Hello everybody! Yes, I know I said that I'd most likely be slowing down, but I just happened to finish one entire chapter of my computer homework rather quickly. I probably would have to spend all day tomorrow working, though, because I realized that towards the end of each respective chapter, there's a hands-on work that requires research on the internet. And since I always find that looking for info on the internet and incorporating it into the work is fussy, here comes a long day.
Anyway, that's enough of my stupid rambling that I'm sure none of you really ever read. I'll let you guys go onto the new chapter. Before I do that though, let me just make a mention about the last chapter. I personally have never read the book "Scotch on the Rocks". When I first came up with the title for this story, I was thinking along the lines of making a riddle based on the drink. I then did research and figured out it was also the name of the book. And I learned on wikipedia that Edinburgh was the place where the independence celebration was being held, hence the allusion to freedom. Yeah, it's sucky, but that was the best I could do there.
Well, that's enough of my rants and explanations. I'll let you all go now to this new chapter. Just please don't forget to leave me a review telling me how you think I did here. Also, I hope you like the humor I tried to put in here. Until the next update on this or one of my other stories everybody!
Chapter 5: The Twilight Town Consulate
When the next day came around, it started out just like any other normal day for Sora. He got up, got himself ready for work, and made it to work with a few extra minutes that he spent talking to Riku about whatever. He would then continue on with whatever work he had left off on the day before and try not to get himself in trouble with Xemnas. The two best friends would occasionally have small conversations, but they concentrated on their work for the most part in the morning hours.
When the lunch alarm rang, the teen immediately shut off his monitor and shuffled his papers together before stuffing them into the drawer. He then took his blue jacket off of his chair and hastily put it on before making his way towards the exit in order to do something completely out of the ordinary for him. Thankfully, his boss was still in his office talking business with his secretary, or he would have probably yelled at him about how he could accidentally destroy a computer or something like that. Either that or he would have decided to become ruthless and fire him on the spot for that.
"And just where are you off to in such a hurry, Sora?" Riku asked with an amused smile as he saw the other practically tidy up his desk in record time when it was not even time to officially leave. "I never saw you move this fast for just a lunch break. Either you're very hungry, or there's something going on. Don't tell me there's a big lunch special going down at that sushi place you like that you want to catch."
"There's something important that I need to take care of during this break," Sora quickly explained without really hearing what the question was. He was too busy weaving between crowds of people and trying to not cause an accident at the same time. "Sorry I can't spend lunch with you today, Riku!"
"Then what's so important that you'd have to run out of here like there's a fire?" the silver haired man asked in an attempt to get some kind of explanation. Unfortunately for him, the spiky haired youth had already disappeared from his sights. It was almost as if he was never there by the speed he was moving.
"Yeesh, you'd think that he would've change at least a little bit after four years," he said out loud before he calmly turned off his computer and reached for his own jacket in preparation for his lunch break. "He's still that same hyper guy that I remember back in our orphanage days. I just hope that doesn't end up getting him into deep trouble one of these days. Oh well, no use worrying about it right now. Now let's go see what they're serving today down at the noodle shop. Hope they aren't trying to make anything weird again like noodles and paupu fruit in soup mixed with coconut milk."
For the next five minutes, Sora was riding in a bus whose route would take him near the Twilight Town Consulate. It was a rather quiet and uneventful ride, and the traffic was amazingly smooth for the current time of day it was. Lunch time was usually one of the busiest hours of the day with cars and people rushing about to try and find a bite to eat. Once he arrived at his stop, he got off and made his way to his destination without any thoughts of taking side-trips unless he wanted to be late for work and get in trouble.
While he was hungry and wanted to get something to eat, he knew that going to the consulate to deliver a rather stupid message was more important. He did not know exactly why he had felt obligated to help this Rox person; maybe it was because he knew that the other had no ill intentions when he asked for this ridiculous request. Maybe it was because of the hint of desperation he clearly felt throughout their entire conversation from both last night and the night before last. Whatever the reason was, he could not pinpoint because of him now standing in front of a rather large building that he knew to be his destination.
