Author's Notes: …No news is good news?
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, only this story.
Chapter 2: No One Flies Anymore
Key's dreams were fragmented…familiar in a way he did not recognize.
He tossed and turned the whole night; the comfortable comforter ended up as a wrinkled pile at the foot of the bed, and morning sketched itself into the sky. First red, then orange, then pink…Then the pleasant violet of night faltered under the pastel-like morning.
The forceful hand of Anitta clutching his shoulder awoke Key quite rudely to the bright morning light in the colorful, bright room.
He blinked slowly, staring blankly up at her face, barely recognizing the woman without the layers of make-up.
He blinked slowly again.
"Ya alright, kid? Remember where you are?"
Key nodded as slowly as he had blinked.
"Traverse Town." He murmured, feeling the need to speak no louder than a whisper.
Anitta smiled, satisfied with his answer and busied herself by tidying up the rest of the room as she spoke.
"Now youz 'member our agreement, right Key? Thiz wuz yo' only free night in mah hotel. Youz gonna hafta look for a job or sumtin' to pay for anodder night. Or I've gots plenty to keep ya busy here, letcha earn your stay and whatnot." She folded his shirt over her arm "Youz need a shower boy, you stank. I dunno where you were before this that made ya reek so badly, but youz definitely need a shower. And a fresh change o' clothes." she added, "Dhere's some spare toofbrushes in the closet in the bathroom. You go freshen up. Can't esspect to be getin' a job smellin' like dat. I'll make us some breakfast. Whatcha waitin' for, kid? Scoot!" And with that she swiped at his feet with his own dirty shirt as if it were a cattle prod.
He sat up quickly; throwing his legs over the side of the mattress and letting his bare feet hit the cold floor. He shivered.
The bathroom was just the same as the bedroom, bright red tiles skipping randomly on the floor, a canary yellow shower curtain; the ceiling stained a lime green…
Key sighed, feeling a headache arousing among the obnoxious colors.
The water was warm. The dirt and sand washed away easily. He hadn't realized how very dirty he actually was.
He was grateful for the chance to brush his teeth.
It took him a moment to find the clothes Anitta had lain out for him, and didn't bother to question where she had found them. He slid the shirt over his head with a bit of difficulty; the fabric stuck to his damp skin at stubborn intervals. Thankfully, the shirt was not a bright, obnoxious color like everything else. It was a white T-shirt, plain and simple. She had picked out a pair of simple jeans to accompany it. He was grateful that she happened upon things that fit him. He was also grateful that he didn't end up looking like a circus clown.
He stumbled into the kitchen just as Anitta was setting the table.
"I wuz beginnin' to think ya drowned in the shower!" She exclaimed, laughing curtly as she spun around, clutching two plates piled high with eggs and bacon. It smelled burnt, and the pans behind her smoldered slightly.
"Lookit you, all shiny and clean. Your hair is a good three shades lighter than it was yesterday!"
Key smiled politely in return, shrugging slightly.
"I'm not very hungry." He murmured quickly, waving his hand slightly in front of him "But thank-you."
"Nonsense!" she protested immediately "At least have some toast before you go, dear. Can't be leavin' on an empty stomach."
The toast was not burnt.
He accepted it, but only nibbled on the edges. He was barely listening as she talked.
"Key, I jus' wantchoo to know that youz welcome here. If ya ever need a meal, or a place to brush those teef of yours… Donchoo be afraid to drop in, ya hear? What time can I expect ya back so's I can get supper ready for ya? Youz a growin' boy, you needs to eat."
Key shrugged. Anitta had a tendency to ramble, this much he was sure of.
Why was it that she felt the need to be so parental towards him?
"Well, so longs you get in before nightfall. Can be dangerous out dere, yano? I guess ya don't, seeing as ya juz got here an' all. But I s'pose it don't make no difference with dem lil critters gone."
Key glanced up from the corner of the toast.
"Critters?" he questioned.
Anitta's face brightened slightly at seeing the boy take an interest in something.
"Yup." She scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her breasts and leaning back slightly in the chair, as if proud to finally have a story to tell. " 'Dem damned critters. Like shadows, 'dey were, stalked on us like…well…like stalkin' thing tend to stalk." She nodded. "I unno what essactly dey did to the people they managed to get a hold ov…I be damned if I caint 'member what that Leon called 'em." She huffed silently for a moment, mumbling slightly under her breath. "I guess it don't matter." She concluded, shrugging sharply. "Dey gone now."
Key nodded.
"I still wancha back before nightfall, though, jus' in case. Ya hear Key? Can be dangerous fo' a kid out therr."
