I'm not gonna lie, I keep forgetting to update this fic on ff and not just ao3, the uploading format here is a pain in my ass. I see some of you have actually subscribed to this, which means people actually read this, so sorry friends! You guys get four chapters today instead of just 2! You can find this work on ao3 (same username, same story name) if you want more consistent updates. Sorry guys, I'm just the worst
VI.
I don't stay the night with Axel, despite being in his bed until the wee hours of the morning. I don't let him walk me back to my room, even though I take his coat with me and when he comes to call on me at six in the morning. I don't even invite him into my bed with me, despite not wanting to move at all.
"Wakey, wakey." He gives me a sharp nudge, my shoulder in his hand and I reach across to swat him. He's got quick reflexes though and I am groggy, he catches my wrist in his hand with zero issue. "Mind your manners, Rueks." He scolds. I can practically imagine him wagging his finger. I roll over, breaking my wrist free from his grip.
"It's too early for manners." I mutter. He laughs, I peak one eye open, to see him holding my dry clothes in a pile in his arms. He looks wide awake, perfectly refreshed, as though he didn't stay up til the crack of dawn fucking me like an animal.
"Someone's cranky." He teases, but tosses the heap of my clothing, shoes and all, directly onto me.
"Yeah, cuz some annoying pain in my ass kept me up all night." I grumble.
"Remind me never to let you sleep in my bed. You're a real asshole first thing in the morning." He chuckles.
"Yeah, well you're always an asshole." I mutter. I don't necessarily know if it's true, being that I've only spent uninterrupted time with him twice, but I do like the way it sounds. He takes a moment to consider this statement, then nods.
"Touche." He turns on his heel. "We've gotta be gone in about fifteen minutes, hope you can shower quickly." He tells me. I groan and even though I know the time limit I have, I wait until he is out the door to even crawl my ass out of bed, just to spite him. Once I hear the door shut safely behind him, I bolt out of bed, into the bathroom attached to my room and turn on the water. I climb out of Axel's coat and into the water before it can even heat up, but as quickly as I can, I shower. I even make an effort to wash and condition my hair, which is a mess after the rain and then spending the rest of the afternoon in Axel's bed yesterday. I rake through it, wincing with every knot that comes undone, dress and am out of my room, sprinting down the hall, when it dawns on me that I have no idea where to meet Axel and Roxas.
"Fuck." I grumble as I round a corner and smack directly into someone. "Roxas!" My eyes light up and I don't think I've ever been so happy to see anyone in my life.
"Crazy." He greets me with the smallest of nods. I kind of want to bury my head in a hole.
"No, no, Axel was just being dumb yesterday, you were right. I'm Rueki." I tell him. He narrows his eyes, processing this and nods. "Axel said we're supposed to meet up before the mission." I say.
"Yeah." He agrees, but doesn't offer anything else.
"Sooo, you wanna lead the way to where we're supposed to meet?" I lift an eyebrow.
"Okay." He says, without even having the good sense to look embarrassed for not picking up what I was putting down. I remember what Axel said yesterday about not having any memories and I purse my lips as Roxas starts to walk. I follow him down the hall. Was I this spacey when Del and Amaya first found me? I don't remember being in that much of a haze, but to be honest, if I were, I probably wouldn't remember that. I want to ask him if the name Sora means anything to him, but I resolve to keep my mouth shut until he starts to act like an actual human being and not a puppet. He leads me down a series of halls and into a –surprise, surprise—white room. A lounge of sorts with white leather couches and a white circular rug. Axel is sitting on the end of one couch, in some sort of intense conversation with Saix. When the latter man hears us enter the room, his gaze flicks away from Axel and over to the two of us. And I swear I see hate in his eyes as they look me over. I stop in my tracks, but Roxas doesn't, he just traipses right on over and stands next to where the older men are talking. They instantly stop their dialogue to look at him and then, Axel looks over his shoulder, cracking a smile at me.
"You look like shit." He tells me, and while this is fair and very true, I make a mental note to definitely not suck his dick again in the near future.
"Mmm, I'll get that one memorized." I offer him a very petty, fake smile. For a moment, the smirk on his face almost looks like a genuine smile. He pushes himself up off the couch.
"Well, anything else our wise and powerful leader wants us to know before we take off?" Axel looks to Saix, who simply 'hmmph's and creates a portal, leaving the room. Wow. Dick.
