Cards of Fate
Chapter Three
"Someone's in trouble!" Sora shouts rushing ahead as Luxord's eyes widen lunging to grab the young teen.
"No!" Luxord shouts as Sora was too fast for him to fully grab as he began running after the boy with Kara barely keeping up with him. "Sora! Don't rush in blindly! We don't know how bad this is!"
"I know someone must need help after-" Sora began to protest as he was running ahead.
BANG
BANG
BANG
Sora and Luxord both narrowed their eyes as the two picked up their pace. One hoping to rescue whoever is in trouble, the other trying to stop a young hero in the making from getting himself killed.
Kara stared at the two as they ran towards the sound. She had to sprint to keep up with them. 'This doesn't feel good' she thought in worry.
Just as quick as they sounded, the gunfire ended, going silent.
An explosion erupted from behind the house.
'I have to hurry, what if it's Ethan or Mia in trouble?' Sora thinks in worry as he rushes down the side of the house, almost tripping over a discarded rake as he ran full tilt to what looked like an open garage where flames was visible to see a battle torn garage that left him in shock.
A car was totaled and on fire, two dead bodies on the floor and a bloody shovel, with burning parts of the walls and floor from oil stains and gasoline alike at various spots in the garage.
"Finally! Next time…oh this is bad" Luxord begins to scold Sora only to trail off as he sees the destruction in the room. Quickly analyzing one hell of a fight happened here, but there seemed to be no sign of the victor yet.
Kara stopped behind Luxord and stepped around him, seeing the destruction. "Jesus... what the hell happened here?" she asked. She spotted the bodies, one missing part of its head and another was covered in burns. Her eyes quickly landed on the destroyed car and walked towards it. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.
"Ethan... this is his car..."
"That's Ethan's car?!" Sora asks in worry as he moved closer trying to see if he could see Ethan in there, but Luxord pulled him back before getting too close.
"Sora, don't. You trying to get burned, because that's what happens to normal people who get too close to fire" Luxord says with a glare aimed at him as he mentioned "normal people".
Sora fought the urge to snap back and use his magic to put out the fire, but remembered why Yen Sid wanted him to do this alone. To help Sora learn to blend in on his own and not reveal knowledge of the outside worlds as openly as he used to. Magic didn't seem to be a thing here for Kara, given how she reacted when he offered to heal her.
Kara stared at the car, inching close enough to get a look inside while being careful to not get burned by the flames. No body. Metal bars went through the windshield and the roof had been peeled back like a banana. She stepped back quickly, her face and arms slightly red from the heat. "He's not inside."
"Are you alright, Kara? You shouldn't have gotten so close…" Luxord asks seeing her arms and was looking her over as Sora took the opportunity to look around. Bullet casings were all over the place, but to Sora they were strange empty cylinders. He picked one up and hissed silently as it was still slightly hot.
"What is this?" Sora asks quietly in confusion.
'Does Sora not know firearms from this world?' Luxord thinks of what limited experience he is aware of Sora having with guns being between the flintlock pistols the pirates used or the special crystal arrow guns that Xigbar uses.
'Right…no one used modern firearms against Sora before…' Luxord thinks with a grimace. That would not help his outsider like look he needed to hide. But at least he could explain it as Sora being somewhat sheltered, maybe…
"I had to be sure..." Kara said softly and glanced at her arms. "I'll be okay." She gave Luxord a smile, hoping to ease his worries before turning her gaze at Sora, seeing the empty shell case in his hand.
"Bullet casings. Whoever, I'm guessing Ethan, was firing at something." She bent down to pick one up, eyeing it. "It... doesn't make sense. Who or what was he firing at?"
"And why so many?" Luxord asks, quietly agreeing with Kara as even a bad shot shouldn't need to waste so many bullets to put anything down. Nothing normal that is, a strong Heartless he could understand, even a stronger lesser Nobody, but there shouldn't be anything local requiring this amount of bullets to stop.
Luxord looked to the burned corpse near the ladder going up to a catwalk and frowned at the clear signs of someone blowing a hole in his head through his mouth. 'Suicide? Or did someone literally shove a gun in his mouth and killed him like that?' he wondered as Sora gagged at the sight as he turned to see what had Luxord's attention.
"Oh god…what happened to him?" Sora asks feeling sick.
Kara stood next to Sora, staring down at the burned body. "Whoever he was he turned into a crispy critter" she said with some remorse and even covered Sora's eyes with her hand, spotting the damaged muscles spasming even after death.
"I think whoever won took the ladder and left… I don't see how else they got out" Luxord informs Kara as he looks around.
"Has to be. The shutter gate is welded shut due to the heat of the flames" Kara agreed and looked at the ladder. "Only way is up." She nudged Sora to the ladder. "Keep your eyes on the ladder Sora. Not at the body."
"A-Alright…" Sora said hesitantly as he fought the urge to look again, climbing up quickly as Luxord looked to Kara and gestured for her to go up.
"Ladies first, my dear" Luxord insists with a gentlemanly smile.
Kara smiled at Luxord. "Thank you, Luxord" she said genuinely. "For being here and watching over us." She stared climbing.
"Not a problem for me" Luxord assures before climbing himself as she made it up, seeing Sora investigate where the catwalk led with Kara watching him closely this time.
Kara spotted the shelves on the catwalk, one recently moved. One of the shelves held a picture frame laid on its front and beyond it is a drop off point. She jumped down easily, noticing some stairs.
Sora dropped down after her as Luxord came up to the spot. Shaking his head almost bemused at how Sora's adventurous side would never seem to dampen.
"Ah, youth, how I envy thee" Luxord mutters as he jumps down to join the two.
"You're not that old" Kara teased him gently, having heard the muttering, climbing the stairs quietly and looked around the hallways. It smelled of rotting meat, mold, dust and old plaster.
"I'd certainly hope not" Luxord says with a chuckle as he appreciated her sentiment.
Kara smiled and entered the hallway. The doors to the dining room are wide open to reveal the grotesque dinner menu. A severed arm lay in a pool of blood under the table.
Sora gagged more vocally as he felt his lunch trying to fight his way up.
"Oh god…is all this food rotten and what is a guy's arm doing here?!" Sora protests before running for the nearest door being the kitchen, only to stumble as he bumped into something and found himself on the lap of what looked like someone's really old granny in a wheel chair. "Ah! I'm so sorry!"
"Sora!" Luxord calls in shock as he and Kara went to check on the young man, only to find he nearly knocked over a wheelchair bound old lady. "This is why I insist you look before you leap more."
With a hurry he got the boy off, before checking the poor old woman for injuries. "I do apologize for my young friend here" Luxord hastily apologized as he doubted the old granny is a threat and his own gentleman instincts kicking in.
