Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not owned by me, it is owned by Square Enix.
Mistrust
Claw entered Duncan's office, greeting himself when the headmaster had noticed him. Duncan nodded and told him to give his report.
"Sir, all is well so far. Malix has been apprehended and heavily contained in the depths of the academy. We have our best wielders down there to block the exits."
"That's is good to hear." Duncan put his hands together. "And to think I was kind enough to let him stay here."
"Yes, it was indeed a close call." Claw looked to side for a second. "However..."
Duncan looked up in surprise. "However? It is not like of you to think of things like this."
"Well sir... do you think the punishment had been too much on him? I am not questioning your orders, but..." He sighed. "Malix had showed no signs of hostile movement and well, maybe his memories had been completely wiped out."
"Is this because of Quas' pleas?" Claw looked astonished. "Please my apprentice, do you not think I thought this through? Of course I saw how Malix's personality was these last few months and I had even accepted him as one of the students here. I was privileged to have such a strong youth in my school, but knowing he could be wielder of darkness completely took a toll on me. I know my actions may look crude, but believe me Claw, I have the same feelings as you do."
"I... understand. I apologize for my behavior."
"No worries, it is only human of you to act like this." Duncan grabbed a file on his desk and began to examine its information.
"Before you go Claw, I need to ask you some quick questions about that last mission you went on? I want to get some facts straight."
"Of course."
Duncan scanned the file quickly. "Where was it that you found Malix?"
"He was found in an abandoned mansion on a mission led by that little... ahem, by Master Blade." Claw didn't seem to like using those words together.
"I see, now what was the mission about?"
"To seek and capture rouge Keyblade Wielder Genzo, a master illusionist who had evaded many people who were trying to find him themselves."
"But the plan didn't go as planned correct?"
"No, we were ambushed by a giant emblem Heartless. It was a new find so our group was at a bad advantage."
"But then somehow you managed to beat it."
"Sadly, it costed Quas' safety, but in the end, we managed to beat it."
"And after that, the mansion started to shake and the room collapsed, burying the Heartless and after that you found Malix?"
"That is all correct." Silence came after.
"... I see."
"Was there something wrong?"
"No, I just wanted to make sure we know that much of Malix. You may leave now Claw."
Claw bowed to Duncan and began to leave the room. Before the last step though, he stopped and looked back. "Sir, do you still think that Malix could be somehow connected to Genzo?"
"I don't want to believe it, but it is still a possibility. Whether he may be a vassal or even the man himself. The information corresponds to it doesn't it? The debris from the ceiling could have hit Malix on the head, causing his memory loss. Granted, I doubt Genzo would make such a careless mistake as that." Duncan then chuckled. "Though why are you asking me this? It was your proposal of the idea after all."
Claw winced at that fact. "Right." He turned and left the room.
. . .
In her room, Quas sat on her bed, holding her pillow tightly. She was thinking heavily of the events that happened, wondering if she could of done anything to prevent this from happening. She was also thinking about Malix. Could she see him the same way again, knowing he could be a dark wielder? He matched the description of a stereotypical one; quiet, anti-social, no sense of emotion. However she knew better. Malix may show these traits, but he's more than that. He showed her many things that Quas considered nice and caring. For starters, their bond was proof of that. They interacted with each other that seemed like they knew each other very well, as if they were really related. Malix really cared for what she had to say and vice-versa. Though no one believed her because their conversations only happened in private, she kept that belief in her heart. Now, that belief is having its doubts. A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.
"Who is it?"
"Someone!"
"Which is?"
"Open the door and find out!"
Quas put the pillow down and headed for the door. This had better to be important she thought to herself. She opened it and saw Blade.
"Uhh, hi there."
"Sup." He said as he literally just walked inside. Quas didn't know what to say at first, but fortunately Blade talked first.
"You must be wondering why I came here."
"That's... kind of a given. You did just walk in my room without my permission."
"Well, having a higher status makes me the boss of you and being the boss means..." He jumped on Quas' bed, leaning back comfortably and messing up the pillow and sheets. "I can do whatever I what." Quas kept her annoyance to herself. It felt strange to have a Keyblade Master to act so immature. How did he ever pass the Mark of Mastery?