"Is that normal or did that have something to do with me?" I ask. Axel doesn't answer, instead he not so smoothly changes the topic.
"I got you a present." He says in a way that makes me think he expects me to be grateful.
"Is it a new ship?" I ask. He snickers.
"Close, but no cigar." From a spot behind the couch, he produces a claw, and for a second I think it's my Godhand, but upon closer inspection it definitely isn't. Instead of being bulky, rusted and red, this is yellow and orange, light but sturdy looking, shiny, with spikes on the knuckles, good for hand to hand combat and alchemy. "It's called Survivor, probably a little easier for you to lug around. And yeah, that was definitely a short joke." His eyes light, like a candle flickering and my heart leaps. This might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, with the exception of Del and Amaya taking me to the orphanage as kids. I look up to him, my face contorted, unsure of how to respond. I take a step forward and close one hand around the arm of the claw, my eyes meeting his.
"Um…thank you." I choke out, biting my lips. A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and he shrugs.
"Eh, whatever, I couldn't have you hobbling around with that overweight antique if you're on a mission with me. You can pull your own weight, got it memorized?" He asks and I nod.
"Definitely." I swallow. I take Survivor from him and slide my hand through the arm until I find a rod inside to hook my hand around. The arm of the claw is extra long and comes almost up to my shoulder, but it is definitely light weight, I'll be able to move a lot faster with this. I take a swing as a test and love it instantly. "I don't have any synthesis material." I tell him and he snorts.
"You ever check your pockets?" Sure enough, I pat the large side pocket attached to my belt and I can feel the weight of plenty of synthesis materials.
"Axel…" I breathe his name, forgetting Roxas' presence for a second.
"C'mon Rueks, don't make this weird. Like I said, I just need you to pull your own weight." He insists and I nod. Right. This isn't weird, we don't even know each other, unlike what he seems to think. He's someone I'm having casual sex with and now am working with. It only makes sense for him to help me with my work, it's more pragmatic than it is kind.
"Where are we going?" Roxas pipes up and Axel smiles a little, happy with the new distraction, and to be frank, so am I. This is way too many emotions coming my way with no rhyme or reason. How can I be feeling so much for a man who I have known so briefly, when watching Del and Amaya turning their backs on me didn't even leave the slightest dent?
"Some place called Oz. Scouting a potential to turn into a Nobody." He says, and I blink a little, wondering vaguely if that's how the Dusks or the Dancers I've seen with Demyx were created. From the potentials that Organization XIII scouts? And how does one even become a Nobody? A thousand questions race through my head, but one thought prevails stronger than others:
I am going to a new World.
This will mark four that I've seen. The thought leaves me almost giddy and I have to bite back a smile.
"Do we know where to find this…potential?" I ask. Axel grins at me.
"You bet. He's the Wizard in charge of town. All we've gotta do is follow a yellow road, it'll lead us straight to him." He informs me, which seems terribly anticlimactic. And kind of silly.
"Let's go then, I wanna test this out!" I take a swipe with my claw and Axel starts to smile, another real smile. Oh dear, please, none of this. I need to push these weird feelings I'm having so far down that they lose oxygen and extinguish.
"Sure thing, Rueks." He winks. I glare.
"Don't call me that.
"Because your name is Crazy?" Roxas asks. I shoot Axel the nastiest look I can muster, though he is visibly chomping down on his lip to keep from laughing.
"Nope, Rueki is my name, I am Rueki, nothing else will be tolerated. Now are we going to just stand here or is someone going to open a portal?" I ask. Axel snickers, but with the wave of his hands, opens a portal and leads the way. Once again, I am thankful as soon as we have finished traveling the darkness and head out into the most delightfully colored sight I have ever seen.
The air is warm, like a summer time I didn't know could exist, delightful and dry. Flowers of every color—red, blue, violet, pink—bloom through fields on the right while corn and lush green grass cover the fields on the left, an abandoned Scarecrow post is at the forefront of the field. Sure enough, we are standing on a road made of yellow brick. I crouch down, skimming my hands across the brick, and upon closer inspection, the bricks appear to be flecked with gold.
I don't watch where Axel and Roxas are going, instead, I wander to the flowers, something about them calling me, but I feel Axel's hands wrap around my arm, holding me steady.