The old woman stares at the two blankly, her wrinkled face looked dry and her mouth slightly open.
Kara walked over to them, seeing the old woman and stopped. A throbbing headache pounded in her head, seeing the old woman's eyes lock on hers. She stepped back and leaned against a wall, closing her eyes.
"Kara, are you alright?" Luxord asks in concern as he notes her leaning against the wall with an expression of mild pain on her face.
Sora quickly turned to her as well, looking worried. "Do you need a minute to sit down or something?"
"I... yeah..." Kara started and stopped and tried to sit, her head throbbing. "Fuck..." In her mind she could hear the faint giggles of a girl, a child. It seemed youthful and playful almost.
"Kara, perhaps we should find you a seat now" Luxord says gently guiding her to one of the intact chairs around the questionable table. Kara tried to nod her head in thanks only to cringe from the pain.
"Sora, see if you can find an icepack in the fridge's freezer" Luxord orders as Sora for once went to do so without question. Wincing silently as he tried to move around the granny without bumping into her again.
'Wh- our na-?'
Sora paused for a second looking around in confusion. "Luxord…did you hear that?" he asks earning a raised eyebrow from the man.
"What? All I hear is silence, the old lady breathing over there and you" Luxord asks wondering if the kid heard something he missed, but Sora shakes his head trying to rid the strange thoughts for now. It must have been his imagination.
"Nothing, be right back!" Sora says rushing for the fridge
"Be careful..." Kara called out to him, her tone filled with mild pain. She had no idea where the headache came from. Stress? Worry? A combination maybe. She never had a headache happened this fast, unless she was getting a vision. She gripped Luxord's arm, needing something familiar to cement her in the presence.
Luxord holds her hand gently, but firmly over his other arm to help try to keep her grounded. Looking around for anything that could have triggered her condition to becoming this.
' -an yo- -ar me?'
Luxord tenses at the distorted voice of…a child? It felt weird, like he couldn't make everything out and started looking around. He couldn't see any kids around nearby or outside of any windows…
"I got one!" Sora calls rushing back and breaking Luxord out of his confused thoughts to see Sora offer Kara an ice pack.
'Maybe Sora isn't the only one hearing things, must be the mold at the house. Note to self, get checked with a doctor Xehanort trusts soon…' Luxord mentally resolves in slight worry. The mold was a bit worrying and not knowing anything about it only made it more a problem for him.
Kara gave Sora a grateful smile as she took the offered ice pack with her free hand and placed it on her temple, feeling the cooling sensation. That helped keep her grounded as well as Luxord's hand. "I'm sorry. I don't know what triggered it... I don't get these types of headaches unless I get a vision."
"So you didn't have one?" Sora asks confused, wondering what could have been affecting her.
"I doubt it, Sora" Luxord states to Sora before giving her a look of concern. "How are you holding up?"
Kara sighed. "Better. The pain is lessening. It could be the mold. It does have the ability to make you feel sick if you inhale the smell long enough."
'I don't think I imagined the giggle. Sounded too real despite how faint it sounded' she thought in some worry.
"Sora, try to avoid smelling these things or breathing near it. Distancing ourselves as much as reasonable might be our best play here" Luxord suggests to the young teen as Sora gave him a disbelieving look.
"That might be hard…considering it's in a lot of places in the house. This place has seen better days" Sora says gesturing with his arms at various stains on the walls and floor, as well as the table they sat Kara near.
"We're trying, Sora, please don't argue with me on this. I do want you safe" Luxord says with a sigh as while he knew the boy had a point, this was not helping them at all.
"We're in a tight spot" Kara said to the pair. To anyone watching, it looked like a concerned mother and wife talking to her family. "We'll need to check our mental health and on each other while here." She gave a gentle and reassuring squeeze on Luxord's arm while trying to calm an upset Sora.
"Wise advice, Kara," Luxord agrees with her, nodding his head as Sora gave her a small smile.
"Sure I can agree with that, there's something weird about this place anyway. Where do we look first?" Sora asks looking around.
"How about the kitchen? We can already see not much is here in the dining room" Luxord suggests.
"Besides the questionable food on the table" Kara stares at the dirty plates laden with pale fleshy entrails that suspiciously looked like human organs. She stood slowly, trying not to breath in the foul odor.
"Agreed" Sora agrees quickly not wanting to look at the food any longer and quickly went into the kitchen. Luxord watching Kara carefully as they follow him, hoping to make sure she stays steady as they carefully move around the wheelchair bound old woman.
Kara still felt a bit off from the headache as she walked, eyeing the small kitchen area. The open bar area is covered with papers and an old calendar. "Try not to touch anything" she cautioned, reading one of the papers. It looked like a bill.
Niko's Hardware
Saw $24.99 x 1 = $24.99
Rope $34.79 x 4 = $139.16
Pet Collar $19.99 x 20 = $399.80
Subtotal: $563.95
Tax: $22.26
Total: $586.21
"Someone is either hoarding or has a bad habit of stealing from their victims…" Sora says shocked to see all the chain saws, rope, and collars. Feeling worried someone stole those dogs and was glad the Dalmatians are not here.
"Common practice if you're smart, young Sora" Luxord states as he looks over the papers too, but doesn't touch them. "Sometimes the enemy has what you need and you should take it IF you need it, these people seem to do it too much though."
"That or they have someone go into town to buy all of it. Everything together is over $500" Kara said staring at the amount before stepping away and into the kitchen.
The stove looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years with an old pot on the burner. Dirty dishes stacked haphazardly in the sink and counter. The refrigerator door was cracked open, giving a peak to any that was brave enough to open it
"Sora…when checking the fridge for the ice pack…what did you see?" Luxord asks the teen as Sora frowns at the memory.
"Just…don't open it, trust me" Sora said trying to repress a shudder of disgust.
Kara eyed the refrigerator and used her boot to close it, not wanting to touch it with her hands. "If it's anything like the table, I already have an idea."
"Right, let's see what else this house has to offer…" Luxord says continuing forward and seeing a damaged trap door in the floor. It seemed to travel somewhere under the house.
"We missed one heck of a party" Kara mused, seeing the hole and scanned the room. A bunch of boots littered the floor near the door. She wasn't sure why but something tugged her towards them. Bending down, she noticed the boots were small, either for an adult with small feet or a child. One boot stuck out to her. It read, Eveline on the heel.
"Maybe we should check it…" Sora says getting ready to open the door, only for Luxord to grab his arm.
"That would be ill advised given we are in unknown territory and it's hard to defend ourselves down there" Luxord says firmly refusing to chance it.
"Who knows where it leads. Could be a trap" Kara replied and picked up the boot, going still all of the sudden. Her eyes grew distant. She saw an outline of a child, barely making out dark hair, pale skin and dress. The child gave an innocent smile, giggling.
