Pearlescent Tears
Disclaimer: IF YOU KINGDOM HEARTS PEOPLE DON'T GIVE ME THE DEED TO THE GAME, I SHALL FART ON YOOOOU! –they say no- FINE! SUFFER MY STINK! –turns arounds, farts- MUAHAHA… -turns around, and they have on gas masks- …aw, -bleep- no!
Quick Author's Note: I am SO bad when it comes to finishing fics without starting others ones.
Shinju: What she means is…
Riku: She's started a Tales of Symphonia fic.
KH Cast: -group glares at Hotaru-
Hotaru: -sheepish smile- Aw, come on! It was a challenge!
Sora: From your friend!
Kairi: Which you very muchly so wanted to do!
Hotaru: -sweatdrop- Can I help it if Kratos is an unbelievably sexy bishie who deserves a fanfiction by moi? With a few new characters in it? One of which is mine? Who falls in love with him? –gets a group glare- Meh. Well, at least I'm probably one of the best OC-fic writers on here! Well, except that Raiden no Ai fic. That was just WOW. And the Forsaken fic… and the For the Love of Past and Present fic… oh, god! I SUCK! –runs off, crying-
Group: -shrug-
Hotaru: -comes back, perfectly fine- Oh, real supportive, guys.
Shinju: Here's chapter five-
Fushicho: The Past of Shinju: Tragedy.
Shinju: Hey, I was supposed to introduce the chapter!
Fushicho: Well, I did it better than you would've!
Kairi: ANYWAY! –everyone is quiet- On with the chapter!
---Chapter Five Start---
"Shinju…" The faingel opened her eyes and sat up, blinking at the six women in front of her.
"Princesses!" she exclaimed, immediately throwing herself to the ground in a bow.
"Shinju, you must hurry. You know that, don't you?" Belle asked.
Shinju nodded, and coughed. "Yes… your reminder has already come into effect," she muttered, coughing twice more. Belle merely nodded, and the others disappeared.
"The Keyblades will guide you…" their voices chorused until they finally faded away. Shinju's eyelids began to droop, and her body relaxed as she fell into a deep slumber.
Meanwhile, Riku, Kairi, and Sora were all worried over Shinju. Fushicho scoffed at them. "Geez, you act like she's gonna die if you take your eyes off her for one second!" She sauntered over to Riku and hugged his arm, burying it between her breasts. "C'mon Riku, we've been here all night long. Let's go get something to eat," she suggested.
Riku rolled his eyes and removed his arm from her suggestive embrace. His aquamarine eyes narrowed at her maroon ones. "How could you even suggest that when something's wrong with Shinju? She's important to all of us," he said. 'And really important to me…' he added in his head, his eyes flickering over to Shinju's sleeping form.
She seemed so peaceful, lying there. Her hair was sprawled on her pillow in all directions. It was so versatile, curving and tilting and flowing over every wrinkle on the pillow and every feature on her face. Riku was tempted to move the tresses that dared to block parts of her face from his view, but, even though Kairi and Sora were scolding Fushicho and she was bickering with them, he didn't want to be caught. Riku didn't want anyone to know he had a soft spot, a weakness. Now that Ansem was back, he didn't want her to be used against him. It was getting harder and harder to do so, however. He smiled slightly as Shinju sighed heavily and rolled over towards him.
Now that he thought about it, Shinju didn't really relax much. The first time they had met, at Destiny Islands, she was knocked out, not asleep, and as soon as she woke up, she'd gone straight to business on her search for Sora. And after Sora introduced himself, she'd gone straight to telling him about her mission. Then the Heartless attacked, and Shinju had been the one to haul Kairi and Riku to the islands. Afterward, she had taken them here, to Traverse Town. Riku had found her sleeping on the floor the next morning, and she never dawdled if she could help it. It had been Shinju's idea to get going right after she woke up, without any breakfast, even! Riku, Sora, and Kairi had had something to eat before she woke up, and Riku was going to offer her some, but she'd jumped up saying they should get going. Even when she'd fallen from the sky, she said they should get moving. His eyes softened as he thought of this. Glancing at the others, who were still bickering, he gulped slightly and started to lean in towards Shinju…
"NO!" Shinju shrieked shrilly, her eyes shooting open. She jumped, trying to sit up, and ended up knocking her head into Riku's. "OW!" they chorused, both falling onto the bed. Shinju put a hand to her forehead where she'd bumped him, and Riku was blushing ever so slightly as he got off of her, also rubbing his head. "I'm so sorry, Riku! I didn't know you were there!"
