A/N: Today we have a chapter that is more focused and intimate. Several characters decide to take some time to themselves, before what lays ahead arrives. Enjoy, my readers!
Scene 27: Quiet Moment
Once Eileen left the subway, she immediately ran into a large group of teenagers: Hayner, Pence, Olette, Reika, and Mika. They called out to her.
"Where are you going, Eileen?" Hayner asked.
"If it has anything to do with Jason, we want to be a part of it too," Reika added.
"This time, none of you can come along with me. There is nothing I can do to change that," Eileen said. Then an idea occurred to her. "However, I do have a plan to get Jason back. First, I need you all to do something."
"Sure, whatever you need, we'll do it!" Hayner exclaimed, no questions asked.
That was exactly what Eileen wanted to hear. "Train. For as long as I'm out of Twilight Town, train together. Because when I return, I want to go rescue Jason. If you want to join me, be ready."
"I've never fought before, but if it's for the sake of our friends, I'll do it!" Olette said.
"And it's not just Jason we're rescuing. We need to find Selena as well," Reika added.
Eileen felt a jolt as she realized she had forgotten Selena. Last she saw of the young girl, she had been living in her old, now empty home.
"About Selena, I need to explain something to all of you…"
It was official. This morning, Saix had warped into the abandoned mission to tell everyone that they were expected to report to Castle Oblivion the next day. All of them had roles they were expected to fulfill, even Jason.
In an unprecedented event for Organization XIII, it was declared a vacation day. Larxene could not remember there being a vacation day during her entire tenure so far.
Which meant that Larxene had no clue what she was going to do with herself today. She hated working for the Organization, but not having a mission to occupy her time was jarring.
"There is nothing to stop us from going to Castle Oblivion and continuing our preparations," Marluxia pointed out.
"True. Knowing those annoying old geezers, they might be doing the same thing," Larxene said, rolling her eyes. "And I'd rather not spend my day off with them, thank you very much."
"I suppose I can't stop you from going wherever you want. I think I will go somewhere where I can appreciate nature in all her cruel beauty." Marluxia said.
"Oh, Marluxia! If you're leaving, can you take me to Twilight Town first?" Jason asked. "If the higher ups are out of the way, I'd like to take the chance to go there."
"You know, I could take you there just as easily," Larxene said. "So why didn't you ask me?"
"Oh, I thought you'd head back to Neverland to ruin that pirate's day again," Jason answered. "But if you really want to take me to Twilight Town first, I'd be glad to have you."
Larxene thought toying with the cowardly pirate sounded like a fun way to spend the day. However going to Twilight Town first wouldn't take very long…
"Let's go already, then," Larxene said, opening a Dark Corridor.
"Wait one more minute. Namine, are you going anywhere today?" Jason asked, addressing the blonde girl sitting in her chair.
"No, I won't. It's not like there's anything I need to take a vacation from," Namine said softly. "Besides, tomorrow I'm finally going to leave this place."
Jason knew that there would be no dissuading Namine from this point. Her desire to leave the mansion conflicted with a desire to stay, and it was something that she needed to resolve on her own.
So Jason left it at that, and stepped through the Dark Corridor that Larxene opened for him.
Stepping out of the portal, Jason soaked in the gentle sunlight, casting an orange light on everything. Even still, he didn't take off his hood- showing up out of nowhere would just cause unneeded panic.
Still, Jason wanted to walk around his home, even if he could not allow himself to be spotted. Standing here reminded Jason what he was fighting for.
"I still think this place is so boring."
Larxene's voice came out of nowhere, and Jason did a double take when he saw her standing next to him. "I thought you would have warped away to Neverland by now."
"I'm sure you'd love nothing more than to be 'conveniently' stranded here," Larxene said. "But I am not about to get in trouble with the Organization right now, so you are coming back if I have to drag you there, kicking and screaming."
"Suit yourself," Jason said, shrugging. "I'm going to walk around, so you can do whatever you want."
If Larxene's primary interest was not to get in trouble, then she wouldn't be able to do any of her usual "activities" to relieve her boredom.
Jason's first destination was Sunset Hill. It had one of the nicest views — the best if you didn't count the town's iconic clock tower. So Jason sat down on one of the benches and looked down at the rows of houses.
"You know, you can sit down too," Jason said, not looking up. Larxene was standing a few feet away.
"I'm waiting for you to do something. All you've done is walk around, and now you're just sitting!" Larxene yelled, tapping her foot impatiently.
"There's really not much else to do here," Jason said, stretching his legs. "I didn't even have a job before I was taken by the Organization. I was still going to school, and if I wasn't in school I was playing Struggle with my friends."
