HnH: I really thank myxbeautifulxlove(I love your username, by the way), Keiko105, Ellie0223, Eruruu, babyangelwintergirl(your username is pretty, too) and everyone else who happens to be a random reader! However, I can't thank you properly because I don't know who you are!
Sora: HnH doesn't own anything...but...-giggle- she does own messed-up Roxas!
Roxas: Shut up! It's getting kind of old, now!
HnH: You think that because they're the same person, they wouldn't fight? Oh, you have NO idea what I go through with these two...anyway, next chapter! Oh! Before that, I'd recommend putting this story on your alert list because updates will be pretty much random, unless you look at the stories you review everyday...
:Note: The honorific '-hime' is used to say 'Princess'. So, instead of saying Princess Naminé, Roxas would say Naminé-hime.
Angels in Flight: Towa no Shirube
Chapter Two: Neglected Sanity
(Roxas' POV)
"N-Nami? What did you just say?" Princess Umiri said to her sister who had just either shown an act of kindness, foolishness or something in-between the two. I would never understand royalty. Anyway, I was in kind of a shock right now. I was just doing my daily work when suddenly the Crown Princess, Tsugare Naminé, ran over to me, grabbed the bag of coal I was carrying, and took it over to my father's workshop.
Can you imagine? Such a beautiful princess wanting to help me, just a lowly commoner to everyone, out? Maybe she just wanted to tell my old Pops off. I bet that was it. Honestly, that was the first time I had seen Princess Naminé in my life. Everyone tells me that she's only been out in town once or twice in her entire life. The people who have seen her told me that her sister was much prettier than herself. I don't think so.
Maybe it's just because she's wearing so much make-up she's covering hideous scars or something. Whatever the reason she did what she did, here we were, the Princess telling me to call her by her first name. Honestly, I thought the reason why she didn't go out to town was because she was crazy or insane. I wondered what I should do. Go along with it, or not?
"You heard what I said, Umiri!" Princess Naminé said, shaking her head and then looking at me and smiling sweetly. I tried not to, but I had to. I looked into her eyes. I...I could see it, right then and there. That she loved me. It was love at first sight, of course, but I didn't feel the same way. She was just a beautiful princess, who obviously cared about her people. She was probably betrothed to some Prince, and I didn't want any trouble to start. Besides...
"Hey! You look a lot like a kid I know! Do you have an identical brother?" Princess Umiri suddenly asked me, looking at me like I was some kind of evil scientist. Or...or maybe, she knew...I heard that this generation of the royal family has pretty strange powers, but that's just a rumor.
"Yes, Your Highness. I have a twin." I said, flustered. Why did everyone care about Utsuho? It's not like he's some big celebrity or something. Then, something unexpected happened- Princess Umiri hugged me! I looked around, seeing the shocked look of the Duke's son, Seifer. Everyone else was caught up in the excitement so they must've not noticed, and the people who did must have not snapped out of their stupor, yet.
"Oh! Could you introduce me to him? Pretty please?" Princess Umiri pulled back, grabbing my hands and holding them. Thank the Saints that I saw she didn't harbor any feelings for me. I could see...they were for my brother. What is with this family? My brother and I are gonna get our heads chopped off by the guillotine for something we(well, I certainly know that I) didn't even do!
"Anything for you, Your Highness." I said, bowing politely as Princess Umiri skipped to the edge of the float, waving at everyone. I could see Seifer glaring at me from the corner of his eyes. I didn't like Seifer, I never did. We used to play together when we were little, but he was so stuck-up he drove everyone away with his own greed. Princess Naminé smiled again.
"Anything for me, too?" She asked. I felt extremely uncomfortable, but Sir Wakka, Lady Lulu and Their Majesties Tidus and Yuna haven't noticed...yet. I nodded.
"Anything for you, You-"I noticed the angry look suddenly upsetting on her pretty features, so I said, "Naminé...hime." It just felt wrong not to add 'Princess' in front, or '-hime' in back. She smiled again.
"Well, at least you got it half right...I'm really glad!" Naminé-hime said. She was crazy. I knew she was. What else would make her act this way? Suddenly, Seifer walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Princess...not to be rude, but I don't think you should associate with this lowlife." He said, sneering at me. I would've returned it, but, like everyone else, Naminé-hime was probably under the impression that Seifer was the perfect little angel. Not that I cared what she thought, but Their Majesties Tidus and Yuna might. I don't want to get thrown into their dungeon.
"Thank you for caring, Seifer, but I think I can make my opinions of Roxas." Naminé-hime said. I flinched. How did she know my-oh, right. She knew it because Pops thought I was at the door, and called me by my name. Great. Now she knew my name. That was peachy-keen. I scanned the crowd nervously. I hope none of them were watching, they'd kill me if they found out...
