Chapter 24
The Songstress' Secret
Yen Sid closed his eyes in fatigue as his old associate slammed her hands against the table for what had to have been the umpteenth time. When her name had first entered his mind as a possible candidate to hone Sora's mind and prepare him against incoming threats he had expected that she wouldn't have taken kindly to seeing him again. He had done things that he was not proud of, of that he could admit. He just didn't expect the amount of severity to which Neuge would have held a grudge against him this whole time. It wasn't just a dislike. It was utter hatred.
"You can't seriously be thinking about going through with this. It is not up to us to decide whether a new Princess of Heart should be selected or not." Neuge blasted. She had been staring daggers into Yen Sid's eyes, and even though he had closed them, he could still feel that intense gaze trying to pierce his defences.
"And what would you have me do? I'm assuming you have a better idea?" Yen Sid asked ever so calmly as if the raging tempest herself wasn't in the room. He knew Neuge hated it when he did that.
"No," she admitted. "But whatever could be the alternative would be safer than what you're considering. I don't even care about the stupid precepts. In general it's just outright ethically wrong. Oh but I'm sorry, you don't care about that do you? It's not like you're too worried about sending kids out to do your dirty work after all."
"You speak as if I do not care for their wellbeing. You couldn't be any further from the truth and believe me when I say I wish it were any other way," Yen Sid said.
"Is that why you want to break Sora then? There's no other way? You only know how to do things your way and most of the time that doesn't suit anyone's interest but yourself!" Neuge exclaimed slamming her hand on the table once again.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll hurt your hands," Yen Sid finally said covering his mouth with his hands to hide a slight smile.
"As if you give a crap," Neuge snapped before turning away and began pacing back and forth with her body language indicating a lack of care.
"You're still holding it against me, after all these years…"
"You're surprised?" Neuge let out a harsh laugh and turned to him. "You, Eraqus, and Xehanort were all running about playing Keyblade Master while you left me for death. I lived in it. I felt its hold over me as I wandered across its arm, and only after wandering its plains for so long had I finally accepted the truth, that you had given up on trying to find me. It was a light that saved me. It was so painful to look at but I had to take a risk, didn't I? When I emerged on the other side, I was back in the Realm of the living. And you're surprised? No, I'm the one who is surprised that you had the nerve to call me to your side once more and pretend as if nothing had ever happened. I'm even more surprised that I haven't killed you yet!"
Yen Sid opened his eyes and moved them to look in between his hands and the desk. "To which I deeply regret to this day and have sincerely apologized so many times, but it seems you do not care to hear my apology."
"Finally he gets it. If you truly understand the human heart you'll know that it isn't so as easy to repair as it is to destroy. And just leaving your stupid tower and observing, not just looking at stars for guidance, but actually observing the world, would tell you something as basic as that. But that's fine. Keep living in your fairy tale world behind your books and your old man schtick. You may fool everyone else, but only I know your true face," Neuge's voice fell into a whisper as she walked up to him initiating a direct confrontation that gave Yen Sid no choice but to look back into her eyes. She had always been one to changer her hair, always alternating on a weekly basis to keep it "fresh". He was glad that that at least, had not changed about her of the many things that had.
"I assure you, we looked everywhere for a way to rescue you, but complications made it impossible. First I found an apprentice in a mischievous little mouse who reminded me much of yourself, then Xehanort's renouncing of his and Eraqus' Master's path subsequently followed by Eraqus' death and then Maleficent. And I really did get old, that was no excuse," Yen Sid clarified.
"And yet you can barely even look at me to say this. You may not be telling the truth Yen Sid, but your heart is. It's telling me all I need to know," Neuge said.
Yen Sid cast his eyes downwards back to his desk and gave a sad smile before deciding to change the topic. "When it comes to interfering with other worlds, the precepts would-"
"Again with the precepts…" Neuge interrupted shaking her head. "They are archaic, from the Keyblade's darker days. If anything, it's more important than ever now that we have a say in the worlds' affairs, especially with the Heartless interfering. Very soon the lines will become incredibly blurred where our jurisdiction begins and ends and it will become a burden, if it hasn't already. You'd be better off discarding those precedents you like to talk about oh so much while you're still ahead."
