Chapter Two
Through the other end of the dark corridor the twilight town gang led him into Master Yen Sid's tower, emerging right outside his office to try and keep up some modicum of respect. Ren was silent as they chattered amongst themselves and Namine found herself almost regretting her choice of words.
She did want to be here, but she didn't really understand why. Clearly she'd wanted it bad enough to speak up but now she felt silly. It was just a theory after all, she had no idea if she could even use her magic in the way that she'd been wondering about lately. She hasn't had anyone to test the theory on after all, cooped up in her bedroom like that.
Now was her chance, if course, but trials by fire were never fun. At least with Sora in Castle Oblivion she had started small. Not taking anything away, just changing a few names in his head here and there. It was a long process she had undertaken with Sora and his two companions at the time, and it hadn't even gone perfectly that time. Since then she hasn't practiced much. She didn't change any of Roxas' memories in the datascape, only locked them behind a door that occasionally allowed some of them to seep through in controlled amounts.
All they had done was keep him from being overwhelmed, and granted him access to only the memories they wanted him to see.
This theory wasn't like that at all, and with no practice, and no guarantee that it was even possible for her magic to work on people who's hearts weren't connected to Sora's, this would be a long shot.
She was going to look foolish if it failed, and it would be in front of all her friends.
Axel rapped his knuckles on the door to Yen Sid's office and they each heard a short "come in," quite quickly.
Roxas pushed the door open and Namine searched the master's face for any signs of an emotional reaction but couldn't decipher anything. Yen Sid was his usual calm self, perhaps even more calm than any of them had ever witnessed now that Xehanort was out of their hair for good.
"Sorry for the random drop in Master," Roxas said as the group filed in and Namine watched as Yen Sid studied Ren up and down.
"No trouble at all," Yen Sid assured. "Quite the procession you've brought with you, who is this?"
Isa shut the door behind the group and leaned backward against it as Namine watched on from behind Xion's shoulder.
"We found him fighting off a wave of Nobodies in Twilight Town a few minutes ago. Says his name is Ren."
"You are Master Yen Sid?" Ren spoke up and stepped forward.
"I am," he nodded.
"As they said, my name is Ren, I'm a wielder from a world called Spectra."
"A wielder?" Yen Sid mused. "I see your armor," he gestured to Ren's gauntlet. "A master of old must have taught you. What was their name?"
At that Ren hesitated, and Namine watched his broad shoulders rise and fall, his fists clenched. The room was silent for a while as Namine thought to herself.
Was he lying? She coward behind Xion, is he here to start something?
"Master Taito," Ren finally sighed through gritted teeth, and this time Namine watched Yen Sid's face light up with a strange flavor of hope.
"Master Taito?" He demanded, his eyes wide.
"You know the name?" Axel asked.
"I do," Yen Sid smiled, "We learned together, even shared a Master. After we passed our exams we went our separate ways and I never saw him again. That was decades ago now, I had no idea he was alive."
"He isn't," Ren corrected quickly. "Not anymore." Yen Sid paused at that, and studied Ren even harder.
"I sense great darkness in you Ren. What happened?"
"I," he started and paused. "With all due respect sir, I've just met you all and truth be told I'd rather not talk about it."
"Well," Roxas started and Namine felt his eyes on her. Oh no, she thought before he spoke again. "Namine said she had some idea of how to see if he was telling the truth."
"Oh?" Yen Sid turned his attention to her. "What truth? And what method?"
"He," Namine began shyly. "He told us he meant us no harm, and that he was simply traveling when he heard rumors of fellow Keyblade wielders. If he refuses to talk about his past we could…perhaps use my magic to see if at least that was true?"
"And how would we use your powers for this?"
"I've been wondering if I could use my powers to check other peoples memories," she clarified as watched Ren go rigid without looking at her. "Not just those that are connected to Sora. I haven't been able to test it but, it stands to reason I should be able to at least view people's memories without changing them."
"You don't sound too confident about that," Ren wondered aloud. "And I'd rather not have someone poking around in my head either."
"You can't expect everyone to believe someone who wields the darkness with nothing to show us but your word," Axel sighed.
"Why ever not?" Yen Sid raised a thick eyebrow at the fiery redhead. "We did the same with you, and with Isa for that matter.
Axel reflexed, his hand running through his red mane. "That's not…entirely true. I did help Sora get to the Organization's hideout to save Kairi."
