A/N: Chapta Three, what what! This is the longest relationship I've had with anything…heehee. Many thanks to my first two reviewers, carbuncle and Princess Kairi (See? I CAN write Good Kairi!)…
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In Which Many are Confused until Much is Explained
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Kairi opened her eyes, surprise her mother had not come and woken her up already. It had to be noon at least, by the way the sun was streaming in the window above her bed.
Wait, her mind said, my bed doesn't have a window above it…
Fully awake now, Kairi looked around. Where…?
In a flash, the events of the previous day came rushing back into her brain. Wakka, the wish she made on a star, the strange blue woman, waking up here and meeting all those people, -
Hey, where are all those people?
Kairi stumbled out of the warm bed, unsteadily slipping on her shoes, which were halfway under the bed. She stuck her head out of the door, looking about for somebody, anybody. Nobody was there.
Taking a right, she walked down the stone hallway. This, this cathedral was enormous. Old too, by the looks of the thick cobbled floors and walls. Hearing voices, she followed the sound up a steep staircase.
"Hello?"
She found herself in a loft, with low ceilings and long windows. Someone was sitting, hunched over, in a corner, talking to him- or herself. Kairi approached cautiously.
"Hello?"
The figure started, and drew back. "Please, don't be- don't be afraid," it said. Closer, Kairi saw reddish hair and a green jerkin, but she still couldn't see his face. He sounded far more frightened than Kairi currently felt.
"Afraid of what?" she asked. The figure slowly straightened, as much as it could.
"This."
Kairi bit back a gasp. This person was short and burly, with long arms that dragged on the floor. He had an enormous hump on one shoulder, and his face was disfigured. Never in her short life had she seen someone like that.
Seeing her shock, the man turned to go. "I'm sorry I frighten you," he said sadly.
Kairi regained her voice. "No! Don't go. I'm sorry I reacted like that."
The man looked at her with kind dark eyes. "You mean that?"
Kairi attempted a smile. It wasn't his fault he looked like that. "'Course I do. My name's Kairi, what's yours?"
"My name is Quasimodo," the man said, still wary. Kairi held out one slender hand. Quasimodo looked at it as if he had no idea what she was doing. Kairi sighed, and grabbed his huge hand, shaking it with as firm a grip as she could manage.
"It's nice to meet you, Quasimodo. And I mean that."
Quasimodo offered Kairi an uncertain smile. She returned it with a face-stretching grin.
"Hey theere, Quasi! Who're you talkin' to?"
Kairi jumped, looking around for the source of the loud and unfamiliar voice. She felt something tug on the bottom of her skirt.
"Hey, down here, toots."
The speaker seemed to be a gargoyle, except that he was living, breathing stone. And he had no legs. He burped noisily and a second "gargoyle" thumped over and hit him upside the head. "Really, Hugo," the second one sniffed. "We are clearly in the presence of a guest. Do try to control your bodily functions for the time being."
A third gargoyle-thing, one that bore some resemblance to an old woman, stomped between them. "C'mon boys," she drawled. "Let's all be friends, now."
Kairi gaped. "What are you?"
Quasi gave her a quick glance. "You can see them?"
"Yeah…can't everybody?"
The three statues shared a grin. "Only those folks with nothin' but love in their hearts," said the woman-thing. "Name's Laverne, hun. Short gross one is Hugo and the tall stiff is Victor. Don't worry, Vic's a real softie underneath all that propriety. Hugo, well, let's just say what you see is what you get."
Kairi waved to them. "What are all of you doing up here?"
Quasi smiled sadly. "Hiding."
Laverne snorted. "Don't try to sell me that crap, Quasi-me-boy. You don't need to hide from nobody anymore."
Victor nodded his agreement. "Indeed, my friend. We have a special task here, young lady, and that is to protect our sleeping friends." He gestured with one stone hand to the window.
Where Lexington and Rinoa were frozen in stone. Kairi gasped. "Oh, no! Lex, Rinoa, they were fine last night! What's wrong with them?"
Hugo snickered. "Don' worry, chica. They sleep in stone all day long, then at night, they come alive. They're gargoyles, s'what they do."
Kairi was puzzled. "Then what are you three?"
