Black Hearts
I'm dying again I'm going under drowning in you I'm falling forever I've got to break through, I'm Going under
Chapter Six
"Tch. You're late…again." He replied turning away as a young boy in his early teens stepped out from the forest, he was wearing long pants and a short sleeved shirt. The child sighed brushing away his auburn hair, which was now matted with dirt, and sweat. Unlike himself the human child had aged over the years growing and moving on into adolescents. He, however, remained the same besides his hair growing a bit longer.
"Well, sorry but I had to sneak out again." The young boy replied glaring at the white back of the half elf. The half elf smiled as he spun around letting the rock loose from his grip the boy's eyes widened as he saw the object fly towards him, his hand went to his sword, but it was a long sword and therefore much harder to pull out, were speed is a factor. He instead lifted his left arm and there came the thud from the rock as it bounced off his round wooden shield. Kratos glared lowering his left arm, and immediately he felt the sun's piercing gaze.
"What's the big idea!" he asked the half elf shrugged walking away hands behind his head. Kratos grumbled picking up his training supplies and following. He watched as the half elf bent down looking at a plant on the side of the path that in their earlier years both of them had made together. Kratos peered over the elf's shoulder his eyebrows rising.
"It's just a stupid mushroom." He stated rather blandly; the half elf turned his pearl white head, eyes narrowed. He picked the fungus from the ground and held it up to the boy.
"Have a taste." He said smiling, Kratos backed away looking at the half elf warily.
"I don't know…you're pretty devious when it comes to this stuff."
"Oh. Come on Kratos I wouldn't make you eat anything poisonous." The boy ran a hand through his hair; it was a habit the half elf had found. He took the mushroom and opened his mouth, sniffing it before hand the half elf sighed. Kratos bit down on the suspiciously fluorescent mushroom his eyes widened in surprise then pain.
"Ah! Ew! I knew you tricked me!" he cried throwing the mushroom into the dirt and pointing an accusing finger at the half elf that was clutching his side laughing.
"Never underestimate the power of nature." The half elf said wiping a stray tear. He got up and Kratos was wiping his tongue with his hand as if to get rid of the horrible taste now plaguing his mouth.
"Come. It's time to train." Kratos followed as the half elf brushed back the overhanging branches of a willow. Kratos looked around in awe he'd never seen something so beautiful in his entire life.
"Wow. It's…beautiful." He whispered the half elf smirked.
"Yes, well, when you've spent as much time here as I have you are able to make at least something in this dank forest beautiful." Kratos stopped and looked at the place. They were in a dirt clearing surrounded by florescent flowers whose petals shone like the sun's owns rays. There was a pond too and an island in its center on the island was a small thatch roofed stone walled house. Flowers of all colors sprinkled the edge of the dirt patch, which was trimmed with lush green grass and deep brown tree roots.
"What kind of flowers are those?" Kratos asked walking up to a patch of the glowing white flowers. The half elf, which was now seated on a tree stump, looked at the boy and noticed his eyes glowing with delight.
"I never saw them before, so I made my own name up for them." He replied Kratos turned to him; he looked sad, extremely sad and lonely. He was looking out to the pond whose rippling waters filled with fish and other life forms caused rainbows to come to life on the tree's trunks and leaves.
"Morning Glories." Kratos raised an eyebrow.
"Morning…Glories?" the half elf nodded. Kratos turned back to the flowers, he noticed that his shadow which was being casted on a few of them, caused the flowers petals to curl up a bit, he stepped back fearful that he did something to upset their delicate balance. The half elf chuckled.
"Don't worry you didn't do anything to them." The half elf replied, as if knowing the boys cause of distress, getting up of his seat he walked over to the flowers and picked one. He cupped his hand around the bulb allowing as minimal of light as possible. The flower slowly began to curl up and if sleeping.
