Memoir XIV:
To Protect What Matters
El Dorado is peaceful without a crazed man demanding sacrifices every other second. And quite nice, actually. Three days here after all that happened reminds me well how much I miss this kind of peace. It reminds me of Wasteland of all things. Just the complete opposite in regards to color spectrum. Peace and quiet reminds me of people. Those I love, like Os and Ortensia. Haruka. Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. And those I miss too: Naminé, Roxas, Axel, and X—
"Hey."
Being shaken by his sudden call, I'm taken out of my daydream and look over my shoulder at Akio as he steps up to meet me halfway down the temple steps. Aury hovers close behind him; it's only when he notices me sitting there that he flies off to nuzzle against my cheek before taking his usual spot around my neck. Akio, much like my Dream Eater, takes a seat that's become much to synonymous with him, right by my side.
He stares out ahead of me at the boat that sits at the landing far below us. A magnificent vessel made in three days. I'll give Chief Tanni props. When he says he'll do something, he doesn't back down on his word, that's for sure.
"What a beauty, huh?" My words come out with the long sigh that leaves me as I lean forward with my elbows on my knees.
"...definitely."
"Can you believe they built it in three days?" When I turn to look though, Akio stammers a little as he looks away. My lips purse, finding his action and the slight tinting of his face odd. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah." Clearing his throat, Akio mildly shakes his head before turning back to look at the boat below us. "Say, did you end up having any luck on your end?"
"None whatsoever." Being reminded of that brings a drawn out groan out of me. Despite wanting to enjoy the plentitude that this city of gold has to offer, we've had our work cut out for us this time around. These past three days Akio and I were given liberty by Chief Tanni to search the city in its entirety for the memory piece. But even after scouring every nook and cranny of this amazing city—of course, sometimes getting off track by the delicious food and fun around—we still had nothing to show for it. Aury wasn't reacting to anything at all and after all that searching we've been left back at square one.
"It doesn't make sense though." His mercurial eyes stray to the ground as he holds onto his chin pensively at our current predicament. "You said those portals hone down on the next memory, right? Are you sure that's how it works?"
Giving him a nod as a reply, my eyes wander over the city that is so easy to see from where we sit on the gods' temple. "That's what Yen Sid said anyway. One memory would lead me to the next, that one to the next, and so on and so forth. It's worked so far, so I'm sure it's here."
Just very well hidden.
"Perhaps we should tread where others refuse to."
Not liking Rinto's suggestion but knowing that was the only logical road left to take, I look over at the far off temple on the other side of the city. Despite being smaller, it's still an ominous, towering structure and one I've yet to search.
"And if it's anywhere, it'll be there."
Akio follows my line of sight and his gaze narrows at the temple before returning to me. "Really? The crazy priest's temple?"
"We've search everywhere else and found nothing. The only place we haven't is there." Chief Tanni strongly advised us to stay away from Tzekel-kan's temple claiming that he wouldn't want us to land ourselves in danger where he would have little power to intervene. But we don't need his protection. "I'll bet all the munny I have that it's there."
"Even if it is, I'd rather err on the side of caution. We can't just waltz in there and expect to find it right out of the bat."
"Maybe not," I say. "But we'll have to give it a shot."
This doesn't settle well with Akio but before he can argue any further, Miguel, making his way up the temple from inspecting the ship down below, calls out to us with a wave of his hand. Putting up a smile and returning the gesture, I stand up and nudge at Akio to do the same. Disgruntled as he may be, he gets up all the same and follows behind me as I make my way to the con man.
"How's the boat looking?"
Seeming a little bit too lost in his own thoughts, it takes Miguel a moment to answer with a meek smile on his face. "G-Good! It's great, actually. Fantastic craftsmanship." But that his voice trails off after that tags a certain air of hesitancy to his tone. Though I want to ask what the problem is, Miguel continues on climbing the stairs as he chatters on about having to let Tulio know about the progress. Exchanging a brief look with Akio is all I have time to do before we go after Miguel to catch up to his quickened pace. But as we reach the top of the stairs and are about to pass through the entrance, we're stopped by Miguel suddenly stopping in front of us. Curious at what made him stop, I try looking over his shoulder only to spot Tulio and Chel inside. Despite the urge to call ourselves out, something stops me at seeing them there. The moment looks too...private to interrupt. Nonetheless, I step aside to get a better look and be within earshot of what's being said.
And just from what I catch them bickering about, I immediately see that I wasn't wrong about this being private. "Uh, I want you to come to Spain with me and Miguel. Mostly me. Especially me. Only me. Forget Miguel."
"...oh shi—" Akio's hand instantly comes up to cover my mouth and keeps me from saying that too loudly. Frankly, though, I couldn't help myself from how outlandish this is. From what the guys told me back when they got us into this con, Chel was just another accomplice. Nothing more, nothing less. Guess a lot changed in three days for Tulio.
He's not the only one either. Chel is pretty on board too. Way too on board. So much so that seeing them lean into each other instantly ignites my face and I reach up to use Akio's hand to cover my eyes. Sadly that does nothing to block my ears from their kissing. From the sidelines, I manage to hear Altivo's hoofbeats as he strides over to the entrance. At seeing what we are, his jaw falls slack. Same, buddy.
"'Forget Miguel'?" More somber than I've ever heard him speak, Miguel reaches over to tap Altivo's jaw back into place. Not bothering with us, he simply mutters under his breath as he turns to leave the temple again. "Well, forget Tulio."
At a loss for that brief moment, I'm stuck between watching Miguel and Altivo as they leave and Tulio and Chel inside the temple, trying to find some common ground now that there seems to be a divide forming. But I can't find any. Not even Akio seems to have anything. We're both left at a loss at what just transpired before us. Not wanting to be stuck here any longer than I've got to, I head down the stairs quickly as I can. Akio doesn't fall much behind and once we're in the city streets, it seems we can breathe a little easier without that tension hanging over us.
"Whatever happens between them shouldn't concern us, Aya."
I never intended to say anything about it. That didn't mean that what happened didn't unsettle me though. And it seems Akio's gotten the hang of some of my thought process to deduce at least that much. Knowing he's right but also not being able to get rid of this uneasiness carving its way in me at what happened leaves me at odds. Especially because this seems to hit a little closer to home than I gave it credit for at first.
"It's hard not to worry." Unconsciously, I rub at my arm as if trying to brush away how uncomfortable it makes me even thinking about this and what it reminds me of. "Friendships destroyed in the snap of one's fingers…I've seen it happen before. And I know how devastating that can be."
"...you have?"
Still reluctant to talk about it, I divert from the paved streets and leap down until I reach the small riverbank that connects to the rest of their water source. Crouching down before the lapping waters at the golden edge of the street, I peer down beyond them to try and focus on the peculiar animals swimming below. Strange fishes and crustaceans that I've never seen in other worlds peek through the crystal clear water, but as my focus wavers, I catch my reflection that's cast on the surface. Instead of the hazel eyes that I'm slowly growing accustomed to seeing, piercing red eyes shine through.
Rin…
"Though I apologize, I must also offer some clarifications, master," she is quick to defend herself and sounds truthful about the real reason my eyes have turned without my wanting. "It isn't uncommon for emotional triggers to activate us. And although with the burdens you carry from past actions, I expected this to happen, I am afraid I'm powerless to stop it. I am oath bound to obey whatever you command—consciously or otherwise."
