FG: Welcome back to CC2! We're back to our regularly-scheduled chapters now, which means no more flamethrower-related running gags, no more ice-skating, and no more…
Colin: I'm not jealous of the laptop!
FG: …that.
Riku: Thank goodness.
FG: Yeah. Anyway, please welcome this chapter's disclaimer guest…PureMida!
PureMida: I feel special! But call me Ellania.
FG: Okay, Ellania. Tell us something about yourself!
Ellania: I like riding my bike, drawing, writing stories, Inuyasha, Gundam Seed, Fruits Basket, Naruto, Card Captor Sakura-
Robin: Yer borin'.
Ellania: I know you are, but what am I?
Robin: Borin'.
Ellania: I know you are, but what am I?
Robin: Borin'.
Ellania: I know you are, but what am I?
Robin: Borin'.
Ellania: I know you are, but what am I?
Robin: Borin'.
Ellania: I know you are, but what am I?
Robin: Prob'ly the most IRRATATIN' THING I'VE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE A' KNOWIN'!
Ellania: ………
Robin: ………
Ellania: ………
Robin: ………
Ellania: ………
Robin: ………
Ellania: …I know you are, but what am I?
Robin: GAH! MUST…STRANGLE…BLONDE!
FG: (restrains Robin) No. No strangling guests. Bad girl. Bad girl!
Robin: (raises an eyebrow)
FG: SIT!
Robin: (is thrown to the ground like Inuyasha) Ow…
Everyone else: (either sweatdrop or snicker)
FG: Maybe you should just say the disclaimer now, Ellania.
Ellania: Okay! FG doesn't own anyone except for Emma, Dia, Jake, Robin, Bernie, Coeur/Hart, Miaow, Eclipse, Miru, the rest of the Nekoshus, the Nikushimi, Haiiro, Taylor, Lyze, Silke, Kinzoku, Sadym, Alissa, Etoile, Lotte, Aurelie, and Darcy.
Robin: (gets up) STUPID BLONDE!
Ellania: (screams shrilly, then runs off)
Robin: I'M GONNA CHOP YA UP INTA' LI'L PIECES AN' PUTCHA IN SOME RAMEN!
FG: (sighs) I'll go get her…here's Chapter 20.
… … … … … … … … …
The Juu Senshi, minus Eclipse, ran down the hallways of Castle Oblivion. "Silke, Lyze, you never actually told us why we came here," Dia told the two ex-Daimyos. "What do we have to do now that we're on the 13th floor?"
"We need to find Naminé." Silke whipped her head in every direction, looking for Kairi's Nobody.
"Naminé! Are you there?" Emma called. "Naminé? Na-"
"Yes?" a soft voice interrupted. Everyone skidded to a stop, looking at the girl sitting in a chair nearby. She got up slowly, placing the sketchbook she was drawing in on the ground. "Are you the ones who changed the story?"
Lyze strode forward, shaking Naminé's hand. "Yeah, that's right. Nice to see you again, kid!"
Naminé smiled gently. "Likewise, Miss Rune."
Silke followed the viera up. "Naminé, I am going to get right to business here. I understand that you are a witch." Naminé nodded. "I also understand that you can rewrite peoples' memories?" Another nod. "Have you done any rewriting lately?"
Robin leaned against a wall. "Cut the small-talk, Silke. What's the real reason we're here?"
The swordswoman glared. "This is not small-talk. This is a crucial piece of information." She turned back to Naminé. "So, have you?"
"…yes."
"Whose?" Naminé focused on the ground, then whispered something. "What did you say?" Silke demanded.
Naminé looked up again. "Taylor Quinn's, Miss Sakura," she murmured.
Dia and Jake's eyes bugged out. "You made Daddy evil?" Jake whimpered.
"No…but the Superior told me to make him a memory where you two didn't exist to him. It was Guardian who made your father evil."
Dia crossed her arms. "Now I see why we came. We need Naminé's help to fix Dad's memory."
Naminé gave a little sigh. "To do that, I'd have to put every little chain back together…and that would take a year, provided we could actually get a hold of him, and put him in one of those," she explained, pointing to the flower-like machines in the corner. "I found another way, though. It'll be harder, but it's our only hope at the moment. You've all played the real Chain of Memories, right?"
