Dedicated to my Best Friend. My Prince of Peace. The reason I can write.
A/N: This is just a little background information on Nevaeh from my other fic: That's Why. Since...well...lots of people like her. Not many OC's are taken to heart like she's been. So this story informs you of the following: what she was like before she became a Key Bearer and why she sided with evil.
This, in no way, is an attempt to overthrow Sora or to create a story solely on an OC. Sora pwns all. Nevaeh's Story is for those who are curious about my original character that, just by happenstance, made her way into my fic. A happy mistake, if you will.
BIG thank you to my readers and reviewers.
It's sad. Prepare yourself.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. But I do own Nevaeh 'Heaven' Alexander. Which is pretty cool.
Nevaeh's Story
Heaven Alexander tucked her schoolbooks to her chest, crossing her pale arms over the hardcover volumes. She walked down the snow-covered lane with her head held high, facing the wind as if challenging it to a duel. Her orange eyes refused to give in to the chill and her long hair billowed out behind her. The white locks fingered the breeze while she marched. And marched. And marched.
Heaven didn't have a moment to admire the general splendor of the lay of the land. For, indeed, it was a breathtaking view of the mountainside village. She was lacking in time for two reasons. One: Lameck Zalter had foolishly made fun of her name...he wasn't going to get away with it. She was meeting the clown head-on. No exceptions. Two: Dinner was expected to be on the table before her father got home. Also no exceptions.
Always consequences. Always.
Heaven clinched her teeth together until her slender jaw ached from the cold. She left the frost-bitten path and trudged through the drifts of snow in an explosion of flurries. Only one thing was on her mind as raven-haired Lameck appeared in her sights.
Revenge.
Though...she hated not giving the boy a chance. Sort of. Heaven caught up to her enemy, shoved her way in front of him, and slammed down her books at his feet, which brought Lameck to one unsteady halt. Maybe it was surprise. Maybe not. Didn't matter.
Zalter overcame his confusion and smirked like the idiot he was. "Oh. Look who's here!" he laughed. Clouds of Lameck's breath bloomed against Heaven's face. "It's the fallen angel!"
Heaven didn't even bat an eyelash. "You are going to apologize to me this instant!" She stood her ground, face to face with her personal antagonist. "I've no time for the likes of you."
Lameck snorted. He bent over and rested his mitten-covered hands on his knees. Just so they could converse on each other's eye level. "What? You want me to say sorry for the things I said?" He shook his head like all of this was some big joke. More than likely, it was...to him. "You want me to say sorry 'cause your mother's out of her hand-me-down mind?" Zalter pointedly stared at Nevaeh's patched clothing. "She must have been to come up with your name. Little Heaven. Fallen angel. Spawn of Satan."
Heaven shook with furry. Her shoulders hunched and her fists clenched. "Stop it..." she hissed. "Stop it!"
Lameck pulled at her hair. "Where're your wings? Huh? Where-"
Heaven reared back and slugged Zalter right in the face. She watched him crumple to the ground without much empathy. Knowing how it felt to be on the receiving end of a fist, Heaven took the blubbering Lameck by the hand and tugged at him, thoroughly annoyed. "Oh. Get up," she giggled.
Lameck laid there, his hand over his bleeding nose. "Why..." he sobbed. "Why'd you go and do that?" Fat tears rolled down his face.
Heaven ignored the question. "I said, get up, sir." She winced at her bad habit. It was difficult to stop handing out titles. Especially when it was already beaten into her mind...Heaven yanked the lanky boy to his feet and brushed him off. "I hope you've learned your lesson," she fussed. Satisfied, she scooped up her books and nodded her approval at a job well done. "Now we can be friends." Her smile was beautiful.
Zalter didn't reply. Not verbally, anyway. He hauled bottom and ran away in a dead sprint. He didn't look back.
ooo
Heaven leaned over the stove to warm her icy fingers and ladled as much vegetable soup as she dared into a small, wooden bowl. She despaired at the amount of water she'd been forced to add to the meal. Her father wasn't going to be happy about this. Not one bit.
