Chapter 8: Someone Precious
"This world is full of light."
Lea looked over to Roxas, who was holding a blue crystal ball to the sky and watching as the sunlight filtered through it. "What, you getting poetic on me?"
Roxas didn't look away from the ball. He turned it slightly between his fingers, watching the light dance. "It's just such a nice change of pace, isn't it?"
Lea shrugged and looked around them, at everything going on in Twilight Town that afternoon. It wasn't too crowded yet, with the streets active for sure but not outright filled with people. The afternoon sun filtered down from above, making the orange hue of the buildings especially vibrant. Not just the buildings, the people too. People just seemed happier with the sun shining down on them, as if its warmth made all their worried melt away. "Yeah, I guess it is." In more ways than one.
The two, Lea and Roxas, had come to spend a day in Twilight Town after some time apart. Roxas was still getting things settled in his life, putting all the scattered pieces together, and Lea helped where he could but a lot of it was personal stuff that only Roxas could do. They hadn't found the time to pick back up on their old ice cream on the clock tower tradition, something Lea definitely found himself missing if he was being honest. He didn't tell Roxas though—wouldn't be cool to admit. Lea watched as Roxas pocketed his little blue treasure and turned to Lea with a smile. "So, what's going on with you?" He spoke while walking backwards with his arms behind his head and a cheeky smirk on his face.
Lea shrugged. "Repairs in Radiant Garden are still going on and I'm helping where I can, but it's nice to get a day off. To be honest, I'm kind of overwhelmed."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "You're overwhelmed, Skuld's underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just 'whelmed'?"
Lea blinked. "Skuld?"
Roxas nearly slammed into another person as he was walking backwards and took the hint, turning around to watch where he was going. He continued speaking without missing a beat, "With Ephemer, yeah. Or maybe disappointed is the better way to put it? They're trying to go out, but twice now he's stood her up and apologized the next day for being busy at the last minute. They haven't argued yet and Ephemer's an honest guy, but I think…"
"Hold up." Lea reached forward and grabbed Roxas by the shoulder, both to stop him as a tram came by and to stop his explanation. "Skuld and Ephemer? Roxas, I got no clue who those two are man."
Roxas looked up at his taller friend. "Wait you don't?"
Lea shook his head. "Never heard those names in my life."
"I could've sworn I introduced you…" Roxas said, trailing off as he dug through his memory. Then he shrugged. "Ah well, maybe not. But no big deal! They should both be at the usual spot. How's a race there sound?"
Lea smirked and rested his hands on his hips. "You think you can beat me in a race after the last time?"
"Last time a tram cut me off, but that won't happen again!"
"Heh, sure thing." Lea ruffled Roxas's hair, knowing he hated it. When Roxas finally got him to back off, Lea looked up at the sky and brought a hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun. "I think I got time before I should head back, so why not? Last one there's a Dusk, what do you say?" Lea looked back toward Roxas, but the blond was gone.
"I say I'm already halfway there!" he heard Roxas shout from the far side of the crowded street.
Lea laughed. "You little brat!" He broke into a run, moving through the crowds and dodging pedestrians as he made his way to the back alley room under the train station that Roxas had shown him a couple visits ago. It was the clubhouse, as it were, of a trio of kids the two of them had always seen during their Organization XIII days. But come to think of it, Lea didn't think any of them were named Ephemer or Skuld. Not that Roxas couldn't have made more friends though, and it was entirely possible he was wrong about the trio's names anyway. Oh well.
As Lea apologetically shoved pedestrians aside, he kept that spiky blond brat of a friend in his sights at all times. Roxas was headed for the road up the mountainside; in that case, Lea would go for the sandlot. Less uphill travel to tire him out. But as Lea moved through the streets, a loud honking noise caused him to stumble back with a string of curses and a close save. Irony of ironies, a tram roared right past along its tracks right in front of Lea, cutting off his movement. When it had passed, Roxas was gone from sight. Of course.
Lea renewed the race with a vigorous sprint. The crowds grew thinner as he got further from the shops and closer to the sandlot, allowing him to see another obstacle in his way. A pile of wood planks, probably leftovers from when they were setting up the Struggle tournament stage, lay on the ground in the middle of the road to the sandlot. Nothing Lea couldn't handle. With a laugh, he leaped into the air mid-sprint, soaring through the warm, light-filled air of Twilight Town and right over the wood. The sun filtering down from above hit his grinning face, the light dancing over his bright red hair and the orange of his surroundings.
