When Roman walked into the Grey Area, the first thing he noticed was something out of the corner of his eye. When he looked to his right, there was a man in a red hoodie. Roman barely remembered seeing something to that effect the day before, but perhaps he could blame his lack of glasses for not completely noticing the man. He opened his mouth to ask something before he was cut off. "Talk to your bird-headed friend."
"Uh… Roxas? I think you mean item-headed."
"Whatever."
Other than the man in red, there was the usual occupancy of Saix and Roxas. Today's supplements were Luxord, Xigbar and, to Roman's surprise, Eve. She was seated on one of the chairs to the right side of the room, with the others to the left. He figured that she would be the last one to talk to while he was still here, so he went to Roxas first. "So what' s with the bull enrager right over there?" he asked.
"Who, him? I think he's supposed to be a salesman, if I remember correctly," Roxas said.
"Then shouldn't he have more stuff on his person than a messenger bag?"
"Think Futurama," the man in red said.
The next Nobody was Luxord. "An impressive display the girl put on yesterday, am I right?" he asked.
"And then you talk about luck," Roman said in reply.
"True. Luck IS a part of skill, and she seems to have plenty of it. However, as we all know, luck can be kind or cruel."
"Like humanity, basically."
"Ah, a good point, my friend. So where does that leave us? Here is something to perhaps spur your thought processes further," Luxord said, handing Roman a blue, glowing gem.
[I fail to see how a Blizzard Gem is supposed to get my mind going,] Roman thought to himself as he walked over to Xigbar.
"Hey there. You hear the latest from the superior?"
"Erm… no."
"Word is that we're stepping up castle security around here. Hell, they've been doing that since that old freak flew around the Hall of Empty Melodies."
By "Old Freak," Roman thought of the man he personally fire-punched in the face. "I don't think the dude was old. His hair was just naturally silver. Besides, how many old people can achieve curly hair?"
"Heh, I dunno."
The next person was Saix. Normally, Roman would talk to Saix for his daily mission after talking to the other members who happened to be in the room, but he figured that he would get the mission first before talking to Eve. "I have an interesting assignment for you. In case you are wondering, it's the reason the girl is out here today," Saix said, handing Roman the mission specs.
Instead of reading the specs immediately, Roman folded the paper into fourths and pocketed them before walking to Eve, who was reading a paperback book. It didn't look like she had gotten far, only about a quarter of the way in. [How many books is that?] Roman thought to himself. [I bet Zexion would know, because he's been supervising her up to now. Maybe I'll ask him after today's mission.]
He took out the mission specs from his pocket and unfolded it, reading it over carefully. He didn't want to confuse the objectives for something else. He cocked his head back in surprise as he read it over again. [Show Eve an example of the missions we undertake. This example will be of defeating Heartless and collecting hearts. Ensure that she stays safe in the midst of it all, and do not spend too much time touring Twilight Town.]
"Really…" Roman said aloud after reading the mission specs.
He looked at Eve, who was still reading her book. "She doesn't look like she knows a thing about this."
At that moment, Saix walked toward her from his normal position in front of one of the windows. "He has received his mission, now for you," he said to her.
Eve looked up and behind her from her book at Saix. Both Nobodies stared at each other for a moment with somewhat cold eyes. Eve silently closed her book and stood up from her seat, walking to the spot where the dark corridor normally appears. Roman tracked the girl on her way, her dress as black as the usual Organization robes. In one of her pockets, something caught Roman's attention. It seemed like a piece of paper was sticking ever so slightly out. He squinted to get a better look, but had trouble detecting it past the distracting movement of her hair. It didn't move in front of her pocket, but it still diverted Roman's attention nonetheless. He tapped himself on the side of his head to regain focus on the piece of paper, now that Eve had stopped to read her own mission specs. It did look like a piece of paper, but not like that of the specs. More like… a book page.
"Number XV will escort you as you carry out your first mission. He will ensure that you will not come to much harm as you complete the task of defeating Heartless. Also, given his usual personality…" There was a slight hint of disdain for the last word. "He can show you around the world in which this mission will take place."
Eve looked at the boy standing about a meter away, giving a quizzical look to both her and Saix. [He gave me the clock,] she thought. [Was that his name on the note?]
Roman, so Eve thought, walked over to her, rolling his arm in anticipation of action. "I'm a mentor already? Damn, that was fast," he said.