That she's just confirming what I didn't want to think about weighs heavily on me. I have my qualms about telling this to someone I've spent so little time with, but as things stand, I think he isn't half bad. Confiding in him actually sounds like a good idea for once. Heaving a sigh, I mentally prepare myself to recall all of it after almost a year of trying to forget for my heart's sake.
"Almost a year ago, a friend of mine got tangled into a mess that he couldn't get himself out of. He needed my help. And to help him, I infiltrated the very people that wanted to harm him." Wanting to give myself some distraction to dull the pain of this particular story, I tried for a better position and ended up laying face down on the floor near the back. Akio took to sitting beside me to better listen and wasn't too far away not to see what I was doing. One arm anchors me against the edge of the street while I reach down with the other to dip my fingers beneath the surface of the clear waters. Fishes scurry away, scared by my hands intruding into their home. "It was rather easy, you know. Back then, I had no control of my eyes and constantly lied. That I couldn't control them actually turned out to be for the better though. These people would've vanquished me had I been caught too early into the operation. But because of my eyes, I didn't and became a part of them."
After a second of not moving around, a couple of small guppies with strange and exotic markings and colors slowly approached my still hand. One almost the vibrant color of flames, another golden just like the city it lived in, and the last a black one that seemed to have some sort of camouflage, the markings on it changing color depending on how the light hit it. No matter what though it remained mostly dark. Those three swam closer to my hand and eventually began nibbling at the tips of my fingers.
"But as time went by, I...got too close to a few of them. One out of necessity, despite not knowing it at the time. The others out of happenstance alone. Despite being fully aware of what I was doing—that being as close as I was getting was wrong—I couldn't quiet my heart. I began to care for them and care about their well being. And, in the end, that undid everything; the things I had wanted to do to help my old friend, and the friendships I found with my new ones."
The moment I try brushing the fish with my fingers though, they scurry along far beyond where I can't see them. Grimacing at the coincidence, I let my hand simply lay in the water and just let its soothing waves comfort me instead.
"Did you end up helping him?"
"Yeah, but it cost me the friends I found in that place. They weren't all evil. In fact, the ones I knew only wanted back what they used to have. Something that belonged to them." Despite not knowing that what they yearned for so much was something they already had. "Others just wanted to live a peaceful existence beyond what the organization gave them. In the end, I lost them all. In-fighting took most of them out. Those closest to me, despite getting away from that chaos for awhile, disappeared all the same. One protecting us and, well…"
Seeing as I failed to stop Roxas myself, I have no one to blame on that front.
"What had separated us before all that, though, had been our lies to ourselves and to one another. And when it got found out that I had lied to them about who I was—" I scoff, bitterness and remorse filling me to the brim at the memory of what'd happened. "One called me a monster."
Even to this day I don't think Axel was wrong at saying that. Even if he apologized for it when he saved Sora and I, I never stopped thinking that about myself. Rinto and these eyes made me a monster for all those years that I couldn't control it. I hurt so many people. Lied to so many more. No decent person would do that.
"You're not a monster." That Akio says what I expect him to wrenches a dry chuckle out of my throat. "I don't believe so, anyway."
"I don't know, though," I respond, sitting up and wiping my hand against my pants. "Judging from all these people who've known the Rescuers and what they've said about them, I'm starting to think that he might not have been too far off the mark."
"But they're not you." My brow knitt together at his words and I turn up to meet his gaze that's now locked on mine the moment they meet. His silver eyes are piercing but dogged in equal parts. He's not kidding. "You said so yourself, didn't you? That no matter what they were or what you were meant to do because of them, that it wouldn't matter to you. That you're still going to do what you want to."
This time my chuckle isn't as downtrodden as before, his reminder of my own words relieving some of the tightness in my chest. "I did say that, didn't I?"
"You did, and I'm holding you to your word," Akio moves to lean one arm onto his knee and leans his chin on his hand to look off ahead. "Do whatever you want and forget all this stupid talk about monsters. Because you aren't one. If you were, this whole journey of yours wouldn't be for the sake of another."
Finding that part of his explanation oddly funny, my head tilts to better see him. "Your bar for what defines a 'monster' is quite low if it stops at being selfish."
"Sometimes that's all it takes: people doing things for selfish matters and not caring who they hurt."
"Certainly not a good quality in excess, I'll give you that much."
Finally, his eyes turn back to me as he says, "And you don't have an ounce of that in you."
A crooked grin upturns the corners of my lips at hearing him say that with so much confidence. "You barely know me."
"I could say the same thing to you and I know for a fact that you would still think I'm good regardless."
"Well, you're wrong about something 'cause I don't think so." Nudging him with my shoulder, my grin finally spreads from cheek to cheek. "I know so!"
With him having the last laugh at that, an airiness spreads around us and gets me laughing alongside him. It's rather relaxing and the last vestiges of that harrowing feeling brought on by those memories eventually leave by the time we're spent out from nonsensical laughter. The light-hearted atmosphere leaves him quickly enough as something comes to his mind. Before long, Akio takes a long drawn-out breath before sighing out through his nose.
"You really think it's in Tzekel-kan's temple?"
My gaze lifts towards the general direction of said temple and nod. "Only logical place left to look at."
"You better have a plan then."
My chest puffs with sureness at the on-the-spot idea I came up with and pat his shoulder to reassure him of that. "Don't sweat it, my friend. I've got it all figured out."
"Master, I am not quite convinced about the chances of this plan of yours."
Chill, Rinto.
Though I know where her concerns come from, I'd rather think positively about this instead. Especially with how cheeky this plan is.
"I don't believe 'cheeky' quite embodies the idea of your 'plan'. Perhaps a few that would better suit it are presumptuous, audacious, brazen, imbeci—"
"Alright, cut it out."
It's not really all that bad, in actuality. Rinto may be exaggerating a little too much on her part. Yes, perhaps the plan was a little on the risky side but Akio and I couldn't come up with much else with our time constraints. Besides, there wouldn't be any better time than tonight to do this. Miguel and Tulio's departure from the city meant a farewell celebration for the 'gods.' The whole city would be participating in it which meant that streets would be clear for me to easily go about unfettered. Seeing as I'm the better of the two at stealthing also prompted that I do this alone. It'd be way easier to sneak into the temple, search for the memory, and jump ship as soon as I got it by myself. And since that's what we decided on, Akio was left behind at the celebration to act as proxy bodyguard for the both of us. Nightmares, though not since the day we arrived to this world, are still very much an ever present threat and could attack anytime from anywhere. Knowing this, we knew it'd be better to leave someone behind to guard Miguel and Tulio and the rest of the city as well. Worried as I was of leaving Akio to fight alone, I left Aurelius alongside him in spite of how much that seemed to annoy said Spirit. Akio fought against that, saying I'd need him to find the memory but I disagreed. If that temple was the only place left, it had to be there. And that being the case, I could easily find it. Something would definitely look out of place like every other time it has. Our bases set, we had our plan for the night.
All of which brings me back to where I am now, climbing over the side of the Tzekel-kan's temple and trying not to slip onto my inevitable death below. Though I'd prefer to just climb the shadows as I hide myself with Rin, I'd rather not take the risk of falling from so high up. I still don't know how much more time I have left with it, if any, and right now may not be the best of times to test it out. So I take the safe road and do it the old fashioned way. Thankfully, I reach the top of it without much trouble and peer down while hiding with my masks.
