The Town of Lights
The days flew by and the nights dragged on over the next month or so. You would often find me asleep on the pile of punch bags in the gym in the mornings from where I'd fatigued myself in order to sleep without nightmares. It worried Riku when I couldn't sleep soundly and every night, he would follow me to the gym to keep an eye on me and then once I fall asleep from exhaustion, he would always pull a blanket over me and stand watch. It was a little awkward between us since our moment under the archway. We found it hard to look at each other without blushing.
"I just don't understand it, Alfonso!" I complained to my jade haired summon as he scrubbed my back.
"Don't understand what, Pumpkin?" He asked in his camp voice.
"Every time I look at him, my cheeks go red and my heart starts pounding in my chest. And whenever we brush hands or get close together, my stomach knots and I feel like butterflies are flying in my gut!"
"Every time you look at who, Sweetie?"
"Snow Top, Alfonso. Ever since I came back and he told me he cared for me, I can't stop thinking about him and those things he said to me. It makes me feel sick, but I like it and I'm so confused! I don't understand what's happening and I HATE not understanding!" I ran my fingers through my wet hair to get it out of my eyes, only to have a jug of water poured over my head, making it fall back.
"You want my opinion, Honey?" I nodded. "I think you're developing stirrings for him."
"Stirrings?"
"You know, Cupcake, feelings for him!"
"I know they're feelings for him, I just don't know what feelings! I've never felt this way before, never in my whole life!" Alfonso chuckled as he held out a towel for me to step into.
"Darling, for such a bright, observant young woman, you can be so blind!"
"What do you mean by that? What am I missing?" I inquired. Alfonso merely winked and tapped his nose.
"Well, now that would be telling, Sugarplum! It wouldn't prove anything if I simply told you!" He turned into a cloud of rainbow smoke and drifted to my cupboard where he rematerialized and picked out my normal outfit of red tank top, detached sleeves, leather gloves and boots, denim jeans, SOLDIER belt, red leather belt and shoulder guard as well as some clean underwear.
"I don't understand your motives sometimes."
"Well, don't go getting stressed out over it, I just got you nice and relaxed for once! Now chop, chop, the library doors lock at 7:00pm so you'll only have a few hours, Pudding."
"Okay, thanks, Alfonso!" I said, balancing on one leg as I pulled on my jeans, followed by the rest of my attire so I could sprint to the library to research anything on my night terrors.
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"There's got to be something in these damn books!" I told myself getting frustrated as I slammed the leather bound book closed and placed it on top of the growing tower of books, scrolls and notes. "Okay, Raven, calm down, you're bound to find some useful information sooner or later." I reminded myself aloud, leaning back on my chair and looking up at the high ceiling. Something caught my eye in the cracks of the painted ceiling mural. A scruffy old book, torn, peeling and filthy was wedged inside one of the great crevices! Seeing that it was too high to reach, something in the back of my memory mentioned a flying spell. Immediately, I pulled out my spell tome from underneath all the literature, toppling the towers. Ignoring this mess, I flicked trough the pages until I found the enchantment. Alae! "Bingo!" The spell was a metamorphic conjuration that gave you wings. Each caster's wings were different according to their heart E.G. Dragonfly wings, griffin wings, bat wings, even half and half! "Let's see now... Each caster's wings are unique... Blah, blah, blah... Mythic wings are more powerful...Aha! 'To cast Alae one must stand with feet together, head up and arms outstretched and whisper the incantation.' Seems simple enough." I stood in the appropriate position and whispered the word Alae. There was a blinding light and I felt two new limbs growing from my shoulder blades. When the light died down, a pair of black bird wings were fanning out at a good wingspan of 7ft. "I guess my name isn't everything." I quoted seeing the wings of the bird I was named after, flexing them. Whether my name had anything to do with it or not, I didn't know, but either way, I was a natural at flying. I soared up into the air, weaving gracefully between the shelves, circling up to the spot where the book was hidden. I carefully pried it from its prison and flicked through it in mid air. It was a series of reports by a man named Ansem on the Heartless and various other things to do with hearts. "I wonder why it was hidden up here? Did someone want it forgotten?" I asked myself aloud, sitting on top of a book case. I opened the fragile book to the first report.
Report 1:
Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times. Darkness... Darkness of the heart, How is it born? How does it come to affect us so?
"So this man was once the leader of a world? And he studied Darkness inside people's hearts?" I turned to the next report.
Report 2:
It is my duty to expose what Darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments;
Extract the Darkness from a person's heart.
Cultivate Darkness in a pure heart.
Both suppress and amplify the Darkness within.
The experiments caused the test subject's hearts to collapse, including those most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no sign of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Sometime later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born f Darkness... What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be shadows of those who had lost their hearts in my experiments?
"He was a scientist too. What horrible experiments though! But I guess it's a case of cruel to be kind, really."
Report 4:
The shadows that crawl beneath the castle... Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of Darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided me with no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are completely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I shall call them Heartless.
"And his experiments created the Heartless?! This could be a chance to learn how to bring my world back!"
Report 4:
The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanish without a trace. I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless, become Heartless themselves. Though I lack proof, I am confident in my hypothesis. I must also study their behavioural principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them? It's just occurred to me; Could they be the Darkness inside people's hearts?
"So all the knowledge anyone has on the Heartless currently, was discovered by Ansem. Maybe if I found this Ansem, I could get him to help me bring back Phelicia!" I closed the collection of vital reports and flew down to the ground where I cleared the desk and hid the book inside my spell tome. Then, I flew to the royal archives to see if I could find this scientist.
