KANSOUKYOKU, INTERMEDE, INTERLUDE
Hey peoples. I know, usually I put the interlude after the ending of one part of the game. But this time, the interlude IS the ending of one part of the game. I did that because this part tells some REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION! Pay attention closely.
Let's hit it.
(By the by, its ONE for Naruto, TWO for Trigun, FOUR for Yu-Gi-Oh, FOUR for Inuyasha, and NEGATIVE TWO votes for Hellsing. LOL, sad thing is I love Hellsing. I said that I would put it out Tuesday, but it turns out something is happening Tuesday, so I am putting it out today. It is a TIE, so now you can only vote for either Yu-Gi-Oh or Inuyasha. I actually hope YGO wins, but for reasons I will not disclose yet… hehehe…)
Sora groaned, sitting up. He was sitting in a small room. It was a kitchen of some sort, but it was all blue and lightly shining, like it was illuminating itself naturally. It was beautiful, really, but also surprising. Sora looked beside him to see his friends unconscious.
"They won't awaken." Someone spoke. Sora jumped up, looking around.
"Who's there?" She asked angrily. Whoever it was chuckled.
"You don't need to know." He added, and even though he seemed intimidating, there was something about his voice that was kind. It was also familiar.
Sora backed down, still wary, scanning the room over.
"Where am I?"
"The secret place your riddle spoke of." He answered. "In it is your treasure." Sora's eyes lit up.
"What is it? Where is it?" He asked, estatic.
Sitting on the wooden chair at the kitchen table was the man Sora was talking to; he had just appeared out of thin air. Sora jumped when he did, but then looked to him for answers. With a bit of mischief in his voice, he answered.
"I am. And I'm right here." Sora gawked.
"You're the treasure?" He asked dumbfounded. The hooded man nodded.
"A treasure chest full of answers, but I only answer what I am asked." Sora nodded, comprehending what he said.
"So you'll answer anything… but only if you're asked it?" The man nodded. "Alright, I can handle that."
Sora sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, thinking. What was an important question that needed answering?
"One more thing: From now on, I am limited to five questions and five only. I cannot answer more than that." Sora sighed.
"Of course there had to be a rule." He sighed. Five questions wouldn't really put a dent in his avalanche of questions. But, it could help.
"Well…" He thought. It only took him a second to think of it.
"The riddle talked about 'we seven, the last of our race.'"
"Ah." The man sighed contently. "And you want to know what all that's about? Fine question." Sora looked eager for answers.
The man stood, pacing the room, seemingly trying to think of a way to explain it.
"Well, it refers to a group of seven beings. Your friend Auron is among them." Sora gasped.
"Auron?"
"Yes, Auron. They are the owners of this secret place. They are like the nobodies, but they are not nobodies. Because of this, they were allowed to come inside here without falling into eternal sleep. They dedicated themselves to helping the lost beings, such as nobodies."
"Lost beings… like people that lose their hearts or fall into darkness." Sora stated. The man nodded.
"These seven were not truly the last of their race, for there was one other. But she betrayed them, which is why they called themselves the last of their race. They called themselves "The Dream Catchers"." Sora immediately connected that to the woman who had taken Axel, but he stayed quiet for the moment.
"The Dream Catchers called themselves this rightly so. You see, none of them were true beings. Two of them, like Auron, were dead beings. The others were either beings born from other beings, or beings who had survived terrible pain and fallen deep into suffering. You see, most of them were all human at one point, but now they are a different race. They are Dreams."
"Dreams?" Sora interrupted, confused.
"Yes, Dreams. For instance, while Auron did come back because of Hades, his dream of living his own story kept Hades from keeping him. Auron became a living Dream; an embodiment of the human need to lurch for more."
"A living dream?" Sora pondered aloud in awe. The man chuckled.
"A living Dream." He smiled under his hood. "One of the dreams, the first to come into existence, was half of one true dream; the two halves did not agree with one another, and their disagreement led to the destruction of the child from which they had been born; the child that had dreamt them into reality. The girl who told you the riddle."
