Usagi: Here we are with another exiting…I hope…instalment of Lost in Darkness. In a new world, and with new characters (well not new, but new to this story).
Sasuke: (Singing) it's a whole new world we live in!
Zakura: stop singing Pokèmon you idiot!
Sasuke: but I like that song…
Usagi: (singing). When you walk away, you won't hear me say PLEASE! OH BABY. DON'T GO!
Zakura: shut the hell up! Why is everyone singing today?
Usagi: (ignores rabbit) Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight! It's hard to let it go!
Sora: just start already!
Chapter 14
Meeting Old Friends
"Does anyone have a good suggestion on where to go next or shall we do as we always did? Visit random worlds and hope we find out anything?" Donald asked.
"The last one sounds fine to me" Roxas said.
"Hey! How about we go visit Leon and the gang?" Kairi asked.
"Alright. It's not like we've got anything better to do" Donald sighed. "Next stop: Radiant Garden".
The gummi ship took of (Xigbar breaking their no-fall streak by crashing into the back wall) and started moving towards Radiant Garden.
Ironically, this was the same place where Sora had transformed into a heartless for the first time, only back then the place was known as "Hollow Bastion".
As soon as they had landed they made their way towards Merlin's house, there they met a few of their old friends, Merlin (well duh…) Leon, Cid, Aerith and Yuffie where there.
The happy reunion was short though, as the group explained why they had to leave in the first place, they told the whole story from what happened to Sora to finding the Twilight Tower deserted.
"Oh this is so not good" Merlin said. "I wished I could help you guys but I'm afraid I know little about these things. Yen Sid was our best hope, but who knows where he's gone to."
"I wouldn't even believe it if I hadn't seen this" Yuffie said, looking at the small heartless in front of her. "He's not going to attack or anything does he?"
"No. Namine made sure of that. He won't attack any of his friends" Riku said.
"Good. He's kind of cute though" Yuffie said and petted Sora on the head. "Hey Leon? Think we should get ourselves a pet shadow?"
"You've got to be kidding me" Leon said, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I'm kidding dummy" Yuffie said. "Don't worry Sora; we'll get you back to normal again before you know it".
Sora gave of a short squeaking noise.
"Uhm… was there something I did?" Yuffie asked.
"He's hungry again" Roxas sighed.
"Can you read his mind or anything?" Xigbar asked.
"Pretty much (not that there's a lot in there to read). You've never been around your own heartless a lot have you?" Roxas asked.
"So… what does heartless eat anyway?" Aerith asked.
"I know, you should know. And we all know he's not getting that" Roxas said. "I usually just give him ice cream or other random food items but make sure to remove the wrappings or he will eat them".
"No problem! I'll fix up a dish he'll love!" Cid said and ran into the kitchen.
After a few minutes, he came back with a bowl full of…something.
"What is that? It looks like you just took everything in the fridge and put it in a bowl" Riku said.
"Yup. Want some?" Cid asked.
Riku looked like he was about to throw up.
"I think I'll pass" he said.
"I'll try some" Kairi said.
"Finally, someone who understands a good chef. Dinner's ready people" Cid said.
The food wasn't actually that bad, but it still didn't get Riku's appetite back, especially not when Sora threw himself at the plate, swallowing it all in once and then started chewing on the plate before Roxas took it out of his mouth and gave him refills.
"Sure you don't want any? You're looking a little pale" Cid asked Riku.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I had a big breakfast" Riku said. "I'm just going for a short walk if you don't mind."
He left the table and tried not to step at Sora doing so. Obviously there must have been some kind of candy in the fridge or anything with sugar in it because the heartless had gotten hyperactive and occasionally started running around on the floor, only stopping to eat some more. (Xigbar noted this was the first time he'd ever seen a heartless get hyperactive).
Riku stepped outside into the streets of Radiant Garden.
The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee (consisting mostly of Leon and his gang) had done a good job at rebuilding the city.
In just a little over a year, it had gone from a gloomy dark place to a flourishing city.
Many of the people who had been forced to leave when the heartless took over had returned as well.
Quite hard to think that the six original members of Organization XIII (yet alone Xehanort, whom Riku was far too familiar with) came from this city, thought it did explain a bit as they were the ones who caused it's downfall in the first place.
He stopped for a while as he thought about the six, Ansem's former assistants.
Didn't Xigbar mention something about the other organization members being resurrected as well? Could one of them be in…?
But he shook the thought of, he had no idea where Axel came from but seeing as Xigbar was one of the six, that meant he was also from Radiant Garden, yet they had found him in Twilight Town, the place most nobodies were born after loosing their hearts.
But it wouldn't hurt to look would it?
He walked out of the alley where Merlin was living and made his way towards the more crowded areas of the city. If anything he might be able to actually find some real food in the stores.
He walked up to a small food store and bought a hot dog (Random food choice. I don't really care what he eats; it has no relevance to the story whatsoever).
"Hey, what do you think Cid would say if he saw you chose a hot dog over his food?"
Riku turned around and saw Kairi coming towards him, Sora behind her, nibbling on something Riku hoped was an ice cream stick.
"I take my chances" he said. "I'm not eating that if it was the last dish in Radiant Garden."
"It wasn't that bad. It was just… a different way of mixing various food items" Kairi said. "Actually it was quite good, Sora liked it too".
"Sora's swallowing his ice cream stick".
"Oh darn" Kairi said and hurried to pull the half-eaten stick out of his mouth. "I wished Namine would help him remember what's food or not."
