Kingdom Hearts: False Memories
Genre: Fantasy/ Action/ Adventure
Rating: T
Authors' Note: Yay! I finally got this sucker up! I swear to god, I thought I was gonna end up letting this one die again. But I shall fight! I shall continue to show how much of a bad, angsty writer I am, until my fingers fall off, which is when I start using my toes. ;p
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, besides Ian. He's mine. Don't steal him, and I won't eat you. Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy are not mine.
Chpt. 2
There had never been anything more frightening in Yuna's life. All she was doing was celebrating a friend's birthday, when all of the sudden this storm had broken out, and then this weird guy and his weird little pawns destroyed her home and hurt her friends. She isn't even sure what really happened. She was just lost…
Yuna felt a slight pain…she didn't really know where she was in pain, but it was rather intense. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing three of everything. She held her hand on her head, with out getting up. All she saw was a big ceiling, covered in stained glass windows. She stared, almost in awe, until she noticed one certain symbol on the far left side. She squinted a little, trying to recognize it.
It was the shape of a head, or rather the out line of it, except the bottom of it seemed to branch out to an arrow point. Then there was an X going through the center of the body. She stared at it, lying on whatever floor she was lying on. She really hadn't gathered up enough energy to get up and examine the area around her better. She sighed. Why couldn't she…
She closed her eyes and thought. Nothing. But that symbol…it meant something. She just wished she knew…
Vaguely, she heard something. She didn't know what it was. All she could say about it was that it sounded like a metal clank. A lot of them. One after the other, over and over again. It was enough to give her a headache.
She shook her head and sat up, doing so a little to quickly. He head ached a little, and she tried to ignore it. She wanted to know what was. So she stood up, taking a moment to steady herself. What ever had happened to a number out of her.
After walking for about ten minutes, the confused, and very annoyed Yuna found herself in a great hall of sorts. About to exit the area, she looked around, until she saw two men, both with swords drawn.
They were glaring at each other, and might be added, very intensely. They were standing no more than twelve feet apart, one of the men's sword long enough that it was practically touching the boot of the other. She noticed him the most, at first.
He was rather tall, with long, snow-white hair. He was glaring at what seemed to be his opponent with piercing green eyes, his entire face full of menace. He was attractive enough, but he was also frightening. Just the sight of him made Yuna take a few steps back. She hid behind the corner, leaning in against the wall, gazing at him still.
Not only was his face was scary, but the entirety of him…the way he stood…his arms down, shoulders up tight, legs bent down. He was ready for anything from the other man. He was adorned in all black, too. It all looked pretty expensive, too. He wore regular black pants, black boots, with buckles that seemed to keep his boots connected at the top. His chest was bare, but instead, his covered himself with a long dark trench coat, and two belts, crossing against his chest.
The other man, though, as Yuna thought, was the exact opposite of him. He was tall, well built, and he looked almost kind, had he not been in a fight of sorts, mind you. He was covered in red clothes. Well, Yuna assumed it was all red, but all she could see was his coat. And his pants, as well, which were a darker, wine color. Because of his posture, though, Yuna couldn't see his face.
She stayed silent. So silent she could hear both of them breathe. Each step they took was an echo…the whole scene reminded Yuna of a scene she'd read in books. The two knights faced of in an epic battle, one pure, and the other with personal gain in mind.
Yuna watched as they lunged at each other. They lifted their swords against each other. They stared at each other, their faces only inches apart, pushing against the others swords. Even the words they said seemed to be straight out from a book or movie.
"Leave my home!" Commanded the one in red. He pushed his foe away with his sword. They both seemed to slide onto the ground from the impact. The one in red hit the wall, and the man in black stopped himself, thrusting his hand to the floor. He looked up, smiling eerily.
"Sorry. Don't think so." He said, once again lunging at his opponent, not giving him enough time to regain his balance. He jumped into the air, bringing himself down, and his sword down into the man in red's shoulder.
Yuna winced at his cried of pain, closing her eyes. She didn't want to see the blood. She turned from the sight, sliding down the wall, holding onto herself tightly.
What was going on here? Who are those men? She would have cried, had she not been afraid of being heard. She covered her mouth, muffling any kind of whimpers that might escape her thin lips. The younger girl could still hear the conversation from where she sat.
"Why are you…here?" The man in red. He was still in pain. Yuna could tell because of the pauses and gasps in between words.
"Because this world…is next on my list." List? What on earth could that mean? That voice…it was so heartless…so cold. She almost recognized it from somewhere. She heard a grunt from the scary man's side, "You should feel so alone, like you do now." He began, "We're not alone here."
"Not…alone?"
Yuna listened in quietly, shocked. We're they…talking about…
She heard footsteps. They got louder as the continued. Yuna was frightened. She couldn't move. All she could do was sit there, listening to the footsteps. She couldn't help but whimper now. She closed her eyes, trying as hard as she could not to cry.
