Chapter V; X & Y
X walked casually through the castle halls heading to the common room. He was assigned to watch number thirteen today. He had heard whispers from others who had already worked with her. She was powerful, but didn't have a clue about it. She seemed shy, she didn't want to bother anyone. X sighed, this would be interesting.
"Hey X!"
X stopped and looked over his shoulder. A girl with blonde hair streaked with black was rushing down the hall to catch up to him. X rolled his eyes but waited for the girl.
"What is it Y?" X asked as she caught up. He began walking again with Y right beside him.
"Is it wrong to want to talk to my little brother?" Y asked teasingly.
X rolled his eyes again. "We've been through this many times. We're twins. We were born at the same time."
"I was born first. By three minutes." Y said poking X's shoulder.
"Yeah, and I was turned into a heartless first. By a year." X snapped at his sister.
"Ok, ok. I just wanted to ask a question." Y said looking off to the side pouting.
"What?" X asked looking at the ground as he walked.
"You're working with Yuki right?" Y asked.
"Yes, number thirteen." X replied calmly.
Y rolled her eyes. "Why do we have numbers? Why don't we just use our names?" She asked.
"The point Y?" X asked.
"Is it true she can use a keyblade too? I would feel weird if I was the only one who could use a keyblade." Y asked. She tapped her fingers nervously.
"Yes, she uses two keys actually. So I've heard." X replied, looking up as they entered the common room.
"I really want to meet her." Y commented.
"You'll get your chance. See you later." X said walking away.
Yuki stood looking out the window at the sky. She was always interested in the sky for some reason. It reminded her of someone. She didn't know who, but it reminded her of them. She felt a tap on her shoulder which made her jump.
"Someone's jumpy." A boy's voice said. Yuki turned to face X. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking at her. He seemed bored.
"A little." Yuki said looking down at the ground.
"That might be a good thing. Come on." X said. He walked to a portal silently. Yuki followed him slowly. He stepped through the portal with Yuki right behind him.
They stepped out in a forest. Yuki looked around slowly. The trees grew to extreme heights. The leaves blocked out most of the light. Only small bits were making it to the uneven ground.
"We're just outside of Twilight Town. This forest surrounds the entire town." X explained casually. "There's been an increase in Heartless activity in this area for some reason, so we're on population control."
"Ok." Yuki said. She flicked her wrist summoning Heartless Keeper.
Unlike the others who had seen the key X didn't stare at it. He walked away flicking his own wrist summoning two daggers. The daggers were the length of his forearm in total. The blades were about eight inches and dark grey. The handles were black inlaid with dark purple symbols.
"Let's go." X said. Yuki nodded and followed him.
They walked in silence for a minute. Yuki would glance at X every so often. X would pretend not to notice then glance at her when she wasn't looking.
"You don't seem bothered by the keyblade." Yuki commented after awhile. X glanced over at her.
"I'm not. Why did you point that out?" X asked calmly. Yuki was looking at the key curiously.
"All the others wouldn't stop starting at it. And they got a little more...serious I guess." Yuki replied, chewing her lip in thought.
X shrugged. "Don't know. I just don't really care." Yuki nodded.
They walked a little farther into the forest. Nothing moved beside them. It was as if time had stopped in the forest.
"Where are all the Heartless?" Yuki asked. She glanced up at the sky.
"If they're not actually in the forest they're by the mansion." X replied.
"The mansion?" Yuki asked curiously. She looked at X once again.
"There's a mansion in the forest. It's been abandoned for quite sometime. Heartless like hanging out there and the kids of the town like trying to break in." X explained. He seemed to be looking ahead at something.
"Why was it abandoned?" Yuki asked looking ahead. Through the trees she could see a building.
"Do you ever stop asking questions? You're as bad as Y." X asked annoyed.
"Sorry." Yuki said shyly, taking a small step away from X.
"It's fine. No one knows why it's abandoned. It just is." X sighed. For some reason he felt bad for snapping at her.
"Oh." Yuki said.
They entered the area outside the mansion. It was cleared from trees. There was a gate, which was locked and had chains wrapped around it, set in the wall that surrounded the mansion. The mansion itself was made of a similar brick as the rest of the town. The yard was littered with old marble statues that had fallen apart.