"This is a mere trial run," Saix said to him. "Perform your duty well, and she will be in the care of you to Roxas."
Roman moved his head back in confusion. "As in me, Xion and Roxas showing her around worlds?"
Saix nodded silently. "Well, damn," Roman commented. "Big rewards for an easy job."
The dark corridor opened up at the motion of Saix's hand. The heads of Roman and Eve turned to face it, but neither Nobody made a move just yet. "You first."
Eve turned to face Roman. He only motioned towards the corridor. She turned because she was wondering why he was letting her go first. A mentor is a leader, so she expected Roman to go in first, but that doesn't seem to be so right at the moment. After a moment, Eve stepped through the portal.
Within the swirling vortex was the semi-familiar dark landscape. The black horizon with what looked like vortexes sucking in purple matter in the sky, far from herself. It was incredibly surreal to her, more surreal when she noticed a bright white in the distance. Roman soon walked into the dark realm, his hands in his pockets. "I know, right? You ever get to something regarding drugs yet?" he asked, referring to the landscape.
"Hallucinations. Things existing without existing. Moreso than us," she replied.
"Well, that's one way to put it. You know, this seems like something a human would see when on drugs. You know, without them actually being physically here."
He began to walk in the direction of the whiteness. "Other end is this way," he said, now with his hands on his head.
Eve followed suit, turning back to notice that the portal she had gone through seemed to undergo a change. It looked almost exactly like the original entrance, but white. However, it dissipated before she could get a good look, and it soon was out of sight. When it disappeared, Eve turned to face in front of her again, and resumed following Roman at full speed.
The two strangers emerged from the strange dark portal. It was the first time Tsuna had seen anything like it. Granted, he had heard strange things from Hayner and Pence, but now he himself would have something to say. Other than the usual talk of Mafia families and whatnot. And supposed ghost baby sightings.
Said ghost baby was actually part of the reason for Tsuna often trying to semi-solicit info about the Mafia from Hayner, Pence and Olette. With his current situation that can't be currently summarized just yet, he figured that these two hooded beings were bad news.
[Ugh, is Reborn even around here?] Tsuna thought to himself as he hid behind one of two columns holding up an ornate design common in Twilight Town. [These guys may be part of a new rival family! If they're here for me, and he isn't here, I'm so screwed!]
"This place is…" one of the figures asked.
"Yup. It's Twilight Town. I guess the higher ups figured, as most would, that the best place to start is the more docile fare. Still, that doesn't mean that there aren't Heartless. Hell, that's why we're here," the other said, turning to the first, a female.
"The Heartless."
"Exactly. Hey, check this out."
The male figure pulled a device out of his pocket. "I use this to keep track of how well a mission's going. See this bar here?"
Tsuna figured he had heard enough. He turned and quietly moved away from his hiding place, and down the sloped pathway. He always hated going down these inclines fast, because like now, he would trip and fall on his face, supported by comedic rolling down to the bottom.
"…Immensely helpful," Roman said, having just finished explaining the device's map function. "However, if you're having a bad day, it can actually mess you up a bit. That's why I prefer maps that rotate with you."
To support his statement, he moved the top half of his body, like a robot. Eve could feel a smile wanting to come to her face, but there was no such luck. She only nodded silently. "Well, let's get this thing underway, already. I'll tell you more about what I know about the place as we get to it," Roman said. "Let's mosey."
She had just been reminded of something. "Wait."
"Okay, I realize that sounded a little weird, but—"
"No, that's not it. Your name. Is it… Roman?"
He pulled his hood back. "Eh… whaddya mean by that?"
"The sticky note. On the clock. You're number XV, Roman?"
"The Fist of the Absent Star, yes."
Her eyes went unconsciously wide.
It… it's him! It's really him!
No, wait.
Any boy can be that way. I need more proof. The Roman I know was… was…
How do I put it…
"Yo, Eve? You okay?" Roman said, waving a hand in front of the girl's face.
She snapped out of a trance and brought a hand to her face. "Mmm… I'm fine," she said.
"Well, if you're okay, let's get this thing going, already! We've already built up enough steam!"
He ran off towards the arch. "Roman…"
She soon ran after him.