"So what do you need Blade?"
"I came here..." he stopped. Suddenly, he jumped up, did a flip, and landed in front of Quas. "To interrogate you!"
"Did you really need to..."
"YES!"
Quas facepalmed. "Interrogate me about what?"
Blade looked surprised. "You mean you don't know? Pff, and I thought you were smart, being Duncan's daughter and all."
He's really pushing it. "You don't mean... Malix?"
Blade rolled his eyes. "No, the other guy who fired the Dark Firaga, OF COURSE HIM." Blade suddenly talked quietly to himself. "Fired the firaga. that sounds weird..."
"Look, whatever you may ask, just get this in your head. Malix is not a bad person, whatever his past may be. I admit because of what happened recently, all of us have doubts on him now, some may even be scared if him, but I will still defend him and stick up to him until the bitter end."
"Jeez, you really want to protect him. You only met him for like a couple months for sakes. Like him or something?"
Quas gave him a stern look. "Blade, please. We're mirror images. We can both assume I'm not into that stuff."
Blade put his hand to his chin and nodded. "Yeah, I assume so." He chuckled. "Plus, it would probably make him jealous."
"Jealous?" Quas said. She was confused, but curious at the same time. "Who?"
"Well...," Blade started to say, but he laughed instead, "you'll find out later."
Quas shifted uncomfortably. She had become more curious now. "Could tell me a hint or...?"
"Oh my gosh, I said too much!" Blade covered his face. "He's going to kill me if he finds out! Then again, I could kill him first, but if he manages to...ARRRR." The young master ran out, still muttering about killing someone, leaving a rather puzzled Quas.
. . .
Deep below the academy lay the detention chambers. Though normally not used, they were made to keep all possibly dangerous individuals that meant harm to the academy. Because only a couple were ever kept in there, there were many rumors about the D.C. Some were about the ghosts who haunted them, though no one actually died in them. Another was that if you get locked up in cell #13, you disappear without a trace. The more famous one though, is that it holds a Heartless. Unlike the other rumors, this sounded plausible. The chambers were big and dark enough to hold and hide a Heartless or so they said.
Malix heard about these rumors from conversations with Quas. He never thought they were true, but being down himself, he could tell how such rumors can be made. The area can be compared to the bottom of a ravine. The two walls were lined with cells, complete with only a bed, a desk, and a toilet. The space between the walls was roughly about 4 and so meters. The only light that was here were the lanterns that hung next to every other cell. For some reason, looking at the lanterns made Malix's head hurt a little so he tried to avoid looking at them.
For the past hours, Malix had been staring at the ceiling while laying in his bed, trying to analyze what had happened recently. For starters, he was not sure if this new information about him was good or not. A Keyblade Wielder of Darkness, thought to be gone since the last known one, Master Xehanort, had went missing. They were heavily feared for their use of the dark arts and their philosophy that the darkness was supreme. He had read a novel once about Light and Darkness and how both sides needed to in balance so the world can be in balance. If that was true, the balance was currently unbalanced then. There is too much Light in the world and if there was any sign of the darkness, the Light brings it down. Was having too much Light a bad thing? Was destroying the Darkness a good idea? Are the Heartless themselves trying to bring Darkness to the worlds in order to make such an equilibrium? What would Quas say if he told her these these things? Quas... The only person that trusted him and befriended him since the very beginning. It felt strange when he was with her. What kind of person was I before my memory loss, he asked himself. Did I never knew kindness? Is that why it feels so unusual? Whatever the case, Malix was glad that he got to experience this feeling.
A heavy knock sounded on his door and with it came a voice. "There's someone here to see you."
It opened with a heavy creak and Quas stood in view. Malix was surprised she was able to gain permission to see him.
Quas entered the room and looked back at the guard. "It's alright. He won't harm me."
"But my lady, you're the headmaster's daughter, I can't simply just..."
"It's fine," she said in a stern tone, "if something happens, you'll hear it."
The guard didn't say anything for a moment, but eventually obeyed and closed the door.
"That's better," she turned her attention to Malix, "I'm sorry for all of this. You must be mad at me."
