Chapter 2: Day One
"Man, doesn't that tick you off?" asked Hayner.
"Yeah, that's just wrong," agreed Pence.
"Seifer's gone too far this time," Olette and I said at the same time. I jumped up and clenched my fist in the air when I said this.
We all looked over at Roxas who just nodded, still staring at the floor.
Hayner jumped off his seat. "I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So if he wants to think that we did it, I can't really blame him."
"Let 'im think what he wants to think," I said. "That ain't gonna bug me. But when he starts rumors and all that other crap about things that we didn't do, he'll be sorry. He's gonna taste defeat. He's gonna feel the wrath of Ryuu the dragon." When I finished it was really quiet. I mean, really quiet. So quiet, that if this were a movie there'd be crickets chirping in the background. I looked around. Everyone was staring at me like I had grown another head. "What?"
Hayner shook his head and I sat back down, brushing my ice blue bangs out of my eyes. He then went back to ranting and raving. "What really bugs me is that he's goin' around tellin' everybody we're the thieves! Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club! Have you ever been this ticked off in your life? 'Cause I haven't. Nuh-uh. NEVER! Now..." He paused. "What to do," he said, thrusting his fist into his outstretched palm.
Olette looked over at Roxas who shrugged before saying his brilliant words, "Uh...well..."
"We could—" I started.
"—find the real thieves," finished Roxas. "That would set—"
"—the record straight." I love how Roxas and I can finish each others sentences. He's like a brother to me. It's like we have a connection of sorts. I feel like I've known him before the month that I've been living here.
"That sounds like fun!" shouted Pence.
"But what about Seifer?" asked Hayner.
"He'll get what's commin' to 'im soon enough."
Hayner grinned at that.
I stood up and continued, "But—"
Hayner crossed his arms over his chest. He never did like that word.
"—first we have to clear our names."
Roxas stood up. "Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs."
"Oh no! They're gone!"
We all turned around to see Pence holding his a camera.
"Our (_) are gone!" He put a hand to his throat. "What?" he asked after a second.
"All our (_) gone?" Hayner asked. "Huh?" He imitated Pence.
"Why can't you say (_)? Okay, so weird. I've heard of people taking things, but words? Even Seifer couldn't match that," I announced.
"Huh? You can't say (_)? Why not?" asked Olette.
"But you do understand what I'm saying, right? Our _ are gone!"
"Stolen," I muttered.
"And not just the (_). The word (_)! They stole it too!" continued Roxas.
"What kinda thief is that?" asked Hayner in his "This is so lame" tone of voice. "Seifer never could have pulled that off."
"Yeah," agreed Roxas.
"All right, time for some recon!" shouted Hayner.
We all ran out of our spot when all of a sudden I noticed Roxas wasn't with us. "Roxas?" I went back to see him getting up and dusting himself.
"Huh?"
"C'mon," I said gesturing him to follow us. "You okay, Rox?"
"I'm fine," he said walking next to me.
"Over here!" called Hayner from the Armor shop.
"Let's get this investigation underway," said Pence.
"Yo, Roxas!" called the storekeeper. "Never thought you'd do such a rotten thing..."
"We didn't steal anything, all right?"
"I'd like to believe you, but... Who else would steal that stuff?"
"What stuff?" asked Roxas and I at the same time.
"As if you didn't know. Hey, I'm not gonna tell you. Go ask at the accessory shop."
"Go ask at the accessory shop," I mimicked, making sure we were out of earshot. "Ya know, if there's one thing I hate, it's being told to go from place to place to get an answer."
"Tell me about it," groaned Hayner, rolling his eyes. "Go on Roxas—ask her," pushed Hayner when we arrived at the accessory shop.
"Hey there, Veronica," I said.
"Oh hey you guys, hey Roxas... Please don't let me down. You used to be one of my fave customers."
"I'm not a thief!" he said indignantly.
"Okay..."
"It's no fun having everyone suspecting me, ya know," he huffed.
