Salem and Gail - The lost solace of the keeper
Wow my very first mission, I wonder if this is how Sora felt when they sent him off to SAVE THE WORLD! The young blonde thought to himself. Salem's smile never left his face as he followed his new partner down the many flight of stairs. He never understood why a man who could poof into any room with his magic sticky thing would need so many stairs but in the long run it would help him to get stronger. After all what if there was a damsel in distress at the top of a tower and thanks to these cruel stairs he would have experience with that and wouldn't pass out from all of the excess leg work.
His entire body was high on the excitement he harbored within, but as he glanced at his female partner it didn't seem she shared his feelings of enthusiasm. He didn't really get a chance to eye her down before or else she would have noticed, but with the occasional glimpse here and there when she was too lost in thought to truly pay attention; he noticed just how radiant she was. Definitely not like the girls in Twilight Town he thought as he recalled her dismissive reactions to him. Her hair was long and shown like silk with the light's touch, the color was very fair to the point it looked to be as pure as snow. Her skin was pale as well but it glowed with life and something mystic that he was sure pulsed through her veins underneath. As he began to catch up with her as they descended down the last flight of stairs he saw a furrowed expression on her angelic face. "Are you gonna be all right? You seem upset." The young blonde asked with a questioning look upon his face.
She jumped at the sudden voice amongst the quiet corridor but then smiled at the boy. "Yeah I'll be fine, just thinking" and Gail began to walk a bit faster down the steps and finally made it to the bottom, obviously trying to leave Salem behind. The blonde eyed her curiously and ran after her, as they made it outside the awkward silence just continued to cause issues with the two. What are you doing idiot? Try breaking the ice with her his mind scolded him as butterflies began to develop a bit in his stomach. However, his determination always won this battle and he came up to Gail with confidence and tried yet again to get her attention. "You might wanna stop thinking so much or else your face will get stuck like that." He said with a smirk. "I'm trying to cast a protective spell around me so that when we travel on your keyblade, I won't get hurt. Thank you so much for interrupting my concentration." Gail said as she rolled her eyes at him. Stupid stupid stupid of course that's what she was doing, how could you be so dumb! Salem thought as he scolded himself even further in his head. However he never showed his inner defeat to her. "Well you might as well stop chanting your gibberish now cause I'm not taking you anywhere like that." He said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. The young magician's disbelief was obvious all over her face as her jaw dropped at the boy's statement. "Excuse me?"
"I'm going to be traveling with you a lot, and I refuse to travel with a frowning girl the whole way. This is my first time going on a journey like this and I want it to be filled with laughter and smiles, no frowning allowed on my keyblade." Salem said as he pressed the button that was attached to his hip and a blinding light arose as the magic from the button dressed him in a deep green armor from head to toe. He laughed loudly from within the metal armor which only amplified the sound of his childlike laugh. Now it was Gail's turn to stare with puzzlement, only to chuckle at the boys antics to cheer her up. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders "I'm starting to see why you're such a handful to Master Yen Sid." She said as she revealed a genuine smile to the blonde. "Hey if it means getting to drive around with a pretty happy girl then it's totally worth it." He said as he made his weapon the keyblade appear in his hand. He then tossed the blade to the air where the magic within it caused it to turn into a metal like scooter. With the worlds being separated there was only one way to travel from world to world. Either get a gummi ship which was easier said than done, or be super awesome and become a keyblader. Thankfully for Salem he was superbly awesome and hoped on his vehicle and motioned for Gail to hop aboard. As before she started reciting her spell in a language he could somewhat recognize thanks to Yen Sid. As she began to finish Salem pushed back his helmet to reveal a devilish grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his blue green eyes as he said "Now hold on REALLY tight to me. Wouldn't want the angel to fall." And he winked at his last comment. The 18 year old rolled her eyes at her escort and he only chuckled at her rejection. He wouldn't give up on her yet, nor would he give up on this mission. It was his dream to be a legendary keyblader like the ones that came from Destiny Islands and he refused to waste this opportunity to prove himself to all who ever doubted him.
