For this chapter, I'll delay the more exciting stuff and instead develop our villains and the new characters I introduced. :)
Unknown Location...
The teenage girl held her mask in her hands, sighing. Today's mission had been done quicker than normal, and nothing exciting had happened. What a letdown.
She put the mask on her nightstand and sat up, tapping her staff impatiently on the ground. Now that she was done, there was nothing to do for a good hour, until they were assigned to another patrol. And it wasn't like the base was a five star luxury hotel. No no no. Almost everything was ruined or dirty, there was no entertainment whatsoever, and it annoyed the heck out of her.
Training was always an option, but after almost a decade of doing that, most people got bored. And she did not have a good attention span right now.
She used her staff to swing herself off of the bed. There was one more thing she could do, and that was talk to the other people in the organization. Maybe she could squeeze some classified information out of them. Messenger or Herald were usually good choices.
In the organization, there was a somewhat vague hierarchy, but there was one clear line that had been drawn, and that was between the members and its founders. The group of the founders were called The Superiors, and they were a bit large, but nothing compared to the number of members. Although, their strength combined could probably top that of the entire organization.
Most of The Superiors were prideful and rude, which of course made her want to blast multiple Ga level spells in their stupid faces, but of course no one would dare do that.
'You wouldn't attack them physically,' her mind whispered. 'But what you and the others are planning could be just as bad, if not worse.'
The girl shoved those thoughts away. She had already mulled the entire situation over, calculating the pros and cons, and had decided that she'd rather take a chance on freedom. She wanted no part in a war with Keyblade wielders, even if Master, the highest ranked Superior and strongest of them all, insisted and threatened to dispose of traitors himself if they refused.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she was walking at a bit of an aggressive pace, and all but crashed into a masked member. Neither of them fell, but both were startled.
The masked member exhaled. "Armelle. You gave me a bit of a scare there. What's on your mind?"
"Messenger," Armelle greeted, her voice laced with tension as she pulled away from her previous ponderings. Messenger was one of the two people who kept peace between members and The Superiors. Like his partner Herald, they passed new findings and reports to both sides. "Sorry about that. I was a bit too deep in thought."
"What's on your mind?"
She preferred speaking to Messenger over most people. He was a respectful young man, albeit a little secretive, and easier to get details from. Unlike most in the organization, he never took off his mask. He was both a good friend and a great source of information. Two things that worked in her favor.
And just now, he had been smart enough to notice her behavior was off, and concerned enough to ask her about it. Maybe he could be let in on the plan?
A blur of thoughts and scenarios raced through her head in the span of two seconds. Messenger was one of the few people she considered a friend. Letting him know about the plan had multiple benefits.
One: They would have another person to fight alongside. Even though he wasn't trained in combat, Armelle had taught him some self-defense in case he was ever in trouble, and her comrades would need all the help they could get.
Two: Messenger was a very knowledgeable person. He could help their scheme by double-checking to see if there were flaws, and could also help her develop the back-up plans she had in mind.
Three: As a mediator, he had access to all sorts of data. He could give it to them, which would also be a huge contribution.
Four: He was in the good graces of a lot of people, including Herald- the other mediator- and members of the organization who had not been recruited for the plan yet. If he could convince them to join, it would benefit them all in numbers and information.
Then there were the possible cons.
Messenger could rat them out immediately and intend to betray them. Of course, this could be remedied by a couple spells. Armelle could place a truth spell on him to see if he was serious about joining her, and if he wasn't, she could erase his memory.
However, being one of the few mages in the organization, she was the only one who could do a memory wipe and replace. And she hadn't completely mastered it. So if he sided with The Superiors, the plan could be found out or suspected of, and then they would all be in trouble.
(There was also a matter of conscience. She would feel guilty if she had to place any spell on him. If only she didn't have a conscience when it came to these things.)
She also had to take into account that, since she wasn't a master at memory wipes, she could end up leaving him with amnesia. Which would obviously be noticed. And the only mage who knew anything about memory wipes was her, so there was that.
