Tangledways: That's after you get through the first of three updates this week, right? I'll be gone one agonizing month to recollect me thoughts – and check out the fashions for creating characters :D – but when I come back, I'll update soon as possible, k?
Cammy-world: unfortunately, and this is quite inevitable, someone will die. The question is…who?
Lena-jade: punctuation is a long story; I have really dumb fingers that always press '"' twice when it's only needed once; grammar is a different story – these mistakes always evade me, grrr! pulls out torch Who's the other Keyblade wielder, you say? Well, you'll just have to find out, eh? And about that couple thing…thinks for a few minutes" gosh darn, I wanna spoil it so bad! But I'll give you this: wait and see.
Har har har, on with the story!
Secrets of Memories Chapter 63: Stray
" Last train for Twilight Town leaving in three minutes. All boarders must have their tickets out and ready."
Aozora looked up as the automated voice boomed across the Australian Train Station. Sighing, he tucked the seashell charm and the crown medallion necklace in his pocket. His hand reached in and pulled out the necklace again. He stared at it for a few moments, then replaced it in his pocket. He was sure he had seen the necklace some time ago, and not just around Sora's neck.
He heard giggles behind him and turned around from his seat on a cold wooden bench. Three teenage girls, apparently returning from school, were walking to another part of the train station; they were staring at him and blushing at the same time. That and giggling.
That was when Aozora realized he wasn't wearing his shirt. Shit! And he didn't have time to run to a restroom and change; the train was on its way and he was quite sure Naminé would kill him if he missed it. Of course that's if another member of the Order doesn't kill him first. Or a Society member for that matter.
" The train is now approaching the station. Please have your ticket out and ready for inspection once the train arrives. Please stand behind the yellow line until the train comes to a complete stop and wait for the doors to open. Present your ticket to the inspectors and once you are cleared, proceed inside. No smoking and drinking allowed in the train at all times. Thank you."
Aozora stood up, bundling up his shirt and patting his pockets to make sure he had everything. That was when he remembered he was missing his trench coat. Crap!
His fingers closed around a folded piece of paper. Surprised, he pulled it out and unfolded it. There, in a small, neat handwriting, was a sentence: Your trench coat is with Ashita and Yuri at the Clocktower since that somehow materialized there instead of your whole being.
He scratched his head. How weird…
There was a rumbling sound as the train lurched into view. It was painted with the colors of the sunset, in deep oranges and reds. It was built to look like a steam locomotive but it was obvious the train was powered by something other than coal.
" Home to Twilight Town," he sighed as he pulled out his ticket and waited with several other people behind the yellow line. Most were dressed in suits and formal clothing; many were glaring at him. Was it his casual dress? His missing shirt? Or his crazy hair?
" Your ticket, please? Alright, it will take eight to ten hours to reach Twilight Town. Down the aisle. Thank you. Next…"
Aozora shuffled forward and handed the smiling inspector his ticket.
" My, my, what an interesting passenger today," she smiled. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties and could be doing a better-paying job than inspecting tickets. " Usually its business people coming and going at this late hour. Middle-aged, well-dressed-" here she eyed the part of his body that a shirt was supposed to go on "-, and this is a first-class train, too."
" Oh…" Aozora mumbled, feeling his face turn red.
" Well, you're welcome to this train; your ticket says so," she kept smiling. Aozora had the insane urge to knock out her perfect white teeth. " Right down the aisle. It'll take eight to ten hours to reach Twilight Town so get comfortable. Next…"
Aozora nervously proceeded down the train, noting the velvet flooring and the velvet chairs. The whole of the train was crimson, gilt with gold tassels and the steel of the train's body. The velvet reminded him of someone's hair…
Shaking his head, he spotted a vacant seat and walked towards it, only to be knocked down by a rather rotund woman rushing to take the seat herself.
" Young man, respect your elders!" she snapped at him as she sat down. Her skin was wrinkled and powdered to a pale peach; her graying auburn hair was tucked under a dark hat. " Teenagers these days, they never respect the needs of old people like me…"
Sighing, Aozora picked himself up and headed for another seat. A tall, thin gentleman with a black suit, a huge blond moustache, and spectacles cut in front of him immediately and took the seat himself. " Need to rest my bones…oh, what a hard day…"
The bronze-eyed teenager eyed the man with contempt. Aozora knew quite well that man wanted sympathy from the teenager in order to snatch his seat.
