CHAPTER 3:
Slipping through the early morning half-light, the party quickly covered the distance between the inn and the gates to what Hakujou called the 'Second District.' It appeared that this place was built in three staggered layers, which each housed different types of building. The first was filled with shops, inns and bars and was very much the social sector, it also contained the gates to the outside world and was the first thing anybody saw when they arrived. Hence its official standing as First District.
Beyond this lay the Second District, and the place where most of the residents lived. Housing there ranged from the average to the super-expensive but was generally considered to be the centre of the area.
Lastly there was Third District, home to the machinery that powered the town. Apparently Merlin lived somewhere beyond there in the unnamed areas that a casual tourist never got to see, or didn't want to.
"You seem to know a lot about this place." Knave commented as they finally drew to a halt in front of the gate. "Were you born here?"
"Nobody's born in Traverse Town." The winged girl replied evenly, "they just find their way here. It's kind of like a crossroad for travellers, everybody comes here at one time or another." Shrugging, she turned her attention away from him and committed all of her attention to the large wooden gate.
"You got that right." He murmured to himself. Somehow he'd found his way there without even trying. Maybe everyone really did end up in Traverse Town at one time or another.
Hakujou ran one gloved hand over the wood, her eyes half closed. "I can sense great power beyond this door." She stated in a trance-like tone. "Something lurks there commanding the Heartless, it's lying in wait for us."
"Then let's not disappoint it." Reno murmured, one hand resting inside his jacket. The seemingly casual gesture had an undertone of malice now that Knave knew that there was at least one gun tucked away in there. Especially in light of the way Reno had made his feelings towards him clear.
Around them Traverse was beginning to wake up. People were going about their everyday lives, opening up shops and turning off the neon lights. It was a strange mesh of modern and Victorian techniques that made up this place, he reflected.
"We can't stop now." Lirael was telling the other two. "I have to see Merlin, and whatever is lying behind those gates can't stop that. Do you think that between us we would be able to overpower it?"
Hakujou's brow furrowed and she looked over at Knave for a moment. "Maybe." She said after a pause."
Opening the gates was easier than their size would have them believe, giving way under the slightest push that Reno placed upon them. The group entered Second District quietly, but the words Hakujou had spoken had made each of them wary.
Something was waiting for them.
Almost immediately two of the Heartless pounced from amidst the shadows and tried to attack them, but Hakujou killed one of them with a wave of her hand that issued forth a flame, burning it alive. The second got within striking distance of Lirael before she summoned up her Keyblade and destroyed it.
"Nothing, just a couple of guards," she whispered, letting the blade vanish again. "They don't know that we're here yet."
That meant that their best bet was to sneak through the district before they were discovered. Signalling to Reno, she indicated that on no account was he to fire his guns unless it was a last-ditch effort. She pecked him on the cheek and them moved away.
The spikey-haired man came over towards Knave, arms crossed across his chest as if to resist the temptation of drawing a weapon and lent close to his ear. "You'd better be good with that sword of yours," he whispered. "Even Hakujou's magic has its limitations and if I can't fight that leaves you Newboy. Protect her with your life."
---
Halfway through the District, Lirael eased up a bit. They'd seen no more Heartless, at least not for a while. Lirael's Keyblade was acting normally, which meant that the Heartless weren't close. She'd noticed that, whenever the monsters had come near her, the Keyblade had shone even brighter, as if it were a light with which to destroy the darkness.
Heh, pretty poetic... 'A light to destroy the darkness...' she thought to herself. Lirael let go of the Keyblade, and it disappeared. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched, her shirt riding up her belly just slightly. Both Knave and Reno noticed, but it was Reno who acted upon it. He immediately moved to Lirael's side, and slipped his arm around her. Amazingly enough, she leaned into him, allowing him to hold her as they walked.
Up ahead, Hakujou was oblivious to the whole scene, as she scouted for the Entrance to the Third District. Her wings were tensed, as if she expected to be ambushed at any moment.
"Hey, guys, I think I found something." Hakujou called back to the others in a hushed voice, and waved them closer. She'd found a door, which opened up into an Alleyway similar to the one that Lirael had run through earlier. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"This way should cut a good half-hour off of our journey." Hakujou informed Lirael, who stepped forward, and peered through the doorway.
""I don't like this place... too enclosed." Reno came up, and settled a hand on the Princess's shoulder.
"Don't worry, hon. We'll protect you."
"It'll be a replay of last time... I don't want that," she snapped, as she turned to Knave. "He already had to save me once, and risked himself. I don't think we need to do that again." Pulling away from Reno, Lirael walked over to stand beside Knave. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes, and tilted her head to one side. Instant charm, he recognised the manoeuvre from inside the inn. "Knave? What do you think we should do?"
"It's... not up to me, Lirael." He replied.
"But I want to know what you think." Lirael clasped her hands behind her back, and rocked on her heels, looking up at him. It reminded Knave of what he'd always pictured a little sister to do - beg for something, and try to look as sweet and innocent as possible.
"I... I think... we should listen to Hakujou," he spoke finally, trusting in the girl's power to sense if there had been any danger. Lirael sighed again, and shook her head.
