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.' Also, the idea for the 'relocation' of the Queen's soul comes from a book called 'Golem in the Gears' by Piers Anthony. And the idea for the ritual is some sort of weird merger of my own ideas with ideas from the movies 'The Brothers Grimm' and 'Thirteen Ghosts.'
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 Twenty-Three: Fortuito (by chance)
"In the night I hear 'em talk, the coldest story ever told: somewhere far along this road he lost his soul to a woman so heartless…how could you be so heartless? How could you be so heartless?" –Kanye West, 'Heartless'
There is no such thing as coincidence.
Hayner had been saying that from the beginning, and I was becoming more and more convinced of the idea as our adventure neared its end.
Why us? It had been the two of us from the very start. Before we had met, even. Hayner's reasons for being around were more straightforward—he was the Queen's son, integral to the entire plot. But me…
Why was I the only other person who remembered Roxas? Why not Pence or Olette, or, shit, even that Setzer freak?
That one was easily enough answered: I was the only other person in Twilight Town who didn't belong (besides Rai and Fuu, of course, but they don't quite count…).
But why was I in Twilight Town? Well…that was because Ansem found me, convinced me to help him with that weird pet project, erased my memories, replaced my real body with a fake one, and put me there…but why me? Why was I the one he found that day? The only person besides Squall to escape the destruction of Balamb Gardens? And why was it me, instead of Squall, who Ansem found?
Those questions were kind of easy to figure out, too. Kind of. I had to be the one to escape, because it was my…guilty conscience, I guess, that made me agree to Ansem's plan. If Ansem had found Squall…well, I didn't know or remember much about Squall, but I knew enough that I was sure he wouldn't have been able to keep his distance like I had. Squall was a jerk, but he tended to attract people to himself like flies—as evidenced by Aerith, Cid, and the others in Radiant Garden. And in order for Ansem's plan to work, the person in question couldn't get close to any of the locals, beyond normal contact.
And, thinking back, I hadn't gotten close to any of them. Hayner and Roxas were the only two I'd ever really had much contact with outside of my group. But then again, there was Vivi…
But whatever. That wasn't important.
What was important was that all of that…everything that had happened to me so far had been in preparation for this battle. Someone had to come along for the ride, to make sure Hayner stayed safe and to keep him from letting the Queen go through with her plot. And I, of course, was the only person who could come with him. The only person who could remember Roxas…who was strong enough to keep Hayner safe…the only person who had two bodies…
The only person who'd been half in love with him since as far back as my 'real' memories (the ones I had made in the year since Ansem put me in Twilight Town) stretched. And…well, you know what they say: 'love overcomes all.'
Yeah…love was as integral to stopping the Queen as Hayner was to her succeeding, I was absolutely certain of it.
There's no such thing as coincidence.
(PAGEBREAK,Y'KNOW?)
The other gwythaint was lying dead on the beach where we landed, Venus Gospel protruding from one side.
"Knew my girl'd kill the little bastard!" Cid smirked triumphantly as he tore his weapon out of the thing's carcass.
I grabbed Hyperion as I noticed shadows beginning to pop up from the ground ahead of us. "You had better hope she's still in a killing mood, Cid—we've got company!"
With mixed battle cries, we threw ourselves into the fray. The distance between the 'beach' and the castle seemed endless, especially since we had to fight tooth and nail for every step we took.
Luckily for us, the Heartless weren't very strong—mostly just Shadow Heartless, with a few Neo-Shadows and other higher-level heartless mixed in. Nothing like the Behemoths and the like we had faced in the forest.
We instinctively bunched up around Hayner and Sora, who were at the moment the weakest out of all of us. And becoming weaker, the longer they were separated from their souls.
And, eventually, we reached the castle. It was both more and less difficult to fight in the castle—less because fewer heartless could come at us at once due to the lack of space, and more because we also didn't have as much space to attack in.
But finally—fina-fucking-lly!—we made it to the colossal courtyard in the center of the castle grounds.
And, sure enough, the preparations for the ritual were already nearing completion. Roxas was standing just a few feet away from us, surrounded by a golden glow. About a hundred feet away from him, the other members of Organization XIII were spread out in a huge circle, all of them looking to be in great pain as their various elements danced around them and made a glowing line for the huge cauldron in the center of them. Next to the cauldron sat the Little Prince, looking completely worn out and hardly able to keep on his feet. And behind him…
"S-Selphie?!" Sora shrieked.
"Selphie Tilmitt?" I gaped—the name had popped into my head like Squall's had, and I suspected it was for much the same reason.
"Oh, my, you're already here." The girl…woman…Queen said, crossing her—well, Selphie's—arms over her chest and giving us a detachedly irritated look. The actions looked so incredibly out of place with the wistful, flipped-up hairdo and bright yellow sundress… "I thought those heartless would be able to delay you for another few minutes, at least."
"You…the body you took…was Selphie's?" Sora exclaimed, outraged.
