Eryn: Sorry if the last part of chapter 4 seemed a bit rushed. I wanted to get it out as soon as possible because I know my friend wanted to read it before she went to bed. xD If not for her, it might not have come out until later tonight. Now for some random news. I got to sing Phantom of the Opera for choir! :D Yay me! I love that song so much. I also love Choir. It's really fun. I think I've basically memorized every song I've sang this year. Lol. I also love the people. xD We're all such nerds. I think my entire circle of friends at school consists of band geeks and nerds. x3 I love them all though. On a small note, there is a very dirty line in this chapter, see if you can point it out. I know Rilo will. xP This is just to add a little bit more humor to the story, though I'm not sure it needs anymore, since you guys seem to think it's pretty funny anyway. xD
Raven06: Lmao. XD Yes Axel's Hips Don't Lie. And it's true! XD He has some really defined hips too. .. But in a really sexy way.. His body is so curvy. xD And I am too actually. I'm basically clueless about almost everything. Don't worry, there'll be a major twist. I'm actually thinking of doing a sequel to this one after Spirit of the Flame is finished. And yes it would! I cried when Axel died in the game. :( It was so sad. I almost cried when Demyx died too. And yes! XD Harassing Will is fun. Of course there's drunks wandering around. It's the Caribbean. At least she's not in Tortuga or it'd be worse. XP
ILoveRedHairYo: Yes it is quite sight isn't it? xD Whoops. XD Well, now you have a blue iPod nano! Lol.
jcola0823: XD Nice poem! You did better than I would have. It had AxelxRilo moments? o.o I didn't even notice those. xD I just type up whatever comes to mind then I completely forget all about it. And thank you! :D Nah I don't need to burn it. XD It's pretty good compared to what I'd end up thinking of on the spot.
NegativeCloud: Yessss. xD Torturing Axel is fun. And, you'll just have to see. Thanks very much! n.n
Well, now that's said and done, on with the fic!
Shit shit shit shit shit was all I could think of at the moment as the bulky man's rancid breath hit my nostrils. When he turned me around by the shoulders, this time, the fear was as plain on my face as a black dot against a white board. His face contorted into a giant menacing grin. He thought I was just some whore he could pick up off the streets. Well, I'll prove him wrong in a second!
I kicked him where it hurt most and he keeled over in pain, holding his most 'sacred' area, with both hands. Allowing a smirk to grace my lips, I took off in the opposite direction, listening to my heart race inside my chest. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, letting me at least attempt to put as much distance between me and those men as possible.
I cautiously took a glance backward and the color drained my face, my smirk disappearing. They were gaining on me. Fear only pumped out more of the adrenaline that I needed and I ran faster than I could ever remember going. Breathing in short, small gasps, I ran as if I'd never run before. I took a sharp turn to the left and cursed my bad luck at seeing a dead end. The entire wall in front of me was encased in gray stone with small crates lying in heaps in the corners, piles of hay spilling out of a few of them, blood staining the others. I figured they had contained chickens before, but I didn't dwell on that thought for very long. A low growl rumbled in the back of my throat.
"Figures!" I shouted in frustration. Glancing on either side of me, hoping for an escape, I found none. Back in my world, there would at least be some fire escapes, tall garbage cans to jump onto to get over the wall, but oh no. Not here. Dammit, why did I choose Port Royal when I knew it was a dangerous world to be in?! I mentally cursed myself for my being dead set on seeing Jack Sparrow.
"Though' you coul' get away from us, eh poppet?" a deep voice rasped in pain. I turned around only to see the bulky man and his companion. Paling, I backed away as far as I could and found myself against the wall. I looked left and right again for any means of escape just incase I missed something in my frantic search and came up empty handed. This time I really was screwed.
"Fuck…" I whispered. Both men grinned and came advancing towards me when a voice suddenly called out.
"Oi! You!" They turned around to stare at the person behind them. The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't remember where I heard it…
"What d'ya think yer doin' ta that poor lass, eh?" When the man stepped into view, my breath was caught in my chest and a broad smile spread over my face. Hell, my eyes practically sparkled.
Wearing that familiar black jacket, the man wore a red headband and other sorts of ornaments in his dreadlocks. His beard was braided into two strands with two colorful beads at the end of each one. Underneath his long jacket was a dirty white shirt that showed a good portion of his bare chest. He wore a mischievous smile as he stared at the two men standing in front of him. He was missing that cool looking hat that he always wore, but at the moment it didn't matter. The only thing that did was that I was saved.
Pulling out his pistol, he said darkly, "Ye'd be wise ta leave that gurl alone."