"Then you have to find a way to clear your name," said Veronica. "The woman at the candy shop is pretty disappointed, too, ya know."
We looked over toward the candy shop and we went over to talk to her.
"Roxas? Have you seen my cat around?"
"Er..." he said looking up. He jumped and got it down.
"Thank you, Roxas."
"Did they steal something from you too?" I asked.
"Oh, my, yes. Something important."
"Just so you know, we didn't do it," said Roxas
"Don't worry. I believe you."
"Thanks for that, Ma'am," said Roxas.
"So what did they take from you?" I inquired.
"My (_). My precious (_).
"Looks like the culprit is going around stealing (_)," observed Hayner.
"And not just (_), but the word (_), too," I said thoughtfully.
"This isn't your average thief..." said Pence.
"I wonder if Seifer would know anything about this.
"To the Sandlot!" shouted Roxas.
We ran to the Sandlot to find Fuu, Rai, and Vivi talking. Vivi noticed us and stopped talking, making the others turn around.
"Thieves," muttered Fuu.
"That was low, y'know!" shouted Rai
Vivi just shook her head. (A/N: I don't know if Vivi is a girl or a guy, so I'm making Vivi a girl in this.)
"Oh yeah?" was Hayner's comeback.
"Nice comeback there blondie," Seifer challenges as he walks in.
"What'd you say!" shouted Hayner. He can be ticked off very easily.
"You can give us back the (_) now," said Seifer walking around us.
"What, were you a vulture in another life?" I asked. I hate being circled. That earned me a glare from Seifer. (It's not the first time.)
"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers. So what did you do? Burn it? Ha, not that we need some (_) to prove that you're losers," Seifer continued, still circling us.
"Replay!" shouted Fuu from the sidelines.
"Now you're talkin'!" He finally stopped circling us. "If you get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let it slide."
I looked around and noticed three objects near Fuu, Rai, and Vivi. I slowly edged away from the gang and then ran toward them, silently. I skidded to a stop and realized the three objects were a struggle club, a hand guard, and a staff. I picked up the staff and memories exploded in my head.
There were three weapons sitting upon three trapezoid stones. It looked like a staff, and shield, and a sword.
"So much to do, so little time. Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door ahead of you is still shut. Now step forward. Can you do it?"
"Give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well."
I walked over to the staff and picked it up.
"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?"
"Yes."
"Your path is set."
The staff disappeared from my hand.
"Now, what will you give up in exchange?"
I figured I'd give up the sword. I mean, what good is it to have two weapons and no defense?
"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. You wish to give up this power?"
"Yes."
"You've chosen the power of the mystic."
I got up with staff in hand and was thankful to see that Seifer and the others were still arguing. I ran at breakneck speed and hit Seifer over the head with the staff. He crumpled to the ground.
"That was so not right, y'know?" said Rai.
"What's the big idea?" shouted Fuu. Wow, really must have hit a nerve if she just shouted. She went to hit me but I blocked with the staff I had in my hand.
I tossed Roxas the struggle club. He caught it and went to hit Rai upside the head.
Later when we had beaten them all except Vivi—She hasn't hurt us so we don't mess with her—Pence took a picture of the scene when all of a sudden this white creature appeared out of nowhere. It looked like a ghost. Well, whatever that thing was, Roxas and I chase it through the woods and to the gate of that old mansion.
"We have come for you, my liege," I heard a voice say in my head. I looked over at Roxas. And judging by the look on his face, he heard it too.
"Huh?" I heard him utter.
The creature unzipped itself—I never knew ghosts had zippers—and Roxas and I attacked it.
"It's no use..." muttered Roxas after a few minutes attacking it with our clubs. They had no affect on the thing
"How do we defeat this thing?" I asked.
Suddenly my staff and Roxas' club start to swirl with data.
"What?"
"In the world?"
His club turned into a gigantic key and mine turned into a clarinet.
"What is this thing?" he asked. I wanted to know the exact same thing.
