Previously on t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h:
"What's the matter? Whoa, what happened to his old phone number?"
"I really don't know. If he texted me through this number, maybe I can call him through it."
"What do you think the text meant anyway?"
"Maybe he's just worried about me."
xxx
"You both want to come with me to see what happened outside?"
"I want to stay here...where it's safe."
xxx
"Era!? Why aren't you inside?!"
"Because I want to know what's out there trying to kill you guys!"
"Era -...how do we get out of here?"
xxx
"Oh my God, Natasha, what happened to you?!"
"That thing could pick a fight alright."
"Doesn't that hurt you?"
"Guys, its no big deal. I have bandages and some cleaning alcohol with me in the bag of the train. I can fix myself up in the restroom. Everything looks better now anyway."
Day 3
The rest of the subway trip was quiet. Era checked the time to see that it was past midnight. After Natasha had took care of her back damage, she had sat back down with Era; not questioning if there was a new conductor onboard or not. At the moment, both Lucas and Natasha were asleep in their seat. I'd be dead asleep too if I went through what happened to them...Rexa thought, and Era clearly thought the same thing. The tunnel they traveled in was dark, but for some unusual reason, everyone could tell it was late night. It was almost eleven thirty by the time the train assault ended. At this moment, the only thing Era wondered was if her parents knew she was out. It was getting a little late, and she had nothing new received on her cell phone. Era glanced at Natasha warily. She knew that Natasha had high pain tolerance, but it would seem like anyone would be in deep pain from cuts that deep anywhere on their body, and yet Tasha treated it nothing more like a splinter; it almost seemed too casual. She planned that once the train stopped and both of her friends woke up, she would ask one more time how they really felt. Era herself woke up because of a sudden gap in between the tracks, and it shook the train a little. It was about forty five minutes since she last fell asleep, which was right after the train breakage situation, and she finally wondered when the train would make it to the next station. Constantly during the trip, she would slip in and out of sleep, she figured that her body would hate her for the constant lack of the desired amount of sleep, and she has been getting an unusual pattern throughout the entire day. In an instant, Era fell back asleep, and something happened that Rexa didn't even figure would happen. Her vision was of nothingness. Just a void, either that or that was what Era was dreaming of; nothing. But Rexa stood in the middle of it all alone, and she wondered if it meant something. She predicted that one of the members of the Organization would have separated time to talk to her again, but it took a while for anything to become a response to Rexa's curiosity.
Despite that there was no one around but her, she began to hear voices. When she covered her ears with her hands, things didn't become any quieter, making her realize the voices were in her head; a little bit similar to the experience she had right after Xemnas had vanished with her and before she found herself in Castle Oblivion. It was only one voice however, and it didn't appear to sound familiar, or discomforting.
Your other self has gone to a snooze.
So its time for a little warning, or foretelling news.
Sounded a lot like something that you'd hear in a poem, but despite its tone, Rexa figured that it was something worth listening to.
After she awakens,
the images you'll soon see you'll be desperate to forsaken.
Perplexity, bereavement, and affliction
Now which of the three shall give the most attention?
Rexa knew she didn't have to answer that. She was just be forewarned that as she continues to view her past, she would be looking at things even more vindictive than she possibly hoped. She wondered if she spoke out loud, the voice would reply to her.
"Say, can you give me a hint of whatever the three events may be?"
It was silent for a moment, but then a little blue ball of light dimly floated in front of her, and she figured that the voice might come from the light from now on instead of her head, but she was wrong.
Camaraderie.
The condition your acquaintances are in has made your former heart weary.
Why not mull over their providence?
So that your fortification could make sense.
This meant that something would possibly happen to Natasha and Lucas, and maybe Renee. She was actually shocked that ever since Era left home, she hasn't thought substantially about Renee. She speculated about her coma, and when she would wake up. The little creature that attacked her; a larger version of it had previously damaged the train until it vanished. How could they be so powerful? Apparently there was nothing left to say in the conversation since the little blue light suddenly went dim, but in a flash it brightened again, lighting the entire scene, so there was nothing but white; Rexa couldn't even see herself anymore. Suddenly she felt something come into focus. Hands were shaking her by the shoulders lightly, and she began to get her sense of hearing back. Someone was calling her name -actually, her other name as the scene came into view slowly. Era blinked multiple times to get her vision just right to see that Natasha was nearly on top of her trying to wake her up, but she didn't seem concerned in anyway, but she easily knew why she was woken up.
