Remembering the Forgotten

By: Ellipsis the Great

DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts and everything affiliated with it belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. All I own is the plot…although the original idea came from orangediscord's one-shot 'Left Behind.'

Summary: Sometimes, I thought I was the only person who remembered him…eventual Seiner, other pairings unknown.

Rated: M.

Spoilers: Takes place after Kingdom Hearts II; I dunno how much of the plot will be included.

Warnings: Yaoi and some angst. More warnings later if needed.

Chapter Eight: Spiritus (breath, breathing; life; spirit)

"You had a choice it was your world to make it. My offer was there you just had to take it." –After U, 'Decisions'

I had curled myself up in one of the chairs as soon as we had taken off and no longer had to wear seatbelts, knees pulled up so as to keep the spare paper I'd found at about eye level. My jaw was set as it always was when I was working on something, and my eyes flickered as unobtrusively as possible from my impromptu sketchpad to the surprisingly thoughtful pose of one Hayner Duncan. He was brooding about something in the seat across from me, leaning back in what would have been a relaxed position if not for the way his eyebrows had drawn together. He almost looked angry; and like I said before: 'angry Hayner' is like an angry kitten, so he actually looked—

"Whatcha drawin'?"

I let out a sharp yelp and instinctively punched at the source of my surprise, causing Sora to fall flat on his ass.

"Don't fucking scare me like that, dipshit!" I said, though I was more upset that the fracas had jolted Hayner out of position than anything else.

"What'd you have to punch me for?" Sora asked, words slightly slurred as he clutched his broken nose and glared at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Lemme see."

"No, I—ow!" He screeched when I jerked his hands away from his nose and popped it back into place. "That hurt, Seifer!"

"That's what you get for sneaking up on me." I snapped. "And punching you is an automatic reaction—just ask the chickenwuss, here; it's his fault I do it."

Hayner laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, it kinda is. And he does it to pretty much anyone who doesn't announce themselves before they get within arm's reach of him. He gets jumpy."

"Hmph." Sora said, but his curiosity overcame his pain (he's fucking ADHD, I was quickly discovering) when he saw my sketchpad. "So? What were you drawing?"

I shrugged, picking up the paper and handing it to him. "Just sketching. I don't have to worry about anything here, so I can draw as much as I want."

"What would you have to worry about? Rabid fangirls?" Sora asked as he looked at the sketch. "This is really good!"

"Can I see?" Hayner asked, peeking over Sora's shoulder. Sora held the drawing so he could see it, too. "Hey, that's me! The fuck are you drawing me for?"

"Drawing the ship gets boring after a while, but I needed a reference." I said, blushing a little. It was one of my only big foibles—when in the sketching stage of an artwork, I had to have a reference of some sort. Once the sketch was done I could do whatever in the hell I liked with it and end up with a fine—if not more than fine—finished product. For some reason, though, I had to have a reference at first if I didn't want the piece to come out looking like shit.

Which, naturally, I never did.

"Oh." Hayner said, blinking at me. "Well…well."

I rolled my eyes, took the sketch back, and flopped into my seat. "Whatever. How much longer to Twilight Town, Cid?"

"Oh, I'd say we got—shit!"

Everyone let out a surprised yell as the ship dipped violently to one side, a loud boom sounding from outside.

"We got trouble!" Cid said rather uselessly. "You kids buckle the fuck up—Sora! Get up here and man the guns while I try to dodge these bitches!"

"Right!" Sora said, stumbling to the front as Hayner sat down and the two of us buckles our seatbelts.

I won't even attempt to explain all of what happened next, except to say that the more shit that got thrown at us, the further into his element Cid seemed to be. He swerved and ducked expertly, even taking over for Sora at a few points before returning to the wheel, whooping and hollering like an excited kid the entire time. Whatever doubts I might have had about him were swept away, and whatever respect he hadn't already garnered by being who he was, was awarded to him just by watching him work. Even though he had only flown the odd Gummi ship for a few hours, he had mastered it. Like Miss Astor often said: a master painter makes art with any brush. Cid…no, Captain Cid could dominate the skies in any ship.