It's dark but my eyes see well enough through it and spot Jaguar man stirring at some green goo pool with lots of ingredients strewn about him. Tzekel-kan isn't far off, pacing around and waiting, I assume, for Jaguar man to finish his concoction. Busy as they are with the Jaguar man serving some of whatever that green juice is on a bowl for Tzekel-kan, I take my chance to make my way down from the top of the temple. Grappling the wall to lower myself slowly works until my feet gently settle on solid ground once more. And since there is no such thing as too many precautions, I crouch down and fall back against the dark shadows while using my powers to their fullest. Carefully making my way to the stone slab not far from them brings me closer to the middle of the temple and from there it's a little easier to scan my surroundings.
There isn't much here in terms of furniture. Some shelves containing books is pretty much the extent of it. And aside from the slab I hide behind, there is only one other statue. A humongous ass jaguar across from the stone slab, ominously sitting there almost seeming a little too real in this darkness. Forget it and look for that damn memory. Listening to the sane part of my mind, I start scouring the vacant temple in an attempt to search from here.
The shattering of the bowl as it hits the ground jerks me out of my search and sets my nerves on edge. Turning back to the only other two here, Tzekel-kan takes out a book muttering something to himself. It's not until he closes it and walks behind the Jaguar man that he speaks loud enough to be heard.
"It needs more...body."
It's hard to keep myself from gasping when he just kicks the man in, but as soon as he does whatever they'd been making takes effect. A geyser forming distinct figures of greenish blue emerges out from the pool and strikes Tzekel-kan against the stone slab. I jump in my skin at the hit but only move away when that same color starts seeping through the stone's cracks. Leaping back, I watch as the energy from the pool slithers across the floor to the jaguar until it reaches its eyes. Though one of them remains that same green color, the other turns a familiar neon blue as cracks of that same color surge from the stone eye socket. From the crevices, the neon squirrel that we saw at Berk emerges as a dark black and blue shadow swirls around the blue eye before settling around it. It's not until a few seconds that I see a piece of something shining in its grasp.
Not, it's not holding it.
"It's inside the eye."
The stone slab suddenly falling forward makes me take some steps further back as it hits the floor and breaks right down the middle. But it takes very little of my attention as the jaguar statue comes to life mimicking Tzekel-kan's each and every movement, even the shudder of his shoulders as he cackles.
I have to warn the others.
Knowing what I have to do though is easier said than done. The moment I step back, the jaguar's head tilts back to look at me directly, the blue eyeball swirling with black, its makeshift pupil focusing on me. Tzekel-kan rises from the floor and turns to where I am. No, he shouldn't be able to see—
My eyes widen at the blue hue that lingers on the priest's eye matching the jaguar's. That Night Terror isn't just controlling the statue...he's got part of Tzekel-kan too. And if he does then—
A maniacal smirk spreads and shows the extent of his teeth as he stares directly at me. "It would seem we shall prey on vermin before the actual feast." With a nod of his head, he says, "Get the snake."
At his command, the jaguar instinctively lurches forward trying to grasp me in its stone claws. Gambling what control I could still have on shadows, I climb the shadows here trying to reach the exit above. Before I can, though, it charges again, this time breaking through the temple and taking me with it. The moonlight shining through gives me more stepping stools to work with but they don't matter much when those powers fail me and let my foot slip through nothingness. Tumbling down the best I can, I don't need to look back to know that jaguar's fast approaching. The thunderous roar that fills the air is enough to tell me that. My feet stumble down a few steps and when I'm close enough to the ground, I jump just as it lurches forward to land behind me. Taking a deep breath and putting a couple of fingers in my mouth, I whistle as hard as I can.
It's not hard to spot the bright gold figure that shoots through the sky than then dives towards me. Ecstatic that Aury heard me, my gait falters a bit at the spears that begin showering down on me from above. The spears the soldiers throw do nothing to the stone statue and all they're doing is bouncing off below to me. But as the people run and the jaguar leaps forward, it ignores me completely and instead goes for the nearest group of citizens and soldiers. It catches one, playing with it in its grasp like a feline would, but the moment it's sees Miguel and Tulio amongst the crowd its stops and drops them.
Tzekel-kan's after them.
"Miguel, Tulio. Run!"
Skidding to a stop and turning back, I don't hesitate to rush forward as the jaguar takes another step, its back paw hovering dangerously close to the bewildered soldier. A grunt leaves me as I launch forward and push him out of the jaguar's way, rolling to a stop safely.
"Ayano!" The flash of gold that flies above head dives in an instant before Aury lands in his Ryu Dragon form with Akio on his back. Not wasting a moment longer, I run to mount Aury and take Akio's place in front before urging him to follow after the jaguar that dashes out of the city.
"Aya, what is—"
"No time!" Avoiding the pieces of debris falling from the mountains as the jaguar continues his trek of destruction, Aurelius maneuvers through the hail of rocks, diving and dodging well enough before we catch sight of the jaguar chasing after the three on Altivo. We're also close enough that the Night Terror latched on the jaguar's eye peeking back at us is visible to me.
Not just me, though. "The damn squirrel?!"
"It's guarding the memory! It's inside the jaguar's eye!" Just as I finish saying that, portals above the jaguar's head open and without warning, Halbirds fly out with their blade-like wings brandished out as they race towards us.
Aurelius is quick to shoot out magic from his mouth and I'm not far behind. Picking Ares from my holsters and extending it as I do, I warn Akio to duck. The moment I feel him press against me to avoid what I'm about to do, I light the ends of Ares with Firaga and call out to Aury.
"Charge in, Aurelius!"
Instantly he takes up to the sky before diving at an angle with his wings tucked, gaining speed by the second. Taking the change, I twirl Ares around us, spreading the fire spell to create a blazing sphere that covers our front as we head straight into the Halbirds. Aury, without my noticing until after, sucks in some of that fire and aims at the Halbirds that are going too fast to stop themselves. Blinded by the flames and taken aback by the surprise shots of Firaga from Aury, we manage to somehow blow through the Nightmares together in one fell swoop.
Brandishing Ares out to extinguish the flames gives Aury a clear view ahead of us. Not far, lava's spewing from the ground with mounds of molten rock flying in the I'm quick to spur him on, he's faster in knowing what I want him to do and heads there before I have to say a word.
"The squirrel—" Gasps come from me as we make our way through the volcano, the heat being more than I can take after the flames I invoked earlier being so close to me. "—it's latched onto the eye."
A strange feeling I hadn't felt in a long while starts at my waist, taking more out of me than just my breath. It's not until I look down that I see it's Akio's hands enveloped in dark energy as the cause.
"Leave that to me," he grunts under his breath as we finally make it out of the volcano's reach and closer to where the jaguar is. He taps his hand against Aury's side and says louder than before, "Flip over when I tell you to!"
"Flip—what are you trying to do?!"
"No time, just hold on!" His left hands stays on my hip and squeezes to reassure me. All that does, though, is set my anxiety off even more. But knowing I don't have much of a say anymore, I do as he tells me and wrap my arms around Aurelious' neck as tightly as I possible can.
The moment we break through the thicket of jungle, Akio's voice bellows out overhead. "Now!" Aurelius doesn't hesitate and flips over. The change of position now leaves nothing beneath to break my fall against gravity's hold but as I hear Akio snarling behind me, I dare open my eyes just in time to see the world upside down. More importantly, though, is that I see Akio's arm beside me as he draws it back and punches down at the eye just below us. For a split second, the Night Terror's beady eyes widen before the jaguar's eye shatters from the hit. The Night Terror comes with it, flinging through the sky and towards the precipice of a cliff—the same sacrificial cliff from before with the rapid waters beneath.
