A/N: Here with yet another chapter (finally!) and apparently a lot has happened in the world since then. For those currently experiencing lockdown like myself, I hope you and your family all stay safe and hopefully fanfiction, not just mine but every creator on this site, can keep you entertained and distracted during these difficult times. It's genuinely times like these where our passion of creating and shaping worlds can do wonders.
Going back to Paved With Gold, we're coming to the end of this first part of the story. After this, the second part will be a new story. Only a couple of chapters left to go and you won't want to miss them. Until then, happy reading!
Chapter 85
The Great Escape
Namine's pencil had been hovering over a blank page for quite some time, although as to whether she intended to do anything with it was beyond even her knowing. It was quite the conundrum. Try as she might, she just couldn't think of anything to draw at the moment. Unusual for her, since something was always on her mind.
Of course, if it had just been this one occasion, then it would have been fine, except it wasn't. Recently, she had been suffering from an artist's block of sorts, although she wouldn't personally call herself an artist.
She had worked hard since Castle Oblivion and becoming her own person to turn her drawings into what they were now. From drawing for someone else to drawing for herself… it hadn't been an easy transition for her to make, but she had persisted through the encouragement of her friends and Kairi in particular. Now she felt like it was all going to waste.
Burrowing her head into her hands, she groaned and finally closed her sketchpad. It was no use. She couldn't force herself to draw. She was about to set her sketchpad down when Yeul walked into the room. They both froze upon seeing each other. Strange, given they had seen each other a handful of times since the latter had come back.
Namine offered a smile and patted the space next to her on the bed she was sitting on. "Come. How are you holding up?"
Yeul minced her way over to Namine's bed and slowly sat down. She looked down at her hands as though she had taken a new found interest in them. "I don't think I'm used to it. It's all so much to take in. When Sora and Luna came to me with stories of their adventures, I could only picture them in my mind, but I'd forgotten that there were so many other things to that picture. The smells, the sounds, what it feels like…" she swiped her fingers across the linen duvet cover before looking up at Namine. "It's been a while."
"Well, I'm glad you get to experience it again. And this time not with anyone hounding over you. You can do it at your own pace," Namine said.
"That's what I want to do. I want to eat a lot of delicious food and try different things and see the world. I want to make new memories. And Namine… I want to share them with you," Yeul said, trying her best to hide her blush.
Namine smiled sheepishly. "Yeul, that's…well I… I'd love to! At least when it's safe to do so. But we're both Seers. It's too risky at the moment, but yes, when that time comes when we can step outside without a worry in the world then- then absolutely!"
"That's all I can ask for," Yeul said. Her eyes fell to the sketchbook in Namine's lap and her smile faded.
Noticing the girl's strange gaze, Namine beamed and picked it up. "Oh. Um, you can take a look at them if you'd like."
The sketchbook found its way into Yeul's hands and she began turning the pages, staying on each for a while before continuing.
"I haven't really done any in a while. Maybe I'm losing my edge? Yeah, they're not great, but they take my mind off things," Namine said, watching as Yeul flicked through. And then she caught something else. If Namine were to rate her own drawings, she would give them a decent and leave it at there. They certain weren't anything to relish about or put in a museum. They also certainly weren't anything to cry about. So why then was she seeing a tear crawling drown Yeul's face at this very moment?
"Yeul? Is something-"
"Can you try drawing me?"
"Huh?" Namine hadn't expected that. Suddenly, Yeul was giving Namine her full attention, a hopeful look in her wet eyes.
"Maybe if you draw me, you might be able to figure something out," Yeul said, although given her enthusiasm early, it didn't seem like she was being entirely truthful. There was something else, though who was Namine to say no to being offered a muse?
"Okay. I might draw you bad though. Please don't hate me," Namine said as she took her sketchbook back and went to retrieve her pencils.
"You'd have to draw me really badly for that to happen," Yeul said.
"I better not mess up then," Namine said. Looking back over to Yeul, she realized she had almost forgotten something. She held a finger up and left the bed, soon coming back with a tissue in hand. She reached out and carefully dabbed at the wet splotches on Yeul's face. After she was satisfied, she set the tissue paper aside and opened up her sketchbook to a blank page.