Both men looked at each other and took off running past him without a second thought, muttering dark curses at him. I almost fainted in relief. My savior laughed once, quietly to himself, then began strutting out of the alleyway.
Jack Sparrow… I snapped out my stupor and called out to him. "WAIT!" He turned around and gave me a questioning stare. "You're Jack Sparrow, aren't you," I said more as a statement than a question.
"Captain Jack Sparrow," he replied. I stifled a grin. "Yer here ta thank me, am I right?" I nodded. He waved dismissedly at my thanks. "No need. Not too many wenches in this port. Didn't think you were one of them with the way you're dressed," he noted. I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. My ripped black shirt with purple fishnet sleeves down to my holey dark blue jeans and black and white converse looked anything but inconspicuous. Those men probably didn't know what to think of me and so thought with their sex drives instead of their brains.
Jack gave a small grin at my expression as if he knew what I was thinking. "Ye'd be better off changin' outta them clothes, lass. I suppose you don' like attractin' attention, aye?"
I chuckled nervously. "Not really." Then, looking up at the pirate standing before me, I grinned widely. The happiness I felt just couldn't be contained any longer! How could it? How could anyone contain this feeling of such joy if they just met their favorite character of all time? Okay…So maybe Jack wasn't my ALL TIME favorite…Come to think of it, I don't think I even have one….Nonetheless, he's definitely up there on my character list of awesomeness. And yes, I did just make that up.
Okay, I just HAD to do this. It's now or never. And I choose NOW.
"Hey...Can I high-five you?" I asked, almost shyly.
Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at me with a queer, and perplexed expression…I vaguely wondered if people during this time new what a high five even was...Oh well! That just made me think. I could be the one who invented the whole high five thing! Cool!
"It's like a handshake, only you clap your hand against another person's hand," I explained, thrusting my thoughts aside.
The pirate captain never ceased to change his odd expression…I actually didn't know whether to feel embarrassed by this act, or confident with teaching him a new gesture.
I raised my hand at eye level and waited while Jack slowly inched his own hand up towards mine. I then pushed my hand against his and made a soft clapping noise. YES!! I did it! I actually high fived Jack Sparrow!! This should be written down in history! Take that fangirls! Whoo! I can now die happy with no regrets. Well…ok, maybe I wouldn't die happy. But who wouldn't be happy about this?
I squealed mentally to myself. Jack still looked at me oddly. "You are one, very strange gurl. An' I've met a lo' o' strange women in mah time."
I winked in a playful fashion. "Well, that's me for you. Being strange is fun!"
"RILO! WHEREVER THE HELL YOU ARE YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" a voice called. I paled, realizing that Axel must've had a hell of a time searching for me, and looked behind me in a startled like manner.
Jack, seeing my expression, smiled a bit, placing his hands on his hips. "Yer name is Rilo, eh? Good name, for a strong willed woman such as yerself."
I blushed at his praise and smiled shyly. "Now, ye'd better get goin' or that friend of yours could have us both hanged, savvy? It was nice ta meetcha, Rilo. Is there a last name to go with it?"
"Shadow. Rilo Shadow," I replied.
"RILO! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Axel roared in fury.
"Oops, I better get going. It was nice meeting you, Jack Sparrow!" I called behind me as I ran towards a raging Axel.
"Captain!" Jack hollered back in defiance. I beamed with pleasure at finally getting to meet the infamous Jack Sparrow. Of course, punishment from Axel isn't exactly appealing to me, but it's worth it. It is so worth it. As I ran out of the alley to meet up with Axel, again, I ran into those two creepy men.
I groaned out loud. "Aw dammit, not again! Don't you have other women to harass?" I growled.
The skinnier man replied, "Captain Barbossa wants to see you, miss. 'E says you have somethin' e' wants." The bulkier man grunted in affirmation. Wait a minute…those two look familiar…Ragetti and Pintel? But what would they want with me? I don't have anything of value!
"And what is it that I have that he wants?" I snarled. I had no time to be dealing with these two idiots! Dammit, Axel, get your ass over here!
"You'll just have to take it up with our captain, now won't you, miss Shadow?" said Pintel. Wait, how'd they know my last name?!
As if reading my mind Ragetti replied, "We were eavesdroppin' on ye and that stupid blighter Jack Sparrow. If it won't fer him, we'd a' had you at the Pearl by now."
