Kingdom Hearts

Torn Apart

By: SMS

Chapter 3

A party was taking place in the farthest reach of the main Island. Not too many people had been invited, for the guest of honor wasn't all too popular at school. She was turning seventeen years old and this was a big deal; to her parents anyway. She'd been able to drive a hover-bike since she was fifteen, but at seventeen she was a senior in school and it marked her as being an official adult. Her parents were rejoicing, but at the same time they couldn't help but feel as if they were losing their daughter.

To an outside observer, one that was familiar with the Last War, they would notice that Destiny Islands had changed… a lot. All the nearby islands were connected with gravi-bridges. The locals weren't limited to riding primitive boats across the channels anymore; there were plenty of hover-boats to go around. Every respectable family had at least two hover-boats and those that couldn't afford one, was able to rent them at the wharf. For those natives that didn't want to visit from one island to the next, they were able to log into their Portable ID screens and visit with just about everyone using the Intraface. The Intraface had been invented decades ago and by now almost all natives had at least one PID in which to access it. School was still set up the same way, with the same uniforms used from decades past. For some reason the funding for newer designed uniforms was always rerouted to the Resources Department of the Destiny Islands government.

Ladah (lay-dah) was in her room looking at all her posters and the mess that she should have cleaned up last night. Her mom had told her that if her room wasn't clean, she wouldn't be going anywhere tonight. Sometimes turning seventeen didn't make a bit of difference. She scowled at the thoughts running through her mind as she started picking up various pieces of laundry and flinging them into the receptacle that would whisk the offending articles away to be cleaned. Having cleared the floor of last weeks uniforms (thankfully she had a suit for each day of the week), Ladah turned to her desk and dresser. She usually kept her dresser pretty neat, being the place that housed her cosmetics and toiletries. Her desk, on the other hand, was horrible. Papers from forgotten stories mixed with papers from her Literature class. Ladah hated Literature. Sure she liked to read and immerse herself in the fantastical worlds that lay within the pages (or rather pixels, seeing as how all books were electronic now-a-days), but she hated the writing. Discussions, debates, essays, anything where her grammar had to be perfect and she was docked five points for every spelling mistake.

Fearing that she wouldn't be done sorting through all the junk on her desk, Ladah gathered all the loose papers together, fantastical writings mixed with heavily red-inked Literature and stuffed them into her bag. Eventually she'd sort through them, knowing that Monday's assignment was among the junk. With all the loose junk gone, Ladah turned to the viddisks, which also laid scattered in no discernable order. Historicals among adventure entertainments; didn't matter to her, she loved them all. Ladah was very big on History, that and Mathematics. They were her favorite subjects when it came to school. Common knowledge knew that the government hid certain things that happened in the past. Things that the government would rather see forgotten then tarnish the polished career of every politician on the islands. Having plugged the viddisks into their docks, whether the right one or not, Ladah finished the cleaning process by wiping the dust off her PID, righted her chair (in which had been a casualty in the fight she'd had with her mom last night) and waved her hand over the light sensor. She was done with her room and ready to PAR-TY.

Outside in the back of the house, Ladah's mom and dad were busy trying to set up all the decorations and greet each guest. Ladah's arrival helped out a lot since she was the birthday-girl and able to greet her own guests. They were mostly family. Hell her family was mostly the main island. She had so many cousins, uncles, aunts… Once, twice, three-times removed on either side. Somewhere along the family tree, her family had multiplied like rabbits… Maybe they still are… Ladah thought evilly. Smiling at the few cousins who were already there, she kept expecting to see him. The most popular guy in school, Trace; but she realistically chastised herself. Why would he be interested in my party? She hugged and kissed her Uncle Gar and Aunt Ceily and then froze. Three people she had expected to shun her party like it was a virus, were there. Trace was one, with a big jock friend that she didn't know the name of, but everyone who was anyone knew that he was Trace's best friend; and then there was Parna. The most popular girl who actually played sports; even though she wasn't one of those plastic girls who freak at the idea of dirt, it doesn't mean that she won't act like them when it comes to clothes. The three sauntered over to Ladah with unreadable expressions on their faces; as they drew nearer the people in front of them parted as if a huge hover-boat had sliced through the water.

"I got this invitation…" Parna said with no discernable annoyance or disgust.

"Yeah." Trace added as an after-thought with the no-name guy shaking his head in agreement. Ladah was still too shocked (thankfully without her mouth hanging open) to form any kind of normal reply.