It took five tries but Aozora finally found a seat. He happened to sprint down a whole aisle in the process of claiming it, causing practically everybody else to glare at him.
" That's their problem," he muttered under his breath, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He felt so out of place in this rich setting but had to make do with it; it was either this or he faces the wrath of the Order for disobeying its orders.
The train was, by then, lurching forward slowly and gently picking up speed. People still searched for seats and Aozora felt nothing but anger as he glared others away. He heard murmurs from other people, listened to their criticism of his attitude towards elders.
Who do they think they are? Aozora thought with rising fury. They think they rule the world because they make money and plenty of money at that. They think that they are privileged to do everything as they please because of their age. They have no idea what some of us teenagers are burdened with, they have no freaking idea what we are doing for them!
" I'm a tired old soul," an even larger woman stood next to his seat, willing him to move with her sharp green eyes. " I pay taxes so teenagers like you can get an education. Therefore, please get up and find another seat. We taxpayers must work long hours to pay for kids like you."
" Woman, find another seat yourself," Aozora snapped back, deciding that they would have to kill him in order to move him. " I'm not budging and I won't be budging anytime soon."
" Young man, be kind to your elders!" the large woman responded with growing indignation. " We pay for kids like you; get up and let us rest ourselves!"
" You won't be paying any taxes if it weren't for teenagers like me." Aozora glared at the woman. " We save your asses; shut up, let us rest, and go find another seat."
" Watch your tongue!"
" I'm warning you…" his vision became clouded with rage.
" That is no way to speak to your elders!" that same man who took his seat second time around yelled. " Give your seat to the poor woman and find another yourself."
" Just let me be!" Aozora shouted and the Starlight materialized in his hand. The whole of the train car gasped. " I use this weapon to kill enemies you don't ever see in your busy little lives. You have any idea how hard it is to live life always on the hunt to eliminate evil just so that you can all go home with money in your pockets and purses? I deserve to have a rest; so let me be or you'll face my wrath!"
The Starlight vanished in a flash of light. Aozora glared up at the woman, who was staring at him with fear, as though he had somehow turned into a basilisk ready to strike her.
She fled. The train car became silent, as Aozora sat back and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. What had he done?
''
… he and Sora were standing on the shores of a never-ending sea. They were both looking to the sunset, to the beautiful colors of the sky.
" He's not who he used to be," Sora was saying, watching the waves as they inched up his toes.
" I know. I wish I knew why, though," he replied, knowing but not knowing who they were talking about.
" She's so worried…I never saw her like this, ever," Sora sighed. " At least she smiled when I promised to be with her for as long as I lived."
" She needs to smile. We can't make her laugh anymore," Aozora agreed sadly, bending down and touching the swirling sea as the tide came crawling in. " I wonder why they were yelling last night…"
" You heard them, too?" Sora asked. " I think they're going to split. Like what happened to Ashita's parents. His mom took him somewhere far away and his dad…well, he's always at the bar now."
" Where he goes, too," Aozora added. " I've seen him going there at least once a week. Maybe people who go to the bar come home messed up and that's why families split."
" I hope we don't split," Sora said, looking at him. " I don't know where I'd be without you."
" Me, too," Aozora agreed.
" Promise me we'll stick together." Sora stuck out his right hand. " Let's swear never to separate, never to forget each other."
Aozora grinned at he took the hand. They shook. " I swear. We'll stick together, closer than brothers…"
"…even if they split and take us along separate roads," Sora finished. " C'mon, I wanna swim before she yells at us to come home."
He ran into the waves and Aozora made to follow. But quite suddenly, the whole scenario changed. The whole of the sky was suddenly on fire and he heard maniac laughter.
"…this is who I am!"
And a man with dark hair and glowing yellow eyes appeared where Sora was standing. " Remember me? I hope you do, because we'll see each other soon. Oh yes, we'll be seeing each other soon, very soon…"
" What did you do to Sora!" Aozora yelled, striding forward. " Where did he go?"