"After you kidnapped her," Isa mused, his smirk nearly audible. Axel growled a little at that but slumped forward in defeat.
"I understand being wary, we have dealt much with the darkness. Being cautious is desirable, however, being hostile is not. You say he took out a pack of nobodies?"
"Yes," Xion nodded. "A big pack of Dusks showed up in the market square and he took them all out, no one got hurt."
"Well I don't see why that shouldn't be enough for now," Yen Sid nodded and shut his eyes. "Perhaps some hospitality and compassion will convince our Good Samaritan here to share his past over time?" His eyes fixed on Ren again.
Namine watched the dark wielder as he sighed and nodded his head. "I suppose if I stick around long enough, maybe," he shrugged.
"At the very least I expect to hear what it is you do not wish to tell me about Taito. I needn't any compromising details, your memories are your own and we've no right to see them without permission. How he fell though, I should need to hear."
Ren again fell silent and Namine couldn't help but glimpse the dark mood that radiated off of the young man. He seemed far too tense, too guarded to be innocent. Then again, it was possible the wound was fresh? He had said he'd traveled for years without seeing another wielder though. Had that been a lie?
"He lost his head to the darkness," Ren answered. "And his Heartless was destroyed."
Yen Sid stroked his beard and shut his eyes. "I was afraid you'd say that. Unfortunately it's quite believable. I can sense the darkness within you as well, I'm sure that he taught you to wield both it and the light?"
"He did," Ren said solemnly.
"Taito believed there was a balance to be found, and one could only truly wield the Keyblade masterfully if both light and darkness are balanced perfectly. Knowing him as long as I did, it isn't hard to imagine him stepping too far in the wrong direction."
"I appreciate that you believe me," Ren bowed.
"I sense great imbalance within you as well, Ren," Yen Sid continued and Ren froze up. "I'm Sure that traveling alone for so long has left quite a void within your heart. Take care that you do not lose yourself along the way. For if you do, you'll find your welcome worn out quite quickly."
Namine watched Ren swallow hard before he stood straight again and nodded. "Yes sir."
After a moment the mood in the room seemed to lighten up a bit before Yen Sid turned to the twilight town crew. "Sora and Riku are quite a ways away, and Aqua, Terra and Ventus are quite busy training for their exams. It may be best if you four take Ren back to Twilight Town and keep an eye on him, that is, assuming you plan to stay?"
"It would be nice to take a break from the constant traveling, if that's alright with them. I wouldn't want to cause a problem in their town."
"We'll be there to keep that from happening," Axel cut in, "but if you're gonna behave yourself then sure, we'll keep an eye on you."
I didn't turn out to be useful at all, Namine thought to herself as she walked back toward her apartment. The gang had brought Ren back to Twilight Town and pretty soon afterward they had all split off to head home for the night or do whatever it was her friends did these days.
"I guess I can understand why he'd be so against me peeking at his memories," she sighed. After they'd all broken off, Namine had gone down to the market to grab at least one night's worth of groceries to prepare for dinner. She held the bag over her chest and watched her own shoes as she walked under the streeet lights back toward her apartment.
"Still though," she started again, remembering the way that Ren had stared at her the first time he'd seen her. "What was that look for," she shook her head. "No one's ever looked at me like that before." Her cheeks felt hot at that thought, not quite sure where it had come from. He hadn't been looking at her particularly nicely after all. He'd seemed more shocked than impressed really.
What did it mean? What did any of this mean at the end of the day? Probably nothing.
It's not as if I'll be seeing much of him around anyway. "I hardly leave the apartment at all and besides, he probably wants nothing to do with some freak that said she could mess with his memories."
Why was that disappointing? Why did the thought hurt so much more than every other valid reason that she'd probably never see him again, and why did that matter? "He's just some guy," the image of his Keyblade dripping with darkness flashed through her mind and she shut her eyes for a moment. "A dangerous guy probably. No one I should be wanting to see around town that's for sure."
Namine rounded the last corner of the large brick apartment building and froze in her tracks, nearly tripping forward and dropping her bag.
"Hm?" Ren hummed in what she thought was probably a surprise, his bright eyes catching her. His hand was on the front door of the building and there was a key in his other hand. "What're you doing here?" He asked her.
"I," she breathed, probably too soft for him to even hear. "I uhm…I live here."