"'Struggle'? What is that supposed to be?" Larxene asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A sport where we beat each other up with foam bats," Jason answered. "And collect points from each other."
"The more I hear about this world, the more I feel that you're the most interesting thing to come out of it," Larxene said.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw a man wheeling an ice cream cart. Getting up from the bench, Jason walked to the ice cream cart and handed the man some munny.
Jason returned to the bench holding two sticks of sea salt ice cream, handing one to Larxene. "Here. This is the pride and joy of Twilight Town."
"Ice cream is your world's pride and joy?" Larxene bit into it, and her face scrunched up in confusion. "It's salty… no, it's sweet. Just what the heck is this?"
"Heh. I never get tired of watching people's reaction the first time they eat sea salt ice cream," Jason said, smiling. "I've been eating it my whole life, so I'm used to the taste."
"I would think that overcompensating clock tower of yours is what your world would be best known for," Larxene quipped.
"Oh, the clock tower is popular, without a doubt," Jason said, pausing to take a bite out of his ice cream. "But sea salt ice cream apparently gets exported outside of here. You know, I don't think I ever questioned that until now."
"You've had experiences that most other people would kill for, you know," Larxene said. "After the coup, you don't have to return to this sleepy little place."
"I guess not. But I want to. I never asked for any of this," Jason said, looking at the black coat he was wearing. "Still, now that I know of other worlds, I suppose I'm curious what else is out there. So I may leave here again eventually."
Jason turned to Larxene. "So what do you plan to do after the coup?"
"None of your business. I'm definitely not going to stay in one place." Lightning danced on the tips of Larxene's fingers, and the smallest of smiles graced her face. "But maybe I'll see you again one day."
Conversation stopped after that. The two of them continued to eat their ice cream, watching nothing happen. A tram came ambling on its track, but that was the most exciting thing they saw.
There were a lot of other places Jason wanted to visit: the sandlot, his house, the subway tunnels… but he couldn't risk getting caught.
Instead, Jason looked up at Larxene and winked. "You didn't have to stay here with me, and you're clearly bored out of your mind. So to make it up to you, let me accompany you to Neverland."
"Now you're talking my language, Jason!" Larxene exclaimed, grinning.
It didn't feel great, doing nothing. But that was all that Selena could think to do. The life that she knew before was gone, and while Eileen promised her that she would track down her parents, it still left Selena with an uncomfortable feeling.
Something wasn't right. Deep in her heart, Selena had a feeling that there was something she'd forgotten. Images kept flashing in her head, with no context to them.
More than anything, Selena found herself returning to Sunset Hill over and over again. Sunset Hill was close to where Selena had woken up, so perhaps it held a clue to her disappearance.
At the top of Sunset Hill, Selena spotted two people in black cloaks. One of them had their hood up, but something about the build was familiar to Selena. The other person was a blonde girl with blue eyes.
The minute that Selena saw the blonde girl's face, she was struck with a fierce headache. Selena's legs wobbled, so she couldn't approach them. As she looked on, the blonde girl opened a portal of dark purple energy, and the pair disappeared inside.
Selena's headache didn't abate. In her mind's eye, she saw the blonde girl again. This time, Selena was facing the blonde girl in an alleyway, a sadistic grin on the stranger's face.
"Selena!" The sound of Hayner's voice snapped her back to reality, and she could see all her friends approaching. "Eileen told us to check up on you. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, guys." Selena was lying. She wasn't okay, and she had a feeling she wouldn't know peace until she figured out what the deal was with the blonde girl in the black cloak.
Selena couldn't stay in Twilight Town anymore, that much was clear.
According to the letter, somewhere outside the borders of Twilight Town a ship waited that would take Eileen off-world. A second ship, a final, desperate measure in case all else failed. Eileen had been in the subway tunnels to shake off any followers, so meeting Jason again had been a true shock.
The first ship that Eileen's parents had pointed her to would have allowed her to choose her destination, but that ship had been destroyed. The second ship was in a much safer location, but there was a catch.
It had a fixed destination: Radiant Garden, the home world of James and Nicole. The other catch was that the ship only went one way. According to the last letter, the engine was rigged to overload once it reached its destination.
Eileen had been conflicted about boarding this ship before. Now that she knew for a fact Jason was safe, though, Eileen felt ready. One day, she would reunite with her brother.
A/N: This is the final chapter before we enter plot and don't leave until the end. So I hope the readers enjoyed this brief respite. Next chapter, we enter Castle Oblivion. See you next time! Please review.