Well, she told herself, so what if he loses his temper. It's not like he'd ever be pleased with my cooking anyway.
Heaven hummed to herself as she hurried to her parent's bedroom. Her small, bare feet skimmed over the floor. And she dreamed she was flying. One day...one day soon she'd fly away. She was sure of it! Leave all of this behind her as if it were nothing more than a painful memory. Heaven prayed that time to be soon. Bringing herself from her thoughts, she opened the door that would lead to her broken heart. Her mother.
Sarai Alexander, tucked securely into her canopy bed, sat upright as her daughter entered...though she didn't know it. Her bright eyes showed no recollection what-so-ever. No matter how hard her young offspring searched.
Heaven waited, still hopeful after all these months. She stayed her place in the doorway, quiet.
"Who...who are you?" Sarai asked nervously. "What are you doing in my house?"
"Mother," Heaven whispered. "It's me."
Sarai relaxed. "Oh, darling. Don't scare me so." She patted her down comforter, indicating that she wanted her daughter to sit.
Heaven obliged and did as she was asked. But not as close as her mother wanted. She wasn't very sure how long she'd be recognized as a family member, what with Sarai's Facial Agnosia: the disorder that was eating away at a once happy family. Heaven managed a glace at a framed, nearly decayed, photograph on the bedside table. It was of her parents sharing a kiss. Such a thing was nonexistent now.
Her heart wept.
Heaven released her ever-tightening grip on the bowl she held and handed it to Sarai. "Here, mother," she urged. "You need to eat."
Mrs. Alexander smiled. "Oh, darling." She spooned out a boiled potato and sipped at the broth. "This is very tasty..." Her vision blurred.
"Mother," Heaven reminded Sarai with her vocal pattern.
"Thank you, angel."
ooo
Heaven huddled on her mattress, a woolen blanket wrapped about her shoulders. She rocked back and forth, trying to erase the images from a few hours previous.
"WHY CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?"
"But, father-"
"DON'T GIVE ME EXCUSES! I DEMAND BETTER OF YOU!"
"Perhaps you demand too much!"
Heaven tenderly probed at her swollen cheek. She was sore and she was hungry. But, most of all, she was angry. Angry with herself. For not having packed what little belongings she owned and left already. Yet...she couldn't do that. Not to her mother. It would destroy her. If she remembered.
Heaven groped for her collection of penned fairy tales and rifled through the pages. Stained and torn, it was a job to make out the wording. Not that it mattered. She knew each story by heart. Heaven fingered the paper fondly, stroking her fingertips over the profile of a handsome knight.
"I'm sorry," she breathed. "I can't wait for my Prince to come any longer. Though...I trust he'll find me no matter where I tread."
Heaven tore the blanket from her body. Taking a hold of her patched jacket, she tip-toed out of the house, slipped on her coat, and took a deep, deep breath. She adored the night. The darkness. Nobody could see her...call her names...anything. She was alone. And that was good enough for her.
Heaven intended to lose herself in the picture-perfect forest with its sparkling ice cycles hanging from every bough and its untouched blanket of white. But it was in vain. As always, like numerous times before, she found herself at the crest of a steep incline that overlooked the town. Heaven seated herself under an outcropping of rock bathed in the silver moonlight and carefully started to braid her hair. It was the only thing she could take comfort in other than the stars overhead.
"I have to stop living my life dreaming," she berated to herself out loud. "Maybe then my father won't strike me. Maybe my mother will recognize my face. And maybe...I'll have a friend." Heaven nestled herself in a cranny and closed her eyes. "Maybe."
ooo
Heaven snapped awake. She rubbed the sleepies from her eyes and blinked at the early rays of the morning sun. "Wah..." she mumbled dumbly. "Where am I?" Heaven wracked her memory for some insight; the only thing she came up with were vague apparitions...
Is strength important?
"Of course. Would you want a black eye?"
Heaven shook her head and peered out over the glistening valley. She was amazed that she'd survived the night. The odd thing was...she wasn't cold.
