/N: Hi there...*runs*
I'm REALLY sorry about the long wait! I've been crazy busy lately, but I managed to get this typed up during break.
I will try and update again sooner, I promise...
Anyway, I'll stop stalling and get onto the story. XD Thanks again to Mystics Apprentice, my wonderful beta reader!
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
Smoke.
Ashes.
Shadowy Heartless beings crawling through the rubble of what were once beautiful homes, rustling the branches of the dead plants that were not smashed to smithereens.
This was the new face of "Radiant Garden" that appeared under the cold sunrise the next morning. Yen Sid gazed upon the spectacle from a tower in the laboratory, the only building that remained recognizable. He stroked his beard mindlessly, a vacant look in his eyes as he watched a tendril of smoke dance just outside the window.
"Master Yen Sid, sir?" came a familiar voice. Yen Sid blinked then turned to the overturned bookshelf beside him. The familiar crystal ball perched on the edge, a blue-tinged cloud appearing inside of it. "What seems to be troubling you? After all, we did accomplish so much in this one night."
The warlock remained silent for a moment. Finally, he said in a distant voice, "The trio, they got away. I can sense their presence traveling farther and farther away."
"No worries, Master Yen Sid," the crystal ball assured him. "You are a powerful ruler of a world with an infinite amount of servants, not to mention our latest creation."
Ah, yes, Yen Sid had almost forgotten about that. How on earth that had nearly slipped his mind, he would never understand. He chuckled darkly at his own thoughtlessness before turning to respond to the crystal ball.
"Ah, I suppose you are right about that," he said with a nod to his companion. "Speaking of which, I suppose I should start training him to be my right-hand man." The wizard clapped his hands thrice, and a small Heartless molded into existence.
"Bring me our guest in room 12B," he ordered. The Shadow made no motion to respond; he merely shrunk into a puddle and skittered out of the room.
A few short minutes later the Shadow returned, accompanied by a small boy with windswept, golden-blond spikes and startlingly blue, cloud-filled eyes. Light tendrils curled around his arms, neck, and cheeks. These tendrils formed a pair of glowing white wings on his back. They were rather large in proportion to his body. He appeared to be a normal young, freshly bloomed faery, save for two major differences: His expression was completely blank, matching his white T-shirt and slacks. The strangest part of the boy, however, may have been his uncanny resemblance to another young faery: Sora.
Yen Sid would never fully get over the awe he experienced while looking over this creation. He created a keywielder and a right-hand man for himself using his enemy's technology. Not only that, but this young man would help him obtain Star Seeker once more.
The warlock shook his head. No time to think of such fantasies; he had to focus on training young Roxas first before he could entertain what was in store down the road for him.
"Roxas," Yen Sid said to the boy in a commanding tone. "Look at me."
Slowly, Roxas lifted his head to the source of the voice.
Yen Sid smiled in satisfaction. The boy appeared to be a quick learner so far; hopefully this would make training a breeze.
"Good, you've learned your name," Yen Sid continued. "Now, follow me. We have some training to do."
Carefully, he picked up the crystal ball and slipped it into his pocket before marching out of the room. Roxas followed closely behind him, stone-faced as ever.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
"Hey, guys! I know y'all are probably tired, but this tavern can't have breakfast out for much longer!"
Naminé's eyes snapped open at the sound of someone's voice in the doorway. She slowly rolled over to see that dark-haired pixie from the night before hovering in her doorway. Her hands were on her hips and she was tapping her foot expectantly. (Although it looked rather odd seeing the action done in midair.)
The pixie seemed to notice that Naminé was awake, for she flashed the faery girl a huge grin. "Top o' the morning to you!" she said, pretending to bow. "Would you mind getting your friends up? Tell them that the Great Ninja Yuffie can only keep the breakfast out for so long."
On that note she darted off, not even waiting for a response. Naminé glanced at her sleeping companions: Xion on the opposite side of the bed she was in, and Kairi occupying the cot closest to the window. Neither of them appeared to have heard Yuffie's wake-up call, for they were both fast asleep.
"I guess I better get them up," Naminé thought wearily. She gently nudged Xion a couple times until the raven-haired girl's eyes flew open. She then slipped out of bed and awoke Kairi in the same manner.
When both of her companions were awake, Naminé reported what Yuffie had told them about breakfast. Kairi groaned in exhaustion, but nodded anyway and began to throw on her outfit from the previous day. Xion made no attempt to respond.
As Kairi took a step towards the door, she grimaced and grabbed her leg. "Ugh, I don't know about you guys, but I am ridiculously sore from yesterday," she said to Xion and Naminé.
Naminé ran her fingers across her own legs. They were fairly banged up and bruised as well, not to mention how achy they were from running around all over the place.
