Secrets of Memories Chapter 25: Split
Aozora sat silently on a couch in the sitting room of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine's apartment. He was silent, staring at his shoes, ignoring everybody else. His shimmering bronze eyes were grave, his expression set and grim. People immediately stayed away from him and Aozora preferred to keep it that way.
He had decided not to tell anyone the truth because if they knew, chaos would most certainly reign. He had guessed what type of poison had been used, from the moment he noticed how dangerously ill Sora appeared to be. He just didn't know how bad it was until they had reached the place Cid's daughter and her two companions were staying.
He nearly died, Aozora told himself. He damn nearly died. I don't know what sort of connections Orion has but they certainly know how to play the game. I'm never gonna forgive that guy for it, never!
Aozora had used the 'lumara ni' spell to heal Sora but nearly killed himself in the process. That he also kept confidential. No need to have people panicking over too many things at the same time all at once.
Things are going the way they shouldn't be, he thought. The both of us were way too close to death today. This is getting dangerous. Being a Guardian is becoming a hard job indeed. Never expected so many death 'threats' before.
Goofy stuck his head out from a door and said, "Der...Aozora, you sure you don't' want something to eat?"
Aozora jerked and looked up. "Uh...no. No, I'm fine."
" Are you sure?" Goofy was rather concerned.
Aozora shot him a steely gaze and continued to brood while Goofy quickly backed off.
Things are in motion that shouldn't be happening. How can it be? Aozora thought. This isn't right. Already, everything's going like they never should've been before. Who's the force behind all this evil? Who could it be to have so much power? I don't understand...
He looked up, as Yuna came into the sitting room and sat heavily on the couch in front of him. She had a tired look on her face, tired and lonely.
" Hey, are you okay?" she still asked him.
Aozora shrugged.
Yuna gave him an odd look. With a sigh, she stood up and strode away in a direction he didn't care to notice. He heard the door open and close and he knew she had left the building.
Ashita and Yuri had gone back to the clock tower, where they were going to figure out what to do with the extra room they had, now that Orion had left. They were traumatized out of their wits, Aozora knew, and he didn't have the courage to gently wipe their minds of everything they saw and knew and send them onward to another life, free of fear.
Then again, he didn't even have their permission. And he had forgotten he was not a member of the Society anymore.
Only members of the Society have an indefinite permission to erase beings of memory...those who leave the Society are branded forever and killed...so no secrets would be left...branded...my scar...
Aozora looked around himself warily, before placing his hand over where his heart was slowly beating. He didn't need to see for himself what was there; the mark was etched in his mind.
A star, with three diamonds on each point, a pentacle for the five moral laws of the Society...faith, loyalty, courage, strength, and soul...one who leaves the Society is devoid of them all and is branded forever before killed...but I wasn't devoid of them when I left...how could they mark me this way?
The star was a beautiful and sad mark, a cruel irony to what one suffers in the hands of the members of the Society when one abandons it. But he didn't suffer, he didn't die; he had managed to evade them all and flee, something that had never happened before in the history of the Society.
And he is marked with a scar, too, a scar for all time, all life...There was a knife mark on Sora's neck, which Ashita and Yuri said was made by Orion. It had not erased like the gash on the side and the knife wound on his left arm. It was there, faint at times, but strongly visible at other times. It was a sad mark, a line; it was strangely beautiful, beautiful and sad and cruel at the same time.
I wonder if he knows about it...what will he do when he finds out he is marked for all life?
Aozora sighed and closed his eyes, drowning his thoughts in darkness, no longer in touch with all his senses, which happened to be more than five.
Sora stared at the mirror on the wall next to the bed he was laying on. His hand continouosly, unconsciously, touched his neck, his fingers brushing against the long, thin, slightly dark line that went its crooked way across his windpipe. He now knew what Orion could-and would- do when pushed to the extreme.
Cid said if it was only a little deeper, just a little less than a centimeter-whatever that is- deeper, I would've died right there and then. I wouldn't be able to find King Mickey or Riku...or Kairi...what would she say to this? What would she say to this mark on my neck?
He could barely remember anything other than that there were hot white flashes of pain in a sea of darkness. Then it really did become a sea of darkness, a restless, endless dark sea that foamed and frothed as it was pushed back and forth by a turbulent wind. The sky was dark, clouded over, and furiously gray. He had found himself, in his fourteen-year-old body, flying across the waters on his back, flowing with the wind. He didn't know why; he didn't even seem to care to wonder why. He was one with the wind flowing over the endless sea, then the gears in his mind had started to churn, as he began to recognize where he was.
