Secrets of Memories Chapter 46: Return to the Past
There was weariness in his face, bold eyes clouded over by exhaustion. The rigors of the lifestyle he led, always searching, always on the run, have left him tired, tired and defeated. And now, now he was caught, caught in his past, the darkness that had haunted him for five years. There were was nowhere else to run to, no other place to hide. He was defeated.
The past was all around him. He found himself in the mysterious base of the Society, a dark organization whose once-wondrous goals in reality fell from grace, caught and held like an animal within a cage, captured with his two friends from another, forgotten past, a past that had begun to echo when he first met the Keyblade Master, Sora.
" Who knows what they're going to do with us," Kobi, the silver-haired child, muttered darkly as he glared at the everlasting silver moon. " Probably going to roast the three of us alive."
Lorien raised an eyebrow at this. The red-haired girl had a haunted look about her, but that look had vanished with that arched eyebrow. " Say that again."
" Roast the three of us alive?" Kobi repeated. " What's wrong with that?"
" It's just…" Lorien rolled her eyes. " Never mind. Why do I even bother?"
" Hey, are you suggesting something!" Kobi demanded.
" Depending."
" Hey!"
Aozora, busy brooding in a corner of their little crude prison, glared at them. " Quiet! Kobi, can you please shut up for once!"
Kobi glared at Aozora, and his friendly look slightly hardened. " Why, do I talk too much? Are you two in league against me? Is that it!"
"No, I'm saying that I'm trying to think but I can't because you're too damn loud!" Aozora was an inch away from swearing but checked himself in time. " I'm stuck here when I shouldn't be and I'm trying to figure out how to get out of here-"
" That's not gonna be easy," Kobi interrupted. " The Society's close knit and they guard the entrances and exits zealously. And besides, there really is no way you can get out of here. Even if you blast your way through, there's too many of them."
" And we've the Elite to contend with," Lorien added. " You know they've been wanting to kick our asses for a while, especially yours, Aozora."
She fixed him with a fearsome stare and Aozora felt his heart flutter. In the haunted moonlight, she looked like some immortal being, someone not of this world, this reality, this Universe.
" I think…I think I know that," he replied, a little tongue-tied. What's wrong with me! " Yeah, I think I'd know. How else could Domitan and Vixen get me here? They kicked my ass before they could get me here or else I could've kicked theirs."
" Why didn't you kick theirs first?" Kobi asked curiously.
" Too many other people," Aozora admitted that he sometimes had trouble controlling his power. " I might have hurt them."
" You know one of the first things we taught was to control our powers," Kobi pressed on. " How can you have trouble all of a sudden?"
Why is he questioning me? Aozora thought, not understanding Kobi's motive. I don't get it; why is he asking all these questions?
" I've…I've been having trouble keeping anything in check," Aozora said slowly and carefully. " Ever since…ever since…things went a bit wrong."
He was not willing to mention the feud between him and the Keyblade Master. It was a silly feud, really, but it was something Sora took seriously; clearly Sora was more than offended that Aozora masterminded the destruction of Ancient Greece. Sora's carefree attitude was being threatened by Aozora's protectiveness and he fought back, maybe a bit too extremely.
But I was supposed to protect him, Aozora protested to nobody in particular. I don't understand; why can't he see the darkness following him, ready to swallow him? Why is he so blind?
Maybe its his nature, another voice in his mind, his own but not his, spoke. His nature keeps him from understanding. He must understand and that is what you must do. That is…if we can get out of here in the first place.
Aozora looked to Kobi and Lorien. " Where are your weapons?"
Kobi began to laugh. Lorien cast him a disturbing look. " They took them from us but they don't know that we can call them back. If there's one thing they can't do, it's to keep our weapons from coming back to us. Eldest made it so that they have something that the Keyblade also has: the ability to return to the master, no matter the situation."
" How fast can the weapons get back to you?" Aozora pressed on. " I'm not sure of what to do but maybe we can fight our way out."
" Fight?" Kobi stared at him incredulously. " You think we can fight our way out of here? Have you gone insane!"