The edge of the longer sword could be seen around the corner. Then more, and more, until finally, a boot, and a leg, and a whole half a man was visible. But Yuna couldn't have known that. She was far too frightened to even open her eyes and face her fears. She knew though, that she was in trouble.
"Peek-a-boo." He man in black whispered, quietly. He moved his sword so the tip was pointed directly under Yuna's chin. She opened her eyes slowly, feeling she had no choice but to do so. She couldn't help but look at the sword. That's all there was for her. Feeling the point on her skin was enough to make her cringe, "It's very rude to ease drop." The steel pressed one her skin harder.
"Please…" Yuna whimpered. Her body was shaking with fear now. Confused and afraid. What else could she do now but cry?
Suddenly, the sword left her and she looked over, still shivering. The man…the one in red…he had rammed the other one in the side, pulling him aware from her. He was looking at her, though. He didn't really seem to be concentrating on the fight at all. He looked…worried for her. "Get out of here, now!" He demanded. There was blood running down his chin and shoulder. It was easy to see that he was badly wounded.
"But you…" Yuna could barely even stand. How was she supposed to run away like that? She'd already tried to run away, but once she was down, she was staying there. Obviously, he couldn't see that.
"Didn't you hear me? I said move!" He could be just as scary as the other guy…
"I can't…" She mumbled, with out even realizing it. Everything was up to instincts now. Yuna wasn't even really thinking at the moment. Just acting on impulse. Even if that impulse was to sit and cry there like a little baby.
"Get off me!" Cried the man in black, who had regained his senses now. He pushed the man in red off of him, and he didn't look happy. Yuna had never really realized that someone could look so peaceful and so tremendously menacing at the same time. He stood up, slowly, and stared at Yuna this time.
"It time to be rid of distractions." He mused. His sword raised, the man approached Yuna again, this time, setting on hitting his target. And he said nothing as he brought the weapon down.
Oh god…someone help me…
Nothing. No pain, no screams. Nothing happened as Yuna waited to what was to happen to her. But that was to be expected when someone moves you from one spot to another. Before Yuna even saw it coming, the man in red had lifted her, and ran, before the sword even touched Yuna.
Her limbs were numb, and she felt a little dizzy. This was just too much for her. But he'd saved her life, and she was grateful for that. She let him just carry her for a little while longer. At least until he dropped her, or got sick of her. One of the two. She was sure it would happen sooner or later.
But for the longest time he didn't. He waited till he found somewhere safe to set her down. She felt a little odd because he didn't say anything to her in the time that he had her in his arms. Not that she expected anything. She just felt a little odd about it.
They did, though, find some place to rest. He spotted a small door just to the left of them after running though another hall. Yuna could hear him breathing rather harshly. She'd forgotten about his wounds until that moment. The feeling in her body had returned to her some time ago, but the reflexes and such that a normal, safe person would have had didn't return until just that moment, when she started to get worried about him. She started to kick a little, until he couldn't hold her anymore.
He dropped her, much to Yuna's dismay, on her bottom. But she didn't complain about it. After all, she wanted him to let go. It was time for her to help him a little.
"What are you doing? He should be following us. You're not-"
"I can walk on my own, thank you." She was well aware of the fact that it sounded a little rude, but Yuna knew she didn't have enough time to apologize. Mainly because he had already started running, grabbing her wrist and taking her along with him. After she realized what he was doing, she did her best to keep up with him, which was surprisingly hard, considering that he was injured.
As they opened the door, footsteps were audible from below them. The other was already back in the main area of the building. Yuna didn't have enough time to see him walking again, thought, because she was already being pulled into the other room.
The door closed behind them as they both ran behind a set of books on a shelf. There, the man in red knelt down, pulling Yuna down with him. He sat there, quietly for a moment, listening for any sign of entrance into the library. Neither of them heard anything. The older man sighed, and leaned his head against the bookshelf.
After about two minutes of him just sitting there, getting his well-deserved rest, he opened his eyes and looked at Yuna side-ways. He was still breathing harshly, though, "You…shouldn't be in a place like this."
The young brunette didn't say anything. Like she even knew why she was there. Or even where "there" was. She still couldn't remember a thing. She didn't even look at him.
"Well, who ever you are, I'm sorry that you had to…experience that. You don't look like one who's seen very much battle."
"None." She squeaked. She felt as though she should have been embarrassed about saying something like that. But she wasn't going to lie about it, either. It wasn't like doing so would have helped her at all.
"I see." He smiled a little. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he nodded to her, "My name is Ian."
"I'm Yuna."
"Why are you here, Yuna?" Ian asked her, sitting up a little. Even with those few moments of rest he had, the poor man still looked like he was in a lot of pain. Yuna doubted him having to carry her before helped any, either.