This is what happens to the world if I fail...only water, no land...no birds, no life...just the ocean and the wind and the sky...and darkness everywhere...
He closed his eyes to think, then opened them...and found himself staring in horror at the scenes of war before him. He was no longer floating above the oceans, he was now a spectator of a gruesome battle, a battle between beings, beings that looked faintly familiar...and the Heartless and Nobodies, swarmed and united, a wave of darkness eroding at its resisters. In the midst of it all was a fury of feathers and fire, a duel of white and dark, heaven and hell. Sora squinted to see what was causing white feathers and white fire to fly, and was astonished by what he saw.
The wings came from a majestic white wolf, armored in gold and silver, with massive white wings from its back. The fire was flying from a grim reddish fox, ablaze with hell-like fire, a vicious fury. The white wolf was holy and beautiful; the reddish fox was demonic and equally wondrous.
"What-what are they?" Sora found himself whispering out loud.
What you saw before was what will happen when you fail and what you see before your eyes is what may happen in the future...whether or not you fall or fail will determine the future...
Sora was stunned for he knew the voice. Then he began to understand what the voice was saying.
If the fate of the universe went two ways, two separate roads, then were those two choices the empty sea and the vicious war?
You are correct, young Keyblade Master. The future of the universe goes two ways. Fall and nothing remains but the sea, the wind, and the sky. Fail and the universe will rage in a war.
Sora was now horrified beyond his wits. If he falls, everything goes to ruin. If he fails, everything and everyone suffers from war.
"Impossible..." Sora managed to choke out.
Is this the answer you've been looking for?
"No!" Sora shouted. "That's not what I'm looking for-"
Can YOU change the future then, young Keyblade Master? The voice was harsh now. What can you do to change the infallible?
Sora bit his lip, as he watched the forces of light fade against the uncoming tide of darkness. "Then what do you mean by falling or failing? What is the difference? Who said I was going to fall or fail? Can't I do something against it?"
There was no answer. Sora began to panic.
"Well, why don't you answer? Who say's I'm going to die? I have to find the door of light, don't you think so? So what the hell are you talking about? What are you-"
He found himself facing images of two people. It so stunned him he nearly cried out in shock. But that cry broke down into tears, as he saw faces he had not seen in a year.
Riku was blindfolded, wearing a coat nearly identical to the one Aozora wore almost all the time. His silvery hair was longer, too, and he was holding the Dark Keyblade. He was currently looking down at something from a height, in a place that seemed strangely familiar...
But I saw the Dark Keyblade disappear. I know I did!
Kairi looked beautiful as always, her red hair longer, her stance bolder, as she went down a road in a misty gray world. She was taller and looked older, as Riku did. They both had grown older, like he had.
Time flies by...how will we all look like when we see each other again? Will it be years, will it be forever? When will we meet again?
Tears flowed down his face, as he reached out a hand to his two friends, his two best friends. The tears were hot and very real-
He had woken up them, finding himself staring at the faces of Donald, Goofy, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and Cid. They looked like they had gotten gifts of great extravagance; they were so happy that he was okay that it nearly frightened him to death. He had found himself in the same bed he woke up in weeks ago after a disastrous run-in with Aozora, in the same place where he had come to learn something about some of his friends from the childhood days of Destiny Islands, the days that seemed so far away...
Sora heaved a sigh and sat up straighter. His hand drifted down from his neck to where his two necklaces were supposed to be, which were of a crown and a star-shaped charm of shells. His hand still met empty air.
Sora looked down at himself, glad that he was still alive.
He dozed on the couch, half-asleep, half-awake, unaware of time, when the door banged open and Yuna ran into the apartment. Aozora jumped up and tumbled off the couch, landing in a very uncomfortable heap that made the healing wound on his side sting.
" Ashita...Ashita and Yuri...Ashita and Yuri..." Yuna was gasping for air, trying to catch her breath. Aozora jumped up from his awkward position and followed Yuna to the kitchen, where everybody else was gathered...except Sora.
"What? What about Ashita and Yuri?" Aozora demanded as he found a spot to stand in the kitchen.
"...they're being held hostages!" Yuna exclaimed. "Someone barged in and took them prisoners at the clocktower."
"Yunnie, are you serious?" Rikku demanded.
"By who?" Paine asked calmly as she finished polishing her huge sword.
"That's the problem," Yuna replied hurriedly. "Some mysterious guy in a coat like Aozora's-"
"The Society? That's crazy," Aozora snapped. "How can that be? Why would the Society want to take those two prisoner?"