Knowing the bigger threat here, I adjust myself as Aury flips back around and dives for the Night Terror. The neon blue Nightmare, stunned from the hit, free falls halfway through and regains conscious in time to get a blast from Aury straight in the face. A shriek fills the air as I turn Aury around for another hit. Getting Ares ready, I conjure another Firaga to strike it with. This time, though, it's more aware of what's happening and skids to a stop midair. Angling its tail our way, the neon blue flames surge forward, blazing even more than before as it takes my attack head on with it. Aurelius deviates away when the scorching heat raises to be too much to bare.
This time, it's not me who makes him turn around but Akio. And as Aury turns to charge at the Night Terror who's already preparing his next counterattack, he takes ahold of Ares, his hands resting just above mine, and angles it forward. From his hold, the dark energy seeps through, crawling along my staff until they reach the end were I still have Firaga conjured. The darkness seeps into the fire and transforms it into a darker flame with a white core. The heat from the small flame is so intense that I can't help but jerk back. Akio, though, holds me steady, his hands not letting go of Ares.
"One more time." He's so close that he doesn't need to speak any louder than a whisper. And I'm not about to back down now when he's putting his all into this too.
Giving the order to Aurelius, the Spirit charges forward at even higher speeds towards the Night Terror. Neon blue and ebony clash, flames spitting from either end and mingling together. Our hold doesn't waver and through the dark and bright blaze I can see the Nightmare as it adds fire from its cracked skull.
"We're not backing off either!"
All the energy I have left channels into Ares and strengthens my spell, making the darker flames burst brighter and hotter than its own. The blaze engulfs the Night Terror and within it, its head cracks further down its face and into one of its eyes. A hellish screech rings through the air and its so high-pitched that it makes my head hurt. I'm not the only one affected by it either. Akio's hold on Ares disappears as he reaches back to cover his ears and Aurelius inevitably begins to lose his balance. Holding onto the side of my head myself, I lift my gaze to see the Night Terror fall back against a portal that disappears too quickly for us to chase after. But that gets shoved to the back of my mind when loud cracking comes from above us. I only get a second to see as the stone jaguar falls, Tzekel-kan and part of the cliff crumbling along with it. Urging Aury awake, he struggles to dodge the incoming barrage of rubble that rains down on us. He ducks every which way to avoid them while I keep my eye on the jaguar as it falls to pieces with every hit it takes against the walls. It crumbles to pieces and the jaguar's eyes dislodges out from its head, pieces falling as what looks to be a golden medallion falls from it. I'm about to call it to Aury's attention when he lurches back as a piece of rubble hits his side. An angry yelp wrenches from his throat as he thrashes the pain away. And though I'm worried about him, it's nothing compared to my heart completely stopping at watching Akio fall from Aury's back to plunge fast towards the waters below.
In that moment, I don't think. I simply act.
Jumping off from Aury, I fall faster than I expected but that's good. It takes me no time to reach Akio in midair, wrapping my arms around him and bringing him closer to me. Through the terror rushing in my veins and the splitting pain blooming from the side of my head, I manage to whistle at Aury who's struggling to find us. Somewhat more lucid than before, he dives down and thankfully catches us in time before we can fall into the rapids. My feet just barely break through the surface before Aurelius takes to the sky higher and higher until landing on solid ground on what's left of the cliff.
Already, there's a crowd there waiting not just for us but for Miguel and Tulio; it's the whole of the city and they're ecstatic about seeing us all safe and sound after that attack. I have no idea how but they somehow managed to fend Tzekel-kan just like we did with the Night Terror and the crowd applauds their victory. I'm in no mood to celebrate anything yet though. As Aurelius lands, he lets us down onto the ground so it'll be easier for me to hold onto a stirring Akio. From the bit of blood matting the side of his head, I'm guessing some of the falling debris must've hit him on its way down. Thankfully, he wasn't unconscious for that long.
Silver eyes flutter open, trying to focus on anything they can find before settling on me. Though he tries to mutter something under his breath, I shush him and instead get Aury to lower himself. Akio isn't having any of it though and clutches at my forearms stopping me completely.
"The—the eye."
"It fell into the waters." For reason, saying it aloud doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.
He winces— if from pain or from hearing that, I'm not quite sure—and his hold lessens until he's barely holding on anymore. With that being the case, it's much easier to bring him up onto Aury's back. But as I lay him down, I see something in his eyes that I hadn't seen before: remorse.
And it coats his voice, straining his throat as he croaks out a faint, "Why?"
This time, a genuine smile comes to me to reassure him of my words. "You're more important."
Akio doesn't say anything but even if he had, I doubt I would've heard him. Just then Chief Tanni's voice raises over the commotion and announces something that I don't quite understand. "Lord Miguel has decided to live among us!"
What?
"Guess…" Akio stirs a little more, his vision straying off to the crowd as Aury gets to his feet to come to my side. I hadn't even noticed I'd moved forward, confused and bewildered at what had just been said. "Guess that's as far...as they'll be going."
Worry crawls onto me and I glance over my shoulder to Tulio and Chel who watch from afar as Miguel and the rest of El Dorado leave the cliffside. There isn't anything for me to do here. That much being clear, I call Aury to follow me and stay by his side while we carry Akio back into the city for treatment.
"Are you alright, master?"
I think so?
It's a little hard to tell, frankly. Witnessing how easily they're breaking off this friendship of theirs hurts to watch. And here I thought that seeing Miguel torn before this had been a bad reminder. It didn't compare to now though. And this time brought with it those terrible memories from before again, bringing with them the hurt too.
"I know it must be hard to watch this."
Akio sits next to me at the edge of the boat's deck as we wait for Tulio and Chel, his head bandaged a little from his injury from last night. El Dorado has very advanced medicine though and it's helped him greatly to recover overnight. An almost expired potion on my part helped him gain his stamina back after the night's sleep better than he otherwise would've too. It could be a small reprieve. Compared to what's happening before us though, it's maybe bigger than that. For me at least.
"But this is their choice," he says, "it's not something we can change. No matter how it makes you feel."
The longest sigh ever leaves through my nose as Tulio reaches the landing of the temple with Miguel decked in customary garments of the city some feet away. Despite his choice to leave, the city still says their farewells, gratitude embedded into their embraces and words.
"I know."
He joins me with one last exhale before reassuringly squeezing my shoulder as he turns to stand on the inside of the boat. "Come on, we've gotta help get this thing out."
Right. After everyone calmed down the night before and I had some time to think about it, I realized that perhaps not everything was lost. That eye—it fell into the whirlpool where Itzel fell too. And being as there wasn't anything at the bottom of the rapids themselves—curtsey of our personal diving team in Aury as a Fishbone—it might very well be possible that that medal I saw in the eye of the jaguar ended where we found Itzel. Certainly, it's a better idea than giving up altogether. So at sharing this with Akio, we decided to depart with Tulio and Chel back into the outside where we'd part afterwards to trace back our steps.
We're busy helping to set off when Aury starts acting weird out of the blue. Relentless, he starts chomping down on my coattails, tugging on and on despite me swatting at him to leave me so I can work. It's not until I actually turn and take him by the tail and he starts flailing around, wings pointed outwards, that I see the trail of smoke rising in the air. Altivo's nickering gets Tulio's and Chel's attention to the same thing and somehow they, along with Miguel, seem to know exactly what's causing it.
"Cortes."
Akio narrows his eyes down on me as if asking me who that is. I don't even get to tell him that I have no idea when one of the gate guards comes to Chief Tanni with horrible news. Strangers, an army of them, led by Tzekel-kan. Tannabok loses no time and rallies his troops but by the sound of gunfire going off in the distance, I don't think they're well-equipped to fight them.