"You were never really one for rules Neuge but unlike you I understand the importance of them, not just in them being our only piece of evidence linking back to the past, but because regardless of Heartless or not they still do apply if we wish to keep law and order in balance," Yen Sid replied.
"And yet you're all too quick to forget them when talking about purifying a poor soul's heart. How convenient. Well, it's clear that I won't change your mind so do whatever you want. I found a nice bar here courtesy of Leon so I'm all set," Neuge said. She was about to leave the room when she suddenly turned. "Have you found a way to protect the remaining Princesses yet?"
Yen Sid's lips curled into smile and he opened his mouth to speak, "I'm well ahead of you when it comes to interfering with worlds I'm afraid. Along with the three fairies protection, I may have found a suitable candidate to keep them guarded. She may not have a Keyblade like you and I but I assure you when it comes to protecting Princesses, she is no stranger." He nodded at the door and, as if on cue, the door opened and in walked a woman with shoulder length black hair and a sword at her waist. "I hope your journey fared you well, Fa Mulan."
The sun soon set over the high mountain peaks that surrounded Alexander, casting an orange glow straight across the horizon and contrasted beautifully against the blue sky and the swirls of light blue noctilucent clouds that accompanied it. Sora had never seen a type of cloud like it. It was almost like ocean waves were being reflected in the sky. His eyes were taken off the sky when the door to Kit's Bakery opened and out came Luna with a sullen expression on her face.
After making an unusually strange trip back to the Gummi Ship on Luna's request, it had also been her decision to go back to Kit and reveal to her about their travels and how she wanted to continue travelling with Sora, but by the look on her face it seemed to Sora that it didn't go as she'd planned it to.
Luna's answer came before Sora's question could. "I couldn't tell her. I just couldn't. I tried to tell her but then she started talking again about how she couldn't wait to get back into business with me and how great it would be and I just couldn't-"
"Whoa, chill out and breathe Luna. I think I can get the gist from there," Sora said. "Maybe I should explain it to her?"
"No, it has to be me otherwise what would be the point?" Luna leaned against the wall and smiled. "I should at least help her get the store back up and running before anything else. Maybe I can convince her in the meantime."
Sora nodded and didn't push the matter further though he had his reservations as to whether Kit would even believe such a tale, and if she did then just how would she react. However, as both of them made their way to Astra's house, Luna did not seem too concerned. If anything, she looked stronger and more determined than before. Ever since she had left her house she had appeared noticeably shaken by what had happened but she was also trying to keep herself optimistic. Sora could not have guessed what was going on in Luna's mind and he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
The two friends moved into a completely new street that Sora had never been to before but looked somewhat similar to Luna's street. Eventually Luna stopped at a particular house and knocked on the door. They didn't have to wait long before Astra opened the door to let them in.
The house was nicely decorated with flowery wallpaper plastered along the walls but apart from that it was quite simple. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing considering only two people had lived here until some two years ago. Even so, Sora was able to acquire a sense of Astra's tastes such as the bright red acoustic guitar leaning against the wall in the corner of her living room.
Catching a glimpse of Sora looking at the instrument, Astra said, "A gift from my gran on my thirteenth birthday. It was originally hers but you can imagine she had little use for it."
"I've heard her play, she's amazing!" Luna praised.
"That's really not something you need to tell him Luna," Astra said with gritted teeth though her smile indicated that she was not nearly as annoyed as she appeared. "Anyway, I managed to get a leaflet from the opera house on the way back. It looks like lady luck's with you Sea Salt, you get your wish. The next production is scheduled for tonight at eight. Now about that plan of yours…"
"It's pretty simple actually. We just pay a visit to her dressing room!" Luna announced simply.
Sora and Astra's eyes met with looks of scepticism, one of those rare instances where they had found common ground. "Just? Sea Salt, I'm not sure if you've realized this in your eagerness but… mushrooms?"
