SUPER-DUPER EXTRA SPECIAL COOLIO CHAPTER!
In This Chapter:
LARXENE AND MARLUXIA MEET ORPHEUS!
WE CHECK IN WITH LEON!
A CROSSOVER WITH TRIGUN!
ZEXION ROMANCE!
ANGST! (When isn't there?)
And
Something EVIL this way comes…
(AND HOJO GETS PUNCHED! YAY!)
Larxene and Marluxia meet Orpheus
"This place is empty."
Larxene nodded towards Marluxia, and spoke again.
"I think it's the Castle."
On the Cliffside far above the elegant garden down below was a building of dark and epic proportions. It looked as if someone had taken a castle or building and mutated it into some sort of factory or laboratory. Marluxia recognized it; shadows of flowers on the walls, statues half destroyed and caked in dust and ruin.
"This is my castle." He seethed, clenching his fists.
Yes, the castle turned scientific lab was in fact his Castle Oblivion. Somehow, someone else had acquired it while Marluxia had been away.
"Who could've known it was here?" Larxene murmured in awe and surprise.
Marluxia didn't answer, but instead stalked up to a staircase. Looking over his shoulder, he nodded for his partner to follow. Sighing, Larxene sauntered up the steps after her superior.
Claws marked the walls, like a beast had been unleashed upon the majestic castle. The lights were dim and the castle no where near resembled the gorgeous building it had once been; where 'to lose was to find and to find was to lose'.
"I can't believe this." Marluxia griped, slamming his fist into a wall as he came off the steps.
"Calm down. Let's find who did this." Larxene told him.
Sounds filled the hall, electric buzzing, and beeping. Marluxia growled slightly and stomped down the hall angrily, rushing to find the source of the noise.
Larxene rushed ahead of him, and slammed the doorway open.
The room was a laboratory, but Marluxia recognized it as the room Namine had once stayed in. It was much larger, as someone had knocked down the back walls and built on to it. One lone man stood in the room, bent over a microscope near a large super computer.
Marluxia was about to scream and run at the man, but Larxene grasped his shoulder and pulled him behind a large cabinet, which easily hid the both of them.
Peering out, Larxene saw the man spin about, as if he'd heard something, but then returned to work.
Even from a distance, this tall man looked like slime. Slick brown hair caked his head, pulled back into a ponytail, and he wore cracked half moon glasses. There was a sickening grin on his pale face.
"Hojo", a door across the way boomed open, and a tall man sauntered in. The man named Hojo faltered, fumbling nervously before turning to the other man.
This newcomer was tall, with chin length blonde hair and icy blue eyes. He looked so much like…
"Vexen?" Marluxia pondered. Then he shook his head, realizing the man was similar, but certainly not the Chilly Academic.
Behind this number four look – a – like came a young teen, a semi tall boy with black hair and brilliant blue eyes.
"Hojo, have you had any success?" The blonde implored tauntingly, standing intimidating across the room. Hojo seemed to falter, but then stuttered out an answer.
"Y – Yes, but I need more time!" He began his voice a nasty, steady drawl. "The gate is much – much more complicated than you anticipated!"
The black haired teen snorted, turning away.
The blonde began slowly making his way across the room.
"Hojo, my friend, you are skimming on melting ice. You… are running out of time." The man sneered. "I will not accept any more failures. Find the song, find the key, and find my daughter!"
The man leaned back, lifted his fist, and let it collide with Hojo's jaw. The sleazy scientist groaned and fell back, sliding against the counter.
With a laugh, the man left. Behind him, the black haired teen lingered.
"Orpheus! Hurry up!" The man's voice bellowed.
The black haired boy named Orpheus sighed deeply, yet quietly, his somber eyes scanning the room. Those eyes landed on Marluxia and Larxene.
"Orpheus!"
Orpheus made to take a step back, his wide eyes stuck on the two organization members ahead of him. He seemed to be pleading with him. But, soon enough, he was gone.
Marluxia and Larxene looked to one another. Without a word, a dark portal was summoned, and they disappeared.
We check in with Leon
He was so thirsty… light blinded him, his senses blurred as he fell between sleep and consciousness… he was so thirsty…
- A crossover with Trigun!
