Disclaimer: Yup.
Hey, guys! I'm really sorry for not posting for… is it two months now? Yeah, sorry about that. Christmas break was really busy and January was even more so. So, please forgive me!
I actually almost didn't start writing this fanfic again. Is it worth it? Do you guys really even like it that much? I would love to hear some feedback.
Chapter 3:
The obnoxious sound of metal clashing against metal, followed by a squawk and a feminine scream brought El out of her short nap. It had only been, she checked the clock on her wall, ten minutes since she had managed to fall asleep.
"Damnit."
She threw her legs over the side of the bed, fuming at having lost the little rest she'd managed to get in the past week. Ever since Radiant Garden had been swallowed by darkness, El had become quite the insomniac. Even after all of the exterminating she did to protect the town each day, she still found herself awake at night, staring up at the ceiling and pondering the meaning of life; usually meaningless things, because anything of importance would cause her emotions to break out. From past experience, she knew that any feelings would only lead to heartbreak, one way or another, which was why she had isolated herself in the third district of Traverse Town. Most civilians didn't dare to come to the Heartless-infested area, and those who did often didn't return to the safety of the first district; the safety that she, El, had created.
A smirk played on her lips. For a price, of course. She had to make a living somehow, and that sadly involved communicating with other human beings. Needless to say, she minimized that as much as possible. El didn't want another set of friends who would leave her behind, regardless of whether or not they did it on purpose. Her non-aging had already alienated her from the others who had come from her world, especially Leon and Cid. Aerith and Yuffie, on the other hand, had gotten over their suspicions about seven years prior to the present. Nevertheless, El found them to be too annoying in their own ways. Aerith was too kind and Yuffie was bursting at the seams with energy and positivity. God, their sweetness made her sick.
El pushed away the little voice in her head that reminded her that she had been like that too, once, before she had lost him.
She cut that train of thought off, not wanting to get distracted from the issue at hand. Who the hell was making such a clamor this late at night, anyways? Muttering under her breath, El laced her sneakers up before summoning Dreams Dusk. She stared at it momentarily, adding it to the list of questions she didn't know the answers to. Why she had the keyblade was something she often pondered. As of yet, her answer was that Mai had somehow transferred her power to El's own hands. El also blamed Mai for the whole "non-aging" thing, but she didn't quite know why. She needed someone to blame for everything, after all, and Mai was the perfect scapegoat.
"Focus, El."
The brunette girl nodded to herself, pushing the door open and then shutting it tightly behind her. To her great suspicion, there wasn't anything outside. No Heartless, nor any other sentient beings.
However, the sounds of battle soon echoed up from the bottom floor, and El found her answer. She peeked over the banister, only to see a duck, a dog, two teenagers with keyblades, and the biggest Heartless she had ever seen.
"Well, this ought to be interesting."
Dayna let out an "oof!" as she was hurled off the second story. Goofy had been kicked off the side of the banister by a Heartless, and, lucky for her, he had been holding onto both hers and Donald's hands.
Surprisingly enough, they landed on the very person they had been searching for, with Dayna slamming directly on top of him in a rather compromising position. She immediately scrambled off of Sora with her cheeks afire.
Donald and Goofy were in too much of a shock to make any movements. "It's the other key!"
Sora writhed on the ground, trying to get to his feet. "Dayna, a little help?"
"Oh, right, sorry." She addressed her companions. "Donald, Goofy, could you please get off Sora?"
The two animals exchanged awkward glances and managed to get up in an uncoordinated tangle. Sora nodded at her gratefully before a strong rumble rocked the ground.
"Not again!" The brunet boy groaned, seeing stone pillars erupt out of the floor. Dayna summoned Dreams Equinox and reluctantly readied herself. But, what came next was something that none of the quartet had been expecting.
Huge pieces of metal armor fell out of the sky and the girl had to throw herself to the side to avoid getting struck. She gaped as the suit pulled itself together into the form of a body.