Thankfully it didn't take that long to fly to the other side of the world where Twilight Town sat peacefully bathed in the light of the falling sun. Salem had been raised here his entire life and the thought of having to leave along with the uncertainties of whether he would be able to return were unsettling, and caused a knot to develop in his stomach. He pushed the thought away before it really began to affect his composure and prepared to land in the middle of town.
The streets were vacant which was odd since normally there is at least 1 person standing around or working. They landed on the tan bricks and Salem hit the button on his suit that reverted his keyblade and his armor back into their original appearance. Something felt odd about his hometown, something in the air that was crisp and felt unwholesome. Gail however who was new here stared at everything with wide eyed wonder. Her curiosity and amazement in his home fascinated Salem and his previous concern was shoved to the back of his head as he made his move. Although she stood over him knowledge wise, height was a different story. He had an early growth spurt and was already at 5 '7. Gail however barely passed the 5 foot range and it was easy for him to place his hand at her lower back as he pushed her in the direction he wanted to go. "Follow me my dear; I know this town like the back of my hand." He beamed down at her with a goofy grin on his face. She heaved a sigh of aggravation and shook his hand off of her "Let's just get the supplies that we are gonna need and get out of here please." She then walked towards one of the stores that were easy to spot thanks to the neon sign hanging above it. The boy only shrugged his shoulders at her obvious rejection to him and replied "Gail 1…Salem 0."
The two walked up to the store and were welcomed by a familiar face, well for Salem anyway. "Hayner?" the blonde spoke with enthusiasm all over his face as he came across the old friend from his childhood. Salem never really played with Hayner and his other friends cause they were so much older than him. But Hayner was pretty popular in the town, and Salem always looked up to his leadership. Hayner also recognized the young blonde right away and returned the enthused expression. "Wow Salem I didn't expect to see you today, what's it been like a year since you left? How ya been?"
"I'm great man! Just on a top secret mission and stuff, you know just the everyday thing for a keyblade master." Salem bragged as he flexed his muscles. He wasn't quite a master yet but Hayner didn't need to know that. "Impressive, and is this here your girlfriend?" Hayner's attention was then pointed towards Gail who was obviously uncomfortable with the meeting. "She sure i…" Salem was quickly cut off with a karate chop to his lower back. "No we are just working together for the present time is all. My name is Gail." She introduced herself formally as she held her hand out. Hayner smiled down at her and returned the gesture. "My name is Hayner and at the present time I am working at this store. Future tip, always do your homework kids." He said with a smirk. The two laughed at his joke as Salem sulked in a corner. Gail purchased all sorts of potions and remedies for the trip, probably for the best since Salem was so poor at managing money. "Alright here is your stuff, I'm glad you guys are taking the town warning and stocking up while you can." Hayner said as he put the money in the register. The teenagers looked at each other in puzzlement and then looked back at Hayner. "What are you talking about?" Salem asked. Hayner then looked up with the same puzzlement "What you didn't hear? Nobodies and Heartless have been popping up more and more these days. That's why no one is out in the streets, everyone is too scared to come out. But don't worry there has been a group of us that have been taking them out before the threat gets too big." He said with a confident smirk on his face.
This whole time I've been away this has been going on? For how long? Why didn't anyone tell me? The blondes mind was becoming swamped with his own thoughts that Gail had to reply "Well that's good to hear, good luck to you guys but we best be setting out."