Yuki stared in the gate curiously. This manor seemed so familiar. She must have been here before. Behind her she heard the sound of vortexs, signaling the appearance of Heartless. Yuki signed and turned to the Heartless.
"Twenty of them two of us. Seems fair." X said calmly.
Yuki rolled her eyes and readied herself for the fight. The heartless were shaped like flowers with eyes. They bounced back and forth, eyes trained on the keyblade. As X had noted there was about twenty of them.
Yuki shot forward swinging the keyblade. She cut through the Heartless effortlessly. Cutting the head off some. One shot something at her which hit her arm. She glared at that Heartless then cut off its head. She glanced over at X. X blocked one of the seeds the Heartless were shooting and directed it back at the Heartless which killed it.
"Wait, you can block those things?" Yuki asked before trying it out. The Heartless who shot it at her received the seed straight to the face before dying. "Holy shit." Yuki said.
X rolled his eyes. "Easiest way to get rid of them." He said bocking another.
After all the Heartless had been killed X sighed and flicked his wrist, putting away his daggers. Yuki did the same banishing Heartless Keeper.
"That was boring." X said calmly. His voice never changed. It wasn't quite monotone but it did stay with in a small range.
Yuki nodded looking back at the manor. Suddenly she felt light headed and started to sway on her feet. She put her hand to her head before she fell to the ground.
Sleep and forget.
Yuki opened her eyes again looking up at a canopy of leaves. She slowly sat up rubbing her head. What had happened? And who had spoken? What was she supposed to forget?
"You ok?" X asked. Yuki looked over to the younger boy. He sat leaned against a tree watching her.
"Yeah, I just got a little light headed." Yuki replied standing up.
"Light headed?" X asked unbelievingly. Yuki nodded. X stood as well. "Come on. One more thing to do." He said walking towards the town. Yuki followed him curiously.
X took Yuki to the edge of town. He walked along the wall until he found a hole in the wall. He ducked down and went through the hole. Yuki followed without question.
They ended up in the tram common. X walked over to a store. Yuki stayed by the wall unsure if she should follow. X came back with two sticks with some blue stuff on them.
"Here." X said handing her one of the sticks. Yuki took it and looked at it curiously.
"What is it?" Yuki asked.
"Ice cream." X replied taking a bite out of his own.
Yuki took a bite out of her ice cream and tilted her head to the side. She took another bite and smiled.
"Taste like...ocean." she said softly.
"That's a weird comparison." X said, taking the ice cream out of his mouth for a moment. "It's called sea salt ice cream. I guess ocean isn't that far off."
"Sea salt ice cream." Yuki repeated sticking the ice cream in her mouth. It was salty but sweet at the same time. Yuki liked it. It again reminded her of something, she didn't know what. But it made a faint memory surface in the back of her head. But she couldn't reach that memory.
"Why did you say we had to do this?" Yuki asked curiously.
X shrugged. "I do it at the end of missions. Me and my sister used to have ice cream together after school in our home world. I guess I just felt like bringing you." X looked down at the ground.
"Oh." Yuki replied looking down at the ground too.
"Let's head back to the castle." X suggested walking back towards the passage to the forest. Yuki nodded and followed him finishing her ice cream.
X wasn't so bad. Yuki thought as they went back to the portal. He was quiet and a bit short tempered but had a kind spot he didn't want to show. Maybe they could be friends.
*3*
Day 14- Entry 4,
I was sent on a mission with No. 12, X. He was different then everyone else I've been paired with. He wasn't bothered by the keyblade.
After we were done we got ice cream. It reminded me of the ocean. Weird since I don't remember ever being around an ocean before, but whatever.
*3*
Y bounced on her toes with nervous energy. She was paired with Yuki today. She was supposed to learn how to handle the keyblade better. Y really wanted to meet Yuki and see what she was like. X had said she was ok but X said that about everyone.
Yuki approached the blonde girl with black streaks in her hair. She looked young like X, maybe 14. Her eyes were orange and her Heartless emblem was gold outlined in silver. She seemed very excited.
"You're Y?" Yuki asked politely.
"Yup!" She replied smiling.
"Alright, we're going to Twilight Town for today." Yuki said leading the way to a portal.
"What are the portals called?" Y asked walking behind Yuki.
"I don't know, I never thought to ask." Yuki said with a laugh.
