No Safe Haven

Chapter 2

You can hide in the darkest corners

Run far until you tire

But the darkness will always catch up to you

And envelope the light until there is no fire

They hopped off the train, and Sora and Riku looked around. This was probably the first time they actually looked at Twilight Town without battling Heartless or Nobodies, and it looked amazing. The sun was beginning to set, casting a bright yellow and orange glow across the graffiti'ed walls in front of them as the last remaining rays struggled to get through. The shadows of the passersby danced along the colors, adding a little more life to the spray-painted art. Roxas nodded at them, and began walking out of the train station. Sora and Riku ran and caught up to him.

"You guys will be staying at my place," the blonde pointed out. "Are you guys okay with that?"

"It'd save us a lot of trouble," Riku said.

"Yeah, thanks Roxas!"

Roxas nodded. He lead them through the crowds of people, trying not to lose the two Islanders in the mad evening rush. They managed to make it out of the train station in one piece, and once they were on the streets, the blonde began walking again. Sora took the city in as he walked, making sure to memorize any detail and every building. He and Riku would probably be staying there for a while, so Kairi had suggested that he learn his way around.

"You don't want to get lost there," She had said as the three Keyblade Wielders had gotten the train. "It's better to know where you are at all times, in case you guys get attacked."

The brunet looked around. There didn't seem to be any heartless, or those Grieve things King Mickey had mentioned in his letter? Maybe they come out at night? The sun was setting… Maybe they would attack the trio right when the sun disappeared! Sora put himself on alert; he was determined not to get caught off guard.

"This place hasn't changed a bit," Riku said.

"Nope, everything's stayed the same," Roxas said, smiling. "I love this place."

"You going to school here?" Sora piped in.

"Yeah, Twilight High. You know, to seem normal."

"Makes sense."

The three walked in silence. A group of kids ran past them, screaming. Sora glanced at them. They seemed to be running away from something; at first, he thought that they were playing tag, but then he saw the look of fear on the kid's faces.

"Guys," he said.

Roxas and Riku turned. They heard footsteps, and they all saw it. A tall, black figure was running towards them, claws outstretched, a wide, sinister grin on its face. It had no eyes, no nose, just two pointed ears on the side of its head and a slight resemblance to a human. There was a mark on its chest; it almost looked like a clock. Sora's eyes widened, and out of instinct, he summoned his keyblade. The black monster seemed to stop for a few seconds, as if hesitant to go on. Roxas and Riku took this as an opportunity to summon their Keyblades.

"Is this one of those Grieves?" Riku asked.

"I think it is," Roxas replied before lunging.

He slashed at the Grieve, but the monster jumped back. It skidded a bit before regaining its composer, and attacking. Roxas parried against its long claws, trying to find an opening to attack, but with eight giant claws against his two keyblades, all he could do was defend himself. He felt a burning sensation burst in his arm, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance when he felt something warm trickling down his skin. Riku ran up behind the Grieve and jumped on it, slashing randomly at it's back and neck, looking for its weak spot. The Grieve clawed at its back, and Riku had to jump back down to save himself. Sora ran up, pushing Roxas out of the way of the Grieve's claws and stabbed it's chest, right where the heart would be. There was a blinding light, and the three covered their eyes. When the light died down, the Grieve was gone.

In its place, was a small, silver, barely ticking clock.

Sora picked it up, examining it. It looked like a smaller version of the pocket watch he had; although this one was cracked, and it had stopped ticking. Roxas and Riku walked up to him.

"What is that?" Riku asked. "Did it come from the Grieve?"

"I think this is what remains of the bodies it takes over. The Grieve possesses the body, and the soul of the person is locked inside this tiny clock," Roxas said.

"Wait, so you mean someone's soul is inside this thing?!" Sora exclaimed.

"I think it is…We should get this back to King Mickey. He should know how to release the soul, right?"

"We'll find a way to get it back tomorrow. They could be attracted to humans, and I don't feel like having my soul sucked into a tiny clock. Let's go."

The three ran towards Roxas' house. They didn't encounter any Grieves on the way, just a few Heartless, but they made quick work of them. The blonde lead his friends into a tall apartment building. Sora noticed that it was next to the big clock tower and a small bakery, and tried to memorize its position before following his friends inside. They were greeted by an old woman as they walked up the stairs, and Sora offered her a smile as she hobbled down. They reached the third floor, where Roxas' apartment was.

"It's this one, right here," the duo-keyblade wielder said, pulling out his keys. He unlocked the door and was about to go inside when he noticed someone coming out of the apartment next to him. "Oh, Ri."

Sora and Riku looked up. There was a short, skinny kid standing a few feet away from him. Sora's eyes widened. Short, messy black hair, a pale face; it was the kid from the night before! He still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, the kid's bangs slightly covered their eyes. They had on big, thick framed glasses, and they wore an oversized jacket, a black beanie, shorts and boots. The kid looked up.

"Roxas…Hi…" they murmured.

"Where are…you going out so late?" Roxas asked.

"Just…walk around I guess…"

"Be careful, Ri."

"I'll be fine…"

The kid walked past them. Sora felt like saying, "Wait!" but he refrained himself from doing it. What if he freaked the kid out? He watched the kid go down the stairs before turning back to his friends and walking inside the apartment.