"I just want to smell the flowers." I say. "I've never seen any bloom before, just pre cut ones that travelers bring into our world." My voice comes out desperate and breathy and Axel literally spins me around with one hand to face him. It is now that I notice he's got a hand holding onto Roxas' hood.
"Not in this world, Rueks. You're gonna find out a lot of this world is made to lure you in, all bright and beautiful, but deadly. Those flowers for instance, are poppies. One whiff of them and you'll fall into a deep sleep." He warns me. I blink, and it's almost like a spell has been broken. Damn, I'm not usually one to fall into the ~oooh shiny~ trap, he must be right about this world. I nod.
"What about him then?" I nod to Roxas, who is still looking longingly at the flowers.
"Awe, Roxas is a good kid, he'll listen to the rules if we lay them down, right Roxas?" He asks. Roxas doesn't respond for a moment but when he does turn to Axel, it's like he finally realizes he is being spoken to.
"Um, right." He nods. "Sorry."
"I guess let's follow the road?" It comes out as a question, but Axel nods, linking arms with both me and Roxas, which feels terribly campy, but I guess is a good idea. If both Roxas and I are getting sucked in by pretty, deadly things, this is probably a lot easier on Axel then having to constantly babysit the two of us.
"This way." He tells us.
He leads the way, through a forest with talking trees, past a dilapidated shack of a house, past another field of poppies and straight down a hill to a sparkling city made of emerald. My eyes go wide and I look to my comrades to see even Roxas marveling at the city.
"Is this real?" I ask.
"Even more real than me, Rueks." Axel bumps my hip with his and I roll my eyes, looking up to him. I am uncomfortable when I realize how close the color of his eyes matches the sparkling color of the city. I clear my throat and look away.
"So the Wizard is here?" Roxas asks and I see out of my peripheral vision, Axel nodding.
"Right, deep in the heart of the city. And I have already taken the liberty of requesting an audience with him. This'll be easy peasy." Axel grins, quite proud of himself.
"So now that we're in the city, do we need to hold hands like children crossing the street, or do I get to be a big girl now?" I ask, with a very obvious roll of my eyes.
"Awe, c'mon, don't pretend you weren't enjoying yourself." Axel teases, though he unlinks his arms from both mine and Roxas's. "C'mon you crazy kids, let's spend a day in the Emerald City."
The city is more beautiful than I could've imagined. If Transmute City looked like this, I never would've wanted to leave, and as much as I like to pride myself on being cynical and practical, I find myself staring, mouth agape, looking around. The skyscrapers even rival those in The World That Never Was, height wise, but these appear to be made of real emeralds. I reach out to touch them, my finger tips brushing across the cool stone.
"Can you guys just leave me here and tell Xemnas I died or something?" I ask and Axel snickers.
"Oh sweetheart, this world's got a lot more twisted secrets that we haven't even delved into yet. Trust me, you'll appreciate the face value of The World That Never Was a hell of a lot more after a week here." He pats my back and I squirm, brushing him off of me. Axel leads the way past a group of women wearing plush, emerald clothing, lavish hats and frilly coats. One of them looks over the three of us and starts giggling, before leaning in to whisper to her friends. I guess the three of us really do stand out.
"You guys ever think of dressing like you belong in a world?" I raise an eyebrow and Axel shrugs.
"Wouldn't make for a very organized Organization if we all dressed out of uniform." Is all he offers me, but I'm not really paying attention anymore.
"What is that?" I blink and to my surprise, Roxas answers me.
"A horse of a different color?" The boy tilts his head to the side as an orange horse traipses past us, it's coat changing from red to violet as it moves.
Axel leads us through the city with only minimal distracts, to a small tollbooth window and just before we get there, he holds his arm out, stopping us.
"I'm the one who requested the audience, the attendant might not be too excited to see my friends, if you're picking up what I'm putting down." Axel says and Roxas scrunches his face.
"You didn't put anything down." He says and I have to bite my lip to hold back laughter.
"I think you'd be a lot more successful with Roxas and I in tow. You look a lot less like a homicidal weirdo when you've got a cute girl and a derpy kid beside you." I say, pointing a finger at Axel's black, leather gettup. He snorts.
"That's not very nice, calling Roxas a girl." He teases. I deadpan.
"Dick. Fine, go enjoy your audience with the Wizard, Roxas and I will look at the horses." I toss my ponytail over my shoulder, indignantly. Axel snickers, but rounds the corner without us. Roxas and I sink to the floor, sitting against a building.