"WOW! It's like…it's sleeping!" Kratos exclaimed his eyes never leaving the flower whose bright glow had dimmed to now a bluish color. The half elf smiled as he pushed the flower into Kratos's hands. It felt warm, and yet cold. The feathery smooth petals tickled his hands making him inwardly smile.
"It's amazing." Kratos looked at the half elf whose head was turned back to the bed of the curious flowers.
"How beautiful such a simple organism can be. And that even in the dark it remains untouched, undaunted by the darkness around it. It goes to show you that there is a little light within the darkness you just have to know where to look." The half said turning back to Kratos who was looking at him oddly. He ruffled the child's hair.
"You'll understand one day. Hopefully that'll help you." Kratos put the flower back with its kind he watched out of the corner of his eye it's petals reopen to feast on the sun's rays a food that no human, elf, or half elf could ever appreciate or understand.
"Say…I've known you for about…two years and yet you never told me your name this whole time, what is it?" Kratos asked tentatively.
"Anueha."
"Ah what?" the half elf laughed.
"Ah-new-way." Kratos nodded as if the name was some strange and unknown language to him.
"Have you ever heard of a nueh?" Anueha asked Kratos looked at him perplexed.
"It's a thing?" the half elf shook his head back and forth his white bangs falling over his left eye.
"What are they teaching you in that private schooling of yours?"
"Herb lore…" Kratos grumbled kicking a nearby rock so it rolled and a tiny dust cloud followed after it. Anueha blinked, then laughed. Kratos glared at the half elf that was basically on the floor now.
"It's not funny!" the half elf curbed his laughter seeing the boy pout. He coughed and looked up.
"A nueh…is a creature of bad luck, and due to this fact they are annexed from their place of birth and sent away to guard over their new territory." Kratos stood silently as the half elf continued on.
"They're said to be creatures who can take on the form of a human but underneath they are a winged beast with white feathery wings a human face and a lions body. They're said to make any around them sick." He paused.
"But that's just a myth! Right?" Kratos asked anxiously, the half elf turned his head away and stared at the pond. He sighed and smiled.
"Of course, just a myth." He got up and dusted the dirt off his clear white pants.
"Why did you have to sneak out?" they'd been walking for a while and hadn't spoken for sometime after the odd conversation by the pond. Kratos paused caught off guard. Anueha turned his head his eyes seeking an answer.
"Ah…well…I-I had to watch over my little brother, that's all." Kratos said defensively his arms behind his head. Anueha smiled.
"I had a little brother once as well." Anueha replied continuing his steady pace. Kratos's eyebrow rose.
"You had? What happened to him?" Kratos asked imploringly knowing that this was one of the soft spots of his half-elven friend, whenever Kratos had asked him about his own past the elf became like a stone devoid of emotion and un-answering to his questions. That's why Kratos was surprised when he heard the elf answer.
"When…when I was little, I was separated from him." Anueha replied pausing for a second as he stood still staring up at the lush green canopy above. A gentle breeze blew across both of them filling Kratos's nose with the fresh scents of pine, dirt, and water.
"Separated…I'm sorry Anueha you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Kratos said saddened, and angry at his own ignorance to elf's pain. Anueha fully turned around now and smiled at Kratos.
"I think that's the problem."
"Huh?"
"I think I've been keeping it inside of me for too long and these things, when you keep them inside of you, they tear you apart piece by piece." Kratos looked at the half elf perplexed.
"Just remember this, Kratos. Sometimes secrets are the worst things in the world. Even if it is to keep someone you love dearly safe they sometimes bring more damage than if you told them." Aneuha turned around again and continued walking followed by a young boy who was now deep in thought.
"Yo!" Kratos's headshot up he turned to the source of the voice. A red head was standing on a protruding rock from the hills steep top.