Luna had presented them with two mushrooms she had taken out from both of her pockets. It was such a strange moment and completely out of nowhere that it had taken him a good while to register what she was showing them and would have taken longer had Astra not mentioned them, but even then he still did not believe it.
"You remember when we went to Wonderland and saw these?" Luna asked him.
"They can make you bigger and smaller, right? Oh, I get it! So you're going to get into the dressing room using those pieces and then confront her there… and you've had those ever since we left Wonderland? That's impressive!" Sora commended.
"I thought there might be a need for them one day so I've been keeping them in my luggage hoping for a chance to use them again. At least they don't stink up the place so that's a plus. In fact, they don't actually smell at all strangely enough," Luna said.
"But are those really going to work outside of Wonderland, and if I remember correctly there were mushrooms that made you bigger and ones that made you smaller. Do you have both because I rather not have to deal with Lunazilla rampaging through the city."
"Or mini Luna either, though I can't deny that I'd have my fun with that one," added Astra.
"Don't worry, I put them into packets and labelled them. I'm a pretty careful person you'll find," Luna said proudly.
"Except when you jump out of a moving vehicle," Sora was quick to remind.
"Wait, you jumped from a moving vehicle?" Astra repeated with a snort.
"Okay, I'm mostly careful. Now let's get back to the plan please," Luna said waving the mushrooms in the air partly to cover up her embarrassment. "As for if they'll still work, we're about to find out…"
Her two friends watched in hopefulness as Luna took a nibble out of the mushroom in her left hand. Soon Luna began to shrink in size and stopped at half the height she was before.
"Aw, she's even cuter now!" Astra teased.
Luna chuckled before nibbling on the mushroom in her right hand soon returning to her original height. "That feels really weird. Kind of ticklish actually," she explained with a chuckle before pocketing both mushrooms in the pockets they had once been in. "But at least it still works, I'm just going to have to be a bit more careful that I don't pop out of existence since I'll need to have a bit more than what I just ate. Unfortunately I only have these two with me so the both of you will just have to make sure no one else comes into the room while Celes and I are there."
"Unfortunately? Yeah, I'm sure you're not happy about in the slightest, right?" Sora asked grinning.
"Of course not," she replied with a dreamy expression on her face.
The hours passed quickly and before they knew it, it was time to enact their plan. Golden lights illuminated from buildings and filled the Alexandrian skyline masking any hopes of what was sure to be the beautiful stars coming out. For Luna, it was a desecration of natural beauty and though she knew of the exact place she could go to remedy the problem, the fear of Abraxas kidnapping her, though he was long gone now, was still like a seed planted in her head.
Meanwhile on the outskirts of the city and right next to what Luna would have seen as much more interesting (that being the Grand Library that she had been to so frequently over the years) was the opera house. To the rich and nobles it was a golden temple, a basic requisite of enjoyment and a way of life. Most others though could usually take fascination in just the theatre productions and movie theatres located around the city.
Sora, Luna and Astra entered the royal and majestic looking building to see many fashionably overdressed couples making their way from the lobby into the main theatre hall to take their seats for the show.
"Stop gawking Sora and focus on the task at hand. Now it shouldn't be too hard for us to find her dressing room. We really stick out like a sore thumb though," Luna commented suddenly aware of the pairs of eyes looking at the trio condescendingly.
"Then we better get this over with and fast," Astra said who, unlike Sora and Luna, never tore her eyes away whenever someone examined her even if the urge was a great one. Confident, collected and many more things that Luna wasn't was what Astra was. Luna had read in the library next door that having a best friend didn't always have to mean the same set of shared interests. Sometimes even the differences were enough to make up for the other's weakness, which was what their friendship was. Where Astra was Luna's carefree and confident attitude to life, Luna was Astra's sentimentality and capriciousness.
The trio deserted the crowd of nobles and sneaked off into the opposite direction hoping they were heading in the right direction. After arriving in a corridor and making sure there was no one else around, Luna took out one of the mushrooms.