They'll just walk into their deaths.
"Chief!" The crack in Tulio's voice leaves him as he clears his throat, raising a golden cup of water at the Chief and Miguel. "Chief. I've got a plan."
They gather together just outside the boat and Akio and I linger above them on deck to listen in on the plan. And the more Tulio details it, the more my mind whirls thinking about just how absurd it sounds.
"This is crazy." Akio's sentiment mirrors mine but the lopsided smirk I give him tells the other half of my thoughts.
"So crazy it might just work."
There's no time tp waste and everybody gets to work to deploy Tulio's plan. The guardsmen and Chief Tanni prep the water tower, ropes flying through the air as they're tossed down below to the rest of the guardsmen while others prepare to break down the pillars on command. Knowing they'll need more help here than on the boat, Akio and I stay back with Aurelius. The Spirit, in his Kooma Panda form, lays in wait with the guards stationed at the pillars, ready to dish out an attack of his own to topple them over. Akio stays at the edge nearest to the river while I accompany Chief Tanni. We've no qualms about staying behind if we have to but because we'll be the failsafe to stop the army in case this plan doesn't fully work, we have to get out alongside Tulio and Chel to see their plan through. Our window is small—we have to be on that boat before the water tank takes it out into the tunnel, but our help is needed here too.
I hate multitasking.
"But you're good at it, master. Let us focus on that and see this through."
Right.
"Okay, Chief, on my signal!" Everybody tenses up as we ready for what's to come. I grab a few ropes of my own to help however I can while below me, Aury winds up his attack ready to deliver it on command. It's then that Tulio gives the signal, lowering his arm down. "Ready? Hit the pillars!"
The weight of such massive thing falling almost takes me forward with it but I try my best to hold steady as its foundation breaks beneath it. Something's not right though. The boat's not going fast enough. As if sensing this Chief Tanni reacts, quickly grabbing onto as many ropes as he can to stop it from falling. Seeing this, I call out to Aurelius who's quick to do the same as the chief, taking mine and several others to haul them back. And though they manage to slow down the tower, it's still falling.
And without Aury to flies us to it, we might not make it to the boat in time. My stomach twists to a knot at seeing this same realization in Akio's eyes as we both turn to each other. If we want to make it on that boat, we have to get on.
Now.
The moment he sprints forward I do the same, leaping off from the ledge and over the log they used to break the pillars to reach the edge. The clacking of hoofbeats dashing past us alerts us to Miguel as he rides Altivo to reach the boat. Spotting our chance, I take the jump onto the horse and give Akio my hand as we both haphazardly climb onto Altivo. To my amazement, the horse doesn't slow down. Instead he speeds up and takes the leap onto the boat without hesitation. Once I see it beneath us, I bellow out at Akio to jump and he thankfully listens, both of us managing to land safely on the hard wooden floor of the boat below. But as a shadow passes overhead, we're astounded to see Miguel almost flying through the air to break the sail free from its confines. The moment it opens, the wind takes care of speeding us up and out of the way of the basin.
Miguel gives Chief Tanni a gesture and he must have let go because the water tower comes onto us fast afterwards, its contents spilling over as it does. "Aurelius!" My cry must've traveled over the thrashing water because almost immediately after, I see the flash of gold fly into the air before diving head first to us. It takes my jumping a little to catch the fast ball coming at my arms. I settle him on my neck fast enough to hold on as the boat lurches forward from the water gushing through.
The boat rises almost too close to the tunnel's ceiling, just barely squeezing through with only the sail as collateral. Inside the dark caverns, though, the boat is led through by the speeding waters and crashes from wall to wall as it goes. At times, cries and neighs reach my ears as stalactites crash against the mountains of gold inside, clattering loudly and adding to the cacophony.
"We're going to have to hit it broadside!" Hearing that, Akio and I take to the side where Chel and Miguel are to grab onto oars and help them turn the boat on its side.
"That's your plan? But the gold!"
"I know." I stumble on my a feet a little as Tulio struggles to keep the boat steady. "Just turn the boat!" Somehow we manage to do that and just as we're to hit the pillars, Tulio calls out, "On impact, everybody jump!"
Eyes wide and breath hitching, I hold Aurelius against me as tight as I can as the boat nears the pillars. Though I jump, there doesn't seem to be a need to. The sheer force of the impact sends us flying out and into the freezing waters below. The rapids are fast enough to take us for a ride even as we surface to catch out breath. Spotting dark maroon locks, I try but can't reach Akio before the waters rushing through burst out of the caves.
I don't know how but I somehow survive that. I'm not the only one judging from the coughing a hacking going around. But before we can even celebrate, Chel grabs our attention telling us to hide. Following behind Altivo, Akio and I hide behind a large pile of boulders as well enough as we can from view. It's when I hear the multitude of footsteps that I gamble a peek while using my masks to hide. The massive army led by an imposing man that simply oozes malice doesn't seem to spot me, but I watch intently every second of what happens when they see the entrance destroyed, deeming Tzekel-kan a liar and denying any credability to the 'myth' of the city of gold.
A small sigh of relief escapes me at hearing that but as they take Tzekel-kan away, I dare have my last laugh. Undoing my masks, I wink and blow him a cheeky kiss before waving. And oh, how sweet it is to hear him scream in agony at him getting his comeuppance.
Ah, how sweet justice sounds.
"Well," I look over to Akio as he stands up while the other three come out of hiding. "Guess that means we're good to go then."
"Yep."
Altivo's neighing gets our attention as Chel takes front seat with Tulio and Miguel behind. She turns the horse to face us ands tilts her head to say, "Thank you, to the both of you, for helping us."
"No problem!" Jumping up to stand and not minding my soaked clothes, we come up to them on their mounted stead. "You guys have fun on your journey!"
"You can bet on that," Miguel says with a snicker.
"Or we would if we had that beautiful, precious—"
Chel's chuckle interrupts him as she pats back at his leg. "There, there." Her gaze then turns up to look, not at me, but past me at Akio and smiles. "You two take care of yourselves."
"You too." That he answers so readily doesn't sit well with me for some reason but I let it slide as Chel cries out of the blue.
"Alright, boys!" Chel lavishes in her joy of having survived all that and raises her arm overhead before pointing out to the horizon. "Let's follow that trail! Hyah!" Without warning she gets Altivo on his hinds legs before dashing on knocking both Miguel and Tulio off the horse. Laughter bubbles from me as the two run after Altivo and Chel with her laughing just as hard as I am.
Soon enough there's nothing else for us to see as they disappear beyond the hill and I smile knowing, somehow, that if they're together, they'll be alright. With that peace of mind, I turn to Akio and smack him on the arm before sprinting off in the general direction I remember from a few days ago.
"Come on! We've got our own treasure to find!"
"He's taking too long."
"He's looking for it."
"He's taking too damn long, Aya."
My cheeks puff up at Akio's complaining as we wait by the pond's edge. Knowing that it'd be easier for Aury to dive for it as a Fishbone, we let him do it, but that Mr. Impatience here isn't giving him the benefit of the doubt is starting to majorly piss me off.
"Well, you could always go dive for it yourself, you know." Despite scoffing at the suggestion, he sits back and doesn't say anything in response. That's what I thought.