Sadly, even the best pilot can be overwhelmed, which is exactly what happened moments later when another legion of battleships basically appeared out of thin air.

"Ah, shit." I heard Cid mutter (I was sitting right behind him). "Hayner, check the screen to your left, it should be a map. What's the nearest world to our current position?"

"Umm…it's the Olympus Coliseum, sir!" Hayner said.

"Alright, enter the coordinates into the computer, and everybody hold on tight! We're about to make one hell of a crash landing!"

I clamped my mouth shut to keep out any errant noises that might have escaped, and hung on as tightly as I could to my armrests. I decided that I didn't particularly enjoy flying, and if Cid was a master pilot I was sure as hell never flying with Sora at the wheel.

With a jolt, we burst free of the cluster fuck of ships, which tried to keep up but only managed to hit us once more before we were out of range and out of sight. The thrumming of the ship became almost frantic, then, as the Coliseum came into view, as if the ship itself knew it was on its last legs. I drew in a deep breath and held it as the ship began shaking.

"Put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye, kids!" Cid called back—he still sounded like he was having the time of his life—then went into a sharp dive that made me squeeze my eyes shut.

My stomach flew up into my throat due to the sudden falling sensation, but I couldn't even attempt to gulp so the lump would go away. Finally, we made impact, bouncing a few times before we finally skidded to a halt.

All you could hear was settling dust, crackling bits of metal and electricity, and our heavy, adrenaline-induced breathing.

"Everyone alright?" Cid called back, coughing as dust tried to get in his mouth and throat.

"'M fine!" Sora said.

"Been better." Hayner muttered as he sat up, shaking his head as if to clear it of something.

"Agreed." I groaned, clearing my throat loudly. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

There were mumbled responses as we made our ways out of our seats and then out of the door, which I had to shoulder open.

"And Riku called me a bad driver." Sora giggled, obviously trying to lighten everyone's mood.

"Sora, that's the first time I can ever remember being in a Gummi ship, and I can already tell you that there's no way you could do what Cid just did and come out of it alive." Hayner said.

Sora pouted a little, blowing a raspberry at him before catching sight of a small group of people approaching us. "Hercules! Phil and Meg, too! Hey, guys!"

"Sora!" A huge, bulky guy exclaimed. And by bulky, I mean ridiculously fucking buff—this guy had biceps the size of my head. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." Sora laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "We ran into a bunch of ships and crashed. Sorry about that!"

"No problem! We haven't seen you in a while, little buddy!" Hercules said, scooping Sora up and hugging him—if the pained expression on Sora's face was anything to go by, it was quite literally a 'bone-crushing' hug. Sora let out a relieved sigh when Hercules set him down. "How you been? Where are Donald and Goofy?"

"We're meeting them in Twilight Town." Sora explained. "That's where we were going before we crashed. And I've been fine. Oh! And these are my friends Cid, Hayner, and Seifer. Guys, this is Hercules, and those two are Megara and Philoctetes—Meg and Phil for short."

"Pleasure." I said with a nod, Hayner and Cid doing basically the same thing. None of us wanted to shake hands with Hercules if we could help it, which meant not shaking hands with the others, either.

Then, a friggin' winged horse trotted up behind them and snorted, sounding a bit put out.

"And who could forget you, Pegasus?" Sora asked, throwing his arms around the now appeased horse. "Sorry I don't have an apple or something for you, buddy, but we weren't really expecting to stop here!"

The horse whinnied, as if begrudgingly forgiving him for the oversight. I couldn't help but chuckle at its antics.

"Well, would you like to enter the tournament while you're here?" Hercules asked eagerly.

"They probably just want to get their ship fixed and go on their way, Wonder Boy." Meg giggled as she patted his arm sympathetically. His face fell, making him look like a kid who'd just been refused a visit to the toy store, and Meg rolled her eyes.

