Twilight Town
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic
By:
Chison
Seeing the man faint, Melanie struggled to put the man into a bed, and try to bandage his wounds, telling Kairi to fetch various items to help with the recovery. She tore off his shirt, revealing many scars, and open wounds that she started to treat the instant she saw them; working much later into the night than she thought, he finally sat beside the bed, "I'll just relax my eyes for just a few minutes…" However within two minutes, she was fast asleep, with Kairi in the other bed on the other side of the room.
When morning came, Zashi opened his eyes, "I wonder what that shriek was last night…" Slowly getting from his bed, he wandered down the hall, towards the girls' room and slowly opened the door. Seeing Melanie at the side of the bed made Zashi crack a smile, then he looked at the man in the bed; he walked closer, trying not to wake Melanie, and he starred at the man then it came to him: it was Cloud! "No! Sora don't go…" Kairi shouted in her sleep, which made the hair on Zashi's neck stand on end, he looked over at her, but she had drifted back to sleep, suddenly Cloud stirred, and slowly opened his eyes.
"Zashi…I've been looking for you." Cloud, said with a cough, which woke Melanie from her slumber. "Marlena has a message for you…" This perked Zashi's interest, "She says that DiZ is not Ansem…" this confused him, but Cloud went on, "Marlena thinks that Ansem is still alive…either with a body or within another person's heart." Zashi put a hand to his chin, still confused, "If DiZ is not Ansem…then that means that Rizu is controlling the heartless by himself…" Cloud climbed further in his bed, "Rizu does not have that much power…he is merely a Heartless." Melanie finally stood up from the floor, "Well it looks like your finally awake…" Cloud looked at her, and down at his bandages, "Thank you for taking care of me while I was injured…" Zashi looked over Cloud, seeing the multitude of bandages, "Cloud…how did you get beat up so badly?" He rearranged himself in the bed, "I have been battling Sephiroth…no matter how hard we try…it seems we are not destined to destroy each other." Melanie's eyes grew wide as she spoke, "You've been fighting another person this whole time?" Cloud shook his head, "there was a day or two of peace, when Marlena found me…" then he turned and looked out the window to the sky.
Suddenly Kairi sat straight up in her bed, "NO SORA! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Everyone was scarred at the sudden outburst, Melanie walked over to her and calmed her down, "don't worry…we will find Sora…" Kairi simply nodded her head and whispered something to Melanie, who turned to the guys, "You two need to leave the room for a second, we are going to get changed." Zashi shrugged his shoulders and helped Cloud from the bed and wandered into his room; putting Cloud back onto his bed. "Who are those girls your traveling with?" he asked in concern, Zashi looked at him oddly, but remembered that he had not introduced them yet, "Well the one with red hair is Kairi, a friend of Sora's, and the other girl her name is Melanie…" Cloud seemed to fall deep into thought, then motioned Zashi closer, "I don't trust Melanie. She gives off an aura I cannot explain…" he looked at Cloud with confusion, "She's the one that bandaged you…" A worried look came over his face, "I still don't trust her…Make sure to keep an eye on her Zashi…" He had thought of his time he spent with Melanie: she was not afraid of the Heartless, and was able to see everyone in Darkness.
Questions ran through Zashi's mind when suddenly the door creaked open, revealing Melanie, "we're ready to go…" Zashi looked back at her and nodded his head and quickly showered and changed back into his clothes. He waved to Cloud, still bedridden, and wandered out of the inn looking for Melanie and Kairi. "Hey Zashi!" Melanie called out, waving her hand, he walked toward them, "do you know where we are?" Zashi took a moment to look around; the buildings were made of stone, the roofs from wood, and the ground was covered in cobblestone. Looking to the sky, it shone with many different shades of yellow and orange, indicating that the sun was just hanging on the horizon. He took a few steps away from the girls, "I think this is Twilight Town…" he said to himself, just loud enough for the girls to hear him; looking toward the horizon, he found a mansion, guarded by an iron gate. "Something feels familiar seeing that house…" Just then, a laugh came over the silence, everyone turned their heads, trying to find the source, but he suddenly appeared in front of Zashi: it was Rizu. "It seems you have found the portal to darkness…" he said with a grin on his face, and he focused his attention to Melanie, "I know what resides inside your heart…" Zashi turned back to Melanie, who had a frightened look, "Does Rizu know something that I don't? What if Cloud is right?"