Of course, the only way to keep that under wraps was to have him go missing. But then the organization would be on high alert, which again led to a likely chance of demise.
Armelle ran the calculations, her green hues flickering with her inner thoughts. She made a decision, and that decision formed words in her mind. After carefully crafting a response for about three heartbeats after he asked, she gave her reply:
"I was wondering if you and Herald really are neutral on matters between us members and The Superiors."
Messenger paused, thrown off guard. "Well," he said slowly. "I don't know about Herald, but I definitely have my own opinions. It wouldn't be wise to say them aloud, though."
She glanced about. There was no one in sight, and after using her staff to check for nearby heartbeats, she discovered that the closest person to them was two rooms over. No one would hear this conversation.
"Really?" She rested her lightly freckled face in one hand. "I'd like to hear these opinions of yours, though you obviously don't want to talk about them. Riddle me this: do you think that the war Master desires will end with everyone alive?"
He was quiet. "That is a dangerous topic."
"If it makes you feel better, I checked for nearby heartbeats. No one is anywhere near here, unless you're worried about a fly or two."
From behind his mask- grey with marigold glass for eyeholes- she could feel his skepticism. "I feel like you're trying to trick me."
"I wouldn't lie to you," Armelle said innocently. 'Only if you don't agree with the plan, which would be quite the shame.'
Messenger sighed and gave in. "I don't think no one will die. And if everyone ends up alive, I believe they won't be without scars."
"What do you think of the war, then?"
He hesitated for a second. "I am apprehensive of it. I don't wish to see anyone in The Saber hurt."
'The Saber. Another name for us members.'
She took a deep breath. Now or never. She leaned forward and whispered, as quietly as she could with him still being able to hear, "What would you think of leaving?"
He was stunned into silence. Armelle fervently hoped he would receive it positively.
Then he replied, matching her delicate volume, "What are you planning?"
She grinned in relief. "Follow me."
'Fang, you are gonna be so thankful to me.' Of course, she could still need to make sure he was being sincere. But Armelle knew Messenger well enough to be certain that he was in.
Forestt
The trail ended here.
She snarled softly, running a long black claw along the soil. There was a conveniently abandoned cottage. The windows were boarded up, and it was all but decaying. To the normal eye, it had not been touched for decades.
But with senses such as hers and the pack's, it was easy to deduce that the cottage was being frequently used, but unrepaired.
For one, the scent stopped around the area. For another, the door handle was free of dust. It was worn, but not because of rot.
A young male wolf with black fur stood next to the figure, making an inquiring whine. She growled softly in return. "Not yet," she muttered in the human tongue, her voice accented with a rasp. She signaled to them that she would make sure the cottage was free to explore.
Crouching on all fours, she padded silently to the door, which was creaked open ever so slightly. She scented the air. The recent rain made it hard to make sense of much, but one thing was for certain: the presence had been here.
Maybe listening would do the trick.
She closed her eyes and focused everything on detecting sound. There was the creaking of the old beams, the scurrying of beetles and hidden insects, the breathing of her pack nearby...
"Why would you call us all the way out here?"
She stiffened, and signaled to the pack to stay back just in case. Thank the full moon and stars above she had been taught the human language. All the effort would have been worth it if it meant eavesdropping on someone's potentially evil plan.
The person that had spoken was a female. If her hearing was correct, there were five others next to the woman inside.
"There's an important matter I must discuss with all of you," replied a male voice. His tone was so smooth and hypnotizing that she wanted to attack him, but she held back.
"Enlighten us, then," huffed another man.
"It's about The Saber." The sly male said, "They seem to have grown increasingly bold."
"Is that so?" the woman who had spoken first said acidly. "If you ask me, you're still sore over the fact that the Keyblade wielders know about us."
'Key...blade?' That was two words put together. The wolf girl pouted internally. Maybe her teachers would know what a Keyblade was.