Everyone gave him a hopeless shrug. Aozora groaned and moved for the door. "We have to go-"
"What's going on?" Sora demanded as he barged in through the same door Aozora was going out of. They crashed into one another, resulting in a universal groan from everybody else.
"Ow..." Sora groaned and rubbed his head while Aozora gave a sigh and moved his hand slowly to the place of impact on his head.
"Ashita and Yuri were taken prisoner by somebody from this Society that Aozora knows of at the clocktower," Cid said gruffly. "Care to join in the rescue mission?"
Sora hesitated before answering. They hadn't gotten along very well ever since Sherwood Forest but he had a sense of right and wrong and he knew helping Aozora was doing the right thing...if Aozora was aware of it at all.
"I'm in," Sora said. " Donald? Goofy? What about you guys?"
Donald still had the gruff 'no way in Hades' hell' look on his face but Goofy gave an immediate nod and tightened the straps of the shield on his arm.
"Hey, can we join-" Rikku began to ask.
"Store's still a big mess, Rikku," Paine interrupted. "And we gotta set up more protections, too, remember?"
Rikku groaned. Yuna smiled, then said, "Good luck, you guys. Hope to see you soon."
Sora nodded. The three women left the kitchen, leaving Cid to turn on them and say, "Listen, last night I was in contact with Leon and Cloud over at Traverse Town-"
"What did they say?" Sora quickly interrupted. Cid threw him a rather disgusted look, then continued.
"They said Coliseum vanished," Cid said slowly. "But its reappeared in New Universe. As part of its original world, Ancient Greece."
"Ancient Greece?" Aozora was startled. "I thought it was destroyed by the-"
He stopped himself, leaving Donald to give him an extremely suspicious glare.
"It was destroyed," Cid affirmed. "However, a certain aquintance of ours managed to resurrect it. Don't ask me for any details; I'm telling you all I know which is rather similar to crap from a chocobo."
Sora was about to ask what a chocobo was but Aozora elbowed him to shut him up. Sora gave him an angry look but kept quiet.
"Sora, you have to go to Ancient Greece," Cid said quietly, urgently. "You have to go. You cannot ignore this world; its importance is greater than any one of us could actually ever think. No joke, you have to go."
"As soon as possible, I'm guessing," Aozora said sternly. "But the both of us aren't healed long enough to handle the world."
"And yet you two are gonna take your friends along and try to rescue Ashita and Yuri?" Cid cocked an eyebrow at this.
Aozora twitched. "A world and a rescue mission are two different things. You know that, I'm betting. I know about the Society; that will give us the upper hand. However, saving a world from the Heartless and the Nobodies is a harder task than one would ever think. I think we're strong enough to save Ashita and Yuri but not strong enough to take on a world, especially one like Ancient Greece."
He said the name of the world haltingly, as though he was reluctant to remember anything remotely similar to the two words that made up the name of the world.
"You have to go there pretty much immediately," Cid retorted. "Now go. Save Ashita and Yuri, then go to Ancient Greece. Go."
He literally marched away from the kitchen, leaving behind some very surprised people.
"He sure doesn't act like this," Aozora mused, then abruptly turned and headed for the door down the hall. "Let's go; we've got not even half a moment to lose."
"However long that is," Sora muttered under his breath as they rushed out of the apartment.
He grinned. Everything was working with incredible finesse. He wanted to laugh.
The holograms worked, he thought with amusement as he looked out onto Twilight Town from his high perch on the clocktower. Incredible. The finest in technology, I believe. I can't believe how well they could deceive people.
He had played out a holographic image of him terrorizing people all around the clocktower, resulting in complete desertion of the area. He had also driven out the residents of the clocktower with that method, then proceeded to play another hologram of him taking the two residents captive. He timed it carefully so that one of the allies of the Keyblade Master and the Guardian would come upon the imagery and alert the two important beings.
And now, all I must do is wait for them...wait for them and strike at the right time...and the rift will become an involuntary split that will become real and visible...
He smiled a demonic grin and scanned the area around the clocktower, like a raptor looking down upon the world from his place on top of the world, keeping an eye out for unsuspecting prey.
Two blades vs. two blades...I am so going to enjoy this...
They ran the equivalent of two miles without realizing it; their thoughts went to the clocktower and Ashita and Yuri, not how long can they run without stopping. Then they found themselves at the foot of the clocktower, which suddenly looked ominous. It was silent, very silent.
The silence was deafening.
They looked at each other. What would happen once they open the door?