"Yeah," Bernie replied.
"Well, you know when I was forced to rewrite Sora's memory, and replace Kairi with me?" Sora and Kairi twitched, but the real-worlders nodded. "What made him remember Kairi?"
Emma raised her hand meekly. "The good-luck charm she made for him?"
Kairi looked proud as Naminé answered, "Right! He needed to be reminded of something from his past. So, we need something from Taylor's past, to make him remember that he's really a good person! Then, all we need to do is to bring him to Disney Castle, and King Mickey can wipe out at least a bit of his darkness. He'll be a Twilight, but otherwise, he'll be back to normal!"
"But we need to find something from Taylor's past that will really jolt his memory," Lyze added. "Let's think…what was the last thing you two said to him?" she asked Dia and Jake.
Dia put her face in her hands. "Aw, dookie…Jake was singing 'A Dream Worth Keeping' at the top of his lungs on the way to the wedding ceremony. Dad just laughed, turned to Alissa, and said, 'Hey, why don't we make that our wedding song?'" She winced. "We don't have to sing to get him back to normal, do we?"
Naminé looked thoughtful. "It's worth a try…"
Emma shrugged. "The last verse is about keeping good memories, even if the darkness wants to stop you…that seems like an appropriate song."
"Well, it's settled!" Naminé giggled. "You have to find Taylor, sing that, and take him to Disney Castle. The Heartless will be vanquished in no time!"
Robin furrowed her eyebrows. "Jus' one problem…we dunno where Taylor is. Only one guy knows, and that's Grandpa Man-Lady."
A light shone in the middle of the room, and Haiiro floated out of it. "Yes, I have located Taylor. He still remains in Chicago, with Guardian. However, there is a more pressing matter; I have located Eclipse."
"What? He's right…" Emma looked around. "…here…? Where did Eclipse go?" Lyze tried to hide her guilt by sidling behind Sadym and Silke.
"He is at the Great Wolf Lodge. I will take you there, but I must leave once the transportation issue is finished," Haiiro told her. "Let us go."
… … …
The large group teleported to the back of the Great Wolf Lodge, after reappearing in Emma's dilapidated basement. "There's Eclipse," Riku scowled, lamely gesturing towards the Nekoshu boy in the distance.
"Eclipse!" Emma, Riku, and the rest of the Juu Senshi ran over to Eclipse. "Why did you leave?" Emma asked. "I was worried about you."
Eclipse gave his allies a blank stare. Then, he grabbed Riku's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "See? She likes me better."
Riku turned his head slowly to glare at his rival. "What was that?"
"I said Emma likes me better. Now that we've got this settled, leave us alone." Riku stiffened suddenly. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Lyze's eyes widened as Riku clenched his fists and looked away. "Riku, no! He's trying to make you angry on purpose!"
"Nobody wants you here! Go back to your islands, wimp!"
"Ignore him, or you'll-"
"RRRRRAAAAAWWWWWHHHHHRRRRR!" Riku tilted his head back and roared, going into Dark Mode. His clothes changed to those he wore when he was working under Maleficent, the dress-like outfit. The only difference was that his eyes were now glowing red. "DARK FIRAGA!" he snarled, pointing the Soul Eater at Eclipse. A large, black, blue, and purple flame came out, hitting him squarely in the chest.
The others looked completely confused, but Emma looked terrified. "Riku, stop it!"
"Emma!" Eclipse called. "Stab him with the Hikari Sword!"
"But it only works on-"
Eclipse groaned and pointed at the hysterical Riku, who was panting. "Does THAT look like someone who's part of the light?"
"But…" Emma glanced at the shimmering, golden sword in her hand. "Fine." With a heavy heart, she trudged over to Riku and lifted the Hikari Sword. "Please, Riku…stop this…" She thrust it into his chest.
"Ugh…" Riku wobbled around, and his eyes became blue again. He looked down at the sword sticking through him. "What the…why did you poke me with that thing?"
Emma cautiously drew her blade out. Riku prodded his chest, then looked back up. "Are you okay?" He shrugged, and Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you became dark again."
Riku shook his head. "No, that was just part of what Sadym gave me yesterday…you know, when he was giving us presents?"