Okay, could somebody please tell me again why I'm here? The teen thought as he stood staring up at the large building in a combination of awe and confusion. The embarrassment is going to end up killing me soon.
The building could have been mistaken for a mansion were it not for the fact that there were no gates guarding it from unwanted vehicles, mostly limousines or other fancy models, freely coming in and out. There were also a bunch of foot traffic with men and women in clean business suits coming and going with briefcases in one hand and a cell phone in the other. And on a plaque that was situated against the wall next to the entrance of this grand building were the words, "Twilight Town Consulate", stenciled into it.
Here I am, dressed in just a regular shirt and jeans with only a thin blue winter jacket on standing out from all these business guys, he thought while mentally wincing at how he felt out of place standing in front of such a prestigious place like this. And I'm here because of some crazy request by this guy named Rox who wants me to tell somebody in here something so completely stupid. I still can't believe I'm actually going to go through with this. Nobody in their right mind would actually follow the directions of a person they only met on the computer for two days without knowing the reason why. I wouldn't even be surprised if nobody decided to take me seriously.
"Are you lost, young man?" a woman's voice suddenly asked, jolting him out of his deep thoughts and causing him to jump a bit in surprise because of it. "I can help you with directions if you need it."
"Huh?" the teen responded rather dumbly as he looked to his left where the voice came from and saw a young woman with long blond hair in a suit. She probably most likely worked inside the consulate. "Oh, I-I'm alright! I was just…kind of getting a bit homesick when I was passing by this building," he answered in hopes that it would pass as a suitable response. "I'm originally from Twilight Town, you see? Passing by here just made me remember all the things I miss about the place."
"Mmm, I think I know what you mean there," the woman stated with an understanding nod of her head and a dreamy smile as her ice blue eyes seemed to shimmer with thoughtfulness. "I've been there a couple of times myself, and it really is a beautiful place, especially how the sun always seems to have that wonderful twilight quality to it. It's almost as if you've been transported to another realm where everything is at peace and nothing can go wrong. I don't blame you in the least for feeling homesick. Even I want to go back there every now and then just to enjoy all the beauty it has to offer. Oh, it's just such a wonderful place that nobody could ever get tired of."
"Uh, yeah," Sora said as he started to feel like he was being forced into a topic he did not know anything about nor wanted to talk about. "Um, I think I better get going now. Sorry for taking up some of your time."
"Oh, that's perfectly alright," he heard the woman call out as he turned around and proceeded to walk down the sidewalk away from the consulate. She then said more to herself in a serious tone, "I shouldn't have spent too much time talking right now, anyway. I have more important things to take care of."
Geez, I wasn't expecting somebody to just randomly talk to me like that, the teen thought with cheeks reddening from embarrassment as he decided to walk a lap around the building to calm his nerves before trying to enter again. I should've just said that my best friend moved to Twilight Town or something like that. How the hell was I supposed to know she'd start a trip down memory lane right there?
After spending about five minutes circling the block and in an attempt to calm his nerves, he was back to where he had first started, standing a few yards away from the consulate entrance. Some people who had been standing outside talking to each other earlier were still there and gave him a strange look as if he were some kind of lost child. This time, he decided to not stop in case a repeat with that woman occurred and went straight into the building. He knew that some of the people near the doorway were casting strange glances at him most likely because of his ordinary appearance, but he tried his best to ignore it and stifle the reddening he knew his cheeks would get from it.
Once he was finally inside, he immediately felt an aura of importance that was more imposing than the view from the outside. The area which he assumed to have been the main foyer was well lit thanks to the sun roof up. He looked up a bit and noticed that it was made with many different colored pieces of glass and gave the air a slightly beautiful sheen of color. There were also a few people here and there with suitcases in their hands, but they all seemed too busy to even take the time to say hi to each other. It was definitely a different atmosphere than what he was used to back at the bank.