And when he landed, all of it was gone.
Lea's sneakers splashed into shallow water over cobblestone, not dry sand as he had expected. A light drizzle had seemingly come out of nowhere and caused his hair to lose its spikes, making it lie flat against his neck and to fall over his eyes. Brushing his bangs aside, Lea looked around in silent confusion. The sun had vanished, the rain fell from an overcast sky. The sounds of chattering people and honking trams had gone with it, leaving him in complete silence except for the sound of the rain landing in the water that went up to his ankles.
"What the hell…?"
Lea's voice sounded muffled, far away, as if someone had stuffed cotton in his ears. That's how things sounded whenever he had taken a corridor of darkness as Axel, but this was definitely not a corridor of darkness. It did have another similarity to the dark realm, though: The colors were dulled. Even his own clothes were nowhere near as vibrant as before. Looking around, Lea took in his surroundings. Instead of orange, there was a lot of—again, dull—purple. The roofs of the buildings were purple. The star patterns on the cobblestones were purple. But there was a startling blue as well, standing out because it was the only thing in this world not dulled. Brightly colored blue flowers adorned every single windowsill around him, so bright in contrast to their surroundings that they practically glowed. And standing above it all was a clock tower, but not Twilight Town's familiar sight. This one was formed of too large towers with the gears and pendulum suspended between them. The catch? They were frozen, like time wasn't moving.
"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore…" Lea muttered. Something told him that he wouldn't find Roxas in this world—whatever this world was—either.
Then, something caught Lea's attention. Movement out of the corner of his eye, just barely in his vision. He spun around to see nothing there. Was he seeing things? Maybe his own shadow? Lea didn't think so. The pain in his head and growing ache in his heart told him otherwise.
Not to mention the footsteps behind him.
Once again Lea spun around, and once again he was too late to get a good look at whoever was there. But unlike last time he did get something of a glimpse, not that doing so did him any favors. Just before the stranger had vanished from sight, he noticed a color. Black. Not the black of shadows, but a leathery black, an all too familiar black. Organization XIII's coat. For a brief moment, Lea's surroundings were lit up brightly as fire swirled around his palms and his chakrams formed in his grasp, but soon enough the dimmed atmosphere enveloped him once again. Lea remained on the defensive, his hands twitching as he held his chakrams tightly, his eyes flicking back and forth in every direction.
Who could it be? Organization XIII was gone and most of the members were accounted for. Braig? Unlikely, Riku told them what happened to him after Kairi got her Keyblade, and someone surviving something so gruesome, even something like Braig, was impossible. Larxene was gone too; Sora, Donald, and Goofy had dealt with her true self on some world and been unable to save her. Demyx and Luxord were unlikely to ever pick up the coat again, knowing the issues they'd had with the Organization. That left Marluxia, who would certainly love to mess with Lea, but—
Movement. Footsteps splashing in the water, moving toward the staircase to his left. Lea turned on his hell and lit up his chakrams, face to face with the stranger in the hood, who stared at him with their face hidden in shadow and one hand on the staircase's rail. Suddenly he didn't feel so good. As quickly as they had come, his chakrams' flames vanished. The weapons followed soon after. Lea grasped at his head, suddenly hit with a searing migraine. As he grit his teeth and looked up through wet, hanging strands of long red hair, the figure was already running down the steps. But the way they moved, the slim shape of their body, that was clearly a female under that black coat and far too short to be Larxene. He wasn't dealing with Organization XIII. Which meant now he had to catch them even more than ever, to ask why they wore that coat.
