Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.
You left me, in more ways than one. I know you will come back to me, but it hurts none the less.
Namine watched as Razyn lay before her motionless. After mumbling to herself in gibberish out of grief, she threw her head back and let out a long wail as she slammed her fists into the dirt of the road she had once planned to traverse. The crossroads of destiny. The Crux Road.
This wasn't supposed to be happening. She was supposed to return Razyn's memories, not turn him into...
Into this. How was she going to repay her debt if he was a Heartless, or worse...? She could even get eaten if she wasn't careful. The thought of her only friend chasing after her, trying to rip out her...
Namine gripped her chest and moaned from the sharp pain that thought had undoubtedly triggered. She needed to calm down. Clenching her eyes shut, she crossed her legs, deeply breathing until she was calm again. In and out.
In and out.
In and... out.
In... and... out... Don't fall asleep.
She opened her eyes and gazed upon Razyn. He was still lying there, motionless as ever.
She was calm; she could think. She needed a plan, and she needed one now. Maybe if-
A sharp gasp startled Namine. She jumped before trying to distinguish the source of this sudden sound. Before she could figure it out, something grabbed her. She shrieked as she scurried away from the sudden contact.
The source of the gasp, as well as the cold hand, was Razyn. Namine grinned as Razyn pushed himself off of the ground.
That grin vanished as he reared his head, smiling.
He was... He was different. His eyes were black, with small, orange, quivering blotches in either center; each eye looked like a deep pit with a fire burning at the very bottom. Then his skin. Sure, Razyn never had a healthy tan about him, but now he looked paler than the clouds traveling overhead. Somehow his clothes were tattered as well, giving his an all-around beat up look.
He was... a...
Razyn sighed, staring at Namine. He bent down, placing his hands on his knees as he spoke, "Hey cutey, how long are you going to sit there for?" His voice was the same at least. Calm, fluent, and a bit suave.
Namine blinked a couple of times before sighing and crossing her legs. "Please sit." She muttered. Without making sure Razyn had followed out his orders or not, Namine closed her eyes, and breathed slowly.
She needed a plan.
A plan.
A plan.
A... "Ah-ah-ah, oh... That feels good..."
"I'm glad it does. I'm not very experienced in this type of maneuver, so I wasn't quite sure."
...Rub rub.
Namine opened her eyes, and turned around to see Razyn holding his hands outward, his fingers curled.
"What are you doing?" Namine asked.
"I was giving you a massage." Razyn said, wiggling his fingers. "I thought I was doing a pretty good job, too."
Namine faced forward and sighed. At least he's not trying to eat her heart...
oXo
...Rub rub.
"You're stressed about something, aren't you?" Razyn asked from behind Namine. Namine just grunted in response. Although Namine and Razyn managed to stumble upon the road within the valley, for now she considered it useless. It was now nearing sunset, and Namine had decided they would remain there until she could think of a plan.
So she was sitting there, arms folded, legs crossed and eyes closed, plotting. Also, for reasons unknown, Razyn was giving a her a massage. Again.
"If it's because of my turning into a Heartless," Razyn continued, "there's really no reason to fuss. I mean, all we have to do is put me back together."
"What?" Namine opened her eyes. "How do we do that?" She asked, trying to turn around to face Razyn.
Razyn let go of Namine as he explained, "All we need to do is put my heart into my Nobody."
Namine pursed her lips as she contemplated this plan. "One problem." She said.
"What's that?" Razyn asked.
"I have no idea how to do that." Namine half-moaned, half-wailed.
"Trust me, it will be fine." Razyn said. Then he added, "We just need to find my Nobody. He... or she... should have been created somewhere that was of great importance to me. Like I said, it will be fine."
"If you say so." Namine replied. She glanced behind Razyn to see the sun setting. How long had they been talking for? It's orange glow reminded her of the new orange eyes of her companion. She needed to fix him. But, for now, "We should start tomorrow." Namine suggested, as she, followed by Razyn, strolled to the green grass of the meadow.
As Namine lay in the grass, hands behind her head, staring at the stars, she couldn't help but realize that she was completely at ease with Razyn lying across from her, sleeping.
oXo
"...2..."
"...0-2... Do..."
"Good morning, 0-2."
"Good morning, Boss. What am I doing today?"
"I am sending you on a mission with The Creep. You are to provide back up and extraction. You may call for me once, and like always, only in an emergency. This is an S-Ranked mission, so nothing you see there is to be mentioned to anyone, understood?"
"Yessir."
"You depart this evening."
oXo
Namine bolted from her sleep caked in sweat. What was that? She never remembered talking to that guy. Actually, she didn't remember anything from before being a Nobody...
But she was certain that those weren't Kairi's or Sora's memories. Maybe they were Razyn's? But why would he be called zero-two? This doesn't make any sense.