"You kids would just get in my way." Cid said, already assessing the damage that the ship had taken. "It'll take me at least a day to fix this junk heap, so you might as well go fight if you want to. I ain't got a problem with it."

"I could call Hephaestus, if you like." Hercules offered. "He's the god of technology, so he would probably be really interested in this machine of yours."

"Do whatever you like." Cid waved him off.

"That means 'thank you, I'd love the help.'" Hayner snickered. "C'mon, guys, let's go kick some ass, shall we?"

I rolled my eyes, matching my steps with Phil. "So, how's this tournament bullshit work?"

Phil gave me a disapproving look—it was one I'd gotten used to receiving from adults—and snorted lightly. "Three words, kid: team. Work."

I couldn't stop my eyebrow from arching up.

"He always does that." Sora whispered, tittering. "No one else understands it, either."

"Right."

"The three of you fight your way to the top," Phil continued, either not hearing or ignoring our short exchange. "Then, you choose one of you to go up against Herc."

"Is he automatically at the top?" Hayner asked.

"No. But do you really think he'd lose before the last fight?" Phil asked with a rather wicked laugh. "And I doubt he'll lose then, either."

"I've beat him before!" Sora said.

"And I'm looking forward to a rematch." Hercules piped up.

"Who says Sora's gonna be the one in the final battle?" I asked, scowling. "If he's already beat you, Hayner or I should get a shot. Besides, he's the fucking Keyblade Master—he'll probably come back here before it's all said and done. Hayner and I aren't gonna be traveling around saving the worlds all the time like he does."

"That's a good point, kid." Phil said. "But I doubt that anyone but the Keyblade Master could beat Herc, even on one of his bad days—and today ain't one of them!"

I eyed Hercules appraisingly. "I think I could give him a run for his money, at least."

Phil let out another one of those laughs. Fucking annoying bastard. "It's your funeral, kid."

"Seifer, are you sure…" Sora began.

"Either of you mind if I take the last fight?" I cut him off, addressing him and Hayner.

"I-I'm not sure if that's such a good idea." Sora said uncertainly. "I mean, he's—"

"If you lose, I'll fucking kill you." Hayner said, flicking my nose.

"Alright, then, we're decided." I said before Sora could talk anymore. "I'll take the last battle."

"If you get that far." Phil said darkly.

"We'll get there, goat boy." I said.

"Goat—I'm a satyr! A satyr!" Phil shrieked, outraged.

"Don't worry, Phil, that's just how he shows he cares." Hayner said, nodding sagely.

"Shut up, lamer." I said, swatting his head.

He laughed.

(PAGEBREAK,Y'KNOW?)

Our first battle fucking sucked, even if we won.

We weren't used to fighting together, yet, so we ended up fumbling through it and nearly killing each other instead of the bad guys half the time.

Phil gave us a smug look. I flipped the asshole off.

The second fight wasn't much better, but by the third fight we got a good momentum going. We let Hayner take out the first wave, since they were usually foot soldiers, while Sora cast spells at some of the ones behind them to weaken them. Once the first wave was gone, I attacked and Hayner fell back to take out any stragglers and Sora continued casting and healing. If and when Sora's magic ran out, he either started helping me, or used an ether to get it back up. Usually he just attacked, since he only had so many ethers and didn't want to waste them before we went up against the big guys.

We were all sweaty and out-of-breath by the semifinals, and luckily were given a five-minute break to heal ourselves up and take a piss or whatever else we needed to do. I went to a fairly secluded room and put a wet towel over my head, which was something of a ritual for me during tournaments. Not really interesting or weird as far as rituals go, I know, but the quiet helped me calm my nerves and the towel cooled me off.

"So, you're the one going up against Herc in the finals?" A voice said in my ear.

Just like I had with Sora, I punched the speaker, jumping out of my chair and whipping the towel off my head.

