-:-Chapter Two: H.E.C.T.O.R.-:-
-:-Radiant Garden-:-
-:-Sid-:-
"Where the hell are those kids!" Sid shouted; a surprisingly voluminous sound to make while clenching a toothpick between his front teeth. He had been so anxious that morning for their arrival that he rose before the sun did and couldn't go back to sleep. So he went through his routine double slow, trying to waist time with frivolous activity and instead ended up wasting half a tube of gel on his hair while staring at the clock, willing it to go faster. With the immense amount of hair applicant came an immense headache that he wanted to sleep off...but remembered he couldn't because Sora was coming! It was a chore just to get food on his plate he was shaking so badly from anger. Yet it wasn't a bad day, even with a headache and a kitchen that more resembled ground zero. No…he had a new gizmo. Sid loved to show his new gizmos…
Just to make sure it was still there, he opened the cloth wrapped package and winced when the thing gleamed in the early morning sun. Sid could faintly see the letters embossed on the side..."H.E.C.T.O.R". Too soon did he grin maniacally and safely tuck it back under his arm. Oh yes…this one was a good one.
"Sora will like this…" he thought, looking to the sky in hopes that saying his name would make the kid arrive faster. He made a visor with his hand, knowing the effort was worthless—a high tech Gummi Ship like the one Sora had would be heard before it was seen. Radiant Garden was silent save for the soft tittering of early spring birds.
Sid turned, leaning his back against the balcony railing and sighed in frustration. How long had he been waiting? It felt like forever…his stomach gave an indignant growl, sounding off in alarm, but he ignored it. "At least it's nice out…"
And true it was, what with the freshly healed buildings and the slightly chilled weather that felt like heaven on your forehead. He was somewhere on the edge of town where the ground below faded into the ghostly form of heated frost. It was a sense of floating that the world gave off…Sid would've noticed this if he cared. At that moment however, all he could think was they better get here soon dammit! Why aren't they here? Where's H.E.C.T.O.R.! Oh, it's still under my arm...I better not ruin it...but I just might if Sora doesn't get his sorry ass down here soon! God I am so hungry...now I have to fix my kitchen and my hair smells and...
-:-Gummi Ship-:-
-:-Sora-:-
"Sora, if you don't stop driving now I'll knock you out myself and drag you out of that chair!"
"Kairi I-ahhwwwwwwwwwm fine..." Sora rubbed his eyes and yawned. It had been a long night, and Kairi's incessant yelling wasn't helping any.He wished she would just go to sleep, but it seemed that the adrenaline of leaving kept her awake. That and she had been so giddy the last time she rode in the Gummi Ship as well; she kept rocking back and forth, giggling everytime they turned and requested that Sora do it again. He heard a strange noise come from the chair next to him. Riku was stifling laughter but it came out in wierd snorts through his nose.
"What's so funny?" I could use a laugh... Upon seeing that Sora noticed his merriment, Riku's face straightened immediately, but there was still humor hidden in the corners of his slowly upturning lips and teary eyes.
"Nothing..." and he turned back to his post, letting out the last couple sighs of laughter. Sora frowned. She'd probably be able to at this point. If anything tore his hands from the steering wheel he would give up and fall asleep on the spot. He felt his eyelids start to droop and his head become heavy...maybe if he shut his eyes for one minute--just one--they wouldn't notice...
His head lolled over and surprised him awake again.
"Riku!" Kairi motioned towards Sora, "Do something about him!" Dang it! Sora yelled at himself, why can't I just stay awake! Truth was, Sora wanted to make sure everyone got to Radiant Garden alright. The first few hours of the ride he had been wide awake in horror of the fact that he had let Kairi come. When she asked him and looking into her eyes, he realized he was a bit of a selfish pansy. He didn't want to leave Kairi ever again, but she had also controlled him with those pretty blue eyes. It had confused him at first but he had learned something else in that moment...he needed her desperately and would do anything to make sure she stayed safe. So even when his head felt like it would fall off from exhaustion, Sora kept driving. There was always time later on to sleep, just not now--
"HEY! What gives!" Sora flailed in the sudden grasp. Riku took him under the arms and pulled him out of the drivers seat, dragging him toward the back where there was a bench big enough for sleeping. "Riku! Let go! Hey, c'mon! I need to dr--"
"You know you want to sleep Sora...sleep is good..." Riku said in a deep tone through another smile. If it had been any other time, Sora could've pulled out of the headlock position he was in, but Riku had said the word sleep. It was like a key phrase to enter oblivion.
