So I've returned for now. I don't know how long this is going to last, but I'm motivated again. Fanfiction has done so much for me lately. A certain someone knows what I'm talking about. People find love in the strangest places…
But here's a new chapter for all those people I haven't fallen in love with.
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Chapter 5
Favors
"What the hell do you mean you don't know how to leave?"
Seifer and Kairi sat on the steps in front of the train station, just barely covered by the shadow of the clock tower. Seifer stared unbelievingly at the red-headed girl.
"You got here, right? So just do the same thing you did to leave your planet."
Kairi sighed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes and rolling her head to look back at Seifer.
"I told you, it wasn't something I can just do again."
Seifer's jaw dropped. She couldn't be serious. This couldn't happen to him.
"But…but I just had that dramatic parting with Rai!" Seifer clutched his head and flopped onto his back. "There's no way I can see him again after that! It would ruin the whole thing!" He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. "I was so cool…if we don't get out of here today…all of that goes down the drain," he whined.
Kairi looked at her new partner, lying flat against the steps and moaning in anguish, and giggled. Seifer's eyes shot open and he sat up again.
"It's not funny, I've got a rep, and this could totally screw it up."
"I'm sorry," Kairi stifled a final titter. "It's just…no one I know cares so much about being 'cool.' It's just kinda weird to see."
Seifer frowned and changed the subject. "So how exactly are we gonna get outta here? I don't want to stick around any longer. Those heartless might show up again, and I don't want them running amok in my town." He pointed a finger at Kairi. "This was your idea, princess. So why don't you take some responsibility and get us out of here?"
"My name is Kairi," Kairi muttered. The girl frowned and looked up at the clock situated high above their heads. She didn't know how to explain it any more clearly than she already had. She couldn't blame Seifer for feeling upset…or even for not believing her. It was a pretty crazy story after all.
Some guy in a black cloak showed up, and then a dog appeared and led me into a portal of darkness that transported me here.
Kairi shook her head, smiling softly to herself. It really did sound crazy.
Seifer watched the girl smile and sighed in exasperation.
"Alright, listen up."
Kairi turned to listen.
"You sound like you're crazy, but those heartless things were definitely real. So…let's assume some wonder-pup led you here through some dark portal thing." Seifer paused to let the absurdity of the idea sit for a moment. "How did that portal even open up?" Seifer sneered. "I doubt the dog did it."
Kairi glared at Seifer. He didn't need to make fun of her like that. "Well obviously it wasn't the dog." Rolling her eyes, she leaned back and looked up at the sky. It wasn't that different than the sky back in Destiny Islands. Almost exactly the same, though she could imagine that the stars might look a good deal different.
"That guy, Axel," Kairi began slowly. Seifer kicked at the dirt but kept an ear open. "He came out of one of the portals…like he had made it himself." Seifer nodded and remained silent, hoping she would get to the point. "And then, after me and the dog had been wandering around in that place, I saw a light, so I went to it and…"
Her voice trailed off as her memory hit a roadblock. She was missing something important, and she knew it. Seifer knew it too.
"Are you serious?" he said in exasperation. "You forgot what happened next? What did you see? Come on, Princess. You can do better than that, can't you?"
Kairi frowned, though not at Seifer's commentary. Her forgetfulness upset her more than her new companion's words. Not long ago at all, she had remembered that she had forgotten Sora. What else could she be missing now? She willed herself to remember, to try and remember what she had seen in the light.
"There was…" her voice was painfully slow. Seifer stopped complaining and listened intently. "There was someone there…in black."
Seifer snorted audibly. Kairi ignored him.
"The same outfit as Axel!" she finished proudly.
Seifer looked at the girl for a moment, mulling the new information over in his head. To begin with, it all sounded ridiculous, but he was willing to look past that for a moment. Two people in the same outfit, both of them involved with the portals somehow.
"So if you're wearing a black leather trench coat, you can open pathways in space and time?"
Kairi glared at him again. "Why do you have to be like-"
"Alright," Seifer interrupted her. "Here's what I'm thinkin'." He pushed himself to his feet and brushed the back of his coat. "This guy Axel was gonna abduct you, right?"
Kairi, though upset about being insulted and then cut off, nodded icily. Seifer smiled a condescending smile and began to pace back and forth.
"Right, and all of a sudden, this new portal opens up, so you and your pet run through, wander around in nowhere, then you see a new guy, and suddenly you're in my town." He stopped and looked back down at Kairi. "Am I getting this right?"
"The dog isn't my pet…" Kairi mumbled.
"So, guys in leather can make portals, it seems."
Kairi stood up, ready to yell at Seifer, but he continued quickly.
"What if that guy you saw in the light was makin' portals for you? To escape that Axel guy and to end up here or…really anywhere Axel wasn't?"
In spite of her growing annoyance with her new companion, Kairi stopped. He had struck on something interesting. It was too convenient, the portals appearing like that. Maybe that second guy really was trying to help her. But who would do that for her? Sora and Riku certainly, but it didn't really look like either of them. Too tall. She hadn't been able to see a face…
Seifer watched Kairi contemplate the new developments. It was clear that he had struck some said something right. Or at least close. He grinned. He really was too smart for his own good.
