Seven
FUCK! What the hell are you doing? You can't die yet!
And then I was in a tub full of too hot water. I was starting to get sick of all this waking up. Especially when I should be dead. Clinically speaking (obviously, or I wouldn't be thinking this).
"How's it going champ?" A sarcastic (and kinda familiar) voice broke into my paralleled thoughts, "I must say, I'm impressed. You fell straight into the unknown with minimal screaming. Much better than Ava, and she was pretty damn amazing."
"Hello?" It was too hard to see with all the steam. I used one of my severely wrinkled hands to wipe sweat and sticky hair off my brow.
"Hello yourself," I stepped into my line of sight.
Make that a mirror image of myself. A fake-me walked into my vision, splitting the smokestacks of vapor. Was it the reflection from my dream?
The other me held up a hand, "Look, every single Gatekeeper flipped the fuck out at this point. So keep your trap shut and listen up. You're the Gatekeeper. I'm the gate that you're keeping. Yeah, I look like you now, but I'm just an image. I can't really move around, but I'm conscious. I have feelings too."
"Uh…"
"I'M NOT DONE YET!" She screeched (it was like I stole her wallet or something).
I held up my hands submissively, too confused to argue.
She grinned, "Wow, you're the 'strong and silent' type, huh? I have no problem with that."
"I'm not really strong actually…"
"SHUT UP!"
Once again, I surrendered.
"Anyhoo, you're part of an extremely old line of warriors." She sighed, "Don't bother giving me the history of your accountant ancestors—this isn't hereditary. You were born conveniently at the same time the last Gatekeeper died. Think of it as winning the genetic lottery and only getting fifteen dollars.
"So, to put it simply, you're a little premature. I usually wait until you're eighteen; fake a high-profile death, and then you come to live with me. However, we ran into a little problem. That's actually how the last Gatekeeper died, may she rest in peace. So I had to utilize you ASAP, which is now. So you have to kinda save me from a bunch of bad people who want to harvest all the power I have stored, which you can totally help yourself to anytime you need a pick-me-up. It's an emergency, so we need to get you all trained and whatnot ASAP, which means ten minutes from now you're entering a semi-ancient, very secret academy where you'll learn how to be the perfect assassin/bodyguard/fighter/whatever. It's not really my style, but you seem like the kind of person who, after toughening up, would rather enjoy having some very open options. You know; knives, archery, brass knuckles…fun stuff like that."
"I've never killed before…"
"MY GOD, DO YOU EVER SHUT UP?"
"WOULD YOU STOP SCREAMING AT ME? THIS IS HARDLY HELPING MY ONCOMING ANXIETY ATTACK!"
She stared at me in surprise. "Ok, I can't wait to stick it to those bastards. You'll give them a run for their money."
"Ok, I have questions. I will scream them if you interrupt me." I met her gaze steadily. "One, who are you?"
"I'm the physical incarnation of the realm-powerhouse called Kingdom Hearts. Electra called me Janice, for the ancient two-faced god. So call me Janice."
"Alright, who are the people I'm supposed to kill."
"Well," She pulled a stool from the corner of the room, sitting on it casually. "There's a pretty big list actually. There's this group of evil guys—they don't have an official name so I've dubbed them the 'League of Extraordinary Evil'. They're led by this evil bitch Maleficent, who's actually looking for a prospective apprentice in your little boyfriend."
"Riku? We're not dating!" I sighed, "He's just my stalker."
"The creepy rich kid who royally messed up your home sweet island? Yup, that's the one." She sighs, "Man, that witch is manipulative. I'd be shocked if he could resist the temptation. That, and he seems like a fairly easy thing to please. He likes power, adventure, his friends, and you. Seeing as you thoroughly convinced him that you're dead, he's going to go crazy over the other three."
"Well, it's a good thing you don't know him like I do," I assured her. "He's not going to become a bad guy. Especially not over me."
"If you say so," she was clearly not convinced. Oh well, she'd come around when she realized what Riku is truly like. An annoying little prick with strange ethical views.
"So, out of curiosity, why the hell am I supposed to kill people? What did they ever do to me? I have nothing to do with your crazy vendetta."
Janice shrugged, "Well, at least you put it politely. I think the last one threw something at me and told me to go to hell. She was a feisty thing."
"Answer me."
"Fine," she rolled her eyes. "It all started a long time ago. Longer than you have record of. This is the time when only stories can spread the word." She leaned back, "This was even before me. And I'm pretty damn old. I'm pushing 300,000 years."
"Just skip the history lesson and get to the part about me."