"I'm going small now. One of you make sure to pick me up," she said before taking a bigger bite than before. Soon she was the pocket size of Jiminy Cricket allowing Astra to pick her up and place her on her shoulder. "The world looks so strange from this size. So this is what it's like for Jiminy," she said playfully poking Astra's cheek with her finger.
"Hey, you better stop with that or I'll drop ya!"
"You wouldn't dare."
Astra smiled in response before continuing on down the hallway along with Sora whilst keeping check of where they were on the building layout provided by the leaflet Astra had taken. After heading north east for quite some time, they arrived in a more promising corridor which had a gold star assigned to each door and underneath a name for the respective person. Celes being the main star made her door in particular easy to find being one of the very first.
"It's locked. Well, you should be able to slip in under the door. After that, you're on your own but we'll knock if someone's coming. You know this is completely illegal right? Are you really sure you want to go ahead with this?" It was clear Astra had been against the idea. She had been against the idea from the beginning. She had been against helping Sora help get Luna into possible trouble. And yet despite all this she was still there. Luna knew she wouldn't leave regardless of what was said.
"Astra, you remember when we snuck into Mr Bartle's room because I was worried I'd failed my test? I was joking about wanting to do it but you really went ahead, snuck into the staff room and took his key from right under his nose. When you told me what you did I was completely shocked and I might have even appeared annoyed at what you did, but I wasn't, not really. Inside I was really happy that you did that for me, and I am even now. I'd be even happier if you stayed with us…" Luna said.
"Stay with you…? Here, just do what you need to do," Astra said pensively. She lowered Luna carefully to the ground who stepped off before flattening herself against the floor. She slipped underneath the door and stood back up on the other side. Instantly she could see what a life of glamour and fame could get one in a dressing room. It was like the inside of a doll house with a makeup table and mirror on one side of the room and a wardrobe opposite.
Her first instinct told her to look in her belongings for anything pertinent. She crossed the room over to the chair and hugged its leg tightly as she tried to make her way up onto the seat. Having had to climb down and up columns in the Realm of Darkness, she found it quite simple to do especially seeing as the legs of the chair were much shorter. From the seat she jumped onto the dressing table and pushed the handbag over before checking out its contents.
The few seconds she had to search had given her very little except for sunglasses and some lotion. Before she could dig deeper to find anything of relevance, the knock on the door promised by Astra came a lot sooner than expected. She scrambled out of the bag and hid behind the jewellery box to her left.
There was a momentary pause before the door opened and in came a woman with hair akin to maize and calm blue eyes matching a similar composure. She also wore a beautiful white gown as required by her role. Celes Chere took a seat on the chair and stared at herself in the mirror for a good while before, and startling so to Luna, began to tear up. Luna was suddenly compelled to come out of hiding and ask what was wrong when two strange red and blue costumed jesters entered the room seconds later to answer all her questions for her.
"Poor Miss Chere, this is quite unfortunate," said the red.
"Quite unfortunate this is," blue agreed.
"Your contract states to do all that was told of you, does it not?" continued red clicking his tongue patronisingly.
"I'm sick of this. I won't have you use me as some sort of tool for your own ends, whatever they may be," Celes replied while keeping her eyes on her reflection. "Consider it void."
"But that is exactly what you are, a tool," claimed red.
"A tool is what you are exactly," agreed blue.
"Nice to know that a person's word is as good as ever in Alexander," Celes muttered sarcastically. She looked at her handbag briefly before positioning it upright again.
"Now look here. We made you when otherwise you would simply not be. Surely that warrants eternal gratitude," red said.
"Eternal gratitude, that surely warrants!" blue agreed with a nod.
"If my life is a carefully constructed lie by external forces outside my control, then maybe I don't want it…" Celes said distantly.