Don't be afraid.
"I'm NOT afraid. Stop treating me like a child."
Heaven noticed then that something was clasped in her hands. For her knuckles ached. She readied herself to investigate the anomaly and gaped in awe at what she found. It was...it was...a key. A very large key. It glowed with power and buzzed against her palm. As if it had a mind of its own. The golden inlay radiated with warmth, making Heaven smirk. "Well, now," she cooed. "What do we have here?"
Keyblade...
"Hm," she sing-songed. "A Keyblade."
"Are you prepared?"
Heaven spun around. There at her side stood a small man, hooded and cloaked against her scrutinizing glare. The one thing she noticed, right from the off, was his ears. They were huge. "Prepared for what?" she hissed. "You aren't here to take me back, are you? Because I'm not going."
"No," the figure replied lightly. "I'm here to take you away."
Heaven pondered over his words. She licked her lips excitedly. "Then, yes. I am prepared."
"Are you prepared to fight the darkness and battle against overwhelming odds?"
She didn't hesitate. "Yes."
The one interrogating her shuffled in his stance. "You will have to leave behind all you hold dear. Including your family."
Heaven didn't even spare her village a parting glance. "No one will miss me."
ooo
Heaven felt a devastating weight collapse her chest. She opened her mouth to scream, but her voice was shot. Immeasurable amounts of darkness washed over her body, sending her deeper into the depths from which it came. Where it was conceived. Heaven's arms and legs refused to move, despite her desperate pleas for them to. She lay suspended in the shadows, out of thought and out of time.
Unsure of when...or how...a light ahead of her pierced the gloom. Heaven wailed at its luster and intensity. She wanted to shrink away. But, at the same time, she craved to be a part of that whatever-it-was...a part of that pulsing rhythm. She had to be!
Slowly, the Key Bearer pulled herself toward the beam until it encased her entire being. She felt a change, if only a little. Her head ceased to swim; her nausea vanished. And when she found herself, Heaven continued to engage the light. She pressed on and on and on, assuring that there was no time to waste. Though why, she wasn't certain.
Heaven's face burned from the ferocity of the illumination. She gasped for breath and allowed her lungs to fill to the brim with delicious oxygen. It felt as if she hadn't swallowed pure, fresh air in ages. More so. Along with the beat of her heart. Heaven's body accumulated the weight of her being and crashed to the frozen ground in an instant...
...the ground! She dug her fingers into the earth and inhaled its rich, long-forgotten sent. The scattered, very few, memories flooded back to her.
Of her family.
Heaven wiped the clammy sweat from her brow. She was covered in it. "Mother?" she asked. "Mother?" Heaven shoved herself to her buckling legs and attempted a few, meager steps. Once she'd mastered walking...or something like it...she stumbled through the woods, searching for her home.
She just knew it was here somewhere. It had to be.
"Mother!"
Heaven stumbled down the mountain-side in the brisk air, panting heavily against the wintry weather. Her spirits lifted as a group of buildings emerged from the wilderness and she sighed with relief. She wondered, briefly, how long she'd been away...the last thing she recalled was running from home. To her Secret Place.
That's it! She'd merely fallen asleep! It'd happened before...right?
Heaven laughed at herself while she dashed up the street. It didn't bother her that the residence of the town watched her quizzically as she ran. Even the snow wasn't a hindrance. For some reason, she'd really missed it. Flying through the back alleys and rounding corners with the help of the street lamps, Heaven finally caught sight of her home at long last. Her heart raced with the idea of seeing her family again. She didn't know why she felt like she hadn't visited them in such a long time, but she did. No matter. Heaven threw her weight into the front door and swung herself into the livingroom, grinning from ear to ear.
"Mother!" she called. "I'm ho-" Heaven's words clogged in her throat. For it wasn't Sarai that greeted her. Not her father, either. In fact, she didn't even know the person. "Oh...forgive me. I thought I had the right house."