"Era," Natasha started. "Our stop is next. Get your stuff ready."
The train hissed once more as the passengers took their time to walk off. The station that they stopped at seemed a little smaller than the one they left, so everything seemed simple for a start. Natasha had tied her hair back in a bun with a couple of strands loose from the grip, showing the back of her neck. There was a scar there too, and to dismay, it was almost completely across her tattoo. She had gotten it two years ago, and it was of a black snake coiled around a purple diamond. Anyone who didn't know any better would have thought that the scar looked good with the ink, but it seemed like the least of Natasha's worries. As for Lucas, he didn't look any better. There were was looked like multiple burns around the side of his neck, and there were welts on his upper hip; you could tell because there was a large tear on the side of his shirt, which exposed his side. As much as Era witnessed only half of it, she looked completely clean without a scratch; hell, she didn't even take a smack, and she felt that it was unfair for her friends to take the damage.
"So...where to now? Are we taking a taxi or something?" Lucas asked curiously.
"From the map I checked at home, Ansem's headquarters aren't too far from here. I think that we can manage to walk from here." Natasha explained. Era sighed a little.
"Not that we have a car to drive anyway..."
The trio stepped out of the station to find a couple of different roads that led either to the same place or another (to their guess). Lucas and Era then turned to Tasha once more for directions.
"The road on the farthest right." She pointed her finger to indicate a very narrow road. "That's the way we're supposed to take."
Lucas could only nod in agreement, and so did Era. What they didn't know couldn't apply anyhow. Era didn't think much about what was going on at home, but at the point she just realized something; which could have been the least of worries to her other two companions.
"The parents back at home probably don't know anyone of us are gone. Who're they going to get to watch the kids at that one island?"
Natasha slowed her pace a little and glanced wide eyed at Era. "Whoa, actually I hadn't thought about that either until you mentioned it."
"But we left at night, and it just turned morning, we'll probably have time to get all of this straight and get back home before sunrise." Lucas cut in.
"Yes, but our parents don't know either, and they don't wait for babysitters to check in. They wait for their kids to come home. Now how do you suppose they wait for us when they don't even know we're gone in the first place? My parents are probably on their way home now." Era said. She didn't realize that midway, her tone had risen just a little, and it surprised her a little. From the look on the other two's faces, she could tell they were baffled too.
"If they found out you were gone, they'd call your cell to find out where you are." Natasha said with a calm voice.
"And what do I tell them?" Era then said. At this point, Lucas looked more clueless than before.
"Well..." He started. "Maybe you could tell them that you had to go to a night shift of taking care of the kids, since their parents aren't home."
"What good parent would have the mind to let their kids play outside at midnight on an island that's like, miles away from town?!" Era pointed in. As much as Lucas wanted to give her an excuse for real, it was a pretty fucked up excuse; to her at least. Everyone knew that the parents in the town always worked around morning and mid-day; if they worked at night, they probably didn't have kids or they did have kids that were old enough to their approval to stay in the house alone. The three picked up their pace once more, figuring they should do things a little more quicker since Era seemed more tense than usual. Things got quiet for a moment but then Natasha broke the silence.
"Do you think they'd approve of us going to Ansem's lab if we really told them?"
"They'll probably think it's absurd to visit a scientist in the middle of the night." Era replied.
"But they don't know what time we left. We could tell them that we left around daybreak and the trains got delayed."
"I guess that's an idea." Lucas cut in. Natasha scoffed and grinned to the side.
"Better than yours, that's all I know." This caused all three of them to laugh, knowing that they might as well entertain themselves for the rest of the walk to their destination.
Rexa's motionless body lied on a white bed that was in her designated room. On top of her was what seemed like a vivid flash show of what was going on in her flashback currently, and three of the Organization's members stood there watching; as the others could watch in different locations of the castle. Marluxia stared in slight amusement at the screen as Axel and Larxene stood partly behind him, watching from a little bit afar. Axel's face was blank, but he looked as if he was attempting to hide a smile. Larxene was shifting moods from amused to apathetic from time to time, and she was the first to break the silence.
"This chick's past is a little unusual for my taste." She said, shaking her two back-bangs farther behind her. "And her friends too. I'd want to hurt that other girl until she screams for once. She's ignoring the pain that the heartless caused her."
"And -Lucas was it?- I don't know about you two, but he seems to have a thing for both of them." Axel cut in.