Geez, haven't these people ever heard of the concept of fun? he thought with a mental sigh before he felt overwhelmed by the sudden change in atmosphere. It's like they're all in a hospital or something like that. They should loosen up a bit before they die from stress. I know this place has a lot to do with politics and all that, but yeesh. This is exactly why I didn't want to grow up when I was little.
Once he felt he was as accustomed to the very serious atmosphere as he was going to get, he began to scan the foyer for any signs of what looked to have been a receptionist's desk. After a couple of seconds, he easily spotted a woman sitting behind a fancy wood desk with a name plate that read, Lucrecia Valentine. She was currently talking to somebody on the phone and copying down something on what looked to have been a sticky note. Figuring that she was the person Rox had told him to approach, the teen decided to walk towards her. He had to dodge a couple of people who refused step out of their way for him, but there really was not much trouble beyond that.
"…I'll make sure that he gets the message," he heard the woman say once he was within earshot. The woman also seemed to notice him and regarded him with a smile. "You have a safe trip now, Mr. Valentine… Yes, I love you, too, honey. Oh, stop trying to make me sound unprofessional on my end, or you won't be coming home to a well-cooked dinner." She then hung up the phone and directed her full attention to the teenager with a warm and welcoming smile. "Hello and welcome to the Twilight Town Consulate, young man. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Um, I was wondering i-if you could connect me with…Department X?" Sora asked with a bit of a stutter that came from the nervousness he did not manage to fully extinguish. "I-I have a message for them."
"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," the woman responded as she picked up the phone and began dialing. She seemed to have not noticed how nervous he was acting. "May I have your name please?"
"I-It's Sora Hikari!" he quickly responded as he breathed a sigh of relief at how smoothly things were going right now.
"Alright; just go ahead and wait on the bench over there, and somebody should be with you shortly," she explained with a nod of her head as she seemingly waited for someone on the other end to pick up.
"Thank you, miss," the teen thanked her with a thankful smile as he did as he was instructed and took a seat on a nearby bench that he had somehow managed to miss during his first scan of the area.
And for the next few minutes that passed, Sora just sat on the bench waiting for whoever it was he was waiting for from Department X. He did not need to repeat the message he was supposed to say because of how easy it was to remember through its ridiculousness. He still felt out of place being the only person in the building dressed in casual clothing while others around him were in suits, but it was not as bad as earlier.
"Hello, Ms. Secretary," a man's voice suddenly greeted from somewhere in the building. "Where's this person who has asked to see me?"
Turning around to see the person who he figured was looking for him, he saw a relatively old man walking down the hallway towards the secretary's desk with his black dress shoes seemingly gliding across the waxed floor. He had short white hair and seemed to have a frail body, but the aura surrounding him suggested anything but that. He seemed to have had a bad back since he mainly walked in a slightly hunched over position while keeping his hands behind him. He wore a black suit like most of the others, but even those just passing by regarded him with a quick hello. This just showed how well-known this man was and what kind of influence he had in the consulate.
"Mr. Hikari, Mr. Hakujou will see you now," he heard the secretary call out to him as he stood up and straightened out his jacket to make himself look more presentable. "He's the man right over there."
"Ah, so you're the young fellow who called for me," the man responded with a smile, his golden yellow eyes never once leaving Sora as he calmly made his way towards him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sora Hikari. My name's Xehanort Hakujou," he introduced himself as he brought an arm out in greeting.
"I-It's nice to meet you, too, Mr. Hakujou," Sora greeted that man as he accepted the firm handshake. "I'm sorry for pulling you out of your busy schedule. I'll try to get this all over with as quickly as possible."
"Oh, it's quite alright," Xehanort simply responded with a light chuckle. Despite how old he and his body looked, his voice sounded like a cross between young and old. It clearly did not reflect his age.
Perhaps he isn't as old as he looks, the teen thought as he pulled his hand back after they were done shaking hands. I guess it's true when they say to never go judging a book merely by its cover.
"You must excuse me for my posture," the man continued on. "With the winter weather getting closer, my back loves to start acting up. The doctor said that a bit of walking every now and then should help make it feel better, so I figured I'd use this as an excuse. It's better than submerging myself in hot water for half an hour!"