"Hey, hey, no need to get violent." I blinked at the man, a blue-skinned guy in a black toga and with flaming blue hair (I'll refrain from making the comment that one's begging for). "The name's Hades, kid, Lord of the—"

"Underworld. I know who you are." I said. I used to be something of a Greek Mythology nut when I was younger…although it looked like it wasn't as much of a myth as I'd thought. "God of Death and all that. What do you want?"

"You're a bit rude, kid." Hades said, frowning at me.

"I don't like it when people sneak up on me." I said. "So what do you want? I've got a fight in a few minutes."

"And after that you've got a fight with Hercules." He said with a nasty grin.

"Yeah, so?"

"Wanna beat him?" He asked.

I gave him a dry look. "No, I was hoping I could just give him a cheap fruit basket and sing 'Kumbayah.'" I said. "Of course I want to fucking beat him."

"Okay, okay, okay, you need to watch that mouth of yours, kid." He said, obviously beginning to lose his temper.

"And you need to make your fucking point before I'm late to my next fight."

"I want you to kill Hercules."

I frowned. "And why, exactly, would I do that?"

"Because I want him dead." Hades said.

"What do I get if I kill him?" I asked.

This time, the smile he gave me actually sent a shiver down my spine. "You want your friends back? Raijin and Fuujin, right?" His smile widened. "I am the God of the Dead, after all. I could bring them back…and probably get you your memories, too."

I stayed quiet, turning the idea over in my head.

"Not to mention that I could get your original body back."

"My…original body?" I asked.

"Didn't anyone tell you? Ansem got rid of your real body and gave you that one when he stuck you in Twilight Town. And anything dead or destroyed passes into my domain."

I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head. "Not interested." I said, turning away.

"No, no, no, wait." He said, grabbing my arm. "What if I gave you Hayner's soul?"

I froze. "Hayner's…soul?"

"He was a heartless, remember? heartless don't have souls." He said. "But I can find the soul he used to have and give it to him. He's got his original heart already. And once he's got his soul back, he won't be in anymore danger of losing himself to the Queen again." He grinned toothily. "Or at least, he won't be in as much danger."

I clenched my teeth together, turning this information over in my head a few times. The other offers had been easy to refuse—I didn't like the idea of bringing my past friends back to life, because I was starting to believe Hayner's thing about there being no coincidences, and I liked my body the way it was, thank you very fucking much. As for my old memories, who fucking needed them? I obviously had a reason for giving them up in the first place, so getting them back would probably prove to be a waste of time and energy. Plus, I was skeptical about thinking Hades could get them back. Dead bodies and friends, maybe, but memories weren't in his power at all. That would be Mnemosyne (and don't fucking look at me like that, I told you I used to be really into mythology).

"Whaddya say, kid?" Hades asked, offering me his hand.

I paused for a moment, my hands balling into fists. "I say—"

Sora chose this time to burst into the room. "Hey, Seifer! It's time for—Hades!"

"Sora." Hades spat.

Sora looked between us, eyes wide. "Seifer, what're you doing with Hades?"

I drew myself up. "I was actually just about to tell him to fuck off." I pinned Hades with a fierce glare. "Assuming you aren't lying, I'll find Hayner's soul if I'm meant to—without killing anyone who doesn't deserve to die." I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "So fuck you and your deal."

"Why you little—"

"Back off, Hades!" Sora growled, summoning his Keyblade. "Seifer said no!"

Hades snarled at us and disappeared in a ball of flames.

"What was that about?" Sora asked, turning on me suspiciously. "Were you going to make a deal with him?"

"No, I—"

"He's a liar! I can't believe you would even consider it! Hades can't be trusted." Sora said.

"I said I wasn't gonna do it, didn't I?" I snapped. "So you can fuck off, too, Sora."

Sora narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. C'mon, our next match is about to start."

I nodded and followed him out of the room, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut meant that I had just made a terrible, terrible mistake.

End Chapter Eight