'Hello Auntie' the child said.
'Who are you?' Kara tried to ask.
The child laughed and disappeared.
"Kara? Are you alright?" Luxord's voice snaps her out of her out of her vision to see Luxord and Sora looking at her in concern.
"I saw someone... A kid" Kara said dropping the boot and quickly wiped her hand on her pants. "I couldn't make out her features well."
"From your visions?" Luxord asks remembering she had visions before of a child
Kara nodded. "Yes. Something is off about the kid. I can't put my finger on it."
"We'll have to keep an eye out for her as we investigate this house then" Luxord states as Sora nods in agreement.
"Don't worry; I won't let her hurt anyone, Kara. We'll find Ethan and Mia, and then save them" Sora assures his new friend.
Kara was touched by the reassurance and smiled. "Thank you, Sora" she said and ruffled his hair gently. "I'll make sure to do the same for you and Luxord." She grinned.
Sora batted her hand away gently with a smile. "Come on, I'm not a little kid, Kara." Sora playfully protested as Luxord smirked at the sight.
"I don't know, she could be thinking of adopting you for all we know" Luxord playfully teases.
"Don't tempt me" Kara joked. "I hope to have own kids and husband one day. Sora would make a good big brother." She poked Sora's cheek playfully.
"And you'd make a good big sister" Sora says rolling his eyes with a smile.
"Okay, I think we rested enough…shall we press on and find our missing friends?" Luxord asks with a smile, glad to see the two in better spirits now. Plus it was getting subtly creepy feeling like the wheel chair woman was looking at them, but it was hard to tell with her if she was sleeping or awake.
"Sounds like a plan." Kara turned her gaze towards the old woman in the wheelchair, unaware that her gaze changed to one of suspision.
Entering the hallway, another large door greeted them with a weird metal lock. The door is cracked open enough to reveal a room. Pushing it open, a large sitting room appeared.
"Huh…almost looks homely, if not a mess" Sora mentions looking around the large room up and down the stairs as the group walks in.
"Indeed, it's a shame they let this place go as they did" Luxord said with a calculating look on his face. "They may not be royals, but their house is quite nice for a middle class family."
"It looks like a plantation building from back in the slavery days" Kara mused, looking around. "It's big enough to have servant's quarters."
The staircase split into two ways, curving before meeting at the upper level. Below is a closet size room situated nears the stairs. Inside is a metal statue of an old man, holding a rifle in its tight grip.
"This family seems to believe in being armed…we must be cautious" Luxord warns seeing the shotgun in the statue's hands.
"Right…good idea" Sora says having a few experiences with gun users as enemies. He could handle them, but it was a pain as those fighters love keeping their distance.
Kara glanced around trying to find a clue to Ethan's whereabouts and failing. She started up the stairs to get a bird's eye view and gagged at the smell of old blood and dust. Side tables were pushes against the wall; some of the drawers were open. Deciding to look through the content, she found a black and white photograph of a child. "I think I found something."
"What is it?" Luxord asks making his way up stairs, as did Sora as the two flanked her sides to look at the photograph of the child.
"Who is that?" Sora asks with a curious expression.
"I don't know" Kara said honestly. "I don't want to jump to conclusions yet but she reminds me of the girl I saw in my vision." The girl in the photo looked young and innocent despite not smiling.
"It could be a coincidence…" Luxord grants, but his frown showed he didn't fully believe that. "But given all that is happening, you have to understand my doubts of that being the case."
"Well, if we find her, then we can ask her" Sora offers uncertainly. As much as he wants to stop whoever is doing this, he had a hard time believing someone who looks so innocent, if not lonely, could be doing this.
Kara glanced at Sora, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes. She wanted to tell him that there are rare cases of children being murderers, that it wasn't so strange, only to hold back. Why add that to his plate? "If we find her" she said and put the photo back into the drawer.
One door has a dead, preserved body of a snake nailed to the door. A second door was on the other side of the walkway.
"Curious…why mark some doors like this?" Luxord wonders with a troubled frown. He knows crazy people rarely use proper logic, but surely there must be some method to this madness…
He tests the knob of the snake door to find it locked. "This one is locked" Luxord notes simply with a small grimace, restraining himself from asking Sora to use his keyblade on it with Kara nearby.
"I don't know how to pick locks either" Kara winced and saw the weird keyhole. "Might as well check the other door." Turning on her heel, she quickly walked to the other door and grabbed the handle, turning. "Now we're getting somewhere." She pushed the door open to see a hallway that swirled around the walls, creating a box like entrance. To the right the floor led outside to a veranda. The left went in the opposite direction
"Which way do we check first?" Luxord asks curiously.
"I can go left while you two go right" Sora says about to head that way before Luxord grabs his hoodie.
"Not a chance, young Sora, we're sticking together" Luxord says with a firm tone.
"But we could check the rooms and halls faster this way!" Sora protests.
"True, but you will be without back up as well and no self-respecting adult would leave a child alone in a hostile territory" Luxord states trying to remind Sora of the covers they are trying to protect of their images.
"Did any of our previous conversations stick?" Kara asked sweatdropping. "We agreed to stick together." She gave the teen a look. "Especially with the mold messing with our heads, we have to lean on each other."
"Well, yeah, but it's just a quick check!" Sora tries to defend himself on this. He's use to always going off and doing his own thing with Donald and Goofy following. It felt strange, not bad honestly, but strange to have adults practically supervising his movements and at times pulling him back to the group.
"Still too risky, Sora, it's safer with us" Luxord comments with finality that earns a glare from Sora.
"You're not my dad, don't start acting like it" Sora warns with a small bit of annoyance.
Kara pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Let's calm down, okay?" she begged the two. "You both have good points and both have risks. Staying together has fewer risks." She looked at Sora. "Think of it this way, Sora. There is a chance that you might run into something that is much stronger than you. What would happen if we couldn't reach you and you got hurt or worse?"
Sora really restrained the urge to tell her that he very much doubted anything was stronger than him here. He fought over a thousand heartless by himself and won; he fought against the likes of Maleficent, Hades, Ansem the Seeker of Darkness, Xemnas and his Organization XIII members. Some of them one on one!
Yet, he knew he couldn't tell her any of this, not if he wanted to prove he can keep his fears and powers a secret. That the others can trust him to keep their secrets of other worlds like a keyblade wielder is expected to. He was really starting to hate all these secrets.
'-or boy. I fee- -our frustr-.'
"Huh?" Sora blinked at the young sounding female voice; did someone…say something to him?
Luxord raised an eyebrow at Sora's curious reaction just now.
"Sora? Are you okay?" Kara asked seeing the look on his face. "Did you hear something?" She looked around, not seeing anyone besides them.