"Wait!" The headache lessened, but it still lingered a bit behind his eyes. Lea didn't let that stop him. He took off after the strange girl in the black coat, moving down the stairs quickly but carefully, making sure not to let the water flowing down it slip him up. The girl had a lead on him though, and had already reached the bottom of the stairs and ran around a corner. Lea was close behind though, as soon as he was on level ground he could pick up the pace and—
C̛ͨͪ̂̋ͨ͏̛͕̭̱̞o̽̈́̈́̕͢҉͍u͈͇͚̝͎̽͝l̑̉͋ͨ̀̚҉̩̩̞d͔̓̓͗ͫ̒͡ ͖̱̦̰̲̖̬ͤ̇̓͌ͭ̾̈́̇͐͡i̺͇̱̫̮͚ͦ̅ͦ̊̍͌̈́͛̀̀̕ţ̷̲̗̙̯͖̮͚̒͛͢ ̅̾ͣͥ͂͑̎҉͇̲͖̜͔̩̭̗͜͢b͖̻̭̟̝̼̩̻̅̓̏̓̔̏̋͞e̲͈̳͕͌̓̾́.͖̜͕͕̞͙̖̅ͣ͟.̦̌̇ͪͪ̿̊͟.͗ͩ̆̏̋͗̌͢҉̫̲̲̠̯͘ ̼͙͍̰̺͉̱̪̙ͯͬ͘t͋ͯͫͦ҉̴̲̹̰͙h͇̟̬̓̓̀ͩͫ͗̔̆a̽ͯ̾͏̼̘͉t̨̝͚̰̍̂̀ͦ̅̔͟ ̶̴̌҉̭̩͉̹͔͍̩͙ŷ͙̜̯̺̞̭̥͌̌ͮͨ͘͝ở̸̧͉̭ͦͭ͒̿͗ủ̷͋̉͗ͦͩ̓҉͚̞̠ͅ'̾̓͂̽͏̢̖͓͓͓̩̱̹̘̞v̽̅ͮ͋̽҉̷̩͍͕̲̣̜̹ͅĕ͓̰͞ ̸̫̮̙̜̺͓̎́͒ͧͮͭ̈́̃́͟k̗͖̖͉͍̩̣ͮ̃͗̑̓n̡̪̣͔͙̺̞̽͗͊͂ͪ̚̚͞ǫ̝̝̱̣ͨ͆ͤ͑ͧ̽ͅw̰͈̙̗͓̰̦̬͖ͬ͊̆͡n̷̦̾ͮͥ̅ͭ͜ ̌ͧ͑ͨͮ̽̐ͦ҉̮̱͉̘ḁ̻̙ͪ̈ͥ͋͋͆̂b̢͈̟͆ͫ͂̓̐̚͟o͍̲̊̿ͯ̾ͫ̑ͬ͑͢ư̶̦̠̫̘̗̖͕̥̼ͥ̔̐ͣt̡̗̝̳͉͍̻̾̇̓͋̓ͧ̈ͅ ̡͚̹̠̱̰̤̥̹̐͛̿̋ͨ̑̐ͪ͞h̢̼̦͖̦ͮ̓̄̿̈͋̔ͫê̛͖̙͙̋̾̍̔̔͂͆r̴̛͚͐͗ ̶͔͉̝̱̣͍̌͋͑̓ͣf̵̨͚̯̫̟̲̪̤͕̝ͣͫͣ̚͢o̰͚͇̅̊̒̆ͯ͢͡r̴̢̳̠͙̭̆̉͛͜ ̸̢̝͔̦̘͓͛͂͂̉͟a̪̫̝̮͒ͣ ̛̹͉͖̗̩̬̖͕͐ͬ̓̇ͩ͆̅̆́͝l̢̤̲͖̩͔͐ͮ͞o̵̰̰̼͖̫͉̻ͪ͆̒̈̾ͥ́͂̚n̶̡͓̘̫̭͎̯͒̚͢ͅg̶̲͎͇͓͔̰̅̍͑͒͋ͯ͗͑ ̩̮̭̰͙̫̱͛͂̈̎̈́͡t̰̰̃̄͐ͯ̏̉͘i̢ͭ̓ͪ͏̵̣̼m̸̻̜ͣ̈͆̾͑̍̐͢e͓̫̭͎̩͚͗̊̈́͡͡,́̾͏̞͙̬ ̧̊͏̵̤̗͍a̧̫͚̜̬͖͐̆́̈́n̗̣̳̙̫͔͊̈́̓͞d̢̖̮͔͕̀̆͑ͬ́̏ͫ̅̚ ̙̣̲͈̙͔̱̬̯̔̾̾̃͜͞n̥̱̠͚̜̦̩͆̾̅̈ͬ̍ͣͨ͗͢ò͍̼͓͇͔͕̘̇͛̿͂̓̔̀t̴̹͔͖̂̔ͬ ̶̢̹̲̻͚͓̻͉̰ͦ͟ͅt̬̣͕̜͈ͬ̂̂ͣ͟͢o͓̹̩͙̯ͤͯ̿̈́̂ͩ̚̚͢ļ̵̫͍̤̻͑̏ͪ͛ͯ̕ḓ̤̪̠̱͚͖̿̏̏ͫͭ ̡͕̞̼̭̞͚̣̀ͤͨ̂ͯ͘mͭ̉͏̖͔̯e̵̗̥̣̮̜̺̳͐̔ͣͤͨ̑ͥ̄͜ ̐̑̒ͬ̿̇̈́̀̇͏̦a̠̞ͮ͢n̴̸̡̫̘̄̌ͮ͐̒̂̚ỷ͓͖͍͍̗ͮ͛͛͂͢t̴̨̨͇̩̦̓ͤͭ̐h͗͒̎ͭͥ̃́͏̤i̷̫̲ͪ̍͋̊̇͟n̸̷̯̘͍ͬͤͨͮ̓̚g̨̣̳̮̗͍̜̘̣̲̾̇ͤ͜͟?͙͈̓̆̽̀̚͠
"Who-o-oa!" Lea's heart caught on fire and his head felt like it was being crushed by a trash compactor. His legs gave out beneath him and he tumbled painfully the rest of the way down the stairs, earning a new bruise for each step he slammed into before landing face-down in the shallow water at the bottom, the rain pelting his back. Lea groaned and looked up from his fall though was yet to climb to his feet. Voices were running through his mind at a million miles a minute, and alongside them images too blurred and too fast to make out individually. A sunset, ice cream, Organization XIII…
Lea gasped and stood up, shaking his head to clear the images away. He didn't have time for this. He had no idea where he was, and his only lead was getting away. Hurrying, Lea darted down the road that the hooded girl had gone. He could ask questions about…whatever that was…later. After asking about why she had that coat and why he wasn't in Twilight Town anymore. As he moved down the street, she came into view. "Wait! I just want to talk!"
