Lightbringer: Chpt. 18: The River of the Dead
Adalai- ah...yahhhh! (runs away)
Sephiroth- uh...Who is she running from?
(sees another woman come through chasing Adalai with a bottle of febreeze.)
Stinky- her mom. Sometimes in the morning she tries to spray her down with febreeze...
Adalai- (from far off in the distance)- I've been frebreezed! IT BURNS! OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IT BBUURRNNNSSSS!
Stinky- I guess I better do the disclaimer...Adalai does not own Disney, Square, or Febreeze. She doesn't even own the febreeze bottle; it belongs to her brother (her mom got the bleach). And a note; this chapter can be hard to follow; the first part is one of Scion's memories in the River of the Dead, from when he was in Castle Oblivion. Then it goes to him waking up. Then one of Clay's memories, ending just as she wakes up with Scion. I skipped the part between Scion waking up and the end of last chapter because, well, nothing really big happens. There's no quote at the end this time; the lines from Evanesence's Bring me to life between the second and third sections will be my quote this time. They just seemed to fit better there.
"Who are you looking for?"
Scion turned, looking at the girl before him. She was basically a female version of him; long blonde hair that reached down to her shoulderblades, sapphire blue eyes.
"I don't know, but you remind me of her. The way you walk, the way you hold your hands behind your, in the small of your back."
She spoke. "We come from the same heart. I guess...I'm the memories Sora has of that girl. And you...you're the part of him that loves her."
"Watch."
Holding out her hand, she saw the air move, shift and change. Take the form of a girl with bright red hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Mouth open, he looked at her, shocked. It was the girl! The one he was looking for!
"How...How did..."
The blonde girl smiled. "She's just a hologram. A picture. If you work harder, you can add memories to it, character, give it freedom of thought and speech, a body, even if you work hard enough. But it will just be a shell. But if you become a Nobody...you could use those memories we have of her and make a heart."
Scion tentatively reached out to touch the hologram's face. The skin shivered for a moment, ripples spreading across it as if it were water. Then it dipped down, forming a bowl around his finger. The hologram smiled, blue eyes sparkling. It seemed so familiar yet so strange. He felt oddly as if she was there, because he knew, instinctively, that that was her real smile. It made him feel as if a knife twisted in his stomach.
"But it wouldn't be her, would it? Even if we remembered every detail of Sora's life with her, there are still things about he we wouldn't know. The deeper, secret things that are the most important to the development of her character. It would be like her, but not her."
Scion turned to the reflection. "Teach me how to do that."
"It's simple, really. It has to do with the fabric of the In-Between Place. The fabric of the present world is rigid and diverse. Instead of one type of building block, there are many. Many types of atoms, combining into many types of things. But each combination can only be only that one thing and no other. Things are separate from each other, not connected; worlds unto themselves. Each atom is separate, each object, each world. They're interaction with each other is governed by strict rules, inhibited. Specifically the rule of locality; we only affect those things near to us. The present world is a lonely, divided, place.
The In-Between Place is the Present World's complete opposite. Every bit and piece is completely the same; every atom, world, object. This fabric is not rigid but flexible and identical. They have no individuality, blending seamlessly into each other; they are all like entangled particles. What happens to one instantly happens to the other instantly, no matter where they are in the universe. Faster than light; in fact, faster than time itself.
What makes them different is perception. If you perceive them to be a certain way, they will be a certain way. The only rules are the ones you make. They're not local; affecting one bit is like dropping a stone in a pond; it ripples outward, one drop affecting all the others. Except instead of fading, the ripples are uniform, effecting every other piece equally, regardless of were they are.
So what are you going to choose? Endless or Nobody?"
"Nobody. I want to find her."
She smiled. "It's not really a question of Nobody or Endless when you choose. It's whether or not you want to remember or forget. Nobody can change things in the In-Between World and move wherever they want between the three worlds; and they have their other selves; they are the ones who want to hold onto themselves, their pasts, to change the future but what they have learned. That's why they calculate, why they manipulate. Every single one has a sad story, a tragedy that made them as they are, and they spend their lives making sure the same thing isn't repeated. Why they keep to themselves.
The Endless can change their bodies to what they will. They can create things in the present world; ages, objects, hearts, ect, simply by writing a "link" a sort of add-on that describes a thing, age, object, rule, slice of space and time, in a highly descriptive language, so complicated it cannot be taught but only parts of it can be unlocked in their hearts when they become Endless. Depending on the part unlocked, they can make different links; some can fold space and time, some manipulate and create energy, some create new life, others make hearts and the things associated with them; worlds, people, keyblade. The last kind is the rarest and most powerful of all. But they have to follow the rule of where they make the object appear. They can't make a perpetual motion machine or anything impossible like that. They are the ones...who want to forget, who want to change. That's why they isolate themselves, choose certain worlds, foster, guard, and guide the inhabitants, watch they're growth throughout the millennia. They're more isolated, but at the same time, more public. They integrate with normal humans in the Ages they inhabit."