"I…I thought I heard a voice just now" Sora answered uncertainly as he looked around, he couldn't see or sense anyone else but them…
Kara looked a little concerned and looked at Luxord, wondering what he thought of this.
"You know this only further proves my point of us staying together right, Sora?" Luxord asks, but to Sora it felt more like a statement as he reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah, yeah… I get it, safety in numbers" Sora says not liking it slows them down and restrains his movement, but was glad it at least helps him protect Kara better.
"Thank you, Sora" Kara said relieved. She was reading say something and stopped, barely hearing a voice from outside. She placed a finger to her lips and nodded towards the sound. Bending low, she inched towards the veranda, seeing the opening was patched up with lattice panels. Near Zoe's trailer is a middle aged woman holding a lamp. She was muttering something and calling for Mia.
"Who is that?" Sora whispers, curious about the woman, but having enough restraint not to shout who she is to her.
Something that made Luxord inwardly sigh in relief.
"She could be the mother of Zoe here, but clearly the woman is looking for Mia for some reason. Did she escape?" Luxord whispers to both Sora and Kara.
"It's possible" Kara whispered back, eyeing the woman. "Zoe said both her parents are involved and same with her brother. I'm sure they are around somewhere."
The woman stepped out of sight and down a path. Seeing this, Kara moved away and towards a hallway with two doors. The floorboards freaked under her boots, making her wince.
"Shhh" Sora shushes as Luxord winces at the sound, praying to any deity listening it didn't make anything crazy come after them.
Kara stayed still, not moving a muscle as she waited and listened. Besides her breathing and the others, nothing stirred. She glanced back at Sora and Luxord and nodded slowly as she slowly opened the first door. It looked like a game room. A pool table sat in the middle of the room along with a bar to the side, a deer head hung on the wall. An old fashion TV with a VHS player had been placed on the bar.
"Cozy…though it does need some cleaning, a better selection of drinks, a poker table, and a new paint job…" Luxord says as he critically analyzes the potential game room to something more his taste as ideas formed.
'-ou're a ro-?!' A surprised young female voice seems to ask as Luxord stiffened, pulling his cards out of his sleeve by will in an instant and looked around. Ready to throw them at a second as he tried to sense who was with them. Only to see nothing but concerned looks from Kara and Sora, but Sora's held a hint of guarded suspicion in his eyes.
"Luxord? What's wrong?" Kara asked genuine concern in her voice. Something seemed to set off her new friends. It was worrying. She cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling his muscles tensing under her fingers. "Easy big guy."
"Kara at this point I fully believe someone is trying to get under our skins and mess with us. Why I don't know yet…" Luxord states with a firm tone as he scanned the room for what felt like the third time before reluctantly putting his cards back up his sleeve.
"Yeah…I think he's right." Sora said, reluctant to agree with a…somewhat enemy? He never could read Luxord well, but he seemed the least likely to ever try to kill him in the past.
"Agreed" Kara said, feeling strange. "I don't think it's the mold alone that's doing it. Something else is at play. Or someone..."
The image of the child flashed in her mind's eye. It was a little clearer now.
'Auntie... play...'
Her eyes snapped shut, cursing her gift.
"Kara…did you have another vision?" Luxord asks in concern as the three was looking between each other.
Kara breathed slowly. "Something like it. The image is getting clearer..." Her voice slightly strained. "I don't like this."
"We need to find Ethan and Mia, fast…who knows if they're being affected by…this too." Sora says with worry in his tone.
Kara hoped nor but she doubted that her family was so lucky.
Next to the TV is a black tape. On the label it read, 'Ethan, please watch this.'
Sora soon saw the tape as he was looking around the room and pulled it out, looking at the tape confused and a little worried.
"Kara…I think I found something" Sora calls for her as Luxord and Kara walk up next to him.
"What did you find, Sora?" Luxord asks as Sora holds up the tape for them to see.
Kara looked at the message. "Mia's hand writing" she stated and looked around, biting her lower lip nervously. "We need to watch this."
"Are you sure? This is meant for Ethan" Sora asks uncertain if it was right or not.
"Sora, this could give us a clue as to what is going on with Mia, I vote we do this" Luxord says giving his support.
"We can't wait, Sora" Kara said trying to hold back the urgency in her voice. "We're lacking leads and time isn't on our side."
"Alright…but when we find Ethan we show him this tape" Sora says not wanting the message to miss from its intended destination.
"Depends on what we find, but sounds reasonable enough" Luxord tells Sora with a nod of his head, Sora sighs as he figured that would be the best he gets as Kara silently nodded in agreement. Reluctantly, he put the tape in the VHS again and pushed it in, the TV coming to life with color as he did.
The low whirring sound of the tape being played broke the silence of the room. The screen showed the count down on the colored screen before it cleared. A thin woman with long black hair showed on the screen, her face pale and listened with sweat. Fear, desperation and hope filled her eyes.
'Ethan- If you find this, I know I can't expect anything from you. Not after what happened. Not after what I did. But I want you to know that wasn't me. I-I don't know what happened. There is so much that you need to know' she started, her voice halting and catching as she spoke to the camera.
Kara felt her back stiffen as the video played.
'There you are. You gave us quiet the scare young lady' a scratchy voice echoed behind Mia as the lady from before appeared at the gates.
Mia gasped and starred to run down a covered bridge. Broken baby dolls hung from the roof.
"Mia..." Kara started.
"This is Mia?" Sora asks in worry seeing she looked so afraid of the woman they saw earlier.
"She's clearly in trouble, has this not been her first escape attempt?" Luxord mutters his thoughts quietly to himself, unaware Kara heard him anyway.
"I don't know" Kara murmured to him, gripping her pant leg as she watched the video. Seeing Mia so scared made her feel sick.
Mia ran into a building, closing the double doors behind her.
'Over here mommy' a sweet child's voice was heard. The feed glanced at the shadowy figure of the child ad Mia ran through another door.
"Mommy? Do Mia and Ethan have a kid?" Sora asks confused.
'Yes sh- -oes~' A young sounding female voice was becoming clear as it answered in singing tone.
Sora tensed a bit as he heard the voice, subtly looking around.
"No. Ethan never mentioned a kid. They wanted to start a family after Mia got back from her job" Kara said confused.
'You're wrong Auntie...' the same sing song tone was heard in Kara's head. The woman tenses next to Luxord, gripping her pant leg harder.
Mia's heavy breathing could be heard on the tape as she ran. As the trio watched the tape, they saw Mia hide constantly from the woman, either behind a large door near a window or behind a crate in the hallway. Soon Mia was hiding behind another crate as the woman was starting to walk near the hiding spot.
'Please don't find her, please don't find her…' Sora mentally begs as he felt every protective instinct he has resting up and demanding he fight off this crazy lady for poor Mia's safety.