The girl looked back over her shoulder, and for a moment Lea could see beneath her hood. Silver hair? As quickly as she had glanced back at him, she turned her eyes ahead and moved into a new part of town. But Lea had seen it. He didn't know any girls with silver hair, but silver hair and an Organization XIII coat? That wasn't a good combination.
"I just want to talk! Wait!" Lea was growing irritated now. This girl, whoever she was, wasn't interested at all in waiting up for him. And the worst of it was, no matter how much faster he went he never seemed to catch up to her. In fact, was he moving faster? The distance between them was growing larger, but she hadn't sped up; if anything, Lea could almost swear he was going backwards. His limbs were heavy and sluggish, it was a struggle just to take a single step. "What is…going on…?"
They were on an elevated road overlooking a park now, with a lighthouse at the end of it. The water at their feet fell off the sides and into the sea below, but it never got any shallower with the constant rain keeping it in supply. The girl in the black coat had come to a stop at the base of the lighthouse, and Lea finally managed to catch up to her. As soon as he did, his wobbling legs threatened to collapse and he had to stand there with his hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"Finally…caught you… Who…" As he looked up at the girl, her face concealed in the shadow of her hood, the air in front of her seemed to ripple and distort. "What?"
The girl never said a word, but she took a step back with one hand pulling her hood further over her face and the other held in front of her nervously, as if defending herself from the distortion—or from Lea.
"What's—"
WHAM!
Something invisible slammed hard into Lea, sending him back with such force that he gained tunnel vision from the sheer speed. Everything went black for a few short moments. When Lea awoke, he awoke to the low grinding of gears and flow of water.
His body ached too much to move, but on his back Lea knew he wasn't outside anymore, though the dulled colors told him he was still in that strange world. He was underground, in a waterway by the looks of things. Large gears moved in the back, water poured down from holes in the dark walls and pooled beneath the walkway he lay on, flowing down to who-knows-where. And Lea wasn't alone.
"How did you get here?"
Lea turned his head straight up, where he saw the figure in the black coat looming over him. No…this wasn't the same girl from before. That was a male's voice, and not one he recognized. There were two strangers in black coats in this world of darkness.
"Who are you?" Lea croaked out in a hoarse voice. "Where is 'here'?"
