Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters from Kingdom Hearts I or II.
Notes- Ok it's getting late again but I'm not tired and I really want to get the dinner chapter up. I might not finish tonight, so maybe I could make it a to be continued... we'll see. Enjoy!
Chapter 6- An Interesting Evening Part I
"Here are the guests of honor! Come, have a seat!" Roselin boomed.
Here we go... Fleur and Sora both thought.
Sholto stood as Fleur entered, escorted by Sora.
"Princess." He addressed her. He bowed deeply. She sighed deeply. Sora and Sholto took short bows to each other.
"Evening, Sholto." She said blandly. She hated being addressed as princess. And the bowing was worse. She would have rolled her eyes and just sat down, but Roselin would have her head. No, Sora had to pull out her chair and bow as well. She hated seeing him act this way even more than being treated as royalty. She knew it wasn't him at all. So she sat, and Sora pushed her chair back in. He then took a seat to her right. The dining table was a rectangle, and Roselin and Fleur sat at opposing ends. It wasn't long, though, so they were within five feet of each other. Fleur could even smell Roselin's revolting perfume.
Moments after Fleur and Sora arrived, Geoffrey entered with cups of tea on a tray. He distributed them to everyone and scuttled back into the kitchen. Sora could smell the wafts of air from the kitchen. His mouth started to water and his stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since he arrived that morning, and he felt as if he could eat a horse. Fleur took notice. But she couldn't stay for dinner. There was no time.
"Roselin, I don't mean to be rude, but we may have to take leave of you a little early." Fleur began. "I have some very important business to attend to." She lied. "A friend of mine is ill. I should like to go see her, but she is leaving tomorrow to seek treatment somewhere else. I have planned on going tonight. We may stay to chat for awhile, but I'm afraid you will have to eat without us. I will see to it that Sora is fed later. Is this okay?" Fleur laid it on thick.
"Hmm... well, I guess we could always have the cooks prepare a meal another night. Sure, go ahead. You may leave at seven forty-five. But be home no later than ten!"
Fleur nodded and began a conversation. They talked for awhile about Sora- Where he had come from, what he did for work there, and how he was enjoying his new home. Roselin seemed quite pleased with him. Luckily, he didn't have to do too much talking, which would put him at risk for suffering Roselin's wrath, lest he say something wrong. So, at approximately 7:45, Fleur stood and motioned for Sora to do the same.
"Now, we must bid you farewell for the night. But we will both be down for breakfast in the morning." Fleur stated. She has been acting like royalty all night, which bothered Sora. He knew Roselin must have a big effect on her to be making her act this way when she hated it so much.
"Alright then," Roselin sighed. "Don't forget, be home by ten. Give your friend my best."
"I most certainly will." Fleur lied again. She knew Roselin's best wasn't very good at all.
Without another word spoken, Sora and Fleur both left. Once outside, Sora spoke up.
"Fleur, I am hungry... why did we have to leave?"
"There's something I need to do, and we don't have time to sit around eating with them. I'll take you to get something to eat while we're out. We have to go to the beach. I'll explain later." She walked hastily up the stairs to gather some things. They went to her room and she turned on a lamp. She took a dagger and some money off of her desk.
"I understand the money, but what's with the dagger?" Sora inquired.
"Protection. We have to travel through downtown Arcadia. A dangerous place, but the only route to the pier. Come, we have to go." Fleur took a coat off the rack. It had a fur lining around the neck and was made of heavy leather.
"Fleur, it's summer..." Sora noticed. She was acting strangely. Without an answer, she pulled a red cord that hung by her door and they left the room. Making their way once again down the stairs, they walked out of the large double doors that led to the gravel walkway in the front of the castle.
A carriage waited, drawn by two black horses. The driver tipped his hat to Fleur, and she nodded shortly in acknowledgment. She climbed in quickly, and Sora followed no far behind. Once inside, Fleur pulled the rope that held the curtains aside and they fell closed. She looked out of the window worriedly.
"I hope I make it..." she mumbled. This puzzled Sora, and he became worried.
"Fleur, what is going on? What's wrong? You're acting strange." Sora said, sounding very worried, which he was.
"I need to get to the water, to the ocean... I won't live much longer if I don't. I feel my strength draining already..."
Sora just turned away and looked out the window. His stomach growled again. He watched the scenery pass by- people of all social classes going in and out of brightly lit storefronts. Beggars on the street corners, commoners with their children. A few minutes passed, and the stores became more and more spaced out, and the people less in number, until there was nothing but mountains and forest visible in the night. Eventually Sora could hear the calls of seagulls, and he smelled the seaweed. The carriage slowed to a stop, and Fleur got out in a hurry. Sora followed her, hoping to find out what was going on. She quickened her pace until she was running, holding her dress up in front of her. Her coat slumped off her shoulders and her hair fell from the ribbon holding it. Sora struggled to keep up. She reached the end of the pier and stopped, breathing heavily. He saw her look to the sky. She let her arms fall to her sides, and her coat slid off slowly, dropping onto the splintery wood of the pier. She stayed in this position with her arms relaxed and her head slumped back. Sora slowed to a walk, seeing that she was okay and she had stopped running. He leaned his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath, keeping and eye on her the whole time. Suddenly, her legs went limp and she fell. She dropped head first off the front of the pier, falling gracefully to the waves below. Sora began to run again, faster than he had ever run before. He reached the end of the pier and looked down, but there was nothing but a splash where she had entered the water.
"Fleur! FLEUR!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He jumped in after her, diving straight down towards the dark water. He plunged deep into the waves, looking around for her. He saw nothing. He looked down, and he saw her laying on a rock, lifeless. He swam towards her, but before he got down far enough, her eyes shot open. She moved around a little, and eventually swam off. Her dress caught on the rock and ripped from her body, revealing a red tail and a seashell top. She turned to him and motioned for him to follow her. Just then, the symbols on his hood began to pulse. Strength, protection, and love. He felt his legs morph together, forming a tail. His neck sprouted gills, and his clothes came off. Without a second thought about his new form, he swam off after her, a million other things running through his mind.
What the hell is going on? He thought.
Come on... hurry up and follow me! She thought impatiently.
To be continued...
Notes- See it coming? Didn't think so. If you did, good job. Part II should be up later today or tomorrow! Reviews please!
-VarekaiSoleil