"Why are you coming with Axel and I on missions?" Roxas asks and I shrug.
"Cuz I'm being held captive and this is what I was told to do if I don't want to be 'disposed of'." I say, using air quotes. He looks me over, face scrunched up, head cocked.
"What do you mean, disposed of?" He asks, using air quotes, but very awkwardly, like he doesn't fully understand the finger motions.
"It's been heavily implied that I don't get to live if I don't cooperate with your Organization." I say, heaving a sigh.
"But aren't you part of the Organization?" He asks and I shake my head.
"No, I'm just here for fun." It dawns on me that he doesn't quite understand sarcasm. "For whatever reason they've inducted you and Xion, but I'm considered too unpredictable because I appeared in your world unexpectedly."
"So you're not from The World That Never Was?" He asks and I shake my head.
"Nope."
"A different world then?"
"Yep."
"Is your world like this one?" He asks and I smile a little, definitely not as nostalgic as I thought I would be, a month away from home.
"No, my world is a lot colder and a lot greyer. Even more so than The World That Never Was." I tell him.
"Why aren't you a member of the Organization?" He asks me and I shrug. "Is it because you're not—"
Axel rounds the corner back to us, pouting and irritated looking and my smugness outweighs the curiosity I felt for what Roxas was going to ask me.
"Awe man, did your invitation get denied, Dancing Flames?" I raise an eyebrow, propping my knee up and setting an elbow on my knee.
"It was accepted, but the Wizard has decided not to see anyone today. Guess he already saw some big group. Some girl named Dora or something." He waves his hands. "Which means we get to go back with our tails between our legs."
"You give up too easily." I tell him and he scoffs.
"Are you suggesting a hostile takeover, dear Rueks? Because that's a little more devious than I thought you were capable of." Axel winks at me. I hoist myself up off the ground and stomp closer to him, my arms crossed to my chest.
"No, I'm suggesting something with a little more finesse." I say.
"Oh, you think you have what it takes for that, sweetheart?" He raises an eyebrow. I smirk.
"Yep."
"Then by all means, the stage is all yours." He swoops into a low bow. I roll my eyes.
"If my plan works, we don't head immediately back to The World That Never Was." I demand. He snorts, coming back up to stand.
"If your plan works, I'll buy you and our resident zombie ice cream." He offers. I smile.
"Good, put your listening ears on and follow my cue." I take a deep breath, roll my shoulders back and sprint around the corner. "Oh help me! Help me please!" I shriek, running so fast that the wind whips my eyes and reddens my face. I pound at the attendant's window as I get to it, one hand on my heart, sniffling. The attendant comes to the window, all puffy faced and taken aback as I throw myself across the counter top, sobbing violently.
"Um…Miss…Ma'am…Um…"
"Please, sir you have to help me! That man that came to the window with the red hair and the cloak? He and his apprentice kidnapped me, I need someone to help me! They snatched me from home, right away from my siblings…I don't know how they'll be able to run the shop without me, I'm the eldest, you see." I blubber, coming up to wipe at my eyes and gauge the attendant's reaction, which is mostly shock.
"Miss, I'm not sure what I can—"
"Just please, let me in to see the Wizard! He'll know what to do!" I wail, faking a hiccuppy sob. "Please, they've had me for months! This is the first time I've broken free! Just please! Please open the gates!"
"I can't just—"
"They're going to kill me if they catch me!" I shriek and he nearly jumps back, blinking at me.
"Right, of course!" He hustles over to a machine and cranks a lever and just like that, the large doors creek open.
"There she is! Get her!" Axel shouts as he appears from behind the corner right on time and I bite back a smirk. He was listening, good. I freeze in place, shrieking, scaring the attendant further and giving the boys time to catch up. Three, two…
I burst into a sprint, booking it to the door, hoping that Axel and Roxas will be fast enough to catch up to me.
And sure enough, I make it through the doors and instantly they start closing behind me. But Axel and Roxas both slide in seconds before they clamp shut. I look to the two of them, satisfied and out of breath.
"Well color me impressed, Rueks." Axel pants, looking up at me from where he rests, crouched over with his hands on his knees. "If I were feeling generous, I might call that a stroke of pure genius."
"And so you should." I nod, crossing my arms to my chest.
"You couldn't have chosen a plan with less running, though?" He complains and I roll my eyes, looking to Roxas, who is struggling to catch his breath, making a face.
