N/A: Back, again! Wow, this is amazing. Over 2oo hits, and it hasn't even been up 24 hours yet! Thank you, everyone! Ok, this is the part where it begins to cross with CoM, so let me know if there are any mistakes on dialogue and such.
"Avery."
"Well, well, well." said Avery, in a cool voice that sent chills down Larissa's spine. "What have we here, Tassa?"
For a moment, Larissa had no idea who he was talking to, until a second later, when a girl about her age popped from behind his back. She was obviously his younger sister, with similar red hair, but no markings, Larissa observed. "Why don't you ask yourself, you big coward?" the girl replied sharply, reprimanding her brother. "Hi," she said, to Larissa, in a more pleasant voice, "Are you new?"
"Yeah." She replied, scuffling her feet on the sidewalk. "I'm Larissa."
"My name's Catássa, and this is my brother, Avery."
"Nice to meet you, Catássa, Avery." She said quite formally, politely, still looking at the ground. There was just something about looking into Avery's eyes that made her want to run. She could slowly feel her face turning red out of humiliation.
"What?" Catássa said, looking at Avery and sounding, very, very confused. "No smart, sarcastic remarks for the new girl?"
Larissa stole a glace upward to see that Avery's own gaze was pointed downward. "Shut it, Tassa." He grumbled. Catássa cocked her head and looked curiously at Larissa.
"Y'know, he's normally really mean to all the new kids! I don't know what it is about you…but Avery, is, well, not quite Avery right now." She smiled. "Y'know what, Larissa, if you can make my brother blush, I think we're going to be really good friends."
Avery...
I woke up, shocked. Of course, I remembered my past life, but that dream…it almost seemed like I was reliving everything, all over again. I could still feel myself blushing, as I had been when I awoke. But why, now? I thought. Of all the times, why did that dream come now? Is something about to happen in our castle? My head was reeling, and at once, I heard someone knocking on my door.
"Eek!" I cried, thinking it was Axel. "Hold on!" I continued as I picked up my discarded black cloak from the floor, and slipped into it as quickly as possible. I zipped up the front and attempted to compose my self, though I bet I looked flustered. I opened the door to be faced with Marluxia, our resident flower-wielder. My god.
"Did I startle you?" He said, so he apparently heard my cry of distress.
"Of course you startled me! I was freakin' sleeping!" A lie, but, still? Who doesn't lie in the castle full of the original liars?
"I'm sorry," He replied, in mock concern, "But you needed to awaken anyway. We have to shake that nasty habit of oversleeping."
"What do you want, Marluxia?" I said testily, beginning to style my hair as I talked.
"I'm afraid it's time, Larxene. The Keyblade wielder has arrived."
"What? I thought Roxas was the—" and on that note, Marluxia covered my mouth with a black—gloved hand, and I was forcibly reminded of Axel.
"Larxene, let me explain this." He went on, his hand still covering my mouth. "Roxas is Sora's Nobody. Got that?" I nodded. "Sora is still unaware of Roxas' existence. Let's keep it that way. Got that too?" I nodded again, my eyes narrowing at his patience with my ignorance. I did not like being dealt with this way. "So we can't go around blurting Roxas' name out. Got it?" I nodded once more, before wrenching his hand off my face.
"But, if Sora has a Nobody, shouldn't he be dead?" I said, a little confused.
"Never mind that. Go fetch Axel." I did not take Marluxia's command well.
"Go fetch him yourself, you—" But I never got a chance to finish my sentence, as my fellow traitor teleported to who-knows-where. Grr. So I teleported myself to Axel's room, where it seemed he was pacing.
"I don't get it, Larxene. How does he have such a strong heart?" He turned and faced me, and for a moment I seemed devoid of anything to reply with.
"Wow, Axel. You seemed pretty intrigued by this Sora kid." Just like Marluxia. I silently added, though I didn't want to let Axel in on our plan just yet. Who knows whose side he's really on. It's amazing, I thought, staring at him for a minute. You can never quite tell what he's thinking…
"And you're not?" he replied curtly, and once more appeared to be lost in thought. I stared at him fondly for a moment, then remembered yesterday's battle. I opened my mouth to say something, but decided against it at the last minute.
"I haven't made up my mind…but I'd like to know what's on yours." I said, speaking my mind for the first time in our conversation. So fast that things are spinning out of control.
Still looking at the floor, he continued, in a tone not unlike Marluxia's when he was explaining to me. "He became a Heartless, Larxene—and you know what happens to people who do." Boy, that whole you-have-no-idea-what-I'm-talking-about-you-ignorant-freak kind of tone could get annoying really, really, fast. But still, I recited my reply from memory, as it was textbook knowledge for a Nobody.
"People lose their hearts also lose their minds, their feelings," I began, though there was just a hint of doubt in my voice, "They're consumed by darkness."
"Right." He said, looking up, possibly hearing the undertone of doubt, "But that didn't happen to Sora. He held on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. Only one other man has managed to do that."
I cocked my head, in thought. "So it's the strength of his heart that intrigues you, the heart chosen by the Keyblade." It sent chills up and down my spine even as I said it. Such a strong heart could mean the end to all of us, even me and Axel.
"What makes his heart shine like that? What sleeps in his most secret depths?" He sounded frustrated, even slightly demanding. When Axel was determined, he was determined. And to me, at least, he seemed determined to unlock the secrets of Sora, the Keyblade wielder. The other one.
"The heart is a mysterious thing, Axel." The way I said it, it was clearly a warning to Axel's naturally reckless nature. Part of me, a deep part of me long forgotten, didn't want anything to happen to Axel.
"Maybe so. But unlocking its secrets is the whole reason we, the Organization, exist." His head was still downward, and I couldn't tell whether he heard my warning or not. "That is our purpose," he continued, "to unlock the secrets of the heart."
"But, Axel," I said, obviously desperate to get it through his thick skull now, "This Sora kid, he could be the end to all of us!"
Axel looked up, hearing the desperation in my voice. He placed a hand on my shoulder and looked straight into my eyes, as if our gazes had never met before. With a familiar mixture of concern and regret, he said, "I know, Larxene. I know."
In that long moment, I lost myself in memories once more.
And that was how Catássa's and Larissa's friendship began, as Catássa predicted. It was also true that from that point on, Larissa often seemed to make Avery nervous, and occasionally brought out a soft side in him. Larissa enjoyed the city more that anywhere else that she and her family had lived, as she met new and friendly people nearly every day for a long time after she moved. But, Avery. He intrigued her. He was mysterious in his own way, often taking the cool, collected look around with him, but ended up tongued-tied when speaking to Larissa. She too, stuttered slightly around him, so they often avoided talking with one another, out of fear of embarrassment. Every so often, though, their eyes would meet, and they would quickly turn their heads away and blush. Everyone but they seemed to realize what was going on, and they, as a pair, were often a favorite topic of gossip.
Avery never got in the way of Catássa and Larissa's friendship, and what might or might not happen between her and her best friend's brother was never mentioned by Larissa, so Catássa never brought it up.
About three months after Larissa moved to Starlight City, strange things began happening. Mysterious murders with no bodies, no evidence, disappearances, and other such things happened daily in the city. Everyone was quite afraid, even after the cause was discovered.
"They are called Heartless. And they will stop at nothing to destroy everyone in this city."
A/N: That's all for now. I hope I got the dialogue right… Geez, writing a fanfiction is harder than everyone makes it sound… Anyway, I love reviewers! 3