"It's fine," he replied. Sora and Kairi rushed over to Shinju, while Fushicho glared at her for getting all the attention.
"Shinju! You okay? Why'd you scream?" Kairi questioned.
"Did you have a nightmare?" asked Sora, his eyes filled with concern as he took her hand and patted it. Shinju's eyes, for a moment, looked like tears were going to start welling up, but then she put her usual "I'm fine' shield up.
"No, it's alright. But anyway, we should try to find out where the next Princess is," she said, changing the subject. Riku eyed her suspiciously. She hadn't answered Kairi's question about why she'd yelled. The others, however, seemed to forget it.
"I'M HUNGRY!" Fushicho shouted, angry that no one cared about her needs.
Shinju blinked, and smiled, "Oh. Well, you guys can go ahead and have breakfast. I'll use your Keyblades while you're gone, so I can find the next girl."
"You sure? Don't you want some breakfast?" Sora asked. Shinju, not wanting to seem unhealthy, nodded.
"Some lightly buttered toast would be nice, but I'd like to get to business. So if you guys could bring some back, I'll have already found out where the girl is," she explained. They nodded, and left, but Riku stayed behind. Shinju smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Go ahead, Riku. I'm sure you're hungry. After all, you put up quite a fight against that spider."
"What was your nightmare about?" he asked. His question was so blunt that Shinju gasped. She regained her composure and smiled again.
"I didn't hav-"
"Yes, you did." Shinju fell silent as Riku glared at her slightly for trying to lie to him. Her eyes lowered to the ground, and she allowed tears to well up in them. Riku saw this, and his eyes softened. Sitting next to her on the bed, he murmured comfortingly in her ear, "Sometimes it's good to talk about it." She squinched her eyes shut, her left hand grasping the clothing over her heart, and her shoulders shook with concealed sobs. Riku put his hand over hers for comfort. "Tell me," he whispered, though no one was around to hear.
"It… it was a long time ago…" she began, opening her eyes and looking into Riku's blue orbs. Riku's eyes widened as he saw a story begin to play in them.
"Wh-what is-"
"I'm showing you… my past… my nightmare," she muttered. "Be silent, and you'll hear the memory, too," she said. "I'd been walking home with my friends Karma, a centaur, and Michiko, a water nymph. We were talking about something… I think it was a boy… when Michiko stopped us." And with that, the memory began to play.
The water nymph's sapphire eyes were wide as she lifted a shaky hand, pointing at something above. "Guys… look." She said, her voice small. The centaur and faingel looked to the sky. Shinju gasped and Karma let out a small, "Oh no.."
Smoke was rising from the direction they were headed, which was home. Shinju spread iridescent angel wings and took to the skies while Michiko got on Karma's back and galloped toward the town.
'Please, please let the people be all right.' Shinju thought frantically, flapping her wings harder, faster. She didn't bother to land, but rather just let her wings shrink, and she dropped to the ground. She landed on her knee, wincing slightly, and then looked up. A look of sheer horror was on Shinju's face at what she saw.
Buildings were burning, and the huge fire was spreading fast. People were running, screaming, and swatting at strange creatures. Some had weapons, others didn't. Some were injured, and some were on fire. Karma and Michiko then rode up. Karma reared back at the sight, causing Michiko to fall from her back. Michiko didn't feel any physical pain, but her mind was filled with panicked thoughts.
A little black circle on the ground was moving toward them. They watched, their minds too numb with fear to register that it might hurt them. It slowly rose from the ground, becoming a three-dimensional creature. It looked like a black ant with its antennae, but had arms and legs, hands and feet. There was no detail on the creature, except for its two, glowing yellow eyes. These eerie eyes focused on them, and the creature lunged forward, its claws extended.
