Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Hikari ❯ Prologue: Part I ( Prologue )

Hikari

Prologue, Part I

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

 

“Kimi to iu hikari ga watashi o mitsukeru mayonaka ni…”

 

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“Aaahh!”

 

“Hold on, just— no, stop flailing around like that!”

 

“Aaaahhh!”

 

Crash.

 

The skateboard flew in one direction and the girl flew in another. Sighing, but with a grin, Roxas walked over to help her up. Grumbling, she reached for his hand and pulled herself up, before dusting off her backside.

 

“Freakin' thing, I'll never learn to ride it,” she muttered, now brushing her hair out of her face. The stuff was long and silver— long enough to the point that she had to keep it tied back with two bands, except for her bangs. Which, now a testament to her frustration, were stubbornly refusing to stay out of her face.

 

Roxas chuckled softly, going to retrieve the offending skateboard. “Nah, you were doing well.”

 

She gave him a droll look. “Right up to the part where I crashed.”

 

“Okay, so that part wasn't so great.” He pretended to flinch, but still wore the same grin. “Seriously, you were doing fine. All you did was lean too far to the side, that's what made you go out of control,” he said, handing her back her skateboard.

 

The girl glared at it for a moment, before sighing resignedly and accepting it back. Her eyes darted over it for a moment. Despite her multitude of falls, slips and crashes, the board seemed to be fine. Heck, she hadn't even scratched the pattern on top, a simple design of a white background with what was arguably a vine or a series of swirls— it was always a great topic of debate— in teal. Even though it was no where near as complicated as Roxas', with its strange pattern of black and white (that she couldn't even begin to describe), she liked it well enough. Except, of course, when she was actually riding it.

 

“Come on,” Roxas said, putting his own skateboard back on the ground, and setting one foot on it. He makes it look so freaking natural, she complained inwardly, but did the same. “You just have to keep practicing, that's all.” With that, Roxas pushed himself forward, before bringing his foot up and beginning to coast down the hill.

 

The girl paused for a moment, to watch his retreating back. He was a nice guy— in more ways than one, she found herself thinking, which immediately made her blush. He was about 15, but rather mature for his age. When he wanted to be. He had short spiky blond hair that not only defied gravity, but had openly declared war on it. His pants were black on top, something like khaki from mid-thigh down. His shirt… well, in his opinion, it was the coolest thing in existence. She called it “just short of psycho”. It wasn't even one shirt to begin with. His under shirt was black, with a zipper running up the middle. His over shirt was white, though slightly shorter than his undershirt, with a red collar and a black and white checked pattern that ran in lines, one across his chest, and one around each of his shoulders. In addition, he had a wristband of the same pattern and two cloth rings, one black, one white, all on the same hand.

 

And then there were his eyes… This deep blue… Even though she had only known him for a couple of months, she could swear that she had seen his eyes before… maybe in a dream…

 

“Hey, you comin'?” Roxas' voice from down the hill broke her silent reverie, and intensely blushing, the silver haired girl set down her own skateboard, following him down the hill.

 

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Roxas glanced over at her as they rode; she was too focused on watching where her board was going and how she was leaning to notice him looking at her.

 

It had been… what, nearly three months now? Yeah, that's about right, because she showed up right at the beginning of summer break.

 

Roxas remembered it pretty well. School had just gotten out a few days earlier, and he and Hayner had been hanging out in the Tram Common. All of a sudden, Roxas had gotten this weird feeling, like…

 

“Roxas? Roxas? Helloooo…”

 

“Wha?” Roxas started slightly as Hayner waved a hand in front of his face. “Oh, sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“Huh. You started to space out on me there. What's up?”

 

That's a good question, Roxas thought. “I, uh… I don't know. I just got this feeling… It's probably nothing,” Roxas added quickly, with a shrug and smile. Hayner just shrugged too, and continued on his skateboard. Roxas pushed off harder to catch up.

 

“Well, we're gonna be late to meet Pence and Olette if we don't hurry.”

 

“Yeah, and that hill's not looking too friendly right now,” Roxas joked, eliciting a laugh from his friend.

 

The tram that gave the street its name passed by, and both boys wheeled around it, still laughing and joking and headed in the general direction of the Station Heights.