"I'm pretty sore myself," she finally admitted, "and I'm sure Xion is as well."
She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the raven-haired girl was following them out the door, which, of course, she wasn't. She appeared to be confused by her new surroundings, but seemed to relax upon making eye contact with Naminé.
"Come on, we're going to get food," Naminé coaxed her gently. Xion appeared to perk up at hearing the word "food," and so she arose from the bed and walked over to the two girls.
Kairi smiled at this brief exchange. "You seem to understand her very well," she commented kindly as they strolled slowly down the hallway.
Naminé shrugged. "I guess; I haven't really given it much thought."
They shuffled down the stairs in silence. It's strange, Naminé mused, to be thrust into a situation with strangers who look almost exactly like you.
Well, almost strangers; she technically knew everything about Kairi and Xion, which felt kind of creepy.
Finally, the tavern bar appeared in sight. As the three reached the base of the stairs, Yuffie spotted them and waived them towards three open bar stools. Olette, Repliku, and Riku were already there along with Leon, who was serving them some sort of porridge.
"Good of you guys to show up!" Yuffie exclaimed, beaming at the trio. "It looks like you six are gonna be the only ones fed this morning."
"You mean afternoon," Leon corrected, filling three more small bowls with the porridge.
Kairi stared at the man and the pixie. "Afternoon?" she exclaimed. "How long did we sleep?"
Yuffie chuckled at the mermaid's reaction. "Well, you guys slept for about thirteen hours," she informed them, "but I'm betting that the guys that haven't gotten up yet are gonna sleep for at least three more hours."
Leon opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a tall figure stumbling down the stairwell.
"I'm here! Don't put away the food yet!" Myde cried, leaping into the open stool beside Naminé. Leon raised an eyebrow at the panting faery, but said nothing as he pushed four bowls of porridge down the table to the new occupants.
"Whew, thanks!" he said with a sheepish grin before wolfing down the food. "Mm, this is delicious. What is it?" he asked between slurps.
The brunet man raised an eyebrow. "Fish and oat gruel," he told the rocker faery.
Upon hearing that, Kairi gagged on her spoonful of the meal. When she regained her composure, she stared at the gruel in horror and slowly pushed the bowl away.
"It may not be restaurant quality," Leon continued as he served himself a bowl, "but it'll help replenish your strength after your adventure yesterday."
"Oh, I don't believe that is the problem," Riku interjected as he finished his own breakfast. "She's a mermaid and can't eat fish."
"She's only part mermaid. Not only could she eat it, she could benefit from getting something nutritious in her system," Leon told the elf as he filled another bowl with the gruel. Kairi opened her mouth to ask how he knew, but before the question left her mouth the man rolled his eyes. "Like I said last night, it's amazing what you can learn when you use your senses," he stated in a bored tone.
Curious, Naminé sampled the gruel herself. It didn't have much of a flavor, but it wasn't as disgusting as she thought it might be. Before she knew it, she had downed the whole bowl.
"Wowie, that was fast!" Yuffie said as she cleared the young faery's bowl from the table. "Do you want Kairi's?"
Naminé nodded, and Yuffie shoved the bowl down the table. Naminé caught it and began eating once more when Leon began talking.
"So, we can offer you a place to stay for a couple more nights, but after that it might be difficult," he said as he wiped down the countertop. "You mentioned that you have somewhere to travel from here?"
"Yes, we were on our way to Destiny Islands until we discovered that the database of our Gummi Ship didn't have the coordinates," Olette informed him.
Leon nodded. "I'm sure Cid could help you with that. I'll introduce you to him once everyone's up."
"Who's Cid?" Repliku asked, piping up for the first time.
"He's the resident mechanic, engineer, and all around tech-guy," Yuffie explained. "He can have a bit of an attitude, but he's really a nice guy."
While everyone finished their meal in silence, Naminé examined the inside of the tavern. It was pretty simple in design. Wooden tables and booths filled the windowless room, and several cheap light fixtures resembling chandeliers hung from the ceiling. There was a small stained glass window by the door to the right of the bar, and various posters ranging from bands to advertisements neatly lined the back wall.
Despite its cheap appearance, the tavern was actually rather quaint, in Naminé's opinion. She wished that she could capture its unique beauty and preserve it, but she wasn't sure how. Perhaps burning it into her memory would have to do for now. She had a billion already; what was one more? Besides, she needed to make more of her own memories.
Naminé was broken away from her musings by Leon's voice. "Well, since it appears as though the others are not getting up anytime soon, I guess they'll just have to do without food until the evening," he grumbled as he grabbed the pot of gruel and walked into a door behind the bar.
This left the seven of them with Yuffie. The pixie scratched her head, as if thinking about something.
