Disappear, Disappear...
Throughout my childhood, no matter where I looked, I was always alone. I never really thought anything of it. I thought it was natural to spend hours upon hours alone with only your thoughts as company. I think it was during these moments that I tapped into my artistic instinct. To try and put some color into a very dull world. It wasn't until I lost the moments of peace that I realized that they are a necessary part of an artist's life. It has always been the fate of an artist to be alone. How else are they supposed to delve into their souls and channel their twisted emotions through their veins to create such heartbreaking masterpiece's?
In a daze, I picked a light gray pencil from the pile of color on the floor beside me. It has been two days since Riku and Sora went to sleep. Glancing up from my work, I checked to be sure that they were still breathing. Yesterday, Riku had stopped breathing and it scared the hell out of us. Thank God my mom signed me up for those CPR classes last year.
No normal person slept this long without being in a coma. Yen Sid told us that they would awaken when they were ready, but when would that be?
Kaity, Roxas, and I have taken it upon ourselves to guard them. More and more heartless have been appearing in the tower and it would suck if one of them attacked Riku or Sora. At the moment, I was the one playing baby sitter.
I blew some hairs out of my face and continued my picture. At the moment, it was a line art of the boy that helped me in Castle Oblivion. I recognized him from somewhere, but I just couldn't place him. Already today, I'd drawn mine and Kaity's necklace's, my new one, Dierdra and the boy from the train, among many other things. Including the brief visions I received from Namine.
"Hey, am I interrupting?"
I looked up and saw Kaity sliding into the room. "Not at all." I said, returning to my drawing.
She shut the door and checked on the guys. "You know, if I didn't know that they were under some sleep spell/test thing, I'd say that they were in a coma."
One side of my mouth quirked up. It was scary how alike we thought. "Comatose people don't talk in their sleep." I muttered as I shaded the boys clothes.
"They spoke?" She said taken aback.
"Riku did, and it was actually more like a mutter." I said, looking up at her. "Couldn't hear anything that made sense."
She gave the guys one more look over before turning around and skipping to sit next to me. "So what are you drawing?" She asked childishly as she stuck her nose into my sketchbook. I swear, she's just like my younger sister. "Is that the kid from Castle Oblivion?"
"Yup," I sighed, pushing her head out of the way. I switched my gray pencil for a beige one. "I recognize him from somewhere... I just can't remember where."
She hummed and I saw her eyes drift to my new half-heart charm necklace. "You weren't in your bed when I woke up this morning," she stated slyly.
Of course she would only assume the worst of me. "I had another nightmare. Woke me up." I mumbled, picking up a black pencil. "I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went to keep Roxas company in here and start my shift early."
"Uh huh, sure," she said skeptical. "Well, I'm not starting my shift early." Of course not.
This whole time - and for the last few hours - a swirl of emotions had been building in me. I tried to act casual and keep drawing, but I had to tell her. "Kaity..." I said, letting my hand stop. I stared at my drawing, afraid to look at anything else. "I think I like him." I said softly. "I mean, like-like him."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." She scoffed sarcastically.
I put my pencil back into the pile next to me. "I'm serious Kai, this is not a good thing. We shouldn't start things like this. It's not our universe!" My fingers crept up to my necklace, like they always do when I'm thinking or really nervous. "How could I have let myself do this?"
"Sam...," Kaity said hesitant. She laid a hand on my shoulder, "It just happens sometimes."
"But I could have stopped it!" I seethed, tossing aside my sketchbook and getting to my feet. "I was fighting it from the very beginning, but then I couldn't anymore... I..." I took a frustrated breath, pacing to the window. "We're leaving we'll never see them again," I stated quietly. "It's like I'm just setting myself up for a heartbreak." Sometimes, I'm just completely foolish.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kaity rise and move to the side of Sora's bed. I watched as she hesitantly brushed aside a few strands that had fallen into his eyes. "You're not the only one doomed to heartbreak." She sighed after a moment.
I turned around, my anger softening. 'A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees,' I thought. And we have both missed this particular tree. "The cruise ship is going to run out of chocolate, isn't it?" I smiled sadly.
"You bet it is," She sighed. Shaking away whatever she was feeling, she wiped her eyes and went back to where she was sitting and grabbed a book that was lying on the floor. "I came to see you for a reason. Here," she held out the book to me. "I was looking through the library and found this."
"What is it?" I asked, taking the leather bound book. The animal hide felt worn and weathered beneath my fingers. There was no title anywhere on the cover. Strange.
"It's a hand written journal describing the rise and fall of a nameless world," She explained. "I say nameless because it looks like someone had gone through and erased the name from the text. Other than that, it talks about the heart of all worlds and about a hidden light that's supposed to be brighter than the sun. Its written in old English. Lots of metaphors and stuff. Very cryptic."
"Which is why you brought it to me," I stated, flipping open the cover.
"Who better to figure out what it says than the queen of ancient literature herself?" She joked.
I hummed and flipped through the pages, scanning them.
From what I was reading I knew that the author was a scribe for the royal court. He described the kingdom that he lived in as bright, colorful, and the heart of all hearts that served as the light of any and all lights that shone in the darkest of nights. The scribe talked about the duty of the court and the royal family. Their responsibility to protect all other worlds.