"Hey, scar face, come on, come back to the land of the living…"
Groaning, Leon sat up in a soft bed, confused and exhausted, and still thirsty. Joy rushed through him when he saw beside him a glass of water which he quickly chugged down.
"Don't make yourself sick", a man chuckled, sitting next to Leon's bed.
Groggily opening his eyes, Leon looked the man over.
He was sitting on a chair with the back of the chair against his chest, his legs on either side. Black hair covered his blue eyes and he was a bit unshaven. He wore a suit.
"You look like hell", the man chuckled, standing and walking over to a table. There was a tray of food, which he delivered to Leon immediately. The brunette tried to restrain himself from gobbling it down, but he was enjoying it immensely.
"What happened to you?" The man asked as Leon ate. Pausing, Squall spoke hoarsely.
"Walking in the desert. Ran out of water, collapsed." The other man nodded in understanding and chuckled.
"Happened to me once. How I met the needle noggin, actually…" Leon didn't know who "needle noggin" was, and could care less, as he was engrossed in his food and drink.
"What's your name, friend?" The man implored with a smile, leaning against the wall. Leon heard a clink and saw his fork hit the plate; there was no food left. Forcing himself not to ask for more, the man set the tray at the end of the bed.
"Squall Leonheart. I go by Leon." Leon introduced himself.
The man nodded towards the doorway. "That yours?" Leaning against the wall by the door was Leon's gunblade, and Leon nodded.
"My gunblade." Leon told the man.
Nodding, the man walked over and sat on a twin bed next to Leon's, extending his hand.
"Nicholas D. Wolfwood, traveling priest." The man smiled. Leon warily shook Nicholas' hand. "Call me Nick."
"Nick." Leon smiled his lips cracked and dry. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem. I can't tell you how much it's happened to me." Nick leaned back on the bed, smiling in remembrance. "Only recently I swear I was brought back from the dead by the most beautiful girl…"
Leon blinked. "Back from the dead?" He asked.
Nick nodded. "I'd been shot, and I was sure I was dead. Guess not, huh?" The man laughed sheepishly.
Leon leaned back into his pillow, not realizing how tired he really was. Nick smiled.
"I'm afraid this place isn't mine, but you're free to travel with me until you're better." Leon nodded, but before he could say a word, he fell asleep.
When Leon woke next, he was in a car, a blanket over his face and body, and a bottle of water beside him. Nick was beside him driving.
"Good afternoon." Nick smiled looking out into the vast desert landscape. Leon groaned and greeted his friend.
"Where are you headed?" Leon asked. Nick shrugged.
"I'm not quite sure. I'm looking for someone." Leon's eyes went wide, and he smiled kindly.
"I am, too." Leon muttered. Nick looked at the brunette out of the corner of his eye. Leon sat back up.
"What planet am I on again?" Nick laughed.
"Gunsmoke." Nick smirked. "I guess you're not from around here." Leon smirked back.
"I guess not." He taunted playfully.
Unable to fall back to sleep, Leon and his new pal Nick held a conversation for a long time. For some odd reason, the traveling priest offered to stick a wooden house on his head and have him pay for traveling confessionals. Leon declined, until he learned the money from the "Traveling Confessional" went to a group of orphans.
Still not ready to sit around with a wooden box on his head, Leon donated a good bit of munny to the cause.
Hours passed and the sun fell, and Leon offered to drive in Nick's place. The man refused, telling Leon to rest, and then set the car in park. Both went back to sleep.
On a sand dune not far off, a man in an eye patch and army uniform peered at the car with binoculars.
"What're he and Nick doing now?" A girl at his feet asked.
"You can tell Sir Integra that they aren't doing shit!" The man complained with a thick accent. The girl smacked his foot.
"Be nice, Pip. Sir Integra wants us to follow Leon for a reason." Pip sighed.
"If it weren't for your sense of smell, Seras, we'd be lost. Every night, we have to hide off till the sun goes down! We'll never stick with them!" Pip complained.
Seras just giggled and went back to typing on her laptop.
The next morning, Leon and Nick were driving again when Leon started a conversation.
"You said you'd been 'brought back from the dead' by a beautiful girl." Leon stated as if it were a question.