"Me. I… To you." Clearing her throat and realizing that everyone was staring she said more plainly, "Yeah, I gave out invitations to my party. Seventeen you know." She smiled as her stomach knotted up. Parna's eyes widened as she took in Ladah's heavily lined eyeliner and the dark lip liner that surrounded pale lips. Not to mention her madly spiked hair. The shock must have worn off because she then narrowed her eyes.

"Aren't you friends with that… Oh, what is his name… Jael! That's it." She asked foundering with the name. Confused Ladah now took her turn staring at Parna, then shrugged.

"I know of him, but as actually being friends with him, no. He hangs out with that dark and brooding weird guy, Vincent." Ladah said. This answer seemed to confirm something for the three popular ones, they all sighed.

"Well, in that case. I'm afraid we can't stay… Happy Birthday, or whatever." Parna said as she and Trace turned to leave. The no-name guy following like a sad little puppy. Ladah was stunned; she'd been just blown off at her own birthday party; not to mention that all her relatives were there and her mom and dad. She felt mortified. The eyes staring at her made her feel even more exposed and without a second thought as to the preparations and cost of the party, Ladah turned and ran for the carport. She didn't hear anything as she dashed out. She grabbed the keys for the hover-boat and headed out toward the water. Thankfully her house was close to the water because hover-boats can't stay airborne very long on dry land.

Feeling a little better with the open air and the salt mist in her face, Ladah headed the craft for the long-over-grown island that no one visited unless being dared to. In truth Ladah went there often, but didn't clean it up because she didn't want to encourage people to stay. When there were the occasional visitors and she was there, she'd make as much noise as possible to scare off the intruder. The place was like a tree-house, but an island instead. Long ago, to friends, this place would have been a paradise get-away with secret paths, a bridge only accessible island, and what looked like part of a boat attached to one end of the island. There was or were what looked like tree-houses too.

Parking the hover-boat and tying it off on the other side of the boat-port of the island, Ladah headed for the almost collapsed bridge to get to the coconut tree that was naturally curved for seating. Traversing the bridge was tricky and she was lucky that she hadn't gained too much weight over the years. Finally reaching her destination, Ladah was able to sit and stare out at the other islands, and contemplate her pitiful life. Giving in to the overwhelming emotion of abandonment, Ladah lowered her head to her arms and cried, silently.

Taking yet another long walk through the archives and vaults of the castle, King William sighed and shook his head. Any day now…They are out there and I don't know how to find them…The prophecy is explicit except for exactly WHO it was about and WHEN… The King thought sadly. This wasn't his first tromp down the stairs into the sub-basements of the castle; and if anyone had been counting it would actually have been his twentieth visit. Seventeen years is all that he had been King for and almost every year, sometimes twice a year; he would visit and then ponder. This day was no different. Queen Millicent was worried about her husband, but considering that none of his actions thus far had seemed out-of-the-ordinary, she remained quiet about it. The whole castle could feel the expectation the King felt everyday; it was like an oozing sore that wouldn't heal. Everyone knew that something was going to happen, and very soon, but no one knew what.

Staring at the relics behind their protective glass cases, King William wandered what had become of the Heroes' sidekicks or friends. The ones originally from Disney Castle that had bravely taken up the shield and mage wand in order to help the Hero. Had they lived a fulfilling life? Had they been content as to what had happened to the Hero? King William didn't see how that could have been, knowing what he knew from the three journals. His next stop on the tour was of course the three treasures that had been magically preserved and passed down through the centuries. King William was so familiar with them, that he need not crack the covers in order to remember the contents. The good, the bad and everything in between had been seared into his mind and would, one day serve a purpose.

He feared that when the time came to use the journals, his kingdom would fall apart. Was Queen Millicent, his wife, strong enough to take the burden he would have to leave at her feet? Would she be able to cope with it and still love him when his journey was done? Or would the kingdom itself, an icon of peace and love, be totally lost with the falling and failing Queen? King William pondered and wandered about these questions once a year, and then sensing it was time to leave the memories to the past for another year, he would lock his mind from that part and leave the archives. He was waiting for the sign, the feeling that everything would be alright this year. That another year would go with blissful peace and that his journey would be postponed… But the feeling did not come. The reassurance did not break the surface of his stormy thoughts, and to his unbelievable horror, the middle glass case that housed one of the three journals was empty.

