Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Breath of Fire. KH and FF belong to Square-Enix while BOF belongs to Capcom. I also don't own GCSEs, as they belong to the British Labour Government, I think.
Now, before I go on with the fanfic, I would like to point out that this story has FF, KH and BOF characters in it but I decided to put this in the BOF section because people are more likely to read it if I did (as most people have never played BOF). Anyway, I'll stop blabbering! On with the fic!
He stood there, gazing at the chocolates behind the glass window. He could see that there were various types – caramel, mint, fudge, strawberry. They all made him look hungry….
But the spikey-haired boy in the white shirt and the blue shorts knew that the chocolates were not for him. It was Kairi's birthday today – she was now fifteen. What would a girl at fifteen want?
The trouble was, he only found out about her birthday this morning, which was why he was here. How could he forget Kairi's birthday like that? He had known her since he was little! The boy stamped his foot and started to curse.
Chocolates would seem an appropriate present – but he did not know what type of chocolate that she specifically liked. The boy made several more curses as he stared at the boxes.
"Are you all right, young man?"
A lady was standing right next to the boy. She was a small woman, in her eighties, peering up at him and wearing an apron.
"Uh….nothing," replied the boy.
The old smiled kindly at him. "So, you like my chocolates then, do you boy?"
"Um….they're not for me," the boy replied awkwardly. "It's my friend's birthday."
"Oh, I see……" she said thoughtfully. "You seem to have a difficult time deciding."
"I….don't know which chocolates she likes."
"You don't know which she likes, then?" the shopkeeper began to chuckle heartedly. The boy smiled at her, embarrassed at the whole situation.
"Well…..maybe you shouldn't give her chocolates then," the woman said in an advising tone.
"…maybe," the boy answered thoughtfully "but what else could I get her?"
Just then, cries were heard in the street. Not the normal cries that you would here when people were buying and selling, but cries of terror and fear. The boy turned around to see some people running around the streets. Far away, explosions could be heard. What was going on?
The boy and the old woman stood still for a moment. The woman then floated a few metres off the ground with her white wings. She gazed at the sky for a few seconds, turned white and then returned to the ground.
"What's wrong?" the boy asked, anxious.
"Something…..in the sky…."
The boy walked around the building. He could not fly, as he did not have wings, unlike many of the citizens of the city of Wyndia. The boy soon realised what was wrong.
The streets were on fire. The Wyndian citizens were running about, trying to find safety. The boy stared in shock what was going on. What happened and why?
He could hear screams and shouts of "A demon from the sky!" from some of the frightened citizens. The boy looked up and could not believe his eyes….
It was about the size of a human, and in the shape of a human as well – or at least, it had the head and torso of a human. It had red legs, with scales and claws at the feet. Finally, it had long hair, with horns sticking out at the sides of its head and wings sprouting out of its back. The boy gasped and started to look around. He had to get out of here, fast. Would he be able to escape? Would he make it back to the castle? Would the monster go for the castle? If so, then he would need to warn Kairi and the others. Would Kairi be able to escape? Would Riku and Nina be able to protect her? Would Riku and Nina be able to get out as well? All these questions were running through the boy's head as he started to run. He had to run back to the castle – it was the only thing he could think of.
The boy did not get there, though. He suddenly found himself sliding and then stopping, as the creature landed right in front of him. The boy then fell back in shock and the monster glared at him with menacing eyes. Certain that he was a goner, the boy closed his eyes.
Just then, something made him open them again…his hand….something was happening to his right hand…a bright light suddenly surrounded the boy, which made him float. This light….what was it? Whatever it was, the boy was not scared of it. It seemed to give him courage and determination.
Suddenly, the boy descended to the ground. In his right hand was…..some sort of key. The boy had never seen this key before or how it got in his hand. However, he knew one thing…..in his heart, he knew that this key could help him fend off the monster.
The creature stared at the boy….this time in shock, instead of a glare. The boy got up and stood facing the creature, holding his key, ready to attack. The monster positioned itself in what the boy thought would be an attack stance.