The strange, old woman before her looked Heaven up and down. "Who are you?" she snipped, in the middle of sweeping the kitchen floor. "What do you want?"
Heaven peeked at her apparel, surprised to find herself donned in a halter top of belts and baggy, brown shorts. When? How? She abated her questions and answered, "I'm..." She actually had to work at this. "I'm...Heaven. Heaven Alexander."
"I don't know anyone by that name."
Heaven began to panic. Her brow puckered with worry. "Please," she insisted. "Sarai and Namah Alexander! They-"
The lady shook her head and supported herself with her broom. "You must be confused. There's nobody in this town by the name Alexander."
Heaven couldn't breathe again. She clutched at her chest and stifled a sob. "Mother?" she cried. "MOTHER?" Heaven turned and bolted out of the house before she could be restrained. She didn't know which way she was going...didn't care...and she wasn't at all surprised when she ended up where she thought she began. Heaven sank to her knees, numb to all feeling. She let the day pass her by...let the snow fall atop her braided hair. She didn't know what to do. Nor could she remember what she'd done.
"Key Bearer number 525,600..." said a voice in her ear.
Heaven rounded on the individual, something solid and bright forming beneath her fingertips. She didn't pause to gander. "What did you call me?" Whoever had addressed her, his back was to the setting sun. It was too difficult to make out a face.
"I called you a Key Bearer. You worked for a King. Don't you remember?"
Heaven bristled. "No. Where's my family?"
"Gone, I suspect. You've been apart of the darkness for many years, now. Your heart must have transported you here all on it's own, thanks to Ansem."
"Darkness?"
"Yes. I take it you don't recall losing your heart?"
Heaven swallowed and shook her head. "Who are you? How do you know this?"
"I am called Tarsus," she shape responded. "And you are powerful. I must have you for the war."
"I'm not a possession."
"Ah," Tarsus laughed. "But don't you remember what your father taught you, my pawn?"
Heaven's eyes watered. She refused to wipe the tears away. "QUIET! You lie!"
The man changed tactics. "What're you called?"
It was the first thing that came out of Heaven's mouth. She'd always wanted a different name. And now that there wasn't anyone left to address her lovingly; so there was no reason to cling to it. "Nevaeh," she whispered. "My name is Nevaeh."
ooo
Nevaeh sprang from her unconscious slumber, wide-eyed and hyperventilating. She searched the darkness of the room she was in and found that she was safe...she was unhurt...Tarsus was far away. The beeping of the Gummi controls calmed her nerves as her waking mind processed what was taking place. Nevaeh tucked her knees to her chest and propped herself up on one of her elbows. She studied the elaborate cabin with little interest, coming across Axel at the controls, until she perceived the one sitting next to her.
Riku sat against the sofa, arms folded across his chest. At first, Nevaeh thought he was napping. But, of course, that would have been too easy.
"You talk in your sleep," he informed her gruffly, his eyes closed against her.
Nevaeh snorted. "Friends aren't supposed to pry into other's business, Mr. Riku." She lay back down, her heart racing with the idea of what he might have overheard. And why he was worried enough to ask about it. "It was just a dream. That's all." She wanted to cry, but couldn't. There weren't any tears left.
"You're wrong."
Nevaeh smiled to herself. I'm glad... she returned ...my knight.
ooo
A/N: Sad. I know. But I felt that it might clarify some unanswered questions. Facial Agnosia is a real disorder, by the way. Sorry to post such a downer.
Next Chapter Preview for THAT'S WHY:
(I feel like you guys deserve it.)
Sora's jaw was left to dangle. He stood there, inflamed with power, two Keyblades in hand (if the spinning weapons hovering from his fingertips count as in-hand), but there was no need to exert it.
Kairi turned to him, her arms awash with white light. She examined his golden Limit Form for a moment before giving Sora one of those who-rocks? and I-want-to-hear-you-say-you-were-wrong! looks. All rolled into one. But she was too breath-taking for the Keyblade Master to indulge her. Lightheaded, the only word he could utter was:
"Wow..."
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God bless!