The hooded boy stared at Lea for a prolonged moment before his shoulders slumped ever so slightly, as if he had sighed though Lea hadn't heard anything. He crouched down and leaned over Lea, peering at him with the hood preventing Lea from returning the favor. "The Nightmare says that everyone comes here for a reason, and yet I cannot fathom a reason for you, of all people, to appear here."
Well, this kid sure was fitting that coat's 'helplessly cryptic' requirement. "Join the club."
"It doesn't matter. By choice or chance, you cannot control what you are not aware of." The boy held his hand out over Lea's face. Lea let out a low groan and, against his wishes, his eyelids began to droop. Damn it, what was this? Was the kid casting a sleep spell? "Your friend is in good hands. Good night."
x-x-x
Once again Lea's eyes opened slowly, though at least the pain was gone this time. He met darkness this time too, but a more familiar darkness. His bedroom in his apartment, back at Radiant Garden. In bed. Lea groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. He had a hell of a headache. Through the slightly-opened blinds of his window he could see a black but cloudless sky. A soft blue-green glow from the clock beside him cast shadows across the sparse bedroom, the numbers showing that it was two in the morning. Two in the morning and he didn't expect he'd be falling back asleep any time soon. Lea sat up in bed with his arm resting on a propped up knee and his forehead resting in his head.
"Another dream about 'em…" Just a dream. Roxas was gone, and so was… Was…
The poles were not like his chakrams. As Lea attempted to spin them around his fingers, he remembered that too late. They went flying from his hands, up into the air. Having not expected to lose them, Lea didn't prepare to catch them. The burning wood crashed onto him and went out, but not before sending some of the flames onto his clothing.
"Ah! Hot, hot!" Lea slapped his hands on his burning jacket, then tore it off and stomped it on the ground.
"Lea!" X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ jumped up to h̸̘̲̜̰̹͔̹̒ͥͯ̄̀̚e̡̪̘̰̮͉̎͋̾̆ͬṛ̥̓̅͂͋̄͂̓̌͘ feet and ran over even as Stitch cackled wildly and clapped his hands even more.
"I'm fine," he assured h̸̘̲̜̰̹͔̹̒ͥͯ̄̀̚e̡̪̘̰̮͉̎͋̾̆ͬṛ̥̓̅͂͋̄͂̓̌͘, taking in a deep breath. "I really loved this jacket, though." Lea groaned and leaned down to pick it up. It wasn't beyond repair; thankfully he had put the flames out in time. It was crumpled and stained, though. Nothing a quick wash couldn't fix.
"Here, let me help with that." Nani stood up from her spot on the stairs and motioned for Lea to follow her. "We can clean that inside."
Lea looked down at his jacket then shrugged. "Sure, thanks." He followed Nani up the stairs, toward the house, and ruffled X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ 's hair while he walked past h̸̘̲̜̰̹͔̹̒ͥͯ̄̀̚e̡̪̘̰̮͉̎͋̾̆ͬṛ̥̓̅͂͋̄͂̓̌͘. "Don't get into any trouble without me, alright?"
"I've got it memorized."
"Ha! Sure."
"Damn it…" Lea grasped his head as memories flooded him. He knew they were memories, and yet they were wrong. This wasn't how he remembered this going down. Sora had been there, but… Well, had he? Lea's mental image was warping, flickering, like static interfering on a television screen. Someone else was superimposed on Sora's image in that memory of Traverse Town, and sometimes Sora was superimposed on theirs.
"So, Lea." Nani's voice caught Lea by surprise, and he turned to see her walking out of the laundry room. "We've met before, but I don't think we've ever really been introduced. Is X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ your little s̴̰̪̏ͫ͋̄̿͆͊͟͢i̢̮̪͂͆̉͋̐ͨ͌͝ș̸̵̳̩͙̯̙́̿̂ͭ̏̓ţ̸͓̖̝͓͎̬ͩͪ͌͝ͅe̟̭̣̳̜̹͍̊̾͛ͨ̂ͥ͠ȑ̠̭̪̋ͬ̓͜?"
Lea choked. He was sure his reaction to those words would have been hilarious if he had seen them from the outside, feeling his face heat up and his eyes bug out, but from his perspective he was absolutely dumbfounded. "W-What?" he managed to get out through soft laughter. "No, no. We're just friends; really close friends, but just friends."