"Your welcome..." He said, sending me another glare before returning to his initial spot on the float. Then, Naminé-hime placed her hands behind her back and looked at me.
"So, tell me about yourself." She said. Now I feel sorry for the Tsugare Kingdom. Someone should've officially certified Naminé-hime as crazy. Of course, they couldn't do that since she's the crown Princess.
"Let's see...My full name is Hikari Roxas...I'm 16, have one twin brother named Hikari Utsuho, my father is Highwind Cid..." Everyone always asks me how I ended up with the last name of Hikari, when my father's last name was Highwind. That, in itself, was a very long story I'd rather not explain. Let's just say that my mother was long gone by now.
"You're the same age as me! That's so coincidental!" She smiled. Honestly, I didn't want the Princess to love me. I now had no doubt that she was indeed delusional. Everyone tells me that I'm not exactly Prince Charming myself, so how could she love me?
"Indeed, Naminé-hime. That's about it, really..." I said. She nodded, then frowned and looked as if she were in deep thought. Did...she find out? Oh no... "W-What is it, Namine-hime?" I asked nervously. What would she do if she found out? Tell her parents? Oh, they'd kill me FOR SURE if they knew.
"The name Hikari seems really familiar to me..." She said, tapping her chin as if in deep thought. She thought some more, then she finally came up with whatever the answer to what she was thinking of. "The Hikari family! You inherited the power of wielding keyblades, right? If I remember correctly...the one that's supposed to be passed down is the Kingdom Key and the Oblivion, the Keyblade of Protection and Darkness."
She knew the story of the keyblades? I remember my mother, the Hikari who entrusted us the keyblades, telling us the stories of them, but I never really remembered the whole story. I only remembered bits and pieces of it, so I really wanted to know the whole story. "Would you mind telling them to me? As a Hikari, I should know." I said. Naminé-hime nodded eagerly.
"Well, the story of the Kingdom Key, the Keyblade of Protection, was a long time ago. There was a knight and a princess. The princess loved the knight dearly, as the knight to the princess. One day, there was an attack on the castle. The knight rushed in to save his Princess, but he didn't have a weapon. It's said that his heart was so pure that it created a weapon shaped like a key, signifying the key to the princess' heart. He protected his precious princess, but after, the knight's older brother was driven by feelings of darkness to kill the princess. The dark had taken hold of his mind and body, and the darkness in his heart created the Oblivion, the Keyblade of Darkness and Despair. He successfully killed the Princess, then soon after took his own life by giving his heart up to darkness. The Oblivion can only be held by someone who has despair inside of their heart and cannot truly tell their emotions. When the knight's brother died, his life energy transformed into the Keyblade of Light and Promises, the Oathkeeper." Naminé-hime took a deep breath. I never knew all of this, but I could wield the Oblivion...and my brother wielded the Kingdom Key...
"The Knight rushed to the Princess after hearing the news. The Knight, not wanting to see his beloved Princess die, gave her the Oathkeeper and promised her that he'd always be there to protect her. Then, the Princess died, and the closest relative, the Princess' cousin, soon took the throne. The Knight came from the Hikari family, and the Princess came from the Mizu family. The cousin of the Princess was a Tsugare, my ancestor. I think the Knight and his elder brother's must've had a cousin or something, or else you'd be a Highwind." Naminé-hime explained, smiling. "You wield the Kingdom Key?"
"No," I said, shaking my head, "I wield Oblivion." Naminé-hime stared at me for a moment. She was about to open her mouth to say something, but Seifer grabbed her and dragged her off the float since the parade had ended. I got off the float, too, but I heard her yell to me,
"Roxas! I'll come see you soon!" I sighed and shook my head as I started to walk towards my house. Crazy. Definitely crazy.
-(Naminé's POV)-
I felt like...everytime I talked to Roxas, my heart would just light up and I would feel very happy. Since, most of my life, I've been concealed in a room, I haven't really felt any emotions, but I liked the happy and love emotion so much that I just really babbled on to him. I told him that I'd see him again soon, and I would.
"So...what do you think of him, Princess?" I heard Seifer ask behind me. I don't think he knew that I knew his real personality, so I might as well try and hide it. I turned around and smiled.
"He's wonderful. I don't know why you don't like him. It doesn't matter what I think, though, you should ask your fiancée what she thinks." I said, glancing over at Umiri who was still in a daydream.
"She doesn't love me." Seifer said, his hand grasping my shoulder. I frowned.
"Who could? I see through your mask, Seifer." With that, I twisted out of his grasp and I took my sisters hand and then ran off inside the castle. When we reached our room, I locked the door behind us. Umiri started to jump up and down again.
