~~ A tall, graceful woman looks out at the audience. She brushes deep purple forelocks out of her face and into lavender and gold streaked hair.
"Hey," she murmurs. "For the next two chapters, and maybe more, Alana won't be doing any author notes. They'd slow the flow." She pauses, smoothing out her lavender robe. "This chapter may start out cheerful enough, but then ending tone will carry on for quite a while. It'll be hard on Neko, Anzu, Takeo, but they need to struggle through this."
Another woman steps out of the shadows. "Lily, get to the point." She swings her sword for emphasis.
Lily smiles sadly at you. "Well, since Ember's being impatient, Alana wants you all to read this and tell her what you think. This includes the next few chapters as well."
Ember speaks again. "If the overall non-spooky, if slightly odd, air of the stuff before this is your cup of tea, go read Flowers. From now on, this will be certified creepy and frightened."
"And who said that the light is in every child's heart?" With these parting words, Lily walks into the shadows.
The muse left with you glares fiercely. "Alana's put her heart into THIS story, people, not those that get the reviews like Yaoi Horror and Kingdom Hearts: The Musical. If you don't like this, fine. But I'm sure that more than three people have read this. Next time anyone out there even touches a chapter, I want you to TELL US ABOUT IT. We don't pay, so we don't have a hit tracker. At least say 'I read this, and liked it/ didn't like it.'" Her eyes soften slightly. "This has been Alana's soul for a while now, and I've been bumping elbows with Neko and Anzu since February. So please, don't make this for nothing, okay?"
Ember nods to you and follows Lily. ~~
THANKS:
Ozric 750 (If you actually read this, Ozric, this is the last time I'll put it up for a while.)
Cloud-123 (Thanks for the compliment! ^^ Warms me, heart and soul.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Experimental
Demi: Part Three
Half-believed
*********************
~ A small garden full of flowers on one of the outside balcomnies
Aerith smiles as she smells one of her flowers. :: This one reminds me of Neko. :: The flower is a light, cheerful lavender, the frilly petals edged pink. But the smell is sharp and green, totally opposite to its appearance. One of her own strains.
She stands from her kneeling position, looking around the small garden. Her pride and joy.
:: Listen to me think, :: she thinks wryly. :: I sound like I'm talking about my kid, not my garden. ::
Aerith starts to walk back to the castle, pausing to smell the lilacs and star jasmine, her two favorites.
If you don't count the rest of the flowers. Those are also her favorites.
She turns towards the castle again, smiling slightly and a bit distant. After Cloud had heard about her meeting with Neko, he's gotten all guilty because he's attacked the two experiments, one of which he was sure was Neko, and all that stuff.
Because she's thinking about Cloud, Aerith is almost oblivious to her surroundings. In fact, it isn't until Anzu talks to her that Aerith notices Anzu at all.
"What are those?" The diminutive girl tilts her head curiously.
Aerith jumps, not quite expecting a kid with WINGS to show up. Actually, not expecting a kid at all. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm an ambassador for us." Wide blue eyes blink up innocently. "What are all those plants?"
Aerith takes a deep breath and smiles shakily, still a bit startled. "That's my flower garden. Who is 'us?'"
Anzu shrugs. "Me. Takeo. Neko. I'm not sure about our brother Oni, he's been haunting the lower levels for a while now." She pauses. "Did you see really Neko right after she fought Oni again?"
The taller nods, for some reason trusting this tiny child. "She said something about pain-silver hair, and the first two times getting knocked out."
"Ah." Anzu nods sadly. "She never tells me about her fights. I don't see why not."
"What did she mean by pain silver?" Aerith kneels down to be more on Anzu's level. Anzu shrugs.
"They told me not to say anything about our specialties until we had an agreement. Actually, they don't really want me to talk about Oni at all." Anzu shrugs again, her bright wings ruffling slightly. "Something about first impressions. I think they got it from the book of clichés."
Aerith smiles a bit less shakily. "You only make one first impression?"
"Yeah, that was it. I guess they thought that Oni being mean and calculating might give the wrong impression about them." Anzu slaps her hands over her mouth, eyes widening. "Did I just say out loud?" she wonders, slightly muffled.