Nick chuckled.
"I was in darkness. Then, I saw this dark, brilliant eyes, and a pale hand reached out to mine… she said that… well, she said my girl needed me. So, I knew I had to get up. I did. When I did, the woman was standing before me, with a teenager. Told me her name was Rinoa, and then repeated that my girl needed my help. Then she was gone."
Leon gawked.
"Are you sure she said Rinoa?!" Leon implored fervently. Nick nodded.
"Sure", He told Leon. Leon shook his head sadly and turned to the sand about him.
It seems like we keep missing each other, Leon thought. But I'll find you, I promise.
Zexion Romance!
It was a dark and cold room, and the only sound was that of computer keys clicking away, in a hurried rush. But, they would pause, and then begin again.
A chuckle came from the typist, and then he typed again.
Zexion read over the AIM that had just been sent to him. He was instant messaging a few friends – one, Luxord in The Never World, and then Rikku and Paine at Twilight Town. The two girls were sharing Rikku's AIM, since Paine neglected the internet most often.
AlBhEdBaby: Hey, 6! Paine & me wanna kno bout the situation…
gamblerofate: Situation? What situation would this be?
EmoIsMyName-O: Nothin… glare
AlBhEdBaby: & wht's w/ that sn? giggle
EmoIsMyName-O: groan Demyx did it, he set up my sn and I don't know how to change it… grrr
gamblerofate: What sort of mental strain were you under when you ALLOWED number nine to assist you?
EmoIsMyName-O: A Freudian strain.
AlBhEdBaby: LOL LAWL!!
AlBhEdBaby: n e ways… WAT'S THE SITUATION?
EmoIsMyName-O: NOTHING!!!!!
gamblerofate: I'll bet my spare change he cracks.
AlBhEdBaby: LAWL
DEaThtisteBeGiNNiNG has signed on
EmoIsMyName-O: SQUEAL!!!!!!!!!!
gamblerofate: … I didn't mean THAT cracked.
AlBhEdBaby: LOL Naw, that's just a fangirl squeal. His bf just signed on.
gamblerofate: … bf?
AlBhEdBaby: giggle
gamblerofate: Well, I won that bet.
AlBhEdBaby: Huh?
gamblerofate: snicker BRB
AlBhEdBaby: Hey, DEaTH! Paine and Rikku say hello
DEaThtisteBeGiNNiNG: helo
EmoIsMyName-O: Hey.
DEaThtisteBeGiNNiNG: Well, helo thar!
EmoIsMyName-O: WTF?
AlBhEdBaby: LOL
gamblerofate: Okay, I'm back.
DEaThtisteBeGiNNiNG???
gamblerofate: I simply had to collect my winnings from Saix. You see, we were betting on Zexion's... manliness.
DEaThtisteBeGiNNiNG: LAWL
EmoIsMyName-O: --U
DEaThtisteBeGiNNiNG: Hey, Zexy, wanna go 2 da movies?
EmoIsMyName-O: HELL YAH!
AlBhEdBaby: Paine thinks Zexy's lost it…
Zexion smirked at the screen, always enjoying the internet for its ability to portray the personality in a different light. On the net, his "hyper" moods always came about.
Especially when it came to him…
Zexion flushed.
The next morning was dark, rainy, and dreary. The black haired man stood outside the move theater in Twilight Town. Rain never bothered Orpheus.
Down the road, a blue haired teen approached.
"Ready?" Orpheus greeted as the teen walked under the overhang. The boy removed his hood.
"Yes." Zexion nodded a smirked on his lips.
The movie was a scary one, a killer filled horror fest of hilarity. Yes, number six was actually laughing at the death scenes as if he were viewing a romantic comedy. Ironically enough, so was Orpheus.
As a serial killer rounded up victim after victim, the two roared in laughter, getting stares and glares from around the room.
"Hello? Steven? Steven!" Sarah cried desperately.
"You idiot. Steven died an hour ago." Zexion preached. Orpheus nodded in agreement, his feet on the back of the chair ahead of him.
"Twit." Orpheus sighed.