She turned her gaze towards Razyn, still sleeping on his side, facing her. Maybe they were his memories.
oXo
Namine watched as the sun rose over the horizon with sleepy eyes. She couldn't sleep much last night. She knew it would be like this. In her original plan, she had accounted running into The Valley of Empty Dreams. The area is supposed to be huge, with invisible borders. Anyone who enters this zone would feel exhausted no matter how much they rested or slept. Only someone who is attuned to the element of 'Nothing' can comfortably travel through this valley. If the myths were true some could even see the invisible walls.
Namine slowly turned her head toward Razyn, sitting cross-legged while cooking eggs and bacon on an ersatz griddle and fire. Whistling merrily.
"Razyn..." Namine croaked as she patted down some stray hairs that were bothering her for no real reason.
"Yes~?" Razyn chimed. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but his voice seemed really annoying this morning.
"Where did all of that come from?" She questioned, eyeing the griddle for eyeing's sake.
Razyn grinned. Namine noted that his teeth were serated. "Well with magic of course!" Razyn cried, as he flipped the eggs and shuffled the bacon. "This fire is just an elemental demon I summoned. He's on a food-related contract, so he brings the frying pan and spatula with him. As for the food, I just have really good credit, and know a couple of express delivery moogles." Razyn grinned, this time hiding his teeth.
Namine blinked a couple of times, straining her eyes agianst the morning light. "Razyn, do you have mastery over 'Nothing'?"
Razyn paused before answering. Then he resumed his cooking, speaking over the low sizzling of the food. "If by Nothing you mean the magical element, than yes." Razyn, still smiling gave Namine a mock suspicious look. "How did you know that?"
Instead of answering, Namine asked another question. "Can you see any walls nearby? Like transparent ones?"
"Yes I do, why?"
"It's imperative," Namine said, cutting off Razyn, "that you guide us outside of the nearest wall as soon as possible and make sure we don't cross one ever again. This area is cursed. I will die if I stay here for more than a week." She explained with a monotone voice.
Razyn looked down at the food he was cooking and back at Namine, face cold and serious. "Eat your breakfast," he said as he handed her a fork, holding the quickly cooling griddle before her. "After, I will carry you to the closest wall, which is about a mile away." Razyn pointed to his left, far into the meadow.
"No," Namine said as she stabbed the bacon with disinterest, eating out of foresight, rather than hunger. "We need to keep to that road in the middle."
"Very well." Razyn said as he shoveled down his share of the over-easy eggs.
They continued to eat in silence, trying as best they could to enjoy the meal that Razyn had prepared, while eating as fast as they could. After they had finished, Razyn snapped his fingers, and the demon flew toward him, grabbed his equipment and trash and disappeared in a puff of ash and smoke.
"Let's go." Razyn said, crouching down to let Namine climb onto his back. Razyn chuckled as he raised himself from the grass. "You're even lighter than you look," Razyn admitted, "Even with those curves of yours."
"Shut up and walk." Namine murmured, hiding her blushing cheeks in Razyn's hair.
oXo
Unbeknownst the two companions, off in the distance, a foot slowly formed from nothing. Ash-colored scraps spun around the foot, gliding and whipping about the air. Slowly, natural flesh and skin swirled into view as if it had merely been invisible a moment before. When the ashen scraps of nothing finished, a second foot began to form.
Steadily, the new feet became legs, the legs joined at a waist, and the waist joined with a free floating torso. Then a pair of arms appeared; first the hands, then the shoulders, and lastly meeting at the forearms, forming the frame of someone begging for forgiveness.
After one whole hour of spinning, swirling, and gliding, the ashen scraps stopped where the head would be. The scraps drew close to each other, until there were no gaps between the slivers and slices; until they were connected at the seams. Now this ball of nothing began to slowly deflate and reshape into something more coherent...
Into something human. Every curve, crevice, nook and cranny of a man's face was formed from the once free-floating strips of ash. Color formed. Then the pastel colored ash became skin. Hair formed in patches on the once barren skin. Eyes, ears, and nostrils came soon after. Finaly, a horizontal line formed near the bottom of this face. It split apart, showing quickly forming teeth, gums, and a tongue.
The man stood up, and pulled his bright blue hair back with both hands, stopping at the neck. He let go, his now orange hair flattened against his scalp and neck.
Standing straight, arms outstretched, clothing began to form as well. First pants, white and tight fitting followed by a matching low-cut shirt. Then an open black tunic, starting at his shoulders and stopping at his knees. Finally, a pair of black sneakers to complete his outfit.
He relaxed, and reached outward. Slowly, dozens of hearts began to gather at his hand, forming a rod of sorts. He gripped this rod firmly, and pulled with all his might. Behind him, a mighty blade appeared, attached to the rod, unused fragments of the hearts falling away. These hearts, small and shining, circled him, eventually reaching his face, where they reformed and placed themselves as a small pair of sunglasses.
He began walking in the direction Razyn and Namine were headed.
Two hours ago, this man, this... Nobody did not exist. Now he does, and his purpose is clear:
He must become whole again.
A/N
Who is this new man?
What are his purposes?
Tune in next time to Anything You Need!
qinop out.