Chapter 7: Keeping secrets
Sora's eyes looked up at Leon.
"But how... how are they alive?" He choked on his words. All that work for nothing? "But we worked so hard" He lifted his arms up and gestured towards the old gang around him.
"I know..." Leon looked down and dusted off his sleeve. Cloud held Rose up; her loss of blood had made her quite dizzy. Her blonde hair sparkled in some sunlight that had poked its head through the clouds.
Zack sighed. "Great we've been here five minutes and all hell has broken loose." He looked up at the sky, he was glad that Tsuki had been found and that everyone was safe, (apart from Rose's wound and the fact that their lives could be in peril) but he wanted to go home. Being in a video game just didn't seem natural. How could this have happened? Was this all a dream?
Jasmine let a tear slide down her face. Yes everyone was together, but would they see the rest of their families ever again? Or more, would they even live? How could they get home? She wiped her tear away when Jake looked at her.
Jake sighed and shook his head. Girls were too emotional. They didn't see the upside to this, this could be so fun to talk to... digital animation? What?
"Wait. You're telling me...we're in the video game?" He looked around at everyone. Tsuki rubbed her arm and looked out over the quad.
"Yeah, but how does that work?" Henry asked dumbfounded. "Are we digital animation? Or are they real?" The 9 teens exchanged looks. "Who cares? I want to go home!" Ingrid stomped her foot. "This isn't normal." Kate turned to Ingrid.
"Since when was anything we ever did normal?" Gypsy suppressed a snicker.
"I agree with Ingrid." Jasmine stepped forward and huffed in her snooty voice. "I don't want to live in a video game." Tsuki looked at the others through her caramel blonde fringe. "What?" Kairi asked in a confused tone, Sora cocked his head to the side like an inquisitive mouse.
Just then it dawned on Tsuki like a sack of bricks; these guys didn't know they weren't real. "Um, what Jasmine meant was. Uh she just really wants to get home and see her boyfriend." She talked even though she was still traumatized about the whole Xaldin thing. Jake laughed, "What boyfrie- OW!" Tsuki had trod on his foot. "We'll be back."
Tsuki herded the teens over to the other side of the quad.
"They don't know they're video game characters." Tsuki hissed at the huddle of confused faces. "What!?" Gypsy exclaimed. Kate looked up deep in thought and then back at the group. "So I'm guessing since Aerith is supposed to be dead they don't know about ties they had in other games." Tsuki then realised why they were so freaked out when she knew all their names two days ago.
"So we can't tell them?" Jake asked.
"Gypsy shook her head. "It would destroy their reality." Henry said casually.
"Great so how are we going to tell them we know every detail about them without them getting suspicious?" Ingrid asked.
"Eh... I haven't thought about that yet." Tsuki smiled.
"But keep it at a low." She looked all the way from Kate and over to Jasmine. It was good to see them all again.
"Anyway Tsuki," Zack began. "How did you end up here?" Tsuki glared at Zack and looked back at her two little cousins. "Let's hope we get home soon." She sighed and they all walked back to the others.
"Let's get inside." Aerith said welcoming all the kids back inside.
Sora looked at everyone quiet confused.
"So, you guys got sent through a 'portal' of some sort from your home world and ended up here with no way back?" Tsuki nodded.
"And Henry and Rose are your brother and sister?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah. Jasmine and Jake are my cousins and Kate, Gypsy, Ingrid and Zack are our friends." She smiled sheepishly; this was hard to get around.
"So I suppose we'll have to find your home world." Riku breathed the words out like they were an annoyance. "But we've never heard of somewhere called Earth before.' Kairi looked around. "Uh...It's really foreign." Ingrid scratched her head while she made something, merely anything up.
"But how is the organization alive?" Rose squeaked from the single seater lounge. Leon thought about this and then they all received no answer. Gypsy huffed and stood up from her stool. "Well I have a question. What are Namine` and Sora-look-alike doing here?" Yuffie stood up.
"Just a bit before Tsuki came here Sora and Kairi kind of blurred a bit and then the doubled, I would say. Except then we met Namine` and Roxas. I suppose there are good nobodies." She finished.
"What the hell are nobodies?" Ingrid asked from her seat on the arm of the chair she was sitting on. Her eyes kept wandering off in the old room that had different coloured walls at points. She was told it was because of Merlin the 'magician' extending the house so everyone could fit.
"Nobodies are the empty shells of humans that are left when heartless steal their hearts. They work for Organization 13, who re nobodies with special potential." Jasmine rolled her eyes.
"Well if that's not confusing..." She said sarcastically.
The whole place was in an uproar, Radiant Gardens had never been like this before, the nobodies of Kairi and Sora, the appearances of the strange nine teens and than an Organization member with an evil alternative of revenge. Things could only get better, right?
Gypsy tugged on Yuffie's arm.
"So you're a ninja?" She said curiously, Ninja's, seriously one of her favourite things in the world. Yuffie nodded and smiled. Gypsy squealed. "Oh please teach me how to be a ninja, I could lurk in the shadows and kill anyone who tries to sneak up on me!" She pulled back into a 'stealth' position. Yuffie laughed at the teen's enthusiasm and sheer delight.