"Steven!" Sarah rushed into his arms, but if only she'd seen the knife behind his back…
"Oh, that had to hurt!" Orpheus roared as blood gushed from the woman's lower abdomen, and she screamed. Then, the killer dragged the knife further down, blood gushing.
"Look at her! Look at her eyes! Oh, how could you, my LOVE!! HAHAHA!!!" Zexion rolled in his seat.
Orpheus glanced towards the man, eyes glittering.
"Well, what would you do if you'd thought I had stabbed you? If I had betrayed you?" He asked quietly, desperately almost. Zexion immediately stopped laughing, and turned to look to the man. His voice seemed somber… sincere.
"Why ask such a…?"
"Please, answer." Orpheus repeated. Sighing, Zexion nodded.
"Yeah, I'd have those eyes." Orpheus' eyes grew lighter.
"So you LOVE me, do you?" He taunted, putting his head in the other man's lap. Zexion looked panicky.
"No matter what, I love you, Steven…" Sarah gasped in painful sobs…
"What about that? Would you forgive me?" Orpheus continued with a playful tone of voice. Zexion pondered.
"Well… I don't know. Depends… I guess it's not impossible… improbable…" As Zexion spoke, his eyes closed, Orpheus lifted up.
Zexion opened his eyes and jumped at the nearness of Orpheus' face. The man laughed.
Hours later, the two stumbled from the movie theater, laughing heavily.
"Did you… DID YOU SEE THE LOOK ON HER FACE?!?" Zexion roared, amused greatly. Orpheus smirked.
"That was great. Not to mention the 'amazing' amounts of blood and unlikely deaths. Those were cool." Zexion rolled his eyes playfully.
"I'm the scientist, and yet you are the one analizing everything." Orpheus laughed.
"So, that was what? Our fourth date? Fifth?" Orpheus implored, putting his arm around Zexion.
"Third." Zexion corrected with a dull tone.
"Well, then! You know what they say about the third date…" Orpheus giggled. Confused, Zexion looked at the man.
"Your place or mine?"
SMACK "ORPHEUS!!!!!!"
As Orpheus laughed at Zexion's reaction, a voice in the back of his mind pondered. A calm, deep, brooding voice thought quietly…
//This is what I want more than anything//
//And maybe he wants it too, wants it enough to forgive//
Angst!
The cliff was as cold as usual. It always had been. It just seemed colder now that his mother was buried upon it.
Riku scowled at the gravestone sadly, letting his hand flutter across it as if the touch could reach his mother. A small bouquet of flowers was in Riku's left hand.
"I know its not much, mother, but I also know you love flowers. And, today's your birthday, so I thought… hey? Why not?" The boy chuckled darkly, letting the flowers sit upon the grave. A single petal from one of the roses blew away into the air, floating upon the breezes and down to the beach.
Riku sat down, still staring at the grave intently.
"I know I made plenty of mistakes. Almost forsook humanity. Fell into darkness, killed, destroyed…" Again, the boy chuckled darkly, his silver hair falling into his eyes.
"Yet it seems as if I am the only one still brooding of it. Even Ansem, that bastard, has no memory of the past. Even him, the one who almost destroyed me!" Frustrated, Riku punched the earth below him, not a single tear threatening his eyes. He wouldn't allow it.
Well… perhaps for his mother… A tear fell down his cheek.
Touching the flowers one last time, Riku stood and looked down at his mother's grave.
"I never meant to leave you alone. I just wanted… something greater…" As he turned and stepped down the hill, Riku didn't bother asking it aloud; but the question seemed to float in the air, so plainly seen as the leaves on the palm trees.
Will you forgive me?
Stumbling darkly down the road into the town, Riku stared at the ground. He didn't notice the person sitting on the front porch of the house, staring at the ground as intently as he was. But the person noticed him.
"Hey", Riku turned to the somber voice. It was Roxas. Riku looked at him quietly.
"Why'd you attack the mansion?" Riku implored. Roxas shrugged nonchalantly.
There was silence for a moment. The screen door of the house blew open and then closed quite softly. Riku leaned against the doorframe.
"… It was the embodiment of everything my life was. What I don't want my life to be." Roxas explained sourly. Riku smirked.
"I know how you feel. It's odd, how we met on that battle field, two beings so alike…" Roxas smirked at Riku's thought.