"Come on! We need to ask Mom and Dad if we can go see them!" She said. I blinked, registering the information. I slowly nodded, not too sure that Mother and Father knew our 'secret'. Yeah, they all heard me when I said 'Just call me Naminé' but Umiri and I can just say that we were talking to ourselves and I had just glanced at Roxas while I was saying it. Totally believable, am I wrong?
"Alright...let's go." This time, she was the leader as she ran to the throne room, kicking open the door unceremoniously, burst into the room and letting go of me so fast that I fell flat on my face. When I recovered, I realized that the Duke's family was also assembled in the room beside my parents, and I flushed crimson. Lucille was there also, but she looked at us like she knew everything. She probably did, but she was such a good maid she would never tell...
"Mom, Dad, we were wondering if we could go out to town today! Maybe...right now!" Umiri said, trying to contain her hyperactive disorder which I knew she had. She was always bouncing off the walls-sometimes literally.
"Only if Seifer can come with you. He's a respectable young man-"Mother started, and at this, we both rolled our eyes. Respectable? He doesn't have a shred of respect in him! I don't even think he knows that word exists, "and he can protect you if any harm should pop up. We've been hearing of some organizations that have been formed that want to kill us and you two walking out in broad daylight would be like shooting you ourselves."
Why would anyone want to kill my parents? Maybe they don't believe in a monarchy? I was about to voice my opinion of this, but Seifer took our arms and started to walk us out of the castle. The sun was setting, so it wasn't as bright as when the parade started. I looked at Umiri. We would have to lose Seifer somehow.
"I know why you two wanted to get out of the castle, and just so you know, I'm not going to let you see either one of them." He said to us, and we looked at him in surprise. He turned around to face us, but he was mostly looking at Umiri. "You could never have him...so why even go after him? You too, Princess. Both of you. It's pointless to try when you won't get anywhere. Their Majesties Tidus and Yuna would never allow it."
"Fine. We'll go back..." Umiri gave me a look which I knew exactly what it meant. As soon as Seifer turned around and started walking back towards the castle...which he did right now...we would RUN! "Come on, Nami! Faster!" Umiri yelled as we both set off in a sprint(which wasn't very fast because we were both wearing elegant dresses and high heels) and we didn't look back. We could hear Seifer was running after us, but for some reason he didn't catch up to us. It was when I looked back to catch my breath to learn the reason why: He was running in the other direction, towards the castle! He was going to tell our parents! Oh, they would kill us when we got home...
We reached Cid's workshop, and Umiri knocked on the door. Utsuho opened the door. He looked at my sister first, then at me. I could see Cid in the background hammering away, and I stood on my tiptoes to see over Utsuho's shoulders. No Roxas. Where could he be?
"Your Highnesses! What brings you both here?" He asked, then added 'again' which he though we couldn't hear, but I had exceptional hearing so I could. Umiri was about to say something, I knew it because she was about to get all jittery again, but I interrupted her before she could even start.
"Where's your brother?" I asked. He shrugged. I was stunned for a minute. He didn't know where his brother was? Was that even...possible? I looked up at the sky, stars were started to twinkle in the last orange rays of the sun. Guards never let anyone out of Elle Ciel, the capital of Tsugare, after sunset.
"Everyday he always leaves here at five o'clock precisely and doesn't return until seven in the morning. I tried tracking him once, but it never worked out." He said. I wondered where Roxas could possible go after five? The gates were still open at that time, but I would find out. I was determined. Suddenly his eyes widened.
"Y-Y-Your Majesties." He suddenly said, and dropped to the floor, kneeling down. We both wheeled around, but the last thing I remember is falling into darkness.
-
When I came out back into the real world, I heard voices so I kept my eyes shut.
"...can't do that! That's much too harsh, even if she's in love with them!" I heard my mother say. Mother was much more lenient on things than my father was.
"But Umiri deserves much worse. She's betrothed! She's not supposed to be dillydallying with some blacksmith's son." Said my Father. "Until they can learn how to behave properly, Seifer will guard them day and night to make sure they don't leave. Besides, I think we need to find Naminé's suitor soon. She's coming of age." That was my father speaking, definitely.
"Your Majesties, there's something I want brought to your attention..." Was SEIFER in the room with us? That little perv, looking at me while I'm sleeping! I can't believe my parents are actually ALLOWING this! "I don't really..." It was then that my parents started hushing Seifer.
"I think Umiri and Naminé are about to awaken!" As if on cue, I made my eyes flutter and I sat straight up, holding my head. I didn't know what knocked me out, but I didn't want to know, either. I was sitting in my own bed, and in Umiri's bed she was also sitting up.