The boy was the first to attack . He took a swipe at the creature, who dodged it. The monster counterattacked by swiping back. The boy rolled back and avoided the blow. The monster growled in frustration. The boy smirked at this. However, he stopped smirking when the monster suddenly stepped backwards. It floated upwards, eyes fixed on the boy, and moved it's arms and clawed lands as if it was casting a spell. Just then, a large reddish orange ball of energy appeared from the creature's clawed hands and then went straight at the boy, who could not dodge it in time. The boy yelled in pain and fell backwards. The monster floated upwards, ready to create another of those energy balls. At first, the boy was certain that he was a goner, but then something inside him told him not to give up.
Suddenly, a feeling of rage came into the boy. He was suddenly back on his feet and he charged at the creature, who was back on the ground. The creature was unable to dodge and cried out in pain as the boy had jumped up and slashed at it. The creature stepped back……it had a rather large cut across its torso. It growled with anger and then quickly took a swipe at the boy, giving him a huge cut on the leg. This time, it hurt so much that the boy could not get up, even though he tried.
The monster floated until it was less than metre over the boy's body. It was about to strike again, it's left arm raised in the air…..
If the monster succeeded, it would have surely ripped the boy's hear out. But the boy was too fast and he quickly slashed at the arm before it could even touch him. The creature howled again. It was a great wound – even greater than the one on the torso.
The creature stepped back……it looked around. What is it doing? The boy wondered. Is it going to attack the other townspeople?
The creature then floated into the air once more………and flew off…..
"Hey, you all right, kid?"
He could see shapes…..his eyes were not completely focused…
The boy rubbed his eyes with left hand. His right hand felt the hard and stubbled pavement of the Wyndian street. He must have fainted. People had gathered around him, looking at him with concern. The boy attempted to get up….but he could not. His right leg had was throbbing with pain.
"It's all right, dear…don't push yourself."
The old woman was here. She held the boy's injured leg up with her right hand and had a bandage in her left hand.
"Uh….thank you," the boy said politely.
"No, thank you," the old woman replied.
"You saved us from that demon!" a man in the crowd shouted.
The monster before….so it was certainly not a dream.
"Where did it go?" the boy asked, still slightly dazed.
"It flew away!" another person said. "It was so badly beat I guess it gave up!"
"To beat something like that, you sure are something!"
The boy smiled, embarrassed. He could not escape the crowd. He was patted on the back, told by many people that "You are amazing!", "How did you do that?" and "I am in your debt!" It was strange…how he managed to fight a creature so fearsome and dangerous and how this key magically appeared from nowhere and saved his life.
The boy was feeling better. Since he had a bandage on his right leg and had healed himself with all his Cure spells, he could now get up and walk around – although his right leg still hurt.
He had been invited to the jewellery shop. The owner of the shop was one of the people who had witnessed the fight and wanted to take him to the shop as a reward.
Walking into the shop, he was amazed at what he saw. The room of the shop was small, but so magnificent. The ceiling was painted dark blue and hanging from it were rows and rows of glass stars. The tables in the shop were covered with pink, blue, green, purple and golden cloths and on each table were various stands, containing all sorts of accessories – watches, necklaces, rings, brooches, containing all sorts of pretty stones – moonstone, sapphire, diamonds. I could so take Kairi to this place, the boy thought.
"Well, it's quite a wonder, isn't it?" the old woman said behind him. She had followed the boy and the jeweller to the shop.
"Yeah…" the boy answered, not really listening, as he was still fascinated by the atmosphere around him.
The jeweller went behind the counter and put his hands on the table. "Well, have a look at what you want, kid!" he said in a rather friendly way.
The boy examined the room, admiring at what he saw. Just then, something had caught his eye. On the table nearest to him, on a white stand, was a golden necklace – in fact it, it was a locket. A gold, heart-shaped locket with a sapphire in the middle. Although it looked really simple, he knew that Kairi would love it the moment she saw it. He could imagine her putting it on, gazing at it in the mirror and then heading off to whatever she had to do, whether it was lessons or going out with her friends.
"Well, do you want it?"
The boy jumped. He completely forgot that he was not the only person in the room.
"Sorry? What did you guys say?"
"Do you want it?" the jeweller asked, in a friendly manner.
"It's 5000 gold coins….I don't have enough."
"Take it for 500," the man suggested. "You had risked your life to save us….who knows what would have happened if you weren't there!"
The boy looked at the locket longingly. He needed a present for Kairi anyway, and what could be a better idea than this? The boy paid 500 out of the 1000 coins he had, thanked the man and headed towards the door. Before he went outside, though, the woman stopped him.