"I'm going first," Aozora didn't take a minute to debate the decision and strode for the door. Sora, who preferred being the first in everything, fumed at this, though he knew he was just being foolish.
Goofy moved behind Donald and, with his shield up, looked around the deserted area around the clocktower warily. Even the trains were silent that day.
Aozora slowly opened the door, revealing nothing but a swirling set of stairs that led up towards the top. There was no sign of disturbance; that confused Aozora. Where Ashita and Yuri attacked while they were sleeping? No, that was impossible; Yuna had seen them being taken hostage, of course he didn't see them.
"This is strange," Donald quacked softly, then accidentally kicked a rusted nail lying around uselessly on the bottom floor. It's sharp, metallic sound rang as it roiled off into the dark. Everyone froze, trembling, and they turned as one to glare at Donald, who gave them a rather sheepish grin. "Sorry."
Sora sighed, then started for the stairs, only to be cut off by Aozora. His blond look-a-like gave him a rather rude glare, then went up the stairs first.
Rather than letting out an angry outburst, Sora fumed silently, becoming all the more angry by Aozora's course of actions. Whether or not Aozora went in front to protect Sora he didn't know but he was certainly irritated by the teenager's attitude.
It would not be long before Sora came to understand why it was actually a better idea to have Aozora go in front. As the four people went up the staircase, Aozora's hands kept flexing and light continued to glow from his hands. Sora knew he was ready to pull out his keyblades at a moment's notice and readied his keyblade as well.
They had passed two floors by then. Goofy kept stalling to see what the floors were for but, while Aozora continued to march on at an unforgiving pace, Donald dragged the overly curious knight along.
It was at the third floor but Aozora came to a sudden stop. Sora, who had actually started to daydream about Destiny Islands while trying to keep up with the torrid pace, nearly ran into him. Donald did succeed in running into him but Goofy somehow avoided the mishap.
"What is it?" the question formed on Sora's tongue but Aozora quickly interrupted him with a hiss and, "There's someone in the main control room."
"The what room?" Sora was confused. He was a technology ignoramus, remember that. The most technological advances he probably knew in the first fourteen years in his life were gummi ships and the elevators in Hollow Bastion, among other things.
"The main control room," Aozora said in a low tone, implicating the serious danger of what they were doing. "That's where the lights, the clock faces, and the bells of the clocktower are controlled."
"Der...you think someone's in there?" Goofy asked.
Aozora nodded. "Someone's in there, I can feel it."
"Just one person?" Donald asked suspiciously.
"You guys go on ahead; see if Ashita and Yuri are up there," Aozora told them. "I'm checking the main control room. If there's any trouble, give a yell or something. Who knows what might happen."
Sora gave the briefest of nods, then watched as Aozora opened the door into the main control room. He got a glimpse of the room, a huge dark room with blinking lights, before the door closed. Sora then continued on his way up, suddenly nervous, wondering what could possibly be happening in the main control room at that moment in time.
The flight of stairs went upward, not seeming to stop. Sora was getting exhausted and a hatred began to grow in him against all staircases that never seemed to end. Donald and Goofy were slacking off as well, overcome by the stairs. They kept moving, though, until they had reached a door. It was wide open, strangely enough. They knew from a previous visit that this was probably where Ashita and Yuri stayed; the last time they were here, they probably did get past the main control room but didn't go up far enough.
"This must be where Ashita and Yuri are staying," Sora told Donald and Goofy as he stepped into a maze of rooms and hallways, with areas that opened up to the bird's eye view of Twilight Town.
Sora inched to the edge, where he leaned against a column and looked down at the world. Donald and Goofy set about investigating the top floor. Sora didn't realize the column he was leaning against was the one Aozora was sleeping against when the look-a-like's journey began but he did know one thing and one thing only: there was no struggle here. There were no telltale signs of struggle between Ashita and Yuri and the stranger that Yuna said took the two hostages.
"Sora?" Goofy said hesitantly. " There's a problem."
"No struggle," Donald finished the sentence. "There was no struggle here. There was no sign of struggle down there and there's no sign of struggle up here either."
"Nobody was around when we came near," Sora countered slowly. "There were no eyewitnesses."
"The clocktower is literally untouched," Goofy offered. "Nothing was thrown, nothing was shattered, no blood, nothing. I don't think they were taken hostages."
"Besides," Donald added, " they're not here. Ashita and Yuri are not here."
Sora mused for a moment. If they were not here, then where were they...
"The main control room," he heard himself say. "We need to check the main control room."
"Oh yeah!" Goofy agreed. "What are we waiting for?"