I seethed in frustration. Axel, dammit, where are you?! I knew I wasn't going to outrun these two morons. Being pirates, they had stronger leg muscles than I did, constantly having to use them to man the deck and pillage and plunder, running about towns, causing havoc wherever they went, as was normal from a crew of the dead. Thankfully, even if they were undead, it didn't mean they couldn't get hurt, as was demonstrated when I kicked Pintel in the balls. I smirked at that memory then brought myself back into the present.
Ok, screw it. I know it won't work, but it's worth a shot. Yes, I ran. And the two boys were right on my tail. "Get back here!" Pintel shouted.
"Right, as if I'm going to listen to you! Moron!" I cried back. As if on cue, I ran right into Axel.
"There you are!" he yelled. "Where the hell did yo—what the hell?" He raised an eyebrow at the two men chasing after me.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, YOU IDIOT! HELP ME!"
He smirked. "I dunno, you seem to be handling it quite well, yourself. Plus, with that attitude, what makes you think I want to?"
"BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT HERE TO RAPE ME, STUPID! THEY WANT TO TAKE ME TO CAPTAIN BARBOSSA!" Almost immediately, Axel was on the two men. I raised both eyebrows in surprise and stopped running so I could watch Axel.
He lifted them both up by the collar and shoved them against the nearest wall with his teeth bared. "And what would your captain need of Rilo?" His whole attitude took me by complete surprise. Of course, I knew, Captain Barbossa was on the side of Maleficent, but that wasn't until later. So then why…? He couldn't have had a grudge against him because Axel didn't know him. Did he? Then again, what do I know? I only know of what happened during Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. Nothing more…And it never mentioned Axel being affiliated with pirates.
"She has a power that he wants. He says she has the power to control darkness!" Pintel choked out. My eyes widened in utter shock. Darkness? Impossible! That's absurd! I couldn't possibly have that power. Did I just become some sort of Riku clone or something when I wasn't looking? Now I'm gonna feel like a Mary Sue…Wonderful. I inwardly cringed.
"You can tell him that there's no way Rilo could give up her powers even she wanted to. Now get out," he snarled. Axel released their collars roughly and the two pirates dropped into a heap on the ground. They got to their feet and both men took off running, again, in the opposite direction, Axel's eyes ablaze like green fire. I'd never seen Axel looks so angry before. I was almost afraid…Almost.
I tentatively reached my hand towards his shoulder. "Axel…?" I uttered his name timidly. When he turned around, I could barely recognize him. That immature grin and playful expression was replaced by something much more terrible. When he trained those cold, angry eyes on to me, I flinched and withdrew my hand. Now I really was scared. I could see my face reflected in his eyes. I looked about as terrified as a cornered mouse. No longer did I hold my brave exterior.
Axel softened when he saw how alarmed I was. I didn't know why he was angry, which is why I was afraid. I didn't think he'd hit me, but I didn't know what other off the wall things he would do to me in this state. He exhaled sharply and drew me into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "You shouldn't have had to see me like that."
I choked back a cry of surprise. The whole hugging thing seemed foreign to me, and saying sorry?! What, did someone replace Axel when I wasn't looking? "Rilo?" he said, almost as if he was afraid. Maybe afraid of my reaction?
"I'm not afraid of you, if that's what you're wondering," I mumbled.
His eyes hardened. "You should be. I'm a Nobody. A being with no heart is dangerous to anybody, even other Nobodies."
"That's funny, because I can hear your heart beating. Right now," I contradicted him. It was true. I did hear his heart beating. Placing my ear to his chest, I could hear the soft thumping of his heart. Then suddenly, it stopped. Now all that was left was silence and the beating of my own heart, beating hard in my chest at the close proximity between the two of us.
"Your heart was beating just now. I don't know why, but it was. And now it stopped…" I said softly.
"That happens. It's only when Nobodies feel extreme emotion, like anger, the only emotion we can feel," he said bitterly.
"Why were you angry?" I asked, wriggling out of his grip. He almost looked dejected when I did that, but as quick as it appeared, it was gone, causing me to wonder if it was ever there at all.
"I'd rather not talk about it right now. Let's just say…Captain Barbossa and I don't agree on a few things," he replied angrily. My curiosity overwhelmed me, but it was better not to press him when it seemed to be such a touchy subject. "To make a long story short, he tried to kill me and almost succeeded, too." I did a double take on that one. Wait a minute, WHAT?! After a comment like that, he expects me not to ask questions?! Screw that! I'm asking anyway! I was about to open my mouth, but he beat me to it.
He smiled wryly. "I suppose you'd like to know why? Too bad. As I said, it's not something I like to broadcast to everybody."
I bent my head in understanding, though I still wanted to know, so I pouted in a child like manner. Axel shook his head and took me by the hand. "Let's go, princess, I think you need to head back now. You've had your fun, time to go home."