"What happened?" I asked groggily. Mother smiled at me, but Father looked like a raging fireball. Seifer was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"You are no longer allowed to go outside unless Seifer accompanies you. Furthermore, he is too be with you at all times. All the guards are on watch for you now. I can't believe you broke our trust. I'm very disappointed in you both." Father said. He never yelled at us, but his voice kind of got lower and it sounded more sharper when he was lecturing us. Then, our parents left, just leaving Umiri, Seifer and I in the room.
"Why'd you tell them?" I asked. Seifer shrugged and smirked. I didn't like him and his cockiness. He always thinks whatever he's doing is right, and it's not. If he never told them, then I'd be able to see Roxas again, and Seifer made it clear that Umiri and I were in 'love' with people who we weren't supposed to be.
"I don't think it makes a difference. They would've found out anyway. I was just helping you guys out. Besides, most girls would die if they could be around me constantly." He replied, running a hand through his hair like he thought that notion attracted us. Right...like anything he did attracted anyone besides those mindless sheep that think he's actually hot. Umiri and I exchanged glances, and she got up.
"You need to go outside. Nami and I have to get dressed. We're high up from the ground so there's no way we can escape. So, go!" She said, and pushed him out the door, closed it and locked it. "Nami, tomorrow we're going to leave here at 4, alright? We'll just say we need to get dressed again and make a rope to the ground. That way, by the time we get there you'll be able to track Roxas and I can talk to Utsuho!" She whispered to me, and I nodded.
"But do you think it will work? There are guards stationed all over the place." I whispered back, looking hesitantly at the door as if Seifer would just burst in here any minute. Umiri nodded and tapped my head.
"You just need to rearrange their memories a little. Do you think you could do that?" She asked. I shook my head. Like I said before, I didn't know how to really do so and I could seriously mess up someone's mind if I failed. It's also an invasion of privacy and I wouldn't want someone leafing through my memories like a book.
"Why can't we just wear cloaks?" I asked, walking over to our closest and getting out these enormous cloaks that were gray and had these gigantic hoods that covered our whole body, our face, and then some. "I'd rather not rearrange anyone's memories if possible. I like sticking to cloaks. There's nothing wrong with them."
"Fine...but, lookie here! Remember when we were little I got some rope because I always tried to get you out of the castle? Well, it's still here! We can get out easy! I can't wait!" Umiri really wanted to go outside, but we both knew we were going to have to wait. Seifer knocked on the door.
"Are Your Highnesses done yet?" He asked impatiently. We rolled our eyes, and opened the door after we got changed. "Well..." Seifer smirked, "I'm going to have to make sure you girls don't escape overnight, so..."
"Can't you stay outside the room? Having you in the room with us while we're sleeping..." Umiri shuddered. Did our parents really trust him that much?
"We're going to get married anyway. Does it matter?" He asked. Umiri was about to nod, but she knew that nothing could stop Seifer once he had his mind set to something. His little sick, twisted and in-the-gutter mind, but still his mind.
"Uhhhh...fine." She mumbled then looked at me. She was as excited about tomorrow as I was. Tomorrow...we were going to escape out of this stupid castle! Hopefully it would work...Umiri got into her bed and I got into mine. We both stared at Seifer and his watchful...too watchful AND wandering eyes...
The thing that finally put me to sleep was an image of Roxas having a pair of wings; one white and one black. I could see myself on the floor, it looked like I was badly hurt, and he was holding me and shouting something to me that I couldn't hear. He looked hurt, too, as I could clearly see one of his wings were torn and he was bloody and all scratched-up. I saw someone in the background wearing a shocked expression, but I couldn't really see the person's face... It was a nightmarish scene...but it just kept replaying in my mind for some reason...
It was a nightmarish scene alright, but the rest of our lives would be more nightmarish than we could ever imagine.
HnH: Aw...poor Naminé...Roxas doesn't love her, he thinks she's crazy! Maybe he'll see the light soon?...
Sora: HnH'd like at least FOUR reviews for this chapter before she continues the next one, but she'll settle for one...
HnH: Guys, in your reviews, tell me whether you'd like the rest of the story to be third-person or first person. The majority of the vote will win.
Kairi: Have you noticed that Naminé keeps on giving us hints of what's to come? What's that called?
Riku: Foreshadowing...?
Kairi: Yeah, that's it! I wish Sora and I were in this story, but nooooo we just get to be apart of the disclaimer crew...-angry mumble-
Roxas: So, guys, please review! If not, thanks for reading up this far!
HnH: Now that I know exactly what events will follow, the rest of the story will be up much quicker, but the updates won't happen every week or so. Just whenever I write them out. You don't have to put this story on your alert list, but in order to keep track of updates I recommend you do.
Anyway...please review, if so, thanks, if not, thanks for reading! Any type of review is appreciated, even the reviews were you blab away senselessly...