"Yeah. Kinda… weird." Roxas chuckled a bit.
"What will you do now?" Riku implored. Roxas shrugged.
"I went to Twilight Town get answers. My answers only brought up more questions. Who knows… maybe I'll go off, just jump from planet to planet… for a while…" Roxas dragged on, unsure. Riku nodded, turning back to the house.
"If you happen to do that, just remember…" Roxas looked over his shoulder to Riku. "We are waiting for you, here." Roxas smiled.
"Of course I won't forget."
Inside the house, Riku passed Ansem, Tsuki, and Aisu without word. You see, the group was having a sleep over at Sora's house, so everyone was crowding around. Namine and Kairi stepped in the front porch, only for Namine to look back, and then step back outside.
"Hey, guys! Where's Sora?" Kairi implored happily.
Riku smiled, and walked up the stairs.
"Hey, Mrs. Yuuchou." Riku greeted as Sora's mom stepped down the stairs. Suddenly, Riku was taken into a bone crushing hug.
"Hey Riku!" Mrs. Yuuchou squealed happily. Twitching, Riku silently suffocated.
"Mom! Don't kill him!" A laughing voice told her. Yuuchou Seidou and Komyou Riku both turned to see Sora standing at the top of the stairs. The two boy's eyes met, and shared a silent conversation.
"Hey, mom, can Riku and I talk alone for a sec?" He asked. Smiling serenely, Mrs. Yuuchou nodded and walked off, after shuffling Riku's hair, of course.
Chuckling playfully, Riku ran up the stairs and regained his serious tone.
In the moonlight I felt your heart
Riku and Sora quietly strode from the hallway and into Sora's messy room. Riku looked around in disgust.
"Where are the walls? And the floor!" Riku proclaimed sarcastically, looking at his feet as if they might not be standing on anything beneath the clothes and paper and mess.
"Ha ha, very funny." Sora retorted dryly. Riku chuckled and walked over, collapsing onto Sora's bed. Facing the ceiling, Riku's calm face took on a dreamy look, like it always did when he was thinking deeply.
Smiling kindly, Sora collapsed next to his friend, arms behind his head.
Silence drifted in. It was broken swiftly.
"Hey, Riku?" Sora asked, examining the marks on the ceiling. Riku grunted quietly. "What do you think would be different right now… if we'd never been separated? If you, and Kairi, and me, hadn't been split."
Riku sighed, and gave a half hearted answer to a question he pondered quite often.
"I don't know."
Quiver like a bow string's pulse
"Well, I think I know." Sora responded knowingly.
Riku snorted. "Then why'd you ask?" Sora just continued as if he'd never been interrupted.
"I don't think Namine and Roxas would be here. And we might not have met Auron, and maybe Cloud wouldn't have been at the Coliseum and we'd have met him later, instead…"
"So, things would be different. What are you getting at?" Riku interrupted him, exasperated.
In the moon's pale light, you looked at me
"Things would be different. Had I been different." Riku added with a dark tone. Not sad, but indifferent. Had Sora looked in the boy's eyes, there he would have found sadness.
Sora laughed. Shocked, Riku sat up on his elbows and looked down at the boy.
"Sorry, Riku." Sora told him sheepishly. "I just can't picture you any other way." Riku lifted an eyebrow, as if to say… "What the hell?"
Sighing, Riku sat back down on the bed.
"So, what was that conversation about?" Riku broke the silence again. Sora shrugged.
"I just thought that maybe your darkness wasn't a mistake." Riku's eyes went wide.
"Oh." That was all he could say. For once he was speechless, and Sora cracked up as usual.
Nobody knows your heart
When the sun has gone, I see you
Beautiful and haunting, but cold
Like the blade of a knife, so sharp, so sweet
Nobody knows your heart
Riku sat up, floating seemingly on the edge of the bed. Sora sat up too, bursting with energy, but calmed for the moment.
"So, what did you wanna talk about?" Sora asked him, handing him the reins. Glancing at the boy beside him, Riku sighed.
"I had thought too, for a while after, that perhaps my mistake was not. But, I still feel lost in darkness. My mother's death has reopened wounds I had healed." Sora's eyes grew grim and sad, but he remained strong. Riku looked up and met those grim, strong eyes with his own.