"I was hoping to ask this of all of you, but I'm getting sick of waiting," she finally said. "I don't mean to pry, but how did all of you wind up all beat up and flying around in a Gummi Ship?"
The group exchanged hesitant glances. Finally, Kairi spoke up. "It's a very long, complicated story. I'm not sure where to start or who to start with."
"I think Riku and Kairi should start, since their trio seems to be the center of it all," Repliku said. All eyes shifted to him, causing him to grow nervous and stare straight down at the floor. "It seemed like a good idea to me," he mumbled.
Naminé was filled with sympathy for the boy. She had to say something to divert the attention from him. "Th-that sounds smart," Naminé forced out. "I'm sure Riku and Kairi can cover for Sora's part of the story as well."
Yuffie frowned. "Sorry, I'm blanking out. Which one's Sora?"
"The short one upstairs," Myde replied, licking the bottom of his breakfast bowl.
Riku smirked at Myde's description of Sora. "I highly doubt that he would be happy to be known as 'the short one,'" he commented, causing Kairi to giggle.
Repliku's blue-green eyes met Naminé's cerulean, cloud-filled ones for a moment. "Thank you," he mouthed. Naminé returned the gesture with a small smile before turning to the rest of the group.
"Well, I guess I'll start," Kairi said with a sigh. "Boy, this is gonna take a while."
The mermaid began by summarizing how she ended up at the Destiny Island Reserve with Sora's family, Riku interjecting only to say that he and his friend Wakka were "visiting" the island due to problems at home. Eventually, they came to where Vanille broke the news to Sora that he was being sent to Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits along with Kairi.
At that statement, Leon jumped into the scene with a concerned expression. "Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits?" he repeated.
Naminé stared at the man. "What on earth could he know about that kingdom?" she thought curiously. She leaned in closer to the edge of the bar.
"Indeed. Why do you ask?" Riku asked curiously.
Leon didn't say anything, but merely shook his head. Riku, however, refused to accept that as an answer. "What do you know about that place?" he pressed.
"Enough to know that you don't have anywhere to go now," he replied shortly. "By now all of your friends and family have probably forgotten about your existence. You may as well find a new home now."
THUMP.
Kairi slammed her fists on the table, startling the other people at the bar. "How could you say that?" she demanded, glaring at the man. "Our families would never forget us!"
He met her harsh gaze with cold, stormygrey eyes. For a spit second, lightning appeared to flash in them, making Leon appear all the more fearsome. Finally, he broke the tension in the room and spoke.
"I ended up there myself after a series of incidents. There I learned the hard way that Yen Sid uses his magic to erase your existence in the outside world," Leon told them in a curt voice.
"Leon, don't get mad at them!" Yuffie cut in, scolding the much larger man. "How in the world were they supposed to know?!"
Leon didn't respond; he merely grumbled something about dishes to be washed and headed to the door behind the bar once more.
"Don't mind him, he gets grumpy when he thinks about stuff from a while ago," Yuffie brushed off casually. "Now, continue your story! It sounds like it was getting to the good part."
Riku and Kairi glanced at each other nervously, but continued the story nonetheless. Myde joined in as well once they reached the Radiant Garden portion of their tale.
When they finally finished, Yuffie exhaled and took a step back. "Wow," she said. "That is crazy. So Radiant Garden was completely wiped out?"
"That is how it appears," Riku confirmed, "not including our group, Yen Sid, and his minions."
Yuffie nodded slowly. She let the story sink in for a minute before asking, "So, you wanna go see if Cid can help you out with your ship?"
"I thought Leon said that going to Destiny Islands is pointless now," Olette pointed out.
The pixie smiled mischievously at the girl. "It is with that attitude! Don't tell me you guys are just gonna give up already."
On that note, Yuffie glided over to the stairwell. "Well, I'm gonna go get your friends up. Maybe y'all can make a decision together!" she said brightly. Then she flew up the stairs and out of the group's sight.
A few minutes later, she returned dragging a half-awake, bed-headed Sora and Lea down the stairs. Ienzo followed calmly behind them, although he appeared to be rather irritated. Naminé stifled a chuckle at the sight of the four of them; they looked like something straight out of a comic book.
"Rise and shine! You have a bunch of huge decisions to make, so you better wake up!" Yuffie told them in a sing-song voice. "You've missed out on too much already by sleeping the day away!"
Sora grumbled something unintelligible, and Lea made no attempt to respond. Ienzo, however, retorted in an cross tone, "I was meditating, not sleeping. There's a large difference between the two."
Yuffie ignored the rain spirit and dropped the two boys into bar stools beside Myde. "Well now, let's take a vote: who wants to go to Destiny Islands?" she asked loudly.
Sora, who was finally starting to wake up, gave the pixie a bewildered look. "Uh, I thought we were already going there," he said in a confused tone.