"Gargoyles," Hugo answered, most unhelpfully. Laverne shot her companion a withering glare. "We're different kinds of gargoyles, you see," she said. "We figure it's because they're from a different world."
Kairi supposed that made sense. After all, there were no gargoyles, period, on her world. Who was she to say there was only one kind? "And you all watch over them? They must be really grateful."
"They would be rather so, I imagine, if only they were capable of seeing us," Victor stated.
"You mean they can't see you? Well, who can, then?"
Hugo laughed. "The big fella', Barrett, that quiet one, Rude, and the woman, Shera. Vic's got the hots for her."
Victor's grainy complexion reddened. "I most certainly do not!"
"Ya do too."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Do NOT!"
"Do too do too do too times infinity!"
"Do too times infinity what?" Shera asked, climbing into the loft. She grinned. "Well, I see our new member has met our gracious hosts. Hi there Quasi, Laverne, Hugo and Vic."
Quasi smiled. Laverne waved and Hugo grunted. Vic turned even redder and offered a squeaky "Good day."
"New member?" Kairi asked. "Of what? Does that mean I get to stay?"
"Of course it does," Shera said. "We discussed it all after you went to sleep. We'd like you to come down stairs so we can answer some of your questions. Quasi, would you like to come too?"
Quasi shook his head. "I'll stay here, and look after Lex and Rinoa."
"Suit yourself. This way, Kairi."
…
Shera led Kairi into another small room on the ground floor of the cathedral. All of the humans she had met last night were sitting in chairs or on cushions in front of an empty fireplace. Puck was zooming around the ceiling, making everyone complain of dizziness and throw said cushions at him.
There was one more person standing in a corner of a room, a man in golden armor. He was tall, blonde, and muscular, a real "hunk", as Selphie would say. He was stroking his short blond goatee and looking at Kairi with piercing blue eyes. Kairi thought he reminded her of Cid. He had the same pain in his eyes and posture, like he had lost something he needed to live. Shera put a hand on Kairi's shoulder.
"Phoebus, this is Kairi. Kairi, this is Captain Phoebus. He's been assisting us since we've been here."
He nodded at the girl. Kairi smiled nervously at him. Rufus pulled over a chair and gestured for her to sit. His eyes twinkled. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he said.
Shera clapped her hands together several times, and the chatter ceased. "Now, we all know why we're here," she said. "Except perhaps Kairi, that is. We are here to explain to her AVALANCHE's mission and invite her to join us on our journey, wherever that might lead us."
Phoebus frowned. "How can you be sure she's not a spy? Even if she isn't one, how can you be sure she can handle the responsibilities? She's just a kid. It's to much to ask her to understand your- our mission."
"Oh, I think she will understand better than even you, Captain," said a new voice, a slightly throaty woman's voice. There was a flash of green, and a woman the same color appeared. Her hair was long and the color of the inside of a watermelon. She was wearing very skimpy clothing, and she radiated power and majesty. Puck stopped flying around the ceiling and knelt before her. "My lady," he smirked, "how fantastic that you've decided to honor us with your presence."
"Curb your tongue, young Robin," the woman said evenly. She smiled at Kairi. "Greetings, Princess of Heart," she said. "I am Titania, Queen of Avalon, First Lady of the Fae, and Mother of Oberon's Children."
"Titania gave us our mission," explained Shera. "My lady, what do you mean, 'Princess of Heart'? Do you mean Kairi is one of them?"
"Not only one of them, Shera Lion's Heart, she is the one true Princess of Heart, saved from the darkness to aid in your quest."
"Sora saved me," Kairi replied stubbornly. What is everyone talking about? And why is Rufus looking at me like that?
Rufus came closer. "So you are the Princess from the Bastion's heart. I am- well, I was, Crown Prince of the Bastion before the fall."
Kairi looked at Rufus carefully. So they are from the Bastion. He does kinda look like a prince…She turned her attention upon Titania again.
"Why am I here?"
"Why? Whyever not, child? My sister the Blue Fairy knew you would be needed here. Fate had decreed that you would be the one to help these warriors to rescue the Guardian Souls."
"Guardian WHAT?"
"Guardian Souls," Shera explained. "When we arrived in Manhattan three years ago, we saved a woman named Elisa Maza from the Darkness."
"From the Heartless?"