Eclipse crossed his arms. "Okay, so you're not evil."
"No…but someone here is!" Riku snatched the Hikari Sword and ran back towards Eclipse.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Riku, that's not going to-"
"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" Eclipse fell to the ground as he got slashed. He twitched, then lay limp.
"Gawrsh, did that really just happen?" Goofy asked, leaning over Eclipse. He lightly shook Eclipse's arm, then turned to the rest of Juu Senshi in shock. "He's a bad feller now!"
Coeur leapt down from Bernie's shoulder, and pawed Eclipse's cheek. "Myew?"
Eclipse's eyes shot open, and he grabbed his sister by her neck. "Hart! You're coming with me!" he growled.
"What are you doing?" Emma cried. "How could you do that to Coeur?" She grabbed Coeur, and let the genet crawl into her arms.
Narrowing his eyes, Eclipse summoned the Yami Sword. "Lyze was right. It is my destiny to do battle with the Hikari Sword."
Lyze scratched her head as everyone else glared at her. "What does he mean, 'Lyze was right'?" Donald demanded.
"Well, Guardian said he would destroy Ivalice if I didn't join Rei no Aku," Lyze explained quietly. "He needed a Magic Daimyo…but that Daimyo didn't necessarily have to be me. So I asked Eclipse if he wanted to replace me, because he's a good psychic. As an incentive, I gave him that creepy sword. It's made out of darkness, so if Eclipse wields it, he's destined to fight Emma."
Emma was aghast. "Lyze, how could you?"
The viera's ears drooped. "I didn't force him to join or anything…not really…I just told him that Guardian can give Coeur her heart back if he joined."
"You lied to him?"
"No, no!" Lyze assured the elementalist. "He really can! I wouldn't lie to a kid like THAT." She gestured to Eclipse. "Really strong, y'know?"
Silke bashed Lyze in the head with her sword's sheath. "Yes, we DO know! And that is precisely why what you have done is incredulously foolish! Do you really want such a strong warrior on Guardian's side?"
"Yeah, he'll help us a lot."
The woman grabbed one of Lyze's ears, then screamed, "No, because we are not on Guardian's side anymore, you cotton-tailed, carrot-munching, nose-twitching NINNY!"
Lyze jerked away. "Yeesh, Sakura, I'm not a real rabbit!"
"EVERYONE SHUT UP, OR I'M GOING TO SHOVE YOUR LEGS DOWN YOUR THROATS AND WATCH YOU IMPLODE!"
The ex-Daimyos gaped at Bernie. "Did SHE just do that?" Silke asked the others meekly.
Emma groaned. "Guys, just help me fix Eclipse!" She turned to the psychic, and then murmured, "Eclipse, it's me! Emma! Your friend! You don't want to fight me," she tried to persuade him.
"You're right…I don't want to." Eclipse smirked. "If you join the darkness, I won't have to fight you. And you can be stronger."
"What?"
"Come to the dark side."
"We have cookies!" Jake added. The other Senshi glared at him, and he closed his mouth.
Emma shook her head. "No. I'm a Juu Senshi. I have to stop darkness, not help it along. And if it's our destiny to fight…" She sliced the side of Eclipse's arm. "…then it's got to happen."
"So be it…elementalist." Emma froze momentarily as Eclipse called her by her 'formal' name, the name all bosses referred to her as. "It's time to get serious." He held up both hands.
Axel tapped Emma's shoulder. "He's going to summon a Nikushimi. I just know it. It's going to be hard to beat, so I need you to…" He whispered in her ear, and she nodded. "Okay? Good."
"SHINZOU-"
"Eclipse!" Emma interrupted loudly. "What species are you?"
Eclipse rolled his eyes. "Nekoshu," he grunted. "I thought you'd know that by now." Axel gave Emma a hi-five as something started to appear. "What? That's not a Nikushimi!"
Axel smirked. "No, it isn't. We just tricked you into performing Shinzou Nekoshu!"
Instead of becoming a decaying cat demon, the image became a tall Nekoshu woman, with long, blonde-brown hair. Her white and gold clothes were fringed with pearly fangs, and she wore a necklace with a small ruby attached. "Why does she look so fancy?" Emma whispered.