"Are you sure you don't need help walking home?" she asked.
"I'm fine. Thanks, anyway…uh…."
"Mrs Hardow."
"Well, thanks, Mrs Hardow. For your help."
"That's all right, young man. You take care of yourself."
The boy was about to leave but he turned back towards the woman.
"I'll be alright, Mrs Hardow. And by the way, my name's Sora."
The Castle of Wyndia. Home to Harold XII of Wyndia. It was rather a large castle with tall towers and sturdy brick walls which stood on the edge of the cliff, which looked out to the sea.
It was also Sora's home, or at least his current home. It was his shelter – the place where he had been staying for three years, ever since he was forced to leave his hometown.
Sora plodded up the tall steps, exhausted. His leg was still sore from the fight with the dragon, even though the kind old lady had used a bandage and he had made the effort to help himself by casting a Cure spell.
"Sora! Are you okay?"
A young girl with red hair came running through the gates in her blue dress. She was about Sora's age – fifteen and rather short for her age. Like Sora, she did not have white wings to fly with. Her auburn hair flowed down to her shoulders and she gazed at Sora with her dark blue eyes.
"Kairi!" Sora breathed with a sigh of relief.
"Oh, Sora……I am so glad you are safe!" the girl exclaimed in a rather worried tone. "We were so worried about you!"
Sora smiled a little. "Don't worry, I will be okay," he assured her.
"That's good to hear" Kairi replied, laughing. Her smile faded though when she saw his leg.
"Oh….that…." Sora glanced at his leg. It did not hurt much but it looked like he should not go out again today. Kairi helped him into through the main entrance of the castle. She then noticed the key in his right hand.
"Hey, Sora…..what's that?"
"Huh?"
"That key……how did you get it?"
Sora glanced at his strange key….the one that helped him fend off the creature. The weapon that had saved his life. He had absolutely no idea how it came into his hand.
Sora felt better when he was taken to a small room with a large crackling fire. His leg still felt sore, but it was not broken. The doctor assured him that he should be able to go out the next day. It was just as well, as Sora had school the following day anyway as well as his exam results.
He sat down on the large sofa nearest to the fire, in front of the small square table. Sitting on the chair on the other side of the table was a boy slightly older than him – no wings either. The boy was wearing some yellow sleeveless shirt with some sort of blue baggy trousers. His silver coloured hair went down to his shoulders. The boy was looking at Sora, who had a deck of cards in his hand.
"Well, aren't you gonna go, Sora?"
"Yeah….sorry…uh…..two Aces."
Sora then took his two Aces out of his pack and placed them on the table and then waited for his friend to take his turn.
The silver haired boy paused for a second and then spoke. "Did you get Kairi her present yet?"
"Yeah," Sora replied. He took out the necklace from his pocket.
"Huh…what's that?" the boy examined it closely. "Wow…..it's a locket…"
"Yep." Sora smiled, feeling very pleased with himself.
The boy stared at the locket for a few minutes and laughed. "She'll really like that! It's real pretty. Who knows….she might put your picture in it!"
Sora's smile then faded. "What is THAT supposed to mean, Riku?" he asked, angrily.
"Hey, I'm kidding!" Riku protested. "Why do you have to take me seriously every time I mention something like that?"
Just then, the door to the living room opened and a young girl came in. She was a little taller than Riku – rather tall for her age, anyway. The girl's long golden hair went down to her waist. She had a long green dress with a girdle and her wings werelarge and snowy white.
"Hey, boys! What are you fighting about now?" she asked in a rather cheerful way.
"Nothing Nina," Riku answered, still smirking. "It's just that Sora can't take a joke." Sora glared at his friend.
Nina sighed and laughed a little bit. Riku usually liked to tease his friends. Usually, Sora would laugh as well, but not when it was about Kairi. She then sat down in another chair and pulled it over to the table to watch what the boys were doing.
"Are you okay, Sora?" she asked, concerned.
"I'm FINE!" Sora answered quickly, in an irritated tone.
"No, not about that, I mean about earlier today.."
"Oh, about that? Sorry…..yeah, I'm okay…..I'll be better tomorrow."
Nina sighed with relief.
Riku then took out a Five of Diamonds and declared "One Three" before placing it on the pile.
Afterwards, Sora took out a Seven and a Nine and yelled "Two Jacks!"