"… Mitsuka?" Sora remembered hearing that name. The man nodded.
"Mitsuka. Sai's sister. She was torn apart by her dream." Sora cringed.
"That is three questions, I hope you know." The man chuckled. Realizing he'd asked more than he'd wanted, Sora shook his head to clear his mind.
"Alright. What was Mitsuka's dream?" Sora asked. The man laughed heavily.
"You know how to pick the right questions!" The man roared. Calming down, he chuckled and answered. "All dreams are of a type of dream. For instance, Auron is a dream of Freedom. Mitsuka's dream was a dream for Happiness. Her people, other than Sai, had shunned her for her odd, unique abilities. Remember that she can see the doorways into the hearts?" Sora nodded. "Her dream was split in half; one half, her rage at the people for shunning her, and her sadness for being shunned; the other half, her hope that she would one day be accepted, that she could live in happiness."
"The half of anger and sadness was named Hinode."
Sora leapt up. "Hinode the sunrise, the keychain, the Hinode angel is the half of anger and sadness." He meant it as a statement so that the man couldn't interpret it into a question, but he was truly confused.
"The keychain was found in a riverbed, and had been calling out to Mitsuka for most of her young life. It was what gave her the odd powers. It also set her dream alive. Hinode was born first, and was telling Mitsuka where to go, leading her and Sai down a deadly path. She fell into despair, tricked by her own dream, Hinode, but the keychain gave her light. It split the dream, and from Hinode, created Tsukikage, or simply 'Tsuki'. As 'Hinode' means 'Sunrise', 'Tsukikage' means 'Moonlight'. 'Tsuki' means 'Moon'."
"I still don't understand what happened to Saix and his sister, and where they went, and all that stuff!" Sora cried, frustrated. The man chuckled.
"Soon enough, Saix will be able to tell you. Be patient." Sora huffed.
"You have one last question." The man stated. Sora thought for a moment.
"The girl holding this contest, the one with Axel who calls herself 'Dream Catcher'" Sora began. He then sighed. "I don't even know what I want to ask about her."
Sora then became brighter.
"What's this contest being held for? I mean, I know we're trying to save Axel, but why did she keep Axel in the first place? What's it all for?" The man sat silently for a moment.
"Dream Catcher needs your help, I know you know that. You see, Hinode is an Angel, because Mitsuka dreamt her that way. But Tsuki was an Angel as well. Hinode wants something, but I'm not sure what. Whatever it was, she needed the keychain, and she needed Mitsuka to accomplish it. Tsuki stood in her way, protecting Mitsuka. I knew Tsuki; she was a wonderful person. Sometimes hyper, but kind and gentle and… odd, at times." He laughed.
"You see, Tsuki was locked away by Hinode, and since then the other Dream Catchers, like Auron and me, have been trying to save her. But when she reached her heart out to a group of dangerous souls, she found a way out on her own. Understand that Tsuki, The Dream Catcher, is locked in a cell…"
"That I hold the key to." Sora finished. The man nodded.
"The Hinode keychain holds immersable power, and I don't know what it's for or why it chose Mitsuka, but it is the key to this mystery." Sora nodded.
"And now I'm going home." He declared. This mission was over; he needed a nap. And food.
And he had to see about Tifa.
"How do I get home?" The man chuckled.
"I will take you home. And I will return home with you. I was your treasure, remember?" Sora looked quite puzzled at the man as the older man chuckled and bent down to pick up Saix. Sora put Demyx's arm over his shoulder as the man touched Marluxia's arm. With his free hand, he touched Sora, making sure all five of them were connected.
"Who are you?" Sora whispered as a bright light began to envelope them. The man laughed deeply.
"I've already answered five questions." He murmured, and with that, the bluish kitchen around them faded away, and the five zoomed out of the Purgatory and back to Castle Hallow Bastion.