Malix replied that he could never get mad at her.
"Aww, thank you," Quas said, smiling.
The strange feeling came to Malix again. It felt so pleasing and warm whenever he near her. Every time he saw that smiling face, he... Malix paused. Something was off about her.
Quas noticed his stare. "Is something wrong?"
No, nothing is wrong.
"If you say so." She sighed and looked down. "I tried asking my father to let you out. I tried terms, persuasion, even begging, but that was a last resort. I'm sorry Malix. You're going to be here for awhile."
I see. That's quite unfortunate. Did you ask the others what their opinion was on my detainment?
"Yeah, everybody was shocked about the news."
I wonder how Mimi would feel. She always visited me and I think she began to even trust me.
"Poor thing. I haven't ask her yet, but I think she knows already."
I hope she'll be ok after this, Malix said in his thoughts.
"I hope so t..." Quas paused and her expression turned dire. "How did you find out?"
Malix put his hands behind his back and put on a straight posture. Well first, he said in his thoughts, you got Quas' eyes wrong. Her left should be blue and her right red.
Quas changed her eye color, correcting her appearance. "That better?"
It's appreciated. Now second, there's no Mimi in this school. Her actual name is Gummi.
Quas smiled grimly. "Is it? I guess I should have studied more."
Now if you please, get out of that pathetic disguise of my friend.
"Quas" bowed to Malix with her hands spreaded. "As you wish."
A dark aura enveloped Quas' imposter. Her image began to blur and slowly took on a new one. The image was shadowy because of the aura, but a few features showed. A black jacket with red lines running across his arms to his shoulder, some type of necklace of a strange shape, but the most notable feature is his mask. Though Malix had seen it before, he had time to examine its design. It had an opening for the mouth and it was stylized with two white see through glass. It seemed to be a one-way glass because Malix couldn't see his eyes. He couldn't see any more because the figure was wearing a hoodie.
You're the person who appeared in my dream.
"So you remembered." It was months after Malix had heard his voice and now he had the time to analyze it. He sounded young surprisingly. Malix guessed he was around his late teens. "Probably the only thing you remembered about me."
What do you mean?
"Oh don't worry, you'll figure it out soon enough."
What is that supposed to mean? Do you have information about my past? Of who I really am? Tell me!
"No need to be yelling. Sheesh, I liked you better back then. Much more obedient."
Back then?
"Yes, Malix. That's your name now right? You and I have some history together. I rather just take you now; however, my plans tell me otherwise. I came to get you out of your situation."
Why would you want to help me?
"You turn down a helping hand?"
Not if you answer my question. What do you know know of my past?
"Such curiosity." The figure sighed. "I guess its an improvement. Look, you want to learn more about yourself? Well, you need to do some tasks for me. I have none yet, but if you really do want to find out, you will accept my terms."
Malix gave it a deep thought. He really does want to find out, but he did not know what type of things this man will want him to do.
"Hard time deciding?" He chuckled. "How about this then?" He held out his hand in front of him. In the palm of his hand, a dark sphere formed. It swirled for a few seconds when the darkness faded and a book was floating above his hands.
"Take this." The book glided toward Malix which he grabbed. It was a strange book that had 11 differently shaped slots on the front cover. It had no title and he couldn't open it. What is it, he asked.
"Why it's the very thing that will help you regain your memories. Every time you succeed at doing a task I assign, you will get a marker. Each marker will open a certain part of the book where upon its pages will reveal something about your past." The figure dug into his pocket and brought something out. "I'll be generous with you with the first slot." He tossed the object at Malix. Catching it, the object was a rectangular object which strange markings on all sides. He soon realized that it was a marker and it looked like it could fit in the first slot.
"I'll come back tomorrow. If you still don't make up your mind, well..." Malix suddenly felt cold. He then looked around the room to see over a dozen yellow eyes on the walls, all looking at him. "I'll have use other means. Have a nice day." He then turned back into Quas and the eyes disappeared. As if to mock him, he smiled at him with Quas' smile and then told the guard outside to open the door. "Quas" left the room and waved Malix good-bye. The door closed, leaving Malix with thoughts clustered with uncertainty.