The Queen gave us a saccharine smile that, although it should have looked perfectly normal on Selphie's face, still sent a shiver up our spines. "If it's someone you know, you're less likely to attack it, don't you think?" She asked sweetly. "You wouldn't want to kill your dear childhood friend, would you, Sora? Riku? And you, Seifer…can you kill one of the only other survivors from your planet?"
Sora, Riku and I looked at each other, all equally confused by this new turn of events.
"Don't worry, you little fools." She sniffed daintily, her haughty sneer finally overcoming the false smile. "Soon it won't matter." Her expression softened. "Hayner, darling, come to Mother."
"M-Mother." Hayner said, taking a hesitant step forward.
I grabbed him and pushed him behind myself. "You stay where you are, chickenwuss." I glared at Donald and Goofy, who were watching the scene with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. "You two are supposed to keep him away from that bitch, remember? Do your fucking jobs." Then I turned back to her. "As for you—Hayner's not going anywhere near you, got that? And I don't care whose body you've stolen, I'll fucking destroy my own mother if it means keeping Hayner safe from you and stopping you from getting a new body."
And the bitch fucking ignored me.
"Hayner, I said come to Mother, love." She said, her voice and expression hardening slightly.
"Stay back!" Little Prince spoke up suddenly. "Please, my heart, stay away! Seifer, you have to keep him away from her!"
"I am!" I snarled, shoving Hayner back when he tried to go to the Queen again. "I told you to stay the fuck put, lamer."
"Seifer, I can't." Hayner said. "I…I have to…I have to…"
"You have to stay put." I said.
"Hmm, you have chosen a very demanding little friend, haven't you, Hayner?" The Queen asked with a slight giggle. "But you are a prince, and a prince does not listen to such common filth. Come to your mother now, Hayner."
"N…no." Hayner forced out, letting himself be pushed behind Donald and Goofy. "Mother, no. Seifer isn't…he isn't common filth and…and I won't die for you!"
Instead of looking outraged or even at all surprised at his statement, the Queen laughed.
"Oh, Hayner. Foolish, foolish child." She said, still laughing. "Do you really think it's as easy as all that?" She shook her head, patting Little Prince on the head like some sort of fucking pet. "If all of you isn't unwilling, then it might as well be that all of you is willing."
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Little Prince whimpered.
"Why did you think I didn't return your soul when I gave back your heart, hmm?" The Queen asked with malicious glee shining in her eyes. "Foolish child."
Hayner choked on a sob behind me.
"Well, fuck that." I murmured, then spoke louder. "Just because she isn't surprised doesn't mean anything else has changed—let's go for it!"
The Queen tittered, and too late I realized that while we had been talking, another wave of Heartless had appeared.
There is no such thing as coincidence.
(PAGEBREAK,Y'KNOW?)
Although the battle seemed to have been dragging on for hours, the truth is that it probably hadn't lasted all that long at all. It was sheer numbers, more than anything else, that was bogging us down—the heartless were almost pathetically under-strength. Somehow, we managed to break through long enough for Sora to tackle and absorb Roxas.
But then the Heartless closed in around us again, and René couldn't get to Axel. And the Queen somehow managed to snatch Hayner right out from under Donald and Goofy's noses, sucking him into the middle of the circle of Nobodies and integrating him and Little Prince.
"Are you ready to die, my son?" The Queen asked, her voice cruelly indifferent as she raised a dagger high above her head.
"Yes, Mother." Hayner said, his voice soft and sad and completely unlike the Hayner I knew and lo—well, you know.
"Hayner!" I yelled.
Suddenly overcome by an influx of strength and adrenaline, I grabbed René by the collar of his vest and threw him bodily at Axel, following close behind and easily cutting through all of the heartless in my path. Although startled, René held his arms out and grabbed Axel just as he smashed into the taller man, barreling him over with a bright flash of crimson light that signified Axel's absorption.
I leapt over the writhing boy—absorbing a Nobody that didn't actually belong to you (even if you didn't have one to begin with) was evidently very painful—and tackled the Queen, gasping as the dagger stabbed me instead of just flying out of her hands. Dizzy with the pain coming from my left shoulder—even if she hadn't hit my heart she had still hit something vital, I was sure—I stood up, glaring down at the Queen.
"No more." I said. "It's over, lady."
"No it isn't!" She hissed. "The spell is nearly complete! All I have to do is kill that wretched son of mine and throw his body into the cauldron, and then none of you will stand a chance against my power!"
I smirked, seeing her falter just a bit in surprise at my reaction.
"Yeah, but you see…that's the funny thing." I said. "You haven't killed Hayner. You've killed me…or at least, I'm probably gonna die soon. And I read all about this potion of yours—if the wrong person gets sacrificed, the backlash will destroy you—your soul, your magic, everything. Gone forever."
Her eyes widened. "W-what?"
My smirk got bigger, and then I turned, and with the last vestiges of my strength, I jumped.
"Seifer, NO!" Someone—Hayner—screamed.
And then I hit the surface of the potion, and everything went black.
End Chapter Twenty-Three