Hello!!! Welcome back to chapter one!!! WOOOOO!! *cheers*
Here ya go, another incentive to review or give feedback, anything!!! Erm...yeah, I hope you guys find this chapter funny but also ominous... xx
25 days to Midlands Expo YAY!!!
Don't expect a really fast update, I have so much work to do right about now...
Anyone who is reading The Heart Of All Hearts, I have begun to rewrite the first few chapters in an attempt to make everything make a little bit more sense...so I'll tell you what, i'll carry on writing the new version at the mo as well as juggling the ending (this is going to get confusing), would you like me to repost the chapters or make a new story and delete the old one when i'm finished? Bear it in mind that it will be basically the same stuff, just written in a different way...
Many thanks to the ONE person who bothered to leave me a message *cast of KH all stand up and clap* Thank you, I'm glad you found it funny...as for The Heart of all Hearts...i'm tryng, written about a page on chapter 23 but i feel the need to sort out the beginning of the story before I can carry on and write the ending xx
One – A storm is coming
Beepbeep
Of course Sora knew that any attempt to ignore the alarm lock would be futile. Any moment now it would disrupt the peace once more, but instead of the generic 'beep' there would be something much harder to ignore…
"Hey, g'mornin' Destiny Islands, it's another start to a beautiful day here on the Islands…well it would be if we hadn't been experiencing all this bad weather lately, what do you think Carol?" The soft, sensible voice of 'Carol' filtered through the speakers of a small black alarm clock that was currently displaying 7:00am in big red digital numbers.
"Well John I certainly agree we haven't had the summer we're all used to and public are told to not expect any different today so make sure you wrap up and take an umbrella with you when you go out."
"And we will be giving you updates throughout the day because we are told there is a risk of a storm warning being issued. I tell ya Carol this is a big change from last year, what being reported as the hottest sum-" The voice of John was cut off when a tanned hand reached out from within the confines of the dark blue covers and whacked the snooze button harshly before retreating. On the other side of the room, the small tabby cat raised her head and mewled quietly, staring at the unresponsive lump on the bed before lying back down and curling up. Whoever was beneath the covers snuggled further into them and rolled over so they were facing the window, revealing a few brown spikes that were poking out of the top of the duvet. All was silent for a few moments, save for the gentle patter of rain on the window. That was until thebedroom door creaked open slightly and a head leaned in.
"Sora, are you awake?" She whispered. After eliciting nothing, she sighed and brushed a few loose strands of brown hair out of her face. She opened the door fully and walked over to where her son was literally buried, not bothering to be quiet anymore. She then opened the curtains letting the dull light of a morning of bad weather pour into the dark room before harshly ripping the covers off her son. The newly revealed boy shuddered at the loss of heat and curled himself up into a ball attempting to retain some of the previous warmth whilst groping around for the covers, not bothering to open his eyes. The woman put her hands on her hips for a moment before leaning in once more to shake Sora's shoulder. "Come on, get up." She said before swiftly leaving the room.
Sora slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He leaned up slightly so he could just about see through the window and groaned when he saw what was outside, falling back down against his pillow. The sky was littered with dark clouds that were threatening to burst and cover Destiny Islands in a storm that would have him locked up in his house for hours without anything to do. Yet the weather wasn't bad enough for school to have closed, it never was. An added weight onto the bed alerted him to the fact that his cat, Pepper, had joined him. He stretched his arm up and tickled the soft fur beneath her chin.
"Morning, yet another day in paradise." He said groggily, turning to look at the dreary weather outside with an ironic smirk. He sat up, causing Pepper to tumble off his chest and stare at him in a disgruntled manner. Sora paid her no mind and launched his legs over the side of the bed, resting them on the soft carpet for a moment before standing completely. The teen trudged through the door and down the stairs like a zombie, mindlessly following the smell of breakfast that was coming from the kitchen, specifically, pancakes. Sora's stomach groaned in approval as he plopped down at the table, waiting for the food that would have him functioning properly in no time.
His mother turned from where she had been absentmindedly stirring a mug of coffee. "Glad you could join us." She said with a smile. "Have you fed Pep this morning?" Sora mumbled something sleepily before reaching out to take a sip of orange juice while his mother surveyed him. She walked over and rested her hand on Sora's forehead. "You okay this morning, you look really tired." True, the brunette didn't have the best night's sleep, it might have been because of the rain that relentlessly hammered like rocks against his window or it may have been because of the extremely peculiar dream he had been having. Not the kind where you find yourself in a garden full of talking gnomes and dwarves, the kind that are just downright odd, the kind that don't make any sense (well, less sense than the talking gnomes), the kind you forget as soon as you wake up.