"Sleep...yeah...just for a couple...of...min..." he zonked out before they even reached the bench. Riku rolled his eyes and dumped his deadweight of a friend on the floor right next to it.
"There, problem solved..." Riku turned back to Kairi, clapped off imaginary dust, and assumed the drivers throne.
-:-Gummi Ship-:-
-:-Riku-:-
"Thanks," she said with a smile and sat down next to him, "I was worried he was gonna die if he kept on."
Riku waved her off, "He would've been fine. I just wanted a turn to drive." He turned to his friend and winked, indicating he was joking. She laughed a little in return but soon stood up and yawned.
"I think I'll join sleeping beauty back here. Think you can handle alone?" Riku nodded but kept silent. Kairi squeezed his shoulder, bid him a brief goodnight and was out in seconds just like Sora.
Children…Riku shook his head.
But it was nice that he had some silence again. Sora and Kairi were great friends but their mile-a-minute speech could grow rather noisy at times. Silence…he thought. The sky ahead was dark, punctured with tiny lights the largest of them all being Radiant Garden, growing more as the Gummi continued it's steady approach. They'd been at it for hours…a one-way drive straight to Kairi's home world. Riku's head started to buzz with a tiredness that hadn't been there a moment before. He pushed it to the back of his mind. Better he didn't crash with only five more minutes…or something like that.
Silence…water…waves crashing on the sand…a lock of hair blown in the wind…sad eyes…
The vision left him as soon as it came. What the…? He shook his head. They were almost there…no time for dreams. The buzzing in his head moved back despite his wishes, vibrating at the nape of his neck. It shocked him enough before it began choking off his air. He clutched his neck trying to call to one of his friends for help, but his vision blacked out before he could even try.
He saw a monochromatic world…shielded life…a lone girl entranced by the scenery standing alone on the shore…. A "v" of gulls soundlessly flew towards the grey sunset. She reached a tiny hand out to them a lone tear slid down her youthful face.
She whispered something but was too quiet to hear.
She collapsed on the sand, sobbing silently watching the company fly away from her.
When Riku came to he felt a bump and a jerk...the ship was unpiloted. Grunting and groaning, he wobbled up to his feet and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. At least they hadn't crashed…yet. A shocking amount of scenery flew by at an increasing speed. Oh shit!
"Riku? What's going on?" Kairi leaned up from laying on the bench and was completely awake due to the unmanned driving. Sora, however, was knocked out. Not taking the time to explain what happened, Riku jumped into the drivers seat and pulled back on the gas as much as he could but it would hardly budge. The buildings grew taller and more vivid as the diving vehicle got closer. There was no way…
"Kairi! Help, the gear's jammed a little! I can't get it back!"
"WHAT!" she ran forward and started helping in the great pull. "What were you doing? How did this happen!" But he just ignored her, too bent on putting on the breaks. Thinking back reminded him of the vision.
Click! Click! Click! BAM!
Instead of a nice steady slow down…Riku, Kairi, and Sora flew forwards in a piling heap as the Gummi jerked and creaked its emergency stop. Riku squeezed his eyes shut, willing the ship to stop in time. The last thing he heard was a loud "SORA!"
-:-Radiant Garden-:-
-:-Sid-:-
Sid was extremely bored. Aerith had already come up with the acronym of H.E.C.T.O.R. for his invention but in his wait, he made up 10 others. None really made any sense, but his inventive credibilitly overwrote his poor creative writing skills. When he realized he left the "E" out of "Humongously Cool To Operate...Really" however Sid gave up and smacked himself in the forehead.
"SORA! This is all your fault!" he cursed the sky.
BAM! ZOOOOMMMMM! EEEEERRRCCHHH!
"What in hearts of heaven..." Sid turned and came face to face with the shiney painted red tip of a gummy, not two inches from his face, "WOAAAAAAHHHH!" and fell backward. Through the cockpit window, he a boy he'd never met before with snow-white hair and bright eyes wide open in shock, but no Sora. That above all things pissed him off.
"What in hell do you think you're doin! Landing with that much velocity is liable to kill someone! You crazy kid!" he scolded at them with a shake of his fist. The boys face went from shock to surprise to anger. Sid saw him press down a button.
"And who are you to tell me how to pilot! I'm here on important business grandpa!" he shouted.
"What's going on!" a girl asked. It was the one Sora had been looking for…what was her name? Oh yeah…he thought…Kairi. The boy then proceeded to turn to her, releasing the button so Sid could only hear the faint resonance of raised voices. Still on the floor, Sid was gestured to by the boy in his fit of rage, fueled by the relief that he didn't crash his vehicle. Kairi turned her gaze and placed it on Sid. She smiled and waved at him oblivious to the fact that the Gummi she was riding in had almost killed him.