"Bullshit," Riku said.
"Aww…man….I forgot I used my other three Jacks already," Sora moaned before grudgingly taking the ten cards that were used on the pile.
Nina smiled happily, before asking "So…..have you got Kairi her present yet, Sora?"
"Yeah…" Sora turned to her and showed Nina the locket.
"Wow…it looks really pretty, Sora!" Nina said with enthusiasm. "And it's a heart-shaped one as well!" She then giggled at this thought.
Riku won the game, much to Sora's dismay. "Oh come on, it's only a game!" Nina exclaimed. She had known Sora for three years – well enough to know his character. She knew that although both Sora and Riku were great friends – but also great rivals as well. They had competed with each other in almost everything.
Finally, Kairi came in. She had paid a visit to the king who had given her his present, so she could not go and see Sora straight away.
"Hey, guys!" she said, smiling.
"Kairi! Happy Birthday!" Nina exclaimed. "What did Father give you?"
Kairi held up a box. It was a small box, made out of red wood. The top of the box was decorated with a picture of a wooden house surrounded by trees with birds flying in the sky.
"Oh wow, it looks really adorable!" Nina said in awe.
"That was what I was going to say," Kairi said before giggling. "Your dad is really generous, Nina."
"It's a good place to put in that little locket," Riku whispered in Sora's ear.
After they talked about the box for a few minutes, the others decided they should show their presents to Kairi.
"Here's mine," Nina declared. She held up a purple silk ribbon.
"A ribbon!" Kairi exclaimed. "Oh wow, it looks really pretty! And it's purple, my favourite colour!" She then grabbed a portion of her hair at the top and tied it together with her ribbon. She looks really beautiful in that, Sora said to himself quietly.
"You know, that suits you," Riku said.
"I agree," Nina added before saying. "Even Sora really likes it, even though he hasn't said anything about it yet, but you can tell." Nina then started to chuckle slightly. She also liked to tease Sora when she could. Sora looked a little hurt. "Well, I'm really glad you like it," Nina then said. "Riku, do you have anything to give her?"
"Of course I do," Riku declared before then handing a parcel over to Kairi. "Happy Birthday, Kairi." Kairi then took the parcel and opened it with wonder. Her face of curiosity then turned to a smile.
"Oh, Riku, it's wonderful! And it has all of us"
The present was a small little picture frame, with a photograph inside. Photographs were rare in Wyndia, as cameras were expensive, but the king had a few around in his castle. The photo was a picture of all of them together – Sora, Nina, Kairi and Riku sitting together on a few boxes at a dock, watching the ships come in.
"Was this the picture taken six months ago?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah," Riku answered. "On our holiday in Luca."
Kairi smiled, giggled and then hugged Riku. "Thanks, Riku. I'll treasure this!"
"Remember when we got tickets to the blitzball stadium?" Nina asked the others, reminiscing their time at Luca.
"And Kairi thought she lost her ticket!" Riku exclaimed, which made Kairi giggle.
"And the I found that it was in my pocket all the time!" Kairi added before laughing again. "I am so absent minded!"
They laughed some more before was time for Sora to hand his present. Sora slowly put his hand into his pocket and drew out the little heart-shaped locket with the diamond in the centre.
Kairi took the necklace and studied it for a few minutes. Her friends watched, a little tense. Sora started to get avery worried – did she like it after all?
Kairi eventually took a deep breath. "…….it's……beautiful, Sora…" she said quietly. "I…..really like it…"
Nina breathed a sigh of relief. "Why don't you try it on?" she suggested. "It would look good with my ribbon."
Kairi tied the necklace around her neck, with Nina's help. "Oh, and here's the key," Sora said rather clumsily handing the tiny golden key to her.
"Thanks, Sora," Kairi said. "Are you blushing?"
"W-what?" Sora stammered.
His friends started to laugh.
"I would like to make a little speech if I may."
King Harold XII of Wyndia then stood up at the little round table that he, his daughter and heir to the throne Princess Nina, Riku, Sora and Kairi sat at. Sora, Riku and Kairi were not related to the king or his daughter, and they certainly had no noble or royal blood in them, but they had been living at the castle for quite a while now, and the king had looked after them as if they were his own children, so they were very much like family. They ate in the afternoon room at dinner, as they
Nina turned red and her friends looked at her with sorry faces. The king loved to make speeches. His speeches could go on for hours, on a bad day. Nina remained in her seat with her red face. Kairi tried to carry on eating her meal. Sora had just managed to prevent himself from yawning after a kick from Riku.