"No" the once happy go lucky teen was now very serious in his manner as he spoke. "What do you mean no? We have a mission to take care of, or have you forgotten about that already?" Gail protested as she scolded him, but nothing she could have said would change how he felt. "This is my home Gail, if these people are in trouble it's my job to protect them. I'm not leaving till I know for sure everything is going to be okay when I leave." There was a fire in the boys tone as he spoke. A determination to do what was right over what he was told. Gail could only stare back in disbelief as she watched the immature annoying kid she had been forced to watch turn into a serious strong-minded keyblader. She was impressed by his turn around "Well I can't leave without you so I guess I'll help you out." She said with a smile. "Thanks," he replied back to her with sincere gratitude in his blue green eyes. "You might wanna go talk to Olette, she knows more about the details of the matter than I do." Hayner interrupted. "Where is she?" Salem asked, "Near the train station last time I checked. She is organizing the supplies that are being sent to and from here."
"You can always count on Ollette for being smart." Salem and the elder man laughed as Gail was obviously left out of the loop and began to walk down the street. "Wrong way angel" Salem said giving her a wink. The talented magician laughed a bit at herself. "Well then would you stop talking and lead the way?" she teased. "Yes ma'am." And they began to walk up the cobble stoned slop towards the train station.
"I'm sorry I'm making you do this." Salem broke the silence as they continued up the street. Gail however was expecting the outburst this time "It's alright, it's for a good cause so it doesn't bother me all that much." She said with a simple smile on her beautiful face. "Oh okay that's good….soooo what did you do that was so bad you had to go on this mission with me?" the dreaded question Gail had hoped Salem would all together overlook, however her luck just wasn't that good. "I uh…kinda read some stuff I wasn't supposed to…" she said hoping that the conversation would be dropped. But Salem was persistent all the same "like what?" she thought it over on whether she should tell him or not, but the childlike curiosity held in the boys expression was impossible to say no to. "Well you see, I kinda got caught reading some stuff I wasn't supposed to. Now I'm banished from my home world and forced to do this mission." It got quiet between the two, however not for very long "OH WOW THAT IS SO COOL! YOUR'RE LIKE AN AWESOMELY COOL REBEL MAGIC LADY" Salem shouted with pure excitement radiating from his whole body. The young girl could do nothing but laugh at the keyweilder. "Never been called that but yeah I guess so." She said as she wiped away tears of laughter. "See? Right there, you're so much prettier when you smile like that. But can you keep it like that I wonder?" The blonde questioned obviously teasing her as he stroked his chin. "Ha I bet I can smile longer than you can." She challenged back to the boy a small giggle escaping her lips. His eyes glinted with approval "Alright then I accept your challenge starting….NOW!" And as if on cue heartless and nobodies appeared left and right around the duet.
Both fighters reacted swiftly as the group of intruders began to advance on them with swift speeds. A nobody dusk lashed out at Gail as she prepared one of her spells, however Salem pulled out his keyblade just in time to block it and avoid Gail from being harmed. The added time gained from this gave the magician plenty of time to use a thunder spell that knocked out 8 of the original ten adversaries. Salem stared at the sky with wonder and awe then returned that gaze to Gail "impressed?" she smirked at the blonde. His goofy grin yet again returned to his face "Very much so." He said as he went to swat at this small heartless that flew above their heads firing fire balls at them. However right as he was about to make contact an ice ball flew right past his head and vanquished the little red heartless with no effort at all. He fell on his rear with a confused expression on his face. He turned to hear a giggle from behind him "Wow you really are new at this, tell you what, you get that one over there on the ground and I'll take out any in the air all right?" Salem was a bit depressed that he couldn't offer more help but anything was better than nothing. The heartless in front of him was one he had seen before in his training sessions. It was a soldier. It came lashing out at him in attempts to steal his heart. Attempts that were futile in their making as Salem dodged the creatures attacks and slashed through the soldiers body like slicing butter. He turned to see Gail still had two more to take out. Time to prove myself to her he thought as he ran toward the battle scene, There was one soldier and on Dusk, each making their way toward the young girl who was too busy preparing her enchantments to cease their steady advancements. The blonde made a daring move and slide across the ground in front of their path and amidst his skidding sliced through both beings, causing each to vanish into thin air.