"You okay, Day-ah-nah?" Goofy asked, still facing the new opponent.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said breathlessly.
The girl flinched again at the loud metallic clang that was created by the Heartless' head connecting with the rest of its body. Crap.
Within seconds, the enemy was swiping at the quartet with his gauntlets. Clawed fingers whirled around its core body and Donald let out a squawk as he ducked, both hands clutching onto his hat. Sora caught Dayna's attention with a loud shout.
"How are we supposed to defeat this thing?"
The sound of the wind rushing past her ears blocked out any words that the boy had said.
"What?" She yelled back, hastily darting out of the way of the feet, which had begun stomping around the courtyard. Jeez, this world was dangerous.
"I said," Sora swung his Kingdom Key to fend off a foot, "how are we supposed to defeat this thing?"
"How am I supposed to know?" She blurted out. "Donald? Ideas?"
He screeched out a spell in return. "Um, fire!"
The Heartless twitched, giving Dayna a new spark of hope. It was then quickly distinguished when the Heartless jumped into the air in retaliation, and she braced herself for what she knew would be a painful collision.
To her great surprise, the collision never came.
Dayna slowly opened one eye, and then the other flew open in wonder. A girl, seemingly no older than herself, was fending off the torso of the armor. Her right arm was trembling with the force with which she was exerting against the opponent, though her countenance betrayed no hint of her struggle. She narrowed her eyes (which, Dayna noted curiously, were different colors) at the Heartless and shoved it away with a final push. The stoic girl then turned to face Dayna, and she saw the first hint of emotion emerge on the newcomer's countenance; so fast that she almost didn't catch it. An expression of mixed shock and pain flashed through her eyes before her façade quickly replaced it.
"You newbies should get out of here." The girl jutted her chin towards the Heartless, which had started moving towards them threateningly. "I've got this covered."
"No way! We were here first." Donald interceded before dodging a foot. "But, you're welcome to fight with us." He added hurriedly when Sora shot him a glare.
The girl looked stonily at him, a hint of disdain shining in her eyes. "I fight alone." She then spun around and began to walk away. Those imbeciles would eventually end up getting themselves knocked out, and at that point she would come back to finish off the Heartless; hopefully for a bounty. However, a feminine voice stopped her in her tracks and El's heart panged in her chest at the familiar tone. It sounded an awful lot like her.
"Please!" Dayna begged as Sora let out a cry of pain.
El stood in place, biting her lip. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the girl had a keyblade and scarf much like her friend's. She needed answers, and the only way to get those was through gaining the other girl's trust. She sighed, but turned around.
"Fine."
Dayna blinked, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Stop that." El shot out as she passed by her. Almost instantly, the baby grin fell off of Dayna's face.
"Stop what?" She dared to ask.
"… Never mind." El couldn't tell her that she despised expressions of positivity with a passion. God, sometimes she hated the person she had become. "Go focus your strikes on the left foot. Spikes, attack the right foot. Duck boy and dog face, you work on the gauntlets. I'll go for the torso."
"Spikes?" Sora muttered, but obeyed her command nevertheless. The other three followed suit, albeit reluctantly in some cases.
Within minutes, it seemed that the newcomer's strategy had worked. Much to her surprise, Dayna had been able to finish off her foot rather quickly. She supposed that all the Heartless slaughtering in Traverse Town had paid off. Almost simultaneously, the other four beat their corresponding opponents as well.
Dayna gazed in awe at the enormous pink heart that emerged from the fading carcass as it disappeared into the night sky. "Wow." She uttered softly.
"It's not something you should be admiring." The other brunette girl banished her keyblade bitterly, snarling inwardly at the burning sensation that erupted from her heart. She must've overdone it again. "Disgusting." She muttered.
Goofy interrupted before Dayna had a chance to answer. "Hey! You must be that El girl that Aerith talked about, a-hyuck! My name's Goofy, nice to meetcha!"