" Not yet," Aozora shot back. " Hey, I've escaped the Society before-"
" Oh, you're the one," Lorien realized. " I heard Vixen and Lexeus talking about someone who ran away from the Society with his faculties all intact. I assume that's you?"
His hand drifted to the place over his heart. The scar…
" Just as I've surmised," Kobi said in a low voice. " What's the big deal with that branding anyways?"
Faith…loyalty…courage…strength…soul…by the five one is bound to the Society…
" The scar keeps you from using your powers to the extreme," a quiet voice spoke outside. " You are free to use your powers when you join the Society but if you try to leave, we have to brand you, to keep you from using your powers when we kill you. This is what has become of the Society and that's what it will always be."
Haunted eyes stared back at them through the bars. Purple-blue hair shrouding the right eye, the stiff, stern face.
" Zexion?" Aozora ran to the bars that created one wall of the prison. " Zexion, what are you saying?"
The young Elite member looked away, shame and regret marking his face. " Aozora…I think I've made a terrible mistake."
Now Kobi and Lorien, just as bewildered as Aozora, joined him in staring at the Unknown.
" What do you mean?" Aozora asked.
" I thought the Society was to balance the dark and light," Zexion began, hesitantly and quietly, his eyes looking around warily. " That's the only reason why I joined with Domitan. But, Aozora, he's power-crazy now. And with a whole new agenda, I really don't belong in this place anymore. But I can't escape like you can, Aozora. I've done too much."
" So did he," Kobi jerked his thumb in Aozora's direction. " Or so I'm told. Isn't he the one who exploded that world, Ancient Greece? I mean, really, it should be much easier for you to get out of here, since you've been in here long enough to know all the tricks and trades of this Society."
" Um…Kobi?" Lorien turned to him. " I think there's something you should know."
" What do you mean?" Kobi turned to her with a puzzled look.
Aozora slapped himself mentally, giving a very real grimace in the process. How can Kobe be so stupid sometimes? " Kobi, Domitan is Zexion's brother. They're siblings."
Kobi's jaw fell open. He stared at Zexion, blinking in astonishment. " You guys are siblings!"
Lorien smacked him on the head. " How stupid can you be?"
" Let him be," Zexion said calmly. " It's not his fault. Not many know about that. I don't talk about this often."
" You mean you never talk about it," Aozora rephrased. " Still not talking, are you?"
" No," Zexion shook his head. " I told Marucia I wanted to stay here. I want nothing to do with my brother but now…now…"
His voice dropped to a mere whisper in the breeze. " I want out. But I can't leave…so I'm going to help you guys."
" How?" Lorien demanded.
" If there's one thing I can do, its creating chaos," Zexion cracked a smile. " Distractions are useful."
He suddenly reached into his right pocket and pulled out some very strange, oblong device, with a small screen at one end and a circular button on the other. It was dim steel and black.
" If I disrupt the Gathering in the very beginning," Zexion said quietly, " you won't know what's to become of it. This has everything you'll need to know if you never get to hear of it."
Aozora quickly reached out and took the device. " Zexion, I think it's best if you let loose the chaos in the middle. I'd like to hear a bit before we get out of here."
" But to where?" Lorien brought up a question nobody had considered.
" Uh…" Clearly Aozora had not considered that.
" I talked to Eldest," Zexion offered an answer. " He told me…he told me to open a doorway for Lorien and Kobi, to Traverse Town. Aozora, I've opened up a doorway for you, a separate one. Eldest told me…it was time to hand over the two Keychains…and the world the doorway's supposed to take you to will lead you to the person you can give the Moonbeam to. From there on, who knows where you have to go."
" What world does the door lead me to?" Aozora asked.
Zexion looked at him in a very eerie manner. " You'll see."
Aozora considered whether or not to be worried about that. And then something else came to mind. " Wait…you talked to Eldest?"