She looked back up at Yeul quickly with a smile. "Much better." And then she looked back at the page and began to draw.
In a moment of silence, a single groan from Oscar's stomach shattered the silence of the corridor. It wasn't the sound one could easily suppress, especially when it came so suddenly. He also knew that it probably wouldn't be the last. His partner, Zafir, gave a sideways glance his way and chuckled.
"It's not funny. I am seriously hungry right now," Oscar said, placing a hand on his stomach.
"Too bad. Should have eaten before," Zafir replied, folding his arms and nodding with an expression that told Oscar he had no sympathy for him.
"Ugh… like I could have known that June would have gotten us to guard that girl. Why even keep her around anyway?"
Zafir shrugged and sat down with his knees up and back against the wall. "Don't know. All I know is that June wants her to come to dinner. She said 'my nephew' right? But, like, they're basically the same age."
"So she's the daughter of June's sister then," Oscar said, slowly.
"Well done, genius. Don't waste all on that brain power though," Zafir remarked, rolling his eyes.
"But wait. Does that mean Moira's still alive? And she had a child? But how is her daughter here in this time? She didn't fight in the war… ugh, you're right, I give up. I don't have enough brain power for this," Oscar croaked.
"You could always ask June if you want to know," Zafir said.
"I think she has more to worry about on her plate than responding to my questions. So weird to think that we had the likes of Lord Irva and General Seren leading us and now they're both gone and it's just her. How're gonna come back from this? You think she's got it all figured out?" Oscar asked, deliberately lowering his voice.
"I don't know, but Irva believed in the purpose he rallied us under and I don't think June's planning to change that. She's doing the best she can under these circumstances. One thing's for sure though. She's not Lord Irva."
"She is cute though. That's something Irva isn't," Oscar said.
Zafir laughed. "If she heard that she'd rake you over the coals."
"Haha, yeah…" an uneasy Oscar agreed, and a groan from his stomach followed immediately after as if it needed a say too. "Oh, quiet you. Just hold out for another hour."
Suddenly, a large crash was heard from inside the room. Zafir bounced upright like a pogo stick and looked towards the door.
"What in Horus' name was that?"
"Are you okay in there?" Oscar yelled. No answer. He raised a worried glance over at Zafir. "Um, what do we do?"
"Guess we should go in and see what it is? I mean, I don't want June on my case because something happened to her guest," Zafir said. He summoned his Keyblade and opened up the door, rushing inside along with Oscar to a seemingly empty room and a broken table. "Where is she?"
They were about to step forward when out from the corner of their vision, a bookcase, suspiciously faced diagonally towards them, came tumbling down on them. The two screamed, obviously not enough to save them from certain doom. Luna landed on the fallen bookcase's back and looked down to see the unconscious forms of the two guards lying underneath the bookcase.
"Sweet dreams, boys. Now, let's find a way out of here," Luna said. She stepped out into the corridor and attempted to summon her Keyblade only to feel a sudden wave of dizziness wash over her as she tried to do so.
She placed her hand against the wall and steadied herself. Had Horus done something to her? She thought it was just the room preventing her from calling her Keyblade but stepping outside of it had confirmed that wasn't the case. She next tried calling out for Artemis but after a few tries, gave up. She would just have to go it without the Keyblade. A scary thought, but she wasn't likely to stand much of a chance by herself anyway.
Still, she figured she needed some sort of weapon to defend herself, just in case the worst came to pass. She hurried back into the room and looked around for something she could use. She soon noticed the Keyblade that one of the guards had halfway buried by the bookcase. It wouldn't exactly be useful by itself, after all it could return to its owner at any time, but she could still make use of it.
Luna pulled it out and made a quick diagonal cut at one of the table's legs, severing it from the body. She swapped the Keyblade for the table leg and quickly left the room. It wasn't exactly the best weapon and from its weight alone, she could tell that she would have to put all her strength behind a single swing so it wasn't exactly a reliable form of offense either, but it was better than nothing.