"Quiet, Narcissa." Seeming to be the leader, the man with the smooth voice continued, "I have no proof, but my instincts have led me to believe that they might try to rebel."
"Impossible." Another voice piped up.
"Is it now? I was just going to let you know that some...punishment might be in order."
"You're willing to endanger our numbers for the sake of something you can't even prove?" snapped the woman again; she had been addressed as Narcissa.
"Don't worry about numbers. It will only be one person. And even if I can't prove it, it will hopefully be a good lesson to the rest of them."
The wolf girl didn't like this. She didn't like it one bit. She didn't like the people inside, the creeping feeling of dread, the sound of the man's voice, and whatever in the stars they were planning.
"Alright then. Which one? That fool of a subordinate leader?" The Narcissa woman asked, a scowl in her tone.
"No. You know who he is. The trainee."
A quiet hiss of protests rose up from the cottage.
"He's one of our strongest members," another male (his voice was deeper than the leader's) objected. "We can't just get rid of him like that!"
"I'd rather you dispose of one of the Watchers." An unfamiliar female spat. "We worked hard to teach the trainee. You really want to throw all that work down the drain?"
"Of course not," he replied silkily. "I won't kill him. But his little friends need to believe he was. All of them."
The hidden figure didn't like where this was going. She didn't feel like sticking around, either. The longer they stayed, the more likely it became that they would be caught. She inched silently away from the cottage, signaling to the pack to retreat back to the main territory.
One last trail of a sentence was caught by pricked ears.
"...the dungeons in Hydra's Abode..."
It confused her more, but she filed it away in memory. She figured it might be good to remember.
You never know when random information might come in handy.
Evdomos
"There's never anything for us to do anymore."
The Siren sighed and cast an exasperated look at her sister, who was pouting on the bed. "Kaia, there's a war outside of our territory. I'd be grateful that we aren't involved."
"I know!" Kaia exclaimed, withdrawing the pale cream wings that had been hunched around her shoulders. She flared them open, "Gimme a test! Like a trivia game!"
'Of course you'd get excited about history.' The older Siren thought affectionately.
"Alright then," she said aloud. "Who's at the top of Human hierarchy?"
"The king or queen?"
"Yes. Who are the people right below them?"
Kaia gave a tiny flutter of her small feathers. "Um...Advisors!"
She smiled. "Who's the current king of the Humans?"
"You need to give me harder ones than that, sis! He and his friends visited us last week, remember?"
"Of course I do. I'm just making sure. What's his name?"
Kaia wrinkled her nose in amusement. "King Rain. He's super nice!"
The Siren chuckled. "Do you remember what he looks like?"
"Uh...oh! He has blue hair and really cool dark eyes, and an even cooler crown!"
"You like his crown?"
"Yeahyeahyeah! It's so shiny and has a lotta pretty stones! Like yours but with more colors!"
She glanced at the tiara that lay innocently on her nightstand. It was made of silver entwined with gold, with small diamonds dotted between. "I'm pretty sure Rain's crown is much nicer than mine, Kaia."
Kaia shrugged, going along with the older Siren's words. "Yours is easier to carry. His is cooler."
"If you say so."
Light knocks on the closed door of the sisters' room caught their attention. "Who is it?" the elder one asked.
"It's Marlowe, miss," replied the timid male voice that was muffled by the door. "Realmkeeper Anouk sent me to tell you he needs to talk to you."
The elder sister got up and opened the door. Marlowe was a Siren adolescent who was usually tasked with sending messages, so it wasn't much of a surprise to learn that he had come to say that.
"I told you," she chided lightly. "I don't like the formalities. 'Miss' is a new one, though. But really, please just call me Gwyneira."
"Um, yes, miss- er, Gwyneira." Marlowe seemed very uncomfortable with calling her by her actual name instead of a title of some sort. "Your father has requested to see you?"
Gwyneira tilted her head slightly. "Did he specify any reasons?"