He began to stomp down the stairs.
"Goofy!" Sora and Donald both yelped. "Not so loud!"
Goofy froze. Then he said, with a sheepish grin, "Woops, sorry!"
He proceeded to tiptoe down the stairs. Literally.
"Come on," Sora followed Goofy. Donald carefully closed the door behind them, not realizing that it would actually be months before anybody came to the top floor again.
They went down the flight of stairs and Sora literally hugged the rail, suddenly realizing how high they were off the ground. He proceeded to continue downstairs, fighting the temptation to look down. Donald walked with his beak up in the air and Goofy just lumbered along on his toes, trying to be as silent as possible.
Because they were so busy being themselves, they almost missed the main control room. But Sora stopped in time and they found themselves in front of the semi-circle doors, standing there, wondering whether or not they would dare go in.
"Should we go in?" Sora asked the others. They heard nothing from the inside.
Goofy shook his head; Donald nodded.
Sora made a quick decision, weighing the pros and cons, then opened the doors.
He did not expect to see a certain someone he had met before maybe half a year ago.
Nobody's here, Aozora thought as he slowly inched into the main control room. He looked around himself warily, peering at the shadows created by the blinking lights and control panels. He ever so slowly moved to the center of the main control room, which was enormously empty, compared to the lights and control panels riddling the walls. What's going on-
"Well, well, well," a cold, rather cruel voice hissed as a figure in a long black coat and hood suddenly strode into view from the shadows. "The Guardian himself at last. About time, too."
Aozora nearly yelped, jumping back in the process. "Who-who the hell are you? What are you doing here? What have you done to my friends?"
Why and where have I heard his voice before?
"What friends?" the being asked in dark amusement. "I don't know what you're talking about. Oh wait, which friends are you talking about?"
The guy's teasing me, Aozora thought. Wait a minute...something funny's going on here...if he doesn't know what I'm talking about, then where's Ashita and Yuri-
"You used holograms, didn't you?" Aozora demanded angrily.
The being smirked rather noisily. " Took you a while to catch on, Guardian. How long has it been, three years? Quite a long time since you've escaped us. I wonder, did you tell the Keyblade Master and his two friends about your scar? Or how about how you lent your hand in the destruction of Ancient Greece?"
By then, the being had removed his hood, revealing a rather handsome face, with fierce emerald eyes, fiery red hair, and marks on his cheek.
"Axel..." Aozora hissed.
Axel grinned. "Surprise. Thought you'd never get rid of me? Guess again."
Aozora bristled.
"I hear Cid wants you and the Keyblade Master to go to Ancient Greece as soon as possible," Axel said casually, beginning to pace a bit. "Seems like he wants you two to stop Hades from destroying Ancient Greece again."
"Hades is going to destroy Ancient Greece?" Aozora demanded.
"The only sound way to defeat Hercules," Axel answered. "Of course, he could always copy your tricks and detonate Ancient Greece again, but this time adding a bit of that charm called 'god'."
"You detonated Ancient Greece?" a voice asked quietly from behind Aozora. "You destroyed the world of one of my friends? You?"
It was Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"Get out," Aozora bristled. " No time to explain; Ashita and Yuri aren't here and you guys need to-"
"Stop Hades from destroying the world like you did, yes we heard it all," Sora said in an extremely steely voice. "Axel, how nice to meet you."
"You two what?" Aozora turned on Axel.
"Shall I kill you this time?" Axel snarled, his eyes glimmering like embers. "Or shall I tell you all you might need to know-"
"I will not let you meet with Sora!" Aozora snapped angrily. "Get out of here, now! Get to Ancient Greece. Save that world! GET OUT!"
The door smashed shut behind them. It was a miracle the door did not break.
"Are you confused?" Axel said in a jeering voice as he stretched out his right arm.
"Why should I?" Aozora snarled as his right hand glowed in its purplish darkness and his left shimmered in a pure light. The Oblivion and the Starlight flashed into his hands and he tensed himself into his fighting stance.
"You may never know," Axel grinned and fire exploded all around them.
"Axel...master of fire," Aozora snarled as fire spread around them in a circle.
Axel stretched his arms out and opened his hands. Wheels of fire spun and sparks flew as two extremely lethal spiky wheels materialized in the person's hands.
"Fire and Wind Wheels, your favorite choice of weapons," Aozora growled under his breath, knowing that Axel cannot hear him over the roar of flames. "Nice."
"Surprise," Axel grinned. "Two vs. two. Ready?"
Aozora briefly considered casting Aeroga. He didn't get a chance.