"I don't understand. What happened to usami? Why won't she wake up?"
'She died, sweetie. Her heart has gone to kingdom hearts'
"Kingdom hearts?"
'It is a place that only reveals itself to departed hearts and offers eternal salvation'
"I guess that isn't so bad, but when will usami come back?"
'I'm afraid to say that no hearts return from kingdom hearts'
"Then I'll never see usami again."
'No, you will meet her again in the future. I just hope you continue to live as long as possible'
"Will you go to kingdom hearts one day?"
'Yes, but that won't be for a long time'
"Promise?"
'I promise'
...
When natsumi woke up, she found herself in a castle dungeon.
"Oh hell no" natsumi said as she looked around her cell like a tiger in a cage.
Once natsumi surveyed her surroundings she concluded that she was alone, without her spear, and most likely in a castle dungeon. She was about to start looking for an escape when she heard a voice that sent shivers down her spine.
"Upupupu" Junko laughed as she walked on the outside of the dungeon," looks like you're up and rightfully pissed"
"Where are Hajime and chiaki and who the hell are you?" Natsumi asked clearly enraged.
"Relax, they're safeish" Junko said," as for me, well I'm Junko enoshima, the master of all hopeless"
"You're the one that turned my brother into a hopeless and forced Nanami to shatter her heart!" Natsumi said.
"Hey now, it's not solely my fault" Junko said," besides, don't you wanna know why your friend Hajime hinata would betray you?"
"What kind of bullshit are you spewing?" Natsumi asked.
"I see, you're still processing what's going on" Junko said," so why don't I explain it to you"
Junko snapped her fingers, cueing her sister to run in with a picture book. Mukuro lifted the picture book to reveal an illustrated little figure that looked like Hajime and the title, "The Hopeless Hero".
"I hate exposition dumps as much as the next guy, so I figured I'd make it fun by adding a visual presentation and make it sound like a fairytale" Junko said," what do you think?"
"Sure, why not" natsumi said.
"Excellent, now we can start" Junko said as she cleared her voice and mukuro opened to the little Hajime like figure looking sad and alone.
"Once upon a time there was a commoner who dreamed of becoming a knight. He was so pitifully bland an average that hardly anyone cared to remember him. Making matters worse, was the fact that his heart was plagued with despairing insecurities. The poor soul had nothing to live for aside from his hopeless dream, until he met her"
Mukuro turned the page to reveal the sad hero now happy to be in the presence of another figure that looked like princess Nanami surrounded by a gold aura.
"One day when he decided to ask to become a knight, he met the pure hearted presence. She quickly captured his heart with her kind words and hope filled radiance. In that moment, he vowed to become her knight, but fate had other plans"
"You probably know the middle part since you were in it, I'll just skip to the part you haven't heard" Junko said," besides, repeating plot points is so boring"
Mukuro skipped through a length of pages before revealing the protagonists transformation into a long haired monster.
"You see, in order to fulfill his wish of becoming her knight, the hero had to discard his heart and become a nobody. Ironic since he was already sort of a nobody. However, he couldn't discard his heart on his own, so he received help from a powerful witch"
Mukuro turned the page to show the heroes heart in the clutches of a witch with long red nails.
"The pathetic hero, underestimated the witches intentions and would later pay the price for it. You see, the witch had a way of maximizing the pain and despair in her victims so all she had to do was wait for the right moment"
Mukuro turned the page and revealed the long haired monster hidden and watching the princess water some flowers.
"While the witch waited with the heros sleeping heart, the heros empty shell gravitated towards the castle grounds to see the princess. Why he went Is up to interpretation, but it's possible he felt the same love the hero had for the princess. However, this love transformed into something more fitting for a nobody: intrigue. The heros shell was intrigued to find and witness two pure entities that were polar opposites of each other, yet they never met each other face to face. Imagine this poor nobody finally finding something that moved him, but it was still incomplete."
