Chapter 33: The Crash

-April 14, 2009-

Kassy's POV

It was a less hostile morning. Donald informed everyone there was a world on the radar. All of us hurried to the cockpit to watch the world come closer into view.

Once the world came into view, Sora smiled, "Hey, Donald, maybe King Mickey's down there."

Donald snorted, "In a backwater place like that? No way! Let's move on."

Sylvia protested, "Now wait just a minute. What's the problem with trying?"

Sora nodded, "Yeah! Riku and Kairi might be down there. Let's just check it out!"

Donald shook his head, "Forget it! We're on an important mission!"

Sylvia growled, "What the fuck?! This quest isn't all about you, you selfish prick!"

Donald shook his head once more, "We're not landing!"

Sora's hands clenched into fists, before grabbing the steering wheel with both hands and yanking, "Just land!"

Everyone began protesting, worried about crashing.

"No!" Donald squawked, attempting to remove Sora's hands without wrenching the ship off course.

"You both are idiots! Give me the goddamn wheel!" Sylvia joined in on the fight over the steering wheel.

"Aw, phooey!" Donald spat out.

"We're landing!" Both Sora and Sylvia shouted. Sylvia reached over and banged her fist onto a big bright red button on the dashboard.

"No!" Donald squawked, attempting to remove Sora's hands without wrenching the ship off course.

Everything happened quite fast as the gummi ship was sent hurdling in spirals onto the world. My senses went black.

Elena's POV

Why did we even think of letting Sylvia even think of reaching for the wheel? The crash was inevitable, so why did she even bother? She-

"Damn!" Even in the darkness, I could hear Cloud's frustrated voice.

A scream tore through my lips as pain shot up the right side of my body. I gasped for air, panicking, attempting to move. Why couldn't I move?!

"Elena! Calm down… I think you smacked a tree on the way down… I'm gonna remove them, okay?" I screamed once more. I could feel tears trailing down my cheeks, burning cuts in their wake, "Ready? One… Two… Three!" Another scream erupted as he ripped a branch from my arm.

My vision swam in and out of focus. He continued to three, ripping another out of my leg. Another scream echoed in the darkness.

"Come on... Hold on... Just one more..." I heard him whisper, "One... Two... Three..." A rasping scream left my lips as he ripped the branch from my side

I felt cold glass touch my lips, "Drink it. It'll heal you..."

He tilted it slowly. It tasted like play-doh. I gagged more than once as the liquid slid down my throat. He forced me to drink the rest. A few minutes later, he gently sat me upright against one of the rock walls.

"Feeling better?" He asked hesitantly.

My vision cleared and I smiled weakly, trying to level my breathing, "Y-Yeah... Thank you..."

Standing up, Cloud walked over to the opposite side of the area, taking a handful of broken twigs and branches, and setting them down in the front of me. The spiky blonde grasped two rocks. Fire soon appeared. My breathing evened out, and the pain slowly faded to a dull ache and then to nothingness. Whatever he had coaxed me to drink had certainly done the trick.

"Sylvia had said you guys knew where Sephiroth is. So, where is he?" He asked bluntly.

I expected that question, but not quite this soon. I swallowed thickly, "Um… Well… It's really complicated…"

His eyes narrowed, "And why is that?

I frowned, "Hey, you're the one who risked that we could be lying."

His arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow raised, "And are you?"

I closed my eyes with a sigh, "Cloud, I'm sorry. I wish things were different. But I have to tread carefully."

"Elena! Please! I need to find him! Tell me where he is!" His voice was so cold, I felt a bubbling lodge in my throat, tears welling in the corners of my eyes.

"I told you… I-It's complicated…" I whispered, looking down at my lap to avoid his eyes.

"Please... Just tell me..." Cloud whispered, "I need to know if you know something... Anything..."

"Earth..." I mumbled, staring into the fire longingly.

"What? What's that?" I observed him frowning from the corner of my eye.

"My world. It's where I'm from. We were taken from it a couple weeks ago..." I smiled weakly at the fire

"I'm sorry…" Cloud frowned, "What was it like? Your world."

I thought for a moment, "Well… It's a bigger world than any other you've been probably been to. It's filled with pretty much everything. But… There's no such as magic there…"

Cloud was quiet for a moment before asking about Sephiroth once more. I took a deep breath. Then another. And another.

The blond let out a small sigh, "Fine. But I will find out eventually."

I let out a relieved sigh, before yawning. Cloud insisted we spoon for warmth. I protested, tomato colored for a good two minutes before giving in. Sleep warped my senses soon after.

-Dream-

3rd Person POV

"Nerd!" "Freak!" "Loser!" The chorus of hurtful names echoed through the halls of school.

A young Kasandra, Sylvia, and Hazel stood on the side lines with the audience watching the trio of bullies torment young Elena. She looked so helpless on her knees trying to pick up her scattered things, attempting to ignore their words. But she wasn't fooling anyone. Where were the teachers?

Enough was enough. Kasandra stood in front of the fallen female, arms outstretched, "You'll have to go through me."

Sylvia scoffed, rolling her eyes as she stood next to the chestnut haired female, "If you touch her, you die."

Hazel stood on the other side of Kasandra, holding up a spork of all things, "I'll spork your eyes out! Don't think I won't!"

Needless to say, the bullies ran away with their tails between their legs. Kasandra finally spun on her heels to face Elena, "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah... Thank you..." She stood up, rejecting Sylvia's hand to help her up. She began walking away.

Kasandra stopped her, "Hey, wait! What's your name?"

She faced her shyly, clutching her novels, "E-Elena..."

"I'm Kasandra! Kassy for short~" She giggled.

"I'm Sylvia." The dark haired girl smirked.

"And I'm Hazel!" The golden blonde held up her spork, "And this is Freddy! Say hi Freddy!" She glared down at the kitchen utensil, "The hell you will! I'm not talking to you anymore." She stuffed it in her pocket angrily.

Elena raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She protested loudly when Kassy took a hold of her arm and dragged her away, chattering away happily about nothing in particular. The others followed, joining the conversation.

-End Dream-