"I forgot to tell you back in Twilight Town; both of the summoning spells create images of certain people, not just generic Nekoshus or Nikushimi," Axel explained. "This is the strongest Nekoshu ever, at least five times as strong as Eclipse, Chikara Kurosato. She was the chieftainess around 130 years ago, when the Nikushimi were first created."
"Created?"
"I'll tell you later. Right now, pay attention to Eclipse!"
Furious, Eclipse tried again. "SHINZOU NIKUSHIMI!" The frightening Nikushimi man returned.
"So, who's he?" Emma asked. "The strongest Nikushimi, right?"
"The strongest and the first. His name is Kirau Ketsueki, and he also ruled around 130 years ago." Axel chuckled as he saw the images of Kirau and Chikara preparing to fight each other. "Good thing they're only images, without personalities, or we'd have a soap opera going on now instead of a battle. They were friends before Kirau became a Nikushimi."
Emma sighed. "You've lost me," she informed him.
"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I'll tell you later."
Chikara took out two sharp battle-axes, decorated with even more fangs. Kirau just bared his fangs and flexed his claws. "Attack!" Eclipse ordered Kirau.
"You can do it, Chikara-chō!" Emma cheered, feeling it appropriate to give the Nekoshu the suffix for 'chief'.
The chieftainess swung at Kirau's arm, and all his bones from his elbow down were dislocated. He roared, then gave Chikara five deep gashes on her neck. "Call some Heartless!" Eclipse yelled. Several cat-like Heartless appeared, swarming towards Chikara, who batted them all away like flies.
"Daimyo Kurosato!" Guardian called, a hologram of him appearing in the air. "Ignore the Juu Senshi for now, and come back to headquarters."
Eclipse nodded firmly. "RECALL!" Both images disappeared.
"Hold him down!" Sora suggested randomly.
Snorting, various Senshi trotted over. Eclipse grabbed Coeur again. "Sayonara, Juu Senshi."
"MYEW!" The Kurosato siblings disappeared.
Some lodge employees peeked out fearfully. "Is it over?"
"Yes…" Emma told them sadly.
"Oh, good. Start the firework show!" one employee called to the office.
Emma turned around and walked inside. "Hey, where are you going?" Kairi asked. "You said this was a big holiday in the real world!"
"Whatever…"
Riku caught her wrist. "Don't let that moron ruin this for you, Emma. Stay out here with us!" Emma stayed silent, then took her hand back and walked back to her room.
… … …
"Emma? Are you in there?" Axel knocked on the door of the lodge room that the female members of Juu Senshi had rented.
"Come in…"
The cloaked man walked in, scratching his head. "You're really upset, huh?" Emma nodded, lying in a sleeping bag. "You liked him, didn't you?" She nodded again. "You wanna talk about anything?"
Emma sat up. "No. I'm not a little kid." Axel started to leave, but she continued, "I want to hear about how the history of the Nikushimi, though."
Axel laughed and sat down. "A bedtime story, huh? You seem like a little kid to me." Emma forced herself to smile a little. "Well, then! I don't know the entire story…I just saw what DiZ remembered when it was told to him. Here goes!"
… … …
Nobody really knows when the Nekoshus appeared. The only thing known about the ancient waterways is that they didn't have last names until about 158 years ago. They didn't have royalty until then, either. A Nekoshu named Kegawa was elected as chief; after that, it would be hereditary. The Nekoshus got to pick their last names, and Kegawa picked 'Kurosato', for the black, concrete areas that the chief got to live in. A little while later, Kegawa married a woman named Medea, and she became the first chieftainess.
Kegawa got to decide which parts of the waterways each family lived in. He made the two poorest Nekoshus, Higaisha and Takuramu Ketsueki, live in a rank-smelling, crumbling part. Higaisha tried to withstand living there, but Takuramu was livid. She hated the Kurosatos with every fiber of her being.
Time passed, and eventually, both families had a child. Higaisha and Takuramu had an adorable baby boy. They named him Daijikaze, but he was nicknamed Kaze. He would attack the sewer rats for fun, and his parents were proud of their strong toddler. Kegawa and Medea had a girl, the week afterwards. They weren't as proud, though, because they thought that girls were unfit to rule alone. They named their little girl Chikara.