The twin jesters shared a synchronized look of annoyance with each other before both stretching out their hands. All of a sudden Luna's body shivered and went numb letting out a gasp almost exactly the same time Celes did. She looked downwards and looked as the darkness wrapped around her fingertips. It wasn't just her body either, her mind had gone completely numb and her vision started fading in and out. She was seeing things other than what was right in front of her. Visions of a sneering rhinoceros filled her mind, its hot and ragged breath like that of chains being unevenly dragged across the floor next to her ear. She had seen this creature before. It had been in her dreams before she had woken up with no memory in Traverse Town… it was very much real.
Make it stop, please make it stop! Luna begged squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth. Then, as if a magic genie had just heard her wish, everything really did stop. Her eyes opened and the world as she had previously known it had returned to normal. After checking to make sure she could move her body and feel again, she looked at her hands to find whatever darkness that had been there now gone. Her own movements were mirrored by Celes' who appeared as white as a sheet even with all her makeup on. Had she experienced something similar to Luna?
"Just stop. I'll do… whatever you ask, so just stop…" Celes submitted dejectedly. She made several attempts to rub away the tears from her cheek only for new ones to replace them.
"Then you understand now Miss Chere. You haven't lived in your own world for a very long time indeed, if you've ever had a world to live in," the red jester told her.
"Indeed, a very long time you've lived in a world not of your making but ours," blue agreed once again. He seemed to have very little opinion about anything, Luna noted.
"We'll be looking forward to our next visit but until then, don't you still have an opera to perform? Now we shall be on our way. Let us depart Thorn," red beckoned. He and his companion soon left the room, and just as the closed the door did Celes break down into a fit of tears resting her head against the table. Had she not done this, she wouldn't have seen a miniature humanoid looking at her from behind her jewellery box, and she wouldn't have fallen backwards in her seat in surprise.
Luna winced but having been spotted decided to come out. "Are you alright down there?" she asked in concern.
"Absolutely marvellous," Celes replied sitting back up. "Who exactly are you? Better question, why am I talking to a tadpole that looks human and can talk back to me?"
"That's… a good question. One moment…" Luna said taking out a mushroom and biting on it before jumping off the table. She landed on the floor with her body back to normal size. Celes grew open-eyed at this transformation watching as Luna picked the chair up and put it back in its rightful position. "I'm Luna. It's an honor to meet you Celes but now is not the time for that is it? What was that all about? Actually, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Celes stood up and sat back on the chair, taking out a tissue from the box and using it to wipe her face. "Don't I at least have a right to know what you were doing here and why you were like that? You're not a stalker, are you?"
"Huh? No, I just… the Turm des Himmels. You've been there a few times, haven't you?" Luna asked.
Celes froze for a temporary second before continuing to wipe her face. "You have an interest in the place?"
"I suppose you can say I've had a bit of a bad history with the place. Now it's your turn." Luna walked over to the wall and leaned against it, turning as she did so in time to notice Celes looking at her hands again. So she had definitely experienced something, if not exactly like Luna, then very similar, and whatever it had been had been enough for her to become so easily influenced by the two jesters.
"Zorn and Thorn. The two are literally a thorn in my behind. They… just wanted to collect some money." She finished in an unusual tone. It seemed obviously forced to Luna, and a complete lie.
"Are you sure that's all it was?" Luna interrogated tilting her head. "Because from what I saw and the way you are now, it seemed to be something more troubling."
"I don't know, is it? Do you need to pry into my personal business?" Celes snapped before putting the tissue down. "Sorry. I just, would rather you not get involved."
"Try me." Luna left the wall and put both her hands on the table looking directly into Celes' eyes. "I'm already involved."
Celes bit her lip pondering something for a while before looking back at Luna. "Can you keep a secret?" When Luna nodded, Celes nodded back (although clearly unsure as to whether she was doing the right thing) and said, "It's as they say. I sold my soul to the devil. My whole career, what I am today, what people know me by… it's all just a fancy cover for a person who used to feel non-existent. They gave me a life, an identity, and I play out my part remarkably like the actress that I am. It's easy to hide behind a mask when you're not proud of the person behind it. I just keep on doing things for them in the background and in return, I get to smile and keep up this deception.