"Cheer up, kid, we're getting ice cream." I clap Roxas on the shoulder and look pointedly at Axel.
"What can I say, I'm a man of my word. Now let's go check out this Wizard."
We wander down a hall that is surprisingly grey, considering how vibrant and beautiful the rest of the world was colored, and come to a set of emerald green double doors.
"Do we knock?" I lift an eyebrow, Axel makes a face.
"Nah, but prepare yourself. We don't know what kinda magic this Wizard has up his sleeve. Lord Xemnas seems to think he's a pretty heavy hitter." He says. I shuffle around in my pocket, grabbing a mega potion and a bomb core. I load them into my claw and pinch my eyes shut trying to feel the energy from the synthesis building inside of me. My fingertips grow hot inside the claw and I roll my shoulders back, shooting my arm up in the air as the spell is cast.
"Mega NulAll." I explain. "Elemental magic won't work on any of us." I nod and Axel nods back. Roxas mostly looks confused, but mildly grateful. He knows I did something nice, even though he might not fully process what nice means yet.
"You're too sweet, Rueks." Axel says, though his face doesn't grow any less serious, despite the mockery.
"Let's do this." I take charge, taking a step forward, pushing the doors open, claw out and at the ready only to reveal—
An elderly man tinkering with a computer?
"Is he a wizard?" Roxas' voice sounds off behind me and the man jumps, I swear, ten feet in the air.
"Ope!" He scurries around, looking the three of us over, and then ducks behind a curtain. He pulls it shut behind him and we hear some more gears moving. I look to Axel, an eyebrow inclined, but he looks just as confused as I feel. "You have disturbed the Great and Powerful Oz!" A voice roars as a face appears on the curtain.
"Seriously? Dude, we just saw you…" I mutter, placing a hand on my hip.
"You have seen nothing, girl! I am the Great and Powerful Oz, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" The floating head demands and I heave a sigh.
"That's kind a mouthful, isn't it? It was much easier calling you 'wizard' in my head." Axel interrupts.
"Your mockery will not be tolerated, I'm warning you!" The floating head roars, and to my surprise, as Axel and I are shooting each other irritated looks, Roxas takes charge, striding right over to the curtain. He yanks it open. Sure enough, there is the man from before, pulling levers and pushing buttons, his back to us.
"You're not a wizard at all." Roxas accuses. The man spins around, eyes wide as he regards Roxas, me and Axel.
"Y-you're one of them, aren't you?" He chokes out.
"Alright, 'wiz', I'll bite. Who are we one of?" Axel sighs, spinning his chakram around in his hands, irritated.
"You're with the black demons, the creatures with the glowing eyes!" The man says, with a flourish of hand gestures. "We're a peaceful world, leave us be!" He insists. I look to Axel for direction and he just heaves a sigh.
"You know, if there were an award for biggest waste of time…" He trails off, shaking his head. "No old man, we're not with the black demons. And you're not even worth turning into one." He replies.
"Wha-what are you talking about? Get out of here this instant, you are not welcome in the Emerald City! I will banish you!" He roars, suddenly, as though he thinks he has some great amount of power. Axel's face distorts into something meaner than I thought he was capable off. But only for a second.
"Right, says the little old man pretending to be a Wizard. You know, you were half right, when you thought we might be with the black demons…" He trails off, and then, with the flourish of his hand, a dozen dusks appear out of nothingness. Apparently it's not just Demyx that can summon them. "We're with the white demons. Have fun old man." And with another flourish, Axel opens up a portal and starts into it. I look to Roxas and the two of us bolt in after him, the vibrant, beautiful world disappearing behind us.
Axel leads us to a world called Twilight Town, which is apparently connected to The World That Never Was, somehow. I don't see how it possibly can be. This world is warm, but not overbearing and colored in muted oranges, reds and yellows. Even the sky is orange with the light of the setting sun and flecked with soft pink clouds. It's the kind of place I could lay down and die happy in, very much unlike The World That Never Was.
Axel tells us he's got this great spot that you can see the entire town from, and shows us the way up to the Clock Tower in town. There's a staircase inside of it that Roxas and I take to get to the top while Axel retreats, in search of something he calls 'The Icing On The Cake'.
A soft breeze blows past Roxas and I, while he leans over the edge of the guard rail, completely unafraid as he looks at the town below us.