On Chikara's tenth birthday, her parents decided that she should learn how to be a good chieftainess; how to be polite, how to rule fairly, and other things like that. However, Chikara didn't want to be the chieftainess; early on the morning of her birthday, she snuck out of the royalty section of the waterways, and into the slums.
She had lived a sheltered life, only straying short distances from her area, so she didn't know where to hide. After a few minutes, she found a small living area in shambles, with Kaze standing outside it. He had never actually seen the Kurosatos before, so he didn't recognize the princess. Chikara watched him play with some rocks for a while before he looked up. "Oh! I didn't see you there. Do you need something?"
Chikara blinked. "Er…sort of…do you know any good hiding places in the waterways?"
"Do I!" Kaze exclaimed. "I know them all! Come on!" Before Chikara could say anything, he ran down the nearest passage and motioned for her to follow. "By the way, my name's Daijikaze Ketsueki! But you can call me Kaze. What's yours?"
"What?" Chikara raised an eyebrow. "You really don't know my name?"
Kaze shook his head, still dashing along. "No, should I?"
He really doesn't know who I am! Chikara thought. This is perfect! Whenever people see me, they act all stiff, and I hate it. This boy's just acting casual around me! But I have to make up a name. I can't just ignore him…
"Itsuwari," Chikara announced. "My name's Itsuwari."
"Your name is False?" Kaze laughed.
You have no idea.
Chikara also laughed. "Yeah…blame my parents for that one."
Kaze stopped and thought for a moment. "I'll just call you Wari-chan. Better than being named False…how about that?" Chikara shrugged. "Okay, Wari-chan! Let's go find a hiding place for you! Why do you need one, anyway?"
"I'm trying to hide from my parents," Chikara explained. "They're trying to train me to be…um…well, it's some job."
"Already? No wonder you're trying to hide. What job?"
"I'm not sure," she lied.
Kaze puffed out his chest proudly. "Okaasan says I'm a great hunter! Before, she and Otousan would get our food, but I can sharpen rocks and make weapons! Plus, I'm good at fighting. So I want to be the Head Warrior!"
Chikara smiled. "Good luck! At least YOU'LL get a good job. I don't like mine."
"Huh? But Wari-chan, you said you didn't know what job you were getting!"
Good one, Kurosato. You'll have to think fast if you want to clean this one up!
"Well…I have an idea about what I'm going to be. Just an idea."
Kaze nodded. "Oh. What do you think you're going to be?"
Does this guy ever quit?
"Er…Head of Ceremonies," she mumbled.
"Yeah, that's pretty bad. No offense, Wari-chan."
"None taken."
That was close.
Kaze pointed to a wall. "Here's my favorite. I even keep some food in here!" He ran his fingers over a particularly weak brick, and took out a strange, sticky, green substance. "This is called Mystery Goo." Then, he took some clear bottles filled with swirling white things. "This is called a Gale. Watch what happens when you synthesize them!"
Chikara leaned over the boy to watch him place the Mystery Goo on a tray covered with flaming red glass pieces. "What are those?"
"Flame Shards. Cool enough to touch, hot enough for synthesizing things!" He let the Gale float out. A few sparks flew up, and neither substance could be seen for a while. Then, Kaze picked it up. "And there you go!" He held up a small, green cylinder. "I call it a Mystery Key."
"That's not a key!"
Kaze laughed. "Yes, it is!" He knocked on the wall, and a brick fell out. In its place was a keyhole. He put the Mystery Key in, and the top molded to fit the shape of the real key. The keyhole clicked, and the wall swung open. "Ladies first!" Kaze stepped aside and let Chikara walk in. There was a room about the size of an average bedroom, and a basket full of fish, surrounded by Frost Shards, sat in the corner. "Nothing great, but it's decent, isn't it?"
Chikara looked around. "Yeah."
… … …
"CHIKARA!" Kegawa and Medea walked through the waterways, looking for their daughter. "CHIKARA!" Kegawa called again.
Inside the hiding place, Kaze was, for some reason, excited. "Whoa! The princess must have gone missing! Maybe someone took her!" he suggested, following by a mockingly evil laugh.