"No...he just told me you should meet him at Waterfall Cliffs as soon as you could." His eyes- one hazel and the other split into brown and green- darted into the room where Kaia and the tiara was, apparently trying to keep themselves occupied with anything but the higher-ranked Siren in front of him.
"Alright then. Thank you, Marlowe."
Marlowe dipped his head and scurried away, using his inky black wings to propel him away to whatever subject he needed to deliver a message to next.
"Leaving already?" Kaia pouted.
"You heard him. Father needs me."
"Tell me what it is when you get back?"
Gwyneira nodded and smiled. "Of course."
She closed the door behind her and headed for Waterfall Cliffs, spreading her large white wings and taking to the skies.
Land of Departure
The nicest thing that he'd ever seen, concluded the boy with the yellow eyes, was either the sight of the castle or the fancy key that had been no more than three inches away from him.
If it was sellable, it would fetch a price higher than any fortune. But unfortunately, everyone with decent schooling and/or common sense knew that those weapons couldn't be sold. So, clearly, that was out of the question.
Besides, the boy thought, it was easier to stay under the crime radar. Snatching small things from the market or from the pockets of unsuspecting people was much less stressful.
Gazing at the beautiful castle from afar, he wondered what it was like in there. Imagination and dreams were endless, albeit usually unrealistic. It didn't stop anyone from yearning for it, though.
The keykid had seemed extremely confused. Other than the fact that the wielder had been lost, the yellow-eyed boy was pretty sure that the kid's obliviousness could have been used to his advantage. But he wasn't interested in scuffles.
Which turned out to be very good for the keykid.
A ray of sunlight glinted off one of the gold-tipped spires. He exhaled and sat down, taking a few minutes to relax.
With everything that had been going on, he figured wielders were the least of his worries.
Unknown Location...
"You will be going to the Land of Departure for the next few days."
Fang didn't meet the eyes of the slender, menacing figure sitting on the throne before him. "Patrol, I assume?"
"Correct. Snoop around the castle grounds. If you can eavesdrop on any conversations, do so. Your partner will be Fleet."
The silver-haired boy gave a quick glance upwards when his name was mentioned, but looked away again and instead gazed coolly at his newly assigned partner.
Fang looked briefly up at the figure.
This was Master.
For someone who was apparently so full of hatred directed at Keyblade wielders, he was lazy and catlike, wearing a fake smile. His mask was the symbol of the Heartless, with pitch black eyeholes that were nearly impossible to see through. His hair was a stark white, slicked back and the only bright color against the black and dark purple clothes and walls.
Unlike The Saber and even the rest of The Superiors, he, the one with the highest authority in the organization, did not wear a gauntlet.
Fang noticed Master's expression. Instead of the usual smirk, his teeth were fully in view. It wasn't a pleasant grin, however. This was malevolent; weirdly twisted and avid. To put it simply: evil.
A deep pit of anxiety formed in Fang's stomach. All of a sudden, something didn't feel right. But he couldn't question it- not now, or ever, really. So he said nothing of it.
Instead, he lowered his head slightly to show obedience that he did not have for Master. He averted his gaze from the shifting tendrils of darkness that was behind the throne's spikes. "We'll get right to it, Master."
"Excellent."
The voice was tainted with shadows, chilling Fang to the bone. He turned and walked out of the room, keeping his pace steady.
Fleet was behind him, and when they were out of earshot, jabbed him with the hilt of his scythe. "You okay?"
Fang wondered if he should say something- anything. There was so much he wanted to tell the boy, but would it be worth the risk?
'Wait until the night of the plan. Wait for it. Not long now.'
He forced the words out of his mouth: "Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon kid, let's get going."
Fleet dropped it with a shrug, swinging his scythe lazily. It had plagued Fang's thoughts for a while now, what would happen if the silver-haired boy sided with Master.
'How has it come to keeping secrets from my family?'
He pushed it away and headed to the transportation point, where they could use their gauntlets to warp them to their destination. Just another mission, he sighed internally.