"We don't know what they are. Anyway, Queen Titania told us the Elisa was one of the Guardian Souls. They are women with special hearts, like the Princesses of Pure Heart, except that these women are the protectors of their worlds' souls. Without them, the Darkness could not only destroy a world, but they could take the world's heart and turn it against the very people who lived there. We took Puck and Lex and left Puck's other half, Owen, to look after Elisa."
"My less interesting half," Puck commented drolly, turning somersaults in the air.
"Hmm," Shera agreed. "And then we saved two other Souls, Mulan and Princess Kida. Tow of our members, Tseng and Elena, stayed in China to watch over Mulan, and another member, Reno, found a sweetheart on Atlantis and he stayed there, protecting the Princess from the Darkness. And then we came here, but we were too late to save this world's Soul."
"My Esmeralda," whispered Phoebus. Kairi suddenly understood why he was so sad. He had lost his love. Another thought occurred. If Cid was like Phoebus, had he lost a love to the Heartless as well?
Kairi was having trouble dealing with all of this information. "What, exactly, am I supposed to do, here?"
Titania flashed her a smile, kind of a Mona Lisa smile, and said, "You will learn eventually. I could tell you, but my sister doesn't want me to make your job too easy for you. Mab knows Pinocchio's wasn't."
She turned to everyone else. "I bid you all farewell. Puck, behave yourself." And just like that, she vanished. Barrett cleared his throat.
"Well, I dunno 'bout you, but those fairy types sho' give me the heebie-jeebies," he shuddered. Puck smiled slyly at him. "Really now, big boy?"
Barrett swiped at the fey's head with one massive hand. "Yeah, like you, you lil' creep!"
Shera smiled, and turned to Kairi. "So, are you in? We would sure enjoy having you around. It gets depressing around us sometimes, so you can cheer us up."
Kairi gave a defeated grin. "Guess I have no choice, huh?"
Tifa leaned in. "I'd say not. It's never a good idea to argue with Fate."
Well, in for a penny…Kairi showed them all a thumbs-up. "I'm in."
Shera said, "Wonderful." Then she looked out the door, to the street outside. A man in lurid jester's clothing was rushing their way.
"Clopin," Shera said, concern on her face. "What is it?"
The man stopped to take a breather, running a hand over his long features. "Problem! The skies, the skies, the- the skies are open again!"
Shock was evident in the faces of everyone in the room. Kairi turned to Shera. "What does he mean?"
Shera sat down, hand gripping the back of her chair so hard that her knuckles had turned white.
"The worlds- the worlds are connected," she whispered.
…
A/N: Wow. It's over and done with. And didn't take me as long as the other ones. But hey! Titania, right? Cool? And Kairi is slowly piecing together the Cid/Shera puzzle. FFVII fans already know this. Here's a character guide for those who are unfamiliar with FF7 or Gargoyles:
Shera: She lived with Cid after preventing the launch of his rocket. It's been debated, but the Cid/Vin fans aside, most believe the two had feelings for each other. She makes a lot of tea, and is pretty mild.
Barrett: Big, black, beautiful founding member of the FF7 team AVALANCHE. Looks like Mr. T, so I make him talk like Mr. T
Rufus: Son of the evil President Shinra. Leader of the Turks, technically a bad guy, but I likes him, so there.
Reno, Tseng, Elena: Turks, or Rufus's goons. I like them too.
Rude: Turk. Wears sunglasses everywhere.
Tifa: Cloud's childhood friend, loves him, has a large busom and a short skirt.
Rinoa: From FF8, Squall's girfriend. Don't really know that much about her, she's just there.
Lex: From Gargoyles. Techie Garg, feels occasionally left out because of his small size, always striving to prove himself.
Puck: White-haired fey trickster, has another half in the form of mortal Owen Burnett. I separated them because I like to.
Titania: Fae queen, married a mortal and had a daughter and then divorced her husband. Awfully cryptic.
Phoebus, Quasi, Hugo, Victor, Laverne, Esmeralda, Clopin: Hunchback of Notre Dame characters. Clopin serves no purpose, but I like him so he has a gratuitous cameo.
That should be about it! Review please, makes updates faster. Princess Kairi gave me a warm and fuzzy review, so I cranked out a chapter for her! Thanks so much! I and my Owen-muse thank you!
Owen-muse: Indeed.