"Oh." Nani almost sounded disappointed. "It's just been so hard raising Lilo without our parents, I was hoping there'd be someone to talk to about it."
Lea frowned and rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the ground. "Well, I mean, I guess technically I did raise X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ and Roxas, but…" Nani didn't seem to hear his mumblings, and he wasn't sure if he was glad of that or not. His frown deepened, his brow furrowed, and his eyes narrowed. They weren't blood related, but could it be said that he was like the big brother to X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ and Roxas after all? It was a bizarre thought, to say the least, and he didn't think he liked it. But still…
Lea turned his head up and looked out the window, watching X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ play in the courtyard down the steps.Ŝ̉҉͏̠̝̫̜ẖ̸͕̐̿ͭͩ̋͡e̶̷̡̖̙̙̮̙̗ͭ̒̌̏ chased Stitch and that dog around in circles, dodging their tackles and laughing all the time. He felt a warmth in his chest, one that as Axel only two people in all the worlds had ever been able to make him feel. As X͔͎͍͚͔̣̹͑͊ͬ̒̊̓̈́̃͂́̀͡i͓̞͙̜̲̟̭ͪͣͬ͂͢ő̠̻̫͚̮͙̯̣ͮͭ̃́͝͡nͣ͛ͧ͜͢҉̘̳͙̠̮͚ fell to the ground laughing and pushed the dog off of h̸̘̲̜̰̹͔̹̒ͥͯ̄̀̚e̡̪̘̰̮͉̎͋̾̆ͬṛ̥̓̅͂͋̄͂̓̌͘ before he could lick h̸̘̲̜̰̹͔̹̒ͥͯ̄̀̚e̡̪̘̰̮͉̎͋̾̆ͬṛ̥̓̅͂͋̄͂̓̌͘ face raw, Lea wondered if maybe the idea wasn't so far-fetched after all.
"DAMN IT!" Lea shouted, swinging his arm to the side and knocking his clock down the floor with a crash. The only light keeping his bedroom illuminated went out. The dream triggered these broken memories. The truth was trying to come out from the depths of his heart. It wasn't just a dream, Lea knew that for sure. In his line of work, there was no such thing as 'just a dream'. If he hadn't already been sure that he had lost someone, that there was someone missing from this picture who should be there, then his encounter with those hooded figures in that world of darkness cemented it.
But who was it?
"Your friend is in good hands. Good night."
Whoever it was, did the people in the hoods have them? Were they the ones who made him forget? Lea's hands grasped at his sheets. "If Organization XIII is back again…"
Knock, knock, knock.
Lea looked up. Someone was knocking on his door; not his bedroom door, the front door to his apartment. Lea groaned as he got up out of bed and dealt with a sudden headrush, stumbling slightly from the vertigo. After shaking it off he knelt down and picked up a discarded shirt from the other day, threw it on, and moved into his kitchen to open the door.
Standing in the apartment complex's illuminated hallway, one fist raised and ready to knock again, was a woman in red hair done up in a hasty ponytail. Lea squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. "Cissnei?"
"Hey." Cissnei unfurled her fingers into a wave, then lowered her hand and moved her arms behind her back.
Lea rubbed his eyes. "Uh, hey back at you, but it's two in the morning. What's with the house call? Did something happen?" He glanced at her attire: a simple white shirt and black pajama pants. "You're not exactly dressed for work."
"Yeah, uh, well…" Cissnei tapped the toes of her left foot against the floor and glanced to the side as a thoughtful looked passed over her face. Lea glanced down at the sound. She had slid on some sandals before coming over. All in all, the look was a pretty bizarre deviation from the Cissnei he was used to seeing. If he didn't know her face, he wouldn't have even been sure it was his next-door neighbor he was talking to.
"Anyway," Cissnei said, snapping Lea out of his thoughts, "These hastily built apartments don't exactly have the thickest walls. I heard something crash and then you shouting. You okay?"
Lea hesitated for a moment. How much did Cissnei know? And furthermore, why was he asking that first question? Cissnei was a friend, right? At the very least a comrade. He let out a sigh and his shoulders drooped. "I'm not," he admitted softly.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"…Sure. Come on in though, we don't wanna wake anyone else up chatting out here." He stepped aside, holding the door open and flipping the light on. Once Cissnei came inside the two of them sat down at Lea's kitchen table. Well, Cissnei did. Lea moved over to the counter and started brewing some coffee. "We're up anyway."
