Experimental

Beginnings: Part Three

Yareru ka?

-- Dreams

Crystal clarity.

Neko has never had dreams like this, where there's nothing but eternal iridescent light and the scent of fresh water twining with vanilla. But despite the strangeness, it's warm and comforting, as if she were curled into Oni's protective embrace. Far, far away, there seems to be an echo of a sweet song, a lullaby calming her as it tickles her ears.

Specks of gold-white spiral around her, settling near to her hand, and a faint voice (as clear as everything else, despite the eternal whisper) speaks.

'Kitten.'

:: Kitten? I'm not a kitten. ::

'I'm sorry, kitten. It's happening again.'

:: ... Again?... ::

'I made too many mistakes. I wish it were not so.'

:: What's going on? ::

'Go.' The voice pauses, and the lights quiver, chiming a minor chord. 'You shall follow in the footsteps, as all will. I pray for the best.'

The lights seem to fade, and as they do, so does the warmth and the music. Neko shivers. :: No! Wait! ::

They brighten again.

:: Why is Oni being so... so mean? Why doesn't he love us anymore? I miss... I miss him! :: She sniffles, fighting back tears. The song shades to mournful.

The lights quiver again, then spread around her. Someone hugs her from behind, a cheek resting against the top of her head as the whisper comes again.

"I'm sorry, Kitten. It's my fault." He tightens the hug slightly, and salt tinges the freshwater smell. Strands of sun-bleached straw-blond hair fall into Neko's sight. "This will be hard on you, and I'm so, so sorry."

With that, the Dream fades into silver and black.

'Step forward.'

Takeo starts at the whispered voice, staring up at the broad pillar of peach-colored light.

"What is this?" he asks the air, air that smells faintly of sweetness and rain. "Why is everything so clear and bright?"

'True Dreams. True Dreams. Step forward, child."

The gentle tone lulls back Takeo's questions, and the boy does step forward, right up to the column. He reaches out to touch it, and everything brightens--

'Careful. This is the last haven you'll find here. Beyond, there is no light to protect you. But don't be afraid. Your heart is the mightiest weapon of all. Remember, you are the one who will open the door to the light.'

A teen with chestnut spikes of hair glances around the odd cavern, searching for the voice...

Takeo blinks his eyes open. "What was..."

'Forward.'

He obeys, walking slowly across odd white sand. A swirl of sky-blue brilliance lies before him, and he brushes his fingers against it. A tug of dislocation sweeps over him, a rush of opalescent sky, and he's before another pillar-- this time swirling the color of fresh spring leaves. Before the voice can speak again, he pushes his hand into it, and another brilliant light washes past him.

This vision is vividly real, and Takeo can hear the lap of waves, smell clean brine and rain-washed plants, tinged with aromatic flowers. The light is clear and strong, despite the tinge of sunset drenching everything in gold and red.

He's standing on a broad wooden bridge, and towards the sunset is a small plateau of land. Something on the tiny patch of land tugs at him, and he bursts into a sudden run.

"I dunno," the same spike-haired boy says, flopping onto his back easily, obviously used to lying on the rough grey bark of the tree he's upon. The redhead (Takeo sees a familiar cast to her large, gentle eyes, but the warm copper light mutes their color) shoots him an amused glance from her perch on the trunk. But the other boy, the one with layers of silver-white hair, doesn't seem to notice Spike's flippant tone.

"Exactly."

"You've changed, Riku." The girl sounds as amused as her earlier glance was, but her eyes are suddenly sad, and the recognition strikes Takeo quickly.

"That girl looks like Anzu-chan." And as Riku turns, Takeo sees his own eyes set in a proud face.

'Enough, child.'

Takeo's eyes open again, before another blue swirl, and he falls into it before he has a chance to recover. A soft lemony light awaits him this time, and a very real push carries him in. As the brightness fades, the same smells and sounds awaits him, although it's now a midday sun that shines down on him. Three children (the girl barely looks older than Oni) stand around him, looking on expectantly. 'Speak with them,' whispers the voice, and Takeo slowly walks to the girl.

"Anou..." he murmurs, barely looking at her. She smiles sunnily, and says without pretense, "What's most important to you?"

Takeo doesn't say anything for a moment, surprised by the abruptness, but then replies, "I suppose... My family?..."

"Yeah, they're important, but are they the most important thing?"

Her sunny smile doesn't fade in the slightest when Takeo bristles. "Of course they are! I'd give anything for them!"

"Good. You'll have to." She flips her hair carelessly, and shoos him towards the taller boy.

Wakka doesn't even wait for the child to make a sound, just asks his own question. "Wha' do ya want outta life, kid?"

"Safety."

"Ya? Howya gonna do that, running all the time?" With a relaxed spin of his Blitzball, he points to the other boy.

Blue eyes laugh at Takeo, and Tidus grins brightly. "Hey-lo! Whacha' most afraid of, kiddo?"

"The people in the Bastion. The adults."

Tidus' smile blinks out at those words, and his eyes suddenly seem infinitely sad. "But why are you afraid of them?"

"Because..." Takeo stares at the ground, rubbing his arms as if trying to warm them. "Because they wouldn't like us. They'll hate us, because of... Because of Ansem..."

Tidus snorts. "Huh, because of that? You do know two of them were altered by his old science project, right?" He crouches on his heels to stare into Takeo's eyes, and continues. "You have realized that Anzu can calm people if she tries, and Neko has insanely strong shields in case, and all of the grown-ups are a million times more relaxed and accepting than anyone anywhere else?"