"One way to make something real is to call it's name. Call it enough and what you want will appear. Because you name is the only thing that cannot be taken from you. It is the word for yourself. The Endless' language has an individual name for every atom, every grain of sand, every drop of water. It defines you as yourself. So if you call its name, it will eventually appear..."
And then the memory faded out.
Kairi. He realized. That was her name. Kairi, Kairi, Kairi, Kairi, Kairi. He repeated, mantra-like, as if the repetition could call her to him as it would have in the In-Between Place.
Wake me up inside. He thought-screamed as much to her as to the darkness inside himself. Call my name and save me from the dark. Bring me to life. He didn't want to remember anymore. He wanted to forget.
Without a soul...My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold.
Frozen in time... Without a thought, a voice, a soul
All this time, I couldn't see...Kept in the dark, but you would never follow me.
I've been living a lie...There's nothing inside.
Before I become undone...Save me from the nothing I've become
Now that I know what I'm without...Make me real...breathe me to life.
"SORA!"
The word reverberated in his ears, jarring him from his unnatural sleep. His eyelids fluttered weakly, all the energy sapped from him by the waters of the dead.
He felt someone forcing him to do something he hadn't done in a long time; breathe. Not being alive he no longer needed to do it, but he felt hands pushing down on his stomach, making him exhale, and lips on his, breathing air into his lungs, making him inhale.
"Kairi, stop. Kairi!" a familiar voice said as he felt Kairi's lips leave his.
Cracking open his eyes, he looked around. They were on a boat of some kind, deep in the river of the dead. Far off in the distance, he heard the roar of the last gate of the seven precincts far off in the distance. Unlike the rest of the precincts, this one, the last one, felt surprisingly open and full of light, the water only ankle deep. It lacked the despair and gloom that had marked the rest of the river.
His eyes searched the owner of that familiar voice and his eyes found two individuals. Both appeared sightless, but he knew that both saw more than ordinary sight could.
The first was an old man, bent and ancient, hand on the tilter and guiding the boat with an ease that spoke of familiarity with these strange waters. He had no eyes; they had been plucked out and replaced with gold coins.
Suddenly a familiar voice broke his concentration. "Sora? Is that you?" He turned to face the speaker.
She looked almost exactly as she had 2 years ago, except older, different clothes, and longer hair, when the reflection had conjured up her appearance from his memory. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch her face, to see if she was real or if he was still dreaming.
His hand went right through her cheek, just as it had through the hologram. She smiled sadly. "We had to leave our bodies behind. If we came with them on the river, they would have instantly turned to dust." She shivered from the memory. "It felt so painful; like someone was slowly yanking your heart out of your body." Which was exactly what had happened to her, Scion knew. She was now half Nobody, in body if not in heart. Now that the bonds between her heart and body were broken, they would manifest in the 6 Nobody bodies. It filled him with an irrational sadness, as if his darkness has somehow defiled her.
"He is a Nobody. He does not breathe because he is already dead."
Tentatively, Kairi reached out and touched the skin on his wrist and gasped. It was ice cold and she couldn't feel a pulse. Hearing it, he turned toward her, wanting to comfort her, reassure her, do something, but he couldn't find the words. She looked at him, but unlike so many people, there was no fear or pity in her eyes, only compassion at his unnatural state of un-life. "Can you feel...anything?"
"Yes." He said. He wanted to touch her, feel her warm skin, but was afraid she would shudder or cringe from his own ice-cold flesh. But he did not have to be; she snuggled close into his side, running her arm up and down his back vigorously, as if trying to warm him. Feeling her against him, he realized that without her body, she was just a cold as he was.
Kairi felt him relax against her side. When they returned to the shore, she would be living and he would still be dead; that barrier would exist between them, whenever she felt the nip of his cold flesh, reminding her that he was dead and she was living. She had found each other after years of searching, only to find that they could never be together, that they could never love each other.
But for now, on this boat, they were both dead; that barrier didn't exist. For a short time she could feel his skin without it feeling cold. She could love him without the fact that he was dead mattering. He pulled an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She, in turn looked up into his eyes. "How long do we have?" he asked.
"We can extend it to an hour if you want. But no longer. Charon has other passengers that need to be attended to."
Scion looked up, expecting to see the speaker's usual blindfolded countenance; instead he saw an astral body. It took two munny from it's pocket and handed them to the old man; grinning from glee, he polished them on his rags and popped out the old coins, revealing bone-white sockets, and popped the two new munny coins into them.
Astral bodies always took on the appearance of their owner's physical body; but its body didn't match the human body Scion knew its owner to have. It had long, raptor-like claws on its hands and feet, an elongated mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth, a tail tipped with a three-clawed hand and two leathery wings, and a large flower-shaped organ on the side of the head. The green in her eyes were gone, replaced by its owner's true eyes.
"So that's your normal eyes, Ellos?"
Not answering, she turned around and summoned a woman, a few years older than Ellos, with long black hair, brown eyes, several bells hanging from pouches attached to a belt that went over her shoulder and sideways across her chest. Razing her hands into the air, she began to chant free magic, one hand normal and the other made of what looked like metal.
