"Sincerely, Nobody," by ladydemelza

Chapter 9

A young girl, looking to be about 18, rushed down the marble hallway, flat soles of her shoes slapping against the floor as her dress rustled along, skimming the ground. Her dark brown eyes flashed from wall to wall as she blew past members of her household, who all cast her immediate looks of disapproval. She brushed a strand of long, black hair from her face, and continued on. The room she was heading to was a few more doors down, if she could just…

At last, she spotted the door she had been searching for, and pushed it open roughly. Out of breath, she slipped into the room and slammed the door behind her. Panting, she collapsed against it, readjusting her crown after noticing that it had gone terribly astray.

"You're late," teased Naminé.

"I know, I'm sorry," the black haired girl whined. "The council kept me for so long, I couldn't help it."

"We forgive you," said Aeris. She had long, brown hair that was tied back into a perfect ponytail. She was beautiful, with a thin face and shimmering, warm eyes.

"So Nami, what did you want to talk to us about?"

Naminé looked slightly downcast. The corners of her soft, pink mouth curved downward.

"Roxas, your majesty," she said softly. "He…"

"Naminé," the Queen said softly, springing to action and enveloping her friend in a bone-crushing hug. "He's going to be okay, right?"

"Right," Naminé murmured, obviously still very worried.

"You're all so tired," the Queen commented, at last releasing her vice-like grip on Naminé.

"We've all tried to do what we can," Aeris sighed. "It's just not working. I don't know how they could have that many people with them, but it seems that driving them out is much harder than we thought it was going to be."

"No," the Queen said, massaging her temples and squeezing her eyes shut. Long black eyelashes almost touched her soft cheekbones. "I knew they'd be a force to be reckoned with. If they could break the enchantments I had set up, they had to be strong. I agree, though, their numbers are startling."

"What does the council propose you do with us?" Naminé asked quietly.

"They haven't proposed a thing," said the Queen. "I don't know how they can expect you to keep doing this, especially when they won't let me help."

"We've done all we can," Naminé said. "Roxas nearly died. Kairi got a bad injury off of Hiro the other day, just before he died. Riku is completely burned out, and won't talk to anyone anymore. I…I'm destroying myself…"

"I know," the Queen said softly, tears glistening in her eyes. If anyone knew what it felt like to use the kind of magic Naminé did, it was the Queen. "Something must be done."

"Send them away," Aeris suggested. "We'll watch the castle. You leave, as well. Just for awhile."

"What good would my leaving do?" the Queen asked. "My place is here, with my people…"

"You won't be here if you're dead, either," Aeris pointed out. "We'll send you all away together."

It sounded impossible, but both the Queen and Naminé truly thought about it for a moment.

"They need to take our magic to survive. What happens when they run out of the magic they have now?" Naminé said, thinking aloud.

Aeris bit her lip. "We've been wrong about them before, but…maybe they would be weakened."

The Queen tore the crown from her head, ruffling her black hair, and placed it on her large wooden desk. With a sigh, she said, "So you're telling me that you want me to leave for awhile. To weaken them."

"When their ranks are weakened, we could win," Aeris pointed out.

The Queen's lips were pressed tightly together. "We don't know how long it would take them to weaken, or what they would do if they knew we were gone, or even if they would weaken at all. Leaving is too big of a risk."

"Aeris might be right," Naminé said, feeling desperation in the pit of her stomach that made her feel weak. She hated it. "If we can figure out a way to weaken them, even if it means leaving for awhile, it might be the best way to win."

"We can't just leave," the Queen said. "And besides, even if we could leave for our own safety and bide our time, there are no spells that can do that."

"Theoretically," Naminé said. "No spell like that actually exists. We'd have to create one."

Senses heightened by the new magic moving its way through her body, Naminé could almost hear Hana and Tomoko's heart rates increasing. Hana reached over and grabbed Tomoko's arm, hoping she could pass the non-verbal message that they should make a break for it while they still could.

Naminé gathered intense white magic nonchalantly in the palm of her hand. She thrust her palm forward towards them, releasing the magic like a missile.

"NO!" Korin screamed, popping up from nowhere in the middle of the room and blocking the spell.

Naminé cursed, eyes intensifying as she prepared to launch another attack.

"Hana, Tomoko, go!" Korin muttered to them urgently. "I'll be out in a minute."

"But—" Hana stammered.

"Go," Korin repeated.

With a snap of their fingers, Hana and Tomoko vanished.

Naminé glared at Korin, the red in her eyes becoming more pronounced.