Cissnei watched him from the table. "Bad dream tonight, then?"
Lea waited until he poured the coffee into cups before answering. His mind was still on his broken memories. "You don't know the half of it."
"Fill me in."
Lea sighed and sat down. "I'm not sure how much you've been keeping tabs on me, but lately I've been feeling like something—someone—is missing. Someone who should be part of our lives but isn't."
Cissnei nodded. "Sora's mentioned it."
Lea let out a short, humorless chuckle. That kid could not keep a secret. "Well, Sora thinks so too, he shared that with me while we were inside Pooh's book. Says he's having dreams, dreams that start in Twilight Town but go…somewhere else." He stared down into his coffee, the images of that unfamiliar, sleeping world replaying over and over again in his mind. He could almost feel the rain still pelting his body.
"And that's what you dreamt about tonight?" Cissnei asked while taking a sip from the cup Lea had provided her.
"Right. And in that strange city, a city where it was like time itself was asleep, there was another similarity to Sora's dreams. He described it like someone always just out of reach, constantly staying out of sight. Someone who leaves you with a big hole in your heart." His fingers tightened around his own cup. "But I saw them. I saw the person just out of sight."
"Who was it?"
"I don't know." Another dry laugh. "Isn't that just perfect? I see someone who tries to avoid being spotted, and I can't even tell who it is." Lea stared out the window into Radiant Garden under the calming blanket of midnight. He watched the stars twinkle. "…They were wearing black coats."
Cissnei's eyes widened and she choked on her coffee, almost spitting it up though catching herself before it came to that. "B-Black coats?! You mean—"
Lea nodded. "Like Organization XIII's coats, yeah. I saw two people dressed in the Organization's uniform in that dark city: one male, one female. I'd say probably teenagers, based on the size. The girl didn't say a word, the boy asked what I was doing there. How I found that place, wherever it was."
Coffee was long forgotten now. "Do you think they're really Organization, or wearing the coats for some other reason?" Cissnei asked.
"No clue."
Cissnei sighed. "Just in case, we need to tell people to be on guard. Leon. Especially Sora."
"No."
Lea could feel Cissnei staring at him in a silent mix of surprise and confusion, though he didn't return the favor. He rested his hand against his forehead and let out a breath. "No. We don't want to worry anyone."
"Lea, this is kind of a big deal. If Organization XIII is back—"
"We don't know that." Leon squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "We don't know that for sure. And until we do, I'm looking into this alone. To learn more about them."
Cissnei stood up and slammed her hands down on the table. "Why do you think you can just run off and handle this on your own?!"
"Because it's my problem!" Lea shouted back at her. "I'm the only accounted-for member of the Organization who cares enough to repent for what happened. I can't allow another Organization to take the old one's place!"
"Bullcrap, Lea! This has nothing to do with that and you know it!"
Lea jumped to his feet. "Where do you get off claiming to know what I think?!"
"That's my job, Lea! You start this conversation talking about this friend you can't remember, and then you start rambling about Organization XIII and expect me to think repenting is the real reason you're going after them? You don't need to repent for anything!"
Lea grew quiet. He stared down at his feet and then turned to the side, his arms crossed. His gaze never lifted up. "The boy said something, just before I woke up. 'Your friend is in good hands.'"
"He has them?"
"Unless he's bluffing, but I don't think he is. So I have to find…her." Despite himself, Lea smiled. Her. He knew for sure, his missing friend was a girl.
"If you're not looking too into a dream, anyway."
"You really think that?"
Cissnei smiled. "Of course not. There's no such thing as 'just a dream' in our line of work." For the first time that night, Lea let out real laughter. Great minds think alike. Cissnei kept her gaze on him for a few more moments before adding, "I'm coming with you."
Lea turned to her. "What? Why? I'm leaving to find my friend, not to find yours."
"Digging for information is part of my job. You'll want me if you're going to look for anything." Then she crossed her arms. "But really, you think a friend of yours isn't a friend of mine?"