He extended his hand, much like he had done to Dayna before. El stared at it, one eyebrow arched, waiting for it to move away.
It never did.
"I suppose I have to admire your audacity." She shook it once, noting how Goofy failed to express any annoyance after her comment. "Or perhaps obliviousness, in your case."
Donald gritted his beak, about to spout off on her rudeness, but hesitated when Dayna nudged him. "… The name's Donald Duck."
El all but ignored him, instead focusing her attentions on the other two humans. "Hn. Now tell me. Why do you two have keyblades?"
"Er, I don't know." Sora answered truthfully, scratching his spikes. "Dayna?"
She started at being addressed. "Well… I have a theory."
El zoomed in on the opportunity. "Tell me." At Dayna's fearful expression, El's heart softened a bit. "Please." She added half-heartedly.
Dayna looked at Goofy for encouragement, and received a nod of support. "Many years ago, when I was six, there was a girl who came to visit our play island. I had been strand… I had an overnight excursion there." She quickly amended, not wanting to go into details. "She had blonde hair and a red hat – "
"Mai." El felt a flurry of mixed emotions blend through her at the name – the largest of which being a fiery pain of nostalgia. What a small world.
"You know her?" Dayna blurted out excitedly, forgetting all inhibitions. "She gave me her scarf to keep warm, but she was gone in the morning… I never saw her again."
El stayed silent. What were the odds that this stranger, Dayna, actually knew one of the only four people she cared about?
"El?"
The girl snapped out of her trance, horrified to realize that her eyes were watering up. She whipped around, not wanting the quartet to see such a display from her. "You must have been special to her." Then again, El smiled slightly, everyone she met was special to her in some way. She was just that kind of person.
The other three boys, feeling lost, whispered amongst themselves.
"Hey, do you know this Mai person?" Donald muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Sora shook his head adamantly.
"Uh, she sounds kinda familiar." Goofy scratched his jaw. "I think the King mighta mentioned her once before, a-hyuck. Don't ya remember, Donald?"
Donald turned red, feeling embarrassed for not remembering. "Sh-shut up, Goofy!"
"She was that there girl who stopped by ol' Yen Sid's tower ten years ago!" Goofy brought his fist down on his palm. "We should keep an eye out for her on our travels!"
El's sharp ears caught the tail end of Goofy's words while Dayna had been telling her stories about Mai. She pushed aside the girl in front of her and abruptly entered the boys' conversation.
"Travels?" She asked suspiciously, eyes glinting. The two animals squirmed beneath her demanding glare, sweating profusely. Sora looked back and forth cluelessly between them, not understanding the reason for the uncomfortable atmosphere.
"Donald and Goofy have a gummi ship they use to travel to different worlds." Dayna peeped without thinking. Immediately, Donald shot her a furious look, causing her to shoot an apologetic one back.
"Really?" El drew out the word, thinking of all the possibilities - weighing security against discovery. Traverse Town was safe, sure enough, but it wasn't home. No, it never had been. Perhaps it never would be. So, the answer seemed obvious. "I'm coming with you." She crossed her arms, daring them to protest.
She enacted mixed responses. From Goofy, a ridiculous smile. Donald's mouth hinged wide open in shock at her proclamation. Sora looked carefully optimistic, and Dayna's eyes had lit up.
"I guess we can't complain." Donald exhaled. "Keyblade wielders aren't common, so we take what we can get."
"Good choice." A familiar voice came from behind them. "Sora, why don't you go with them too?"
El watched with skeptical eyes as Leon strode past her. "So keen to get rid of me, Leon?"
He met her glare evenly. "Not as keen as you are to get out of here, Noelle."
"It's El." She snapped, hating the sound of her former name. It no longer suited her. "Get it right, Squall."
Leon's eyebrows twitched, but before he could throw out another retort, Yuffie interrupted with both hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Guys, guys, let's focus here."