"I remember," Korin began, moving closer to Naminé, "the last time I stared into your eyes when they were this color, I was terrified."

"You still are," Naminé responded coolly.

"I'm not even one tiny bit afraid of you anymore," Korin said. "You're weak. You ran away. I expected better from you."

Naminé felt a lurch of guilt. Combined with the weight of everything she remembered, it was almost unbearable, but she steeled herself to it. "We had to leave. But they'll come back for me, all of them will. We'll return to full strength. You're forgetting that I remember everything."

"And I remember everything about the way you work," Korin said. "You send that spell at me and it'll fly right back at you and knock your own head off."

"We'll see about that," Naminé said in a low voice.

Sora, who had been alone in his basement for what felt like hours, was abruptly joined by Roxas, who was next to be dumped by Aeris into the basement.

"You too, huh?" he said.

"Yeah," Roxas replied. "This is so weird to think about… I remember everything about you, and you don't remember anything about you."

"Enlighten me," Sora suggested. If it weren't for Roxas, Sora doubted he'd believe what Leon told them, but Roxas clearly remembered their old lives, so it all had to be true. He trusted Roxas implicitly and nothing would ever change that. Curiosity was getting the better of him, and he felt a pang of jealously that Roxas had managed to break his own spell but he had not yet.

"Well," Roxas began, "you were just as stubborn, and just as smart as you are now. You always liked Kairi, which is another thing that's the same." Roxas glanced at Sora, and saw that he had his eyes clamped tightly shut, trying with all his might to remember his past.

"Keep going," he insisted. "Did I kill anybody?"

Roxas frowned. "Of course. We all did, you dork. I could tell you that without knowing that you did."

"Cool…I mean, wow, that's awful," he said. Clearly the teenager in him was winning out over the seasoned warrior. "Could I do magic, like Naminé could?"

Roxas chuckled. "No, you were miserable at it. You begged Riku to teach you how to heal yourself, but he wouldn't, and you were angry. Naminé showed you, but it took you forever just to learn that."

"I eventually got better, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Roxas said in surprise. "How'd you…?"

"I don't know," Sora shrugged. "Keep going, though, I think this is helping."

"Your room was always a mess," Roxas said reminiscently. "It drove Kairi insane, because we would always make her wake you up. You always slept later than everyone else."

"Did she ever at any point wake me with a water spell?" Sora asked.

"Yeah!" Roxas answered. "Oh, that was hilarious…you looked like a drowned rat! This must be working."

"Yeah, but I haven't gotten that weird sick thing yet like you had…"

"I think I remember the first time you ever did a healing spell properly," Roas said. "I think it was when you were fighting with Kairi against Hiro, Korin's brother. She was badly injured, and you rushed to help her."

Sora's tremors began in his hands, and quickly took over the rest of his body. The shaking grew so violent that Roxas sprung up from the couch and stood over where Sora was seated, trying to calm him down. His face grew ghostly white, and his eyes lost their lively glimmer. His breathing sounded heavy and labored as he grabbed his knees and drew them to his chest like a frightened child.

Just as quickly as the near seizure had come, it departed, but left a green tinge to the skin on Sora's face. "Thanks," he breathed as the shaking began to subside. "This sucks, but is so cool… I can remember."

Riku was plopped down on the ground in front of them next, landing with a grunt. "Geez, shouldn't she have better aim?" he grumbled, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Sora remembers," Roxas said, Sora preoccupied with examining his thoughts and fresh memories.

"Lucky him," Riku sighed. "This is just completely unnerving. Frustrating."

"Yeah, it sucks too, though," Sora told him. "The things we did are hard to deal with…"

Roxas couldn't disagree with that. Something about living as a normal human for so long had made so much of the violence and fighting seem even more brutal and unnecessary that he had thought in his previous life.

A few minutes later, a disoriented Kairi was plopped on the couch next to Sora, and Yuri reappeared almost immediately after. Leon and Aeris popped up again, much to everyone's relief.

"Well. I'm going to say one last thing," Leon began seriously. "If you guys come, there could be no turning back. We need all of you, but this is going to be dangerous."

"The worst part will be re-entering the world," Aeris continued for him. "They keep tabs on everyone entering and leaving. We were able to slip out easily, due to our magical properties…but for those of you who don't remember everything about who you were, you will be immediately detected."

"As such, it's important you listen to both of us," Leon finished grimly. "We can't have anything happen to you before you know how to defend yourself. Obey all orders, and nobody gets hurt. Stray from us, and you may die. You can't count on that they'll want to capture you and keep you alive."