Despite desperately wanting to leave, Luna took her time in navigating the mansion's passages. June Caster had gone out of her way to invite her for dinner but Luna had no intentions of getting caught again and being forced to attend. It was tempting, she admitted, given that this June was supposedly her mother's sister. No, even if it were true, this Moira wasn't the person Luna knew. Still, she couldn't believe that like herself a year ago, her mother had also lost her memory. She couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that it ran in the family.
She soon reached a gallery with paintings of several people she didn't recognize. It did seem the kind of thing one would find in a presidential residence, such as at the Alexandrian palace. Past this room was a foyer and stairs just beyond that. She hoped it wasn't long now before she reached the way out.
As she crossed the foyer, Luna stopped upon hearing hurried footsteps coming from the stairs. Quickly, she ducked to the left and rolled underneath the table nearby, watching as a couple of legs passed her by. When the sound of the footsteps died out completely, she crawled out from underneath the table and did a quick double check in the direction they had gone before continuing down the stairs.
Immediately upon hitting the next floor, she could hear several voices coming from her left, forcing her choice of heading left or right to just one. As she reached the end and turned the corner, she bumped into someone else. She jumped back and lifted the wooden leg only to freeze in place.
"Astra?"
"Mother of mom bombs, I was about to wack you a good one, Luna." Astra, who looked like she had just seen a ghost, let out a nervous laugh. To be fair, Luna wasn't doing all too well either, but just the sight of her friend in a nest of vipers brought her to tears. She placed the chair leg down and gave her friend a hug. From behind her friend's arm she could also see Donald and Goofy smiling.
"But how did you guys find me?" Luna asked, eventually pulling away from the hug.
"We were pretty lucky actually. Came across one of June's goons who told us about a mansion in a place called Dollis Heights. You'll find that I can be very persuasive when I want to be," Astra said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"Knowing you, you probably traumatized the poor guy," Luna said.
"Well I may have had Elliot with me and threatened to burn him to a crisp if he didn't comply but details. Anyway, we need to get out of here quickly," Astra said.
"I think we'll be a bit held up," Donald said, pointing his staff in the opposite direction. Luna and Astra looked over to see several Horus Keyblade wielders running towards them.
"Then let's make this quick. We don't have time for you assholes!" Astra roared, running forward with her Keyblade. She dodged the first attack lithely, twisted her body and struck the first wielder in the back of the neck. As another went in to attack from the side, Goofy moved in and blocked with his shield, allowing Donald to blast her away with Firaga.
Luna looked down at the only weapon in her possession and picked it back up. As one of the wielders came at her, she held the leg up in a guard to intercept the attack. The Keyblade only cut clean through, forcing her back.
"So much for that," Luna mumbled before looking over to the other three. "Uh, guys? A little help here!"
Goofy pivoted on one foot and threw his shield, connecting with Luna's attacker's head and sending him down.
"Thanks, Goofy," Luna said as she hopped over the body.
"Alright, let's get going before more come!" Donald yelled.
"Wanna say that any louder? Don't think they quite heard you," Astra said.
"Like it matters. Just RUN!" The duck squawked before taking off.
On their way to the entrance, they encountered a few more enemies who Luna had to rely on Astra, Donald and Goofy to deal with. The most help she could be right now was not to be a nuisance and get in the way.
Soon, the group emerged out of the building into broad daylight. As Luna turned back she got a good look at the mansion. Situated next to a cliff, it was an impressive building made of stucco and granite, or in other words, the type of building one would be lucky to see in their lifetime.
"Luna, are you coming?"
Luna spun around to see Astra already making their way down the L-shaped staircase along with Donald and Goofy. "Yeah, sorry."
As she approached them, an ice projectile flew past her arm and hit the ground. She turned around to see June and a few other wielders with their Keyblades all out and trained on her and the others.
"Oh, what's that? You just wanted to bring over more guests for dinner, Luna? Well why didn't you say so, silly?" June lowered her Keyblade and stepped forward, looking over at Astra, Donald and Goofy. "You guys can put those away now. No one else needs to get hurt."