'This is troubling, considering the tape was left here for Ethan to find, Mia either somehow escaped and left it here or someone else did… But if the latter, who and why?' Luxord wonders as he tries to puzzle this mystery together.
'Oh god... Mia... what is going on here?' Kara thought in worry, feeling her heart speed up. Mia was crouched down near the crates and pallets, eyeing the light from the lamp.
'We love you goddamn it. She wants us to be a family' the older woman started, trying to make her voice sound sweet. "All you have to do is accept her fucking gift!'
Mia took her chance and ran past the woman and jumped down into a hole.
'No, no, no! You don't escape your share of the blame!' The old woman screamed. 'There's no way out of their missy!'
Mia is on her hands and knees as she crawled under the boards, passing junk and boxes. Inching towards what she thought is an exit. Slowly... A board slid shut over the hole, sealing Mia inside the crawlspace.
"Oh man…is she trapped down there?" Sora asks in worry for Mia.
"Wait and see, Sora… it's the only way we'll know" Luxord says as Mia moves around in the crawl space.
Kara watched silently as Mia crawled. The video showed some discarded boxes, a crank of sorts and another photo. It was an image of Mia and a little girl. Before anyone could get a closer look at the image, the lights went out. Mia let out a gasp as she started to breathe heavily.
Suddenly the lights came on and they got a close look of Marguerites wrinkled face and fly away hair.
Kara jumped and grabbed onto Luxord's cloak.
'Where do you think you're going missy?' Marguerite hissed and grabbed Mia's leg, dragging her back.
Mia sent out a kick at the old woman and tried to crawl away. She looked at the video, pure fear in her eyes. 'Ethan, help me. Ethan, help!' She screamed, her nails digging into the ground ad Marguerite yanked her away and the video ended.
"She got her…" Sora said horrified and sad to see this.
"She's also clearly on the loose again or else we wouldn't be seeing this or that woman outside looking for Mia" Luxord states trying to remind them of what happened briefly before they started watching this tape.
The video stopped and ejected from the VCR.
Kara removed her hand from Luxord's cloak and stepped away from the bar, calming her frazzled nerves. "We can only hope that she did escape."
"We have only one way to find out, I'm afraid, Kara. We need to get out there and track down that woman with the lamp" Luxord says reluctantly with a sigh, he could easily see that woman is not of sound mind at all. Purposely seeking her out to find Mia was bound to give them a lot of trouble.
"Let's go introduce ourselves then" Kara said forcing herself to sound braver than she felt, her resolve to find Mia outweighing her fear.
"Right, let's go get Mia back!" Sora shouts in determination and rushes ahead.
"Sora! Oh not again…" Luxord sighs as he moves after the boy.
Kara gave a small chuckle as she went after them. "That boy is gonna give us gray hair before the night is over."
The air felt heavy in the hallway. The fresh air from the veranda couldn't cut through the musty smell. Family photos hung from the walls, hinting at a past life that seemed simpler and possibly happier.
"That would be truly unfortunate, I rather like your hair and my own the way they are" Luxord says with a teasing smirk, before focusing on speed walking to try to keep up with Sora, not wanting to lose sight of him. "Sora! Slow down, we need to stick together!"
"Can't you two speed up? We are in a hurry here?" Sora asks stopping ahead of them with a pout, he hated moving so slow.
"And run head first into a trap? Not very smart, plus we should pace ourselves when we have a chance to" Luxord counters, not everyone has endless amounts of stamina after all…or was an energetic teenager who always seemed on a sugar rush.
Kara smirked at his comment. "Tease" she teased back as she kept up with his speed. "Remind me to not give you any sugar." She was amazed with how energetic Sora is.
Creak
She stopped and looked behind her, scanning the area. Was she imagining things?
"Oh come on…" Sora groans as he tries to wave off the comment. "I'm not even that bad. Luxord is just that old."
"I age like fine wine, Sora, you just lack maturity yet, but none to worry, you'll get there too…eventually" Luxord says with a smirk at his little payback.
"Hey!"
Kara let out a giggle, watching the two bicker. 'Got to agree with Luxord on that. He looks good' she thought and blushed softly. 'Think on that later!'
"Oh my. You two are actually getting along" she teased.
"I wouldn't go that far…" Sora says not fully trusting the guy.
"Oh no need to pretend you're tough, I know you have plenty of fun with my games, young Sora" Luxord says playfully earning him a slightly annoyed glare, but he doesn't fully comment on it.
Thinking more on how strange it is he seems the least serious of the members, besides Demyx when it comes to them wanting to do him harm.
"Looks can be deceiving Sora" Kara grinned.
Creak
The sound was a bit louder this time. Kara turned around, scanning the hallway. There was a faint sickeningly sweet smell mixed with the smell of something burnt. She took a step towards the smell.
Luxord and Sora both stop their arguing as they heard it that time; both narrow their eyes and subtly nod their heads in agreement. Bickering could wait till later, something was here.
"Hey, who's there?" Sora asks with a challenging tone as Luxord gently grips Kara's left arm, subtly trying to pull her back as he prepares to use his magic to defend her. It wouldn't do for a lady to be hurt now on his watch if he can avoid it.
Luxord held her a bit close at first as the movement startled him, but relaxed as he saw it was a squirrel. Letting out a small chuckle as it ran past them.
"Well, at least we can say these people haven't killed all the woodland creatures here" Luxord tries to lighten the mood with a joke.
"Heh heh yeah…" Sora nervously chuckles as they continue down the hall together now. Sora still felt a need to hang close as the feeling of being watched hadn't faded yet
Kara let out a small laugh. "Yeah" she said still feeling a little off despite feeling relieved it was squirrel. "Seeing their door decorations, I'm wouldn't be surprised if they tortured the poor animals. I'd like to smack them upside the head."
"Woowee! That's some sass girl!" A male voice boomed behind them. "Tell you what; I'll give you a free pass for getting a dainty punch in."
Kara froze at the voice and turned slowly to see something she didn't expect to see.
The man from the garage, someone that should have been dead and not moving around was standing at the end of the hallway, holding a large hammer. His skin, no longer looking like melted rubber, is healing at a fast rate, even repairing the damage to his face.
He gave a wide grin. "How about it?"
"How…how, how he is he up? I…I know I saw a hole in his head" Sora asks in shock and horror at seeing his body healing. Worse, he couldn't sense the man's heart well as he normally could. It felt corrupt and twisted, swallowed by something he couldn't call darkness or light, but something he couldn't put into words other than 'wrong'.
Something was severely wrong with him.
"I'd advise against it, sir…perhaps you need a hospital" Luxord tries to diplomatically handle this, though with the man carrying his makeshift hammer, he had strong doubts it would work. He could feel his cards in his sleeve readying them as he prepared for a fight.
