CHAPTER II
He Turns Chords Into Church Bells
[NOTE
Thanks for getting this far! I realize the first chapter was a bit short, even though my fanfiction chapters usually don't get much larger than that. The rest from here on in are going to be about twice that size, so they'll be a bit laggy. Enjoy. :D
Charity woke up, and stretched her arms out in front of her. Her breathing had long since regulated itself, and the sweat had dried on her body, leaving her with an odd chill. Her eyes shone golden under the sunlight that came from a carved-in window that wasn't visible outside of the tree.
A tree?
The girl threw herself up and out of the couch; nothing looked familiar. Where was she? She blinked her eyes, and tried her hardest to remember the night before. 'That's right,' she thought, 'I was dragged here... and something about Heartless.' Her vision was making familiar shapes swim again, so she rubbed her eyes.
"No... no..." she heard Nessa mumble in her sleep. Charity glanced over at her friend, worried. She looked as if she had just gone through a fit. Leander, however, was on his back on a slightly smaller couch forming a 90 degree angle with the other one, his eyes closed lightly as if he was floating on a cloud.
"He's kinda cute when he sleeps. Like a baby." Nessa's voice chimed in, interrupting Charity's innermost thoughts.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Charity, quickly dropping that conversation. "You look like you were just running away from the ripper."
Should she tell her about the dream she had last night, or the five that kept flashing into the dream? Not to mention that she herself was being engulfed by heartless. There was a door, however. What was it? Why wouldn't she go near it? "Bad dream." she decided to leave it at that.
Nessa patted her shoulder sympathetically. It felt oddly cold to her, as if Charity's hand was unwelcome by her body.
There was suddenly a hard knock on the door, causing Leander to spring to his feet. After coming to, he quietly cursed himself for falling asleep in the same clothes that he had worn the day before, and walked up to the door to unlock it.
"Wait, don't you need to see who it is first?" asked Charity.
"Think about it. Who would knock on a tree?" Leander pointed his hand outwards, in which the keyblade had appeared in, and the door to the tree swung open.
Standing in front of them was a tall boy, with past-shoulder-length silver hair and a pair of light green eyes. His face was angular, but still young, harsh, but still safe. His clothes seemed to be too small for him, but they seemed to match his being perfectly.
Without saying a word, his eyes narrowed and glared at Nessa. "What are you doing with a Nobody in here?!" he asked angrily. His voice seemed to fit the boy, but it also seemed hoarse as if he had gone long nights without sleeping.
"A Nobody? Her?" asked Leander. He seemed upset with himself as if such a fact was obvious, and looked over at Nessa.
"Wait, what?! Me?" asked Nessa, "What's a Nobody?"
Riku scowled, "There's no time for that now. Heartless are flocking everywhere in this world and many others. Somebody's unsealed the worlds. Somebody from Organization XIII."
"Dammit!" shouted Leander, "I was hoping it was just my imagination. Riku, get your keyblade."
The two girls assumed that his name was Riku, as a long, key-like object had appeared in his hands as well. "Charity, you have to call yours, too."
Charity was still shocked. Not once had she told this boy her name, but he had known both of their names from the beginning. Why did they not know his when they first met? "How do I call a keyblade?" she asked calmly. She knew that if Nessa was in her position, she would have gone on a rant and probably kicked one of them where it hurt.
"Hold out your hand and... you just call it!" Leander said, as if it was riding a bicycle.
Charity scoffed quietly, but held out her hand, "Um. Here, boy?" she asked. Nothing.
"No, you have to do it with feel," Riku explained calmly, "You have to want, no, to need that keyblade to be in your hands."
Charity breathed in heavily. Riku's words seemed to calm her almost to her very core. She stretched her open, right hand out a little farther, closed her eyes, and concentrated heavily. Her hand became heavier in an instant, and she looked down at what she was holding it. Dropping it, scared, the keyblade quickly reappeared in her hands.
"It's always hardest the first time." Riku reassured her. He had remembered all too well when he had practically wrenched Sora's keyblade from his hands. Being his first time, it was one of the hardest things he had ever attempted."
The keyblade looked different from Leander's red and orange one, or Riku's black, red, and white one. It was an odd mixture of a light blue and grey, swirling up a short-reach arm and ending in the key portion, which resembled a cartoon representation of wind. Up and down the arm were also small angel-like wings, increasingly growing more blue the higher up the arm they went.
"The Savior of Balance," both Riku and Leander whispered, both seeming to be in undeniable disbelief.