El nodded once and swung her attentions back to the quartet expectantly.
"Sora?" Dayna questioned. The boy was looking rather morose. "What do you think?"
He blinked slowly. "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi…"
Dayna's eyes softened at the tender expression on his face. "Wow, you must really love her."
His head popped up, cheeks aflame. "W-what did you say?"
The ponytailed girl blushed similarly. "N-nothing. Forget I said anything. I didn't say anything, right, El?"
Said girl raised both eyebrows in surprise at being addressed. "Sure."
"Anyways," Dayna continued hastily, "I'm sure we'll find Kairi and Riku and my dad if we go with them."
"So you're going, then?"
Dayna nodded, desperately wishing that she could cheer Sora up. God, she was crap at this.
"Sora, go with them – especially if you want to find your friends." Leon repeated. His words seemed to sink in more than Dayna's.
"Yeah, I guess."
"But, you can't come along looking like that, understand?" Donald intervened, putting his wings on his hips. "No frowning, no sad faces, okay?"
"Yeah!" Goofy slapped Donald on the back before getting shoved away. "Ya gotta look funny, like us!"
"I'm afraid that may be difficult to accomplish." El said under her breath. Everyone chose to ignore her.
"This boat runs on happy faces." Donald squawked.
"Happy?" Sora paused, seeming to radiate more depression.
Nevertheless, it seemed that Dayna's senses were off. After a few seconds, he threw his head back up with the most ridiculous expression on his face.
El stared unamusedly back at him, and Dayna hid a giggle. "Nice one, Spikes."
Donald and Goofy, on the other hand, guffawed to no end. "That's one funny face!"
Sora beamed at the response he received. "Okay, I'll go with you guys." He threw a hand in the middle of the circle that he, Donald, Goofy, Dayna, and El formed. Donald followed next, then Goofy, then Dayna shyly. Only El refused.
"Aw, c'mon, El!" Goofy tilted his head welcomingly. "Don'tcha want to be part of the group hullabaloo?"
El surveyed them icily and then reached a decision. "By no means does this mean that I follow your orders. I do what I want, got it?"
She specifically directed her words at Donald, who cowered slightly. "Got it."
A smirk tugged up the corner of her mouth and she thrust her hand in the middle. "Okay, dorks."
"All for one, and one for all!" Sora exclaimed.
"Cheeseball." Dayna said quietly, drawing out an interested look from El.
"Huh. There may be hope for you yet." She patted the younger girl on the head as praise. "Now, you four wait here while I pack myself a bag."
She darted away before the group could even form a response.
In another world…
"Those little squirts took down that Heartless! Who'd have thought it?"
"Huh. Such is the power of the keyblades. Those childrens' strengths are not their own."
"Why don't we turn them into Heartless? That'll settle things quick enough."
"And those brats' friends are the king's lackeys." A rakish voice snorted. "Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them." He leaned forward in interest. "Those lasses aren't too bad, though."
Someone wacked his head. "You're no prize, yourself, filthy pervert."
"Shut up, you bag of bugs!"
The tension was broken at the sound of their leader's voice. "Enough. They have keyblades for a reason." She stroked the bird resting on her shoulder curiously. "Will they conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow them? Either way, they could be quite useful…"
Sinister cackles, or, rather, attempts at sinister cackles erupted around the room, and Maleficent found herself raising her eyes to the ceiling. "I'm surrounded by idiots."
How'd you guys like this chapter? Okay? Decent? Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? It's getting easier to write Dayna and El's characters. El is really fun to write, because she's just such a cynical little girl. Dayna's like the shy, innocent friend you've never had. Mai's the sassy one, but you all already knew that. I hope they're not too Mary-Sue. If they are, please tell me so (nicely, mind you).
Anyways, updates will most likely not be every Sunday anymore. Junior year is just too busy for that. However, I will try for every other Sunday.
K bye then.
- SoraMaiDay