She started rambling again, so Key excused himself from the table.
"Good luck, kid! You 'member I'm cookin' for ya tonight!"
It was as if she was trying to guarantee his return to her.
"Thanks for breakfast, Anitta."
It wasn't that Key didn't have money.
He had plenty of it.
Just, notall in this world's currency. How suspicious would it be if he were to approach a bank, or cashier with a pocketful of doubloons, or rubies, or bills?
Key sighed, squinting in the light. He found it strange that the town was sectioned off in 'sectors'. It was something Anitta had neglected to explain to him.
All he knew was that he was in Sector 1.
Looking for a job.
And currently staring at some bizarre creature.
It was pink.
Looked almost like a stuffed animal. A teddy-bear…or kitty-cat.
As improper as it seemed, he possessed the sudden urge to flick the bouncing red ball dangling from what he could only presume was an antenna on it's head.
Traverse Town seemed to be even more ridiculous in the daylight.
He ran his hands through his brown hair, and approached the creature humbly.
Before he had the chance to ask the creature what he was aiming for, however….
"Kupo! Welcome to Traverse Town, kupo! My friends have a synthesizing shop above Cid's Accessory Shop kupo! It's perfect for all your synthesizing needs!"
Key blinked.
He hadn't the faintest idea what synthesizing was.
Or where Cid's Accessory Shop was.
The 'kupo' creature stared at him for a moment, flapping it's little purple wings fruitlessly against the wind.
"Um…are you hiring?"
"Are you a moogle? Perhaps in disguise, kupo?"
Key looked himself up and down.
"Er…I don't think so…"
"Sorry, kupo. We only hire Moogles, kupo."
"Is that what you are? A moogle?"
"Yup, kupo!"
"…So…I can't get a job anywhere unless I'm a moogle?"
"No, kupo, only at our Synthesizing shop. Kupo. Only moogles can work there, kupo."
"And why's that?"
The moogle paused, and the red ball on it's head bounced slightly.
"I'm not sure, kupo."
The two were silent. Key watched the moogle waddle in place, waiting for the boy to say something.
"What about that other Shop?"
"Cid's Accessory Shop, kupo kupo?"
"Yeah, I suppose that's it."
"I'm not sure, kupo."
"Well, could you tell me where it is?"
The moogle paused again. "Why, kupo, it's right under our Synthesizing Shop!"
Key grit his teeth slightly. This creature talked far too much for being so small.
"And that is where?"
"I'll take you, kupo! Follow me, kupo!"
Key was suddenly very thankful that the moogle's synthesizer shop did not hire anyone but other moogles.
Cid's Accessory Shop was not quite as accessorized as Key suspected an accessory shop would be.
He felt a bit awkward standing in the doorway.
The moogle had abandoned him there, with only so much as a 'Good luck, kupo kupo!' for advice to help him approach this man.
Already he was having second thoughts.
Cid, whom he could only presume was the rather intimidating looking man sitting comfortably behind the counter, cigarette in his mouth, goggles perched ontop of his slightly balding head, had a newspaper in hand.
Key couldn't read the headline.
"Um…"
"Whaddya want?" snapped the man, not looking away from the article. The cigarette flicked dangerously from the corner of his lip, orange cinders of paper fading away to little gray snowflakes that fluttered in the air momentarily before crash-landing on the counter.
Key stuttered slightly and the man grunted, folding the paper loudly, creasing it in all of the wrong places before catching the boy in a stern stare.
"I aint no babysitter. You either tell me whatcha want or get the hell out of my store."
Key opened his mouth, but all of his words were barred at his teeth. How was it that it was much easier to converse with the moogle?
"Well?" spat Cid, obviously becoming impatient with the whole ordeal.
"Are you hiring?" His said the sentence very fast, hoping that the man would mishear him and inadvertently reply 'yes'.
"No. Get out."
Cid picked his paper up again, unfolded it, and starting muttering to himself about whatever the previous article was about. He looked up upon realizing Key hadn't left, realizing that the kid was still standing (a bit stubbornly) in his doorway, blocking potential business. He sighed, exasperated.
"I said, 'no' punk. Get outta here."
But Key remained where he stood.
Cid sighed again, rubbing his eyes with his forefinger and thumb.
"Well?" he probed "What is it?"
"Know anywhere I could get a job?"
"You're just a kid, kid. Why d'you need a job?"
"So I can pay for a hotel room."
"You're just a kid, why in hell d'you need a hotel room?"
"Because that's where I'm staying."