"The Savior of Balance?" Charity mimicked, but with confusion in her voice.
"No time. We have to get to Hollow Bastion. Fast." Riku said. They all sprinted out of the tree, Charity and Nessa just the slightest bit behind the two.
"I don't understand," Leander said, annoyed, "I thought that the Organization was killed off a year ago!"
"All but one." Riku reminded him. Leander's eyes widened.
"Roxas? But how? He's with Sora!"
"Roxas made his way out and he's created a new Organization. It was originally meant to keep the Nobody population down in separate worlds, but they rallied against him once the group had enough members."
"So what are they here for?" asked Leander. Their pace quickened as they found a large ship that seemed to belong in space straight ahead of them. A trail of Heartless was following them. Charity was too scared to know what to do, and they were all in too much of an obvious rush to be able to deal with them. It first dawned upon Charity and Nessa that these Heartless all seemed to look different; so they must come in different varieties than the one that they had met the day before in the school's parking lot.
"More like 'who'. They want Nessa to be the thirteenth member." Riku said. They all ran into the ship and slammed the door behind them. Gasping for breath, both Riku and Leander looked at Nessa in disbelief.
"No way," said Charity, "I have no idea what this Organization Fifteen or whatever is, but they're not taking Nessa."
"Why do you think we're escaping?" asked Leander to Charity, "The less members that Organization XIII has, the weaker they are. As long as Nessa stays on our side, we might stand a chance at defeating the new Organization and restoring the worlds."
"You got 'em in here okay?" came a voice from the front compartment of the ship. Now that Charity got to look around, it did seem oddly like something that belonged in a Star Trek movie. A door swung open, and a boy around Leander's height stepped out. His hair was spiked in the most random directions, and was a medium light brown. His eyes shone an electric blue, and he was wearing an odd seafoam green and purple outfit. [Author's Note: Please don't ask why, it's an inside joke.
"Sora. Yeah, yeah, they're both here." said Riku.
"The keyblade wielder and the Nobody." Leander said, with a satisfactory grin on his face.
"Why are you so proud? You didn't even know that the blonde one was a Nobody." Riku mentioned.
Charity sort of laughed at this, "Actually, he was going to tell her to go home."
"Right now, let's just worry about getting to Hollow Bastion." said Sora.
"Where's Kairi?" asked Riku suddenly, and Sora looked over at him, "She's with the restoration committee. I think she wants to help out since she can carry a keyblade and they pretty much need to start over from scratch."
"Right." Leander whispered. "My uncle can't be too happy about that."
"Your uncle?" asked Nessa, as if it was totally random.
"His name's Squall Leonhart. I'm really not related to him, but I call him my uncle because I've known him for so long. He's in the restoration committee."
The ship seemed to lift, and before they knew it, they were bursting out of the earth's atmosphere.
A huge grin appeared on Charity's face; she couldn't hold it in any longer. "OH MY GOD WE'RE IN SPACE!" She shouted, bouncing up and down in the seat she had taken.
"Sort of." Riku smiled at her. He put his hand on her shoulder so she would stop bouncing, "You're gonna hurt yourself if you do that."
Much to her surprise, blood slowly rushed to Charity's face, creating the pinkest of colors in her cheeks. Turning away so he wouldn't see, she asked a question she's been wondering, "So what's a Nobody?"
"Mm." Riku mumbled, and sat down in between Charity and Leander, "That's tough to describe. A Nobody is not quite a heartless, but would have become one if their willpower wasn't so strong. They can think instead of just reacting on instinct, and they come in different forms as well. Nessa is a Nobody in human form, but she's a special kind."
"Special kind?" asked Nessa quietly, who was sitting on the other side of Leander.
"You were born on account of two Nobody's love for each other; Naminé and Roxas."
"What?" asked Nessa, "My mom gave birth to me, thanks."
Actually, you were created out of nothing. You were given a home here where it was safe, closest to this world's only keyblade wielder. The memories of your parents raising you and your mother giving birth to you were all implanted by Naminé."
"Liar!" Nessa exploded, sitting up, glaring at Riku, "I know for a fact that I was born where I was and I grew up with my family!"
Riku sighed, and looked down, "Think whatever you want about false memories. Because no matter what, they're yours." Riku's Way to Dawn was still in his hands and hadn't disappeared yet. Just staring down at it reminded him of helping Sora defeat Xemnas. Sora... he had false memories implanted as well, didn't he? Of Naminé, that is.