Aerith actually laughs. "I won't hold it against you. Most people can't pick their family."
Anzu smiles a bit, lowering her hands. "Yeah, I guess not." She glances towards the castle. "You know, if Neko's watching this, she's probably ready to bash me. Not that she would, but she HATES waiting. So, let's go talk to... Whoever."
"Leon would like to talk to all of you. But I think he'll settle for talking to just you." Aerith stands up and starts walking slowly towards the castle proper. "Say, you haven't told me your name."
"Anzu is what Neko picked for me. I was perfectly happy with my code, though." Anzu tags along behind Aerith, occasionally fluttering her wings and lifting a centimeter above the floor for a step or two- slightly startling for Aerith. "It's nice to stretch my wings for a while. Haven't been able to do it for nearly three years." As they come to a great open area, Anzu suddenly jumps and spreads her wings out all the way, bringing them down in a powerful stroke. She glides for about five feet before landing with a whoop, settling her wings back on either side of her spine.
"It's been three years since I've done THAT too!" She jumps again, but this time just spins around in midair. Noticing that Aerith is gaping at her, she tilts her head curiously to the side. "What's wrong?"
Aerith shakes her head. "Nothing, just was a bit surprised." :: Not many kids can do that... But then, these kids obviously aren't very normal. ::
"Oh. Okay." Anzu shrugs and flutters a step.
"What are you doing as an ambassador? I mean, why are you acting as one? And why did you show up next to me?" Aerith questions.
Anzu shrugs yet again, apparently a very common gesture for her. "I'm to work out when we'll come out, how you guys are going to deal with us when we live in Bastion Proper, and the stuff like that. It'll make me sound like Oni, or as Neko would phrase it, a calculating baka, but he's always the one with plans, so I guess it's unavoidable." She skip-flaps up some steps and into the lift shop. "And you, well, Neko liked you, and you're not a fighter- you're a healer. So you're not as likely to attack out of reflex." Anzu's little face is suddenly grave.
"Cloud attacked us. He hurt Neko and me. Takeo had to hurt him." She sighs ever so softly. "I didn't like it when that happened."
Aerith sighs as she touches a transport crystal. "I didn't either. I actually scolded Cloud for being an idiot. And most of the time, I think Cloud's perfect."
A giggle floats up to the woman as they appear in the elevator. Aerith glances down. "What's so funny?" she queries curiously.
"You don't look like you could scold ME!"
Aerith smiles. "Oh, I can be quite scary when I want to be. But that's not very often."
A lull in the conversation ensues, and Aerith glances around just as they enter a wall to see Yuna and her cousin Rikku staring from another elevator. She waves cheerfully at them as they round a corner.
******************
~~ Ansem's laboratory
Oni sits in the old, abandoned lab. The tubing, the cold stone walls, the plain wooden tables once covered by equipment are as familiar as the back of his hand and the wings on his shoulders. His hair, plain, the tri-color silver, brown, and deep red frames his pale face like a limp curtain. His eyes, dark, contemplative, a somehow sad shade of no real color, look across the room at a passage that leads deep under the castle.
The boy sighs and leans against a wall, ignoring the dampness, and closes his eyes.
:: What did Ansem do to me? ::
Hesitantly, Oni stands and starts to walk to the passage. Pausing before it, he leans against the side of the portal, eyes still that strange color.
:: Why am I this way? Why do I enjoy seeing Neko hurt? :: His thoughts pause, and he touches the slash up his leg. :: Why don't I care that I'm hurt? ::
He looks down the passage, and almost against his will, starts to walk again.
:: Why do I feel a need for dark? ::
We can hear his soft footsteps as Oni steps through near-complete darkness. He looks back and we see the faintest yellow luminescence from his eyes.
:: Why? ::
A nine year old, for the briefest moment, holds the fate of worlds in his hands.
He breaks them and throws them away by the simple act of turning his back to the lab and proceeding down into the darkness below.
If what happened by that simple act were visible, perhaps we would have seen darkness flow out and across the room, out to the castle, and begin to make its way to other worlds.
Because, sometimes, a single scratch will weaken bonds enough that they will break.