"Fine." She murmured after a suitable pause, "We go through."
The party entered the alleyway and made haste to rush through the confined space as quickly as possible. Even if it wasn't a trap, being discovered there would be bad for them as the cramped conditions limited their ability to fight off an attacker.
Lirael was placed into the centre of the group between Hakojou, who lead the way, and Reno. Knave was left to canter alone behind them, he recognised the enthuses that the other two put on her safety and had to admit that his own curiosity as to why she was so important was beginning to peak. It would be worth travelling to see this Merlin person if only to find out what was going on.
Then there was the question of his memory. Sometimes he could go for as long as an hour before he realised that there was a gaping hole in his memory, so much had been happening to keep him occupied, but it played on his mind. He'd woken up in that alleyway with burnt clothing and a sword lying near-by, but how long had he been like that?
Sighing to himself he looked at the sword that he was clutching loosely in his right hand. This was as big a clue to himself as he was going to get. The name engraved onto the blade might well be his own, it felt right, but he couldn't be sure. When he heard it there was always the expectation of something else, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was a fine blade, well balanced and obviously expensive, and he could use it.
That was the biggest surprise. He had no memory of anything prior to waking up, and yet he could read, write and speak several languages without trouble. His use of the sword came as natural as breathing, and he could use mathematics. All of these things he had discovered as he tried to push his limitations back at the inn whilst Lirael was sleeping. He had heard that when you lost your memory the skills that you learnt went with it, but this seemed to be more selective. His skills had been left alone as far as he could tell, and yet everything else was a blank.
He looked in a mirror and saw a stranger looking back out at him.
Maybe this Merlin person they referred to could help him, if he really was as wise as they claimed or as powerful as Hakujou seemed to believe, then there must be something that he could do. He wanted his life back more than anything; it was like a physical wound that wouldn't heal, an unimaginable scar on his being.
"C'mon, in here!" Hakujou's voice broke through Knave's reverie, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts out. He'd fallen behind a short distance, and jogged the rest of the way to where the others stood. Hakujou was gazing down at a metal grate that was embedded in the brick wall of the Alley. A small stream of water flowed through, but to where, Knave couldn't guess.
With a soft, whispered spell, the grate came open, and Hakujou sighed.
"Go on through, and I'll seal it up behind us. We don't need a rear-ambush while we're in this place." Reno grabbed Lirael around the waist, and led her through the hole left by the grate. They quickly disappeared into the darkness, and Knave could hear the splash of their footsteps ahead of him.
"Go." Hakujou gave Knave a gentle push through the hole, and followed him in, closing the grate behind her. "This is a shortcut." She whispered to him. Then, placing her hand in the small of Knave's back, she guided him through the darkness, until Knave could make out the faint glow of something up ahead.
A hand on his chest surprised him, and he grunted as he heard a female voice squeal.
"Knave! Don't sneak up on us! We can't see!" Behind him, Knave could hear Hakujou sigh, and snap her fingers. All around them, small lamps began to blaze softly, casting a faint glow about the small space.
"I guess I forgot to mention that…" Hakujou stepped up from the water onto dry ground, and stretched. "Merlin's house is just up those steps," she said, pointing to a staircase just beyond the wall. "You guys ready for this?" Hakujou's gaze was resting on Lirael, who had begun to fidget with her Keyblade. "The evil I sensed is radiating from up there somewhere, I'm sure of it."
"I am… I guess." Lirael sighed, and Knave was once again thrown into confusion. Wasn't seeing Merlin exactly what she'd wanted? Why was she nervous now?
Knave's question must've been on everyone else's mind as well, because Reno pulled Lirael close, and tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes.
"What's wrong, Lira? You ok?" The raven-haired princess nodded, and sighed.
"Yeah… it's just… I got to thinking about Gin-- someone… someone who would've been much better at this than I am."
Hakujou glanced at them for a moment before waving Knave over to stand next to her and indicating the staircase with a nod of her head. "Maybe it would be best if you went up first. They're waiting for us, your appearance might throw whatever's up there enough for us to make a break for the house."
Knave looked at the staircase, it spiralled upwards towards some kind of trap door, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be caught in such tight confines if a fight started.
"Where do the steps come out?" he asked quietly.
"Just outside Third District, about twenty meters from Merlin's home." She lent her head on one side, "look, if you don't want to do this you don't have to come, it isn't like you're involved in this."
"I'm fine." He snapped back quickly, then in a calmer voice he added, "I just don't like surprises, that's all."
Hakujou smiled in agreement and clapped him on the shoulder playfully. "I know what you mean, but sometimes we just have to take a risk."
Knave nodded and pushed his way up the stairs and out of the trapdoor. It was lighter than he had expected it to be, and was obviously kept well oiled because it didn't make a sound when he opened it. Pulling himself up to ground level he checked the surrounding rooftops and the streets around them. A little way to the left there was a house bigger than the rest of them, he guessed that it must have been where the magician lived. Everything looked clear, there was no sign of the Heartless.