"Bless yo' soul, punk. Don't tell me you're staying with ol' chatterbox Ann?"
Key nodded, assuming he meant Anitta.
The man rolled his eyes, mumbling incoherently into the bud of his cigarette.
The two remained silent; Key feeling that it was not an appropriate moment for conversation, Cid just stewing in the quiet, thinking.
He sighed, yet again, blowing a particularly long strand of smoke into the air.
"So…" mumbled Key, a bit awkwardly. "Do you know anyone? Hiring?"
"Yeah." He growled, burying his face into the paper again. "You can start by sweepin' out mah store. It's a friggin' mess. Broom's over there." He gestured his head to the corner by the door.
"Thank-you."
"Whatever, punk. Don't screw it up for yourself by being annoying."
Key nodded, obediently grabbing the broom and dragging it across the floor.
The dust spiraled in the air.
It reminded Key of cigarette smoke.
He started to sweep.
"So, where ya from, where ya goin', how long ya stayin'?"
Key said nothing for a moment, unsure as how to answer the question.
"I'm from some place, I'm going places, and I'll leave when the time is right."
Cid shrugged. "Fine, don't tell me." He scoffed, and lit up another cigarette.
Key stayed shamefully silent. They were all questions he didn't know the answer to.
The accessory store was interesting and appealed to Key more and more once he started to explore it (while cleaning every nook and cranny he could manage along the way. Cid hadn't exaggerated. It was a "friggin' mess"). He found that there were books tucked (or hidden by Cid, Key presumed) away behind strange ornaments, strange potions, strange everything.
As usual, everything in this world was completely foreign to him.
But he couldn't hide his fascination.
Cid thumbed at a page of his newspaper, not really listening.
Key glanced around, deciding to break the silence that had fallen over them "All you do is sell accessories?"
Cid nodded, grunting what could have been a 'yes'.
"Then why do you have all these books on ships? Do you sell parts as well?"
Cid blinked heavily, and looked up to the boy.
Key had the stack of books balanced in his arms.
They were dusty.
Neglected.
Forgotten.
Cid shrugged. "I got outta that business a while ago, punk."
"Did they fly?"
"What the hell ya talkin' about?"
"These ships. Did you make them? Did they fly?"
"Of course they flew!"
The man practically yelled as if outraged anyone would dare suggest such a preposterous idea.
"Tch." The cigarette jumped and ashes flicked off "My ships not flyin'…the hell is wrong with you?"
Key set the books down on the counter by Cid, blowing the dust off them. They both coughed slightly.
"Do people not fly around here anymore?"
"Nope. No one flies anymore."
"Oh…"
Cid looked at the boy again. He looked almost sad. Key tapped the cover of the top book gently with his finger.
"Yup." Said Cid, stretching his arms over his head, stretching his legs out. His feet hit the counter. "Depressing, aint it?"
Key didn't know how to reply.
So he didn't.
Cid let Key leave right as twilight broke over the sky.
'I expect ya back here tomorrow, punk. I can pay ya before the week is out.'
"I'm back."
Anitta met Key at the door.
"Welcome home! I made ya some dinner! I hope yas like it. Didja find a job? Nice boss? Good workin' hours? Glad to see the let ya out befo' dark, I wuz almost worried 'bout ya. Donchoo worry 'bout the rent, yous can pay it once the week is out." She said this all very fast. "Now youz help yo'self to the food in the kitchen, a group of awfully demandin' people are stayin' deh night, and I gots to get everythin' situated."
Key nodded, as Anitta rushed off to tend her duties.
He froze for a second.
"She said, 'welcome home'?"
After he had finished eating.
Finished taking a shower.
Brushed his teeth.
He sat in his room, staring out the window.
The stars flickered.
He couldn't help but think back on Cid's lost profession.
"Flying ships, eh?"
He shrugged, deciding that it need not concern him.
He'd be leaving this world, soon enough.
He gazed out the window.
The night sky was fogged over in a sheer cloud of gray, but past it he could see a pleasant deep violet.
Chapter Notes: See? I introduced Cid, AND a Kupo. XD I still have no idea where this plot is going, so please, bear with me if it takes a while for updated chapters. I've decided to stick with this simplistic style, instead of developing it into something more flowy and mature. For two reasons, actually: 1) It's much easier to write like this, and I don't have to put in as much description. 2) I think it portrays the tone of Kingdom Hearts well. I'm afraid if I get too carried away, it won't seem like the same world.
(sighs) Okay. XD I'll try and toss in some more action next time around.
Thanks to all the people who were kind enough to leave a review last chapter! I really appreciate it!
Read and Review!