"At least you have a weapon," I said bitterly eyeing the clarinet. "What am I supposed to do with this? Lull 'em to sleep?"
"Let's give it a try," said Roxas taking a practice swing with his key-thing.
He took a couple swings with it and only hit the ghost once because it kept moving so much.
"My turn!" I said. If the clarinet will lull it sleep then so be it. At least Roxas can beat it then. I started to play and I found I was weightless. It was almost like running on air. I decided use this to my advantage. I kicked it and when it went to move away so it could attack me better, I mimicked its moving pattern and kept attacking it. With Roxas' help, it was defeated.
"What's this?" asked Hayner once we returned to the usual spot.
"We were his first customers after he took over the shop, so we took a picture together," said Roxas. It was a picture of me, Roxas, and a shop owner.
"It's a really nice photo," said Olette.
"Hey! You just said 'photo'!
"The word has returned!" I shouted.
"So, Roxas, Ryuu—tell us about the thief."
"Not much to say," said Roxas. "The pictures were just lying there."
"I think it had something to do with that ghost-thing that stole the picture Pence took after we beat Seifer and his gang," I said.
"It's a girl," chuckled Hayner as he moved to the next picture.
"You look happy, Roxas," said Olette.
"Do not."
"Is it just me or are all these of me and Roxas?" I asked
We flipped through them again to prove my point. They were all of me and Roxas except with the one of Roxas and the other girl.
"Oh," said Olette. "So that why everyone thought it was us."
"So Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" asked Hayner.
"Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to kidnap the actual Roxas and Ryuu or something?" asked Pence.
"C'mon, get serious. Why would anyone wanna steal these boneheads?"
"Oh, thanks!" Roxas and I exclaimed at the same time. We all burst out laughing as the train station bells rang and the train passed overhead.
Hayner, Pence, and Olette left leaving Roxas and I.
"Hey Ryuu?" asked Roxas. "Do you remember where you came from?"
"No, but if I could I'd go back and visit. I'm sure my friends miss me," I said smiling. The smile vanished with the wind. "If I had friends."
"Don't say that!" cried Roxas. "I'm sure you had lots of friends before."
"Yeah?" I asked bitterly. "If I had so many friends, where are they? I'm sure if they really missed me they'd come looking for me."
"Ryuu, do you believe that dreams tell you something?" asked Roxas, quickly changing the subject.
"Yes I do. They can tell you many things. They can just be recollection of thoughts or memories or they can be a wish your heart makes." Wow, did something that sappy actually just come out of my mouth? "Why?"
"I've been having this weird dream lately," he said thoughtfully. "I don't know what to make of it." He glanced at the wall.
"Tell me!" I begged.
He grinned. "K. I'll tell you.
"It's almost like I'm watching a movie." He hesitated as if he didn't know where to begin, then he finally spoke again. "It starts with a boy standing at a cross-roads. 'A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory.' The fog surrounds him. 'A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream. I want to line the pieces up. Yours and mine.'
"Then the scene cuts to a beach where a girl with red hair is sitting by the water watching the sun-set. The scene cuts to black and fades back in. We're closer to the girl now. Close enough to see that she is making something. The scene cuts again, and now we can see that the girl is making a charm of shells. I think it's called a way-something. Finder?" he asked, thinking. "A wayfinder? Anyway, the scene cuts to another shell that is washed away by the tide."
"What is the girl wearing?" I asked him. This was definitely interesting.
He closed his eyes, as if trying to remember. "She is wearing a white tank-top with purple trim and a purple skort. On her wrist is a yellow arm-band and up nearer toward her shoulder is a purple wrist-band. She is wearing white shoes with purple at the toes, and around her neck is a black choker. She has red hair and blue eyes."
"She is beautiful," I said.
"Then the scene fades to three kids leaning against a tree. The sun is setting. One of the kids is the girl from the beach. The scene cuts to show all three kids. The girl and one of the boys are sitting on the tree while the other boy is leaning against it."
"Describe the boys, Roxas," I begged, yet again.