"M'fine." He answered, poking at the pancakes that lay before him with his fork. Unfortunately enough for Sora, he didn't count on the strange and sometimes freaky sixth sense that mothers have about their children. He could see as soon as he glanced up to lock eyes with her that she knew he was lying.
"Don't lie to me." Sora groaned inwardly.
"Really, I'm fine." He said brightly, smiling up at her, his mother retracted her hand and sighed. "Just a bit tired is all." He gave her one of his goofy grins before devouring the pancakes until the plate was clear. She simply shook her head at her son and carried on drinking her coffee, looking up at the clock that rested on the wall.
"You should get ready. Like now." Sora spared a glance at the clock before gasping and bounding up the stairs with a new lease of life, ignoring the slight nausea he was getting from running too quickly after eating.
"And feed Pepper!" She called after him, on realising that her son was in a bit of a mad rush, she shook her head before grabbing the cat food herself.
"That boy would lose his head if it wasn't screwed on." She mumbled to Pepper as she padded into the kitchen.
Crashing into his room, the brunette ran around like someone who was being chased by the Devil, grabbing different pieces of clothing and slinging them onto his bed. As it turns out, attempting to brush your teeth and get your trousers on at the same time is a bad idea, Sora found this out the hard way. He lost balance, hopping around for a few moments before falling on his front with a dull thud. He cursed quietly, rubbing his stomach where he had landed as he stood up and tried again to get his school uniform on. A few minutes and thankfully no more falls later, Sora was ready, albeit he hadn't bothered to do his tie up, settling with just slinging it around his neck before grabbing the nearest jacket and legging it downstairs. The teen briefly paused to say goodbye to his mum, then proceeded to grab his bag and run out of the front door, slamming it a little harsher than he would have intended. The sound seemed to resonate through his ears like there had just been a huge explosion, sending sharp pains through his head and a ringing in his ears. Sora brushed a hand through his untameable spikes, willing the pain to go away. And just like it had been listening to his plea, it disappeared as quickly as it had come on; Sora put it down to either waking up too quickly or rushing around when he was still half asleep.
As he battled the elements on his way, a cold wind pushed its way through Sora's jacket, making the teen shiver slightly. Drawing his jacket closer to himself, he put up his hood, futilely attempting to flatten his hair before he gave up and just crossed his arms. The teen practically ran the well worn path to Destiny High, occasionally sparing glances at the darkened sky, silently praying that he wouldn't have to put up with a full blown storm. He ran through the gates, panting as he looked at his watch. Good, he still had a few minutes before the bell would go. A flash of yellow was his only warning before something heavy crashed into him, knocking him back onto the cold, hard concrete. The brunette stared up at the sky for a moment while the cold raindrops splattered onto his face. Instead of getting up of the wet ground, Sora found himself enticed by the swirling grey above him, or was that his swirling vision? He couldn't really tell. It was a horrible sight, but not just because of the weather and its consequences. Right then, at that exact moment, Sora got a sinking feeling, the kind of feeling you get where you've just been told something horrible and your throat tightens up and your heart beat quickens. There was just something about the way those clouds moved that made the brunette wary, like they were a bad omen or something. It was then when he realised three faces staring at him with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
"Hmm, I think you may have hit him a bit too hard Selphie."
"S'not my fault he's not manly enough to support a girl." She answered the blonde sharply.
"Did you have to pounce on me? Most people just say 'hello'." Sora said with a pout, sitting himself up on his elbows. The girl in question simply smiled sweetly and helped Sora back to his feet, mumbling a quick apology. He rubbed the back of his head where he had hit the ground, as if he expected there to be blood, nope, just pain and a huge, painful lump that would eventually turn into a huge and even more painful bruise. Tidus sniggered.
"You're gonna kill him one of these days." He joked. Selphie rolled her eyes and didn't bother to reply. The pain that had lasted about five seconds in his head earlier had come back in full force, causing Sora to wince and wobble slightly which didn't go unnoticed by oldest of their company, Wakka, a redhead who basically survived off playing blitzball, no really. One time he was banned from playing the crazy sport and the results hadn't pretty…three teachers now refused to go anywhere near Wakka during a PE class.
"Are you okay man?" He asked placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.
"Yeah, just a little bit of a headache." The brunette replied quietly, not wanting to aggravate the throbbing he felt.
"Sure? You don't wanna go see the nurse or anything?" He asked.
"Really, I'm fine, sleep-deprived, but other than that, fine." Sora answered with a smile. As soon as Wakka was satisfied with his answer, he turned to break up the other two who seemed to be bickering…again. Probably about nothing of any sort of importance.
"I do not look like a jellyfish!"
Nope, didn't think so.