…Never mind; he really is as old as he looks, the other mentally corrected himself while nodding his head in agreement. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir. In that case, I'll try not to take too much of your time. You probably have a lot of better things to do than me." He mentally kicked himself in the butt for making a comment like that and making him sound like some kind of unemployed goof-off.
"Hmm, then what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" the other asked with a smile, seemingly not to have noticed how the previous sentence was phrased or just choosing to plain ignore it altogether.
"Um, I was told by a certain someone to give you a message," the spiky haired teen as he tried to quell down the bout of embarrassment he felt coming.
"Really? By all means, what is it?"
"Uh… umm…," Sora stuttered for a moment as if he were unsure of what to say next. In all honesty, he was unsure of how things were going to pan out from here. He then said in a low whisper, "Cats are dead. Need a new set of claws!"
"…I'm sorry?" the man apologized with a bit of an unsurprised attitude greatly masked by his questioning tone that seemed to indicate he did not catch what was just said. "What did you say?"
With a sigh of annoyance at having to repeat such a ridiculous statement, the teen said with less mumble to it, "Cats are dead. Need a new set of claws!"
"No, I clearly heard what you said. I'm just confused as to what you mean. Who told you to come over here and say something like that?"
"Scotch on the Rox," the teen responded in a hushed whisper and clenched teeth without moving his lips much as if he were revealing something top secret.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Xehanort asked, clearly straining his ears to hear something that was barely audible.
"Scotch on the Rox!" the other stated a bit louder but in the same manner. He hoped that the other would have heard him this time around.
"Scotch on the Rox?" the man suddenly exclaimed once he finally figured out what the teen was trying to say. It also seemed to be tied with the smallest hints of surprise, but it was hard to tell overall.
"Yeah, do you know him?" Sora asked, excited that he was finally getting somewhere with all this. He was confused as to why he was sensing small bits of extra emotion in his responses, but he figured that it was just his way of talking.
"Of course I do! Scotch on the Rocks happens to be my favorite drink. I just love how the taste lingers on my tongue for a while. I just wish that my doctor didn't tell me to limit how much I drink."
"What? No, I'm not talking about getting something to drink!" the teen corrected as he mentally fell to the floor at how the topic just suddenly changed from embarrassing messages to alcoholic drinks. He honestly thought at that moment that the man standing before him was starting to turn senile right before his eyes. "I was talking about the person who told me to tell you the thing about the cats. Are you sure that you're the person that the secretary called down from Department X?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hikari, but there is no such thing as a Department X here," the old man responded with an amused chuckle as he started to walk towards the main part of the foyer. The teen followed closely beside him. "I was just about to leave my office when the secretary called to say that you wanted to talk to me. Whatever gave you the impression that we had something like that here?"
"But…but Scotch on the Rox told me to come here and deliver that message as soon as I possibly could!" the teenager said more to himself as he became more confused than ever. Just what was going on around here? "They said that somebody in here would understand what I was talking about. Are you sure there isn't a Department X?"
"I'm as sure on that as I am on the fact that my back will be killing me come Christmas time. Our consulate acts more like one unit rather than be separated by different departments. I'm sorry that you came all this way here for nothing."
"Heh, I should've figured that I was being played for a fool here," Sora responded with a chuckle that was more out of defense to keep his embarrassment from the situation from rising up. "I don't know what I was thinking there. I'm really sorry for pulling you out of your busy schedule, Mr. Hakujou."
"And as I said before, no need to apologize. I only suggest that you don't listen to everything that people say. I'll take a guess that you're only a teenager, so you should try to listen to your instincts to see if something's off."
"I'll keep that in mind, sir."
"Oh, Xehanort," a familiar woman's voice suddenly called out from down the hallway the old man had come from. Both of them turned around and saw a long blond haired woman standing there. It was the same woman the teen saw outside and spoke with a few minutes ago. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but are we still on for that meeting with the representatives from Agrabah later today?"