Home…Was Castle Oblivion truly my home now? It seemed like it. Of course, I missed my parents' good cooking since the Nobodies can't seem to cook for their lives, except Zexion and Xaldin. Thank god Zexion stores some sort of useful information, such as yummy dinner recipes, in that giant noggin of his. And with Xaldin being a total expert on cutlery, we're also covered there, too. Larxene occasionally keeps me company whenever we need to have some alone time. Hey, we girls need to stick together a'right?! She's the closest thing to a human girl back at home, so she's a temporary replacement for female friends. Then there's Demyx, my absolute awesome buddy. Luxord, someone I can gamble with, as if I have anything to gamble with anyway, so we just play cards. It's rather fun, even if he does kick my ass every time. I occasionally visit Marluxia, because he has some pretty flowers. Vexen I steer clear from, Saix I never see, and the same goes for Xemnas. Lexaeus is hardly ever around, always going on missions for the boss. Xigbar I rarely see either, though I am in love with his accent. Then, of course, Axel, my own personal body guard. Going through all the Organization members in my head made me wonder when Roxas was coming along. I figured it'd be sometime during Chain of Memories, but I wasn't quite sure.
Axel snapped his fingers in front of my face again. "Huh?" was my smart reply. His eye twitched.
"You spaced out again. What were you thinking of?" he asked curiously.
"Oh. Pondering on how homelike Castle Oblivion seems to me now. And I was thinking ab—no. I can't tell you that. Too much information." Both eyebrows went up.
"What's too much information? Is it another one of those future things?"
I nodded. "Yes." Suddenly I felt something bite the back of my neck. I yelped in surprise. "Ow, what the?!" My hand went to my neck to rub the bite and I pulled off a small, black bug. What caught my notice, however, was the fact that the bottom side of the bug had a very bright red mark on its belly. The heartless insignia... My eyes widened in horror. Feeling the back of my neck, I felt a sticky liquid slide over my hand. When I pulled it back, it was purple. It reminded me of blood, only this was thicker. It frothed and bubbled in my hand. I felt like I was about to be sick.
"Axel…" I said nervously, "I think we have a problem." Axel trained his eyes on the sticky goo in my hand then looked to the heartless type bug, and an alarmed look came into his face which only terrified me even more. And I swear to god! This thing is no bigger than a fly! Must've been someone with a very small amount of darkness in their heart. Unless it was made purposely for this reason…
"Oh shit," he said. Pain coursed through my neck and right down to my toes. I doubled over in pain and nearly gasped aloud. Eyes scrunched in agony, I gritted my teeth and tried not to think about the pain. It centered around my chest and it felt like something was eating at my heart. I clawed at my chest with my left hand and gripped the material of
"Rilo?" Axel said worriedly. He bent down to my level and took me by the shoulders. "Rilo!" he cried louder. I wouldn't respond. The pain was too much for me to bear. Eyes glazed over, I fell limp in his arms. The last thing I heard was Axel crying my name…Then everything went black.
I woke up to find myself in a purple corridor, lying on my side. I sat up and stared around me, drowsily. "Ugh, where am I?" my voice echoed. Everywhere I looked, it was purple. A dark purple, but it was purple. Purple purple purple! WHY IS EVERYTHING PURPLE! Why can't it be green?! Green's a pretty color...
Anyway, moving on. I got to my feet and started walking down hallway after hallway. It seemed never ending. Everywhere I turned was a purple hallway, and sometimes it would lead to a dead end. This maze had me puzzled. Why is it here? Where was here? There were a lot of questions I wanted answered, but where I'd get my answers I didn't know.
My feet moved of their own accord as I tried to find a way out of this weird place. The constant purple was beginning to give me a headache... Then I thought of an old trick that used to get me out of big mazes like this. Placing one hand on the right side of the wall, I trailed my hand along it and began moving through multiple hallways without once reaching a dead end.
It felt like I wandered around this confusing maze for hours when I finally came upon a white door. Guess my method worked after all. A soft, white glow escaped the cracks and filtered in under the door. Finally, I was getting somewhere. I tentatively reached for the round, brass handle. As soon as my hand touched the door, it swung open for me, blinding me with that bright light that I'd seen from under the door. Holding up an arm to cast a shadow over my eyes so I could see, I slowly moved forward. The blast of light was so powerful it seemed like it was pushing me back. But me, being as stubborn as I am, refused to give up and walked as far as I could, when the light suddenly receded.