"By the way, Marluxia. That warning you sent her earlier, why was it all...you know, rhyming like? You sounded like a poet, despite that she didn't know it was you." Larxene then asked. Marluxia barely tilted his head to the side, indicating that he was listening, but was still watching the screen and sometimes glanced at the motionless girl underneath it.
"It doesn't matter how I sent the message, as long as she got it." His eyes narrowed down to stare at Rexa. "She will see more than she's prepared for, that's for sure."
"Think she'll want to talk more about this when she wakes up. From what you make it sound like, it'll seem like she'll be scarred once this is over." Axel put his hands on his hips and leaned forward a bit to let more of his voice be heard.
"Just like the rest of us, she will have to get over what's already been done. In order to do this, she will have to discuss it with us." Marluxia replied calmly.
"Hmm...I always questioned her other half's presence around the heartless. When she's around, they disappear. Why is that, Marluxia?"
"The Heartless know her future, and give her a moment's rest. But that won't last forever, I'm afraid."
Axel and Larxene looked at each other in bewilderment while Marluxia closed his eyes for a moment as if he were trying to figure something else out himself. This nobody was just born and yet he already knew what her past life was beforehand. As the flashback approached its end, he knew things would start to get vulgar.
"You think we're close?" The trio stopped momentarily to look ahead of their path. Not too far out, they saw what looked like the shadows of a couple of buildings, and they wondered if they were near another city or the lab itself. Lucas stroked his chin with a few of his fingers as he thought deeply.
"We have to be. Those are the only source of buildings that we found so far. The lab's got to be in that area somewhere."
They started walking again, but Era realized that there were a few beats of footsteps behind after a second. Turning around, she saw that Natasha hasn't moved, and she looked a little confused.
"Something wrong?" Lucas said, stopping his pace as well. It took a few seconds after for Natasha to reply.
"I feel dizzy." She said a with a low tone.
"When was the last time you ate?"
"No no, I'm not hungry..." Natasha replied, but then Era had a thought.
"Did you treat those cuts right? They could be infecting you right now."
"I've been in a lot of gruesome brawls, accidents, and other phenomenon. If I could treat myself alone during all of those times right, I think I got this one covered as well." She replied. The fact that she still ignored it still disturbed Era greatly.
"If you weren't feeling so good, you'd tell us, right?"
"Of course I would." Natasha said. Her voice seemed normal again and she looked ahead as if she were looking for the lab once more. Then she blinked as if she were dumbfounded, and then pulled out the tie from her ponytail to let the hair loose. It must have been weighing her head down. "I'm okay now. Lets keep going."
Era and Lucas glanced at each other for a brief moment with concerned looks, knowing for real that there was something wrong with Natasha. What if those scratches had side effects? They wouldn't want to risk letting her suffer, no matter how acute it seemed to her. At the point where they were walking, the buildings seemed a bit more clearer to see from the front, and it seemed they were only a kilometer or two away from their destination. Era noticed the group had a faster pace than before. She knew that she was eager to get there, and so were Tasha and Lucas, so then they sped things up a bit. When they were almost a quarter of the way towards the city, all three thought that they felt a sudden draft; and it came out of nowhere.
"Did you both feel that too?" Lucas asked, his arms around himself. The two girls could only nod yes in reply since the sudden cold had caught them off guard. Soon, Era was back on track and found her voice again.
"Where did that come from anyway?"
Natasha exhaled deeply. Apparently the draft had gotten the best of her as well. "I don't know, but it froze the living shit out of me. "
"We should probably move quickly." Era replied. If they kept moving, the draft effect would probably pass behind them, but Natasha made a bigger deal out of the chill than she did of her own damage. It was unusual, but Era let the thought slide for now. As soon as they made it to the city, they could probably rest up there before they actually went to meet Ansem; and probably some others. The closer they got to the city, the more unusual it seemed to look. There were a few neon lights seen from a distance, which meant that there must have been a few locals there, and oddly shaped chimney tops were seen and had a light sheen reflected from the moon's luminescence. The trio wasn't even inside the city yet, but they already seemed to see things out of the ordinary from where they stood. Era wondered how long this mission would take. She even still wondered if she'd be home by sunrise. She'd definitely wouldn't turn back; she couldn't anyway without her other two friend's help, and she knew that they were sure to deny her retreat. She knew from the very start that there'd be no turning back.