Zexion gave an enigmatic smile. " Yeah, I did. I don't know why, to tell you the truth, but he didn't seem to mind at all who I am…or who I'm 'close' to. He…well, it's like this. Eldest…is being held elsewhere. I know he's got power; I'm the one who can sense power and that's how I've been able to pick out who should be in the Elite and who shouldn't join the Society. I just don't understand his power…but I know there's something about him that I want to understand. So not too long before Domitan and Vixen dragged you here, Aozora – and that goes for you two, too – I visited him. Forbidden of course but somehow when I got there, the guards were all knocked out and Eldest, when I first saw him, was looking rather pleased with himself. And then…we started talking. He said that he could crush the Society and most of the people with it…but he said that we had some strange importance to whatever was going to happen in the future. Anyways, he asked me to open up some doorways for you guys to use…can he see the future?"
Aozora, Kobi, and Lorien looked at each other. " Yes. Yes he can."
Zexion nodded. " Well, he told me you guys were coming, then gave me instructions on just what to do. He wanted you guys to get away from the Society as soon as possible but…I dunno, he kinda gave you authority, Aozora. He knows you're not that stupid but he said that if you wanted to wait a bit before I set off Chaos, then I'm supposed to wait."
" Chaos?" Now Kobi was waking up. " Wait a minute, you're going to set off Chaos? As in set Chaos loose?"
Zexion flashed a grin. " I'll see you all in a bit."
They watched the blue-haired Unknown walk off into the darkness of the world.
" Oh dear…" Lorien was heard muttering to herself. " Nobody knows what they're in for, do they?"
''
" It has all come to this," the brunet-haired Marucia murmured, running his hand through his hair. " It has all come to this."
Years of tinkering with the Society, ages in a deadlock with Axel over the leadership of the Elite, failed attempts to bring the accursed Sora and Riku into total darkness, and it had all come down to this. Three former members of the Society sitting in prison. Two for the worst kind of treason. One for something far beyond treason. They were once beyond indispensable but now look at what they really are.
Oh yeah, and there was the old man, Eldest, sitting in his cell. Orders from the top one has left the old man sitting there for weeks, untouched, well-cared for, but basically in solitary confinement.
" What's come to what?" Vixen asked coolly as he came into the room.
" This," Marucia told their researcher. " The Gathering. And all we managed to do is show them those three…you know what I mean."
" Hm…" Vixen nodded as he fiddled with a gadget he was holding in his hand. " True, true. But a pounding from Lexeus and they'd be talking."
" You should be leaving the pounding to me," Domitan smirked as he strode into the room. A violent coolness entered the room. " But of course, Lexeus gots the brawns so what's the worry?"
" Look Domitan, its not violent deaths we're going for, its torture and interrogation," Vixen turned on the blue-haired man. " Or rather, I'd say its more of torture and give-us-all-you've-got-before-we-stick-you-back-in-prison. They're far more useful to us imprisoned than dead."
" Why?" Lexeus questioned as he squeezed himself into the meeting room. Vixen and Domitan inched away as he made a place for himself. " Oh, that's right, we love seeing torture, don't we?"
" No shit, air-for-brains," Domitan snapped. " Pain, especially that on those we hate the most, is a big plus for the Society. And I'd so love to see pain inflicted on that – that – that – "
" Don't," Roxanne interrupted. " We get it Domitan; save your breath for later."
She strode in, fingering her throwing knives. Axel followed her, a manic light in his eyes. Marucia could see that Axel was drooling with an eagerness that could not be explained.
" I don't think we're going to start shedding blood today, Axel," Vixen said calmly. " So stop foaming at the mouth and gather your brains. And how shall we present ourselves to the rest at the Gathering?"
" As ourselves," Zexion offered as he came into the room. The meeting room was now crowded but a very normal scenario: Marucia was pacing at one end of the room, Axel was drumming on the huge round table in the middle in a childish manner, Domitan was rubbing his hands together with a manic violence, Roxanne was inspecting her throwing knives coolly, Vixen was fiddling with some new gadget he had come up with, Lexeus was polishing his axe, and Zexion was trying to find a seat to designate as his own again.
" Wise answer, little brother," Domitan grinned, " but I'd rather go for something more dramatic. You know, make an impression?"