"Oh, I can think of a good few people right now that need hurting," Astra said, keeping her guard up.
"Wowee! Are you always so angry and impulsive? Keep that up and you'll turn to dust before your time," June said, flashing her a cheeky grin.
"As long as Donald takes my ashes and shoves them in your mouth right afterward, I'll be angry all day!" Astra snapped.
"Okay, first of all, that's disgusting. Second, why me? Do it yourself!" Donald yelled at her.
"Well, how am I supposed to do it if I'm dust? Use your common sense, duck," Astra said.
"Okay, okay, children, can we all settle down now?" Luna begged with her hands clasped. She turned to look at June again. "And as for you, I'm not going with you. My stay here hasn't been the most pleasant."
"Oh, why don't you be a good niece and-"
"I have an aunt. Her name is Katreen and she's looked after me for as long as I can remember. That's the thing with family. You usually know they exist," Luna said.
June hung her head low and laughed. "Usually know they exist? So that's it, Moira. You thought you could just throw me, our parents, away. I had to watch our parents pass and you just- just forgot they existed? No, no, no, no, no…"
"June…?"
"SHUT UP! I'm thinking." June glowered at one of the girls behind her before noticing something very odd. There was a giant shadow being cast over her. She looked up to the sky and screamed as a dragon flew just over her and the others' heads, causing them to duck.
"Elliot! Nice timing, bud!" Astra yelled, running towards Luna. "All of you, climb on!"
Luna was helped up onto Elliot's back by Astra who in turn helped up Goofy and Donald. As Elliot was about to turn, he was struck on the side of the head by a red light.
"Ellioooo-" Astra tried to calm the dragon but it was too late. The dragon turned his head a let out a ferocious roar, unleashing torrent of flame from its mouth. Most of the Horus wielders managed to move or dive out of the way save for one who seemed too horrified to move. Luna winced and looked away, trying her best to forget the image now ingrained in her mind.
"Don't antagonize a dragon. Elliot, you okay?" Astra asked. Elliot gave a grunt and began flapping his wings as if to show that he could. Then he took flight. Luna could see the river behind the mansion and the tops of trees as they grew even higher. Horrible thoughts were circling throughout her mind and they mainly had to do with not have any kind of restraints to keep her tied to the dragon. What if she fell? Even the sharpest of turns and she would be plummeting hundreds of feet to her death.
She looked past that queasy feeling in her stomach to Astra who didn't seem the least bit troubled. In fact, she looked as though she was enjoying it. Seeing her made Luna think that perhaps she had nothing to fear after all. She just had to not look down.
The Abandoned Monastery, Koen
In the many years that Rhea had lived in Koen, her endeavour to not get into trouble had prevented her from exploring any curiosity she may have had about the old monastery. But other than that, it was also just the case her curiosity had simply subsided. It was normal for someone who lived in Koen to not look twice at the monastery and just accept it as something that was there. No one had any reason to believe it was anything more.
Now an adult, the Rhea who had come back to Koen was far different from the Rhea who had left. As she and Sora explored the dark tunnel hidden underneath the monastery, she couldn't help but lament this changing of the winds to Sora.
"Well, whatever the truth may be. We'll end up facing it together. And perhaps we'll find a way to cure the children too," Sora said.
"Those are my hopes, though I don't think I expect anything nearly so convenient as that. This is the problem we're seeing, not the solution," Rhea said.
The two finally reached the end of the tunnel where the only thing waiting at the end was a stone double door with a large keyhole in the middle. The keyhole itself wasn't fixed to the door, but rather separated by the narrowest of gaps—just enough to tell it was of a magical nature.
"Well lookey here. Somebody doesn't want us being all nosy," Rhea said. She aimed her Keyblade at the lock and dispelled the keyhole. "Will you do the honors, Sora?"
Sora grunted a confirmation and walked over to the door, pressing his hands against it. Slowly, the doors began to grind apart, exposing its contents.