"I don't know Sora" Kara said in horror and grabbed the back of Sora's jacket, pulling him back gently. "No one should be standing after that."
"Oh where are my manners, I'm Jack Baker. Don't you know it's rude to drop by without a call?" He taunted. "Though I'm sure my little girl is happy. Possible new family members."
"Family members?" Kara whispered to Luxord and Sora.
"Search me," Luxord responds as lost as she is with a hushed hurried whisper before directing his attention to Jack Baker. "A pleasure good sir, I'm Luxord. This is Kara and Sora."
"No last names? Isn't that a bit rude?" Jack asks with a bemused grin. "Or did you forget your own last names… possibly disowned?"
"No, no, nothing of the sort" Luxord insists with a calm smile hoping to keep things civil as they slowly backed up a step as Jack moved forward one slowly, matching his pace, but wanting to keep distance.
"My last name is Heartnet" Luxord lies quickly and smoothly to avoid giving away his true old last name.
'it's not goo- to li-'
Luxord scowled for a miniature of a second, the words and voice becoming almost crystal clear. Damn, that thing now of all times? He did not need to lose his sanity with a threat before them.
Kara glanced at Luxord, seeing the scowl on his usual calm face.
"Well now. Usually we get stragglers or tourists but a husband, wife and their kid? Looks like your camping trip is gonna get cancelled" Jack stated wickedly, thumping his hammer against the palm of his hand.
Sora could hear a giggle in his mind as well as Kara.
"Sorry, but I believe not" Luxord answers curtly before slashing out his arm in a thrusting motion as a card flew out in a blur of movement, impacting Jack's neck and digging deep into his flesh as blood spurted out and Jack stumbled back a step in surprise with wide eyes for a second.
Kara even going wide eyed in shock how fast Luxord attacked and that a card pierced a man's flesh like a blade.
Clearly tall, dark, charming, and mysterious had hidden deadly tricks up his sleeve after all.
Only to be surprised to hear Jack chuckle as he tugged the card out with a little effort, seeing the wound close rapidly as he looks at the card that pierced his neck.
Jack could see it had a lot of blood on it, but he could still make out that it was a Ten with a stylized X in the center.
"That almost tickled" Jack said and flung the card to the ground. "Nice trick blondie. I'm not without my own." He sped walk towards the group, ready to grab Sora. Seeing this, Kara yanked Sora behind her and yelped when Jack grabbed her forearm and lifted her easily off the ground.
"I caught a fish!" he laughed.
Kara winced as she dangled. "This fish has teeth!" she spat and slammed her boot into his face, hard enough to crack his nose.
Jack grunted and dropped Kara to the ground.
'They're in trouble…I have to help!' Sora thinks as he sees Jack back hand Kara into Luxord.
"You need to learn some manners missy!" Jack snarls out, before widening his eyes as Sora charges at him, past Kara and Luxord who is holding her protectively. A giant key shaped sword forming in his hands as he lunges for the man.
"YOU FIRST!" Sora shouts slashing at Jack who barely tries to block with his hammer, only for the magical weapon to cut clean through the staff section of his weapon and send him flying back as his shoulder snapped from the force of his swing.
Jack let's put a scream as Kara looks on at Sora and his keyblade in shock and awe to see what should have been impossible as far as she knew.
Luxord and his card was one thing, but what in the flying pigs was she seeing?!
Was it real?! Was she dreaming?!
'Sora, kill daddy and you can be my older brother' the voice giggled, sounding happy and playful.
Sora stopped in his tracks suddenly, hearing the voice. It sounded so clear, like it was behind him.
"What!? Who said that!?" Sora asked horrified his blue eyes wide in fright. He couldn't have imagined that, right? The way the voice said it sent a chill down his spine.
Jack grunted as his body started to heal from Sora's attack, stunned by the weird weapon he was using and how fast and strong he is.
Kara couldn't take her eyes off Sora, concerned
"Heard what? What did you hear?" Luxord asks now concerned, he never seen Sora hesitate or look scared for no reason. Sora was no actor, he was not a liar and he could see fear in the young teen's eyes.
'Oh! Can you two finally hear me?!' A joyful and triumphant tone sounded from a young girl's voice as Luxord quickly spun around, holding Kara protectively as three cards flew between his fingers ready to be thrown, only to hesitate as he saw no one behind him.
'What…that can't be…I know I heard someone' Luxord thought in shock and disbelief as he stared into the empty hall leading to the living room behind them.
"Heh, heh, heh. You have it…don't you?" Jack chuckles darkly with a knowing grin. "You have her gift too."
Kara held onto Luxord as he spun around, seeing no one behind them.
'They can hear me auntie! The connection is stronger now!' the young voice squealed happily.
Kara winced and gritted her teeth, her temper getting the best of her. "Shut the hell up!" she snapped, gripping Luxord's arm.
This only enraged Jack. "Don't be yelling at my little girl!" he growled. "I'll wring your scrawny neck!"
"Luxord, Sora, we need to go now!" Kara exclaimed.
"Agreed!" Luxord shouted as he turned and threw the three cards at Jack again as he grunted in pain as two of the cards hit his raised arms in defense, but one hit his forehead as he stumbled back.
"Fight like a man you damn fancy coward!" Jack roared in pain and annoyance as Luxord grabbed Sora's arm with his now free hand and pulled both Kara and Sora to run down the path with him.
"W-where are we going?!" Sora asks still reeling from the shock at what the voice said and someone was speaking to him sounding so close, but he can't find them or sense them.
"Anywhere but here!" Luxord answers curtly.
"Come on now! No need to run from family!" Jack's voice could be heard in the distance behind them as well as faint stomping sounds of something heavy trying to follow them.
"Downstairs!" Kara said as she ran, her heart thumping hard against her chest. She knew she shouldn't look behind her but her morbid curiosity got the better of her.
Something black and wet looking seemed to pop out of nowhere. It towered over her, an inch taller than Luxord lumbered after them. Seeing this almost made her piss her pants. "Don't look back!"
Sora sadly couldn't help himself and did just as she said; he could feel it as he saw it briefly as they ran downstairs.
This thing, it felt more condensed and focused version of what felt wrong of the forest and house, like it was gaining a form of its own, but not fully.
Sora nearly tripped on the stairs as Luxord roughly grabbed his arm to keep him up.
"She said don't look back, Sora!" Luxord scolds as they made it to the bottom as he glanced up to see the creature trying to follow them.
Looking like a moldy mess of flesh, plant, and mold with sharp teeth and claws. He immediately counted it out as a magical being as he couldn't sense any magic he was familiar with coming from it.
'Magic? That does exist?! I knew it!' The young childlike voice cheers with glee. Luxord opted to ignore it…for now.
"Where now?" Luxord asks quickly.