"The boy leaning against the tree has silver hair and aqua eyes. He is wearing a yellow shirt with black sides, his pants are blue and he's wearing black wrist-bands on both wrists. The boy sitting on the tree has spiky brown hair, blue eyes, and he has a chain around his neck. He is wearing a red jumpsuit with a black jacket with white short sleeves. The jacket is unzipped."
"Thank you," I said.
"Then they fade into dust that is carried off by the wind. First the girl fades and then the boy who is leaning against the tree. The boy sitting on the tree is left alone. He jumps off of the tree while the island fades away behind him.
"He lands on a platform made of stone. It's only one of countless others leading up to a castle. All the platforms are covered in black creatures except the one the boy is on. A duck and a dog are on the platform with him and he is holding a weapon like the one I had earlier. The boy jumps up the platforms and defeats the shadows as he makes his way to the castle. Once he's at the top of the platform he sees the girl lying there on the ground. The scene makes a quick cut to the girl then back to the boy's face. He runs up to her and kneels beside her and starts shaking her, trying to wake her up. In the background is the boy from before but instead of what he was wearing before he's now wearing what looks to be black and blue armor with a heart-thing on the front.
"He holds out his hand to the other boy, then the background changes to a huge wave in the background. The other boy is on the island and runs into the water toward the other boy, giant key in hand. He swings at the boy and the background changes back to the inside of the castle. They fight, the one with the key and the other boy with a sword that looks like a bat wing. The boy with the sword jumps back toward the back of the scene. Particles fly off of him reveling him to be someone else."
"What's he look like, Roxas?" I asked so he could breath.
"He has long white hair in the back and in the front it looked like he had a couple of horns actually. His outfit is mainly black, but he has on white gloves.
"Next the boy with the key jumps and slams his key-thing down. Then light shines through a closed white door blinding the evil guy and he has to cover his eyes. Then the scene cuts to the other boy, but instead of being clad in black armor, he's dressed in his original attire.
"The scene cuts again to show the other boy that's dressed in red. It shows a glowing orb coming out of his chest, which I think could be his heart. The scene cuts again to show the boy holding the girl against his chest. He also has white wisps of stuff flying off of him.
"Then the scene cuts again. This time it shows the girl on the island. The shot is a close up of her face. She's looking up as the wind blows through her hair. The scene fades to show her profile. She's gazing out into the water. The scene cuts to show her facing the water and the trees on the island. The scene fades yet again and the 'camera' is pan-sweeping in a side-ways motion across the water to show another close up of the girl.
"Day fades to night and lights are falling all around. Then the scene cuts to show the boy with the key fading into light. He is also surrounded by the falling lights. He holds his hand out for the girl as he fades away into the bright light. The scene changes again to show the girl with a sad look on her face. Then the scene changes again to show a big, black, billowy fire thing. It almost looks like it could have been a blue explosion, kinda. If it was, it was an explosion of darkness. Or maybe it's just a doorway of darkness.
"The scene cuts again to show a profile of the girl in the distance. She fades closer to the camera and comes back into view as an older version of the girl. Her red hair is longer and her clothes are different too. She is wearing a white shirt with a pink zip up shirt over it. The camera zooms up very slowly then it cuts closer to her to show her a profile view of her mouth. She's saying something. Then the camera cuts to a white room with a blonde female on the opposite end of the screen also saying something. It fades back to the other girl. Then it cuts to show her back as it steadily pans across the screen to the right to show a giant looking-orb sitting in a holder. It keeps panning to show the blond girl. The background changes to show an all white room. The girl is sitting in her chair with a sketchbook in hand. The camera cuts to show a closer view of the girl holding the sketchbook.
"She is wearing a plain white dress to match her hair and the room."
"I wonder if she's in some kind of an insane asylum?" I asked.
Roxas gave my arm a light back-slap. "Be quiet, Ryuu. I'm almost done." He sat for a moment in thought. "Where was I?"
"Girl. White room. Sketchbook." I said.
