Trigger Warnings: Suicidal ideation, themes on toxic relationships that includes sex, references to past torture, and character death
Additional chapter notice: Blatant shamelessness
Not Beta-ed (but want one, if anyone is interested.)
Chapter 3: That rhymes with P, that stands for...
Leon felt the wall for a light switch in the dark. In one click, candelabra lights from a rhinestone chandelier hanging in the middle of the lime green room illuminated two large beds flanked by four nightstands and lamps upon them, a green wingback chair in the corner, an armoire next to it, and sheer curtains framing French doors that opened to a stone balcony. A snap, a whirl, and clicking, turning gears made Leon jump. A red wooden bird shot out of the cuckoo clock hanging above the door. 'Cuck-oo, cuck-oo.' It was seven o'clock somewhere.
"Hello?" a woman's voice from the balcony said. "Is someone there?"
"I need my boots," Leon said.
"Leon?" Aerith leaned into view behind the curtains. The light in the room did not spread beyond the door frame. White tulle blurred the details of her face and the outline of her body as she stood outside in the dark. "Oh hello there."
Leon rushed to the bed that he had considered his until last night and found his black boots with toes pointing towards the bed. Aerith walked into the room, sweeping a curtain panel out of her way. Rippling, the sheer curtain had more presence than she did.
"You always seem like you're in a hurry to go somewhere. Where is there to go? I wonder." Aerith tilted her head and her body leaned with it. "Oh, I wanted to tell you. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was too forward, I'm afraid. Now that Cloud's here, there's no need to worry about being the hero anymore."
Leon stuck his feet, one after another, into his boots. "I told you before, I'm not a hero."
Aerith folded her hands together. "Then you'll have to take this warning to heart. Be wary of the darkness that resides within you."
Leon laid on the ground on his stomach, grabbed his Gunblade from under the bed and got up in one swoop. Dizzy from being beamed in the face or getting up too fast or poor sleep or something else entirely, Leon closed his eyes and thought about sitting down.
"Good luck, Leon."
When he opened his eyes, she was gone. The curtains rippled. He was alone.
Leon breathed in for four seconds, held his breath for seven, and exhaled for eight, concentrating on pushing the old breath out from the bottom of his lungs. Four, bring in crisp, new air. Seven, the air turns useless, dirty. Eight, repeat. Four, seven, eight. Repeat. He controlled his breathing now, but sometimes, he thought he caught himself forgetting to breathe. He swung the heavy hotel room door open and stepped into the fluorescent lights of the hallway. Was he the only real one here?
"You're up," Cloud said. Leon hadn't noticed Cloud leaning against the wall, crossing his arms in the exact same way that Leon had, against the same wall that Leon had slept against. "Yuffie wants to meet with me, you and Sora."
"Meet? About what?" Leon said.
"Didn't say."
"Did she say anything else?"
"When's she not?"
Leon didn't want to talk about Yuffie. "Has Aerith alway been like that?"
"Aerith?" Cloud stared at Leon. "Been like what?"
"I don't know. She's…off."
Cloud didn't stop staring. "What's off about her?"
"Never mind," Leon said. "It's nothing."
When Cloud still wouldn't stop staring, Leon stared back. But feeling childish, he looked away first and stared out of one of the orange window panes made of rippled glass.
"Yuffie wants us all to meet in the last room down the hall," Cloud said.
Streaks of stars twinkled, but one, two, three stopped, leaving no trace of their existence behind. One second, they were there, the next they were not.
"Said there's a blackboard in there," Cloud said.
The remaining blurry stars framed in the window kept twinkling just as bright, all the same.
"Going to tell her I told you," Cloud said.
With his ridiculous sword still swinging on his back, Cloud walked down the corridor. Identical hotel doors lined one side. Identical door-sized, orange tinted windows lined the other. Without his girlfriend, Leon was just as broody as he was before.
"Wait," Leon said, "Just wait."
Cloud stopped halfway down the hall, turned his body to face Leon, and crossed his arms. Gunblade in hand, Leon strode down the hall, wondering what Yuffie would say about him to this new guy and the kid. He walked past Cloud, who didn't try to move in or out of the way. When Leon reached the door, he paused. Now was not the time to worry about what would happen next so he ignored the tension building within him and opened the door.
The room, half the size of a hotel room, held a table surrounded by eight office chairs. Sora spun in a chair in the front. Cloud walked to the back, leaned against the wall, and once again crossed his arms. Yuffie was in the front of the room twirling around a long thin wooden stick.
"Whoa, what happened to your face?" the kid said.
"A heartless got me." Leon sat in a chair not too close to the front, but not near the back on the other side of the kid.
"You're late," Yuffie said, looking away.
"He just woke up," Cloud said.
"I don't need you to defend me," Leon said.