" Why do you ask? You know where he's gone," the man laughed. He was wearing black clothes under a near-black cloak. " I didn't touch him!"
" Oh yes you did, you appeared when he disappeared!" Aozora screamed at him. " Where did he go, you sonofabitch? Where did my-"
The train jolted and Aozora sat up, breathing hard. He looked around wildly, only to see that most of the people were sleeping. Some were even drooling.
Disgusted, Aozora turned to look out the window on his left, watching as they passed by stars and distant worlds.
And then he remembered the device Zexion gave him.
Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the dark, strange piece of machine.
" I wonder what's in it…" Aozora pushed the great button under the screen.
To his astonishment, an image came up on the round screen above the button. It was Zexion, and he looked very worried. Add very nervous to that.
" I hope you can see this message before you move on and go after Sora," Zexion said slowly, staring into the screen with his serious face. " It all begins with Sora and it all ends with Sora. First off, we've got four major leaders of the Darkness. You know the first two leaders: Ronsend and Ansem. The other two are our master and that rogue general Peg-Leg Pete Coulter. Ansem, as we all know, control the Heartless. Ronsend – you know him as the Advocate – has a sort of authority over the Dusk, the Nobodies. Our master – I hear he goes by the name of Crimson – leads the Society. Pete, though, can control both the Heartless and the Nobodies. That makes him very dangerous; he's a threat to all sides. In the Gathering, though, Ansem's agent Maleficient, Crimson's representative Marucia, and the Advocate are going to figure out how to get him to their side. The only thing is, I think Axel and Domitan have a different plan. They're up to no good, I tell you, but I dunno what they plan to do. It's like they work for a different agent.
' Listen, Aozora. Crimson, Ronsend, Ansem, they're planning something. They're planning something big. Right now, Riku's been getting rid of those allied with the Heartless. Sora beat them before; Riku's beat them again. But they're not going to stop coming back. Halloweentown has been officially blown out of existence but Oogie Boogie is still alive. We're reports of Christmastown appearing but I'm not sure. Our opposite, the Order, has a lock on Hades. Captain Hook's been banished from Neverland by Riku but he's still out there somewhere. Ursula? In her case, I really think she's dead. Now, Pete's been going about looking for Jafar. And, get this, Marucia's been helping him. I don't know how it is that those two are working together on something; it's obvious that there's some deal between them. All I know is that they're searching for Jafar's black lamp; Iago's no help since he went down with Agrabah. I'm not sure of the worlds of New Universe. Of them, Hades and Prince John are the only ones working for 'us'. All others have been eliminated. Well, maybe except Prospector but the Society's lost contact with him ever since Sora went and sealed the Keyhole there.
' I'm telling you the list of all capable of dealing damage to you guys, Aozora, because they're part of this 'something big'. They're planning a coordinated attack all over the Universe. That includes some other worlds, like Spira. If you thought my Chaos-Prototype was bad, you haven't discovered Vegnagun. Yeah, I admit, I did create Vegnagun. I also created the time portal that sent that machine back in Spira's time to those great wars that annihilated Zanarkand. What I also do know is that somehow, something disastrous happened sometime in the past, too. I don't know if it was some echo of my time portal but I do know that Time took something precious from King Mickey. I don't know what that has to do with what I'm supposed to be telling you right now, so I might as well keep talking."
Aozora had to chuckle at this part. He knew Zexion quite well. The guy was lazy, sure, but he had a way with machines. He also had a way of manipulating how others saw him. Not only that, he had a way of digressing from the original topic.
" Crimson, Ronsend, and Ansem are coordinating a large-scale attack on you guys. The problem is that they need a trigger to start the chain reaction. I've already sent a message through Eldest warning about the chain reaction – hopefully the Order gets it in time – but only you can stop the trigger. This is where you come in as the Guardian."
Aozora stared at the image of Zexion. There was a definition for guardian: to guard someone. And everyone happened to know that he was to guard Sora. And if his role as Sora's guardian was to finally come into play, then that means that the trigger would have to be Sora…
If all goes well, King Mickey Disney will be the only standing Keyblade Master!