The next few hours were spent touring and battling. The things resembling ants were Shadows. The small-bell like creatures were things like Yellow Operas, Scarlet Tangos, and Grey Caprices. The flower creatures, Dire and Fire Plants. There were so many creatures, Eve would come to be thankful for the Enemy Profiles function on the device that Roman would eventually tell her about. In time, she and Roman would identify Shadows, Yellow Operas, Scarlet Tangos, Dire and Fire Plants, Possessors, Watchers, Soldiers and a Zip Slasher. Of all the Heartless, as Eve came to know them, the Zip Slasher was the most dangerous. In between battling and explaining hearts, Roman told Eve what he knew of Twilight Town.
She also found out other important factors in regards to missions. They must not be seen by anyone. They have to carry out their missions without anyone else catching notice of them. Also, defeating Heartless was only one of several types of tasks. There would be more, Roman warned, though he himself had more to discover for himself. On their exploration, they noticed a little alcove (by his definition) underneath the train tracks. It looked like it had been hung out in, as there was a dartboard set up with some darts in it, as well as a couple of arranged couches. There was even a sheet of sorts in front of the doorway, as if though to keep things secret from outsiders.
"A sort of club area, maybe?" Roman asked. "Maybe it's the local school students."
By the clock tower's reckoning, it was one o'clock by the time the mission was completed entirely, save for one tiny speck. "Ugh, this sucks," Roman commented.
"Why?" Eve asked.
"I always gun for 100% on missions, but the ones where I can't find that one last enemy suck ass. Ugh."
Eve remained silent. The two walked up the incline, walking past a cart with a rather large bag on it. "We're coming up to the Station Plaza, now. After every mission, we've gotta head back to the corridor and back to the castle. The actual terminology—ooh look, JUMP!"
Roman caught sight of a magazine set down on a nearby crate and picked it up. "As I was saying, the actual term for it is Return To the Castle, or RTC. As you can imagine, the corridor's up at the Plaza, where we started. Annoying, but we've gotta have SOME way of getting back, right?"
Eve nodded again. Roman stopped and turned. "You know, you haven't said a whole lot. I remember how Xion was with me when we first met. It drove me nuts, so if you ever pay any attention to our current interactions, I'm just returning the favor the other way around."
"Is it… just you?" Eve asked, quietly.
Roman let out a breath. "Fine, you go and say that…"
It wasn't long before they reached the Plaza. However, the corridor refused to open when they got there. Roman gave the spot where it was a few stomps. "Huh? This mission doesn't need total completion, does it?" Roman asked.
He checked his device. The info ticker at the top of it was more often than not reliable. "No, so what…?"
A large shadow loomed over the two Nobodies. At its chest, there was a hole in the shape of a heart. The two turned to face a giant humanoid creature, muscular and with tentacles acting as part of a hood, so to speak. "Oh shit, one of these things. I thought it was a Pureblood, though!" Roman exclaimed.
Before either could assume a fighting stance, a line of light went across the head. It jerked upwards, and the entire Darkside fell to its knees slowly. It then fell face forward, nearly hitting Eve and Roman on its way down, fading completely before it could completely hit the ground. "Okay. What?" Roman asked aloud, obviously confused as to what just happened.
It looked like another Organization member was there. A female with a Keyblade and her hood up. The Keyblade wasn't like what Roxas and Xion usually had, though. It was… different. Thinner. Darker "blade," as well. It seemed to be based off of some sort of mechanism for all Roman knew. "Xion?"
"Number XIV?" Eve asked to confirm.
"Yeah."
The unknown woman stood up and faced the two. "You… are Xion, right?" Roman asked.
The only reply was the woman swinging down her Keyblade, the chain swinging about as she did. "I will take that as a no…" Roman said, taking his fighting stance. In an aside to Eve, he added, "If help doesn't come, we're so screwed."
The battle was basic, yet the woman still seemed know what she was doing. She blocked some of the pair's attacks and countered with a thrust, though there was little defense for her when Eve was behind her when she blocked an attack, allowing Roman to plant a combo or Blaze Upper (as he had named it after the scooter incident) directly to the woman's back. One of the woman's main attacks was a two swing attack, vertical then horizontal. There was also a jumping strike that would threaten to knock either Eve or Roman down. Every now and then, when the Nobodies had distance from her, she would send along a pulse of light with her Keyblade along the ground, which would cause them to get knocked upwards if it hit. Eve was starting to get physically tired after some time, as well as Roman, and his possible asthma wasn't helping.