"We're almost there," Sora called from the front. Two voices that both seemed to be very high-pitched and fast were arguing, seemingly over steering of the ship, "Whoa, Chip, Dale, just give me the control!" he shouted at them.
Leander looked down. He did a generally good job at keeping silent when he needed to, and looking down at Merlin's 'new' house was just the time he needed to keep quiet. For some reason, he never wanted to associate with the rest of the restoration committee, and just stayed to do his job. After all, Hollow Bastion was his home and he felt a commitment to it.
The landing was shaky, and Charity could hear Sora curse just loud enough to make the two high-pitched voices squeak.
They all stumbled outside of the ship. The air in Hollow Bastion seemed so familiar, as if from an old cartoon movie that Charity used to watch. Looking over at the ship, she grimaced. The bottom of it seemed severely damaged, and it had landed on its side, messing up one of the wings that could have been for show.
Sora cursed silently again, "Leander, could you go get Cid?" asked the boy. It was just at this time that Charity realized he had some flower on his face. She raised an eyebrow slightly at this, but was easily distracted by Leander punching Riku in the shoulder.
"You heard him, go get Cid." he said to Riku. Riku scoffed, but turned around as he heard Charity's generally silent voice speak up.
"I'll go with you." she said, and they both began to walk away.
Although the house seemed close while they were landing, it was at least a block away. It felt both awkward and nice to be walking next to Riku, at least until Riku finally spoke up.
"It's probably best that you come with me, anyway, because you need to be introduced to the restoration committee before they see that we picked up Organization XIII's new Nobody target." he laughed a bit. Charity smiled.
"What's the restoration committee?" she asked.
Riku smiled, a conversation was starting. "It's a group of people who, a year ago, were trying to restore Hollow Bastion to its former state, before it became overrun with Heartless because of the... issue. Now that the worlds are unsealed, they've gotta start again."
"Very good job!" came a voice. Almost flanking a full 360, Riku found himself staring at a hooded figure that had just materialized behind them. Finally getting the picture, Charity turned around also, and stared in awe. She found her right hand get heavy again, and surely enough the Savior of Balance had appeared once more.
"Take off your hood," Riku told, no, demanded the being, "Who are you, and what position are you in the new Organization?" After Roxas, he wasn't about to take any more crap from Organization members, even new ones that had been recruited for a good reason. The fact that they had rebelled against their leader made it even worse. [Author's Note: Live the Revolution! xD
The voice obviously belonged to a girl, and the body structure even under the long coat had given that away from the start. "Are you serious?" she laughed lightly, "I'm just here to get a glance at your new Savior."
The girl neared Charity, who was now gripping her keyblade tightly, and began to circle her like a vulture, "The keyblade couldn't have chosen any worse now, could it? Wait..." she stopped, and laughed lightly, "never mind. Sora."
"Shut up!" Riku demanded, getting into a battle ready stance and holding his keyblade over his shoulder, "Who are you and what is the new organization trying to accomplish by unlocking all of these worlds?!"
The girl laughed again, "Isn't that easy? We're trying to accomplish what our priors could not. We want, no, need to discover the secrets of the heart, so we can become Somebodies." Her circling had shifted now to around Riku, "We can accomplish this by unlocking the worlds one by one, preying Heartless in each one, and collecting those hearts that would be worthy of Nobodies and how they differ from those worthy of becoming Heartless. Whatever is in the heart of the being that became a Nobody, we can multiply to greater strengths in ours to become Somebodies!"
"You're wrong!" Riku shouted, taking a quick jab with his keyblade to the left of him, just barely missing the girl, "A Nobody can't become a Somebody! You're lacking one crucial internal organ, if you know what I mean." he said, tauntingly putting his hand to his upper chest.
The girl growled under her hood, "See what good your heart does you when it's gone!" she shouted, and ran up to Riku from where she had dodged his keyblade stab.
"Leave him alone!" Charity commanded, rushing up to her with her keyblade. Just hardly swiping her on the arm, she backed up a few steps.
"Stay out of this!" the girl scolded her, and held out her hand. What appeared in it was enough to make Riku's jaw drop, and back up a step. A Keyblade.
"Is she supposed to have one of those?" asked Charity blankly, still trying to get over the shock. The girl ran up to her, but was countered by a large swipe from Riku. At this, the girl disappeared into what seemed like nothing.
Riku panted, "Not normal. She's the Nobody of a keyblade wielder."
"So does that mean... you defeated her?" Charity asked.