Kairi leaned against Scion, nauseous and sweating. The taste of iron filled her mouth and bile rose in her throat. To her surprise, she felt Scion's hand on her bare flesh between her skirt and her blouse, gently stroking the skin with his palm and fingertips. His touch made her vertigo disappear. She sat there, savoring the feel of his hands on her and his arm around her for a while and then raised her head, looking in his eyes. She knew he would not make the first move; Sora had always been shy about his feelings for her, thinking she couldn't see them when in fact everyone could. Gazing into them, she tilted her head up and pressed her lips against his in a chaste kiss.
To her surprise, he kissed her back deeply, stroking her cheek with his thumb. She broke the kiss, gasping for breath and resting her head on his collarbone. His arms were wrapped around her shoulders and back, head bent protectively over hers. He buried his face in her red hair.
Fate is an ironic thing, is it not? It seems to go out of its way to make you unhappy. Thank god for irony, so we can at least find humor in these things. Only minutes ago, he couldn't wait to get out of here. Now he didn't want to leave.
Ellos looked at Kairi and Scion kiss, and it was at that moment she decided that she would sign Hades' contract. Something about their love, their closeness, made her long for that kind of intimacy, that care and love from and to another person. Ellos had never really experienced that kind of thing before; she had no parents to love her, no experience or teaching about it, never seen it in her fellow Forgotten in Kingdom Hearts.
Before this she had wanted to be free to experience new things, but now she wanted that freedom to be able to experience something like the love that existed between Scion and Kairi, a feeling so strong and lasting that it was able to bind them together and keep them searching for each other, even after 4 years. After all, a month wasn't that long to wait for your freedom.
She just wanted to be loved. But who in their right mind would love someone like her?
"I'm pregnant!" The figure sang over and over, skipping happily over the path to Clay's house.
Clay yawned, woken by the woman's yells. She stretched, yawned, and went over to the window, only to see her friend's face pressed right up against the glass.
"Yeek!" She said as she jumped back from the window. "Don't do that, you scared me to death!"
the grey-skinned girl merely laughed. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"I'm pregnant! I'm due in June!"
"That's great! Now we have to plot and plan to have...a surprise baby shower! Have you decided on a name? The Godparents?"
Her friend grinned, holding up her hands. "Slow down, slow down! Your definitely going to be one of the godparents. If it's a girl, it'll be Elizabeth, and if a boy, we'll call him Vincent. Sound good?"
Clay grinned. "Yeah."
"I also wanted to ask you a favor."
"What?"
"You know that my husband was diagnosed with Marfan's recently, right?"
Clay nodded. "Marfan's is autosomal dominant. That gives your baby a 50/50% chance of inheriting it. You want to test for it?"
Her friend nodded, hands crossed in front of her stomach protectively. "God I hope she doesn't have it- I don't want her to have to go through the same thing he did."
Clay nodded. She knew the 'he' referred to her husband.
Could that have possibly been Ellos? Ellos...Elizabeth...Why am I seeing this now?
Ellos backed up, getting a running start and then threw herself across the chasm, sliding on the slick dry ice. She brushed the chips of ice off her many layers of clothes and peered out from behind a thing bone visor, with small slits for eyeholes to protect from the glare.
The age she had found herself on was very different from Yul. She had decided to call it Rashinija. Like Yul, it had the same kind of sun; enough radiation to burn your weak, fleshy sack of water clean, but there the similarities ended.
Rashinija was covered by a sea of liquid oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, water, and various other gasses and liquids. The surface of that sea was covered by ice; a complex maze of caverns, channels, crevices, and other pitfalls and natural traps. This frozen surface was was every bit as dangerous and schizoid as Yul. Both had poisonous gases, breaking through from under the ice in geysers, expanding as the liquid became gas. There were blizzards a hundred times more powerful than earth, lightning storms, and hurricanes. Instead of ashfall, there was snowfall made from dry ice, which was just as harmful. Deceptively thin crusts of ice over chasms, ionic disturbances and gravity wells, explosions from chemicals under the ice meeting the air, and flows of super-cold water and ice. And there was the sunrise, which liquefied the ice on the daytime side; therefore Ellos was constantly on the move, staying in the twilight, habitable band between day and night.
Also, the atmosphere of the age, unlike Yul, was thick and opaque, letting no light onto it's frozen surface. Ellos had to rely on hearing, smell, and touch, to navigate in the desert of ice.
But sometimes, rarely, when sunrise was about to hit, the bombardment of the thick atmosphere with radiation from it's sun cause an aurora to appear in the sky. Ellos had never seen such a thing on Yul; Yul didn't have the magnetic field needed to produce an aurora. So she would stop and watch it any chance she could get. Also, it gave the added benefit of light, allowing her to see.
That was what she did, most of the time; lived in the gummi ship, flying out farther when the sunrise came to close, reading, and watching the aurora. And waiting. Waiting for something to happen, waiting for a sign, waiting for something and not knowing what it was.
It would be a month before her wait would end.
Adalai (smelling surprisingly fresh)- and...done. Stinky!
Stinky- R&R, please.