"Shinju!" Karma and Michiko called simultaneously as the claw went right through her chest without any blood being drawn. Instead there was a vortex of swirling black and purple, the creature's hand reaching inside. They watched, dumbfounded, until Shinju screamed in pain. The two grabbed the creature's legs, pulling it away from her. As its hand was drawn out of her, the vortex became smaller and smaller until it was gone. ((A/N: Eh… that's how I imagine a Heartless would take someone's heart.)) Michiko punched the creature, and Karma stomped on it. The creature disappeared in a small, dark purple flash.
Shinju sat up and put a hand to her heart, breathing faster than usual. "You alright?" Karma asked. Shinju nodded, then paled when she looked behind Karma. "Wha-" Karma began, but stopped when she turned. Their village… it... it was gone! The creatures were tackling people, and performing the same action as the one that Karma killed did to Shinju. There were swarms of the little shadow creatures, and one large group set its sights on the Michiko, Shinju, and Karma.
"Run!" Michiko shouted, turning on her heel, and the other two obeyed. Shinju stopped after a few paces, looking back. The figure of a man could be seen behind the fire. Squinting her eyes, she saw the glint of his golden glowing eyes. Turning on her heel, she caught up with the others. The three ran back into the forest, dodging trees and ducking as the shadows jumped down from branches. They kicked and swatted and ran their way to their training place. "We've lost them, but we need to properly equip ourselves if they find us." The girls picked up their weapons, and readied themselves for battle.
Karma pulled her quiver's strap on, putting extra arrows in it. She hung her bow on her quiver, and then looked to the others. Michiko was stuffing magic scrolls, gems, and potions into her pockets, her scepter strapped to her back. When she was done, they both looked to Shinju. Shinju was magically putting forty ninja stars and her sword into a white orb. She tossed it into the air, spread her arms out to her sides, and then brought her hands over from head in a loud clap. The orb swirled with white and blue, then disappeared. She nodded to her friends, and they ran into the cave they had had sleepovers in many a time.
"Do you think… maybe the door's open today? If it is, we can hide in there." Shinju suggested. She was talking about a door in the back of the cave carved out of a large stalagmite. It was stone, and had a strange heart shape on it. Almost everyone makes two strokes to make a heart, and each of the strokes curved on the ends. The curves on the bottom of the heart curved outside the heart, while the other two curved inside the heart. The other two knew what she was talking about, and nodded.
"It can't hurt to see, right?" Karma asked. Shinju and Michiko replied with a "Course not", and then the three ventured farther into the cave.
Pretty soon they came to the door, and could hear the creatures entering. Shinju looked for a knob, but there wasn't one there. "Shinju, open it! I can see their eyes already!" Michiko hissed, blasting a fire spell at a few. Shinju began pounding the door, becoming frantic. The creatures were drawing closer.
"I can't! There's no knob! I can't break it down, either!" Shinju held her hand up, her sword materializing in it. She slashed at the door, only to make sparks fly from the door. She kept trying while Michiko and Karma fought. After many slashes, Karma let out a keening screech, and a purple glow appeared in the darkness of the cave. Michiko was busy trying to fight her way toward Karma, as was Shinju. Shinju looked up as the scream faded, and a thud was heard.
"No! Karma!" Shinju yelled, tears brimming up in her eyes. She pushed and slashed as an object in the shape of a heart was held up. The heart was glowing slightly red, but the glow disappeared as teeth of one of the creatures sank into it. "No! No! Spit it out! Spit it…" She ran toward it, and jumped. "OUT!" She slashed the creature, and it disappeared in a flash. She searched for the heart, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Shinju! We have to leave, more are coming!" Shinju looked toward the front of the cave, and saw millions of little yellow eyes watching them. She ran back to the door, and Michiko followed. Michiko blasted spells of every element at the door while Shinju slashed at it. When Michiko's spells stopped firing, Shinju looked back at her with a questioning look. Michiko was kicking and swatting and firing spells on the floor, covered in the shadows.
Shinju raised her leg to kick them off, but fell over when her leg was pulled back. A creature jumped on her head, and pulled at her hair, raking its claws on her scalp. Shinju twisted and turned as more and more creatures circled around her. Shinju tried not to scream. She didn't want to be weak. She had to be strong. With this in mind, Shinju rolled over; making most of the creatures fall off. She crawled over to Michiko, yelping and wincing when creatures clawed at her. Michiko's eyes were milky white, her skin the same color.
