About halfway done. Check chapter one for stuff you need to know.
Wendy, for the first time in her life, had run out of stories to tell
Wendy, for the first time in her life, had run out of stories to tell. It wasn't surprising since she had more or less told them the whole day. As such the rest of us had to start taking turns telling stories.
Even Sora, Riku and I had stopped to listen when Cloud told a story. He launched into a tale that explained all about Shinra and the Turks and AVALANCHE. He explained how a battle broke out because of all that Shinra was doing and how the aftermath was what we saw before us.
Many of the kids were fascinated by the story since they, much like myself, had never known why things were the way they were. Cloud was given instant cool status by the group since he had been one of the people who fought against Shinra and the others soon joined him in the cool status once Cloud explained their roles in the battle.
Sora, Riku, and I got pulled into telling stories about Destiny Islands and what it's like there. We added in a few stories about Axel and his gang, which seemed to please them all to no end.
"It sounds so lovely," Alice said with a smile, "I wish I could see the ocean."
"Did Axel, Demyx, and Zexion really graduate?" A boy with brown hair, holding a stuffed yellow bear with a red shirt on it asked.
"Why do you think they didn't Christopher Robin?" Chip asked, looking up at the boy.
"How could they have caught up with everything they missed all those years? I mean, Zexion is supposed to be a genius so maybe he could get by, but the others?" Christopher explained.
"Well they did and they're all in college with jobs, their own house, and a car," I said, cutting across the argument.
"That has to be a lie," another boy spoke up and others nodded their agreement.
I sighed and reached into my pocket where I kept my wallet. I flipped it open and pulled out a few pictures.
"Look," I said, "this is their car."
I showed them all a picture of Axel's beautiful red car with our entire group sitting on, around, or in it.
"Hey! That's Hayner!" one of the kids yelled.
"And Pence!" another piped in.
"Olette and Naminé too!"
I smiled a little at their excitement and pulled out another picture, "And this was taken at their graduation."
It was once again our entire group, this time we were all sitting on bleachers and Axel, Zexion, Demyx, and Riku were in graduation gowns. In the background was the rest of the graduating class throwing their hats into the air. Riku gave me an odd look.
"You keep those in your wallet?"
I shrugged a little, "It's either that or find a frame that's small enough for them to fit in."
Sora laughed a little at that and I grinned.
"Alright," Slightly said, his hands on his hips, "So maybe they do have a car and they did graduate, but a house?"
I sighed and flipped through the pictures again before pulling out another. This one only had my gang and Axel's gang in it. We were standing in the front of a house that had a 'SOLD' sign on the lawn. Axel was resting an arm on my head, a cigarette in one hand. Zexion had his arms crossed and looked bored. Demyx was making a 'V' for victory sign with his fingers. The rest of us were laughing at him.
"That the day they moved in?" Sora asked over my shoulder.
I nodded, "Same day Riku was moving in."
Riku and Sora both nodded in agreement. The kids frowned a little again.
"I don't get it," Panic said, "How could they have come so far?"
"Hard work and a bit of luck," I said with a small smile.
"What about you Roxas?" Michael asked, looking up at me.
"What about me?" I asked.
"Did you graduate?"
I smiled, "Will at the end of this year…"
"Provided the school doesn't kick us out for missing so much school while we're here," Sora added.
I cringed a little at that, "Good point. Hayner and the others graduate at the end of this year for sure though."
"Tch, if Hayner's graduating then school must be a breeze," Seifer said, having walked by at the end of the conversation.
"Leave him alone Seifer," I said automatically.
"You didn't graduate Seifer," Chip said, daring the boy to prove him wrong.
"That's cuz I didn't go to school, same as you," Seifer replied.
"'Xactly," Chip said, "That means that Hayner's better than you are so stop being mean to him."
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Hayner had always said that Chip had this odd fascination with him, but I had never seen it. Sora's hand covered his mouth and I could see his shoulders shaking a little with suppressed laughter. Riku smirked in an amused manner. Seifer huffed and stormed off.
"Hey Roxas…" one of the kids who was still flipping through the pictures said rather suddenly, "In a lot of these you're with Olette. Is she your girl now?"
Had I been eating or drinking anything I would have started choking on it. As it was I paled and both Riku and Sora burst out laughing. I sent them both a glare, which they ignored, before looking back at the kids.
"Nah, she just lives on the same island as us. The others live on the other islands that make up Destiny Islands so we don't see them as often."
"Oh…" he said and went back to looking through the pictures.
Sora was still laughing so I elbowed him in the ribs and he inhaled sharply, effectively cutting off his laughter. I sent Riku a look and he instantly shut up, not wanting to suffer the same fate.
"Tell us about school!" the girl with the moogle spoke up.
"Yeah!" a lot of the others agreed.
"What's it like?"
"Are teachers really mean?"
"Bobby says he used to get things called detentions. Are they really that bad?"
"What's homework like?"
Sora, Riku, and I answered as many questions as we could and it made me sad to think that a lot of these kids may never be able to experience something as everyday as school. By the time we finally got them all to sleep I was beyond tired.
"I had forgotten what it was like to deal with so many kids," I said quietly, leaning against one of the walls and closing my eyes.
"It's like dealing with one hundred Selphies," Riku agreed.
Sora gave a sad smile, "They'll all grow up to be like you guys, won't they?"