"I had the situation totally taken care of I hope you know." Gail said arms crossed in front of her chest and a smirk spread across her lips. "Yeah I know but it never hurts to have some help." He smiled and nudged her shoulder, the two chuckled, both having a better understanding of the other than they had when their journey had just begun. "Come on angel, the train station is just up here now." He said and they finished their walk up the slop to their final destination to find Olette.
The brunette they were searching for was busy counting up boxes of materials that it seemed had just come in not even moments before. Her hair came down to her mid back and her emerald eyes swayed back and forth as she peered down at her notepad. "Is that her?" Gail asked. "Yeah that's her all right, still as ambitious and hard working as she was when I left." The young man said shaking his head. "Why is that bad?" Gail eyed Salem questionably. "Oh it's not" he said noticing the mistake in his statement. "But too much ambition is bad for the body when you never have fun." He said as he winked at her and continued to walk towards the go-getting Olette.
"They still have you doing all of the dirty work?" Salem said, which in turn startled the poor girl and she almost dropped her notepad. But thankfully once she realized who it was that had disturbed her a huge smile grew on her face as she put everything down to hug the blonde "Oh my gosh Salem, how have you been? We've missed you."
"I've missed you guys too believe me, but sadly to say I didn't come up here just to say hi. What's been going on here Olette? What are all of these Nobodies and Heartless doing here." A serious look grew on the brunettes face and deep concern glinted in her eyes. "I wish I even knew but I haven't the slightest clue. It started about a month ago; they just started to appear out of nowhere and began attacking innocent people. Not a lot of course, it started off with maybe two or three a day. Now we are at about 15 each day that pop up here and there. We are lucky that they are all low level so it's easy to exterminate, but it has everybody at home terrified. That's why we are in the process of sending food and supplies to all of the homes in Twilight Town. It's too dangerous for everyone to be out and about."
The peppy blonde face soon dropped to one of distraught. "Why didn't anyone tell me this was going on? I could have been helping by now." There was almost a plea in his voice. "We would have if we could, but no one would let us come get you. Besides really we have so many people here willing to fight and protect the city that it was all right." She said as she tried to comfort her younger friend but that was easier said than done. I let them down, I couldn't be here for them when they needed me most and now I'm not even needed at all. They've already replaced me. His eyebrows furrowed as the thought pierced his heart deeper and deeper. Gail noticed the change in her partner and said "Hey now no frowns remember? You should be proud you come from such a tough town that can defend themselves so well." Her smile was enough to melt all of the doubt and uncertainty Salem had running through his mind. He smirked and put his hands over his head, "They all learned it from me don't cha know." And the once bitter atmosphere was replaced with good will and intent.
"Oh but I did hear this rumor that's been going out you might be interested in." now both teens were eyeing her curiously "What is it?" Gail asked. "Well you see, there have been sittings of a man and woman out by the old mansion out of town. No one knows who they are or how they got here but there is always the possibility that maybe they are the ones doing this." The two thought this over "Humanlike beings who are like heartless but aren't….maybe they are the Unbirths Master Yen Sid warned us about." Gail spoke her blue eyes wild with the excitement of this new discovery. "Unwhat?" Salem replied back "Were you not listening?" Gail asked with both hands on her hips "Honestly no, but I do know where the mansion is so you can just fill me in on the way." The boy laughed as he ran out the door. "He never changes." Olette said as she giggled at the blonde's absent minded behavior. "Well that doesn't make me feel any better." Gail laughed as she jogged out in the same direction as her teammate. "Don't worry he means well!" Olette hollered back, but Gail knew that already. Something about Salem just gave that off, yes he might be a bit reckless and foolish, but underneath that was a heart of gold. One heart of gold, another pure as silver, together we are the lights last hope against the darkness. She thought as she walked out of the glass doors of the train station and followed Salem down to the old mansion.
GEM: Told you they got longer.