The writing began to get really jumbled and cryptic when I flipped deeper into the book. Something was happening and darkness had begun to spread to the hearts of the Guardians and to the other worlds. He writes about the horror of the darkness taking the kingdom and about his escape with the only member of the royal family left, a young princess.
"...and her heart will be the last remaining light of the kingdom. The amulet upon her breast will be her protector, shielding the bright morning sun beneath an eclipsing moon. The kingdom is vanquished, forever lost within the starless night of the darkness."
The entry ended there, I flipped to the next page, but it was blank. When I reached the final few pages of the book, I found an entry. The last one. The writing was written as if the author were in a hurry or excited. I scanned the page and saw a word I wasn't prepared to see.
...Earth...
I went back to the beginning of the entry, but I never got a chance to read it. Yelping in surprise, I dropped the book as flame engulfed it and burned my fingers. Kaity backed up and tripped into the wall. I backed away, watching the book burn. "What the-"
My sentence ended in a cry as a sharp pain shot threw my head. My hands pressed against my temples. A malicious chuckle echoed in my ears as the pain began to subside. Gritting my teeth, I lowered my hands and stomped out the flames.
I'm going to murder him! Every time I almost discover something useful, he goes and destroys it!
"Divan!" I screamed at the air above me. "You dirty, rotten little-AH!" I yelled in frustration. No words could give justice to the rage that churned inside me toward that rat. Angry tears stung my eyes. I was going to have a tantrum.
"That was Divan?" Kaity blanched. "How in the hell did he do that? He's not even here!"
Furious, I kicked the ashes and sent them spiraling through the air. I swear, when I see him again, I'm going to kill him. Or just beat the crap out of him because I don't think that I could kill him.
"Hey, what's going on?" Roxas asked, startled. "I could hear you shouting downstairs."
I turned to tell Roxas what had just happened, but I couldn't get the words out. My eyes widened and my anger turned to a cold fear. A few feet away, Kaity gasped in horror. "Roxas?!" She shouted. "You're fading!"
"What?" He questioned, confused. In that same second, his body went rigid and his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Roxas!" I gasped as he fell like a stone. I ran forward to catch him, but he dissolved into vapor before he hit the stone floor.
"Where did he go..." I breathed, shocked. I whipped my head around to Kaity and shouted at her. "Where did he go?!"
However, Kaity wasn't looking at me. Her eyes were focused on something else, hands over her mouth. Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I snapped my body to standing pin straight on my feet. I followed her eyes to Sora's bed.
Upon the bed was a fading form. Sora's fading form. "W-what-" I stuttered.
A sudden wave of darkness slammed against my heart, making me stumble back. I clutched my chest, the breath completely knocked out of me. I watched the darkness surround Sora's comatose body. Then, in a flash of darkness, Sora was gone as well.
"No!" Kaity screamed, running to the bed. She slammed her open hands on the covers, pausing for a moment before dashing out of the room, shouting. "Yen Sid! Yen Sid!"
A cold silence settled in the room. Unsure of what to do, my legs gave out and I collapsed to knees. My breath came in shallow and sharp. What just happened? What. The. Hell. Just. Happened. One minute ago, Sora and Roxas were both here. Right here. Where did they go? Who took them?!
A loud gasp and sudden movement to my left made me scream in surprise. I stared in disbelief at the second bed. "Riku..." I whispered, on the brink of tears as my eyes met his open ones. "You're awake..." I jumped to my feet and went to the door. "Riku's awake!" I shouted before turning back to the silver haired boy.
The newly awakened Riku was already on his feet. I rushed over to him. "Riku, what happened?"
"What happened here?" He asked. "Where's Sora?"
"I-I don't know," I stammered, trembling. "He was here and then he was gone. Roxas disappeared too. Something must have happened during the test."
"They took him." He growled, turning toward the door. "Damn it!" He cursed, exiting the room.
"Who are 'They'?" I shouted after him. Groaning in frustration, I snatched my bow from the ground and followed him out. In a storm, Riku crossed the second room to the stairs and took them two at a time all the way down with me right on his heels. We burst into Yen Sid's study, starling both Kaity and Yen Sid.
"Riku! You're awake!" Kaity exclaimed, surprised.
Riku ignored her and went straight up to Yen Sid. "Master Yen Sid, I know what has happened to Sora and Roxas." He declared. "The last world I was in was The World That Never Was. I saw Sora, trapped in some sort of floating sphere in that world. They're holding him there. They want him for something, I don't know what."
The old Master closed his eyes. "I feared that something like this might happen." He admitted. "It is Master Xehanort. He has taken Sora for whatever plan he has been putting in to motion." Opening his eyes, he laid them firmly upon Riku. "You must go. Stop Xehanort. For I fear that if you do not, we might see our final days."
Without hesitation, Riku nodded and bowed out of respect. In the same motion, he turned for the door.
Things were happening way too fast. What's going on? Where are we going? "What are we doing?" I asked, catching up with Riku.
"Rescuing our friends," he stated through gritted teeth, "and bagging us some heartless."
A new fire flooded my veins as Kaity and I followed him out. A fire that filled my eyes with a bright gold.