"You okay?" Zelos asked looking at the auburn haired man with a questioning look. Kratos sighed and nodded indicating that Zelos could move on without him. Kratos heaved his pack onto his back and glanced around at the surrounding forest. It was Islia's forest they had to continue on foot due to some unknown mana shortage. Kratos's mind racked with questions. What caused the shortage, could it been an imbalance in the mana? But without two worlds it wasn't like the mana was being spread thin, no it was something else some underlying meaning that they overlooked, or hadn't found out about at all. Something was defiantly wrong. He grabbed hold of a large jagged protruding rock and heaved himself up to the hills peak. He saw that Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Zelos, and Sheena had made camp in a small-elongated ditch running between the hill he was on and another one a few feet away. Smoke from the mana started fire rose lazily up through the trees narrow opening where leaves had been left out. He placed his right foot in front of his left, balancing himself and slid down the rest of the way, running as he hit leveled ground. He stopped and dropped his pack not winded at all. Lloyd wiped his forehead as sweat glistened on his brow.
"We'll make camp here for tonight since the sun is already setting." Kratos nodded looking around for someplace to set up his tent.
"Ah! The lovely out doors brings back good memories doesn't it?" Zelos said wrapping an arm around Sheena who laughed. Everyone smiled as they reminisced about the long arduous journey that had brought them all together. Kratos smirked, he knew he could always count on the red head to lighten the mood but still he was anxious, for some reason something big was building up but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Brother. You're there aren't you?"
Yes…what is it, Meridian?
"What was the meaning of that mana depletion?"
I don't know I haven't found the cause.
"Hm…" he rubbed his chin his eyes narrowing in concentration. He began pacing walking back and forth before the giant tree. It was said that the tree was suppose to get bigger with each month, but he thought that maybe due to Phanos's seal that the Tree was now exerting a huge amount of energy just to keep him from breaking loose. He stopped and his cape flew to the left as a harsh wind blew for barely a second across the field.
"It feels familiar don't you think? Nostalgic." He said in a whisper.
The tree…it's scared. The half elf raised his eyebrow.
"Scared. Interesting, very interesting." He chuckled looking up at the sky.
Hm? What's so entertaining?
"Oh. Nothing it's just the sky…the sky has stopped singing the symphony is over. This planet is…dying." He smiled a wicked smile and turned away from the tree. He walked away leaving the Tree to itself swaying in the breeze.
He jumped backwards a flash of silver erupted into his vision. The half elf lunged again striking faster this time, he parried the blow with the middle of his sword, but he was thrown off balance.
"Concentrate! If you can't keep your mind blank you'll be defeated every time!" the half elf hissed thrusting his sword forward Kratos rolled to the left bringing his shielded left arm up as the half elf spun, following him, and struck down. Kratos grunted as he pushed the half elf away with his wooden shield. Anueha chuckled at the boy's efforts. He disappeared and reappeared behind Kratos's exposed back. The auburn haired child gasped and backed away, Anueha spun his sword around and jammed the hilt into the boy's stomach. Kratos gasped and fell to the floor along with his sword. He wrapped his arms around his waist. Anuha straightened and sighed, he walked over to the packs that Kratos had brought. He searched around for something. Kratos coughed.
"Ugh…do…you have…to be…so…violent?" he said between labored gasps. Anueha laughed.
"You'll never learn if I go soft on you. Although you have gotten faster, I guess your father is teaching you something after all." He replied kneeling beside the wincing Kratos, he held out a bowl.
"Drink, then we'll start again." Kratos moaned as he fell onto his back Anueha laughed walking to an opening and began practicing his strikes. Kratos sat up and watched the half elf work. The sun's fading light gleamed off his bluish white hair and he jumped into the air, his sword glowed a bright white color, it left white streaks in the air as the half elf spun around through the air doing a cork screw fashioned move. He landed with amazing grace he turned to Kratos who jumped and looked away.
"I call it light spear. Wanna learn it?" Kratos turned back to Anueha. He jumped up.
"Do I!" he cried happily. Unable to contain his excitement Kratos grabbed his sword and walked over to the elf. Anueha brought a hand to his chin.
"Hm. Well I suppose you could learn it, it'll take sometime but I think it'll work." Kratos cried out in glee.