Cloud sighed without opening his mouth.
"Listen up." Yuffie whipped her stick against the blackboard. "Let's brainstorm about darkness and those heartless things. And what we're going to do to get out of here."
"We need to beat up all the Heartless," Sora said.
"How's that going to help?" Leon said. "More of them appear as soon as you get rid of them, and they're getting bigger, too."
"But Leon," Sora said. "I figured it all out thanks to you. Last night I got a big one like you said to, and I saw a heart floating up to the sky. I'm releasing all the hearts. And Goofy and Donald said we're going to go visit different worlds. They really like my Keyblade."
"I didn't tell him to do that," Leon said, looking at Yuffie. "Never mind. What about the duck and dog?"
"Donald and Goofy," Sora said. "The king sent them. They said he knows you, Leon. They were looking for you, remember?"
"I don't know any kings," Leon said.
"Sora," Cloud said, "tell us when Donald and Goofy plan on leaving."
"Sure thing, Cloud. As soon as I see them," Sora said. "Why aren't they here?"
"Cause they weren't invited." Yuffie tapped chalk against a blackboard. "Enough about them, we can't rely on those two goofballs. What I want to know is what makes someone dark enough to turn into one of those little dark things? Anyone got any guesses?"
"Kill someone, probably," Leon said.
"Geez, that's a bit extreme." Yuffie threw a piece of chalk up in the air and caught it. "Maybe we ought to write all the bad stuff we've been doing here so we know what doesn't get us killed off. I'll start."
Yuffie wrote out the word "steal" on the board and drew a heart next to it.
"You're getting it all wrong," Sora said. "Everybody's hearts are filled with darkness."
"This is such a waste of time," Leon said.
"Shut up, you two. It's my turn to ask the questions." Yuffie glared at Leon. "How about kiss somebody on the lips? Cloud?"
"What? Nope," Cloud said.
"Kissing isn't dark," Leon said.
"How about something more than kissing then? Hmm? That's pretty darn dark. Cloud?"
"Uh, nope," Cloud said. "Why're you bringing this up?"
"Oh you know, darkness and all. Got to list it all out there, right? What about you, Leon?"
Leon sighed. "How is that dark?"
"Fine, Leon," Yuffie frowned. "What have you actually been doing to keep busy? Hmmm? Gambling? Booze? Drugs? An all-night rave? Involved in the mob much?"
"No, just," Leon said, crossing his arms, "masturbating. Dark enough for you?"
Yuffie dropped her chalk. "Why would you say that out loud?"
"I've been here for the last nine years. What else am I going to do?"
"I'm not writing that on my list." Yuffie scrunched her nose. "Cloud, tell him that I'm not writing that on the list. Wait, nine years?"
"Guys?" Sora said and the three adults turned their heads to look at him. "What's masturbating?"
"Black-out drunk," Cloud said.
"What the who?" Yuffie said.
"Add that." Cloud pointed at the list.
"There's booze? Where? Oh good Gaia, don't tell Cid." Yuffie wrote the words 'get drunk' under 'steal'. "Wait, you got that drunk?"
"I was bored," Cloud said. "It's at the shop. With the weird big baby ducks."
"You can buy a bunch of potions there, too," Leon said.
"No one asked you," Cloud said, "about potions."
"Can I ask questions now?" Sora was waving his hand. "It's no fair that you guys are allowed to ask questions and I can't."
Cloud stared at Leon. "Go ahead. Ask."
"What's more than kissing? What's masturbating? How much do you have to drink to get black-out drunk? And why are you stealing, Yuffie? That's wrong."
"This is your fault." Yuffie pointed at Leon with her long stick. "Cloud, kick him out of the group."
"Whatever," Leon said. "You started this list. And why do you keep telling him to do stuff?"
"Because Cloud's in charge," Yuffie said.
"Yuffie, cut it out." Cloud nodded at the kid. "Sora."
"Yeah?" Sora straightened up.
"How old are you?"
"Twel-Fourteen, but why's that matter? I'm not just some kid. I'm the Keyblade master, you know. I've been beating up Heartless like I'm supposed to. I even saw somebody die on the streets. A guy who was just minding his own business."
"Wait, slow down around town, you saw someone die here," Yuffie said, "on these streets? But literally nothing happens here."
"Yeah, the Heartless, they took his heart."
"Was there like…" Yuffie looked between Cloud and Leon. "a body?"
"No, that disappeared, and you know what? His heart floated up in the air."
Cloud pushed off the wall. "The heck are we doing here if… heck, Heck?"
"Yeah, we can't curse here," Leon said.
"Freak." Cloud started counting on his fingers. "Darn, shoot, penis. Wait, what?"
"Say…Say that again, Cloud." Yuffie held her stomach and howled. "Please do that again."