"So if this guy is helping you out, whoever he is," Seifer said with an arrogant and condescending tone. "Just call him up and tell him to send us somewhere else." He sat down proudly.
Kairi looked down at Seifer with a frown. "I didn't call him before though…the portals just…" she trailed off as she realized that Seifer was being sarcastic. She crossed her arms and sat down with an irritated noise.
Seifer smirked. After a few moments, Kairi sighed and turned back to Seifer.
"Seriously though, I don't even know who that guy was," she said, shaking her head. "I couldn't call him if I wanted to."
Seifer was put off by how fast she had shrugged off his sarcasm. He recovered quickly though.
"Alright," he said in a very business-like tone. "So here's what we've got. Some guy named Axel is following you, trying to catch you. This guy can make portals or something. There's someone else in the same outfit that can do it too, but he's on your side…we think."
Kairi watched him carefully. This was the first time he had really been serious since they left Rai in the tram common. It was such a stark contrast, Kairi wondered if he could really be one person.
"We really have no way to get off the world unless we get into one of those portals." The gears in Seifer's head were spinning now, piecing information together like so many puzzle pieces. "And we can't get your hero to come save you…" Seifer leaned back and propped himself up on his elbows triumphantly. He had figured it out.
"So we just wait for Axel to show up and hitch a ride in one of his portals."
Kairi blinked and her jaw dropped.
"That's your plan?" she sputtered. "Wait for the guy trying to kidnap me to come and then ask to use his portal?" She couldn't believe it. It was…well it was stupid. "That's crazy!"
Seifer sighed and looked at Kairi, raising an eyebrow. "Crazy?" He laughed. "Nah, it isn't crazy. Axel'll show up, I'll distract him while you slip into the portal and I'll jump in behind you."
Kairi blinked again. It still sounded crazy to her. "What do you mean by 'distract' him?"
Seifer reached to the side and picked up the shiny black blade. He held it up to the sun, which was nearly overhead by now. It glinted dangerously in the light.
"I'll fight him," he said simply. "At best, maybe I'll be able to get rid of the guy."
"Yeah, and at worst, you'll die and I'll get captured."
Seifer scowled. "Would you trust Sora, or Riku to distract him?" he said with venom in his voice.
Kairi was so taken aback by the change in Seifer's speech that she jumped. "W-well…" she stammered before she took a deep breath. "I guess I would trust them. If they promised to be safe." What was it about Sora and Riku that upset Seifer so much?
"Figures." Seifer glowered down at the steps where he sat. He knew he could handle it. He was sure of that. He was strong enough to handle himself. He looked up at Kairi again and sighed. "Well if you can come up with a better idea, let me know."
Kairi couldn't. She really had no idea how they were supposed to get anywhere at this rate. She wasn't even sure how she had gotten here, to be honest. She wondered briefly if it was all some sort of dream.
Seifer watched her in silence for a moment and then smiled. "That settles it," he said matter-of-factly. "My plan's the only one we've got so…we'll have to follow through on that."
"That would be unwise."
A deep, gruff voice sounded from behind Seifer and Kairi. In a flash, Seifer was up, turning around and readying his blade. Kairi was slower, and struggled to her feet after a moment. They both looked to the origin of the voice.
The speaker stood atop the steps leading to the train station. He appeared to be an elderly man, though it was difficult to tell. His face was covered in red bandages with holes for his mouth and one of his eyes which glowed orange. He stood very straight, with posture so tight that Seifer's back hurt. A blood red cloak billowed out behind him in the slight breeze that ran through the square.
"Figures that the day I quit the disciplinary committee, the town gets overrun with visitors that need to be put in their place," Seifer said with a wry laugh. He straightened up and pointed his sword at the man. "Who're you?"
The man was silent for a moment and then a smile split across his lips.
"It seems I had a very good handle on your personality," he said with a small laugh. "I really outdid myself."
Seifer raised an eyebrow. What was he talking about?
"You're almost impossible to distinguish from the program." The man shook his head. "It's nice for an old man to be able to take some pride in his work."
"I asked you who you were," Seifer said menacingly. The old man chuckled again and looked down toward Seifer.
"Is it a name you want?" He sighed. "I suppose you can call me DiZ, though anything you come up with is fine."
Kairi was watching the man carefully. She noticed that when he spoke of names, his one eye softened and his voice grew remorseful. The sadness in his voice was palpable to Kairi, and she felt something catch in her throat for a moment.
"Alright, DiZ," Seifer said, spitting the name back at the man. "What are you doing in Twilight Town, where'd you come from?"
DiZ remained silent for another moment and then looked up at the sky. The sun was now directly over head. Seifer and Kairi's shadows pooled by their feet like blobs of darkness. Seifer thought for a moment that the man standing on the steps had no shadow at all, but he dismissed the notion. His robe was probably just covering it up.
"I'm here by the request of someone I know," he said slowly. "A favor, of sorts. I certainly owe him one…" His one eye turned and looked directly at Kairi.
"I'm supposed to get you somewhere safe."