" Aozora," and here Zexion looked around carefully before staring sternly into the screen, " they're trying to kill Sora. If they kill Sora, white feathers would fall from the sky. Many believe it has something to do with his connection to the sky, hence 'sky-child'. And white feathers would be the perfect way to signal an all-out attack on the whole Universe. Aozora, you have to stop them from getting to Sora at all costs!
' As far as I know, Marucia's been given the task of stopping him in his tracks forever…and knowing Marucia, he would succeed. He's pretty ruthless and still holds a steel grip over the Elite. Axel, Domitan, Roxanne, they try but Marucia's got permission to terminate them if they get in the way. You know how well he fights. And the Advocate might lend a hand in this, which would be much worse. I've seen him fighting before and believe me, you've never seen anything like it. Well, you wouldn't want to see anything like it.
' Once you see this message, get yourself out of In Between as soon as possible. You still have to Oblivion; hand it over to Riku once you find him. It would be a good idea to ask him if he's heard from Sora. Riku's headed for the New Universe; Sora's headed for the Old Universe; they're bound to cross paths. Eldest might be able to ask King Mickey to help you; I know you're not used to fighting using only one weapon and King Mickey may lend a hand. All I know is that once you hand over the Oblivion, get yourself out of Twilight Town – yes, Kingdom Hearts has been located in Twilight Town – and go after Sora. If Sora's headed for the Old Universe, its best to start your search there.
' I have faith that you will do well, Aozora. I'll help you the best I can, at the cost of my life. I've made the wrong choice in joining the Society but I'm more than willing to make amends for it. If all else, I will try and stall Axel and Domitan; they, more than anyone, are out for blood and they want yours more than anybody else's, save Sora. Sora is reserved for Marucia and Ronsend, however; put your focus there and I'll deal with Axel and Domitan the best I can.
' Oh, and one last thing: I was talking with Lorien a bit and, um…seems like the three of you have gone through a lot together. But not in a bad way. And she, um…well, she told me she misses you a lot…and she kept telling me she wished you never died. I just never had the heart to tell her you were still alive. Either that or I was just being really lazy. You know me. See you later."
Zexion gave a very suspicious wink and the screen turned black and blank.
Aozora stared at the screen, then fell back into his seat. He held up the device before him and stared at it, realizing what Zexion had just done.
" He's given me a crap load of problems," the blond teenager murmured. " The next time I see him, I'm gonna give him the infamous knockout."
That refers to Aozora's deadly boxing skills. One fist and you're out for a week. Or so the victims have said.
The Advocate's name was Ronsend. How strange. That name sounded oddly familiar, like he's heard of it before, and not as the name of the Advocate.
Crimson…wasn't there a story about a man in a world called Walt Phoenix named Crimson? Aozora was sure of it. Later, he might have to look into it.
Ansem. Well, shit, that man's come back again. When's he ever gonna die? Do the Heartless bestow the gift of immortality? No wonder he accepted the darkness.
Pete…Peg-leg Pete Coulter…he was a fugitive, a rogue, and evil all mashed into one hunk of black, stinking flesh. But to have control over the Heartless and the Dusk, well that's saying something.
" But they're out to kill Sora," Aozora murmured. " They're going to kill him…."
His voice trembled and streaks of red crossed his mind. He made his right hand into a fist and slammed it on his chair. An uncontrollable rage was fighting his rational mind.
" I'm the Guardian, I'm not going to let them even touch him, let alone see him. If they touch him, they're going to regret they ever did…"
The door into the train car slammed open, startling everyone, including Aozora. He peeked over his chair and paled. Well, he was already pale; he simply turned paper white.
Three guards marched into the train car. They were decked in bulletproof armor and visors that shielded half their faces. They were carrying large black guns and they didn't exactly have a smile on their faces.
What made Aozora even paler than paper was the fact that it was the woman whom he had yelled at earlier who was leading them, down the aisle and towards him.
" That's him, alright!" she barked, pointing at him. " He's harassed me, tried to steal my money, and brandished a weapon while the train was on track for Twilight Town! He's a criminal, a criminal and a thief! He's a danger to our society!"