Leon failed to stifle several scoffs.
"Grow up, Yuffie," Cloud said, leaning back against the wall. Yuffie wiped the corner of her eyes with her fingertips, bit her finger, and snickered. Cloud looked at the kid. "You saw a heartless kill somebody. What was he doing when he got caught?"
"Looking scared?" Sora tapped his cheek and looked up.
Cloud stared at Sora. "Where's your family?"
"My mom?" Sora's voice cracked. "I'm looking for my friends, Kairi and Riku. They… came with me here. Have you seen them?"
"And how old are they?" Cloud said.
"Why's that matter so much to you?" Sora said, making fists.
"You can't be over ten," Cloud said.
"You're right, Cloud," Yuffie said. "He's too young to be going around killing things."
"Where I'm from, kids can get trained to kill starting at age five," Leon said.
"What?" Yuffie and Cloud said.
"What do you mean, what?" Leon said. "It's not that weird, is it?"
"See. Leon says that I'm old enough to fight." Sora waved his arms. "Tell them, Leon."
"No, I said they get trained. They don't run around and just fight things."
"He's right about going around and fighting things you shouldn't be fighting," Cloud said. "You say they get a hold of hearts. From people, just like me and you. And you're setting those hearts free with that key? What's that do? You should get to the bottom of how this works before you rush into anything, Sora."
"Stop telling me what to do." Sora stood up and his big key materialized in his hand.
"You should put that down," Cloud said.
"I am not." Sora glared at Cloud. "A kid."
Cloud stared at the key. He walked towards Sora, moving his arms stiffly, weaving around the chairs. Sora frowned, gripped the key and spread his legs to an attacking stance. Cloud stopped a body length from the kid.
Cloud stared at Sora.
Sora scoffed. "What are you-"
In three, four steps, Cloud was behind Sora's back, facing him, and Leon was out of his seat. Aiming for the arm with the key, Cloud gripped Sora's elbow with one hand and wrist with the other and shook. Cloud yanked the key away. Leon couldn't follow all of Cloud's movements. Before he would have guessed that anyone who carried such a big sword was doing it for show and that anyone on his team could take care of a showoff like that, but he regarded this guy more carefully to catch a sign of weakness.
"Hey." Sora rubbed his wrist. "That's mine. Why'd you do that?"
"Ix-nay on the ey-kay eal-stay, Cloud," Yuffie said.
Cloud examined the end of the key, before he held it against the back of one of the chairs, pulled his arm back, and swung down. When the key touched the back of the chair, the plastic crackled, splitting in half like a log cut by an ax. Leather twisted and ripped open, exposing yellow foam. Hairline cracks stemming from the split ate away at the base, inch by inch. When the cracks reached the metal legs, the chair collapsed onto the ground into pieces, clattering. Everyone except Cloud jumped. Every piece turned to dust.
"The heck you doing with this?" Cloud said, turning the key over.
"You stupid jerk," Sora said. "Give that back."
"No you're not getting it back. Who gave you this?"
The key dissipated from Cloud's hand and materialized into Sora's outreached one. Sora gripped it before the end of the blade formed, closed his eyes, and swung it like a bat at Cloud. Cloud jumped back, fumbling into office chairs. Two spun at different speeds. Sora swung again. When the key neared Cloud, a clear ring formed around the end and grazed his side, tearing a slit in his shirt. He yelled, as loud as anyone else's normal speaking voice would be, and stumbled, hunching forward, using the table to stand. When he tried to straighten, one large black batwing unfurled from Cloud's back. His eyes glowed. His pupils shrunk to an odd shape before he closed his eyes, grimacing.
"Cloud," Yuffie shouted.
"You're." Sora staggered back, staring at Cloud's wing. "You're full of darkness, Cloud."
Sora ran out the door, and Cloud dropped to one knee. The table obstructed Leon's view of Cloud. All he could see clearly was a slowly folding wing, that sword laying over Cloud's back, and his spiky hair.
"Oh my god, Cloud, shoot, you're bleeding," Yuffie said, moving chairs out of the way.
"I'm fine." Cloud pulled his cape in to try to hide his wing.
"You're not fine," Yuffie said. "Leon, don't just stand there, go shoot that twerp."
Leon said, "You want me to-"
"No." Cloud turned, looking at Leon with eyes that didn't look right. The teal in Cloud's irises squeezed around his pupils and spilled out as light. "Don't hurt him."
"Cloud, lie down. I'll go find bandages," Yuffie said. "Leon, follow that kid. He's armed and dangerous"
"You want me to follow the kid?" Leon said. "This guy doesn't look fine. Did that kid-"
"I'll be fine," Cloud said. "Make sure Sora doesn't hurt himself or anybody else."
Leon grabbed his Gunblade from the table and followed the kid out the door.