" I think its best that we don't try and provoke the others," Marucia told him. " Maleficent is quite uptight and not too kindly with us; its only orders from Ansem that she's here. Anything suspicious, she'll blow up the whole thing for Ansem to take and he'll declare war on us. And the Advocate…we should not incur his wrath."
" Even with a past like his?" Axel asked with a lazy grin. " Adultery, betrayal, outright lying, backstabber, you name it. He shouldn't be too worried."
" All the same, we should be careful," Vixen said. " If something goes wrong, we'll be the receiving end of all the tirade that would follow."
" We should send somebody else to do the job," Roxanne suggested. " Let them botch it up. Just think of the looks on their faces."
" We don't want any mistakes, Roxanne," Marucia reprimanded.
" Ass."
" Don't tempt me!"
" Tempt you to do what, Marucia? Am I missing something here?"
" I bet he is!" Domitan crowed.
" Huh? I don't get it," Lexeus scratched his head. " I really don't."
Vixen stood up, pocketed his gadget, and turned to his huge friend. " Lex, you don't need to know. Let's get out of here and get ready. Leave the kids to find their own little order."
As they left the room, Zexion leaped at the chance and took Vixen's chair. " Why is there never a chair for me?"
By now, Marucia looked cornered. Axel, Domitan, and Roxanne were trying to overthrow an order of sorts once again. " I'm telling you, don't make me use my powers! If I blast you into oblivion, there's no coming back."
" You can't destroy us," Axel grinned. " Get rid of us and the boss'll get you, too."
" Empty threats, buddy," Roxanne smirked. " You can't do anything about us. Either suffer or…"
"…Give us free rein," Domitan's cool eyes tried to pry into Marucia's mind. " Let us do what we will. No more orders, no more ' do exactly as I say', no more of that shit."
" You mean joint leadership," Marucia folded his arms. " Even the Advocate's words fall upon deaf ears. My word is the last word, my decision is the last decision. I am the leader of the Elite and that is final!"
" Empty words as usual," Roxanne rolled her eyes. " Sheesh, what does it take to-"
Marucia whipped out his scythe and held it against the woman's neck. The pinkish blade glistened in the light of the meeting room. Axel and Domitan bristled but they did nothing. If there was something Marucia was quite good at, it was his ability with his weapon. He could easily slice off Roxanne's head, pull back, and whip through Domitan and Axel's heads in a blur. And the boss and the Advocate both told him he was free to use his weapon in whatever way he thinks is useful.
And he had used the weapon. An impudent and disobedient Unknown tried to first cause chaos within the Society, then flee. He never got anywhere, as Marucia branded him, then sliced him vertically, and perfectly in half, from head to toe. He never got a chance to move. From then on, nobody tried to get on the brunet-head's bad side. Well, one did, but he managed to flee.
That would be Aozora.
" I don't want to do this, Roxanne," Marucia growled under his breath, then added, " I'm talking to you, too, Axel, Domitan. I really don't want to do this."
" Alright, Marucia," Roxanne said quietly. " I get it. Later, then."
Marucia slowly lowered his weapon and stepped back. The trio abruptly turned and left. He could hear Domitan muttering, " Later. Next time around…"
I'll bite your asses and shoot off your heads, Marucia finished. He turned and left through another door to ready himself.
Zexion looked around. He was the only one left. Alone as usual, he thought to himself as he carefully got out of his chair and peeked through both doors. " Coast is clear. Here we go."
He approached a bookcase shoved into a corner of the room. There were no books on the bookcase, only some odd gizmos and crumbling scrolls. But Zexion had it there for a very good reason. Only he knew where Chaos really was.
" Chaos, Chaos, I'm coming," he smiled as he reached and twisted a gadget. I was the original inventor, Vixen. You think you know but I know where Chaos is. The doorway was right behind you. He smiled as the bookcase groaned and slowly twisted to the side, revealing – what else – a passageway that lead somewhere deep, impossibly deep. The path ran straight but there was nothing on the other side of the wall.