Out of the corner of her eye, Naminé saw Riku shake his head. Kairi seemed to have noticed this too, for she took up the task of filling in thelatecomers. "An issue has cropped up. According to Leon, Yen Sid works some sort of magic to make everyone forget about the people who left to his Kingdom of Misfits," she informed them.
"That would explain why no one remembered me!" Olette piped up.
Sora stared at them blankly. "Wait, so no one back home will remember us?" he asked incredulously.
"That's the gist of it," Yuffie confirmed.
"Well, we'll just have to make 'em remember us!" Lea said confidently, finally jumping in to the conversation.
"Besides," Riku said, "What else can we do at this point?"
"You could do some research on those Keyblades of yours," a voice said. Leon once again emerged from the back room, drying off a pan with a plain white towel.
It was amazing how that guy could just pop in an out and be on top of the conversation, Naminé mused briefly.
Sora gaped at the brunet. "Woah, how did you know about those?" he asked, awed.
"Your friends caught us up on your story while you slept in," Leon replied. He set the dry pan on the side of the bar before continuing. "There are many mysteries and prophecies surrounding those weapons. Rumor has it that those who put the legendary King of Darkness in his grave wielded them."
At this statement, everyone's eyes grew wide – save for Kairi's. Instead she asked, "Who's the King of Darkness?"
Myde shot the girl an incredulous look. "You haven't heard that tale?" he cried.
Lea shook his head at the girl. "Man, I knew mermaids were sheltered, but I didn't think it was this bad," he said. "It's a classic nighttime story from small kids, except it's a true story." Everyone nodded and muttered agreements with the flame spirit.
"Ugh, will someone just tell me it already?" Kairi pleaded, her face turning red in embarrassment. Everyone opened their mouth to speak, but suddenly Naminé found the words falling from her mouth:
"Eons past, when the world was whole
A queen of the light
Ruled o'er us all.
The light provided
and the people abided
not to 'murder or injure or pilfer each other.'
Then one day, her eldest son
Ever curious, ever bold
Pilfered the peasants, injured his mother!
Murdered his youngest sister and brother!
'To test the laws and test the light,'
Was what he told his dear old queen
For 'light was old, light was weak'
For something better, he would seek."
Suddenly, Repliku joined her in singing the final chorus.
:Oh, my son, what have you done?
Darkness comes now, we must run
For darkness collides
With the light that provides
And ruins us all, ev'ry mother's child!"
The two faded out slowly, upon realizing they were both awkwardly singing together.
Riku stared at them both for a moment with his moonlike, pupilless eyes. "That's the way that it was sung to me when I was younger," he commented simply.
Now it was Naminé's turn to flush bright red. She and Repliku had Riku's memories, so it would make sense that Riku recognized that version, but still…
"The song goes on for a while longer, but basically the son goes evil and take over the land and is later overthrown by three kids of the light," Lea explained, trying to break the ice.
Leon nodded, glancing at the two silverets and the blonde. He seemed to be in deep thought about something, most likely the scientist-replica situation the group told him and Yuffie about earlier.
Yuffie, greatly annoyed by the silence, slammed her fist on the table. "Well, enough chit-chat, let's figure out a plan for your future!" she proclaimed loudly. "So, what do y'all intend to do?"
Before anyone could respond, Sora shouted, "Go to Destiny Islands, fo course!"
Yuffie beamed. "I like the way you think, kid," she said, high-fiving him.
The others just stared at him. "And why exactly do you still wish to travel to your former home?" Ienzo asked.
Sora opened his mouth to respond, but Yuffie beat him to the punch. "It's simple: you go back to Destiny Islands once Cid works his magic on your ship and see if you can get your friends and families to remember you. If they do, great! If they don't, then just make them remember you."
Ienzo nodded. "Fair enough," he agreed. "Let's hurry up and meet this 'Cid' character then so we can get on the road quickly."
"Okie-dokie, let's hop to it then!" Yuffie zoomed over to the entrance and kicked the old door open. "C'mon, slow pokes! We don't have all day!'
As the group left the bar and followed the ninja pixie, Lea's stomach grumbled. "Jeez, I'm starving!" he moaned.
"That's what happens when you sleep in too late," Yuffie told the fire spirit, rolling her eyes.
Naminé brought up the rear of the group. She was still highly embarrassed by what she had done earlier, but thankfully they all seemed to have forgotten the incident.
Well, most of them. Riku was still eyeing her curiously from time to time.
Keeping her eyes low to the ground, she closed the door to the tavern and followed the other fey down the cobblestone streets. Hopefully she could avoid bringing any more attention to herself.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
A/N: The rest of my attempted poem can be found on my Deviantart account, "Mosstarkitteh." :P