[That's it, I have to end this shit,] Roman thought.
The woman put up her defenses again to avoid being slashed by one of Eve's blade hands, allowing Roman to jump behind the former. With a swinging kick, Roman sent the woman flying to the side, though not knocking her down. After the blow, she stood up normally, the Keyblade still in hand. It was clear that she wasn't really breaking a sweat, as opposed to Roman and Eve, who were panting. With a motion of her free hand, what looked like a light corridor opened up. Roman was surprised by its appearance, not making a move to stop the woman from stepping in. "What was all that about?" he asked.
Eve remained silent as both her hands reverted to their original forms. Behind them, their corridor, the dark one, opened. "Oh, so now it opens?" Roman said sarcastically. "Ass thing."
"Wait."
"What is it now?"
Eve paused for a bit. "Once again… is your name, or is your name… not Roman?"
"Why is it such a big deal to you? I kick ass, I somehow look good in these robes that I personally don't want you to be seen with, how much more 'Roman' could I get?"
"So… you are…"
"Hey, Eve? You're beginning to space out again. Eve? Yo Eve?"
She shook out of it again. "I'm sorry."
"Well, let's RTC and report this to Saix. If I've been keeping up with local castle news, we've got another damn imposter running around. Besides, we've gotta get back here later for a special little something."
"Okay… but please, you first."
"You sure it was a good idea… doing that?"
"I had to make sure they were with them. It could have been the others," the woman replied.
Riku leaned against the wall of the tower, in the same robes as the woman. "What about Sora, then?" he asked.
"He should be fine if we keep doing what we're doing." The woman added, "While we have free time, let me ask something. Why did you blindfold yourself?"
Riku turned to face her, his eyes obscured by the blindfold mentioned. "I do what I can… to keep the darkness contained. I pursue the light by trying to look past the darkness, and I use the darkness to see in the light."
"I see."
The woman turned to walk off, but hesitated slightly to grip her side. "Who were they?" Riku asked.
She turned to face him, letting her side go. "I don't know… but they seemed to think me as someone else when they saw me. Perhaps…" She summoned the Keyblade to her hand. "It was this?"
Riku said nothing.
As it turned out, Roxas was the only one up on the tower before the others in the usual tower fare. "Huh? Oh, hey Roman."
"'Sup, dude?"
"Eh, the same Heartless mission. By the way, how are you doing… Eve?"
He seemed reluctant to say her name. Roman gave her a quizzical look as she took a seat next to him against the wall. "Oh come on, you're not suggesting Vexen pulled a fast one on Xemnas and Saix, are ya?"
"Hey! Shut up!" Roxas retorted defensively.
Roman laughed as they playfully pushed each other. "You guys look like you're having fun," Xion said, a bag of ice creams in her hand.
Roman turned to face her and saw the bag. His mouth formed an O. "Ah crap, I forgot! Thanks a million, Xion," he said.
"And how's our new rookie?" Axel asked, taking his seat next to Roxas.
Eve brought the book from earlier in the morning with her. She was too absorbed in it to reply. "Did Zexion do that?" Axel asked.
Roman only shrugged.
There were five of them up on the tower. Roxas, Xion, Axel, Roman and Eve. Four sea salts, one vanilla. Eve actually put her book down for her ice cream. However, she found herself confused when she finished it. "I think it's limit one WINNER stick per person," Axel commented.
Four of them joked around, talking about the universe, about other possible worlds. Eve only listened. She hadn't bothered to get back to her book yet. She listened in particular to Roman. His words often got caught in his mouth, and sometimes were transposed with others by pure accident, and often confused himself in correction. When she listened to him further, especially when he started to complain about his amnesia… all noise faded away. She only thing she could hear was Roman, yet he was distorted and soft. She put a hand to the side of her head, as she began to get headache from the events.
It… it….
It….
…
Now have to.
I'll lose myself. I'll lose myself to her. But she'll remember me, right?
She'll remember me for him.
I'll become her.
…
I won't be myself again.
But I have to.
Roman… I'm coming… She'll make things right with you again…
I'm sorry I did what I did.
I was protecting you. And I'm sorry.
Now…
"Oh, dude—Eve!"
