Author's Comments: Hi! This popped into my head early early early this morning. Decided to skip around a bit; this one takes place somewhere during The Kismet Scribe. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Maxiin/Imani.
She was going to the wrong castle, he realized with a sigh. In fact, of the castles he knew, she and her new friends were going to the castle that posed the most threat to the Superior's plan. She'd make even more new friends who'd fill her heart with more light and more positivity and more motive to abandon the organization.
He groaned. He was going to get a load of crap for his idea to see if she could read his mind when he said "castle" and thought "the beast's castle."
Well, maybe he could wriggle out of taking blame. He was experimenting so that the organization could get a full grasp of her capabilities. Yeah. That sounded productive. Her going to the wrong castle wasn't a step backward; it was unconventional progress.
Yeah. Progress.
He pushed the notion aside and refocused on the images playing before him across invisible screens. He hadn't understood the reality of Maxiin's memory until he saw it for himself—curtains of moving color stretching high above him with blurred edges separating viewpoints from each other. He could manipulate individual standpoints however he pleased—rewinding, pausing, fast-forwarding, increasing or decreasing the volume, skipping between hours or years, honing in on sensory details like scent or touch…It was kind of overwhelming.
He let his arms fold into themselves snugly across his chest as he studied three screens before him: Sora's, Riku's, and Maxiin's. They had just departed from Hollow Bastion and were heading down a hallway towards the audience chamber of the castle. Sora's pictures shook and bobbed with his jogging and giddy eagerness to get to the chamber. Riku's pictures remained a lot more still as he strolled calmly behind Sora. Maxiin's pictures…
His eyes narrowed at the Heartless rising from the carpet. Maxiin's footsteps ceased and her breathing grew louder and more erratic above the sucking noise, her eyes fixated on the Heartless.
"What're you looking at?"
He blinked away his momentary dizziness when she whipped her head to look at Riku who was eyeing her quizzically. "D-Don't you see them?" she asked incredulously. "T-There are Heartle…"
When she whipped her head back to the stretch of hallway before her, the Heartless were gone.
His eyebrows inched together. Where did they go? Sora didn't get rid of them when they weren't looking. They couldn't have just disappeared like that.
"Come on, you slowpokes! This way!"
A curse slipped out past his lips. His eyes widened and he stumbled back a few steps when he saw a huge Heartless explode into being right before Maxiin's eyes. As quickly as the Heartless appeared Maxiin's arms cover part of her vision, blocking his view. Her shriek filled his ears and stretched into the nothingness surrounding him.
"Imani, what's wrong? What are you doing?"
He glanced at Riku's screen and felt his jaw drop. There was no Heartless blockading the hallway—only Sora watching Maxiin with alarm as she covered her eyes.
What the hell was going on? Why was the Heartless present in Maxiin's pictures but not in Riku's or Sora's? Why did the Heartless suddenly disappear from Maxiin's pictures when she lowered her arms?
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm fine. I just…I remembered something a little too clearly."
Sora's pictures showed her face—pale skin, a deep-set frown, and tired, frustrated eyes. She fought to catch her breath and shake away the fear from her mind. She insisted she was fine.
Did he say overwhelming? He took that back. Her memory was lethal.
He could only handle a few seconds of studying her before giving in to the urge to wave away all three screens. She remembered everything. Everything. Every single detail. Her mind saved every fiber of every moment. She experienced it all— she saw it, heard it, smelled it, tasted it, felt it— and there wasn't anything she could do to control it. What a nightmare.
He raked a hand through his hair and exhaled. There were some things that were better off being forgotten…but she would never be allowed that luxury.
Author's Afterthought: Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!