The room reminded me of the one where I'd shortly received my electric powers. The only difference was the color. It was purple, like everything else around here. In the center stood a, you guessed it, purple glowing orb with wisps of darkness flitting about inside of it. Suddenly it felt like déjà vu.
Almost as if spellbound, I walked closer to the floating, purple orb in the middle of the room. My body moved on its own and I began getting closer to the dark orb floating in front of me. As if in a trance, I reached out to touch the orb. When I finally did, a bright blast of purple filled the room and almost swept me off my feet, but it seemed as if my hand was glued to the orb. Forcefully moving my hand through the pressure that centered the orb, I gripped the arm glued to the orb with my hand should I ever have to try to remove it, though it seemed like it'd be impossible anyway. Unlike the electric orb I'd seen before, this one sent a warm, relaxing sensation through my body which embraced the feeling as if it were an old friend. The power I'd received before seemed more foreign, as if it shouldn't be there. This one filled me to the core, without my body rejecting the power that coursed through my fingers.
As soon as it came, it disappeared, leaving me exhausted, but surprisingly full, as if before, my body was missing something and now this newfound power relinquished that void. I walked shakily out of the room, then turned back only to see the orb had disappeared, quite unlike the blue one. I decided not to dwell on this fact too much and left the room.
Soon as I left, I found myself dazed in Axel's arms, his head bent over me with his eyebrows creased in terrible worry. I groaned and passed a hand over my face to knock me out of this annoying stupor. Axel breathed a sigh of relief then glared at me angrily.
"What the hell happened to you?" he said furiously, as if trying to hide how worried he was. I grinned. His hard stare only deepened.
"Aww, you were worried," I said a bit groggily. "No need to fret, my pyro friend, I am perfectly—YOW!"
Pain coursed through my neck again, but this time it felt as if something were being flushed out of me, something that shouldn't be there. My hand immediately went to the wound on my neck and I found more of that sticky goo from before, only now it was beginning to disappear, much like a heartless does when it's destroyed. Bringing my hand back in front of me, the goo clung to my fingers like syrup, and like the rest of it, slowly began to disappear until there was nothing left of it. Checking my neck again, I found no goo, and the hole in my neck had been resealed.
"Well, what do ya know... I feel better now," I said in surprise. Axel didn't seem so sure and hauled me to my feet.
"I think we should go see the Superior now. And while we do, perhaps you can explain what happened to you?" he said in more of a demanding tone.
"Well, I found myself in a purple corridor, went through some sort of maze, found a white door, opened it, and touched a purple orb that was in the middle of the room," I explained briefly, skipping all the minor details.
Axel furrowed his brows in thought and crossed his arms. "Hm... I think where you were was inside your heart. Inside every human being, there is a specific sort of power they possess. It may be powerful, it may be weak and practically useless. Everyone's different. You are a special case. You control darkness, or shadows, to be more precise. You have great power, more so than most people in your world, which is why we took a special interest in you. Nobodies can sense what kind of power humans possess, though it's hard to explain how. We just know. We didn't take you earlier because we wanted your powers to progress more so we could eventually unlock them for you. I didn't expect a heartless to bite you and you unintentionally unlocked your powers yourself. It might've been a bit too early, so it will take longer for you to gain control over them, but eventually you will become very powerful, even more powerful than some of Organization XIII. But I think that's a long ways away, yet," Axel explained with a smirk. "You were supposed to figure out your power yourself, but obviously that didn't happen because of those stupid pirates." So Axel's grudge went far beyond just Barbossa, he didn't trust any pirate. He'd probably get mad if he knew that Jack Sparrow was a pirate.
Getting back to the matter of my powers, I gained an awed expression. So it was true. I didn't believe it at first, I just thought it was some sort of fairy tale explanation was to why Barbossa wanted to capture me, but it was true. I really had the power of darkness.
As if to test out my powers, I raised my hand to eye level with my palm facing outward. Imitating what's been done in cartoons and movies, I closed my eyes and concentrated on that part of my body, forcing my heart and soul into that one area. Just to take a small peek, I opened one my eyes a crack and gasped in delight. It was small, but there was a little purple glowing ball, about the size of the fly, floating in my palm, with black static crackling around it.
"Cool!" I exclaimed. Axel only shook his head.
"Ok, princess, now it's time to go," he said and opened a portal for me then off we went back to Castle Oblivion.
Eryn: Pshaw. x3 This was a fun chapter to write. And for those of you who were looking for a tad bit of romance, well, there's your little dose. ;D Nothing will develop too far right now though, so don't get your hopes up just yet. Well hope you enjoyed it. Now, reviews would be nice, please. :3