He reached down and pulled Hakujou up through the hole, she was surprisingly light for her size. Taking in her wings and her weight it wouldn't surprise him if she could actually fly given the chance. She scanned the area in much the same way as he had, then called for the others to join them.
When they had assembled back on street level they began to slowly make their way towards the large house. They all felt it, same as Knave did. Things were too quiet. This was supposed to be the centre of magical power for the whole town, so where were the monsters sent to keep Merlin from coming out of his house to meet then?
Reno walked up to the door and reached out with one hand to knock, with a suddenness that made them all jump, Hakujou slapped his hand away. Sensing something that none of the others did, she was just in time. The wood of the door shimmered, and became a gaping mouth, snapping down where his hand had been only a second earlier.
"Trap!" Reno cried, and drew a gun from the recesses of his jacket.
The door shimmered like water, forming the shape of a monster. After a second, and as if prying itself from tar, the thing drew itself from the door and onto the steps in front of them. Growing in size it rose up to become something vaguely human-like but with long horns and black skin that had no definition. Like the Heartless that they had seen so far, it was as devoid of detail as a shadow.
"Back!" Lirael yelled as Reno unloaded a clip into the thing's face. This thing wasn't just there to keep Merlin inside, it had been waiting for them to arrive. As one the party leap away and down the steps back into the street. Fanning out, Knave found himself a space to work in and drew his sword.
Letting out a furious howl the monster leapt for Lirael, who batted it away with her Keyblade, rolling out from underneath it as Hakujou sprayed it with magical fire. The thing's back burnt for a second, and then the fire died as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the thing unscathed.
There was a faint click off to his left as Reno reloaded his weapon, and then a hail of deadly gunfire spread across the street. The bullets caught the beast along the thigh and issued forth a fine spray of black blood from the monster, but instead of falling it shifted its weight to the other foot and leapt once more for Lirael.
"No you don't!" The girl yelled and the Keyblade in her hand flared with a brighter light than before. Lirael dropped lightly down onto one knee, slicing a gash along the underside of the beast as it sailed past her, more of the black liquid spewed out and coated her arm. The monster snarled, but the small figure didn't stop. She leapt to her feet, and spun around, whacking at it again, sending more black ooze flying.
Hakujou and Reno stood stunned. Lirael hadn't ever been so aggressive. It wasn't until Lirael slipped in the blood that coated the ground, and cried out did the three other heroes wake up to the danger she was in.
Reacting more quickly than the other two, Knave threw himself across the distance between them, scooping up Lirael, and skidding across the slick cobblestones with her in his arms. Hakujou brought down a hail of fire onto the beast, as Reno unloaded a full clip across the monster's neck. But it wasn't dying. Somehow, it was able to regenerate itself again and again.
"It's a Spellbreaker!" Hakujou yelled out, cursing. Once again Knave was forced to assess the extent of his amnesia. He knew that the term meant that magical attacks wouldn't affect the monster, rendering Hakujou's spells ineffective against it, but he had no idea when or where he had learnt that knowledge.
Picking themselves up, Lirael and Knave looked each other over, Knave's legs were coated in the black ooze that he'd skidded across, but that was nothing compared to Lirael, who looked as if she'd bathed in the stuff. By the look on her face, he could see she was still furious, but it looked like she wasn't injured.
"Just wait here, I'll go help them," he started, but was cut off quickly as the enraged girl scrambled across the ground, her Keyblade reappearing to her hand once more as she arched back, and flung it at the Heartless.
Her aim was dead-on, as it slammed into the monster's chest, sticking there the thing began to howl in pain, trying desperately to claw the weapon from its chest. But every time it managed to get a purchase on the handle, it cried out as it burnt. Shuddering, and letting out one final howl of desperation, the beast exploded into a fine mist. The Keyblade, no longer supported by the monster's weight, hung suspended in the air for a moment, then vanished.
"Lira?" Hakujou crossed the distance between them and caught the younger girl up in her arms "Lirael, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she mumbled, accepting Knave's hand as he lifted her to her feet again. "I just got pissed is all. I'm tired of the Heartless." She hung her head, her black hair sticky with the ooze that remained even after the creature itself had vanished. Hakujou took pity on her, and waved a hand over the girl. The ooze turned into a vapour similar to a small-scale version of the mist that had claimed the monster, and then it too vanished.
There was a soft click as Reno reloaded his side arm and glanced around the courtyard. "Are you sure there's no wounds?" He asked Hakujou, who nodded. "Good." He didn't look at Knave, but instead glanced around the rooftops and then nodded in the direction of the house. Catching his drift, they began to make their way back over towards it, this time confident that the trap had already been sprung.
"She's got a lot of power hasn't she." Knave commented to Hakujou as they climbed the steps up to the front door, hanging back a little way from Reno and Lirael.
"More than any of us." The winged girl nodded and looked at him. "But she's new to it, and has poor control over it. That's why she needs us to look out for her."
Knave nodded, and watched as the girl knocked. She was defiantly more than met the eye, something about her reached out to him in a way he couldn't describe.
The door swung open gently, untouched by human hands, and a voice from inside called out rather too loudly, "Well you four had better come in, you're late."