I looked at Sora, then back at the kids, "Most, yeah. That's the way of our city. When all of us older kids were their age we didn't work together. It was everyone fends for himself or herself. As we got older and took over the city we changed that. We all hoped if we took care of the younger kids that maybe things would start to get better. Maybe we could change things. And we have, dramatically. It's so much better now then it was when I was a kid, but it's still not fixed. It's a little discouraging, but at least they're smiling. We never smiled."
There was a heavy silence before Sora spoke again, "I hate this place."
Riku and I both looked at him so he continued, "It's horrible. It's cold, it's empty, dirty, it smells bad, and everyone seems sad all the time. But at the same time they seem happy, like this is the best thing that's ever happened to them."
I shifted a little and sighed, "You know Mulan?" I received two nods so I continued, "The government sent her father into war even though he was too old and permanently handicapped from the last time he was called to fight. She tried to go in his place and was caught. Punishment was immediate exile from her home.
"Wendy thinks that Neverland is a real place and that everything that happened in her stories really happened to her and her brothers. Peter likes to think he can fly. Alice is convinced there is such a place as Wonderland and that she ended up here after her Aunt Redd tried to kill her. Christopher Robin thinks that the bear he holds is real and that he can visit a place called the 100-Acre Woods and play with his bear and all his friends.
"Ariel," I said, nodding toward the red headed girl from Riverside, "She thinks she used to be a mermaid and that it was out of true love that she came to the world of the humans using the magic of a sea witch."
"They live in a world of delusions?" Riku asked quietly.
I nodded, "Either you live in delusions or you become hard and uncaring. That's the way we work around here."
My phone rang again and many people spun around looking confused. I pulled it out of my pocket and many of them gaped at it. I sighed quietly before answering it.
"You are one hard family to get a hold of."
I blinked a few times, trying to place the voice on the phone with a face. It took a moment but I succeeded, "Hey Tifa, trying to find Cloud again?"
"Yes, care to explain to my why no one is answering the house phone, his phone, Sora's phone, or Riku's phone?"
I frowned a little at that, "Well, the house phone is because we're not home but I donno why the other phones didn't ring."
Sora and Riku both reached into their pockets and pulled out their phones.
"No service," Riku said.
"Dead," Sora muttered with a sigh.
"Is Cloud with you?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah, hold on," I said getting up from the wall and walking over to Cloud. I handed him my phone and went back over to Sora and Riku.
"I donno about you two, but I'm going to sleep," I said as I sat back down in my spot.
Sora yawned loudly, "I second that."
Riku smiled and closed his eyes. As I drifted off I could vaguely hear Cloud arguing with Tifa about something.
Someone was shaking my shoulder and whoever it was, was about to receive a fist in their face.
"Common Rox, wake up," Cloud whispered.
Alright, maybe he wouldn't get a fist in his face but he was going to get a glare as soon as I opened my eyes.
"Roxas!" He hissed at me and I groaned quietly, opening my eyes.
"What?" I whispered back.
"Do you know your way through the underground?"
I raised an eyebrow at him, "Why?"
"Because Tifa and the others are outside."
"What? Why?"
"They're going to get the kids out of here so that we can take down Kadaj without having to worry about him taking it out on them."
I sighed and slowly got to my feet, "Yeah, got a light?"
Cloud pulled a penlight out of his pocket and I led the way back into the underground maze.
"I'm telling you they're not going to agree to this without a fight," I said for possibly the tenth time as I led Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, Tifa, Barret, Cid, Reno, and Rude back into the underground.
"Yeah, yeah," Reno said, waving his hand, "We heard you. Don't talk to adults, all cops are evil, blah, blah…"
I shot him a glare; it was far too early in the morning for this crap, "How'd you get here so fast anyway?"
"Did you forget that you're looking at AVALANCHE?" Cloud asked, "We know the topside of this city like the back of our hands."
"I meant that it took us nearly a whole day by plane and Tifa was talking to you a few hours ago," I said dryly.
"First, we had a layover," Cloud said, "Second, they probably took the Highwind."
"The wha?" I asked.
"Highwind," Cid said, looking proud, "my own design. She's a beauty and much faster than your standard plane."
"And with a lot more leg room!" Yuffie added cheerfully.
"And where did you land this monstrosity?" I asked.
"The Forgotten City," Tifa said, which caused me to come to a stop.
"Wait, you walked all the way here from the Forgotten City?"
"Yeah?" Reno said.
I sighed loudly, "There is a way in here in the Forgotten City that would have saved you a lot of time and walking."
"Little late now," Rude said gruffly.
I shook my head and started walking again when the penlight I had been using to see by started to flicker.
"Uh oh," Yuffie said, echoing my thoughts.
I looked around quickly and sighed, "Well shit, here's hoping it doesn't die just yet."
"No lamps around here?" Cloud asked as we continued our trek.
I shook my head, "They're only by the ladders that lead in here. There wouldn't-"
I stopped talking rather suddenly and clicked off the penlight. One thing I liked about the people with me is that I didn't have to tell them to be quiet; they did it on their own out of instinct.
Just ahead of us was a group of people. Five people to be exact. And each and every one of them had silver hair. I was mentally using every swear word I knew and adding in a few from other languages just for giggles. I reached back and grabbed Cloud's hand. He seemed to understand as I felt him turn to grab the hand of whoever was behind them. After a moment I started forward again, leading them back to the kids through a different passage.
