Kingdom Hearts I do not own, for it is shared by the likes of Square and Disney. However, I do own any characters I create, which, unfortunately, I do not have at the moment. Well, enjoy this folks, or bash at it, whichever you feel is the more appropriate of the two.
A black cloaked figure sat on a rock on a beach of grey sand, looking at the black sky as the tranquil waters waved back and forth. He was deep in thought as another black cloaked figure, noticably shorter than he was, stepped out of a dark portal and onto the sands. There was silence, eventually broken when the short figure opened his mouth.
"Is something the matter?"
The tall figure let out a sigh, though there was not much sadness behind it. "I decided to visit my brother a few days ago. And this letter," he held an envelope up, "was the only thing left of him in his castle."
"What does it say?" The short figure watched as the tall one cringed the letter in his hand. He and a few people he knew had a mental condition that prevented them from developing feelings, but that did not stop some of them from trying. If the tall one could express a feeling now, it was sorrow.
"I take it you know my brother well." When the short one nodded, the tall one continued to speak. "Then you already know that when my father left to do research on the heart, he gave his inheritance at Hollow Bastion to my brother and me, and shortly I left afterwards to find a cure for this condition. My brother had the job of governor of Hollow Bastion, but he was a bit careless when it came to looking after pets." The tall figure chuckled. "I remember when he forgot to lock the cages and two of those 'Heartless' creatures escaped out of the lab. Our neighbors ended up moving away when they found those black pups in their basements."
"To the point, please?" Even though the short one had anmesia when the others found him, he had been around long enough to know that this person often spoke of his brother too much.
"Sorry. Anyway, you know that woman he was dating, the one called Malificient?"
"Yeah, that green hag."
"I thought it was creepy when she was into those black arts, and I did not like the fact that she picked up that silver-haired boy to act as her servant. However, I just recently found out that she was part of a mafia. The head of it to be exact."
"No way!"
"I didn't believe it at first either. However, I suppose those seven kidnappings do kind of make sense now. According to a ritual in one of the books she had (which I took while she wasn't around), she needed to sacrifice seven female virgins who were pure of heart in order to gain wisdom and power beyond the mortal realm. One of those girls happen to be a friend of the servant boy, but Malificient tricked him into thinking that the girl would be spared if he participating in kidnapping the other girls."
"That snake! I'll kill her!"
"No need to. Ansem didn't know about these kidnappings or Malificient's involvement, but he was catching onto her behavior. As he was working on his latest experiment (a gate to a new world, perhaps), Malificient was going to perform the sacrifice in his home. Well, until an assassin came."
"What assassin?"
"I...don't know. However, what I do know was that he was friends with both the servant boy and one of the girls, so I suppose he must have found out where the ritual was taking place. It seems most likely that the assassin was able to kill her and stop the ritual..."
"Was your brother heartbroken?"
"Ansem didn't have the time. When he finally left his experiment to check the ruckus downstairs, he just saw the assassin stab himself. Just when he was about to try and help the assassin, that servant boy then attacked him. Worse of all, the servant boy then accused Ansem as being the true mastermind of the whole operation. Before he had a chance to explain, the girls and the assassin's friends (excluding servant boy) ran out of the room, and by the time Ansem managed to free himself, the others had escaped. He must have left, knowing that nobody would believe his story and that he wasn't around the sacri-I mean, girls to let them know that he was innocent."
"That's awful."
"No, what's awful was that the assassin recovered from his wounds and heard the 'truth' about what happened at Hollow Bastion." The tall one dropped his head. "I met that assassin days after the incident, and even without a picture, the words from his mouth convinced me of his misguided intent. I tried to explain to him about Ansem's innocence, but he was too hardheaded. I gave up when I experienced his fighting style for myself, though I wonder if I should have at least fought back. I didn't have the intention to kill."
"Where is your brother now?"
"It doesn't say in the letter. Knowing him, I think he might have headed to the End of the World. That place is more of a maze than Wonderland, so I doubt that even the assassin could track him down..."
The short one drew out a weapon after pondering on the tall one's words. This weapon was built somewhat like a sword, but the hilt and the blade were shaped like a key. "Don't worry, Xenmas. I'll hunt down this assassin before he gets to your brother. Just tell me his name."
"No, I have confidence that my brother will live, Roxas." Xenmas, the tall one, was worried, not just for his brother but also for the short one known as Roxas. The Keyblade, as Roxas's weapon was called, was a given to a select few not only to grant protection to the worlds but also to bless those with the potential of a master swordsman. However, whereas Roxas could not remember anything before when he was found (coincidentally around the time Malificient was killed), the assassin had been gaining a name by helping each world he came upon, and that took many weeks to complete. Furthermore, the assassin had a Keyblade.
Xenmas turned to Roxas, both hoods still on. "You better get back to your room. You might never know when the Heartless would strike back."
Roxas shrugged, disappointed that Xenmas did not trust his skills with the Keyblade to know the name of the assassin. However, he knew that even the Dusks had their limit when fighting the Heartless, and this beach might soon be taken over. Roxas opened a portal of darkness and stepped in, taking one more gaze at Xenmas before the portal closed. Xenmas continued to look at the ocean, finally deciding to drop the letter into the ocean. As the ink ran and made the letter impossible to read, Xenmas stood up and looked at the heart-shaped moon.
"Sora...I hope that isn't a name that will haunt me."
