Previously on t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h:
Your other self has gone to a snooze.
So its time for a little warning, or foretelling news.
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?
"Say, can you give me a hint of whatever the three events may be?"
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.
xxx
"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."
"If they found out you were gone, they'd call your cell to find out where you are."
"And what do I tell them?"
xxx
"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."
"It doesn't matter how I sent the message, as long as she got it. 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."
"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."
"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."
xxx
"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."
"If you weren't feeling so good, you'd tell us, right?"
"Of course I would. I'm okay now. Lets keep going."
The city seemed a lot bigger from the inside than how it looked from the outside. The trio was right about the neon lights from afar. Up close, there were a few large signs either on rooftops or hanging on the side of buildings. Only a few people stood around different spots of certain areas, mostly teens, other than that, the city was practically empty right now; well, it was sleeping hours. Era stared in slight awe with her finger lain on her chin for no particular reason. Lucas was a step farther in front of the two girls, examining a bit more of the city. Cricket chirps echoed through the air as the trio gave one last moment to look around.
"It's quiet." Lucas said, breaking the silence.
"Well, it is past midnight." Natasha replied, sounding like she had just accredited the time a second ago.
"So then." Era started. "Where do we start looking?" This put the three of them in a moment of stillness. They had now reached the city that they had hoped to reach, but it was a little bit bigger than their hometown and there were many directions on where to look. Natasha wandered off to a nearby wooden sign that was accompanied by a few others, while Lucas had studied the place some more. Era stood her ground, wondering how close Ansem was in a city like this.
"Dude, there are like, no directions anywhere." Natasha called back from her spot. Scratching her scalp a little bit, she walked over someplace else. Lucas walked back to Era with an expression on his face that had publicized he was out of ideas.
"Well, we'll just have to start walking around till we find something good."
Era had remembered from their walk to the city that there was a very large building that stuck out the most out of most of them, but it wasn't like a skyscraper. It was enshadowed at the moment but was juggernaut in width and height, and Era figured it would be a good place to start looking; wherever it was.
"Hey guys, how about that really large building that we saw while we were on our way here?" She suggested.
"Which big building?" Natasha said, and not in a joking way.
"When we were looking at the silhouette of the building, there was this really large structure that stuck out the most out of the rest of the scenery."
The other two friends thought for a brief moment to see if they remember seeing what Era described, as much as it took longer than they thought it would to think about it, it would be better than nothing to check it out first; then the rest.
"I say we should check it out." Lucas chimed in. Natasha only nodded. Era noticed there were dark bags underneath her eyes. They were all exhausted, but she seemed the most tired. Once she noticed that Era seemed to be watching her for a while, she glanced somewhere else and gained back her usual posture.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" She asked. "Era, do you remember which direction it was?"
Era could have sworn she heard something do a soft animal cry from far behind her, but it wasn't anything her attention could go towards. "It was around the back of this city."
"Lets head off then."
Footsteps echoed through most of the empty spaces of air due to the fact that it was totally empty during this time of morning. Not too long after the trio started to move again, a slow but startling vibration started in Era's pocket. Since it was continuous, she knew that someone was calling her, and when she picked up her cell phone to look at the caller ID, she'd wished that she had left her cell at home. Mom was marked underneath the her home phone number, and Era hesitated.
"Who is it?" Natasha asked, suddenly right next to Era.
"It's my mom." Era said with a panicked tone. "What am I going to say?!"
"If you're that nervous about talking to her, don't answer at all." Lucas suggested. That would only make her parents suspicious, but she didn't feel now was the right time for talking. Pressing her OFF button, she slowly put her phone back into her pocket, still staring straight ahead of her as the three of them walked on forward.
"I wasn't expecting that." Larxene said with an after laugh. "Suddenly, I think this chick could be entertaining in a way."
The Organization was still watching Rexa's flashback. Marluxia left the room a little while back, while Vexen joined Axel and Larxene to see if anything was any different.
"Ignorant child. She has no idea what she'll be walking into." Vexen said with a grim smirk.
"Oh, so you know things ahead of time, do you?" Larxene asked him, half joking and half serious.
"Of course. But, I wouldn't want to spoil it for everyone else, now would I?"
Axel rolled his eyes to another direction, but then glanced back at Vexen in wonder. "Can you at least tell us what that building is that they're about to wander into?"
"Well..." Vexen started. "You could say it's the entrance to what they're looking for, but at the same time, an accident waiting to happen."
"I can hardly contain myself." Larxene said, voice filled with sarcasm; not because she was getting bored, but just to piss Vexen off.
"Oh can't you?" Vexen replied with a sneer. Nobody replied, let alone talked at all after that was said. If Marluxia was around, the result would most likely vary. But they all commenced their self-control and continued what they were supposed to do.
"Guys, do you think something's following us?" Era asked. The three of them stopped walking temporarily to look around, but saw nothing.
"I don't see anything. Why?" Lucas asked.
"Ever since we walked in this city, I heard this weird flutter over my head from time to time, and its always the same distance apart and at the same pace as we're walking."
The group then went quiet to listen closely to whatever Era heard. They all came to different conclusions when they heard a low-pitched whistle like cry not too close but not too far above them from a distance.
"What was that?" Natasha said, looking above her in all directions. That's when it sounded like something fell, from a high top at that. Era was the first to see that something was falling, right over her head.
"Whoa! What the-" Was all she could say before the mystery object thudded right on top of her. As small as it seemed, it seemed to easily weigh her down, and made her stumble a bit before face-planting the ground herself.
"What is that thing?" Natasha asked suspiciously yet awe-stricken at the same time.
"It can't be a Heartless." Lucas replied, his eyes widened in amazement. Era forced herself to sit up, making the thing roll off of her and onto the ground. When she looked over at it, she was just as confused as her other two friends. It had a very small and plump body and it was the same for the head. Its eyes were even smaller and looked like slits and had a big red nose, like a clown's. Over its head hung a just as big and red pom-pom, connected to its head but hanging high above its face. Two little purple wings were on its back, proving Era's guess that whatever was following them could fly.
"I don't know, but it seems harmless." Era reached her hand slowly towards the creature, but it cautiously back up away from it.
"You're not going to hurt it, are you?" Lucas chimed in.
"No, I was just going to see if it would let me examine it closely if I held it."
"That thing is smart to keep its distance." Natasha said. The other two glanced at her in surprise, and Natasha rethought her words. "Not that you're a threat, Era." She added in. They brought their attention back to the unknown species. "Should we take it with us?"
"I don't see why not? It's probably been in this place longer than we have." Lucas replied.
"Obviously." Era said. She stood up then and the thing looked up at her, standing up on its little legs as well. "Maybe it can lead us to Ansem."
"Is it that smart?" Lucas asked, slightly unbelieving what Era just said.
"Lets hope." Era lowered back down so that she was only a foot away from its actual height. "Can you lead us to Ansem?"
Apparently it was the source of the low whistle, because it made that sound in reply to Era's question. In an instant, it began to use its wings to lift itself up from the ground and high enough to look Era in the face, or the other two for that matter. After a long stare at the three, it turned around and began to fly away.
"We should follow it." The three then nearly power-walked to keep up with the flying speed of the mysterious creature, but to their surprise, they weren't too far away from the building they looked for when that ran into the species. It was about seventeen steps apart from where they last stopped their walk, and the building itself was even bigger up close. The arches in front of it looked like it went up through the clouds, if possible, and it was painted a maroon color, possibly darker. All three couldn't tell if it was a juggernaut sinister mansion or a castle, but the floating thing already flew through an open window it happened to find, leaving the other three having no choice but to go through the double doors in front of them.
"Well....we're here."