"That's just it; the history is part of you. You see, long ago there was only one planet. Earth. It had all the habitats and seasons and animals that are exclusive to certain planets now. Like seagulls. You can only find those winged rodents on your islands, but those little bastards used to be everywhere. So, all the men and women on the planet began to corrupt. Society began to crumble to the sheer, unadulterated evil. Those adults that were still pure of heart were executed for stupid reasons. Soon, there wasn't even enough good to fill a thimble.
"The planet was swallowed by darkness. Like a candle, life just flickered and blew out." She curled up her hand into a fist and spread out her fingers quickly, probably to make some sort of point
"But that wasn't the end; it was the beginning in fact. All the purity of the children accumulated enough to create me—Kingdom Hearts. At first I was just a bunch of platforms, not even a realm, although the kids considered me their palace, bless their hearts. But they were so scared, and they needed adults to show them the way."
"This doesn't have anything to do with me."
Janice ignored me, "The smallest girl, Emer, stepped forward. In her little stuttering voice, she told them 'we have to rebuild'. I don't even know how she knew that word, but she always did seem to have all the answers. So, they learned to harness their purity to create small, individual planets. But that wasn't enough. They wanted their parents. They wanted their homes. They wanted more.
"They turned their anger onto little Emer. By this time, I was a separate dimension. So she shut herself inside of me, creating the gate that now keeps me out of your realm. There in complete isolation, she began to piece together the world that once was. If there was a threat to her home, she took care of it. I gave her everything she'd ever need." Janice stared into space. "I loved her. She was just perfect."
"I'm not Emer."
"Damn straight, she'd at least listen for longer than three minutes."
"Where do I come in?"
"I'm getting there!" She cleared her throat, "Emer died."
"Duh, this was 300,000 years ago."
"SHUT UP!"
"Where do I come in?"
"The moment she died, a girl was born, Celeste. She became the next Gatekeeper."
"Why?"
"Well…uhm…it's like this…" She trailed off. "Because that's just how magic works!"
Before I could ask another question, she went off again. Whee, boring tangents…
"She ended up shutting herself inside me too, devoting her life to repairing Earth. So blah, blah, blah, a whole hell of a lot of Gatekeepers later Ava was born. By this time, people began to discover the power that was just beyond the veil of reality. People got greedy and wanted it. All these scientists figured out a way to tap into me. I wasn't meant for that, so my foundations began to crumble. Then Ava was killed and you were born. So you have to clean up this mess and then fix Earth."
"Why?"
"Because it's your destiny. Only you can do this."
"Why?"
"Because you were born, that's why." She crossed her arms, "Only you have the power to fix things. You're the only one who can step inside of me and not become corrupted after time passes."
"How does that work?"
"Magic won't work on you. You can use magic, but you're completely resistant to it. So you can be surrounded by large concentrations of magic and not feel a thing. That's what keeps you relatively sane and pure, or as pure as you can be." She put her hands in her lap, "The end. You have a big mess that needs cleaning up, and now's as good a time as any to get started. Your schooling starts now."
"I need a towel; my skin is starting to get disgusting."
Janice nodded, picking up the stool and opening the door. "Towel!"
"Don't be rude!"
"Who are you, my mother? I'm old enough to be your crumbly great times-a-billion grandmother."
And that became the beginning of a long, high-maintenance, and deep friendship between Janice and me.
How's that for social skills?
000
The Academy (I had no other name for it) was hell. I figured this out on my first day.
Sensei yelled at me so much that I started to cry. Suddenly I was on the floor and I couldn't feel the left side of my face.
You're weak. So weak.
When I looked in the mirror there was a red handprint across my face.
At that moment, I decided to be as difficult as possible.
That pretty much failed when I realized they believed in public floggings.
The more you fight it, the worse it's gonna get.
It was a little like marriage. In sickness and in health, I got the fuck up, ran three miles, went to a few two hour classes, had my one daily meal, and went right back to running.
Look! It's Anxiety Girl!
Hey Anxious, why don't you cry to your mom? Oh wait, you don't have one!
Get up and stop moping.
You think I care?
Crying is a sign of weakness.
I'll beat you. I'm serious.
There's nothing I like more than stamping out the fight in pretty little rebels like you.
Keep it up and I'm selling you to the brothel.
Three days no meals. That should teach you a lesson.
Nobody cares. It's time you learned that.
Hey, looks like you've got a fever there. Why don't we cool you down?
"No." I whispered to nobody, staring at the light under the door.
"No." I could still feel the water in my lungs. "No, no, no, no, no."
I slid the hunting knife out from under my mattress, the silver glinting in the hallway light. I saw a bruised face reflecting back at me.
Except the eyes. Those azure eyes whispered, "I'm gonna survive. And when I do, you better hide. 'Coz I'm gonna kill you."