What makes a heart? What gives a heart light? What gives it Darkness? I had believed that I would have known the answers by now. After all these years, I still feel somewhat lost, set adrift in this shattered universe. As I look back on my life, I can only hope that the hearts, the worlds of the future can learn from my mistakes.
The morning dew was particularly thick the day I first arrived in Daybreak Town. I was as bright eyed as a twelve-year-old boy could be; I had never seen so many keyblade wielders in one place. The lingering remnants of yesterday's rain had settled on my hair and face. The sun was setting, with just enough light over the bright violet rooftops to give my visage a warm glimmer. My escort, who had introduced himself to me as Ira, had a similar effect on his ornate unicorn mask. He had found me, lost, within the realm of darkness. By bringing me here, to Daybreak town, he had promised me a new life; Together, as wielders, we would fight the darkness for the good of all.
How naive of us both. I knew nothing of myself, nor my guardian's true nature.
He noticed my staring, and spoke.
" I've had living arrangements already procured." Ira placed his hand on my shoulder. " There's someone you should meet. He will be the one to escort you." Just as his hand was lifted, he was gone. I was left to wait. In hindsight, I probably wasn't waiting for very long. But it felt like an eternity. I looked around, trying to get a better grasp of my surroundings. I had noticed that I was bathed in shadow. I looked up and saw the clock tower. Tall and almighty, it dwarfed everything else in sight. Just looking at it made me feel small and insiginficant, anxious for whoever I was supposed to meet.
"Um, hello?"
I whipped my head around to find the voice, but I saw nothing.
"Down here!" I looked down to see a creature, superficially resembling a house cat, wearing a bright red pouch that dangled from around it's neck. "I'm looking for a wielder named Ahrairah. Master Ira said he'd be here. Do you know him?" It seemed sheepish, almost embarrassed. I nodded.
"I, uh, am him. That's my name."
"Oh, oh! How wonderful! My name is Chirithy! I'm your faithful servant, companion, and guide." They looked at their hands, as if trying to remember what to say. "If there's anything you need help with, consider it done." I took a minute to process what he said. A servant? To me? Is he getting paid? The confusion and discomfort must have been clear on my face, as Chirithy began to get upset. "Is something wrong? Did I say something?" He started tugging on my cardigan.
"N-No?" I stumbled on my words. Lord, why was it so hard to speak? "Just, Hold on a second, okay!? I'm just trying to get my bearings here!" I barked at them. Chirithy withered at my voice. He took a step back, then another. Slowly sneaking away from me with only a whimper. Stupid, stupid. I've never made a good first impression. My eyes rested on Chirithy, my hand firmly grabbed ahold of my sleeve. I breathed a sigh, and kneeled down to meet him. "Chirithy?" I whispered, placing my hand, as best as I could, on his tiny shoulder. Please forgive me. "I'm really sorry about that, I didn't mean to yell at you." My hand moved from his shoulder to his head without my thinking, carefully brushing aside his ear. I petted his head, my fingers gently weaving back and forth through his fur. Chirithy had his head in his hands (er, paws?), but he slowly moved his gaze to meet my own. He had the sweetest little baby blue eyes, which I hadn't noticed until then.
"You, uh, have a house, here in Daybreak Town. It's across this bridge here, I'm supposed to take you there. " he hesitated. " Will you let me?"
I nodded. A smile managed to escape my dry lips. "I will." My hand cupped Chirithy's cheek, his fur was irresistibly soft. He wrapped his little arms around my hand and pulled on them. I humored him, relaxed my muscles, and let him take me to wherever my house was supposed to be.
It didn't take as long as I thought, across the bridge, through a small clearing, near an abandoned storage warehouse, was a house. It had two floors, and shared bright white paneled walls and violet tiled roof with all the nearby buildings. This house was different in one notable way, in that it was covered in vines. Long lanky vines that held bundles of sparkling periwinkle flowers. I asked Chirithy what the flowers were.
"Oh, these? They're Wishteria flowers. They tend to grow rampant in places with lots of light." Chirithy was more than happy to oblige my request. " You can brew tea with these flowers, and the tea has curative properties. Though rumor has it, the tea can also grant the wishes of whoever drinks it, hence the flowers' name."
"Ah. I must be lucky then." My hand firmly rested on Chirithy's head. Stroking his fluffy white fur. It was soothing in a way few other things were. The front door was old, in a good way. The aging wood dulled the otherwise obnoxious bright purple to a duller, more tasteful hue. This door in particular had been in at least a few fires. Fires that, by burning away the ivy that had apparently grown over the door, created a naturally intricate, almost ornate pattern. I was hesitant to open it, unsure of what I'd find. Would the house be empty? How would I get any furniture for it? What if I entered, only for Chirithy to shut the door. Shut the door and lock it, lock the door. To lock the door and trap me insi-
I opened the door. I had to get rid of those thoughts. That's what Pa and Heidi told me. I wonder if they've forgotten about me by now. Probably, I thought. I reasoned that I ought to forget about them. It was then that I remembered the house. It came as a slight shock that the house wasn't empty. I was in what I assumed to be the living room, longer than it was wide. It was modestly furnished, with a quaint birch wood floor, a teensy little kitchen in the corner, a few love seats with a coffee table, and a humble fireplace at the far end. I felt little Chirithy squeezing between my boots in order to get inside after me. He pointed towards the door.
"This door has a special mechanism inside it, it can only be unlocked with your keyblade, whichever that may be."
Ah. I should have guessed.
Chirithy traipsed towards the base of the stairs, and waved their arm. " The bedroom's up here, in case you couldn't already tell. I think you'll like it!" With that, he ran up the stairs. He seems quite enthused, I thought. That must be a good sign. I quietly stepped upstairs, taking one last look back at the first
floor of the house.
My house.
Sure, I thought. I could live here. Maybe I'll even make some friends.
A smile crept on me as I thought about all the things I could do here. This was a fresh start, a new beginning to my life. One that I imagine many would wish to have. I ought to be grateful, I ought to.
"Ahrairah?" Chirithy's very slight concern brought me back to the present. I hurried the rest of the way.
Goodness, there was a lot of bookshelves, almost as many bookshelves as there were windows. It bathed the room in an almost pastel colored morning sheen. It was beautiful. Situated next the the largest shelf, on the leftmost wall, was my bed. Already made, with soft blue and white bedding. Queen sized; enough room for two. The rightmost wall had a desk, with writing tools, sandwiched between two smaller shelves. "Chirithy?" The thought came to me all of a sudden, taking up all the attention I had. "How much is this house?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, how much do I have to pay?"
Chirithy stopped for a second to think, then, they realized what I meant.
"Oh, you don't have to pay anything, silly! The foretellers have hardly any need for money anyway." Chirithy put their hands behind their back. "There is one who does, though. We'll go meet them tomorrow. Right now you seem pretty tired."
I was very tired. The events that took place before my coming here had sapped me of my energy. I waddled over to the bed and crept inside it, putting the last of my efforts into taking off my shoes.
"Don't sleep too long, or you'll stay up all night!"
I'll sleep as long as I want, Chirithy.