"Hi Sid!" she waved enthusiastically at the familiar face. Sid waved sheepishly back, then realization hit him...Sora brought his friends with him? That meant he would have to make more supplies...exciting for him, annoying that he had to give it away to dangerous kids like that boy...
"That's Sid?" the anonymous one yelled. Kairi nodded merrily.
"Yup...let's land and you can meet him," she had accidentally leaned on the speaker button keeping it in use. The boy put his head in his hand and rubbed the frustration out of his temples.
"What do I do with sleeping beauty?" he motioned behind himself.
Kairi sighed, "Anything...just wake him up or something!" At least that's what Sid made it out to be. They continued talking about the thing in the back…the "sleeping beauty" while Sid stood and tried to compose himself, backing away from the lethal Gummi tip. This was going to be……interesting.
-:-
-:-Sora-:-
His vision went from black to blur to clear, and when Sora came to he was startled awake from dreams of crashing. This wasn't his Gummi, but it was familiar. He heard Kairi's laugh come from the other side of a closed door to his right. Well, at least he hadn't been kidnapped.
Rubbing the scratchy bits of sleep from his eyes, Sora looked around. Where were they supposed to go again? The walls were warm looking...a shady, dark brown covered in shelves of random paraphernalia. It all seemed a bit technical in nature, the little trinkets littering the floor and even part of the bed he was on, but the epiphany hit him when a small picture of a blonde man holding a model ship was uncovered. They were in Radiant Garden, and this must have been Sid's place.
Kairi gasped and laughed again, pulling Sora out of mission explore Sid's room and towards the door. He only noticed after he tried opening it that a towel had been wedged underneath it for reasons unbeknownst to him. He turned around, looking for something in the mess of clutter that would help him and came up with a long pole with one end broken off. He subconciousley thought that at one time the stick might have been a broom or mop, but now served only the purpose of taking up space. Regardless, he shoved the pole under the door, removed the towel, noting that without it the door just swayed open.
He walked down a narrow hallway, lined with graphs and pictures of family and friends he didn't know or perhaps the latest Gummi Ship designs, to a flight of stairs where a large room with a roaring fire stood at the end. Kairi was there trying out a pair of dagger-like weapons, parrying little beams of light and laughing as one went through her defenses and hit her in the stomach. Riku was there too, but in much less a grand mood. He seemed to be brooding, or deep in thought, casting nasty glances over in Sid's direction who was currently scolding Kairi for missing so many of the little shots. She didn't seem to mind in the least. Riku was the first to notice Sora's presence.
"Well good morning precious, have a nice nap?" Kairi and Sid looked up in his direction, the former smiling and laughing.
"Sora! Look, Sid's teaching me how to parry! Great huh?" Despite his sleepy mood and her bad performance, Sora smiled and nodded. The girl looked back to Sid and gave him the knives. "Thanks Sid." Riku, who still hadn't moved from his spot, spoke up.
"Can you tell us that bit of information now gramps? Or are we gonna have a sleepover too?" So it was a problem with Sid? Sora turned to the old engineer and noticed a slight sneer on his face as well and scratched his head in thought. I wonder what happened?
"Sure..." Sid turned away and put the knives on another shelf. His house seemed covered in them. "Now that Sora's awake I believe it's appropriate."
Kairi jumped and clapped, "Ooo! How exciting! C'mon guys!" she chased after Sid who had left to lead them into a different room. Sora waited for Riku to stand, making sure that he wasn't gonna stay behind and wreck anything. Generally, when Riku was mad or annoyed, he liked to take his aggravation out on something.
"Hurry up you lot!" With his hands behind his head, Sora mildly looked around the room. It was similar to the rest of the house, but a door to the left had caution tape over it in a big "X". Sid caught him looking at it and coughed nervously.
"That's the kitchen. I...uh...I'm getting it redone..." Sora didn't necessarily believe him but didn't question his old friend either. Everything else in the room gleamed in the faint afternoon sun hidden behind a stray cloud. It must be his inventing room...Sora decided. His attention was drawn back down from the ceiling where the skeleton of a Gummi hung to where Sid was carefully cradling something in a cloth.
"What is it?" he asked, trying to grab a peek.