"So this is where the first Keyblades were made," Sora said, looking around the room. If not for their illuminated Keyblades, the room was mostly dark and empty save for the rectangular silver table in the middle.
"Or one of. We had to unlock a keyhole to come into this room. If it was always there from the beginning then it's likely the original creators had Keyblades themselves," Rhea said, as she walked slowly around the room. "Curious…"
"Curious?" Sora repeated, confused.
"You'd think a room that hasn't been used in a long time would show its age, but no cobwebs or even a slither of dust on the table," Rhea answered, letting her finger glide across the silver table.
"You think someone's been here recently? What if it's just so magic that keeps the room spotless?" Sora asked.
"Unfortunately, there is no such thing. Even the most accomplished of sorcerers have to animate objects to clean for them," Rhea said. She looked towards the door. "So perhaps knowing what we do now gives us a clue to another mysterious aspect of this room that we've already seen."
"I wish you wouldn't talk in riddles. You mean the keyhole, right? That another person might have been the one to create it, probably in case someone came snooping," Sora said. He put a finger to his temple. "Do you think… that's likely though? I mean, it already wasn't easy finding this place. We got lucky with searching underneath the altar."
"They were lucky too," Rhea reasoned, calmly.
"But it's not just that. There's the lock too. If you want to lock something, it's usually in order to keep something hidden, right? But there's nothing here except this table. No one who didn't know the history of the room would assume anything much of it. After all, it's just an empty room."
"Look at Mr. Detective putting in all the work."
Sora and Rhea spun around to see a tall man with short grey hair standing at the door. His yellow tinted glass played off an aura of coolness and control. The last time Sora had seen him, it had been briefly back in Gravity Falls.
"Janus!" Sora yelled, summoning the Keyblade quickly.
"Come now, don't let the praise fall flat. And you were doing so well."
"How did you get past Vyce and the others?" Rhea asked.
"I killed them… is what I wish I could say but alas, I merely caused a little distraction and slipped by them. Don't worry. It wasn't anything your friends couldn't handle. But it is as you say, I didn't put the lock in place. It was those people. Them and Enna Kros," Janus said.
"Enna… Kros? What does Enna have to do with this?" Sora asked.
"Ah, so you know her. Perhaps you should ask her that yourself. Anyway, do yourself a favour, the both of you. Forget about everything. The war. The heartache. The classic struggle of darkness and light. It's all about to become inconsequential. Move on and live out the rest of your days in peace."
"And why in the world should we do what you say?" Sora asked.
"You can take my advice or not, but surely you've noticed it? A change in the atmosphere." Janus paused as if to let his words sink in. "All that matters is that you let what comes come. I'm just trying to spare you the pain of denial."
"Like you care about sparing others grief. Is that what you did with Xion? With Riku?" Sora yelled.
"Their denial to accept that they are free from my influence is not of my making. But if they're still after me, then by all means, let them come. No matter how long it takes… to drum the message in," Janus said, digging his index finger into his temple.
"Why are you doing this? What's your endgame?" Rhea asked.
"I… can't say I have one? I'm just trying to see how far I can take this. If you have no goal in sight, you can't be upset when your plans fail," Janus said.
"So you expect them to fail then? Sounds like you're just too afraid to commit," Sora replied.
"All I'll say is this. Our interests may align closer than you think. You just don't know it yet," Janus said, before turning to leave.
"Hey, wait!" Sora raised his Keyblade and ran towards him. As he leapt into the air, he suddenly found his movements freeze mid-air. He dangled helplessly, dropping his Keyblade and desperately grasping for what felt like an invisible hand around his throat.
Suddenly, a figure, pale and as cold as death, appeared in front of him. Another familiar face, though not entirely human like Janus.
"Remember what I told you? That I would be waiting for you at the finishing line. Don't be in a such a haste to die," Damos said. And then with seemingly minimal exertion, he tossed Sora to his right. The teen hit the wall with his back first before dropping to the floor.
"SORA!" Rhea cried, running over to him. Sora tried to get back up but pain immediately shot through his entire body in response, keeping him grounded. Instead he could only strain himself to look up as Janus and Damos left the room.