Zexion grinned. Vixen took enough credit for nearly a decade. It was payback time.
''
" Wonder what Roland and Sofis are doing here," Kobi wondered as two Unknowns of the Society's Order approached.
" And are those cattle prods?" Lorien eyed the sticks each carried.
" Vixen's gadgets," Roland and Sofis both grinned. " Call it force field sticks if you will. Can't risk having you renegades run the show."
Aozora, Lorien, and Kobi looked at each other. This was an unexpected development.
" They'd be here about now," Roland mused. " Out, you rats! Get a move on. Meeting's about to start."
" Bastards," Sofis growled as Roland undid the lock and swung open the rusty gate. The three people looked at them warily; Sofis thrust her stick in. " They double as killers. Move!"
They inched their ways out, looking at the Unknowns cagily. Aozora, last to leave, hesitated and Sofis swung her stick, hitting him on the back. He fell on his face but was quick to his feet, tensing. Roland smashed him with his stick. " No fights. Git!"
Aozora's face was set, holding in the pain. He glared at Roland and Sofis, finding nothing but cold disgust. Lorien pulled him away from them, as Roland clicked a button on the stick and a purple-black shield exploded around the three.
" Fear feeds the lovely shield," Sofis smiled, as she touched the shield with the stick. The shield stretched, keeping in touch with the stick. " And fear I see in your eyes."
Kobi quickly shielded his gaze.
" Take us where you will," Aozora snapped. " Stop wasting time."
" Don't talk to us this way, bastards!" Roland snapped and started moving. Kobi, unfortunately, had moved to the back and as Roland and his stick moved forward, so did the force field.
" Ow!" Kobi jumped forward. " Damn, what is this thing!"
" Forgot to warn you," Sofis smiled with feign apology. " You touch, they hurt. Darkness, boy, darkness. Doesn't it look like it?"
" Just shut up, will you?" Lorien yelled at her. " Stop wasting time and get going!"
Aozora looked at Roland and Sofis. " Wonder why they'd send fools like you to this kind of job?"
Roland and Sofis seemed to bite their lips. They started walking and the three sought to keep up.
" This is pissing me off," Lorien growled. " All this shit, its insane. Makes no sense at all."
Sofis stopped momentarily and the force field stretched. But it quickly ballooned and Kobi swore. He had never felt fear like this before but the fear was getting in their way. The force field was feeding off of his fear after all and he could see that not only was it growing, it was thickening.
" I don't want to hear you or even see your face," Sofis muttered. " So have fun trying to see if we've stopped or not."
She clicked another button and, as everything started to go dark, they heard her say, " I love Vixen for this awesome piece of -"
Everything glowed purple-black. They were in a force field, not knowing when to stop or go. They were alone, cut out from the world. Darkness around them.
" I hate Vixen for this f - - king piece of-" Kobi began.
" And where'd you learn those words?" Aozora never expected the fun-loving silver-haired boy to know such colorful words.
Kobi gave an apologetic grin. " When you're mad, you're mad."
They kept walking, now full of silence. The walls of the force field stared at them, black and purple swirls that made them dizzy, sometimes made them stagger. Quite suddenly, Lorien ran into the force field. The impact gave off violent sparks and she fell to the floor.
" We've stopped!" Kobi exclaimed in astonishment as Aozora rushed forward and pulled her away from the force field wall.
" Lorien," Aozora called her name. The girl muttered something colorful; the blast had left her dazed and barely conscious. " Lorien, come on, we've got to move."
" Who says we hafta – ow!" Kobi stumbled forward. " Move!"
Aozora pulled Lorien to her feet and Kobi rushed to help her. They staggered onward, not knowing where to go.
Then, quite suddenly, they stopped. Aozora just knew they were not moving anymore.
" Can you feel it?" Lorien whispered. The blast from the force field had a powerful effect on her and left her suddenly weak. " Can you…feel the darkness?"
Aozora looked to her. So did Kobi. Then they felt it. A tendril of darkness.
" The Gathering," they realized. And then the darkness of the force field fell away.