"Although it will be a little one, as Sora looks a little tired," the king chuckled.
Sora looked up at the king, also turning red but the king smiled at him warmly. The king then continued.
"Now, all I want to do is wish Kairi a happy fifteenth birthday. She and Sora have only been living with us for about two years, but we welcome them both, as well as Riku, as if they were our own family."
Kairi giggled a little. Although she did not like most of the king's speeches, this one seemed to touch her a little bit.
"Anyway, fifteen may not seem much, but it is rather a leap into the next stage of life."
Kairi was less touched by this part of the speech. It was sounding like a doting speech from a parent who was showing off to other parents on how much their little darlings were growing.
"She will be taking her General Secondary exams next year. And I wish her good luck to those. And good luck in the future."
The king then proposed a toast, which everyone joined and he finally (to everybody's relief) sat down. Afterwards, he leaned across the table to Kairi and said, "I hope you are enjoying yourself, my dear."
"Oh, I am, thank you, your Majesty," Kairi replied, gratefully.
"It is sad that your parents are not here to celebrate with us."
"No, your Majesty."
"Well, don't worry, when you do see them again, they will be so proud of you."
" 'When', your Majesty?"
"There is still hope, child. Just because we have not heard from them, it does not mean that they are not still alive and thinking about you."
The king had to leave the table early in order to deal with the damage that the monster earlier had done to the city. He was busy with all of it for most of the day, but he managed to take half an hour off in order to spend some time with his family and a few minutes to give Kairi her present.
The four teenagers sat in silence. Nina was the only person who still had to eat the rest of her food. Kairi was the first to speak.
"Guys," she began. "The king….he did say 'when', didn't he?"
"He did," Sora answered.
"Do you think….he could be right?"
"We don't know," Riku assured her. "But as he said, it doesn't mean that they're…"
"I know…" Kairi said, rather sadly.
Sora sat on his table, watching Kairi. He, Riku and Kairi did not originally come from Wyndia – which was why they did not have wings like most of the Wyndians. Sora and Kairi had come from the far away town of Parela. But three years ago, under mysterious circumstances, they both had to leave the town, along with their friends and family, and seek refuge in Wyndia. They had not heard anything from their town or their parents – not even a letter. However, they both hoped very strongly that they would one day return there and be reunited with their families. What bothered Sora though was Riku, who always seemed really confident and certain that he would see his home and his parents again, but was in worse circumstances than Kairi and Sora were. Riku came from the small village of Takerin, a village which was somewhere in the country of Suveria. However, he came to Wyndia seven years ago, at the age of nine, and in those seven years he had not heard a word from his family or his village either. On the other hand, Sora thought, the Suverian Empire and the kingdom of Wyndia were not really on friendly terms, so it may have been difficult to pass messages, especially as Suveria was a long way awayas Parela was.
Sora had to go straight to bed after dinner so that he could recover for the next morning as he was going on a long journey to school the next day. He said goodnight to Kairi and was helped up to his bedroom by Nina and Riku. They had made it to the hallway.
"I'm amazed that you made it with only a few scratches!" Nina said, holding Sora's arm.
"Yeah….I am too.." Sora lied, deciding that it was not worth mentioning the other wounds that he had. Besides, those wounds had healed because of the potions that the lady gave him.
They carried walking down the corridors and then up a set of spiral stairs. It was diffcult getting Sora up these stairs, but they succeeded and they finally reached Sora's room.
"Are you sure that you will be okay to go to school tomorrow?" Riku asked, concerned.
"I'll be fine," Sora replied with a smile. "My leg hurts a little but I'll be able to walk properly tomorrow."
"Okay, just wondered. I'm going back downstairs, now. Night, Sora."
"Good night! See you tomorrow!" Nina called.
"Night, guys," Sora as he opened the door to his bedroom.
To be continued…..
Okay, I am sorry that the chapter was rather boring! But it gives some sort of background to the story. And we are already introduced to four of the main characters. Read and Review! Flames welcome – you never know when they could come handy in the cold and dreary country that I live in! Yes, I know there weren't any FF characters in this chapter – shut up. There will be in the next few chapters coming!