TBC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VvVvVvVvVvVvVvV
"Hey," she murmurs. "For the next two chapters, and maybe more, Alana won't be doing any author notes. They'd slow the flow." She pauses, smoothing out her lavender robe. "This chapter may start out cheerful enough, but then ending tone will carry on for quite a while. It'll be hard on Neko, Anzu, Takeo, but they need to struggle through this."
Another woman steps out of the shadows. "Lily, get to the point." She swings her sword for emphasis.
Lily smiles sadly at you. "Well, since Ember's being impatient, Alana wants you all to read this and tell her what you think. This includes the next few chapters as well."
Ember speaks again. "If the overall non-spooky, if slightly odd, air of the stuff before this is your cup of tea, go read Flowers. From now on, this will be certified creepy and frightened."
"And who said that the light is in every child's heart?" With these parting words, Lily walks into the shadows.
The muse left with you glares fiercely. "Alana's put her heart into THIS story, people, not those that get the reviews like Yaoi Horror and Kingdom Hearts: The Musical. If you don't like this, fine. But I'm sure that more than three people have read this. Next time anyone out there even touches a chapter, I want you to TELL US ABOUT IT. We don't pay, so we don't have a hit tracker. At least say 'I read this, and liked it/ didn't like it.'" Her eyes soften slightly. "This has been Alana's soul for a while now, and I've been bumping elbows with Neko and Anzu since February. So please, don't make this for nothing, okay?"
Ember nods to you and follows Lily. ~~
THANKS:
Ozric 750 (If you actually read this, Ozric, this is the last time I'll put it up for a while.)
Cloud-123 (Thanks for the compliment! ^^ Warms me, heart and soul.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Experimental
Demi: Part Three
Half-believed
*********************
~ A small garden full of flowers on one of the outside balcomnies
Aerith smiles as she smells one of her flowers. :: This one reminds me of Neko. :: The flower is a light, cheerful lavender, the frilly petals edged pink. But the smell is sharp and green, totally opposite to its appearance. One of her own strains.
She stands from her kneeling position, looking around the small garden. Her pride and joy.
:: Listen to me think, :: she thinks wryly. :: I sound like I'm talking about my kid, not my garden. ::
Aerith starts to walk back to the castle, pausing to smell the lilacs and star jasmine, her two favorites.
If you don't count the rest of the flowers. Those are also her favorites.
She turns towards the castle again, smiling slightly and a bit distant. After Cloud had heard about her meeting with Neko, he's gotten all guilty because he's attacked the two experiments, one of which he was sure was Neko, and all that stuff.
Because she's thinking about Cloud, Aerith is almost oblivious to her surroundings. In fact, it isn't until Anzu talks to her that Aerith notices Anzu at all.
"What are those?" The diminutive girl tilts her head curiously.
Aerith jumps, not quite expecting a kid with WINGS to show up. Actually, not expecting a kid at all. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm an ambassador for us." Wide blue eyes blink up innocently. "What are all those plants?"
Aerith takes a deep breath and smiles shakily, still a bit startled. "That's my flower garden. Who is 'us?'"
Anzu shrugs. "Me. Takeo. Neko. I'm not sure about our brother Oni, he's been haunting the lower levels for a while now." She pauses. "Did you see really Neko right after she fought Oni again?"
The taller nods, for some reason trusting this tiny child. "She said something about pain-silver hair, and the first two times getting knocked out."
"Ah." Anzu nods sadly. "She never tells me about her fights. I don't see why not."
"What did she mean by pain silver?" Aerith kneels down to be more on Anzu's level. Anzu shrugs.
"They told me not to say anything about our specialties until we had an agreement. Actually, they don't really want me to talk about Oni at all." Anzu shrugs again, her bright wings ruffling slightly. "Something about first impressions. I think they got it from the book of clichés."
Aerith smiles a bit less shakily. "You only make one first impression?"
"Yeah, that was it. I guess they thought that Oni being mean and calculating might give the wrong impression about them." Anzu slaps her hands over her mouth, eyes widening. "Did I just say out loud?" she wonders, slightly muffled.