"It looks so cool! How did you make your sword glow?" he asked. Anueha looked at his sword then back at the boy perplexed.
"My sword glowed?" Kratos blinked then laughed scratching the back of his head.
"Maybe it was the sun." Aneuha looked at him suspiciously.
"You sure say some strange things Kratos Pallas." Anueha stated sitting down and pulling a rather strange object from his sleeve.
"What's that?" Kratos asked eyeing the object. Anueha began to hum.
"It's for sharpening swords, the more sharp you make them the more they'll fight for you. Just keep them clean and you won't have to worry about a thing." He sad in a singsong voice. Kratos rocked back and forth.
"Say, what was your little brothers name?" Anueha smiled.
"I forgot you have to go back and look after you brother right?" Kratos sighed.
"Ever since my mom passed away a few months ago, father's been making me look after him." Kratos said drearily. Anueha ruffled his hair.
"It'll be alright."
"My mom…never gave him a name, so we don't what to call him yet." Kratos responded Anueha noticed the faraway look in his eyes. He sighed and laid on his back he held up one hand and began to trace imaginary lines in the air. Kratos watched him, confused even more at the half elf's behavior.
"You know…the stars. They're always in the sky, you just can't see them." Kratos blinked confused at what the half elf was trying to get at.
"Yes…that's right, they're always there whether we realize it or not, but out there no matter how dark it gets there's always the stars to light up that big black sky."
"Anueha…what was your brother's name?" he heard the half elf sigh.
"Yuan. Yuan Kersol." Kratos sat up twig bits and leaves in his hair.
"He's your age right about now…" Anueha replied his eyes sparkling in the twilight of the sun's blue and purple dyed rays.
"Promise me something, Kratos." The auburn haired boy looked at the half elf.
"That no matter what, no matter what your father or I say you'll follow your heart. Because if you don't I fear for this planet." Kratos nodded dully.
"Oh. Okay Anueha." His ears twitched as he heard the boy's rustling of clothing, meaning he was getting up. He sat up hands behind his head and watched as Kratos made his way around the dirt patch opening, the same place they first encountered one another.
"Hey dad? You okay?" Kratos's brown eyes shot open. He was leaning on his right hand, which was balled into a fist. His elbow was resting against the trunk of a tree. Lloyd looked at his father; part of the young boy's face was lit up by the orange glow of the nearly dead fire. Kratos dropped his arm to his side.
"Yeah. I'm fine, no need to be concerned." Lloyd sighed and nodded.
"Your shift was over anyway. It's just I never saw you sleep before." Kratos smirked.
"Yes well…"
"Say dad. Why do you think this half elf is doing this?" Kratos sighed and looked at the darkness around them.
"I don't know." He replied a note of uncertainty in his voice.
"Well, maybe we'll figure it out in the morning, when we go visit the refugee camps with Raine and Genis." He said Kratos nodded absently. Lloyd stroked the fire and sent red fiery embers into the air. They danced on the airs cool pensive breeze twirling and spinning with one another. He looked up to his father who was still sitting against the tree alone and off to the side. He was looking at the sky with mild curiosity.
"How long?"
"Soon. Very soon it'll be…"
"Complete."
"Marvelous." He turned away black blue striped back flying out behind him. The looming shadow of a piece of Derris Kharlan blocked out the moon's light source. He glanced up smiling with amusement. He placed a hand on the rocks smooth cold surface; it shifted and morphed its color turning from purple to a light blue. They were situated some distance from any source of life, he saw the human's mindless and heartless zombies, devoid of all emotion, picking up and carrying boxes of supplies here and there. They were on the outskirts of the Toize Valley Mine, since that area of the world was rarely habitable by normal traveling people.
"Sir!" he turned his head hair falling over his shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked dully as a desian ran over to him panting his hands on his knees. He was holding a letter in his hand; Meridian eyed it and snatched it.
"Ah…sir, that's um from the…"
"I know." He cut the desian off. Meridian let out a laugh and smiled as he continued to read the note.