Somehow this 'Gypsy'-girl reminded Yuffie of herself when she was younger. Happy, over enthusiastic...actually that was her still to this day.
"Okay then." Yuffie nodded and Gypsy jumped, "Yes! I'm on my way!" Zack shook his head; in the time he had known Gypsy she had always loved ninja's but could never compensate her ever BEING one!
"Maybe I can teach you some basics tomorrow." Yuffie stated and Gypsy yapped and did the 'Caramelldansen'. Tsuki gave a grin on everyone; they all seemed to be having fun, all chatting away. But deep down she knew they all missed home and doubted if they would get back. She heard someone behind her and turned around to face Riku.
"Thinking about home?" He said in a voice that was rather distant. Tsuki paused for a moment looking at her hands. "Hmm, yeah." She sighed and looked up. "What about you, aren't you thinking of home?" She didn't want to say something like 'why aren't you at Destiny Islands?' It would become suspicious.
"I don't worry about petty things like that." Tsuki opened her mouth to say something but he put his finger to the front of her face. "You don't know anything about me. I'm not weak and simple like you; I've endured a lot that you don't know. So don't say shit about me." He walked away in a huff. Tsuki looked down again. If only he knew how much she liked him as she had watched his every emotion, every move when she played "Kingdom Hearts".
Now the story had suddenly become reality. Tsuki face palmed her forehead because she felt like a stalker. She lifted her head up to hear yelling. "Agh, you're an idiot!" Yuffie was screaming at Jake. She had orange juice on her top.
Tsuki backed away from the two. Henry had his hand on his head; his little cousin was such a ditz when it came to girls. "Hey keep your shirt on-"Jake smiled. "-Or unless..." He wiggled his eyebrows; Yuffie stood up and pulled her giant shuriken on his neck. "Ever say anything like that ever again and I won't hesitate." Rose could see the fear flash in her cousin's eyes.
Yuffie sneered pulled her katana back and flounced away. Jake turned to Henry and grinned. "She so wants me." Henry laughed and high-fived his cousin. Yuffie stopped in sudden motion and turned around; hand slapping Jake across the cheek. "Just because you're related to Tsuki doesn't keep you safe from me." She turned around to see Kate's hand ready for a high-five.
"You go girlfriend!" She yelled in delight, Gypsy fell off her chair in laughter, while Henry sat on the chair holding his sides. "You're supposed to be on my side!" Jake yelled a Kate. Rose came to the scene. "Cuz, if it's girls versus guys; Girls ALWAYS win." Laughter came from everyone besides Jake who held his cheek in embarrassment. Tsuki gave a little laugh and turned to Aerith.
"Do you want to take Kate, Rose, Gypsy and Ingrid to my room and Jasmine can sleep in the other spare room with the boys?" Tsuki smiled. "Best to put Rose in with the boys, they'll get along better. Kairi walked up to them. "Which is what I'm worried about." She said in a low tone.
Sora came up behind her and hugged her. "What afraid you'll lose me?" Kairi glared at Sora and elbowed him in the gut. "AS IF!" And she walked away. Gypsy and Kate came up to them next. "That is why I don't like that girl." Gypsy poked her tongue out after her. Sora rubbed his stomach. "Hay Kate let's see what you can do with that blade of yours." He summoned his keyblade, Kate smiled and picked up her sword.
"Not in this house you don't." Tifa appeared out of nowhere.
"Agreed." Cloud simply said. "Fine." Retorted Kate. "Ingrid you come too, your Karate might come in handy!" Kate pulled a confused Ingrid outside. "Wait, Karate?" Leon said from his box, looking at everyone. "Yeah." Tsuki piped up. "Ingrid's been taking karate since she was six." Leon stood up. "This is great." He said in his monotone voice; though everyone could tell he was pleased.
"At least one of you won't die." Gypsy scoffed. "I'm gonna be a ninja!" She folded her arms. "Um, but Yuffie has been training for years." Jasmine pointed out. "You mean she was made that way." Jake whispered to Jasmine, who stomped on his foot. "I'm a pretty good fighter!" Rose yelled, while she stood next to Namine`. Tsuki put her head down, this was true she had always beaten her in any brawls they ever had or the girls she had beaten up at school for stealing their boyfriends.
"Well, okay then." Leon dropped the thought the instant it came to his head. Rose huffed. "Henry took fencing." Jake said. "And Jake is in basically all the shooter clubs and clay target-things." Henry dobbed Jake in.
"So maybe you all can be useful." Jasmine, Tsuki and Zack exchanged glances; they hadn't really ever taken anything like this before. Zack being Christian, was somewhat against violence, But it also depended on who started the fight first. Jasmine was a reader not a fighter, though she was pretty good at athletics, not much of that would come in handy.
Roxas walked over to Namine`. "So say we have to find some kind of portal." He began. "How would we know where to look. There are so Many worlds out there. Couldn't we just find the world?" "NO!" Zack and Tsuki yelled in Unison. "Why not?" Namine` asked. "Because we don't have a world around here, it's too far away." Tsuki lied, she didn't even know if there was a portal or not; or if they were stuck here forever.