"This," Sid replaced his sneer with a look of pride as he unwrapped the gadget, "is a H.E.C.T.O.R. Detector...just Hector for short" The three friends bent over closer. It looked like a keychain...in fact Sora was pretty sure that's what it was. It was kind of big for one but nothing that would be a hindrance. Sid held it up so that the embossed "H.E.C.T.O.R." was facing him and his finger resided on a lone red button.
"What's a Hector?" Kairi inquired.
"Hearts emmitting certain types of rays Detector. You can use it to measure the level of light or dark in a heart."
"Really?" Sora looked up from the gadget.
"Yup," Sid nodded, "Check it out." He pushed down on the button which resulted in a small scanning ray shooting out of a penny-thin slit on the opposite side. Riku didn't even wince when the ray scanned him down quickly but slow on the way up. What happened after had shocked Sora a little. It looked like Riku's heart was floating out of his body, and Sora would've killed Sid if it were true...but Riku was fine if not a little startled. The heart was 3-D, a replica of the one that resided in his friend's chest. It was blood red, but completely bright upon inspection as it turned in place.
"Awesome!" Kairi admired, "Could you do mine?" Sid complied, letting go of the button so Riku's "heart" went away and then pressing it again. After the scanner was done, Kairi's "heart" appeared much lighter and softer colored than Riku's.
"It's also pretty useful for detecting those heartless," Sid continued, "Now supposedly the enemy is different, but the King assumes that they're at least part heartless. So it should still work pretty--"
"Wait," Riku interrupted him, "you mean to tell me that these things aren't heartless? Then what are they?" The same thought shot through Sora's mind. Who were they fighting if not the Heartless? The Nobodies? Sid seemed a bit flustered. He put his chin in his free hand and itched a bit.
"I'm not sure. I suppose the only reason the King made you stop here was to get this little gadget first before you go see him. Maybe he'll tell you, but I'm afraid the only information he gave me was to send you to Solfyne once you were rested up a bit and had H.E.C.T.O.R.--"
"What's that?" Kairi piped in again. The three boys followed her gaze to the floating heart.
"What?" Sid asked.
"That dark spot...right there," she pointed to the middle of the heart. Sure enough there was a small grayish spot almost smack in the center of the floating heart. Kairi looked worried.
"Hmmmm," Sid pondered and released the button, "Probably just a little glitch. Don't worry; I'll have it fixed by tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow?" Riku looked up.
"Yeah, I already told you the King wants you rested before you go. I guess your wish for a sleepover came true." Riku glared.
Sora rolled his eyes at them...there's no helping it once Riku dislikes you. Instead he looked over to Kairi. She still looked worried about her heart, her hand rested on her chest just above it. Sora walked over.
"Hey, don't worry, Sid said it was just a glitch. You're fine."
"Oh no...it's not that I just...I got this really weird feeling is all," she waved. Sora could tell she was lying a little but didn't press further. She has to be fine...the thought...I'll make sure.
"Hey Sora, let's go," Riku called him towards a door.
"What? Go where?" Sid looked angry once again.
"Old man says we can stay at Leon's place. Just come on." He walked out the door to wait for them, too eager to get out of Sid's place.
"Sorry about that Sid, he's really a nice guy," Kairi assured. The engineer casually laughed and put H.E.C.T.O.R. back on a work bench.
"Don't worry about it. The kid reminds me of me when I was younger."
"Yeah?" Sora looked towards the door Riku had just walked out of. He couldn't imagine Sid that way, all tough and silent. He seemed more like a person everyone would get along with...well besides Riku of course. When he met Sid in Traverse town for the first time, he had taken him under his wing even though Sora had called him grandpa at first. It was ironic that Riku was referring to him in the same way...
"Be here bright and early tomorrow so I can install a new navi-g to your Gummi Ship. It'll take you straight to Solfyne." Sid began pulling down tools and plastic containers to place any small pieces in that he might have to take off the Hector Detector.
"Sid, what is Solfyne?"
"A complicated place kid, be sure of that. You don't have to worry about it until you get there. Just be sure you don't stay too long. Some people say it's cursed, but it's really just a depressing kind of place. Guess you'll tell me what it's really like when you visit sometime along your journey, ay?" Sometime along my journey... Sora thought the words to himself. This would be his third already in three years.
"Ahh...go and get some sleep at Leon's. He's got more space than I do and he'll be happy to see you three safe and sound. I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Alright Sid, thanks!" Kairi waved to him as she and Sora walked out the door. Riku was waiting patiently to the left of the doorframe, arms crossed and head bowed.
"Finally," he sighed and began walking in the direction Sid had told him, Sora and Kairi followed. One more journey...and it all starts tomorrow...Sora couldn't help but smile a little in anticipation.