"So…it has begun." He whispered crumpling the paper between his white smooth hands and letting it drop to the floor with a rustle of grass parting. The desian stepped away as he let his leader pass he walked as if in a waking dream, silent and slow. Meridian turned his head one more time.
"You remember how to fight don't you?" the desian nodded numbly.
"Y-Yes of course."
"Good. Because we're going to have some company." He smiled and then left with a cloud of blackish blue smoke erupting around him.
He sighed and turned his auburn head around the wind swept in and caressed his hot sun warmed face cooling it rather nicely. He turned back to the trail Lloyd was waiting for him, and he continued pulled by some unknown desire to not let anyone know what he did. The gravel and twigs crunched beneath his feet as he climbed to the hills peak.
"Ah I can't wait to take a nice hot shower!" Zelos said stretching his hands behind his head. Sheena giggled.
"You're worst then I am." The red head looked at her eyes wide.
"No way! I just hate smelling all nature like." Raine rolled her eyes and Genis and Colette smiled to one another.
"Nature like isn't a smell Mr. Wilder." The professor replied. Zelos sighed and turned his head around to look at her.
"You know what I meant!" he said offended. Lloyd smiled looking at all the people he carried about and how light hearted everyone seemed. Kratos walked beside him his expression solemn and unchanging even to the funny conversation going on before him. Zelos swept to the side and moved a large branch out of the way for Sheena who ducked under it, he held it up for everyone else as well. A stream nearby made everyone walk just a bit faster until a clearing came into view.
"Finally." Lloyd heard the ninja say letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Yay! We made it!" Colette said before tripping on a hidden rock.
"Ouch!" Genis laughed and Lloyd rushed over and helped the blonde up.
"You klutz." He said jokingly. He turned to the house with its brown wooden logs neatly stacked and the stream that flowed parallel to it. Butterflies and vines dotted the makeshift doghouse that was for Noishe.
"It's quiet." Kratos whispered, everyone realized that what he said was true. Lloyd walked around to the doghouse.
"Noishe! Hey! Noishe where are you boy!" Lloyd cried he looked around in a futile effort trying to find a big patch of green and white fur. He ran back to the others who stood looking at the door of the house. He looked at them.
"What! What is it!" the swordsman ran to the door, it was unlocked. "Dirk never leaves it unlocked…' he whispered his hand hovering on knob fearful of what might be beyond its doorway. He tentatively pushed it open and there bathed in sunlight was a bloodied beaten dwarf, blood splattered everywhere, on the stove workbench and lying on the table gleaming was a single lone dagger a "P" engraved in its hilt. A whine came from underneath the wooden staircase, and a limping dog like creature, ears hanging and it was panting, came into view. Noishe fell to the floor with a rather loud thud. He heard Colette gasp. This…this can't be happening…who would…who would do this!
"Oh my goddess!" Raine whispered pushing Lloyd out of the way. Kratos's eyes widened…they trailed over to the dagger with that hideous P engraved in it's hilt. His hands balled into fists and he narrowed his eyes angrily. Damn it…why…why the hell are you DOING THIS!
So yeaaaah to make up for the shortness of last chapter...I made this one 8 pages long:D YAY! Do't you love how randomly long I make each chapter, no continuity none what so ever. But, I digress, I put a little spin on Kratos's pass yeah...Yuan...how awsome am I? Like I totally rock. I was eatten by a whale last night...Kingdom Hearts...man Monstro, that makes me realize I have another story to write...crap. Well luckly I have a week off from school :laughs deviously: hehehehe I love that word devious, it's so...cool. I love square dancing.
Me: Kratos!
Kratos: Huh?
Me:grabs the angel by the wrist.: California twirl!
Kratos: WHAT:Goes spinning off the stage and landing in the band section.: Ow...
Me: Hehe whoops...my bad.
Yuan:cough: Read and Review please!
Me: YESSSS REVIEW! Lyrics by Going Under by Evanescence