"Hey, Raven are you in here?" I nearly knocked over the book case when Riku's voice startled me. Having caught all the books that fell from the shelves, I regained myself and replaced them. "Raven?" He had made it to the row below me.
"Hey, Rikuuaaah!" My magic power had depleted completely and my wings vanished, leaving gravity to do the rest. Looking up, Riku spotted me falling and ran around, getting ready to catch me. He half succeeded. I knocked him to the floor and landed on top of him (again). But what was really awkward was that our faces were so close together, my bangs were brushing his nose and I could smell the aroma of palm trees and coconuts coming from him! "Sorry about that, Snow Top." I said, hiding my rosy cheeks as I quickly got off of him.
"It's okay. What were you doing up there? More importantly, how did you even get up there?" He grimaced, getting to his feet and extending a hand to me.
"I was looking for something. And I flew up there." I replied, brushing his hand away and standing up.
"Right... You really flew?" I nodded. "Up there?" Again, I nodded. To my surprise, he burst out laughing. "Oh- Hahahaha! That's a good one ahahahahahahaha! You- flew? Hahahahahahaha!" It was the first time I'd heard him laugh this much.
"Yes I did! There's a spell that gives you wings, Riku!" He only laughed harder. So hard in fact that he was on his knees! Feeling highly annoyed by this display of arrogance, I picked out a random book, nice and thick and raised it above his head.
"Raven... CHOP!" Bringing the thick volume down upon his head, shutting him up instantly.
"OW!"
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"So Maleficent thinks she's found your friend Sora, does she?" I confirmed with Riku, who now had a large bump on his head. "That's good news, Riku! It's fantastic news! You can finally see him again! And I want to meet this Sora too. He sounds interesting."
"I know it's great and all, but Maleficent says that he's with some new friends now."
"So what? Does it matter if he's got some new pals?"
"It's just, I'm worried he's replaced me and Kairi."
"It'll be fine. From what I've heard, Sora doesn't replace anything. And anyway, if we don't get a move on now, we'll miss him and you'll spend forever and a day looking for him again." I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the doors of the library where I picked up my tome and secret documents before continuing to drag Riku through the corridors to Maleficent's meeting room.
"Are you well enough to go with Riku, Raven?" She asked, acting concerned for the injuries I received after Phelicia was swallowed.
"I'm fine, Ma'am." I nodded. Though reluctant, she approved of me going with Riku and took us to the place we'd find Sora.
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We had landed in a town full of lit up signs and lamps. The buildings were crooked but had a fun play time look to them. In awe I gasped:
"This town is so pretty. But it's really quiet." It was true I was the only one in that area. Even Riku had somehow been separated from me. "Where could Maleficent have taken him?" I questioned as I began walking through the brightly lit streets, admiring the different shops and restaurants. 'The girls would've loved it here.' I thought to myself sadly. I missed them dearly. Why did I have to be so weak?! If I were stronger, I could've saved everyone!
'Who told you that load of crap?' I stopped abruptly at the voice. It couldn't have been. It was probably just a memory resurfacing. I reached up and touched my shoulder guard with melancholy. Then, I was snapped out of it by a young child's scream:
"Ah! Someone help!" I ran towards the scream at once, to an alleyway where I found a small child and a young woman on the floor surrounded by Soldier Heartless. I leapt in between the gang of Soldiers and the pair just as the Heartless started to advance.
"Stay behind me!" I instructed the young child. She nodded nervously and huddled with her friend's unconscious body. I gripped my Sais, waiting for them to attack me. One came in from the right, another from the left and a third from ahead. I ducked down, making them miss, and instead collide with each other at which point I sliced them all in one keen movement. There were just five left now. Not wanting to risk the child's or the woman's lives any longer, I sheathed my sais and concentrated my energy to my palms. I took a deep breath and let out a flurry of blue flames with a single word; "FIRA!" The Soldier's were incinerated and the trapped hearts within them floated to the dark sky.
"Whoa~!" I turned to see the little girl running up to me. "That was so brave! Thank you, Miss!" She smiled at me, shyly. I smiled back and noticed a small cat toy lying by the wall. I picked up the little plush and knelt down to the little girl.
"Is this yours?" I asked, holding it out to her. She nodded and held out her hands underneath mine. She still had tears in her eyes and I saw in her body, a glowing heart. It always made me smile when I saw a child's heart shining so brightly. The young girl was wearing a pink princess costume, like Caddie used to wear, and her blonde hair was tied in two braids. "What's your name?"
"Lucy, Miss."
"Urgh..." We both looked over to the young woman who was finally stirring. The little girl ran straight over to her elder.
"Big Sis Ami!"
"Urgh... Lucy? Are you okay?" I smiled at the love between these two siblings and made my way out of the alley. "Wait!" I paused. "Thank you for protecting us." I glanced over my shoulder.
"Take care of each other."
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"What date is it today? How much time has really passed since I joined Maleficent's cause? Since I met Riku?" I asked myself, sitting on a stair banister.
"Excuse me!" A voice called to me from behind. It was the young woman and child from earlier. "Excuse me, but is your name, Raven Tymari by any chance?" The older sibling asked.
"Y-Yes that's me. Why do you ask?"
"Some new people from the Resistance wanted you to see them. They said you know them. They're in the second district by the old church." She explained.
"Okay, thank you." I nodded curtly and sprinted towards the Second District where these 'Resistance' members were. It was a long district with a church at the far end and the street was lined with more shops. I made my way down in front of the fountain, waiting for these apparent acquaintances of mine.
"RAVEN!"
So Sorry it took so long to upload this chapter. Just couldn't get motivated ^_^