Tears stung Shinju's eyes, and she let them fall onto the cold cave floor. "Mi-michiko… Mich-chiko… My best friend." She stood, fists clenched, her sword in her right. "YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!" She raised her sword to slash a nearby creature, when movement near Michiko caught her eye. Smoke was swirling around her, until it blocked sight of the nymph. When the smoke faded, Michiko was no longer there, but instead… a creature.
"Michiko?" The new creature's yellow eyes glanced at Shinju. It slowly advanced toward Shinju, while she backed up. "Michiko, it's me." It kept approaching, its eyes locked on where her heart was located. "Michiko! Please, don't! You're not one of them! You're better than this!" She backed up a bit more. The once-Michiko creature jumped at her, its claws flexed. "No! Michiko, fight it!" She backed up against the door, and the evil creature dug its claw into her flesh, tearing her heart out. Shinju was sobbing, her tears flowing freely. She slumped against the door, sliding until she sat with her back against it, as 'Michiko' opened her mouth and bared her teeth, and took a bite out of a corner of her heart. Shinju screamed, "How… how can you be so heartless?!"
Suddenly there was a bright light, and Shinju could barely see her heart float back to her chest, the bite mark still visible in her heart. It went back to its rightful place under her right bosom, and she could feel the door behind her become watery. A pair of hands grabbed her and dragged her through the now glowing door, and soon, after floating for two minutes, her savior and she touched on solid ground.
"Are you alright?" a feminine voice asked. Shinju looked up at her rescuer, to see it was a brunette in a blue dress, her hair tied back in a blue bow.
"Why'd you save me?" Shinju asked, her eyes filling with tears again. "Why didn't you let me die with my friends?"
The girl's brown eyes softened. "Dear, you possess the potential we need."
"…We?" Five other girls appeared. One blonde wore a tattered dress, another blonde wore a simple medieval dress, a black-haired woman wore a crimson Arabian dancer outfit ((A/N: If you'll recall, Jafar made her wear this in the movie when he took over Agrabah)), a shorter-haired girl with the same color hair as the Arabian wore a blue and yellow dress, and a young blonde wearing a shorter blue dress appeared from behind large oak doors. Lights of different colors glowed in their hearts, and most of them transformed.
"Cinderella," said the one who had worn a tattered dress, whose hair was now drawn up in an elegant bun and whose attire had changed to a pale blue formal gown. Upon her feet were glass slippers.
"Aurora," the medieval girl introduced, now wearing a blue dress that swept to the floor. The top was fitted and the material was flowy.
"Jasmine," answered the Arabian girl, who now wore an aqua green outfit. The top showed much of her stomach and its sleeves were off the shoulder. Like her previous pair of pants, these poofed out slightly at the bottom. Her hair was now in a low ponytail that was separated in two different places by aqua hair ties, and a jeweled headband rested atop her head.
"Snow White," replied the black haired girl with chin length strands. Her dress had not changed. The top part was still blue, the skirt was still yellow, and the sleeves still puffed out and had red ovals on them.
"Alice," the youngest responded. She, too, had not changed.
"Belle," said the girl who had saved her. Her hair was now done in an elegant style, with a small bun in the back and the rest of her hair hanging down. Her dress was golden and looked extremely expensive. "We are the Princesses of Heart."
Shinju's eyes widened. "Oh! My Princesses!" she said in awe, bowing. Belle chuckled.
"Now Shinju," she said, making Shinju look up at her by tilting her head up with her fingers. "We need your help. If you accept out task, you'll live forever, acting as a guardian angel to the universe. You will stop tragedies like the one you just experienced from happening, if we tell you to. After all, some things cannot be tampered with. But if you decline… we'll allow you to die and join your friends."
"But think first, Shinju," said Cinderella. "What would your friends want you to do?" Shinju sighed…
"And that's when I took this job… the job of protecting the Keywielders," Shinju finished, blinking. The memory was gone from her eyes, replaced by tears that leaked out and streamed down her cheeks.