"Right. Thanks," he said, then began again. "The camera cuts to her sketchbook. She is drawing a spiral staircase. The camera goes into the picture and all these shadow creatures are all over them. The stairs finally become real to show the boy with the key running up them, duck and dog in tow. All the while he is still defeating the shadows. It zooms to show the boy cutting and slashing at the shadows. He then jumps a shadow and the duck and the dog fall on it. The duck recovers and attacks the shadows, leaving the dog on the ground. The duck jumps up and then scene change to the key-bearer. Lightening kills the shadows surrounding him. A blue fog covers the steps as the camera follows the stairs to reveal a cloaked man and another man with red strips of cloth covering his face.
"From there the scene speeds to a white hallway to show the kid with the key. He looks around at his surrounding while in the back ground is a pink-haired girl holding a pink scythe. The scene cuts to the girl—Oh wait, that's a guy with pink hair."
"A guy with pink hair?" I asked totally horrified.
Roxas nodded and continued. "The scene changes back to the boy to show him charging up the pink scythe-wielder. Scene change to show the other boy charging at his opponent. Scene change back to show the pink haired person slash at the key-bearer who jumps and avoids the attack. Change back to the other battle as the other boy gets thrown back but regains his composure and comes back to attack the guy he changed into earlier. Switch back to the scythe-bearer attacking the key-bearer and back again to the evil-evil battle. Split second switch switch-back. The boy with the sword looks like he might charge again but the scene changes before we can see. Instead the pink haired one is in the air and the key-bearer looks like he's ready to jump. Nope—Instead he throws his key, which—can't see if he's hit his mark because the scene changes back to the stairs. But I'm sure he does.
"The boy with the key is running up the stairs then scene switch to see the other boy running up them as well. Tilt up the stairs to show the key-bearer and the duck and the dog running up the stairs yet again. The camera rises more to show the other boy on the spiral above the trio. This time he is clad in his original clothing. The camera keeps rising to show the trio on the next-spiral up, but on the bottom of the spiral across from them is the other boy. He's on the underneath of the stairs.
"Scene change to the white room again. The blonde girl is there with her sketchbook and the giant glass orb is there too. The camera cuts to a close up of the girl as she sees the key-bearer enter her room. He lays his eyes on her and scene changes to her sketchbook to show her drawing him in an orb with flower petals underneath. The scene cuts back to the boy getting closed into an orb not unlike the one already in her room. He looks at her with a scared look on his face. The scene cuts back to her. It looks like she says something and he blinks his eyes tiredly. He falls back into a white background and falls into the white depths below. The camera changes angles to show the boy flying through the air. The particles of the island that flew apart at the beginning of the dream fly back into place to reform the island and the ocean.
"The scene cuts back to the blonde who is looking down at her sketchbook. Camera cuts to the sketchbook to reveal a drawing of the key-bearer. She closes her sketchbook.
"The scene fades to the three friends lying on the beach, hand in hand."
He paused. "The scene changes abruptly from the beach to me falling through the water. I was underwater to begin with. I fell onto this platform that was covered with birds. Once they flew away I realized I was standing on a stained glass platform that had the key-bearer adorned on it. After that I wake up."
"Whoa..." I breathed. "That is one heck of a dream. Do you think it means something?"
"No idea," he said. He looked around the area. "Do you have the time, Ryuu?"
"Um...not sure, but we should get going."
I was spending the night with Roxas tonight. Ever since the day I 'arrived' I've spent the night at either Roxas', Hayner's, Pence's, Olette's, Fuu's, or Vivi's. Everyone's been really nice to me. Everyone that is except Seifer and Rai. But that's expected.
"What's for dinner?" asked Roxas when we got into the house.
"Leave it to you to think of food, Roxie," I said giving him a playful shove.
Roxas' mom looked up from the pan she was hunched over. "Um, I'm not sure what it is actually," she said with a sheepish smile.
"I'll make dinner," offered Roxas.
"Oi vay," I muttered.