''
" Pete, we can still make negotiations with Pete," Maleficent told a brunet-haired Unknown gripping what appeared to be a pink scythe forged by giants, very big giants. " The idiot, he thinks he can find the Door of Darkness."
" That is not our goal, Maleficent!" a rather imposing Unknown snapped back. " There is nothing more one can gain from Kingdom Hearts. It's only a matter of finding the door and controlling it. What we need to do is either find the Door of Light and destroy it, or we find the Keyblade Master and destroy him. Kill him and the Light has no chance against us. And once they are gone, Paradise will be ours."
Nobody knew what he looked like underneath the hood. Nobody knew his real identity. He was simply called Advocate.
" Well, there's got to be something more we can do to find Paradise," Roxanne said.
" Depends on whether or not you can keep a good eye on them," the Advocate gestured in the direction of the force field surrounding the three teenagers. " And that damn old man. Keep them here and away, far away from the Keyblade Master. Nothing must stand in the way of this bloodletting."
" More murders, Advocate?" Maleficent was amused. She fingered her staff. " Why can't we play a part?"
" A part you may play, my dear Maleficent." Darkness dripped from the voice of the Advocate.
" And we will do something as well," Axel grinned, giving a Fire and Wind Wheel in his hand a twirl. " That is, if Marucia's plan gets through to the boss."
" He's already approved of it," a tall brunet-haired Unknown spoke in a quiet voice, full of authority. Aozora stared at him. Why did he look like Sora so much? " We just need to plan things out."
" I'll take care of the…detailed work," the Advocate spoke. " You've had some…inconsistency in your work, have you not? Failed to bring Sora to darkness, failed to convert Riku, lost Namine, got screwed over by these four betrayers; I think its time someone with a better record should step in."
" You?" Maleficent began to laugh. " You and your record! You've cheated the one you've loved and look at what's standing here now! Your fathers have cheated and so have you! And they have betrayed. So have you. You've betrayed before; how can we trust you not to do it again?"
" Because the darkness is now mine," the Advocate spoke and his voice was low, full of a dark authority. " I am one with the darkness; the Light has lost. He may be related to me by blood but that won't spare him the death sentence. If all goes well, King Mickey Disney will be the only standing Keyblade Master!"
Aozora's mind began to spin out of control. Where they saying…
" And his time is near," Domitan said coolly, his arms folded across his chest. " Once they are gone, the rest gets easier. The Order will never stand a chance."
" Aozora?" Lorien saw the look of growing horror on his face. " Aozora, what's wrong?"
" Th – they – they're going – they're going to…" Aozora tried to speak but he couldn't.
" Zexion's gone!" Kobi alerted them. " He was there but he's gone!"
Lorien tensed. " Aozora, save your breath. Get ready everyone. Once Chaos gets loose, its time to rock and roll!"
Aozora nodded and his heart began to let loose tendrils of power, white and black, Light and Dark. The Oblivion and Starlight were ready at his command.
"…Kairi will be mine," Maleficent, Marucia, and the Advocate seemed to be trying to figure out who gets what after whatever they were planning to do is carried out. " Kairi and the rest of the princesses of Heart."
" You won't find the door to Darkness, Maleficent, so let them be," Marucia said sternly.
" Like I'd let you boys have a run with them!" Maleficent snapped back. " I've better things to do with them than to have them slip away from my hand as playthings!"
Marucia colored slightly and with indignation but Domitan was clearly heard muttering, " Not a bad idea…"
The ground began to shake. Everyone jerked, tense, suddenly aware of what was around them. Roland and Sofis looked around, their eyes wide with fear.
" Chaos," Lorien whispered.
And a great mechanical giant stormed into view, its draconic head roaring and billowing green flames. Its chest was a giant power launcher; its maw opened quickly to let loose a ball of yellowish energy that blew rocks, and unfortunate Unknowns of the Society's Order, into bits. Its feet were massive claws that dug into the earth and crushed whatever was in their way. Its hands were spinning claws and giant knives.
It was, in short, a thing of disasters. And it was called Chaos.