Chikara started sweating. "Um…maybe…"
"CHIKARA!"
Well, this is just great…I'm hiding from my parents with a kid whose mom keeps trying to attack them!
The princess sighed. "Kaze…I have something to tell you. My name isn't really Itsuwari."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that." Kaze laughed. "What IS your name?"
"Chikara Kurosato," she mumbled.
Kaze's eyes were incredibly wide. "Chikara-hime!" he shouted, bowing quickly. "Forgive me for being so casual with you, Chikara-hime! I meant no harm by it, Chikara-hime!"
This is exactly what I was trying to prevent…
Chikara shook her head. "It's okay. Just stop calling me Chikara-hime, okay? It's too proper."
"But-"
"No buts. You don't have to call me Wari-chan or anything, just drop the '-hime'," Chikara instructed. "Got it?"
Kaze stared at her, then nodded. "Got it, Chikara-chan. So…" He smiled. "That job…you're not going to be the Head of Ceremonies, are you?"
Chikara smiled back, weakly. "No. I'm going to be the chieftainess." She looked at the door to the hiding place as her parents called her name again. "I'm not leadership material, though."
"Sorry to ask, but…could you put in a good word for me, Chikara-chan?" Kaze begged. "To be the Head Warrior and all?"
"Sure. On one condition; you have to help me get better leadership skills. You seem really confident and all, so you seem like you'd be a good teacher."
Kaze shook Chikara's hand enthusiastically. "It's a deal."
… … …
Eight years passed. Chikara was finally old enough to rule by herself, and finally gave her good friend Kaze the job of Head Warrior. Well, she tried to. There was a problem.
"Women are in no position to make important decrees like that," Kegawa informed his daughter. "That is for a man to do."
Chikara, now eighteen, looked like she would explode. "Father, I understand what you're saying, but I regret to inform you that I am not a man," she told him irritably.
Kegawa nodded sagely. "Precisely. The Nekoshus need a chief."
"I don't need you helping me with my decisions, Father."
"I am not speaking of myself. I think it is high time you get a husband."
A WHAT? I swear, if he wasn't my father, I would hack his limbs off and feed them to the sewer rats!
Chikara kept her thoughts inside her head, and asked in a forcibly sweet voice, "Whatever do you mean by that, Father?"
Kegawa sighed. "Exactly what I said. You need to get a husband."
"Well, I don't know many people here, Father, aside from Kaze…who I'm definitely not marrying," she added quickly.
"Good. It would not be fitting for you to marry that Ketsueki filth."
Filth? Forget the limbs; I'll give the rats all his internal organs!
Chikara had to try even harder to steady herself. "Kaze is not filth, Father. He is my friend."
"Daijikaze is a poor boy who is not fit to be Head Warrior, much less the chief."
"HE WOULD BE A VERY GOOD CHIEF, BETTER THAN YOU'VE BEEN, BETTER THAN YOU ARE, AND BETTER THAN YOU COULD EVER BE!" And with that, Chikara ran out of the area, sobbing.
… … …
Chikara was sitting glumly in front of Kaze's area, with Kaze himself next to her. "Marriage! I can't believe it!" she bawled. "And to make things worse, he's already found a guy!"
"He FOUND one?" Kaze seemed half-stupefied. "You mean you're being betrothed?"
"Yes! To this complete imbecile named Fuyukai Kon'yaku!" Chikara sighed heavily and slumped over. "From what I hear, he can't tell a fish from a log. And he'll be ruling all of the waterways, probably bringing it to its doom. Then we'll have to have an heir…" She shuddered, and Kaze put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. Chikara smiled a bit. "If we get a boy, his name's going to be Daijikaze. Even if I have to beat the living daylights out of Kon'yaku to make him agree."
Kaze smiled back. "Thanks, Chikara-chan."
The princess stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "I have to go meet this guy now…do you want to come with me?"
"No, my Okaasan has a surprise for me." Kaze also stood up. "It's a belated birthday present, but she says it's for you, too! I'll bring it by the royal area after you're done meeting Kon'yaku."
"All right, I'll see you later." Chikara walked back home, and Kaze walked inside his area.