"I want to find my father."
Kairi ran to the bottom of the stairs. "Boys! Come on! Dinner!" No answer came to her ears. Confused and curious, Kairi began slowly stepping up the stairs.
"Boys?"
Roxas sat quietly, staring intently at the ground. The entire time that Namine had sat beside him, they both sat in silence. That silence seemed to embody the feelings welling up inside both of them, the two with no hearts beating as one.
In truth, Roxas felt a heart beating inside him now. Somehow, his rage and his pain had awakened inside him the lost heart he'd had with Sora. But unlike the others, his heart did not feel strong. It felt burdened and hopeless.
Namine now had a heart as well. Roxas could feel it shimmering beneath her ethereal skin, humming quietly in the recesses of Namine's soul. There were no words needed and no words in existence that could describe the feeling Roxas felt near her, his bleeding heart within him, her gracious heart beside him.
All of your sorrow, grief, and pain
Namine scooted a bit closer to Roxas, leaning her head against his shoulder. And he relished in the feeling. Not a word was spoken, but total understanding passed from one to the other without even looking into the others eyes.
Slowly, awkwardly, unsurely, Roxas lifted his arm and placed it on Namine's waist. The girl snuggled into his chest, still not making a sound.
As her head rested on his shoulder, she looked up at him, her glimmering, soft eyes imploring him to say something. Roxas could not find something to say.
Locked away in the forest of the night
Sighing, Namine sat very still. The cold winds caressed both of them as Roxas lost himself in the feeling of Namine in his arms and his own thoughts.
What was he to do?
Where was he to go?
Twilight Town would surely reject him, hero or not. And what purpose did he have for wandering at all? He should simply return home.
But for some reason, the mere thought of returning home resembled to him crawling back defeated. He had to be victorious in this journey of his, as unsure as he was of it.
With a chuckle, the boy found himself wondering… What would Axel do? What would Sora do?
Namine heard the chuckle, and looked up again. With a small smile, she settled back down, closing her eyes.
Your secret heart belongs to the world
"Riku." Sora murmured as the boy stood in the doorway. "When?"
The silver haired boy faltered, unsure. "… Soon."
Sora nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at the messy floor. Then, he stood; ready to proclaim, "I'm coming with you!" Riku cut him off.
"No. This is my problem, my journey. And I know friends help each other…" Sora smiled in defeat. "But this is something I have to do without you Sora. And without Kairi." Nodding, Sora walked up to his friend and held out his palm. Confused, Riku looked at it, and then back to Sora's grinning face.
Slowly, he reached out and took Sora's hand. The two shook.
"I expect to see you at the end of the year, back at Radiant Garden." Sora told him. Riku nodded.
"I will be." He promised.
Only ten minutes later, Riku sauntered quietly out the doorway, and behind him, Kairi stormed out.
"You can't do this again, Riku!" She complained loudly and angrily. Behind her came Sora, who tried to calm her to no avail.
"You can't just up and leave whenever! We worry about you!" Kairi pleaded both angrily and sadly.
Riku stood in the middle of the road, a backpack on his shoulder and his free hand sitting laxly in his pocket. He was taking Kairi's rant silently.
Namine stood to comfort Kairi as Tsuki, Aisu, Hinode, and finally Ansem and Sora's parents came out of the house.
"Why do you keep running away?!" Kairi sobbed.
"I can't stay here with him!" Riku roared angrily, spinning around. He didn't name, and he didn't point, but almost everyone knew who he meant.
Kairi sniffled, feeling very defeated and very sad. Sighing deeply Riku walked up to her, and hugged her.
"I'm sorry, but I promise to return." He told her. Kairi nodded into Riku's chest sobbing quietly. Sora grimaced at Kairi's tears, very upset by it. When Riku stepped away, Namine held Kairi.
Sora looked to Riku as he turned and walked away, their eyes meeting once more. Then, the boy began walking down the road.
Sora looked down to Roxas. And Roxas turned, looking to him. Their thoughts were one and the same.
"Hey, Riku!" Roxas called from the step. Riku kept walking, but looked over his shoulder. Roxas smirked and leapt up, running after him.