"Oh, I almost forgot all about that," Xehanort responded with a look of surprise as he looked down at his wrist that had a gold watch on it. "I'll be with you in the meeting room in just a moment, Ms. Foudre. Thank you for the friendly reminder. I'm sorry to so suddenly rush off, Mr. Hikari," he continued on as he said his goodbye to Sora. "This is a meeting that I can't afford to miss."
"It's alright; I needed to get back to my job anyway before my boss decides to chew me out for being late," the teen responded with an understanding smile accompanied with a small shrug of his shoulders. He then said as he began to make his way towards the exit, "I'm sorry again to have wasted your time."
And without waiting to hear a response, he quickly made his way out of the Twilight Town Consulate. He could not keep his embarrassment at the situation bottled up anymore, and he felt his cheeks instantly heat up less than a second after he left the man's presence. He did not care if he had accidentally bumped into other people, which is what he did a couple of times; he just wanted to get out of there.
God, this could possibly be the most embarrassing thing I've ever done compared to that karaoke fiasco two days ago! he thought once he was outside and greeted with the cool winter air hitting his overheated face. I never felt more like an idiot in my entire life. I swear; I'm going to verbally kill that Rox when we talk tonight! He's going to regret ever trying to make a fool out of me!
Once he had reached the corner of the block, Sora stopped for a moment so he could get a chance to regain his composure. Yeah, he was beyond pissed at being made a fool, but he figured he was half to blame as well for going along with it. The one thing that confused him now was why the other person sounded so sincere yet was so badly wrong in saying that they would understand what he told the consulate guys? That just did not make any kind of sense to him at all.
Before he could have a chance to further ponder on that, the teen felt a strange presence seemingly watching him. He knew he was surrounded by a lot of different people of different race and ages, but this feeling was too unusual for his tastes. He looked all around him for anybody who might have seemed suspicious, but everybody was either talking with each other or on their way to wherever it was they were planning to go. Nobody looked like they were keeping tabs on him. He simply passed it on as his embarrassment playing tricks on him before crossing the street in order to catch the bus that had just pulled in for a stop in hopes that he would not be late back to work.
Little did he know was that there really was someone following his every move right now. However, it was not from the streets where people walked every which way. Rather, it was from a sole person situated on the roof of one of the buildings near the Twilight Town Consulate. The person was currently spying down on Sora with a camera that had a zoom feature on it. Apparently, he was taking pictures of him as he was crossing the street and heading into the bus. It was only until the bus had pulled away from the stop and turned the corner did this mysterious person stop taking pictures.
Oh boy, things are starting to sound a bit interesting now. Why in the world would anybody want to go spying on Sora for no particular reason and take pictures of him? I doubt that this person is some kind of obsessed secret admirer of his. And how could this Rox person sound so sincere and be so completely wrong at the same time? Just so many unanswered questions that need to be answered.
Anyway, I spent my time reading a fan fiction on this site from the author, Tsukisamu Sayako. Her story, "Fantasia Krystallos", is a pretty good story to read, and it has inspired me to create a story in the same format like that, but obviously different at the same time. Of course, I'll be concentrating on this for the time being so as not to get confused and all of that. And here are the ages of the characters.
Xehanort Hakujou: 65 (An old man who works at the Twilight Town Consulate who supposedly doesn't know about "Scotch on the Rox")
Ms. Foudre: 30 (A blond haired woman that Sora ran into who apparently works alongside Xemnas in the consulate)
Just as a little tidbit, the last name of every character in here has some kind of allusion to what they were in the Kingdom Hearts games. For example, Sora is Hikari because he wields the Keyblade of Light. And Foudre is french for lightning. I was getting tired of just using Japanese names. But who do we know is blond and has something to do with electricity?
Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this story and the humor that I had attempted to put into it. Please don't forget to leave a review telling me how you think I did on the humor along with the overall progression of the story. I always take your reviews to heart unless they're just pointless flames. With that said, until the next update to this or one of my other stories everybody!