He really looks like Sora right now.
"So, how long have you had the Keyblade?" I ask, wringing my hands in my lap as I sit beside him. He doesn't even turn to me.
"I dunno. Since I woke up in the Castle, I guess." Which is not really an answer.
"And you don't remember anything before then?" I ask. He shakes his head.
"Axel says I will though." He doesn't seem terribly bothered by that, but I guess I get it. It's hard to be nostalgic for something that didn't exist in the first place.
"When I was a kid, I woke up in a broom closet with no memories." I tell him, he looks to me and for the first time, seems to acknowledge the weight of my words. He nods and sits down next to me.
"So you were like me." He says.
"I guess, kind of. But I still don't remember anything from before I woke up, and that was when I was nine. I'm eighteen now." I explain.
"Do you think you ever will remember anything?" He asks.
"I think if I was going to, I would have by now." I confess.
"Why do you think you don't remember?" He asks, which is a question that I hate.
"I probably hit my head somewhere in the closet I woke up from." I confess.
"Did it hurt?" He asks and I laugh.
"I don't think so, can't remember."
"It didn't hurt me either." He says, though I'm not necessarily sure that in this state he would understand what pain actually is. "Are you a Nobody, then?" He asks and I make a face.
"That's gonna be a no on that one." I say because seriously, what a weird question. I've seen Nobodies, the Dusks and Dancers that Demyx and Axel have summoned, and I am very clearly not one, though it begs the question what the hell they are. I
Whatever, I shake it off. Roxas is clearly just lacking in the brain cell department, I already knew that. He probably doesn't fully understand that the Nobodies are just things that the people in the Organization can summon to do their dirty work.
"You two aren't starting in on the fun without me, are you?" I hear Axel's voice behind us and he comes into the light, with three bars of light blue ice cream, which he passes out to Roxas and I, before sitting down beside me.
"You didn't miss much, just Roxas acting almost human for a second." I say, shooting a half smile in the boy's direction, but he's more focused on his ice cream than the words coming out of my mouth.
"It's sweet, but salty…" He observes and Axel snickers, his mouth suddenly at my ear.
"I'll believe that when I see it, Rueks."
We eat our ice cream in silence and Roxas is right, it is both sweet and salty, and really freaking good, but mostly, what I'm enjoying about this is being outside of the castle, feeling the sunlight on my skin, being able to stretch my legs. Being outside of The World That Never Was for this long is starting to make me feel like I am a lot closer to being free, without actually, you know, being free. And as much as it pains me to say, Axel really isn't terrible company. Roxas either, though he isn't exactly an A-1 conversationalist.
He stands up, out of nowhere, looking out at the sky.
"I think I'm gonna….go back to the castle." He decides and Axel nods.
"See you in the morning for our next mission, kid." Axel says, and with that, Roxas creates a portal and is gone.
"You know he'd be a hell of a lot cuter if he wasn't borderline brain dead." I say, propping my elbows on my knees as I stare out into the town. The clock tower dings behind us, a sound that is soft and musical even at such a close proximity. Axel looks at me, eyebrow arched.
"What did you say?" He asks and I just shrug.
"Just that he's brain dead. I know you said it's a whole him not having memories thing, but I swear I didn't wake up and act like that in Transmute City. And I've already done enough dealing with cute idiots." I say with a half sort of smile. There, that can leave him guessing a little. But instead of elbowing me or bending me over the guard rail and fucking me into next week, Axel just shakes his head.
"No, before then."
"What, that he's a cute kid? Cuz he is. I mean he only looks to be a few years younger than me, you might have some competition once he starts remembering things." I tease, offering a sly wink. And again, no teasing back, no usual banter. He just stares at me for a long moment, and under his green gaze, I have to resist the urge to squirm. If he thinks just looking at me really hard is going to get me to retract my statement and declare my undying love for him, joke's on him. I very aloofly tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
"I know you." He breathes and I blink, looking at him with an eyebrow lifted.
"Dude, I know, you've told me this a thousand times. It's not as good of a pick up line as it was the first time." I remind him.
"No, Rueki, you don't get it. I know you. And I just figured out where from." He suddenly stands and I look up at him, eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Okay, you gonna elaborate?" I ask, but suddenly, he won't meet my gaze.
"Can't yet. Sorry sweetheart."
And with that, he opens a portal and disappears into it, leaving me alone atop the clock tower.