Just then, the surface of the water breaks as Aurelius shoots out from below and falls before us, flailing as something bulges from his jaw. Even as he turns back to normal, the bright golden sphere that gives off tiny sparks remains lodged in his jaw. The medallion I remember seeing before sits neatly inside and when I reach my hand out for him, Aurelius unhinges his jaw to let it fall in my open palm. It's smooth and cold against my skin but the moment I brush my fingers against it, it cracks. Before I have time to say anything, it shatters completely, leaving the medallion in my hand.
This isn't something I've seen before. Most of the relics holding Ayano's memories have been possessions that had at some point in time belonged to Thea. But this? It's just some old, scratched, gold medallion.
"...that insignia." When I turn to him, Akio seems lost in his thoughts as he holds his chin with one hand. His brow furrows for a moment longer before he looks up and, out of the blue, snatches Aury by the tail. The Spirit thrashes at being handled so roughly and though I want to tell him to stop, what he immediately points out takes my attention more. "It's the same one."
I barely get a chance to compare them before Aury takes the whole thing into his mouth, swiveling it in his mouth for a second before spitting it out. Luckily, Akio reacts faster than me and gets a handful of drool on his hand. Also a medal. While Akio busies himself with cleaning the medallion and his hand, Aury opens another doorway and goes straight through without waiting for us. Following his lead, I take Akio by the arm and drag him through myself.
Once through, we fall down onto an all too familiar pane of glass. Though the sudden pressure on my chest makes it hard to catch my breath, I force myself to but can't help closing my eyes as I do so. The moment I open them, I'm no longer in the dark. I'm not even falling.
Instead, I'm in what looks to be a plaza near a bed of flowers. Crouching down before it, my hands reach out and pluck some of them from out of the ground. A few orange ones, some pink, and some purple. Every color there is soon comes to be part of the small bouquet I have at hand. Maybe Kairi would like some. It'd certainly give me an excuse to go visit her now that she lives away from the castle and with her grandmother now. And when they come to mind too, I think Haruka and Ienzo could probably use some pretty flowers in their day. If anything, Haruka's new little sister would certainly like them. From what I recall hearing, she likes pink. Mindlessly, I go on and pick away, adding more pink ones for both that little girl and Kairi. Once satisfied with my collection, I get up and turn only to find two people before me. Though I've seen them before, it's incredible how much these two kids look like Axel and Saix.
"Hey," the Axel look-alike says, stretching out his hand, "You're that kid from the castle, aren't you?"
Though I find that odd, a part of me also doesn't. Having been homeschooled most of my life, and even more so after mother's passing, I've been pretty set apart from the rest of the city. It makes me wonder how many of them, if any, know what I look like or who I am. A curious thought now that I think more about it, seeing as I'm their leader's daughter.
No, I'm not.
Consciously ripping myself apart from the other Ayano, I manage to find some distance and finally see her as she is. Not as myself but as a part of me. Her dark brown hair, long and straight, falls braided to one side and large blue eyes look at Axel and Isa before coming back to Axel and cautiously shaking his hand.
Axel smiles, shaking her hand a little too hard. Or at least rough enough for Saix to see it and call it to his attention. "Stop before you rip her arm off." Axel let's go with a soft 'sorry' before Saix continues. "Sorry about that. This mindless brute here is Lea. And my name's Isa."
That name... Because I haven't really consciously brought any of those memories to mind until recently, it takes me a moment to realize why that name sounded so familiar. I called Saix that name before. And when I did, both him and Axel reacted to it obviously shocked and somewhat disturbed at me knowing it. Now, I know how that came to be in my head. Ayano knew them.
She eyes them for a moment longer before nodding. "I remember you two. Dilan and Aeleus always complain about a couple of kids who keep trying to break into the castle. I saw you once trying to do that."
Hearing this, Axel—Lea, I guess—flinches and averts his gaze, more than likely embarrassed at being found out. Isa, though, doesn't lose his impassive expression but doesn't say anything either. It's not until Lea gets his composure back that things lighten up a little.
"W-Well, sorry about that. Your house's just interesting is all. And you're too."
Blinking at this, she hangs her face but it's quite obvious that she's take aback by the comment. From what I could tell of her emotions flooding into my head, she wasn't too social. Ansem must've not allowed her out of the castle much after Thea passed away. Trying to protect her maybe? Well, regardless of that, having her be so sheltered from the rest of the world didn't seem prudent. It certainly didn't give her much in the 'people skills' department.
Not like I'm one to talk.
Finally, Ayano lifts her gaze and looks at them both in turn before introducing herself. "I'm Ayano. I didn't think...that a lot of people knew about me though."
"Certainly didn't until recently. You know with the fune—I mean, well..." Lea rubs the back of his head sheepishly before looking away defeated. "We just wanted to say that we're sorry about what happened to your mom."
Heaving a long sigh, she nods. "Me too."
"There were so many rumors going around about what happened," Isa doesn't seem to be bothered by the awkwardness of the topic all that much. His eyes do flit around a couple of times when it comes to be a little too much but eventually settle back on her. "Do you know anything about them?"
"Frankly, I wouldn't," she says as she balances her weight on her heels. "Nobody wants to tell me anything about what happened. No matter how many times I ask." It's the truth. I don't need to look at her to know that.
"We don't mean to bring you down. We really don't." Lea comes closer along with Isa and he places a hand on her shoulder. "It's just that, when we saw you that day alone with no one but your siblings, well...we felt bad."
"Thank you for your honesty." By the sound of it, she wasn't getting any of that as of late. Though hurt, her voice did, in fact, sound grateful.
"It's kinda more than our honesty, though." When Lea says this, Ayano looks up perplexed at him.
It takes Isa explaining what he meant for her to get it at last. "What my dimwitted friend is trying to say is that, if you'd let us, we'd like to be friends with you."
"...friends?"
"Yeah!" Lea instantly perks up at the sound of that before stretching his hand out once more. This time to ask the question once more. "What do ya say, Aya? Want to be friends?"
"You knew them?"
Hearing Akio's voice so calmly ask that finally brings me completely out of the memory. I still watch, though, my attention rapt on the trio as Ayano shakes hands with Lea and then with Isa. "I sort of knew them. Remember what I said about the friends I met when I infiltrated that organization I told you about?" A nod is all I need as a response. My hand rises and I point at Lea as the three of them start chatting and he points out to a nearby candy store. "Though I don't know for a fact, I'm almost certain that his Nobody, Axel, is one of those few I befriended. He's the one that—" My lips pursed at the reminder.
Seeing my discomfort but still wanting to know, Akio asks, "What?"
"He's the one that called me a monster."
My words are like blades that pierce the pane of glass below. But instead of shattering, it only cracks. The spider cracks that spread shift the image shown into black and when they reforge back to a whole pane, we're no longer in that plaza from before. Instead, we're now in a place that I've never seen before in my life. A grand chamber forms before our eyes; circular in shape, it's maybe not as big as, say, how I remember the ballroom from Dark Beauty's castle in Wasteland being but the way its built and decorated makes it appear just as grand, if not more. As it takes shape we're left at the top landing of stairs that lead down to a platform below. That platform is separated from the walls of the room by a pathway surrounding it; said walls are littered with drawings that I can't decipher. They're too convoluted to make anything out of them and the memory we're in isn't allowing us that much of a view either. Much of everything in these chambers is blurry except for the platform below us.
