Thundaga. He walked forward and eyed Zack. "Zack, was it? How do you know Cloud?" Sora stiffened when Zack stuck out his hand, but reached out his right hand to shake his hand after he dropped his stone cold sword. "Zack Fair. Nice to meet ya." Sora nodded his head and looked at Cissnei, eying her in confusion. "Sora. So it's Zack and Cissnei?"
Zack watched Cissnei clash with a brown-haired kid from the shadow of the door but began to edge closer when the two started throwing around spells not really meant to be used around other people. He knew Cissnei could control her spells but he didn't know about the kid, with the strength he put behind those spells. When Zack knew the kid lost control of his Thundaga he stepped forward, the materia he planned on using already glowing. He watched Sora almost vanish with speed to stop his Thundaga but Zack knew he wouldn't make it so he raised his hand. 'Wall. Gravity.' Zack used the two spells he did not to destroy the Thundaga but to weaken it enough to force it to destroy itself. Wall to close it in and Gravity to drain it of its power.
Zack greeted both Cissnei and Sora but kept his eye out for any other danger. When Cissnei finally stopped fussing over him he told them to go on with their fight. "Go on. I'm starting to enjoy myself." Zack walked over to the bleachers and leaned back, eying the two with amusement. They shrugged and again crossed swords.
Sora slashed his blade across Cissnei's and he saw his blade start to crack. He struck again and again but the blades literally fell apart as they continued their fight. Before Sora's blade completely snapped he grabbed a sword from the pile on the floor, Cissnei doing the same. Before Sora's blade gave in he swung his sword up and around and slammed it into Cissnei's, breaking both her blades and driving her into the ground.
Sora looked down and saw Cissnei open her eyes, body slumped with Sora's blade and inch from her throat. "I win." Sora smiled and stuck out his hand, Cissnei took it and he helped her up. He smiled at her and looked at his broken swords, all that remained of them were two pieces of bent metal, but it was better than Cissnei's which as she herself said were "two hilt's and ripped foil." Sora looked at Cissnei and saw her look at Zack, calling him over. When he was close enough to whisper Cissnei drew them closer still. "Zack, can you show Sora what a SOLDIER 1st class is made of?" Zack looked at her and pulled his sword from his back, the grey blade looking brand new. "Sure. But if I can use one of your swords. From what I see Sora uses a…little too much strength for a normal blade to survive. If I had Buster Sword I'd use it but Cloud has it. So I'll fight him if you can do that for me." Cissnei nodded and led them to the wall of swords.
Enter Zack. When I wrote this I had just finished Crisis Core and I was having a wee bit of writer's block so I just wrote ten or so different ways this could have gone down and settled on Zack. Genesis was fun but I ran out of LOVELESS quotes. Angeal was fun too but I'm not high on wise and helpful advice so I settled on the one SOLDIER I can actually relate too: tossed away after he was drained of all use. Just like me...Ahh well, I showed them , I showed them all. Ah HA Ha ha. Maniac laughter aside Zack's fun to write, especially in battle.
I'm cutting off most of the author comments, it stops me from boring you and it makes it somewhat easier for me.
Review! Please?