Screaming, laughter, clanging, roars, and bells suddenly filled Ladah's head. Instinctively she shot her hands to her ears and looked around. The sounds were of a battle, though Ladah had never been in a fight before nor near enough to one to identify the sounds of one. Instinctively, though, she knew that the screaming was from injury and pain. The laughter was maniacal and could only be associated with the enemy. The clanging was metallic and had to be weapons. The roars sounded like an angry feral beast, though what kind of beast Ladah knew not. The bells, well the bells were a sound of hope. It was the only sound in her ringing head that gave her a cinder of hope for whoever the antagonist of the battle was. It was the sound of healing, she knew these things and yet Ladah had no idea why she knew them. Acting on instinct again, she jumped off the bowed coconut tree and ran for the bridge.

Traversing it with reckless abandon and with a surge of adrenaline so massive that not even Trace would have been able to beat her in a foot-race. Not exactly knowing where she was headed, Ladah heard the grinding and wrenching of wood as the bridge behind her collapsed; a part of her, a tiny part, mourned for the bridge and the sanctuary it lead to. Her destination, it seemed, was only accessible through a small overgrown hole in the ground near a tree that had once been used as a tree-house. Without thought to her hair, or the condition of her clothes, she got down on her hands and knees and forced her way through the narrow opening. Even cleaned out, the hole was only big enough for a twelve-year-old. After a little ways, the hole got bigger and finally through sacrificing her spiked hair and cleaned clothes, Ladah emerged into a secret cave. She noticed right away, that the place was old and musty, and that there was not another way in.

Looking around, she marveled at the drawings. They covered every wall and etchings were carved into what looked like roots of the tree beside the hole. They were childish drawings but even then she could make out what some meant. There were dragons, and dogs that seemed to be walking on their hind legs wearing clothes. A duck that was wearing a jacket; a mouse head with a scepter, or what looked like a royal scepter, beside it. There was what was clearly a constellation chart, but instead of dots or stars, there were round circles with buildings on them… Like worlds. All this was a little overwhelming and Ladah collapsed as the adrenaline from earlier evaporated.

Studying the walls and pictures, she rested and soon her breathing and heart rate were normal, but she was still amazed. The light; where was the light, with which she could see, coming from? She searched for the source up high, but there were no cracks in the dirt ceiling. She looked around; there was a faint glow from the far end of the chamber. She stood up and headed toward it; the glow got brighter as she neared. Shielding her eyes, she tried to step to one side thinking maybe the light was directed in one direction. But the light was multidirectional and she was still unable to determine the source. Looking away from the brightness and letting her eyes adjust again, Ladah caught sight of another more hidden drawing. She walked closer and then knelt down to see it more clearly. It was a picture of two drawn heads. One with insanely spiked hair with a star in front of his half-opened mouth; the second head was what seemed like a girl's head with slightly long hair, a star near her half-open mouth as well. She could tell that the two heads were drawn by two different artists. The stars were attached to hands that extended from each head, as if the one drawing was feeding the star to the other drawing and vice versa.

Confused Ladah tried to understand the symbolism of the two drawings. It would have showed friendship and trust if the star in front of the girl-head was not hastily marked out. The crossing marks over the girl's star was etching deep into the rock, as if the carver had used a sharp rock or even a knife to do it. She couldn't tell whether the crossed out part was done by the artists who'd drawn the stars. Ladah's attention had been so engrossed by the drawings and trying to figure them out, that she failed to notice an object that seemed very out-of-place. Her hand, which was keeping her balance of the ground, pushed the object closer to the wall; but the feel of it made Ladah look. A journal with a brown-worn cover was lying there. It was old, just like the cave and drawings, but Ladah could tell by the lack of impression on the dirt ground that the journal hadn't been there long.

She picked it up and leafed through the yellowing pages, realizing that this was a very important object. Adjusting her position on the ground, Ladah reasoned that she'd read a little bit of the curly script before heading back home.

-Author's Note-

Chapter 4 is already done, but I also post this at my DeviantART account and well a preview picture is required there. So I'm actually posting this story as I finish chapters and pictures for them. I'll probably get Chapter 4 up at the end of this week, if not then it'll be up next week. If you wanna see my own art for this story, then visit www.seraphyne. There's a working picture of Ladah there already.

Thanks for my first review AngelOfDarknessFire!!