"The door!" Sora shouts rushing for the front door, but finding it locked shut, but not seeing any keyhole. "It's locked! Where's the keyhole?!" Sora asks in a panic as he couldn't use his keyblade to unlock the door without some form of a lock to focus his power on.
'You have powers too?!' The child like voice asks sounding extremely happy with this discovery.' You're just like me aren't you?! Oh this is great! Way better than Lucas!'
"I don't know what you're talking about! Who's Lucas!?" Sora asked starting to panic as he spun around the room, trying to find who was speaking to him. "Where are you!?"
Kara looked at Sora in concern and worry, pushing down her own anxiety and fear as she yanked her shotgun from her back, leveling the sights and fired.
Bang BANG BANG!
The molded creature stumbled and twitched as the bullets hit its veiny and knotted flesh. Black blood shot out from its wounds as it twitched down the stairs.
"Come on, ugly, keep your attention on me" Kara baited the creature and fired another round.
The creature's head exploded into bits, showering the stairs as the body fell backwards. It twitched before stilling.
"We need an exit! Now!" Luxord shouts as he was extremely tempted to use a dark corridor now. Consequences be damned, this was spiraling out of control!
'What's a Dark Corridor? Sounds like you're trying to leave, I won't let you' The child like voice sounded sharper and darker in that instant as Luxord felt a headache come on.
'W-what…oh no…is she not just telepathic, but able to affect our minds as well?!' Luxord thinks as he tries to focus, but is finding it difficult.
"Luxord, come on!" Sora urged the man, looking around for an exit.
'Leave Luxord and Sora alone!' Kara half demanded and half begged, hoping to make contact with the kid.
'I won't let you leave. You belong here now' the girl's voice darkened. The ground seemed to shake suddenly.
"I…I can't! She's preventing me from focusing, Sora! We need another exit!" Luxord shouts in great effort as the pain kept getting worse as he tried to mold the darkness to form a corridor, wispy black and purple shadows coming and going in seconds, never truly forming anything because of his breaking focus.
Sora gritted his teeth as he considered blowing up the door with his magic now. Forget blending in, they was in danger and needed out now!
'Do I need to punish you too, big brother?' The voice said in a saddened, but also scolding tone.
Sora's eyes widen as he grunts in pain, dropping his keyblade as it disperses into motes of light as he tried to make the pain stop.
'Think, Kara, think!' Kara thought desperately, looking around the room, searching for an exit for her friends. Her eyes landed on a room that is under the stairs. The wall had opened, revealing a secrete hallway. At this point, she couldn't debate on the dangers it could lead to.
Rushing forward, Kara grabbed Luxord and Sora's hands, leading them towards the door. "I need you to trust me."
"O-okay…lead…the way" Luxord said through the pain as Sora groans from the agony as she guided them into the secret passage as Jack was coming down stairs. Seeing them take the path with an annoyed grunt.
"Fine, flee down that way, I have to find that so called "new daddy" anyway. We'll finish our business and introduce you to the rest of our family later!" Jack hollers at them as they felt the pain lessen bit by bit as they slide down the tight secret passage into a new room.
Sora and Luxord breathing a sigh of relief as the pain finally stopped.
'I really don't want to have to keep punishing you like this. So please don't make me. We can be so happy together, I promise. Just give us a chance and you'll see that there is nowhere else you'd rather be or ever need than us' Eveline's voice sounding almost apologetic, but firm in her stance to Sora and Luxord.
'Funny, you do know what the term hostage means, yes?' Luxord asks mentally sarcastically, convinced she can hear thoughts now. A sharp jolt of pain was his answer as he groans briefly before it fades away.
'THIS is for your own good. You'll see in time' the voice says sharply in a scolding childish tone, but yet sounded almost like a mother scolding her child for doing something or saying something naughty.
The room they entered was slightly less dusty but still smelled of mold. A stuffed deer sat against some rails in the center of the room, an overstuffed blue chair near a coffee table and old refrigerator. Next to that is a door with a dead crow nailed to the wood.
Kara searched the room for danger and sighed before going to check on Luxord and Sora. "Are... are you okay?" She asked softly, close to crying due to stress, fear, worry and seeing so many things that she didn't think was possible.
"Yeah…I think so…for now" Luxord answers reluctantly, honestly this whole situation went from a nice and amusing good deed to a full blown nightmare that could not only endanger him, but Sora and Kara too. Endanger their secrets, those close to them if this person ever learned their pasts. He had no idea how far her scope of powers were and didn't want to risk finding out the hard way.
"I think so… but who is that?!" Sora asks Kara in some worry mixed with fear; this has never happened to him before, not that he could recall anyone messing with his head before to this scale.
'Oh! Where are my manners~' The voice giggles sweetly. 'I'm Eveline!'
Kara went stiff, hearing the name. "Eveline... The boot I found earlier... you're the little girl I saw in Mia's video before she disappeared" she stated.
'You got it right, Auntie. I saw some of mommy's memories and saw you. I'm so happy that you showed and brought your friends!' Eveline cheered happily. 'You can be a real family!'The connection was strong enough for everyone to hear.
Kara lowered her head, gripping her hand into a fist. "Let Luxord and Sora go. They're innocent in this."
'No'Eveline said coldly, sending a jolt of pain into Kara's temple. The redhead held her head, letting out a whimper.
This made Luxord feel his anger swell up inside him, not only was this powerful child holding them hostage, but hurting a woman who was only making a fair request. Clearly their captor was not the type to hold any decency or honor when people ask for something she doesn't agree to or like.
"You say you want a family, but a true family chooses to stay, you aren't giving us a choice. We're more like prisoners here" Luxord says, barely suppressing a growl to his tone, only to feel another sharp pain to his head for a brief second.
'Only because you don't see what we can be together, not yet at least. But don't worry; I'll help you see in time. Maybe you can even convince mommy and daddy to accept me too!' Eveline scolds at first, before growing cheerful at the end.
"Look, I get you must be lonely, but this isn't fair to them or us. Just, please stop trying to force us and I promise to give you a chance okay? You're only scaring everyone into not trusting you" Sora tries to plead to the girl.
'You will join in time or you will die' Eveline said simply, all playfulness gone. Her tone hard and adult like.
"Where are Mia and Ethan? What have you done to them?" Kara asked, wincing from the pain.
'Mommy is hiding and Daddy is closer than you think' Eveline said in a sing song voice. 'He'll be playing with some of my friends. I got to go now. I'll check on you soon!' She laughed.
"She's asking for it…" Luxord mutters darkly as her voice faded, honestly tempted for the first time in his life to harm a child, via spanking or outright assaulting them. A thought that would normally make him frown in disgust or beat lesser thugs for trying such a thing, but this child didn't feel normal at all or innocent. It was this little thought that he was desperately using as justification and comfort for toying with the idea of killing Eveline.