Mukuro turned the page and showed an illustration of the witch, the heros shell, the hero, and the princess.
"That's when the heroes shell knew he had to see the two polar opposites clash. However, the witch was already ahead of him and had planned a cruel downfall for the princess and the hero. She would gleefully awaken the heros sleeping heart on the condition that he followed her orders. If he disobeyed, the hero would instantly turn into a hopeless. Now the witch wasn't completely unfair as she had planned to give the hero the task to protect and stay with the princess. Had he remembered the witch was a two faced liar that only hungered for despair, the hero probably wouldn't have fallen for his delayed despair. Without any real question or struggle, the hero proceeded with the plan never suspecting his slow punishment"
"That's it for now, but I'm curious to see how this story will end" Junko said as Mukuro closed the book.
"So Hajime was working with you the whole time?" Natsumi asked.
"Any and all relations the fictional characters have to real people is completely on purpose" Junko said.
"I'll take that as a yes, but I want to know what your plan is exactly" natsumi said," if you're the supposed master of hopeless that means you turned my brother and peko into those monsters"
"Sorry, but I'm trying to break my habit of monologging and ruining the twist of my plans" Junko said," but since you asked I'll give you a little clue"
Junko walked up to the cell and pulled natsumi in by the collar.
"Rebirth" Junko whispered into natsumis ears before pushing her away.
"What the hell kind of clue is that?" Natsumi asked.
"Figure it out for yourself blondie" Junko said as she and Mukuro walked away," I'm going to take a well deserved cat nap"
"You bitch!" Natsumi screamed," when I get out I'm going to kill you so painfully you'll wish you were never born!"
Junko ignored natsumis threat and left her alone. Natsumi kicked the bars out of frustration and grounded her teeth. Furiously, Natsumi searched for freedom like a caged tiger. That's when she saw a weak spot in the wall opposite of the bars. With no other choice, natsumi started to dig.
She dug through three feet of weak wall for what felt like an hour till she was finally able to slip into the next room. The room looked like some sort of living quarters with sixteen beds. Before she could fully examine the room, natsumi heard two pairs of footsteps coming her way forcing her to duck under a bed.
"I can't believe you forgot your sword. Some tool you are" a familiar voice said," and of all the days too"
Natsumi recognized the voice instantly as her brothers and, though the other didn't speak, the other person was defiantly peko. She would have rushed out from hiding to see her brother, but she had a sinking feeling that it wasn't him so she stayed still.
"What do you think the paradox Phoenix will even look like?" Fuyuhiko asked," it must be pretty badass considering what it's made of"
Their was only silence as the other didn't respond in the form of words.
"Wait, is someone in here?" Fuyuhiko asked," find them then"
As fast as a whip, peko darted to the bed Natsumi was under and turned it over. Natsumi looked up to see her brother and childhood friend dressed in long black coats and crimson eyes.
"Well if it isn't my bratty sister" fuyuhiko laughed," figures you would escape"
"You're not my brother" natsumi said.
"I'm his nobody, but considering his heart is long gone you might just want to accept me as him" fuyuhiko said.
"As if I'd let a bastard like you replace my brother" natsumi said.
"Oh well, I guess you'll make for a good hopeless" fuyuhiko said before snapping his fingers.
Peko picked up natsumi by the neck with ease while fuyuhiko smiled. Natsumi tried to struggle to no avail as peko and fuyuhiko walked her out of the room and to a large cell. Peko tossed natsumi in without a second thought and slammed the door behind her.
"This ought to be interesting" fuyuhiko said," seeing a hopeless eat for the first time"
Just then a bell tolled causing peko to walk away.
"Damn it, of all the times for her to call" fuyuhiko said," guess I better go see what she wants, don't be hopeless chow before I get back"
Fuyuhiko and peko walked away leaving natsumi seemingly alone. That's when natsumi heard a low growl. Natsumi turned her head to see a pair of red eyes glowing in the shadows.
"Ah shit" natsumi said.