"I'll have to ask someone later. What are we doing?" Y asked.
"Training you with the keyblade." Yuki replied as she entered the portal.
"Cool!" Y chirpped happily.
The portal took them to the sandlot, a place in Twilight Town the kids often used for sparring. Yuki turned and faced Y who was looking around. She laughed to herself. Y looked over at her.
"What's so funny?" Y asked with a pout.
"I'm just usually the one looking around amazed. Anyway, why don't you show me your key." Yuki replied. Y nodded and flicked her right wrist. In a flash of light her key appeared.
The key was a light goldish yellow. The gaurd was rectangular but curved at the top, the rod looked like a sword and had small bits sticking out near the guard. At the tip of the blade there was a crescent shape that had three blades coming off of it making the teeth look something like a sun. The charm was a star.
"It think it's called Light's Keeper." Y said looking down at her key.
Yuki summoned her own keyblades. "Well, to be honest though I'm supposed to be teaching you, I have no clue what I'm doing. I just know these things think for themselves." Yuki said motioning to the keys.
"How can they think for themselves? Aren't they just giant keys?" Y asked confused. She was giving her keyblade a strange look. She smirked suddenly but it quickly vanished again.
"Like I said I don't know much. I'm pretty new at this myself. I guess they must have some sort of power that allows them to think." Yuki replied shrugging.
"But how do we know they can think? Mine doesn't do anything special." Y asked crossing her arms. Something in her eyes seemed to tell a different story. Like she already knew what Yuki was saying. Yuki brushed it off and sighed.
"Well, it chose you. You didn't just pick it up somewhere, it came to you. And in times of need it will act on it's own to defend you." Yuki explained. She wasn't sure of her words. She herself had never seen the keyblade think before. But even still it felt right to say that. It felt true. Maybe the keyblade was influencing her.
"Oh, so how are you going to teach me?" Y asked, her keyblade swung back and forth in her hand. She was so childish.
"I guess the best thing we can do is spar. Gets a feel for fighting more difficult enemies." Yuki replied.
Y nodded and crouched down a little raising her key with both hands. Yuki stood waiting for her attack both of her keys at her side. They stood staring at each other waiting to see who would move first.
Y pushed herself forward and swung at Yuki. Yuki deflected and swung her second key at Y's side. Y flipped back away from the strike. As soon as she landed she ran back at Yuki. Yuki shot forward to meet her. Their keys clashed in the middle and both jumped back again.
They continued to dance with their keys for sometime. Both managed to land several blows to the other, but not enough to knock the other down. It was about sunset when they finally called in quits.
"Ow, that's going to hurt in the morning." Y complained rubbing her neck.
"Doesn't it hurt now?" Yuki asked rolling her neck.
Y laughed. "Yeah. Hey can we go and get ice cream?" She asked hopping up.
"Sure, I guess." Yuki agreed standing up. Y grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her to the tram common.
"Come on!" She said excitedly.
Y took Yuki to the ice cream shop then walked around town with her.
"Sorry if this is a bit weird for you. It's just something me and my brother used to do and I missed it." Y said shyly.
"Your brother's X?" Yuki asked.
Y nodded. "Uh-huh. How'd you guess?"
"Yesterday when I was paired with him he did the same thing." Yuki replied casually.
"That's good to hear. He acts all cool and hardly talks to me now. Glad to hear he remembers that." Y said smiling.
"Hard to forget with you talking all the time."
Yuki glanced over her shoulder. X was behind them. In his hand he held a half eaten ice cream. He walked up beside Y.
"Having fun without me?" He asked casually.
"Was. But it's more fun now that you're here." Y replied happily. She was always so happy.
"So we've let Yuki in on our tradition." X commented.
"Why not? We can all do this together!" Y suggested.
"I guess if Yuki doesn't mind." X said almost reluctantly.
"I don't mind." Yuki said with a smile. It looked like they were becoming friends. And that was something Yuki could use. It was kind of lonely at the castle.
"I don't mind at all."
*3*
Day 15- Entry 5,
Today I was training with Y, No. 14. She was really good. She also asked a lot of questions. Afterwards we went to get ice cream. X showed up too. Apparently him and Y are siblings. We decided to go out for ice cream together everyday after work. I think it'll be fun.