"Who was that, Roxas?" Riku asked, sitting down on the couch.

The brunet was grateful that the silveret was there.

"I think her name's Ritsu. She moved into the apartment next to me a few months ago, and I think she's in a few of my classes," Roxas replied. "I don't really know much about her. She's really quiet and she hates talking to people. People at school call her a witch and things like that."

"That was a girl?!" Sora asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. I don't blame you for thinking that she was a boy, I thought she was one too when I saw her for the first time! But I'm pretty sure she's 100% girl."

"That's crazy."

"Yup," the blonde nodded. "You guys want something to eat or are you just going to knock out on the couch?"

Sora sat down on the other couch. "Think I'm gonna knock out right now."

"Okay. If you wake up in the middle of the night, you can take something from the fridge. Just don't touch the nachos, they're mine," the blonde turned off the lights. "Night, guys."

Sora slipped off his shoes and shed his jacket, squirming to make himself comfortable. He heard Riku yawn, and a few seconds later, he heard snoring. The brunet turned onto his side, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

The feeling of something hard being repeatedly smacked against his face woke Sora. He sat up, only to have another mouthful of a pillow shoved into his face. He heard Riku let out a laugh, before he took another pillow and hit him again. Sora groaned and took the pillow, tossing it back into his friend's face. He stood up, yawning, and cracked his neck.

"Look who finally woke up," Riku joked.

"C'mon, I'm not used to waking up early," Sora said. "It can't be that late. Look, it's only-" He glanced towards he clock. "3:10…"

"Swear, if Kairi was here she would kill you."

"But she isn't, so I'm safe."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, but it was soon interrupted by a loud, growling noise. Riku burst out laughing, and Sora threw a pillow at his best friend.

"Not funny, man, I'm starving," the brunet said.

"No food in the fridge. Roxas lied, all he had was water and some left over pizza," Riku stated, trying to calm himself down. "We ate that pizza for breakfast, by the way."

"Aww man!"

"We could go out and buy something to eat, things here can't be that expensive. I have a few Munny, we could get something from the convenience store across the street."

"Sounds awesome. Let's go."

The two slipped their shoes on, and headed out of the apartment. They stepped onto the streets, and made their way over to the convenience store. It was, however, closed. Sora glared at the big red sign in front of him.

"That idea's out," he muttered.

"That bakery is open?" Riku suggested.

Sora's stomach growled again. "Let's try it."

They walked across the street again, and headed inside the bakery. The little bell jingled when they stepped into the building, and the sweet aroma wafted into their noses. Sora's mouth watered at the thought of food, and he looked at Riku, putting on his best puppy dog eyes. The silver-haired teen sighed and put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh crap."

"What?" Sora asked.

"I think I wasted my Munny on the train ticket…I forgot…" Riku said slowly. "Sorry dude…"

"I'm going to die…"

Suddenly, a bag was shoved between both of their faces. They both jumped, and looked at the kid in front of them. It was the girl (they still couldn't believe she was a girl), Ritsu, the one Roxas told them about yesterday. Sora glanced at the bag almost suspiciously, but all suspicion was gone when he smelled bread inside. He hesitantly took the bag.

"For us?" He asked.

"Yeah…" She muttered. "You guys looked like…you were about to die.."

"I'm not that hungry," Riku said cooly.

"Guess you wouldn't mind me eating all of this then," Sora stated.

"I would kill you if you did and have no regrets."

Sora ignored him. "Well, thank you anyways, um.."

"Just call her Witch. That's what everyone calls her."

Riku and Sora looked towards the source of the voice. There stood a familiar blonde face, with two people flanked by his side.

Seifer, Rai, and Fuu, Sora thought. These guys never give people a break.

"I mean, you can call her Warlock too. She looks like a dude," Seifer snickered. "Maybe we should check. Rai."

The tall raven walked over to Ritsu, picking her up by the collar. The girl didn't even bother struggling, just hanging there.

"Just hanging?" Fuu asked. "Girl weak."

"Seifer, let her go," Riku said.

"Or what?" The blonde asked.

"Just do it," Sora said.

Rai looked towards Seifer, who just rolled his eyes. The taller bully dropped Ritsu, and she fell to the floor. Sora knelt down, checking if she was okay, and helped her up. Seifer clicked his tongue. "C'mon, Rai, Fuu," He walked out of the bakery, and the two followed.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked.

"This happens all the time…" Ritsu replied, fixing her glasses. "Don't worry…I'll get them back…" She whispered the last part, but Sora heard. "I better go…"

Riku glanced at her as she walked out of the bakery. "There's something off about her."

"I feel bad for her," Sora said.

"We have to keep on eye on her. I feel like she's hiding something."

Sora looked at Ritsu. He noticed a silver chain hanging out from her sweater, and he remembered the silver watch that came from the Grieve. They definitely needed to keep an eye on her.

"But first…can we eat?"

A/N: Hello again, lovelies! I pray you enjoyed this short chapter...I really hope you did! I hope you'd be kind enough as to...give a review...? What, I really want to know what you guys think about my story! ...So...Please...?

Hehe thank you and have a very nice day~