How was she supposed to know? Yuna didn't even remember how she got there, "I…don't know. I can't remember very much." She tried hard to remember as much as could, "The last thing I remember was…I was with someone. It's all very cloudy."
All of the sudden, Ian's face got grimmer. The look in his eyes seemed to go from relieved, to sorrowful all at once. And that sad look was directed straight at Yuna. She winced. The last thing Yuna wanted was his pity.
"You cam in contact with the heartless, didn't you?"
Contact? With what? Yuna blinked, not knowing what he meant.
Ian sighed, shaking his head. Obviously, she'd said something wrong.
"Should I have?"
He lifted his head, shaking his head and arms in a negative manner. This guy was confusing her.
He smiled, full of sympathy. "No. Heartless are very bad things." He explained, "Those with out hearts." Ian seemed to space off a little as he continues, but she shook it off and nodded to her, "That's who they are. They feed off others' hearts. When they come to a new world, they always consume it."
Yuna listened carefully to what Ian explained to her. It still didn't make any sense to her. "So...that man...he was a heartless?"
For some reason, that made him laugh. He smiled to her, shaking his head. It was strange how cheerful he was about this. "He might as well be. He's...an agent of darkness. Another name for the heartless. His name is Sephiroth." Ian gazed at the floor in front of him, almost in a dream like state. He was giving of the idea that there was more to this Sephiroth character than he was letting on. "There are many different breeds of darkness. It all depends on how strong the heart they're born from is."
Yuna closed her eyes. She was getting tired. She tried to listen carefully to what he was saying, but it was getting harder and harder for her every moment. She decided to cut straight to the point. "What happens when you 'come into contact' with one, as you put it?"
"You die." Said a voice from behind them, on the other side of the bookshelf. Yuna stiffened up for a moment, because of the shock. But she shook her head. She wasn't going to be helpless this time.
She already recognized the voice, and didn't bother double-checking.
Looking at Ian, she stood up. She didn't know if he could do much for them. But she could tell by the look he gave her that he wanted her to run.
No chance. She thought. This time, she was going to help. Not run away.
Only waiting about two seconds after they both heard his voice, Yuna turned around to the book shelf, thrusting herself against it as hard as she could, ramming her shoulder into it. Pushing down such a large bookshelf like that was surprisingly easy to Yuna. All she had to do was tip it a little, it being so heavy. After that, all she had to do was let gravity do the rest.
She heard a muffled "umpf" under the shelf, and didn't wait to see if Sephiroth would get up again or not. She knew he would probably be pretty angry, and didn't want to be around to find out weather that was true or not. She leaned down next to Ian, and pulled him up, not really sure if he was shocked with her or not. She didn't really care at the moment, nor did she know where they were going. She just had to get running, and wouldn't leave him behind. He'd helped her, now she was going to help him, weather or not he liked it.
"Where are you going?" He shouted, from behind her. She was practically dragging him. She just hoped going this fast wouldn't hurt the older man.
"Away from him." She said, not stopping. She pushed open the first door she saw, which was the one they'd come in from. She looked around for a minute, and then ran down the stairs, careful not to trip, or get Ian tripped.
"Yuna, wait!" He said. He stopped running, not letting go of her hand, which stopped her as well. She looked back to him, almost angry. He was going to get them caught!
"What are you doing?"
Ian pointed to the center of the room. For a moment, Yuna just stared at him, still angry. He rolled his eyes, taking her by the shoulders and turning her around, pointing again, "That."
Just as her eyes met the center of the room, she spotted little clouds of dark smoke. It shifted, and began to melt into small forms. Little tiny creatures. That's what they were changing into. They all looked somewhat humanoid, but they were dark, and it looked as though they were off...like some of their bones were misshaped. They were wearing armor. Once full...real, they danced around in a very disturbing, dance, waiting for their next victim. They eyed the two humans as if they were a meal.
"Those are heartless." Ian told her, "And they are here for hearts."
Yuna looked around desperately. No. Not now. She didn't know what was going on just yet, but she wouldn't let anything happen to herself, or Ian. Not yet. She had to figure out what was going on. She had to figure out why she came her. Yuna never believed that things happened for no reason. Whoever brought her here for a reason. And she wouldn't let herself die without finding out what that reason was.
But there was nowhere to go. And that guy, Sephiroth, would be right behind them, too.
Constantly, as if, maybe, if she looked around enough times something would change, Yuna glanced from side to side, hoping to find something. But Ian was the one to save them.
He pulled Yuna a little farther away from the ledge where she was standing, and held his sword against the stone. It was strange to Yuna how she was just now realizing that this place was made of all stone. Even Stranger how she was so distracted by it, too.