 

“So then the horse says…. Roxas?” Hayner interrupted his joke as his blonde friend fell behind, sensing that he was no longer listening. He stopped his skateboard, spinning to see Roxas about ten feet behind, staring at the entrance to the Underground Concourse. “Roxas?”

 

“Seifer…”

 

Hayner looked taken aback for a second, before glancing over at the concourse entrance himself. “Ah, what's he up to now?”

 

Roxas frowned as Seifer came up slowly and awkwardly. “Something's wrong,” he muttered, before running straight towards their rival.

 

“What?” Hayner shook his head, incredulously. “Roxas, what's gotten into you?”

 

“Get help!” He suddenly heard Seifer yell, and Hayner did a double take. The trenchcoat wearing freak was carrying a limp form in his arms— from the looks of it, a girl about their age.

 

Roxas skidded to a halt, coming up short. As he saw the girl lying there, he could swear he knew her… but he had no idea from where. In fact, he was sure he'd never met her… but all the same…

 

“What are you two freaks waiting for,” Seifer snarled. “Get help! She's hurt pretty bad.”

 

Roxas didn't like taking orders from Seifer, but he knew that this time he was right. “Bring her this way,” he said, motioning for Seifer to follow. “My house, it's closest, my mom'll be home.”

 

Of course, I live in a building with two flights of stairs before you reach my house… But Roxas didn't feel like mentioning that right now. Instead, he dashed ahead to get his mother, leaving Hayner to direct Seifer.

 

He shoved open the door to his building, before leaping at the stairs, taking them three at a time. Finally he pushed open his own door— “Mom!”

 

“Where's the fire?” His mother asked, jokingly. All it took was one look at his face, though, to realize that he wasn't joking. “What's wrong?” she asked, her voice now dead serious.

 

He had to take a few deep breaths before he could get the story out, but his mother instantly ran out the door as soon as she heard, leaving Roxas behind. Cursing at the sharp pain in his chest, he followed her out, still unable to catch his breath. He heard the door open below, and Seifer suddenly swearing. Roxas grinned guiltily at his mother, who rolled her eyes— guessing correctly that they hadn't considered the two flights of stairs.

 

His mother leaned out over the railing. “Bring her up in the elevator,” she ordered him, as Hayner pressed the button. It was old and rusty and hardly anyone used it anymore, but there wasn't much of a choice now. About forty odd seconds later, the door creaked opened and his mother was there, checking the girl, directing Seifer forward, yelling at Hayner to go find the town's doctor, and for Roxas to get the door. He hastily yanked the door back open, uncomfortable at the thought of Seifer knowing where he lived, but without much of a choice.

 

For a moment, outside of the door, he paused, glancing at the ground. Why had he gotten that strange feeling? It had to just be coincidence… Roxas looked into the house, his face slightly worried. His mother glanced up and saw him, gesturing him in.

 

“Roxas come on, I'm going to need your help.”

 

He scrambled back inside, pulling the door shut behind him, before walking over to the couch where the girl was laid. She looked pale, and had blood all over her. Again, he was struck with an overwhelming sense of familiarity. He felt like he knew her… But then, his mother was calling out orders again, and he was running around the house, collecting things, all the while wondering what the heck was happening.

 

“Hey, I think I'm actually getting the hang of this,” she said, brightening up. Roxas blinked once or twice, looking away embarrassedly as she smiled at him. She paused for a moment, before shaking her head and rolling her eyes good-naturedly. They had reached the Tram Common, and she had for the first time managed to brake and stop without falling off. It had been Roxas' idea to teach her how to ride a skateboard, but she received the idea well. Executing it, however… well, Roxas was a patient teacher, luckily.

 

“Eh, it's pretty much just balance.”

 

“While moving?”

 

“While moving.”

 

She laughed at this, shaking her head again. “Think the tram driver'll let us hitch a ride?” she asked, pointing at the approaching trolley that was coming around the bend to their left. It was fun to get towed around by the tram, even though it didn't move very fast— a lot more fun when it went downhill.

 

The two teens wheeled over to the tram, which was currently empty— often times it was, it just went in one continuous circle, but needed a “driver” anyways, to stop it in case someone wanted to get on or off, or if someone got in the way and was about to get run over. Roxas waved at the driver, who glanced at him, but didn't respond. The tram kept moving. A bit puzzled, the teens began pushing on their skateboards again to catch back up and keep pace. “Hey, Mike,” Roxas said, greeting him again. Sometimes Mike would keep the tram going, just to tease them, but he was one of the ones that would always let them get towed around.