"She's your nobody. Why don't you just ask?" Riku asked.
"She thinks it's cute" Kairi shrugged. "Besides she keeps reminding me tempering with people's memories are risky business. And heartless don't generally have a lot of room for them either…"
"But it seems to have a big stomach" Riku pointed out. "Where are Roxas and the other nobodies? Still back at Merlin's house?"
"No. They wanted to go see if any of their old comrades were in town. Leon went with them too" Kairi said.
Riku sighed, took another piece of his hot dog before giving the rest to Sora.
"Well maybe we should go join them. Who knows what trouble three nobodies could cause, even with Leon with them?"
"You still don't trust them?"
"Roxas I can accept, but Axel and Xigbar aren't exactly known to stay low" Riku said.
"So exactly what are we supposed to be looking for?" Axel asked.
"I don't know… puddles, cards, strange damages to random walls. Anything that looks familiar" Xigbar said, still keeping his nose down to the ground. "Wow, I still can't get used to this awesome sense of smell".
"I can't get used to the fact that you look like a total idiot with your nose down like that" Axel muttered.
Xigbar quickly turned around and growled at the ottsel. "My hearing is far better too, just so you know" he said.
"I'm curious, exactly how are you supposed to carry your guns around when you don't have hands?" Axel said.
"Care to find out?" Xigbar asked.
"Guys, stop fighting. You're only drawing unwanted attention to yourself" Leon said and looked nervously at the people around them, who started giving them strange looks.
"I thought I heard arguing".
Riku, Kairi and Sora came up to the foursome, Axel and Xigbar were still to busy glaring at each other to notice.
"Found anything?" Riku asked.
"Well we found it that Xigbar looks like an idiot when he's searching for someone" Axel said.
"Shut up nr VIII. As a matter of fact I do smell something familiar. Don't know who it is yet only it smells not quite human and not quite animal..." Xigbar said.
"Do humans and nobodies have different smells?" Riku asked.
"Yup. Kind of hard to explain, but this one's definitely a nobody" Xigbar said and put his nose down to the ground again. "And… it's coming right this way".
He looked up just in time to see a flash of silvery fuzz come straight towards him.
"Out of the way!" the fuzzball yelled before disappearing into a back alley.
"O…k?" Roxas said.
"Now THIS I go to see" Axel said grinning, and ran into the alley.
As the gang went into the back alley, they didn't see the nobody at first, until they noticed a silver cat-tail with a white tip, sticking out of a nearby trash can.
"Hey dude. You can come out now." Xigbar said.
"I am NOT coming" the cat said before pulling its tail back into the trash can, the lid opened slightly, and a pair of blue eyes peered nervously over at the street, just as a young girl ran past.
"Fluffy? Fluffy! Where are you boy?" the girl asked, before moving on.
As soon as the girl was out of sight, Axel turned back to the trash-can with a wide smirk on his face.
"What's this? Have you gotten a new girlfriend Zexion?" he asked.
"Is that one of your friends?" Kairi asked.
"Nah… "Friend" might not be the right word. His name's Zexion. I recognize that voice any day" Axel said. "Hey! The girl is gone, now come out!"
"I won't. Just leave me alone" Zexion snapped.
However it wasn't up to him, Roxas kicked the trash can over, and a small silver coated cat fell out. The tip of his tail and feet where white to very bright blue, so was his stomach and face, his ears were darker in colour.
But the most noticeable thing was the pink collar…not to mention the ribbon (also pink) that he had on his head to prevent the fur from falling over his right eye.
Within five seconds, both Axel and Xigbar broke out in laughter.
Riku and Roxas snickered a little too; even Leon was having problems holding back his laugh.
"Hey shut up! I wasn't the one who put these things on" Zexion said and pulled the ribbon out of his hair, the collar however turned harder to take of for someone with no hands.
"Hey. Knock it of boys" Kairi said and helped take the collar of. "If it helps, I thought you looked cute in that".
"It does not and who are you?" Zexion asked. "You smell like someone I know…"
"Oh right. Sorry. My name is Kairi; I'm a friend of Roxas" Kairi said.
"Well he's always had a strange taste in friends so forgive me if that's not really reassuring" Zexion said calmly, before looking at the other members of the party. "And Riku. I already caught your smell form a mile away, but never expected to see you with those three" he said directing a paw towards the still snickering nobodies+ Sora who had decided he wanted to join in the fun, though it was doubtful the heartless knew what they were laughing of, he had just found a new hobby, copying Roxas.
"I've been asking myself the same question sometimes" Riku said. "It's kind of a long story."
"Perhaps we should just go back to Merlin's house then we can explain everything for little Fluffy" Axel said.
"Don't ever call me that again" Zexion snapped.
Usagi: okay, a few explanations in hand.
Cid's "special dish" is from the Chain of Memories manga, I thought that was pretty funny when he threw everything in the fridge (including poor Yuffie's cake) into his dish. So I thought I'd use it in my fic too.
And another nobody has joined the party…still not Demyx…but I can't help it! I had the idea for Zexion for a few days time and had to add it in. If he's acting a little out of character in this chapter it's because he's a little stressed out for having to live with a little girl with an obsession for pink for who knows how long… There's a picture of his kitten-form on DeviantArt if you want to see it ;)
Zexion: you don't. Trust me.
Usagi: Aw come on Zexy. You're cute (snuggles Zexion).
Usagi: and that was all I could think of saying. I'm tired as hell. Good night and please review.