The teen watched as Ian did...something. She wasn't sure what it was. He said something odd, like a sort of incantation of sorts, something like a dead language. As he did so, a slight breeze filled the room, and Yuna jumped. What was that? The heartless seemed bother by it as well, because they were all clearing a path in front of the sword, as if it were about to shook out from itself, which is didn't. That would be silly, Yuna knew.
But, just because things aren't normal, stranger things can happen. Instead of the sword itself shooting out, what looked like a stream did so instead, like magic. Except the moment it made contact with the ground, the stream, which had actually fallen away from the heartless, creating a sort of bridge over the heartless, froze. Now it really was a bridge. Yuna stared, jaw dropped. That was...she didn't know what that was. But she was sure that it wasn't normal. She glanced at the older man, who seemed a little zapped of energy after that. He was breathing rather deeply.
"Sit." He told her, almost in a gasp. She would have realized, yes, it did sound like a command someone would give to a dog, but Yuna knew that he didn't want to use too much time and energy explaining things to her. But, for a moment, she didn't really understand what he wanted her to do.
When she did get it, Yuna felt that she needed to hurry, because he looked rather aggravated.
The confused child quickly climbed up the ledge and sat on the ice. Poor thing. It made her bum just hurt at the touch. She hated ice and the way it felt. "So what n-gyha!"
Right in the middle of her question, Ian had taken an open palm to her back, and pushed her down the ice. Damnit! That hurt! She looked back as she landed square on her bottom, but Ian didn't seem to be there for a moment. She blinked, and then rubbed her eyes. Nope. He wasn't there.
She stood up, just in time to see the man struggle to come up. He'd fallen! He could have just let her push herself. It would have cause him so much less pain. "Ian!" Shout Yuna, "Hurry"
Too late. Their friend had arrived.
The doors to the library had opened, and the silver haired killer walked out, with an annoyed looked on his face, along with a little scratch near his right eye. Yuna felt immature about it, because seeing that scratch gave her a sudden sense of accomplishment. At least now she knew that he wasn't invincible. The sucker could bleed.
But that wasn't the issue. The issue was that he was already attacking a wounded Ian, who could barely fight back at all, making lazy slashes with his sword, just the defend himself. "Ian!" Yuna shouted. She would have gone back for him up the stairs, but a cluster of heartless cluttered around her, doing their mindless twitch dance that they did. They drew in closer, making Yuna back up. She gazed at them, and then back to Ian. She didn't want to die here. She didn't want him to die here, either...
"Get out!"
Ian's painful voice rang through the room, some have gaining power over Yuna. She looked up, almost forgetting about the little creatures that threatened her life.
"Get out of here now. There's someone waiting for you there."
Waiting for her? No.
Waiting for Ian. He'd obviously had friends who were expecting him to escape once he finished what ever he'd stayed for. Better safe than sorry, ne? But, he wouldn't be coming back to them, would he? He kept on screaming for her to go, and at first, she resisted his commands, jumping out of the way of pouncing heartless, getting nicked in the arm or legs, or what ever other area they could get their little claws on. But sooner or later, she had no choice but to listen. There was just no end to the heartless, and Ian's shouted slowly died down, until she couldn't hear it any more. When they finally stopped, Yuna had to glance up, even though she knew what sight would be awaiting her. And she was right.
Once again, Ian was out of sight, but Sephiroth wasn't. He stood there, for how long she didn't know, just staring at her, his giant sword tipped with blood. Yuna felt herself crying, but couldn't do anything to help him.
That stare. The icy blue eyes that stared her down...for the longest time, she couldn't look away from those eyes, nor could she stop the tears from coming. She wondered why he was just standing there, looking at him. Why wouldn't he just come down and finish her off. Was he trying to scare her? Make it apparent to her that there was nothing she could do to save her own life. That he'd taken his?
Yuna whimpered to herself as he grinned. No. He wasn't going to kill her at all. He would have done something by now if it were any different. He was letting her go. Yuna staggered back a few steps, still not taking her eyes away from him.
At first she'd been impressed with those eyes. No matter how frightening they were, they seemed powerful. Strong. They eyes of someone with a strong will. But now they were just icy. The icy eyes of a stranger.
With that realization, she turned around, and ran out the doors, slamming them open as hard as she could if she ran. She wouldn't forget this. She'd not let him forget it either. Yuna wasn't one for revenge, she knew. But she wasn't one to just let things go by unnoticed, either. She'd pay Ian justice.
The moment she'd exited the building, she'd seen a large blimp like thing floating a few yards away from the main ledge. She ran to it as fast as she could, not really caring, by that moment, if they accepted her, or thought her an enemy and shot her down.
End note: Gah. It is done. Yay the second chapter. I get to sleep now. I just hope that the third one will come to me better than the last one did. Yes. It was rather crappy. Especially Poor Ian. I wuv wo, Ian-Chan. Anyway, comments, criticism, and flaming is welcome. Just don't pick on the monkey. Points to imaginary monkey He doesn't like being teased.