She was gripping her head with one hand, and her chest with the other. She seemed to be having an immense headache and some sort of pain in her chest. She cried out and whimpered softly. "He… help me…"
"Axel, what's going on?" Roman asked.
"How should any of us know?"
She was swinging her head back and forth now, crying out louder, now with both hands clutching at her chest. "Aw man, we gotta get her down to ground level, now!" Roman exclaimed, helping Eve up as she cried out an octave louder.
As quickly as they could, they descended down the stairs from the tower to the Plaza, where the corridor Axel opened up awaited. Eve was crying out louder now, clutching at her chest more tightly, and tears of pain streaming down her eyes.
"Man, what is happening!" Roman yelled out to the others as Eve fell to her knees, screaming.
She kept screaming, clutching at her chest to the point of her knuckles turning white, and falling on her side, curling up in an effort to assuage the pain. Roxas and Xion propped her up again to standing as the five passed into the corridor with Axel motioning them in. They passed through the dark space back into the castle, but not into the Grey Area. Axel had redirected the corridor directly into Eve's room. Roman sat down with Eve on the bed, crying loudly and hunching over. "My God, it hurts!" Eve cried out.
"Hey, lie down," Roman suggested, "That should help, right?"
Xion and Roxas eased Eve down onto her bed, sobbing now. None of them figured that she could do that, so something else was at play. Eve's screams and cries calmed down some upon laying down as Saix walked in through the automatic doors. Before he could get a chance to demand what was going on, Roman manually pushed him out the door. "Mindloss in progress here; get the hell out!"
When Saix was gone, Eve was left gasping for breath, still with a hand to her chest. "Gah… hah…"
"Okay, seriously. What the hell just happened?" Roman asked, addressing pretty much everyone there.
"Don't look at me," Roxas said.
Xion only looked at Roman while Axel shrugged. Eve was now taking in deep breaths, her eyes closed shut. "Hey, are you okay now?" Roman asked tentatively.
Eve opened her eyes to let more tears stream down. She nodded slowly. "Mm-hm. Oh, God…" she replied softly, a hand still to her chest.
"It-it should subside by tomorrow, right?"
Axel only shrugged again, looking away as well. "Can't say. This is the first time I've seen this happen."
"Do you think Vexen had anything to do with it?" Roxas asked.
Xion covered her mouth in thought. "You know, some woman dressed in Organization robes jumped Eve and I when we got to the corridor the first time. You think that has anything to do with it?"
"Possibly. What did she use?"
"Get this; she used a Keyblade."
"A what?" Roxas and Xion asked in unison.
Their faces were objects of surprise.
"Yeah, an actual Keyblade as far as I can tell."
"So there's even more imposters out there…" Axel said, looking down at the floor.
"Seems like it. Vexen doesn't seem to be good enough for this."
"Well, we should keep it between us," Roxas said. "At least as far as Eve right now. We can inform Saix about the imposter, but we should leave out Eve's condition."
"Yeah. We can probably just say that Vexen tried something, and it had side effects."
"That sounds about good," Xion said.
All four of them nodded in agreement. Xion, Roxas and Axel left, leaving Roman with Eve, who had regulated her breathing by now. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.
Eve only stared into his eyes from underneath her blanket. The clock on her night stand read 8:59 PM. He had forgotten that time laws aren't exactly on par in some worlds with others. "Get some rest, then. You probably have a mission tomorrow, so you'll want to be prepared."
He walked out of the room, where Eve promptly fell asleep as soon as he went out of sight.
The same dream. The same delays, now with add-ons. The girl's voice is more clear, as well as the boy. The dude sounds really familiar. And nearby. Jeez, how close is he?
Wait… a sparkly thing? Two, and—holy crap, that one's close. Like, I could reach out and touch that shit.
…
Okay, the action starts.
Shot 1.
Shot 2.
Line.
Shot 3.
Shot 4.
This is going to get real repetitive, real fast.
This platform… it's so bright. Everything else is pure black.
Is there anything else here? Anyone else? Hello?
! Birds?
…Huh? Stained glass? Is that… me? It looks like I'm resting.
There's nothing else, either. There's only me. What's this trying to say?
[Author's Notes]
- I'll have to start a new fanfic on the site, because the story moves away from Artifice at this point. It'll be Kingdom Hearts – Memorial, so keep a sharp eye out for it. It just continues the story, so I'm not halting things in their tracks.