Lea let his arms drop. "Alright then. The two of us off adventuring across worlds to find a missing friend. I don't have a Keyblade, but I think we can manage."
"Yeah, about that. How do you even plan on getting off-world?"
Lea grinned.
x-x-x
One hour and fresh sets of clothes later, Cissnei and Lea approached Radiant Garden's Gummi hangar under the cover of night. They weren't exactly sneaking, but they didn't especially want to be seen either. Not because they weren't allowed there, but because they didn't want to get yelled at by Cid for what they were about to do. He was very protective of his Gummi ships.
Cissnei slid her Restoration Committee membership card into the lock and the door into the hangar opened for the two of them. As they made their way to the nearest ship, Lea caught sight of a red and yellow one resting in the hangar. The Highwind. Sora and Kairi hadn't gone back to the Destiny Islands yet, huh?
Click.
The lights of the hangar turned on and for a brief moment Lea was ready to run for his life from an angry Cid. But it wasn't a swear-happy mechanic standing in the open doorway behind him, it was a spiky-haired teen instead.
"Sora? What are you doing here?" Cissnei asked.
"I could ask you two the same question. I was just following you." Sora yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. "I was getting a drink of water when I saw you guys run by Merlin's house through the window. What's going on, you going somewhere?"
Lea and Cissnei glanced at each other, then Lea relented. "We're going to go find her—the girl we were talking about, the one we both know is missing."
Sora's face brightened. "I knew she was a girl," he said to himself. Then he laughed and said more loudly, "Or well, I 'felt' it, I guess."
"You wanna come with?" Lea asked.
Sora looked conflicted. He took in a breath through his teeth then let it out and, dejectedly, shook his head. "I want to, of course. But I can't. There's still a lot going on back home, and the school year is almost over but we're not there yet. I can't just take off without warning for the third time in a row."
"Yeah, I hear ya. Understandable."
Sora looked around at the docked ships while he asked his next question. "So where are you going first? Do you have any leads?"
"None." And damn if that wasn't hard to admit. "But I'm going to try Castle Oblivion first; its memory rooms might work, or maybe Vexen's journals. He was all about keeping records, and if he ever met this girl even once then he has info on her somewhere. And…" He trailed off and glanced beside him, at Cissnei. "Actually, Cissnei, you're part of the reason we're going there first, too."
Cissnei looked over at him in surprise. "Wait, me?"
"Yeah. See, that talk we had about the Replica Program has been bugging me." Lea scratched the side of his head and thought back to the Riku Replica. "While we're digging through Vexen's notes for our missing friend, we can probably find info on that. You think Vexen based the replicas off of Garland, right?"
"Well, that's the theory. As Even he did take notes about homunculi."
"Homu-what?" Sora asked.
Cissnei chuckled. "Artificial humans, like Garland."
"Well, there you go!" Lea clapped his hands together. "We'll hit two birds with one stone, find whatever we can about whatever we find!"
"Brilliant wording," Cissnei said.
"If that doesn't work, I do have a suggestion." Lea and Cissnei turned to Sora, who folded his arms behind his head. "After you're done in Castle Oblivion, stop by a world called Shibuya and look for a friend of mine there named Joshua. He's all about bringing back people and things who are gone."
"What do you mean by that?"
Sora turned around with a knowing smile. "Oh, you'll see." He paused, then turned once more to the Gummi ships. "Cid will be mad if one of these goes missing you know. So…" He dug into his pockets and pulled something blue out. "Here."
Lea caught the object as Sora tossed it to him. It was shaped like a star, but with one of the points replaced by a green shape resembling a lightning bolt. "This is…"
"A Star Shard. Like the one King Mickey gave you when you went to Castle Oblivion to find Ven. Right?" Lea looked up at Sora, who had a sad smile on his face. He rubbed his arm and stared down at his feet. "The truth is, I found it in my house, in an empty bedroom. Just sitting on the floor."
Lea stared at the object in his hands. It suddenly felt heavy, like it was more important than just transport.
"Where did it come from?" Cissnei asked.
Sora only shrugged in answer. He walked over and put his hand over the Star Shard that rested in Lea's open palm. "Just looking at it makes me feel sad. You can have it, Lea. Find her for us."
When Sora stepped back, Lea curled his fingers around the Star Shard. "I will, Sora. I'll find her and bring her home safe. Get it memorized."