" Yes, ma'am, we'll take care of it, ma'am, you may return to your seat," one of the guards said. Huffing, the large lady marched off and Aozora watched, with apprehension, as the three guards strode toward his seat.
" Oh crap," he swore. If only he had given up his seat to that woman! Then he wouldn't be dealing with yet another delay!
Can't you people understand? I have to get to Sora or else he'll die and we'll all die, too – hey, wait a second…who said I was a thief!
" Sir, you are under arrest for wielding an illegal weapon on a train during these hours. You are also under arrest for assault and attempted thievery. Please stand up. Do not attempt to struggle."
Aozora glared at them but his heart was beating furiously.
" Its okay, fellows, he's with me."
The blond teenager jumped in his seat. What the? Who was that? Hadn't he heard the voice before?
" Oh, sorry, sir. We must've been directed to the wrong person. Apologies."
The three guards strode off stiffly, to the astonishment of Aozora and everybody else in the train car besides the owner of the voice.
Then Aozora saw who it was.
" Well, Aozora, what's up?"
Poor Aozora could only stare.
" Your Majesty?"
King Mickey smiled.
" Yup, that's me!"
""
" Let's not talk about it here, Dom. There's people around us."
Domitan snarled at him. " That doesn't matter."
Zexion looked around nervously, eyeing the teenagers who had stopped playing whatever they were playing with that great orange ball to stare at them. Not surprisingly, the two of them stood out. Domitan may look like a Goth and Zexion may look like a 'cool dude', but their hair did look rather conspicuous. Domitan's hair was bright, metallic blue, while Zexion's was more on the purplish side.
Now, sure people could assume that they dyed their hair but who can explain their eyebrows?
" This is not a good time to be talking about anything, brother," Zexion muttered.
" I don't give a shit where the hell we are!" Domitan snapped back. " And don't call me brother. We're not brothers anymore!"
" Alright, fine, so we're no longer part of a family," Zexion held up his hands, trying to calm his older brother down. " But come on, can't we go somewhere else? Some of our faculties do tend to stick out."
He pointed at the bangs shrouding his right eye.
" That doesn't concern me!" Domitan began to pace around Zexion, a wolf closing in on its prey. " What concerns me is about how Aozora, Kobi, and Lorien escaped. They were missing after that machina raged through half of the Gathering."
" I was not their keeper," Zexion countered, keeping his cool. " Roland and Sofis were."
" That's not the point." Domitan stopped pacing and stared at his brother with a narrowed, piercing gaze. " Where were you after the rampage?"
" Cleaning up the mess."
Domitan began to pace again. " You lie!"
" I do not!" Zexion shot back hotly, feeling heat inching up his face.
" You were closest to Aozora during his months with us, Zexion," Domitan continued to accuse. " Nobody's blind to that! And everyone knows what your heart is like, weak, pathetic, easily bended. You failed to hold up the standards, the oaths of the Society! You allowed Aozora and his two childhood friends to escape! You are a traitor!"
Zexion stood quietly, keeping his gaze on his brother steadily. Domitan was always good at piecing the improbable together to come up with the most logical conclusions.
" You have nothing to say? I thought so."
Domitan flicked his right arm and his blue-tinged whip came alive. The teenagers and others surrounding them gasped and stepped back quickly.
" What are you going to do?" Zexion asked quietly. Hope was ebbing away…
" I've been given leave to do whatever I want with the person who's turned traitor," Domitan said with growing maliciousness. " Oh I won't kill you outright-" here he eyed the apprehensive crowd " - since it's not in my nature to let people off easily. After all, these people will be dealing with us very soon, so why not let them see what we can do?"
" You can't do that around these people!" Zexion shouted. " What if you kill someone?"
Domitan's arm flicked out and Zexion flinched. There was a long bleeding line on his right cheek.
" We stopped caring long ago. And yet you held on to benevolence. How weak you are. The heart must lack compassion to be strong. That was the failing of Riku. He lost his compassion too late; it was lodged in his heart before he succumbed to the powers of the darkness. And look at you. What a disgrace. The kindness and love in your heart stayed throughout and look at what you've become!"