But if he had known what would happen to them in the Land of Departure, if he had known all the anger and sorrow to come, Fang would have spilled everything to Fleet right then and there and not even considered stepping foot in the mountains.
Review Responses!
verdance: (Chapter 9) Baron is...probably the one they consider to be better than Master. Master's eviler, in case you couldn't tell from the chapter. :p And yeah, it makes me sad to mention Sora's mom. But I also don't like not talking about her whatsoever like the KH franchise did, so instead of erasing her existence, I just make some small conversations about her.
I completely forgot about that line. I went back and read the chapter and was like 'oohhh I remember now :D'. Getting caught up in this chapter gave me memory loss for everything else that's happened ahahaha. And let me know if you want character development for people like Candace or The Saber. I'd be glad to expand on any characters you like. Your cat and my cat sound very similar lol. And I love the texting bits, even if they don't come up often XD.
Okay so I'm going to confess that I am scared to write the next few chapters.
A LOT of drama and twists are coming up and I am very frightened because I love these characters and this is going to make them very sad. ;(
I don't want to hold it off any longer, though. The upcoming events are CRUCIAL to how I'm going to progress the story...but I am scared nevertheless. ;-;
On a lighter note, I've been considering adding 'Backstory' chapters. Basically at some random point in the story- either when I feel it's appropriate or I just feel like it- an italicized chapter will come out focusing on the story of a character, whether they're OCs or not, and how they got to where they are when May Our Hearts happens.
I'll either put them in this story or as a separately posted side series. It's undecided.
I'm surprised at how much a single review can bolster my inspiration. They make me so happy! :D I was seriously considering putting this story on hold until like December, but seeing as I got a new follower and another review, I was inspired enough to keep it going! Those people know who they are, so give yourselves a pat on the back! :3
If circumstance is against me, the next chapter will be written by the time two weeks pass and maybe a few days longer. If it is with me, I'll have it done before my preferred time limit. May my heart be my guiding key, I guess! XD
Fun little question to my readers: who is your favorite *NEW* character or someone you want to learn more about in this story? Someone from The Saber? The Sirens? Others who have been mentioned? If you want to see more of them, leave a review so I can hear constructive criticism and your opinion!
(Also, does anyone know what the gauntlets the villains are wearing do? Or who the people in the abandoned cottage in Forestt are? Because I want to know how obvious or confusing I'm making it.)
Below is some information I decided to give in order to understand a few things about what has happened in the chapter:
1.) 'The Saber' refers to the Heartless-controlling organization as a whole. The Superiors are the people with the authority, and Master is the one who controls them overall.
2.) Forestt is a world that our main trio have not visited yet. True to its name, it's covered in trees and has a few villages dotting its surface.
3.) On Evdomos, the Sirens kinda have a matriarchy. The females are usually dominant, although males do have a good amount of authority as well. Their highest rank is Empress. The Realmkeeper rank is classified as extremely important, possibly more so than the rulers. This is because, in order to enter their territory, special barriers must be opened.
The barriers were made to respond to a certain Siren song. In order to make sure possibly corrupt Sirens did not learn the song, it was only taught to one family line, who pass it down to their offspring. They're called the Realmkeepers, and are responsible for the opening and closing of the gates.
4.) Gwyneira's name means 'blessed snow'.
5.) As mentioned by Kaia, at the top of the Human's hierarchy is the king and queen. Directly below them are their Advisors. The king/queen cannot make a decision without consulting at least one Advisor out of the maximum of four.
6.) King Rain has three Advisors, and while it might not be important for me to mention them now, their names are Luci (pronounced LU-see), Artemisia (pronounced Ar-te-MEE-shuh), and Myla (pronounced MIH-la)
I think that's all ahahaha.
Hope y'all enjoyed, and a huge thank you to everyone reading! Even if you haven't reviewed/followed/favorited, if you're still here, that means you like the story, and that's enough for me!
somibel, OUT!