Author's Notes: Alrighty, get ready for some fast-paced "omg-it's-1:30-in-the-morning-I think-I'm-going-to-try-and-update-two-days- in-a-row"-tastic stuff.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, yah yah. I admit it.
Chapter 5: No Looking Back
Key slept listlessly.
No dreams.
Void of thought.
No nothing.
It was almost as if he had died away from the grasp of such feeble things.
It was almost as if he were wide awake.
He awoke to the feeling of hands, shaking him. He could feel Anitta's nails digging into his skin.
"Key!" She whispered harshly.
He yawned, then rolled over.
She shoved his shoulder down into an unnatural, uncomfortable position. This time with more force. He felt the bruise form.
He gave a grunt, and opened his eyes immediately to give her a scowl.
Something was wrong.
The brightness of morning did not meet his caramel eyes.
Anitta's happy grin did not greet him.
It was night.
Still.
The night was still. It was eerie. These weren't the things that were familiar to him in this world. It was wrong.
Key sat up immediately, cool night breath brushing his face. Anitta had already moved from his side, slammed his door shut, locked it and threw his things into a ratty knapsack. All seemingly in one movement.
He blinked slowly, his mind not registering such quickly prosecuted actions. The air smelt wrong.
"We'z need tah get outta herre Key!" She snapped.
She threw the bag at him. It landed against his chest with a rude thump.
"Why?" he coughed, slinging the straps over his shoulder. His things were heavier than he remembered.
Anitta shook her head, yanking the boy off of the bed by his arms. His feet got tangled in the comforter, and he stumbled.
"Key!" she cried. She tugged the boy closer to her, arm wrapped firmly around his waist as she hoisted him out of the window. His head hit the storm window.
Key landed with a thud on his feet and immediately held his arms out for Anitta to jump into. She did, and he faltered under her weight.
He had never been in the back alley before.
It was dark. Shadows loomed over them. Flyers decrepit with wind and age hung loosely from the bleak brick walls, tacked on by the corners, torn away at the words.
The night felt stale around him.
"It's dem critters again, Key! They back!" She scrambled out of his frame and ushered for him to follow. He lingered for only a split of a moment, his eyes scanning the windowpane he had often found himself obsessively staring out of. He laughed to himself the irony of the situation.
He was leaving, just like he had planned.
'What do these 'critters' even look like?'
The alleyway was dark and Key found that Anitta would often reach her arm back and clasp his hand. He felt like a kid being led by his mommy to the store.
But he could feel her fingers quivering around his own.
He could feel her sense of urgency. Anitta's nails dug harshly into his palm, and he felt stupid as he tripped over the cobblestone path.
He felt her undeniable moral obligation to protect him.
He, in turn, felt useless.
"We'll get to Leon and dem, he'll tell us what to do from dhere." She explained.
Key nodded, following closely behind the woman. He was clueless to this emergency. Clueless to the danger. What harm could 'critters' do?
The shadows seemed to dance and liquefy as they passed. Key couldn't help but watch, enticed by such elegant but mechanical movement.
He felt Anitta jerk at his hand.
"Don' look bak, Key."
But he did. The shadows interested him, scared him, seemed to follow him and beckon his gaze.
Key would never forget the look on her face when those shadows leapt at him.
That instant was the slowest moment of his life.
All he saw was the sky, Anitta shoving him backward. The stars were beautiful. Never once had he seen them shine so magnificently. He could feel them reaching out to him, pulling him closer.
She didn't scream. Key heard her body hit the pavement.
He felt his mind descending before he even registered his actions.
He crawled to her like a cat on his hands and knees.
Key clasped her hand desperately in his fist. She smiled at him slightly, her lovely face contorted by such a sad gesture. Blonde hair matted over her face. Her eyes wrinkled to her cheeks.
"Let go, Key." It was the first time she had ever spoken clearly, her voice sounded strangely hollow. Empty. He shook his head, tugging her close, tangling her fingers in his and swallowing his own breath as if to restore hers.
The shadow lashed out again, and for a moment its bright yellow eyes met Key's. Anitta winced, and sobbed heavily yanking away from Key's grip and shoving him forcefully off.
"Don't look back!"
He watched the light leak away from her eyes.