" Better than you, to the very least," Zexion growled back. " I'd rather not stain myself with blood from the ones I've killed. I don't revel in blood like you do, you mindless monster!"
" Rather not stain yourself? You're just too lazy. I mean, how long did it take for you to get personally involved in conducting Riku through Castle Oblivion? You're lazy and you sure don't enjoy mingling in with people who actually work to get where they want. I should eliminate you and just get it over with. You're no brother of mine; you don't even belong in the Society. You're a traitor, lazy, and weak. You don't even belong in this pathetic system of life. You deserve to be eliminated. Permanently."
" Stealing your best friend's lines?" Zexion smirked, though his heart pounded with insane fear. Should he blend in with these Australian teenagers and lose himself amongst them? But that would only incite Domitan slaughter everyone in their vicinity, in hopes of killing him as well as others. More blood would be spilt. It would be better if only his stained the asphalt. " Gee, how lazy are you? Even I can come up with better lines than that!"
" Shut up!" Domitan shouted and lashed out again. The frightened spectators gasped – and some screamed – as blood sprayed on the basketball court and Zexion stumbled away, gripping his upper left arm tightly. Domitan grinned. " Such a defenseless fool. Your only playthings were machina. You don't even have a weapon to fight with. Weak. Weak!"
Domitan lashed again and Zexion fell on the ground. He rolled to the side, avoiding a scorcher from Domitan's whip. Blood smeared on the court in the process.
" Stand up and fight!" Domitan sneered and grinned at the same time. " I'd like to see my victims with life in them before I kill them."
" You want to see life?" Zexion whispered, breathing hard. His eyes were wracked with pain but his face was still emotionless. Sweat rolled down his pale face. " Look around you. That is life. Australia is life. The people who are watching us now, they are life. The grass fringing the court? Life. The birds in the sky? That is life. Machina are false, they are only imitations of life. I tinker with machines, because the Society has washed its hands of life long ago. You want life? I'll give you life!"
Zexion slowly rose to his feet, his purple-blue eyes glaring into Domitan's shocked blue gaze. The younger of the siblings began to glow a crackling green.
Somewhere in the mesmerized crowd, someone shouted, " You go, dude!"
Domitan threw a death glare at the crowd, then dodged the line of black power that came flying at his face.
" I've…been practicing, too."
A radiating black line wrapped around his wrist; its long end trailed on the asphalt. Blood continued to drip from his left arm and his side; he seemed to cry tears of blood. Domitan knew that his brother was weak and it would only take a few blows, a few minutes to deliver the deathblow.
Zexion lashed out again, catching Domitan unawares. The blue-haired man jerked back, ignoring the warm flow of blood down his arm from his left shoulder. Not a lot of people can leave a mark on him. Then again, not many are lucky enough to catch him off-guard.
Zexion will have to pay.
Gritting his teeth, Domitan lashed out quickly. He knew how to use a whip; he jerked with his wrist, causing the whip to slap, wrap, and twist its way around Zexion's waist, scorching through his clothes and leaving behind wounds weeping blood. But Zexion's own whip slapped him in the face and Domitan grimaced at the explosion of pain.
" Bastard," Zexion hissed, toppling to the ground.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Naminé pushing her way through the fearful crowd of Australian inhabitants. Then everything began to fade…
Stay awake, Zexion! You have to protect her and the Australians here!
But the pain was numbing his mind, was clouding his perception of the world around him, as he descended into endless night…
Domitan grinned, watching as his brother sank into the sea of unconsciousness.
" Sweet dreams…traitor." Domitan raised his whip for the final blow.
Bam!
" Hey, leave him alone, you jerk!" someone shouted from the crowd. Domitan caught a glimpse of an orange ball rolling away.
" Yeah, that's right! Leave him alone. Go pick on someone your own size!" A plastic cup smacked him on the forehead.
To Domitan's horror, the horde of Australians surrounding the two of them converged on him, chucking everything they had at him, including those damn hard orange balls.
In the process, Zexion vanished. It was pure luck that Domitan did not see Naminé. Not just luck; it was called: power of the people.
Chapter 64…
" You must close Kingdom Hearts…and halt the flow of darkness!"
" But those dreams are gone."
Was that Sora?