"Shinju…"
"I go to sleep every time I'm not needed, and am born again when I'm called. This time, it was Raine's- a Keywielder's- dying hope that called me," Shinju suppressed her sobs. "I… I can't even live my immortal life to the fullest! I'm forced to sleep when my work is do-" She began to cough violently, hunching over as she covered her mouth.
Riku patted her back, feeling helpless. "Shinju… are you sick? Maybe you should rest a little while longer…"
"No, I'm fine," she lied. Shinju realized just how much she'd told Riku. Just because she told him all that, didn't mean she could tell him about something else she dared not speak of. If she did, he'd tell, and everyone would worry over her, and rush too fast. Sure, Shinju rushed them slightly, but slightly. They'd rush too fast and make a mistake… possibly a fatal one. "It's just… trying not to sob… it itches my throat." She gasped as Riku's strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her much too close to him.
"Why do you restrain yourself?" He murmured huskily, nuzzling his face into her hair.
"I-I have t-" He put a gloved finger on her lips. She could feel the warmth of his finger through the material.
"You don't," he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear. Shinju breathed quickly, her heart beating fast. This was what she'd dreamed of for more than two thousand years; her fantasies of love to replace the chunk of her heart missing were coming true now. Riku's lips curled into a grin against her ear. He could feel her chest rise and fall rapidly, and could even feel her heartbeat against his chest because they were so close. He knew she was flustered because of him, and it made him feel daring.
Shinju groaned –half because she wanted this, half because she knew she couldn't- and turned her head to the side so his lips were no longer on her ear. His breath could no longer be felt on her ear, and she was happy for that, since it took away from the enchantment he held over her. He smirked and held his breath, moving so slowly it went unnoticed by Shinju until his lips met her neck.
Shinju gasped and pushed away, spreading her wings to startle him so he'd let go. Her plan worked, and she hovered to the other side of the room, catching her breath that she didn't know she'd been holding. She landed, and let the façade appear in her eyes again. She couldn't let him love her. Shinju knew her destiny, and it would only hurt him, from what she'd been told. "No, you don't. Don't understand, that is. You never will… I won't let you!" Shinju shouted at him, angry with him for seducing her so easily, for making her flustered, for making her fall for him fast and hard, too. She was also angry with herself. If she'd chosen to die, she wouldn't be going through this. Lastly, Shinju was angry with the Princesses for putting her through such a test. Why must she disappear when the universe came to complete peace? If she didn't, she and Riku could be… Shinju blushed. Well, she and Riku could be 'bonding' right now, without worry of hurting him when the worlds became serene once and for all.
"Hey guys!" shouted Sora cheerily, barging through the door with a bag in his hand.
"Sorry for taking so long," Kairi apologized.
"These bozos couldn't decide which restaurant to go to, so they went to them all… and each one had a line of about twenty-seven people…" Fushicho muttered, irritated. "Can we eat now?"
Shinju smiled, making herself forget what just went on between Riku and her. "Let's." And so, they eat breakfast and engaged in conversation about what adventures they might have on this save the world mission. All the while, Shinju could feel Riku's eyes on her.
She didn't look at him…
…and her heart hurt because of it.
---Chapter Five End---
Hotaru: -wipes brow- Phew! That took a while to write. –shrug- At least its done, right? And it's five pages long! WH00T! That's good, because lately I haven't been able to get past two on every fanfic I've been writing. –sigh-
Riku: -staring at Shinju-
Shinju: -not looking- Anyways,
Sora: Hotaru-san wants to apologize for making so many other fanfictions, don't you?
Hotaru: -sweatdrop- Uh… yeah. I've also started writing an Aladdin fic.
Kairi: -glare- So that makes how many stories you have to write?
Hotaru: I don't have to write these! They aren't posted!
Fushicho: What about the fictionpress story? H2O?
Kairi: And this story?
Riku: And American Girls?
Sora: And Such Cruel Fate?
Shinju: And Crazy Tragic Now?
Group: -sarcastic- Why don't you tell your dear readers about your upcoming stories? –glares-
Hotaru: -didn't realize it was sarcasm- Good idea! –goes off to Settings to type it-
Group: Uh… right. Bye, everyone. –disappears-