"C'mon, it's not that bad," he called as I ran up the stairs to the guest room. "You have to eat sometime!"
"I'm going to bed!" I called after I ate some of Roxas' cooking. I was lying in bed when I thought of Roxas' dream. I wonder if it was a recurring dream. If it isn't it's probably caused by his cooking.
My head started pounding but the pounding soon ebbed away and was replaced by sleep.
"Marluxia, I'll tend to your flowers for you while your gone on your mission," said a girl who looked almost exactly like me. Her hair color matched mine exactly, but it fell around her shoulders instead of being spiky.
I was standing in a garden with a man who had pink hair. It was a bright, sunny day. And in the distance I saw a giant white castle.
"Thank you, Xana," said the man, ruffling her hair. "That's really thoughtful of you. You can help Demyx take care of my plants if you want. And try to keep Axel away from them." He walked away from her leaving her alone. She followed him as he walked to the huge white castle.
"Xana, I want you to follow Riku into Monstro's stomach for me, okay," ordered a tall man with long silver hair.
"You want me to go into the belly of a whale?" She paused like she was thinking about something. "Okay!"
"Riku! Wait up!"
Unlike the other girls, this one looked different. She had violet colored hair that hung down to her mid-shoulders.
"C'mon Tanara! You gotta catch me if you want your sandels back!" called the boy—Riku. He ran across the sand of the beach.
The girl, Tanara, ran to catch up with Riku. Suddenly she gasped and grabbed her foot. "Ow!" She plopped down in the sand, careful not to let her foot touch the sand. "I think I cut it on a shell."
Riku was by her side instantly. He sat down next to her. "Let me see your foot."
She gave him her foot, which he blew on.
"Ow!" she cried, trying to yank her foot away. "If you're just going to put me in more pain, you can go away and get somebody who might actually help me!"
"Chill," he whispered. "I was just teasing you. Like you did to me the other day when I came over to your house to see Kairi."
"At least I didn't put you in pain. So what's the prognosis?"
"It's fine. It's not deep. But don't get sand in it and definitely no salt water. So, here is what I'm going to do. Take this," he said, giving Tanara her foot back. He took his shirt off and tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of it. He took her foot back and tied the strip around it. "That should be good for now." He reached behind himself and grabbed her sandals. He shook the sand out of them and then he gently slipped them on her feet.
He stood up and held his hand out to her. She took it and stood up carefully, putting most of her weight on the non-injured foot.
"C'mon Nam," said my clone trying to coax another girl out of her room. "I'm sure Roxas likes you too."
That got the girl out of her room. "You really think so?" she asked.
She smiled. "I know so. Annnndd—" Her smile turned into a mischievous grin. "I know that somebody likes you!" she said in a sing-song voice.
My clone was sitting on a white couch in a white room with a boy who had a faux-hawk. He and I were both wearing black cloaks. There was no color in the room, just black and white. There was a TV set and some game consoles.
"C'mon. I know I can beat you," said the boy.
"Really?" asked my clone, a smirk forming on her lips. "If Axel can't I don't think you can."
"You forget." A sitar appeared out of thin air. "I have practice. Dance, Water, Dance!"
"Like that will help," I giggled. "Sure, I'll take you on."
"Roxas?" asked my clone to a boy who looked exactly like Roxas. "Is that dirt? And grass?"
"Yeah. I added ground to the hamburger like the box said, and I did everything else the way the box told me to."
"Ryuu! Ryuu!"
"Ryuu! It's time to get up!" called Roxas' mom from outside the door. "Roxas already left."
"Okay!" I called back. I continued to lay on the ground for a bit longer while I tried to recall my dreams. All I really remembered was something about a whale and having to go into its stomach. I shuddered at the thought. "So that's what Roxas cooking does to a person," I exclaimed to myself.
I got up and went to find Roxas and the others.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Yes, I realize it's long, but I hope you liked it. For now it kind of has to mirror the game, because Ryuu is place in the same computer generated Twilight Town as Roxas.