Beside me, Akio's brow furrows, seemingly bewildered at what he's seeing and before I can ask what the matter is, he descends the steps. Finding this odd, I trot after him to catch up and we both reach the landing below together, our footsteps echoing through the place funnily enough. Statues stand guard of the platform, towering above us and almost scraping the ceiling. There's five of them—knights, I think—and each faces in, broadswords in hand piercing the floor as they make a cirlce around the lower platform. Though the front of them looks like the kind of armor knights use, their backs are flattened walls, each with more intricate drawings that I can't understand. A smaller dais lays within, just barely a couple of inches above the floor, with distinct markings decorating the floor and spreading outward to the knights standing guard. Though they're blurry, I can sort of make out that each knight, though seemingly almost identical, has peculiar patterns with their helmets being the most distinct. Akio walks up to the dais, taking his time to thoroughly observe our location. Coming up to him, my attention is rapt on him instead with a question that has grown over the few seconds of being here.
"You know this place."
It's not a question. And he doesn't take it as one.
"It's home." Scoffing at the word, he finally lowers his gaze to focus on the ground beneath him. "Or at least part of what became my home after Radiant Garden disappeared. It's one of the chambers in the Sanctuary."
Sacntuary? I vaguely remember him saying something about such a place back in Traverse Town when he and Riku were talking. "Where is this sanctuary?"
"I don't know." His sardonic tone changes as he sees my pouting, annoyed at his vague ass answer. "I really don't. Cordelia guided me here when I was little. Said that it's a shifting pocket of space and that I'd be safe here. Locating it is hard for those who know it exists and almost impossible for those who don't."
"So this...isn't a world?"
"It's kind of misleading to define it as a world." Turning to the side, he points out to one of the many murals decorating the far off walls outside of the dais. I still see nothing but blurring colors that swim through my vision when I glance over but he seems to be able to see them fine. "From what I understood, it's a pocket dimension of sorts. To think of it as a moving island could make it easier to understand. But it's anchored somewhere too, a place it keeps returning to every so often."
"What place?"
"Some sort of town; a deserted one from what I read. Every time it anchors, it remains for a whole day and then drifts off again." His brow furrows then as his gaze itself drifts off to look at each mural on the outside. "From what those murals say, this is the sanctuary that harbored those who escaped the world's end."
Now it's my turn to be worried about where this conversation is heading. "What happened to it?"
Akio shakes his head and finally meets my eyes again. "That part was too decayed to decipher anything from. Anything past the war is unintelligible, really."
"War—"
"This is unbelievable! Utterly unbelievable!"
Both of us jump at the voice that booms through the room, shaking my whole body with its intensity. But once I can process what I heard, I realize that it wasn't even an adult talking. It'd been a young kid's voice, a boy. The vision cracks but surprisingly doesn't break. Whatever's going on though causes them to crack further little by little. Through what looks like a broken screen, new figures appear layered on top of the sanctuary, their bodies breaking in and out of shape. What confuses me the most is that they're not made of golden dust like most memories. They don't change in shape like sand swaying back and forth. Instead they flicker, like a faulty connection resulting in static.
The boy that scared us flickers in and out of view until he more or less retains his shape. Unlike the rest of the memory, he's something I can see clearly after his image settles. Sandy blond hair, messily cut with strands framing bright aquamarine eyes. It takes me a moment, but I do recognize where I've seen him before. As does Rinto.
"That's the boy—"
"He took me through Radiant Garden."
Though Akio raises his voice to ask me what I mean, it's a whisper compared to the booming noise of the boy as he speaks up again. "How is it that none of them has stopped this? How have they allow us to come to the edge of waging war against our own kin and not try stopping it?"
"Calm down, Roland."
It's fairly easy to recognize Cordelia's voice as her static figure finds stability in the cracks. The boy, Roland, steps forward from the shadow of the knight with a leopard helmet to frown up at her. Despite their age disparity, Cordelia doesn't disregard him and instead addresses his qualms. "Our leaders have their own tasks to handle. Greater ones bestowed to them by the master that must be given the utmost priority."
"Well, we have our own duties aside from our obligations to our Unions too and we manage both just fine! All they ever had to do was guide us and they have managed to somehow ruined that!" Finally boiling over, Roland let's out an exacerbated groan that contrasts greatly with her calm demeanor. "I knew I never trusted them to be master's substitutes for a reason. He must've been out of his mind when picking them for the job!"
"Being paragons to hundreds upon hundreds of wielders is no easy job, lil' Ro." Despite only having heard him the one time in Traverse Town, I recognize Teobaldo's voice but I'm not ready for the figure I see appear. From just looking at him, he seems maybe a year or two older than Akio. Definitely taller. Long scarlet hair is plaited from one side of his head to the other and laid over his shoulder. He's playing with the strands at the end of the braid as he languidly leans against the front of the knight with a serpent helmet, jade eyes veering before returning to Roland. "Ours are rather simple compared to that, really. Besides, whatever mission the master gave them is of no concern to us. We have our own and must see it through. For everybody's sake."
"Teobaldo is right, Roland," Cordelia agrees without missing a beat. "Perhaps the Union leaders have begun to falter but that is why we are here, to aid them in such trying times. And you would do well to hold your tongue. Say what you will about them but I will not allow you to question the Master too."
"Maybe asking questions is exactly what we should be doing."
Before Roland can even say anything, another voice rises and this time it comes from somewhere higher than the rest. A sweet and tranquil voice of a young child, a girl, makes me turn up to one of the knight's, the one with the helmet resembling a fox, and see her figure stabilize into shape to show her seated on the hands of the statue. Light blue hair, almost white in the pale light of the chamber, curls to lay over one side of her shoulder with white lilies behind her ear whose vines tie around her hair. Stormy gray eyes blink down on them as a small cat-like plush adjusts in her hold. No, not a plush. That cat's ears moved.
The thing's alive.
Cordelia lets out an indignant huff, arms crossing over her chest as it heaved trying to find words to reply to that. But finding none sent her pacing back to one of the knight statues, this one with a helmet of a unicorn. Finally she turns back to the girl, her cheeks flushed in slight anger. "Don't be preposterous, Magnolia. Questioning the master like that—he selected Master Ira and the others for this because he knew they were the best for the task."
"Or because he knew they wouldn't disobey," Roland adds, his tone turning rather acerbic. "Must be where Master Ira got the idea to pick you by the look of it."
"How dare you, Roland!"
"I may just agree with you and Maggie on something, Ro," Teobaldo steps up with a smug smirk on his lips. "Perhaps some choices were made in rather poor judgement. After all, Master Gula and Ava made the mistake of choosing you kids as their representatives."
Magnolia ignored the bait Teobaldo laid out for them but Roland, too furious at the insinuation, shouted with a lip upturned threatening to become a snarl. "What did you say—"
"I think that's as far as this argument will go."
A mighty roar cuts Roland off mid sentence and both step away from the dais as a golden Ryu Dragon drops from the open ceiling letting light spill from outside. One glance is all I need to recognize Aurelius as he flickers in and out of view. My hand reaches up to my neck only to reassure myself that the real Aury is here with me. But despite this, the fact that he's an ancient dream and one who's been in league with the Rescuers settles slowly. The Auerlius from this memory growls deep in his throat at both Teobaldo and Roland until they back away from each other, giving themselves space. Magnolia stays seated, soothingly petting her cat who seems alarmed by Aurelius' sudden appearance. Cordelia, as well, seems more irritated at its sudden appearance rather than intimidated. Veering her attention to the statue of the knight with a bear helmet, her charcoal eyes narrow as a figure vaults down from the ceiling, using the statue to reach the ground and stand before them all.