Aerith actually laughs. "I won't hold it against you. Most people can't pick their family."
Anzu smiles a bit, lowering her hands. "Yeah, I guess not." She glances towards the castle. "You know, if Neko's watching this, she's probably ready to bash me. Not that she would, but she HATES waiting. So, let's go talk to... Whoever."
"Leon would like to talk to all of you. But I think he'll settle for talking to just you." Aerith stands up and starts walking slowly towards the castle proper. "Say, you haven't told me your name."
"Anzu is what Neko picked for me. I was perfectly happy with my code, though." Anzu tags along behind Aerith, occasionally fluttering her wings and lifting a centimeter above the floor for a step or two- slightly startling for Aerith. "It's nice to stretch my wings for a while. Haven't been able to do it for nearly three years." As they come to a great open area, Anzu suddenly jumps and spreads her wings out all the way, bringing them down in a powerful stroke. She glides for about five feet before landing with a whoop, settling her wings back on either side of her spine.
"It's been three years since I've done THAT too!" She jumps again, but this time just spins around in midair. Noticing that Aerith is gaping at her, she tilts her head curiously to the side. "What's wrong?"
Aerith shakes her head. "Nothing, just was a bit surprised." :: Not many kids can do that... But then, these kids obviously aren't very normal. ::
"Oh. Okay." Anzu shrugs and flutters a step.
"What are you doing as an ambassador? I mean, why are you acting as one? And why did you show up next to me?" Aerith questions.
Anzu shrugs yet again, apparently a very common gesture for her. "I'm to work out when we'll come out, how you guys are going to deal with us when we live in Bastion Proper, and the stuff like that. It'll make me sound like Oni, or as Neko would phrase it, a calculating baka, but he's always the one with plans, so I guess it's unavoidable." She skip-flaps up some steps and into the lift shop. "And you, well, Neko liked you, and you're not a fighter- you're a healer. So you're not as likely to attack out of reflex." Anzu's little face is suddenly grave.
"Cloud attacked us. He hurt Neko and me. Takeo had to hurt him." She sighs ever so softly. "I didn't like it when that happened."
Aerith sighs as she touches a transport crystal. "I didn't either. I actually scolded Cloud for being an idiot. And most of the time, I think Cloud's perfect."
A giggle floats up to the woman as they appear in the elevator. Aerith glances down. "What's so funny?" she queries curiously.
"You don't look like you could scold ME!"
Aerith smiles. "Oh, I can be quite scary when I want to be. But that's not very often."
A lull in the conversation ensues, and Aerith glances around just as they enter a wall to see Yuna and her cousin Rikku staring from another elevator. She waves cheerfully at them as they round a corner.
******************
~~ Ansem's laboratory
Oni sits in the old, abandoned lab. The tubing, the cold stone walls, the plain wooden tables once covered by equipment are as familiar as the back of his hand and the wings on his shoulders. His hair, plain, the tri-color silver, brown, and deep red frames his pale face like a limp curtain. His eyes, dark, contemplative, a somehow sad shade of no real color, look across the room at a passage that leads deep under the castle.
The boy sighs and leans against a wall, ignoring the dampness, and closes his eyes.
:: What did Ansem do to me? ::
Hesitantly, Oni stands and starts to walk to the passage. Pausing before it, he leans against the side of the portal, eyes still that strange color.
:: Why am I this way? Why do I enjoy seeing Neko hurt? :: His thoughts pause, and he touches the slash up his leg. :: Why don't I care that I'm hurt? ::
He looks down the passage, and almost against his will, starts to walk again.
:: Why do I feel a need for dark? ::
We can hear his soft footsteps as Oni steps through near-complete darkness. He looks back and we see the faintest yellow luminescence from his eyes.
:: Why? ::
A nine year old, for the briefest moment, holds the fate of worlds in his hands.
He breaks them and throws them away by the simple act of turning his back to the lab and proceeding down into the darkness below.
If what happened by that simple act were visible, perhaps we would have seen darkness flow out and across the room, out to the castle, and begin to make its way to other worlds.
Because, sometimes, a single scratch will weaken bonds enough that they will break.
TBC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VvVvVvVvVvVvVvV