"Not even close. Sadly." Riku mumbled. "Come on, let's go to Merlin's house. We can tell them about it there. Somehow I think that's more important than the Gummy Ship right now."
The Gummy Ship— that must have been what that odd ship they were riding in was called.
The two of them finally approached a house, and without even knocking Riku opened the door and went in, followed shortly after by Charity.
The house was quaint, but obviously larger on the inside than it had looked on the outside. One face turned towards them immediately. It was a woman with a smiling, child-like face and dawned in a ninja's outfit. She had short black hair that hardly moved as she ran up to them. "Is this the first keyblade wielder you had to find? Wait, wasn't Leander supposed to find her? Where is he?"
Charity seemed a bit worried, "He's back at the, um, gummy bear ship. My name's Charity." she said, holding out a hand. The woman shaked it enthusiastically.
"Yuffie!" she exclaimed, and looked over at Riku, "I take it you need Cid, huh?"
Riku smiled slightly, "Yeah. The ship's broken back there."
"CID!" shouted Yuffie down the house, "GO FIND THE GUMMY SHIP. IT'S BROKEN."
"AGAIN?!" came a man's voice with an obvious redneck accent. A blond man in simple clothing walked out, and stomped out the door to go find the ship.
"That means they're back, huh?" a woman's voice asked somebody, and the responding voice seemed to be nearer than the questioner.
"Must." Suddenly, two figures appeared out of a hallway. There was one tall, brunette woman with a long braid tied behind her in a cute pink ribbon, and a very simple yet gorgeous outfit. Her face was calm and welcoming, and she wore a small smile.
The other, however, looked not quite welcoming, but moreso courageous. There was a scar running from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, his face was angular and serious, and he wore very odd clothing that seemed almost too hot for the weather they were in.
"Aerith, Squall, come meet the new keyblade wielder!" Yuffie told them, waving them over as if Charity was some sort of display in the museum.
"Where's Leander?" asked the scarred man, a bit annoyed, but still, they both approached.
"He's back at the Gummy Ship," Riku explained, "it crash landed and we came here to get Cid to go fix it. The rest of them wanted to stay with the ship."
"I'm Aerith," said the woman who had a calm voice to fit a calm face, "and this is Leon."
"Squall." Yuffie said, scoffing.
"Leon." he urged.
"Sorry you can't meet Tifa, she's taking care of some business in the outskirts right now." Yuffie said apologetically.
"That's nothing to worry about right now," said Riku, "I have a lot of news to tell you."
So Riku told them that Leander had not just picked up the new keyblade wielder while he finished up his second year of high school in that world, but also the new Nobody for the Organization. He also told them in small detail of one of the new members that they had met along the way.
"She had a keyblade?" Leon asked seriously. Riku nodded.
"That's not good. It means that she has to be the Nobody of a keyblade wielder, and one of those special ones like Roxas and Naminé." Yuffie mumbled.
"I keep hearing those names get tossed around everywhere," said Charity, finally speaking up, "Who are they?"
Riku sighed slightly, "It's a long story. Shortened, Naminé had once replaced Sora's memories with ones of her own because she was lonely, but they were replaced again later. She then was able to meet up with her Somebody, Sora's and my best friend, Kairi, and returned to her body. Roxas was a little different; he was in the Organization to start off with, but find himself unsatisfied and began to search for his Somebody. In doing so, he found himself with a new life which he was soon pulled away from, but was able to return to his Somebody in peace shortly after."
"Wow," said Charity, "That is complicated."
"There's a lot more," said Yuffie, "but you don't need to know it all to understand that right now, our worlds are under chaos."
"And only you, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Leander, and the other keyblade wielder can help us." Aerith said.
"The other one?" asked Charity.
"There's one more, one that resides in Hollow Bastion, that we have yet to find. We decided to find you in your world, the Azure Daybreak, and eliminate the hardest one fastest. Which was probably a stupid choice, because for all we know the new wielder could be dead by now." Yuffie said, shaking her head and looking at Leon with an angry stare. It was probably his plan.
Charity smiled, "I'll do all I can to help you guys. It's a promise." she assured them.
They all three smiled happily, and even Riku smiled down at her, "I never doubted you would."
"It's alright," came a voice of a twang heard once before, and the older man stepped in with everyone else following him, "Give 'er a night to cool down, and she'll be rearin' to go by tomorrow."
Riku turned around and shifted his face from a light smile to a serious look, "We met someone along the way."