Riku's eyes went wide as Roxas leapt up beside him confidently, hands in his pockets.
"I'm coming with you. End of story." Roxas ordered with a smile. Riku looked surprised, but then sighed contently, laughing.
Kairi and Namine watched the two, before Namine gave her other a nervous glance. Sighing, Kairi nodded, giving her nobody one last hug.
With a smile, Namine stepped away from her and hurried down the steps towards the other two. Sora stepped up to Kairi.
"Riku told me this was something he had to do on his own, something that neither you nor me could help him with. But, I guess we're going with him anyway." Sora and Kairi shared a knowing look and a quiet laugh.
Roxas, Namine, and Riku, beginning their trek, sarcastically traded comments about the upcoming travel as Riku slowly gave in to the idea of the two joining him. He didn't mind company, and it could get nasty out there.
And so that's how it came that the Anti Hero joined the Princess and the Prince of the Night on a journey to find his Father.
Of the things that sigh in the dark
Of the things that cry in the dark
"Where are we?" Roxas asked, looking about the hill. Namine prodded his shoulder.
"We're climbing up to Riku's mother's grave." The girl told him somberly. Understanding, Roxas nodded and became silent.
Riku ran up the rest of the way, eager to see his mother one last time before leaving.
The sight he saw was amazing.
The entire grave was bathed in flowers. Daffodils sat on the left, Tulips on the right, roses on top, exotic flowers around it, and more simple flowers like gardenia and petunia, morning glory and pansies. At the very front, in front of the grave, was a Paopu.
"Who… did this?" Riku gasped in shock and awe as Roxas and Namine came up behind him.
Roxas twitched. "Did Marluxia drop by?"
FAR AWAY
Marluxia sat up. "Someone's talking about me." He glowered. Turning to Saix who was reading beside him, he seethed. "It was you, wasn't it!??" Saix just stared at him like he was stupid.
BACK
Namine chuckled quietly and looked upon the flowers. "It's beautiful." She told Riku.
"My mother loved flowers. How did…" Riku began, looking about. "Who…? Who had the money or the time for… for this?"
"Sora?" Roxas asked. Riku shook his head.
"He was in town all day. And I came here this morning." Namine smiled.
"Someone must care for you, or your mother." She began. "Or the both of you." Riku sighed and sat at the grave.
"Well, I guess I'll say goodbye…" Riku told the open air.
From the trees watched a man, the one who'd placed all the flowers. Namine had seen him before he ran off back into town, and gave him a knowing, motherly smile.
You will be a different person than you were before, She began. If you wish to earn Riku's forgiveness, then you must be different already, An… Kai.
Running through the woods was "Kai" rushing back into town. His clouded, brooding thoughts drifted everywhere as he ran, as pictures of Namine, and Roxas, and Riku, and Tsuki and Hinode flashed through his mind.
Shall we ever find ourselves, we locked in darkness?
//Of the things that shy in the dark//
//Of the things that cry in the dark//
SOMETHING wicked THIS WAY COMES!
Orpheus strode into the office calmly, a dark glare in his eyes. There he sat, Crive, the bastard.
Crive sat with his knuckle under his chin.
The flames of the fireplace reflected in the glass of priceless antiques scattered about the room. Orpheus did not once see his reflection.
Crive let his forehead rest on his hands. Orpheus stood, still as stone.
"We shall give them time to contemplate." The man began quietly. "Leave them be for now. Let you continue your… charade." Orpheus growled quietly in the back of his mind.
Crive laughed.
"What of the truth do you know?" Crive asked him, as if asking, do you know what you've gotten into?
Orpheus stood quietly, not saying anything. Crive smirked.
"That's what I thought."
Far away, in the recesses of the universe's deepest cesspools, there it stood, the Gate to Midnight. The chains upon it rattled and shook hard and dangerously, and the words encrypted on it shone brighter and strong than before.
As the chains shook and cracked slowly, the rusty gate pushed against them, shaking back and forth hard and long. Every groan of steel and creek from the old hinges seemed to be an angry demand to be freed.
And so it would fight, even as months passed…
(END OF SEASON ONE: NEXT TIME, MONTHS AHEAD!)
SULHADAHNE