Meanwhile, Sora was having no success in getting the pain to go away, if anything it seemed to be getting worse, like someone had dropped an anvil on his head. And if you've seen the cartoons, you'll know that it's not a pretty sight.
"You know what, I think I might get some painkillers or something…" Sora trailed off as the bell went, signifying that they had to be in class in roughly the next thirty seconds or suffer the consequences. He groaned in frustration.
"No problem ya, I'll cover for you." Wakka called as he began to walk into Destiny High with Tidus and Selphie. Sora hurriedly followed into the building, but went in the opposite direction, heading towards the nurse's office. He soon found himself plonked on one of those plastic chairs, shifting uncomfortably while he waited for the old nurse with the sweet smile to return with some painkillers. But when she came back…it wasn't exactly her. Sora stared blankly at the long-haired, well endowed woman who stood before him.
"Erm…what happened to Nurse Weatherfield?" He asked tentatively. The woman simply smiled and brushed some dark hair out of her face.
"Nurse Weatherfield is taking some time off, my name is Tifa." She said brightly.
"But Nurse Weatherfield was here a minute ago…" Sora said confusedly, Tifa's eyes widened for a moment as she averted her gaze away from him said nothing before resuming her cheerful and caring demeanour and chuckling lightly.
"Maybe you hit your head a bit too hard deary." She said in a very patronising way that made Sora's face form into a frown and a pout. He thought of the possibility that he had been hallucinating when he had seen the old, fat and friendly nurse pottering around her office just a few moments ago. He soon decided that he didn't really care, and that he just wanted the painkillers so he could get out of the creepy place that had that 'medical' smell and go back to class. Tifa smiled in a friendly manner and held out two white pills and a glass of water. "There you go, take these and you should feel better in no time." Sora eyed the pills suspiciously for a moment which didn't go unnoticed by the dark-haired nurse. "They're not poison you know." She said with a light chuckle. That chuckle was starting to annoy him. Sora returned it with a fake smile before taking the pills, downing them quickly with a gulp of water.
"Thanks." He said standing up. Tifa smiled back at him.
"No problem…" She trailed off deliberately, wanting to know his name.
"Er…Sora." He said with a smile. Tifa studied him, and at that moment Sora wished that he could read minds, there was something about her all-knowing smile that made him think she knew more than she would ever let on.
"What's your last name? I have to keep a record of everyone who comes in here." She said suddenly, bringing Sora out of his thoughts.
"…Hikari." He replied hesitantly, there was that smile again.
"Figures." Tifa whispered to herself as she seemed to go off in a daze.
"Huh?" Tifa's eyes snapped back to his.
"Oh nothing, you can go back to class now."
"Okay, thanks again." He smiled once more and waved before exiting the nurse's office. As soon as he was gone, Tifa checked the corridor for people, hoping that no one would decide to come in before closing the door behind her. Brushing her hair behind her ears, she leaned over the large wooden desk that was placed in the office and grabbed the mobile that was laying there. Flipping it open, she dialled a well-rehearsed number, pacing around the small room as she waited for someone to pick up.
"Hey Squall –yes, okay Leon." She shook her head. "Can you put the king on?" She stood still for a few moments, waiting for the high-pitched voice of the mouse king to filter through the speaker. "Hello Your Majesty…yes its Tifa…everything's fine…maybe, it looks like there's a big storm on its way here." The room was filled with silence for a moment while the voice on the other line was talking. "Yes, that's what I thought…are you sure? I'm mean, he's just a kid." Tifa sat down on the comfy chair, putting her feet up on the desk, using her free hand to fiddle with a pen. "I suppose…yeah, they should help get rid of them…right, I'll keep him out of trouble, what about you?" As the voice on the other line continued, Tifa frowned and a hint of anger entered her voice. "Other matters? The entire fate of the realm of light resides on this backwater world and you have other stuff to do?" More Silence. "Those two? They can barely tie their shoelaces! Let alone…" She was cut off by the other voice. Tifa sighed. "So what are we gonna tell him?...Okay, I'll see you soon, bye." She took the phone from her ear before clicking it shut. Sitting back in the chair, Tifa wondered how on earth they were going to explain to a fourteen year old that he had just been chosen to look after the whole universe. She couldn't help but wonder what the hell light was thinking at the time. Oh well, it was her job to look after him now, and with the help of The Court Magician and The Captain of the Guard, she'd be the one to tell him everything.
Meanwhile, Sora had ungracefully plopped down in his seat next to Selphie after explaining to the teacher where he had been. The pills that the new nurse gave him seemed to be working their magic quite nicely; the throbbing that was present earlier had all but vanished, leaving him with a kind of numb but warm feeling.
"Are you okay now?" She asked.
