Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I know the first chapter was pretty vague and boring, so I hope this one will be more fit to your liking…( sheesh, I should get you a drink and a chair while I'm at it) Anyway, this chapter will prove to be a bit more interesting. I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. Only Mierie and her parents for now. Anyways, on with the show!
I woke with a start and sat up in my bed. Bits of sweat dripped down my face and I started to breathe heavily. I looked around, making sure I was in the comfort of my bedroom and not plunging to my death. I was falling… I thought to myself as I looked down at my tattered doll on the floor. I was falling from the sun, and then to darkness…I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breath. I couldn't move I couldn't breathe- I tried to silence the voice in my head that was shouting all this nonsense. Just a dream…Just a dream…The voice started to grow louder every time I tried to shut it out.
I'm going mad…I thought to myself. I picked my doll off the floor and stroked her golden hair. It was actually yarn. Mother made the doll for me when I was born. We had no money to buy a real doll. Even though I was going to be seven, I was mature enough not to ask for one. I knew it would hurt Mother's feelings and Father would only lecture me about being satisfied with what I had. "If we should be happy with what we have, then why does everyone want more?" I once asked Father. "It's in our nature to want more Mie. It's only human." I wasn't satisfied with his answer one bit. Why should everyone else long for more and I couldn't? I always wished I could have a friend that wanted the same answers as me. "Maybe someday…" I'd say to myself.I closed my eyes once again and rested my head on my pillow. I tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. I had a baseball game the next morning and wanted to play my best. I directed my attention toward my bedroom window and stared at the ray of light pouring out of it. I sighed softly and closed my eyes, trying to force myself to go to sleep. I put my head under my blankets and scrunched up into a ball.
Then suddenly, I heard voices. They were coming from outside my bedroom window. Hushed, tense voices. They sounded like Mother and Father. They were probably out for a short walk… I then heard another voice…the voice of a stranger. A man was out there with them. His voice sounded dark and mysterious as he spoke. "You call yourself a friend do you? I'd expect that behavior from the rest, but not from you Rowan." I leaned in close, listening harder. "I am sorry to have upset you Sephiroth, but we must move on. Those days are over…" Father sounded brave, but I could sense a bit of worry in his voice. Who was this stranger? How could he frighten my parents so?
I slipped out of bed quietly, and sat next to my window, listening for more. "Please go Sephiroth, we mean you no harm. We have a child now and the rest must have children too." Mother was pleading. She sounded close to tears. And who are "the rest"? I looked through the window, my curiosity taking over, and my eyes widened.
For a few feet away I could see Mother and Father, and the most frightening man I had ever seen. He was a little taller than Father, and he had long silver hair that was blowing in the breeze like a mist on a spooky, dark night. The smirk on his face was almost as dangerous as the long, sharp sword he held at his side. And a large, dark wing protruded from his back, which made his appearance seem even more threatening.
"I would appreciate it if you left us alone Sephiroth" Father stepped in front of Mother and was starting to get frustrated. "And I would appreciate it if you would put that thing away." Father gestured toward the enormous sword at the stranger's side. "There will be no use for weapons here." The stranger glared at Father and then raised his sword to Father's chest. I gasped, then covered my mouth, for Mother had heard it, but remained still and petrified. "What's wrong Rowan?" The stranger said mockingly. "Losing your touch?" He then pushed Father back, not sure whether to kill him, or wait for him to defend himself.
"I will fight when needed." Father said as he straightened himself up. "I will not be forced." Mother still stood petrified and unsure of what to do. "You dare speak that way in the face of death?" The stranger said as he stepped toward Mother and Father in a threatening way. His black boots crunching gravel beneath his feet. "I doubt you would kill me Sephiroth." Father said as he met the stranger's gaze. "Your words were always much more stronger than you actions." The stranger's eyes narrowed. Perhaps he was giving up. Father was usually good at that.
He then turned to Mother. "Go inside and get some sleep love, we're done here." Mother hesitated for a few seconds, and then walked slowly back to our hut. He then turned back to the stranger. "If you have no more to say Sephiroth, then this conversation is over…Goodnight Sephiroth." Father then turned toward the direction of our hut. I sighed softly, and was about to go back to bed until I saw the stranger put his hand on Father's shoulder and quickly and forcefully turned him around.
"Do you have no compassion you fool? Or do you just not care?" Hatred started burning in the stranger's eyes. "Olivia has died! The least you could do is see Ansem! Father then took the stranger's hand off his shoulder. "Sephiroth, Olivia and Ansem were my closest friends. Of course I feel remorse for her." The stranger scowled as he stepped back. "But we made a promise Sephiroth. A promise that we would never see each other again, so that our children can be safe. And as a loyal friend of Ansem's, I cannot break that promise." Father then looked toward the great castle in the distance. "We have longed for this simple happiness. To have a family, and to be away from the darkness and terror that surrounded our lives so long ago.
Father looked back toward the stranger. "It's all for the best…" One could almost see the anger boiling up inside the great figure that stood across from my Father. It looked as though he was ready to explode at any moment. " That darkness is the reason for Olivia's death, Rowan!" His face came very close to Father's. "We may have run away from it, but we certainly have not escaped it!" His face was then turned a dark red. "Olivia was a strong woman…stronger than any of us." He then turned away, in the direction of the path he took to get here. " She would have appreciated it if you saw Ansem again…Believe me Rowan…"
His silver hair then blew slightly in the wind. "The least we could do is find a cure so that no one else suffers the same fate Olivia suffered…" He turned again to face Father. "Don't you agree?" Father was silent. I could tell he was deep in thought, as he usually was with me. He then looked at the stranger, pain and sorrow in his eyes.
"I'll do it…" Father managed to say. "I'll do it for Olivia. I won't do it for the group…I won't go down that road again…" Millions of questions buzzed through my head like angry bees. Who is Ansem and Olivia? What's the darkness? And where did this stranger named Sephiroth come from? Another world? "Ansem will greatly appreciate it Rowan…And I know Olivia would as well…" Father then looked at the ground, as if searching for something to say. The stranger then smirked. I could tell it wasn't a good smirk. It was as if he was hiding something behind that sorrowful face of his.
"Then it's agreed. We see Ansem." The stranger stepped toward Father and once again put his hand on his shoulder. "Together…" Father looked up into the stranger's eyes. "Yes good friend…We shall." Satisfied with the answer, the stranger stepped back and started to make his way down the path he came from.
"Remember Sephiroth…" Father said, speaking up. "This is not for the-," " The group." The stranger said, stopping on the path. "I know Rowan…" He stared ahead, not even bothering to look at Father. Father gave a quick nod in the stranger's direction, and made his way in the direction of our hut. The stranger stayed still for a few seconds, staring off into the distance. "You haven't changed a bit Rowan." The stranger chuckled as he disappeared into the night.
Author's Note: Was that better? If it was, then R&R!