Suddenly, all the vibrant and vulgar colors she possessed seemed to have never existed. Her once delightfully pale skin seemed gray now. Her cattish gaze, penetrated by black voids of nothingness. Even her clothes lost their luster. Her own hand lay limp in front of her, reaching out for him, telling him to leave. Her red nails were crimson.
"Anitta…?"
There was no reply.
She was gone.
He was lost.
He ran.
How he ended up at Leon's house, he did not know.
Aerith greeted him at the door, and he stumbled through the threshold until he was on his knees. She looked past him as if expecting someone else.
Key felt like retching.
"But Key, where is Anitta?"
Venom had never sounded so sweet.
He coughed.
And panted.
And desperately gnarled his teeth, shaking bones barely keeping his body stable.
His face was hot.
Sticky.
Lashed with wet salt, a scolding torrent of what might as well have been magma rushing down the length of his face.
He never knew what tears felt like.
He knew now that they were the most painful things ever afflicted upon him.
He looked up, his breath returning to him in spastic stabs at air.
His words were lost.
He couldn't tell them.
It was his fault.
He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but his thoughts were muted by a scream.
He didn't recognize the sound of his own voice.
Leon looked down on him.
Aerith closed the door.
Two unfamiliar faces turned away. A blonde man who kept his face hidden, a brunette girl who stayed in the shadows.
Leon's heavy footsteps approached him for the second time that day.
"They're called Heartless." He said simply. But his words fell heavily to the ground. "And they devour people's hearts."
He kneeled to meet Key on the ground.
The boy said nothing. His shoulders slumped forward, his eyes fell to the floor.
"It's because of me, isn't it?" he mouthed.
He was grateful Leon heard him the first time. But he did nothing to answer him. He seized Key at the top half of his arms, and pulled him close.
His breath was warm on his wet face. He felt his hair tickle his brow.
"You need to go."
Key blinked.
"I don't know how, but they followed you here. However you arrived at this place, please, use the same means to leave."
"He must've torn a riff." He heard the girl whisper to the blond. "Tha's the only way they coulda gotten back."
He watched Leon's gaze flicker toward them.
"I'm sorry, Key."
The boy nodded, that unmistakable pain burning his eyes again.
Leon helped him onto his feet.
"I didn't mean to." Key apologized roughly, his voice worn and raspy like an old man.
He didn't mean for any of it.
Didn't mean to tell the truth.
Didn't mean to lose her.
Didn't mean a lot of things.
Leon nodded, pretending to understand.
And perhaps he did.
He didn't hear Aerith's last words to him.
Key waved.
Their eyes seemed to look right through his body.
Reality itself twisted in front of him.
He felt the rushing of air, the familiar tightening of his lungs.
Watched the scene in front of him ooze away, until everything ebbed to black.
His skin sizzled.
His limbs twitched.
His ears popped.
His lungs suffocated.
His throat burst to flame.
His thoughts numbed away.
Felt his body taking the plunge until there was nothing but warmth around him.
Then the warmth subsided.
His breath divided.
His body ignited.
And Key was gone.
Chapter Notes: Eh? EH! WHAT WAS THAT! You say it's too short? Well, friends, joke's on you. I never intended this chapter to be long.
(sighs) Farewell, Anitta. You truly were, a blast to write with. No offense Ann, but you were the only thing binding out protagonist to Traverse Town.
And to those you who think Leon sounds a bit rude and cold-hearted toward Key, especially this last part, you've gotta keep in mind how UN-selfish he was being. Remember that he wanted Key to stick around so he could ask him questions about other worlds, and crap like that. Instead, he put his own ambitions aside to usher on a greater importance.
And if you figured out that the "blond man who kept his face hidden" was Cloud, and the "brunette girl in the shadows" was Yuffie, you get a cookie, because I totally got all lazy on their character description and didn't feel like going through the whole introductory process. I realize that it was lazy, and that it might be random and confusing.
Don't ask me what's going on with Key and his emo-self. I really have no clue yet.
Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed to the past chapters! I really appreciate the input and your opinions on the story. Reviews make me happy, and are what inspire me to keep writing! So it's really you the reader keeping this alive!
…Poor Cid. Key just went up an disappeared without turning in a pink-slip or nuttin'. Ah well.
Seeya next chapter!