"Yeah." He answered softly, suddenly not having enough energy to speak any louder. "I feel really weird." Sora was sure that is was whatever Tifa gave him that was causing this. Warmth and a slight tingling feeling was making its way all over him from his head to the tips of his toes. Without warning, he suddenly slumped over, forehead hitting the desk with a thud. Great…now the back and the front of his head were in pain.
"Mr. Hikari, do you have some sort of problem with Fleming's Law?" The teacher asked in an annoyed manner, putting a hand on her hip and staring at the brunette.
"Er…no miss." He answered seriously, lifting his head up from the table. The teacher just shook her head, muttering to herself before turning around to scribble something on the whiteboard. Sora laid his head back down on the desk, gently this time, turning so he was facing Selphie. "Really, I think there was something in those painkillers."
"Hmm, maybe they were just powerful."
"Selph, chilli sauce is powerful, those things were just crazy!" Sora said harshly.
"No need to be like that." She answered curtly, turned her eyes off the distressed boy and back to the teacher.
"I'm having a bad day." True. Sora was usually a lot brighter than this but things today seemed to have dampened his mood, what with the dream, the headache, the storm, the strange woman in the nurse's office…speaking of which…
"Selphie did you know we had a new nurse?" She shook her head.
"What was wrong with Nurse Weatherfield?"
"Dunno, she just wasn't there."
"Funny, I thought I saw her getting out of her car this morning."
"You know, that's exactly what I thought!" He said a bit too loud.
"Mr Hikari, really, if you have this much trouble processing the direction of electromagnetic forces I suggest you leave my classroom before your brain melts." The teacher said angrily.
"I'm definitely not having a good day." Sora mumbled once more as he slowly walked out of the classroom and into the hallway. He felt like every ounce of energy was being sapped out of him, and it was starting to become difficult just to put one foot in front of the other. His vision blurred once more as Sora thought to himself, that's the last time I ever take something from a stranger. He leant on the wall and closed his eyes, breathing deeply he willed the dizziness and fatigue to go away but if anything, it ony appeared to be getting worse. He managed to open his eyes one last time and was able to make out the fuzzy outline of a tall figure getting closer before he slumped to the floor and fell into darkness.
Meanwhile…
She woke up and was surprised to see that she was lying on soft green grass. It was odd, there she was, doing her job as usual before a woman appeared out of nowhere, mumbling a quick apology as she felt a tugging sensation that was pulling her away from her office. The short, plump woman managed to get to her feet so as to get a better look at her surroundings. She appeared to be in a garden, lots of grass, lots of sculpted hedges but above all else, she was surrounded by huge white stone walls, stretching up to form towers topped in light blue with flags extending out of the top, flapping in the gentle breeze.
"Oh my…" She trailed off. Where the hell was she? The nurse scratched her head as she took a few steps forward, looking up at the bright blue sky until she bashed into something…or someone.
"Hey watch where you're going!" She looked down to see what appeared to be a duck that appeared to be wearing a blue jumper-type thing, a matching hat and carrying a staff. A duck that was currently sending an angry glare her way.
"Oh my goodness…" She said with her mouth gaping open, staring back at the duck who had turned his attention back to his companion.
"Come on Goofy, we're supposed to be leaving soon." The grumpy duck said, pushing the old, short nurse out of his way before walking away, mumbling to himself about tourists. The duck was followed by a tall…dog who as well was wearing clothes, walking and talking just like any other human would.
"Sorry about that ma'am," he leaned in closer, whispering so the duck wouldn't hear him, "Donald gets awful grouchy when he has to get up early ayhuck!" He chuckled. Nurse Weatherfield was still speechless.
"Says you ya big palooka!" The dog, Goofy, winced as he heard his friend's harsh tone. "Now come on before the king gets mad!" Donald waved his staff at Goofy before he carried on walking, not bothering to wait for Goofy to catch up.
"Sorry ma'am, it was nice meetin' ya!" Goofy called happily as he ran to catch up with his friend. The old lady fell back on the grass with a soft thud and raised her hand to her head.
"That's it…I'm never drinking again."
Well there you have it, i've written about 6 versions of this opening chapter so far and this has been the one that i'm most happy with
I didn't mean to leave on a kind of cliffhanger...sorry, it just happened, and please, no flames about leaving on a cliffhanger, it just wastes both of our time
The stuff about Fleming's Law, i have no idea if its real or not, it was stuck in there because 1. I couldn't think of anything else and 2. Its from Gravitaton which I love dearly *hugs* If you haven't read it, read it or watch the anime (its better in Japanese with subs)...both can be found quite easily on the internet xx WARNING: For those of you who don't know, Gravitation is a shonen-ai story, so don't look if you don't like xx