"When I talk about them I don't mean Zorn and Thorn of course. They're just a small part of something much larger. Alexander used to be different. It's known as the city of dreams for a reason. Nowadays they give you dreams but can take them away just as easily leaving you in a debt that can never be paid. They own you until the day you die, but they've killed you long before that. And you've co-conspired to it." Celes appeared thoughtful after this before shaking her head. "I'm not sure why I told you that? There's just something about you, like I could trust you."
"And you can," Luna promised. "I feel the same way. Maybe because we're in a similar situation. We're both struggling to find out who we are. Tell me, is there any way into the tower? I feel like whatever answer it is I need to find is in there but I need your help."
"You need a pass to access the building otherwise the guards won't let you in. Not sure what you'll find though. I've only ever been in there for an errand or two,"
"Such as?"
"Packages mostly. I've never looked in them to find out what they were. One of the more recent things I delivered though was extremely weird."
"Weird? In what way?" Luna asked.
"It was a mirror. Zorn and Thorn specifically came to me and asked me to deliver it, which is something they never usually do," Celes explained.
"A mirror? What's so important about a mirror that they'd have you- Oh…" Luna turned around and let out a silent "What?" before turning back. The only mirror she could think of that would be worth anything was the magic mirror that she, Sora, Donald and Goofy had come across while trying to save Yeul. It had also been the one Maleficent had used to trap the King in.
"Do you know something?" Celes enquired eccentrically.
"Maybe, I'm not sure yet," Luna answered slowly.
Celes nodded and lowered whatever hopes she may have had. Her eyes fell on the clock for the first time since coming into the room and she jumped up from her seat. "Oh no, I need to hurry or I'll be late for my performance. How do I look?"
"Like an absolute mess," said Luna honestly.
Celes smiled at this. "Well, what they'll see is what they'll get. I'm sorry about this, maybe we can talk later? You still have yet to tell me how you became so small," she said digging into her handbag and retrieving a scrap piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled her address quickly on the paper before handing it to Luna.
"The world's a pretty big place. It's only natural to feel small in it," Luna offered with a mischievous grin. Celes laughed before giving a final nod, opening the door and hurrying outside. Luna made her own way out and closed the door before searching around for Sora and Astra. A whistle from her left soon found her heading in that direction and meeting up with the two around the corner.
"I'm afraid to even ask so just go on right ahead," Astra said.
"No need to worry, I got something. It's not exactly what I was after but I think I've made a new friend," Luna said while keeping an eye on the corridor to make sure it was clear. She quickly relayed what she had overheard between the Celes, Zorn and Thorn as well as her own conversation. By the end of it Astra seemed absolutely baffled by the whole thing and Sora had a look of worry etched on his face, his lips slightly parted in thought. She ended off by showing them the address Celes had given her. "Don't tell me you guys don't have anything to say. How about a 'well done Luna' or a 'you're the best' though maybe the latter is overdoing it a tad."
"You know what I want to say to you. I thought your obsession with this tower was enough and then you tell me that even the most famous people in Alexander are involved somehow? How far does it go? Do I even want to know? How far are you willing to go for that matter?" Astra complained.
"Until I find out what I want to know."
"And what is that exactly?"
"I… don't know yet," Luna admitted. "But that's what I'm trying to find out. Eleftheria is right. There is something about that tower that I haven't figured out yet, both Sora and I know it. That story she told us about people who could see into the future and Yeul dying within it, it can't be a coincidence."
"Why can't it be a coincidence Sea Salt? Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, you remember that?" Astra asked.
"In any case," Sora interrupted loudly before a full argument could break out. "I think we should get some rest for today. We've gathered a decent amount of information and we can think about it tomorrow."
"I agree," Luna said glad that Sora had intervened. She was also hoping Astra could cool her head overnight. "You don't mind us staying at your house, do you?"
"Be my guest. It's pretty lonely being the only one in the house anyway," Astra answered although her eyes continued to avoid Luna's from then until the moment they reached the front lawn of her house.