"Kaze! Welcome home," Takuramu greeted her son warmly. "I'm sorry I waited a week to give this to you, but I had a spot of trouble finding it."
Kaze shrugged. "That's okay, Okaasan. What is it?"
The slightly wrinkled woman handed him an oak box. "Open it…oh, but wait for your father to come in! Higaisha!" she called.
Higaisha walked into the main part of the area, covering his ears. "I'm here, sweetheart," he mumbled. He looked over at Kaze. "Happy belated birthday, Kaze."
"Thank you very much, Otousan," Kaze replied.
Takuramu gave Kaze a wide, eerie grin. "You're so polite…and strong, too. It's very uncommon to find that in a boy. You would make a perfect chief!"
Kaze became very red. "Okaasan, the only way I can become chief is if I marry Chikara-chan. And even if I wanted to, which I don't, she's already betrothed to some high-ranking idiot named Fuyukai Kon'yaku."
"Ah, my dear son…that is what the present is for!"
"It isn't some potion to turn me into Kon'yaku, is it?"
His mother laughed, sounding much like a cackle. "No, it is better than some silly, temporary potion. Far better."
The teenager lifted the decorated lid, peering inside. "What is that?" It was pitch black and bubbled ominously. Waves of purple flashed past every so often. "How will this help?"
Takuramu held out a black, chipped cup. "It will make you more powerful than anyone has ever been. It will make you fearsome. That old fool Kegawa Kurosato will be terrified of you, and you'll gain the throne."
"But, the tribal warriors! Together, they could overthrow me!"
Higaisha led some Nekoshus into the area. "That's why we'll make you your own royal guards."
One Nekoshu, a girl slightly younger than Kaze, curtsied. "Nice to see you again, Daijikaze."
Kaze waved a little. "Hi, Shii-chan."
Takuramu rubbed her hands together. "I see you remember Atarashii Kouzoku. She's the third-strongest in the tribe, following that Chikara. You surpass both girls, of course. She's stronger than the current Head Warrior, Ka Gen, that ten-year-old. I haven't the faintest clue how he got the position; probably acquainted with the Kurosatos. She'll be the Head Warrior of our new society."
"That's very kind of you, Ketsueki-san." Atarashii curtsied again.
"Now, Kaze…" Takuramu took the box back and poured the contents into the cup. "This is darkness, in its purest form. As pure as darkness can get, anyway." She cackled loudly. "If you drink this, darkness will fill your veins. Yes, it sounds gruesome, but it will pay off. You will no longer be referred to as 'that mangy Kaze', but as 'Chief Daijikaze Ketsueki'! It will be magnificent!"
Kaze held the cup in both hands. "…really?"
Takuramu nodded. "The most magnificent thing ever to happen," she cooed.
"If you say so, Okaasan…" Kaze closed his eyes, then gulped down the murky liquid. He wiped his mouth. "That tasted sort of…bad, Okaasan." Suddenly, he stopped talking, and turned pale.
Atarashii put her hand on Kaze's back. "Are you okay, Chief Ketsueki?"
Kaze shoved her to the ground, then snarled, "I HAVE DARKNESS BURNING MY VEINS! DO YOU THINK I'M OKAY?" Everyone in the area except Takuramu screamed as the flesh on Kaze's limbs disintegrated. His mother just resumed rubbing her hands together greedily. Kaze held his face, and his brown eyes turned bright yellow. Deep bags appeared under his eyes, as if he had not slept in years. Instead of normal bones on his fingertips, there were gleaming claws. "AAAAAAAAAAGH!" His fang earrings faded out of existence, and were replaced by tiny Heartless insignias attached to black beads. Finally, on the back of his skeletal hands, the same insignia was tattooed. He looked up, and glared at everyone. "I have changed, haven't I…?" He looked down at himself. "But I suppose that's the price to pay. What must I do now, Okaasan?"
Takuramu smirked, and motioned for the other Nekoshus to step back, excluding Higaisha. "We must test your strength. Not only physically, but mentally. KILL your father."
Both Higaisha and Kaze stared at the short, maniacal woman. "Sweetheart…what are you saying?" Higaisha backed up against the wall, while Kaze advanced on him. "Don't listen to your mother, son! Why don't you kill Kon'yaku instead? Or someone else who isn't me?"