A girl probably my age stands with the most aloof expression I've ever seen on someone. Not even the old Riku's stoicism rivals the blatant emptiness coming from her honey-colored eyes. Volumninous waves of grayish white hair cascade from her ponytail, a short fringe comes over her forehead with a couple of much longer strands hanging over her shoulders. Her skin is pale as can be, almost a sickly color that just doesn't seem right. Bandages peek out from beneath her clothes on her arms, legs, and even neck leaving me quite uneasy from the sight of that.
"Oh, have you finally decided to grace us with your presence, Emelia?" There's no missing just how pissed off Cordelia is simply by the way she spits out the name.
"Don't be like that, Cordi." Despite the blase tone of her voice, the small smile that tugs at her lips does reach her eyes curiously enough. She gives herself a second to reach her hand out to the static Aurelius who morphs back into the same small ball that sits around my shoulder. And just like he is right now, he goes to wrap around her neck and nestle against it.
"Though I'm not fond of it, I have to agree with Cordelia on this, Emma." From her perch on the statue, Magnolia leaps down, the skirt of her clothes puffing up with air and letting her hover safely to the ground. Her feet patter on the floor softly as she lands before turning up her gray eyes up to meet Emma's. "You've been missing for weeks now, not answering any of our summons or the masters'. Where have you been?"
"Searching."
"Searching for what?" Roland asks.
"The master." Finally letting some sort of emotion show, Emma averts her gaze to stare at the ground as melancholy etches on her features and brings some light to her lifeless eyes. "I know you all have been worried as of late, especially with the Unions fighting more than ever over gathering light. I thought that looking for him to assure us would be good. But with the coming war, I had a hunch this would happen so I decided to call off my search and return instead."
"Was it really a hunch or did you foresee it?"
Emma doesn't answer Teobaldo's question and instead looks at each one in turn starting with him. The intensity of her gaze gives away just who exactly is in charge of the five of them and it grounds me even with how her gaze flickers back and forth. "I know you are restless with what's happening. And I will not lie to you, this is not normal. And it will most certainly end in war."
"Then shouldn't we do everything we can to stop it?"
"It's not that simple, Ro." Despite dissenting the boy, a kind warmth comes to her eyes to replace the sorrow from before. "Maintaining the balance is what the Master taught me. It's what he taught you and the masters he left behind. And it is also why they're urging us to gather more light. To counter the amalgamation of darkness. They are trying to stop it, Roland, in their own kind of way. I'm sure you have seen the discourse between the masters already as well. It stems from the same place, from worrying that what they're doing isn't enough."
"Then what can we do to help them?" Magnolia asks, stepping closer and genuinely curious.
"The only thing we can do, Maggie: give them time."
One of Teobaldo's fine eyebrows raises at hearing this and he comes closer to where Emma is. "Wind back the perpetual clock by balancing the scales back in our favor. Is that your version of 'giving them time'?"
"Essentially."
"What do you mean by 'wind back'?" Roland hesitates briefly before tumultously taking that step forward along with the rest.
Crossing her arms over her chest and sighing defeatedly, Cordelia takes the few steps to join them. "She means to revert as many of those who've been swallowed by the Abysmal back in order to counter the light needed to keep the balance of the worlds." At saying that, though, she lifts her gaze to meet Emma's with a mindful eye. "But to do what you propose—lessening the amount of light the rest of the wielders have to gather by lessening the darkness opposing us—we would have to reverse hundreds...even thousands more than we currently are."
"More or less."
"That's a hell of a disadvantage, don't you think? Five of us against the millions turning every second of every day." Teobaldo doesn't seem to like those odds but Emma has an answer ready for him as she smiles.
"No. Ever since we were picked, it has been us against the world. Us against the darkness that threatens our friends. It's always been us and we have always been capable of doing what we had to." She turns to them then and reaches out her hands to those closest to her. Teobaldo and Roland smile after a pause and take her hand in theirs before reaching for the others. While Maggie takes Roland's and Cordelia takes Teobaldo's, they share a similar smile and close the circle by holding one another. "They may never know or be grateful about what we do, but our vow wasn't made with the intent to gain such things."
"We guide the lost."
"Liberate the imprisoned."
"Find the light in the darkness."
"And save those who can't save themselves."
They each recite along with her what seems like an oath they know by heart. Hearing it, makes Emma's eyes brighten and a genuine smile to come to her lips.
"And when all is lost, we carry the burden of our brethrens' hopes and dreams within us. It is them who empower us and so, for them, we fight. Our oath to the master, to those who succeed him, to the other wielders, and most importantly to ourselves is to always believe in the light."
"...because light will exist even in the darkest abyss. All we have to do to see it is believe it's there."
A glint of light shines through as the pane of glass cracks under the feather-light weight of my words seconds before shattering completely. Thankfully, nothing disturbs us this time around and we safely land in the midst of nothing but darkness, except for the doorways before us. Five explored and one other empty frame waiting for us next to the one that led us to El Dorado.
Though I'm not sure about my logic, if Sora and Riku are traveling to awake seven sleeping worlds like Yen Sid said, then this next one should be the last to go. Wasteland, Traverse Town, Cite de Cloches, Berk, the Land of the Guardians, the City of Gold, and this last one will make seven. I've got one last chance to figure out how to save Haruka. And if everything goes south here, I'll at least have a clue to go on with Teobaldo commanding the Night Terrors of which Haru's darkness is a part of. Not everything is lost yet.
The atmosphere around us is heavy but that's no surprise after what we saw. It pertained to neither of us directly but it certainly gave us some sense of what those Rescuers were like. Especially in the havoc they lived in days before this so-called war, and also who exactly kept them together in such crisis.
"I'll say, it's rather fitting that you're Emma's successor." I'm taken somewhat aback by Akio's words and it seems that my expression gives that away quite easily. One side of his lips turns upward in a half smirk as his mercurial eyes meet mine. " From what little we saw I'd say you two are very alike. You're both cryptic at first glance but rather simplistic and hopeful inside. Much like a child."
"You calling me a kid?"
He gives me a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Mostly in a good way."
"What's the 'not good' part?"
"That you don't give much thought to what you do and end up putting yourself in harm's way more often than not." Though I pout at his explanation, he brushes it off with a chuckle before reaching over to pet Aurelius. "But I guess that just means we have our work cut out for us. Isn't that right, Aury."
Aurelius huffs, not scornfully but rather appreciatively as he leans into Akio's hand. Once done, Akio points out to the door and Aury is fast to respond, undoing himself from around my neck and flying over to the last empty doorway. The small sphere of light that comes from his open mouth hovers over to it, disappearing in a blink of an eye into the doorway. Once inside, the sigil changes into that of an open book with a blue glow coming from it. Approaching it, I feel the gust of wind coming from the other side and taste the saltiness of the sea. Reminds me too much of the few times I've been to Destiny Islands to not remember that smell.
"Aya?"
"I'm good." Taking a deep breath at his calling me, I share a small smile with him before nodding on towards the door. "We should get going."
All he does is nod in agreement before urging me forward by the small of my back and through the doorway that leads to this new strange sea.
A/N:
Finally done! The last weeks of October were a hectic pair but I came out of them for the better! Got done with applications (most of them anyway) and that just relieved so much stress that has been on my back since freaking July. But it's done and it's a long one to boot :D
Lots of things happened in this one, things that pertain to a mini side-story that I might or might not write later once I finish this one. Thank you to all of you who read and to Antex for the review! You're the best~
I'll keep things short for this one! Other wips are calling me and they certainly won't write themselves ;3 Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you stayed tuned for the next update! Have a lovely night/day~
- Evie