"Why won't she listen…surely there has to be some other way…" Sora mutters in worry, he can almost feel in how she talks that she must be really lonely and desperate for a family, but doing things like this is not right. What is he to do? He can't just kill her for wanting to have a family, but he can't ignore her threatening to kill them either…
It was so confusing!
Kara willed the pain to lessen in her head and let out a sigh, feeling troubled and scared. She felt scared before when working as a bouncer and as a kid but this made the other events seem silly compared to what she is feeling now.
She leaned the railing, griping the old wood tightly. "I'm sorry for dragging you both into this..."
"It's not your fault, Kara…how was we to expect this…and judging from your reactions, you had no idea how big this was yourself" Luxord says with a small wave of his hand as he massages his temple with the other.
"Luxord is right, we wanted to help and we won't hold a grudge on you for it. Ethan and Mia need help… and I still wish to help them" Sora says in determination.
Luxord smile as he saw a bit of his young prince in Sora for a moment. Those two would make good friends indeed.
Kara gave a small smile, feeling comforted by this. She still felt some guilt and tried to ignore it.
"I'll make it up to you somehow" she promised. Her smile turns to a smirk. "There really is more to you than meets the eye." She pointed at Sora. "You summoning a giant keysword out of thin air."
She turned her attention to Luxord. "And you mister, besides using your cards, I saw something trying to appear next to you earlier. It was purple and black."
"Ah…heheheh…" Sora nervously chuckles as he knew he was so busted now. And he really wasn't sure how to explain it and seem local now from the look in her eye that said she knew no one else could do that.
Luxord mentally cursed as he knew she seen more than he wanted to know, but right now they needed all the allies they can get.
"It was me trying to create a portal known as Dark Corridor. It lets me exit another portal that appears in a place I mentally have a picture of in my head" Luxord reluctantly admits to Kara as their new partner who should know their abilities if they was to work together and survive.
"Not that our new captor will let me use it" Luxord said with distaste of their situation. "Otherwise I would have taken both you and Sora out of this situation entirely."
Kara was silent as she listened to them speak. She let out a sigh. "Okay... I'm gonna try to not lose my head after hearing this" she said, trying to keep a lid on her emotions and not explode on them. "I'm sure you have valid reasons for wanting to keep it quiet. Tight situation and you had no choice." She placed a hand over her mouth, breathing through her nose, eyes downcast.
'I feel hurt that you didn't trust me enough to know the truth' she thought, not fully understanding why she felt that way. This was different than telling them about her ability.
Luxord frowned at hearing her words, feeling ashamed he had to keep the secrets he did, but he knew it was what he needed to do. All for the greater good and for his liege, the young prince.
"Kara…I am sorry, but you have to understand our powers would paint targets in our backs as it is. Take a look at Sora for example, he can unlock any lock in existence as long as he has some form of a keyhole to work with to my knowledge as is, a sword that can cut or use blunt force despite its physical design purely by him willing it to do one or the other" Luxord begins to explain as Sora looks to Luxord in shock he is admitting this much.
"It's powers that have earned him plenty of attention, good and bad. Just as my own skills have earned me my own. People like us need to keep secrets to avoid upsetting a mass majority of people in your world or those in charge" Luxord attempts to explain in a way he finds believable.
Kara knew he was right. There powers aren't meant to be taken lightly and not everyone would have understood. "It would be Salem Witch trials all over again" She murmured, earning a confused look from Sora. If the government ever found out about Luxord and Sora, they would be captured.
"I'll keep your powers a secret. It's not my story to tell honestly and it was rude of me to jump down your throats when you were already in pain. I am sorry for that. I hope you can forgive me."
'Thank Kingdom Hearts that worked, go figure people with powers was hunted here before' Luxord figures rolling with what he was told as he gave her an appreciative nod. "We truly appreciate your understanding, Kara; I hope you can forgive me for having to be so secretive in the first place."
"If you don't mind my asking…" Sora starts with a raised hand earning Kara and Luxord's attention. "What is the Salem Witch Trials?"
'Damn it, Sora! Don't you know how to blend in better than that?' Luxord thinks in restrained anger at saying something stupid that could put them as out worlders.
"Didn't your parents or teachers teach you this in your school days, Sora?" Luxord asks hoping to deflect it or give Sora wiggle room to make him seem not as suspicious.
"School?" Sora asks remembering in Twilight Town Hayner, Pence, and Ollette mentioned it and homework before, but he didn't recall anything about school before.
'If I didn't know you honestly have no clue what that is from your tone and eyes…I would have thought you a damn good actor there, Sora' Luxord thinks in pity.
"To answer your question, Sora, the Salem witch trials is one of the darkest years in history" Kara said deciding to keep it short. "Anyone who was considered different or had different beliefs was considered as witches and was either hanged, burned or stoned to death. There wasn't much proof back than on who was a witch or just a poor soul wanting to think differently."
She let out a sigh. "If I had lived during those times and people found out about my ability, I would be charged as a witch and killed."
"That's terrible!" Sora says in horrified shock. "How could anyone think that's okay?!"
"People as a whole don't always react well to change or something new. And in fear, they can grow to do things they normally wouldn't to protect what they know" Luxord explains grimly.
"It still happens today" Kara said with a frown. "Even with the updated machines, medical care and such, history will repeat itself. Now they have better tools to torture and kill those who are different. The human race is its own monster."
She looked at Sora and smiled. "Despite that, there are still good people out there. Your one of them, Sora." She ruffled his hair and grinned at Luxord. "Same for you card dealer."
"My thanks for you seeing that, Kara; it seems visions is not your only special sight" Luxord complements her sincerely for her open mindedness.
Sora smiled as he felt comforted to hear her encouragement for him and ruffling his hair.
Kara flushed lightly and smiled. "I like your way of saying it. A lot better than being told that I'm naive for thinking that way." She felt calmer and more relaxed, relieved that the tension lifted a little.
"I wouldn't call it naive, and those who do are quite close minded if anything" Luxord assures before looking around the room. "Now, perhaps we should start tracking down Mr. Winters before Jack does?"
"That's right!" Sora exclaims in shock and determination to help. "He's still in danger, but Eveline said he's close!"
As if on cue, the sound of a gun being fired off echoed loudly.
"I think that's our sign" Kara said. She had forgotten about the second door being opened.
The doorway showed a small room with files and shelves. The smell of mold and old blood was stronger.
"We need to hurry!" Sora says running ahead once again.
"Oh for the love of…Sora! Wait for us!" Luxord protests as he chases after the boy with a bemused Kara once again.
"Sora, slow down!" Kara called out. Growls assaulted their ears ad they got closer.
A man grunted and fired again. As they neared, they saw a blond haired man fighting one the molded.
"That's Ethan!"