Takeo blinks rather blankly at the older boy. "Are you trying to tell me something?..."

Tidus rolls his eyes impatiently and straightens back up. "You're a bright kid. You'll figure out what's smacking you in the face SOMETIME soon..."

'Time to wake up, child.'

And Takeo does.

Time passes for the three children, and they drift like ghosts through the minds of the people of the Bastion. Neko no longer risks the hallways, and only ventures into the library in the dead of night, while Takeo spends most of his time musing over his suddenly coherent, guiding dreams. Anzu floats like a flicker of light between them and Oni, trying to break the eldest's cold, dark shell, to no avail-- more often falling onto Neko's shoulder in tears from the strange change in Oni.

"I miss Niisan... I want him back..." she would whimper, strain in every line of her tiny, delicate body. And Neko would pet Anzu's fall of russet-tinted brown hair gently, as lovingly and soothing as she can, and wait for her sister to leave before letting her anger simmer.

Outside of the dark passageways, the other inhabitants are of mixed mind on the children. Most of the women and the gentler men are convinced that they're harmless, and that ANYONE who had gotten thrown into a wall by Cloud (even if it was reflex on his part) would panic and fight back.

Even Aerith was in this group, despite having been knocked around by the Gravaga, because she had heard the panic in the children's voices, and seen the desperately frightened look in their eyes.

But others-- the stiffer, less reasonable (or more, depending on your point of view) people-- are convinced that the children are a danger, even deadly, and if they were ever to reappear (which, for the moment, doesn't seem to likely) they should not be trusted.

The papers-- notes of Ansem's-- don't help the case of the first group at all. Because even children like Riku succumbed to the dark when faced by the former king, and these children had been CREATED by him, so what chance is there for good in their hearts?

Neko stares angrily at Oni, a growl rising in her throat.

He smirks ever-so-slightly, eyes a subtle shade of yellow-gold swirled with red. "Hullo, sister. How's Takeo?"

She snarls, hands tensing and curling in as her nails slip into claws. "You know bloody well that he's moping, 'cause I've heard Imouto telling you." The lavender glare hardens further when he doesn't reply. "You're breaking their hearts, you-- you-- baka!"

Oni blinks, and his confident posture drops, as do his suddenly-blue eyes. "N-Neko-chan? I... Am I really?" He rakes his bangs back, clenching his hand halfway through his hair. "I... I don't mean to, Imouto, I just..." He looks up and stares at her, as if seeing her fury for the first time. "I don't want to make... anyone unhappy. I really..."

But even as Neko starts to calm down, Oni's face hardens, spine straightens, eyes become a neutral, masking brown. And he turns away, walking into the darkness.

Another month passes, and the people of the Bastion think less and less about the children.

Neko's sharp-tipped nails slide out into claws before she can even see Oni, a growl rising in her throat as his once-comforting smell hits her nose.

As she approaches him, the bitter metal tang to his scent grows stronger, and when she slashes at his back the iron seems to envelope him.

Before she knows what he's doing, her hands are pinned above her head and a knee is pressed into her stomach. She stares into Oni's eyes.

He stares back, and his eyes aren't red with anger-- but goldenrod-glowing lamps of hate, color bleeding into the whites and over the pupils.

Neko yelps and instinctively calls up a wave of ice, throwing Oni away and pushing a crystal wall across the passage.

"I didn't steal your cookies! Dammit, Aerith, I know you would kill me!"

Aerith hmphs at Yuffie. "And, pray tell, who else would take them? A mist-spirit that lives in the walls, hmm?"

"Err..." Yuffie shrugs. "Maybe those kids-- who's to say they don't have sweet teeth, too?"

Aerith blinks. "... You're probably right. Ah well, I can make another batch. But maybe not chocolate-chocolate-mint-chip this time. Oatmeal raisin, perhaps?"

Yuffie sighs in relief as Aerith putters about.

Blue, blue crystal, white, white ice, and dark, dark thoughts.

"Why... What am I doing... What have I?..." Tears trickle out of Oni's eyes, and he hugs himself tightly against the cold.

:: THEY HATE ME. I suppose they must, to be so CRUEL to me now... :: He rubs his eyes hard, the foreign ideas slipping into his mind slowly. :: But what have I done to make them HATE me so much? Neko just tried to MURDER me... What should I do? ::

REVENGE. DARKNESS. TURN AWAY, NOW...

"I... Must I?... I must..." Oni turns away from the wall of ice, eyes clouded between the color of summer sky and deepest black.

The darkness lets him enter of his own will, but his own will could never release him. And a voice whispers outside his mind, slithering laughter echoing behind it--

FOOLISH, FOOLISH CHILD. COME TO ME.

'NOW!!!'

Three children wake in the middle of the night, sight flashing copper, gold, silver, but that cannot keep them in the padded cubbyholes of beds.

'Wake, move, now, urgent, bad-- Go to the others, leave safety, move, move, move, danger!' The desperate voice spurs them to each other, out of the hidden passages, into hallways, hitting bedroom doors as they run.

'Heartless-- wake! Wake! Move!'

This time, everyone in the Bastion hears the urgent call, and everyone is awake at once-- those who were stirring from the children's noise find themselves already in the hallway, following a brilliant magical lantern of lightning.

'Library, my sacred place, move forward, don't stop, Heartless, move!'