Kaze bared his fangs. "He already hates Kon'yaku," Takuramu announced proudly. "He needs to kill someone he loves."
"No…no! NO!" Higaisha's pained screams were drowned out as he was shredded to ribbons by the first Nikushimi.
Takuramu clapped, ignoring her husband's fresh carnage. "Well done, Chief Ketsueki. Now we must change the others into Nikushimi."
Atarashii took the cup from off the ground. She drank it, then shuddered and underwent the same changes that Kaze had gone through, but she didn't look quite as fearsome. She passed the cup to the others, who drank it in turn, and transformed. They admired their claws and bones, grinning toothily at each other and speaking in amazed, hushed tones. "SILENCE!" Kaze roared. The talking stopped immediately. "We must leave for the royal area now. But first…" He turned to his mother. "…you want me to be cruel. Is that right?"
His mother nodded. "Cruelty is strength."
Kaze growled. "You've been decided what I should do, and what I shouldn't do. You're treating me like a puppet! You want me to be the chief, but you're still giving me instructions! It will be as if YOU are the chief! You don't care about me at all! You just want to fulfill your petty little revenge scheme on the Kurosatos!"
Takuramu pretended to look innocent. "Oh, I wouldn't say that…but it's a possibility."
"Well, this all ends now, my DEAR Okāsan," he sneered. He ran towards her, then clawed at her neck. Takuramu's head flew cleanly off, whizzing across the area and spurting blood. Kaze turned back to his Nikushimi army. "Now we will go to the royal area. But please don't attack anyone unless it's absolutely necessary; before we were injected with darkness, we were Nekoshus, just like them. Now, we are Nikushimi, but we are their brethren. With that in mind, let us overthrow the Kurosatos!" The Nikushimi ran out, hissing and roaring. Kaze walked slowly after them. He stopped for a moment, then looked at the ceiling. "Chikara-chan…please forgive me."
… … …
Axel was playing around with his many zippers. "So, because the guy killed his own parents within one minute, he was called Kirau, 'the Disliked'. They would've called him 'the Hated', but that name was stolen by the Nikushimi. And that's how the first Nikushimi was created. The end."
Emma looked like she was about to smack him upside the head. "That's IT? That CAN'T be it! What happened next? Did Kaze…uh, Kirau…become the chief? Did he really marry Chikara? Was Atarashii the new Head Warrior? Did Kon'yaku get killed too? Was there a big battle? DON'T LEAVING ME HANGING LIKE THAT!"
"Yeesh, kid! You just wanted to know how the first Nikushimi was created!"
"No, I said I wanted to know the HISTORY of the Nikushimi!" Emma clasped her hands together. "I have to know this stuff, Axel!"
The Organization XIII member snickered. "Okay, okay. You'll probably need to know this when you're playing the changed version of Kingdom Hearts II. You're going back to Hollow Bastion, so this stuff might be necessary to know."
Emma nodded. "Okay. Tell me the rest of the story."
… … … … … … … … …
FG: That was Chapter 20! Sorry to cut it off like that, but my chapters seem to like being really long…the chapter itself is currently 29 pages long, excluding Ultra-Author's Notes. With the rest of the Nikushimi story, it would probably be around 70 pages. Or something. By the way, you don't have to remember Gaunt's name for much longer, because he's going to be referenced in Chapter 21! Yay!
Ellania: (is covered in bruises) It's not that great, stupid.
Jake: What happened to you?
Ellania: Robin knocked the happy out of me.
Robin: Good thing I did, or we'd be drownin' in a sea of blondeness.
Everyone else: (sweatdrops)
FG: By the way, those people who were picked to be part of Ino, some of you didn't put personalities. That is entirely my fault, though, since I never asked for them. Please include them in your review.
Ino Members: Yes, ma'am!
FG: Also, you reviewers who just say "update soon" are starting to annoy me a little. Not much, just…a little. It wouldn't hurt to say what you liked, or what you think I could do better, would it?
Ellania: Preach it, sister!
Robin: I thought I knocked the happy outta you, Blondie!
Ellania: (shrieks and runs away)
FG: Oh, my head…FG out, yo.