Aeris's eyes showed the sadness in her heart. "You're all important to our future. We need you. We can't do this alone. I know this is scary, but… are we ready?"

Kairi grabbed at Sora's arm. He murmured words of comfort while Riku grabbed on to Yuri's arm tightly. Roxas caught Leon's eye and briefly nodded, giving them the green light to catapult them into the mysterious world of Hollow Bastion.

They gathered around Sora's pool table and Aeris took a deep breath, her eyes acquiring an oddly blank look. She touched the felt of the pool table's surface gently and a nefarious wind picked up, filling the room like a tornado and sending Kairi's auburn hair whipping into Sora's face. Kairi grabbed on tighter to Sora, and Yuri buried her face into Riku's shoulder as his silvery hair danced wildly, tangling with Yuri's glossy black hair. Roxas squeezed his eyes shut, and felt a strong jerk that lifted his feet from the sturdy floor of Sora's basement. Too queasy to open his eyes, he felt everything evaporating around him.

"Go, go, move," Leon was mumbling angrily, dragging Roxas along.

"Huh?" Roxas grunted.

"Get up, Roxas, come on!"

The light pierced his freshly opened eyes, immediately triggering his tear ducts. He cursed, and pulled himself up off of the dusty gravel path that Leon had been dragging him down. He could see Aeris and Sora supporting Kairi, and Riku carrying Yuri over his shoulder up ahead. "Let's move," Leon urged him harshly. He bounded up the path towards the others, gunblade drawn.

Roxas, still drowsy, stumbled after him. "Leon? Where are we going?"

"I can sense Naminé," he explained hurriedly. "She's nearby, we've got to get to her before she…" He broke off, shaking his head absently. "No, she wouldn't. Let's go, though, pick up the pace!"

They had caught up to the others, and Aeris shifted the half-awake Kairi completely to Sora's arms before taking off after Leon, who hadn't halted his steady sprint. Sora mimicked Riku; slinging Kairi gently over his shoulder, he dashed as quickly as he could manage in Leon and Aeris's footsteps. Riku, brow furrowed with worry, followed suit, and picked up his pace significantly. With a clear picture of Naminé bursting into his head, Roxas darted after them, feet carrying him past Riku and Sora and to Leon's side.

Leon and Aeris suddenly came to startling halt, and Roxas was shocked to find that he wasn't even out of breath.

"It's through this ditch," Leon whispered. "But there are members of the Magicite nearby. This is so dangerous, Aeris…"

"Yes," she said, looking concerned. "We must get Naminé. Leave Roxas and Sora with swords to guard the others, and you and I will take care of the Magicite."

Leon eyed her critically for a moment, and then stiffly nodded. They crept as quietly as they could through the ditch; Aeris was the only one who could move completely silently. Roxas began to sense that the ditch was about to end—and he was surprised to find that his inkling had been correct. Aeris pulled two ordinary swords from seemingly nowhere.

"Roxas, Sora, here," she said, handing each of them one. "Protect the others, please. We'll find you your keyblades as soon as we've got Naminé. Stay hidden, don't move if you can help it."

Kairi was fully alert now and crouched on the ground next to Sora, who had a protective arm over her shoulder. Yuri was awake enough to lean against Riku as they sat on the ground. Neither dared to make a sound or ask questions.

Leon and Aeris were quietly formulating a plan of attack. Roxas peered through the bushes, and saw two female members of the Magicite standing nervously. His memory was immediately triggered, and he realized he recognized both of them—Korin's lackeys, Hana and Tomoko.

"Korin," he mumbled, angrily. "Riku, have a look…"

Riku raised his arm and pushed the leaves aside as minimally as he could. "Hana!" he gasped, suddenly being launched into violent twitches and shakes.

Roxas, Sora, and Kairi all rushed to Riku's side, attempting to hold him still to cease the noise of the dead, crackling leaves he was stirring up. Nothing they did seemed to have any effect. Hana and Tomoko were instantly alert and aware of the intruders. Leon swore under his breath and leapt out of the ditch with Aeris at his heels.

Riku was still seemingly seizing on the ground, eyes clamped tightly shut and mouth a thin, sealed line. All at once, it seemed to stop, and Riku sat up woozily. "You're right," he immediately said to Sora, face quickly regaining its former color. "It does suck."

"Hana triggered your memory," Roxas said accusingly.

"About that," Riku sighed. "We'll talk later."

Quicker than lightning, he grabbed a sword from the ground next to Sora, and bolted after Leon and Aeris.

Thank you for reading!

Love,

ladydemelza