 

Today, however, he didn't look in a particularly good mood. “Mike, what's up?” the girl asked him, honestly baffled as to why he was giving them the cold shoulder.

 

“Um… can you give us a ride?” Roxas ventured. Mike actually turned to look at them this time; the dark expression on his face was a bit startling, to say the least.

 

Dryly; “How about not?” With that, he turned back to the front, resolutely ignoring them.

 

The two coasted to a stop. “What the heck was that about?” Roxas wondered out loud.

 

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“Man, doesn't that tick you off?”

 

All five friends were gathered in their usual spot. Hayner, wearing his camo pants, black shirt, and grey vest— typically punk attire for the guy everyone, including Hayner himself, jokingly referred to as a typical punk. He was seated on top of an old metal bin, looking at Pence, a shorter guy with black messy hair held up by a headband, sporting a long sleeved white shirt, with a red shirt over it, and a pair of torn up jeans. He was resting on a box, leaning slightly forward. Despite the fact that Hayner was currently pissed, he still had a slight smile. That was just Pence— nothing seemed to be able to faze him. He was a really laid back, sometimes goofy guy. He was still the smartest out of all five of them. A short ways away was Olette, a pretty brunette, wearing an orange shirt with khaki shorts. She may not have been as laid back as Pence, but she didn't look anywhere as livid as Hayner. She was sensible, always kept her cool… she was really smart too.

 

And, off to the side sat Roxas, and their fifth friend, the silver-haired girl. She was staring at Roxas, who was staring at his hands.

 

“Yeah, that's just wrong,” Pence said, agreeing with Hayner, and giving a shrug to go along with his half-smile.

 

Olette had to nod, leaning forward herself. “Seifer's gone too far this time,” she admitted.

 

Everyone turned to look at the other two, who both just nodded, the girl a bit sheepishly. Roxas had just been lost in thought, but he knew that she didn't actually have anything against Seifer. In fact, he sometimes wondered if she didn't have a crush on him. A thought which, admittedly, was a bit depressing, not only because Seifer and his group hated their group's collective guts.

 

It wasn't like Seifer minded her or anything, he never mocked her. Heck, sometimes he forewent mocking Roxas or Hayner when they were with her. And… well, she had always been fond of the older boy, ever since that first time they had met.

 

“Well, I don't think she's as bad off as she looks.” Roxas and Hayner looked up as Roxas' mother emerged from the spare bedroom with the doctor, who was speaking to her. “At any rate, she's not bleeding anymore— it's hard to tell what's actually a cut or scratch and what's just a patch of dried blood, so when she wakes up, have her get washed up,” he instructed, before turning back around to look in the doorway, a frown on his face.

 

“Is that all?” Roxas' mother asked. “You don't seem so sure.”

 

The doctor sighed, turning to face her once more. “Well, physically, the only thing wrong with her are minor— bruises and cuts, most of which seem to be old; though, admittedly, she looks as if she's lost a lot of blood. But… I honestly don't know,” he said, growing quiet. “She's really restless, but she doesn't wake up. Something strikes me as wrong about her condition.” Everyone in the room grew quiet with him, and he looked back up, resigned. “She should wake up by morning. Again, make sure she washes up, and get some food and liquid into her. Then, rest. I'll come back by in the morning to check up on her.”

 

Roxas' mother nodded, thanking him and escorting him to the door. It was already starting to get dark out, but Hayner was still there. Seifer, fortunately, had left a while ago, after the doctor sat and questioned him. Strangely enough, he had nodded, if somewhat curtly, to Hayner and Roxas on his way out.

 

Roxas rose to his feet, looking in the doorway. He felt someone come up behind him. “Think she'll be okay?” Hayner asked, quietly.

 

Before Roxas could reply, his mother called out, “Boys, I'm sorry, but I'm exhausted.” She walked back into the living room, pulling the front door shut behind her. “I need to take a cat nap or something. Can you guys fend for yourself for dinner?”

 

“Yeah, mom, sure thing,” Roxas said. “You want us to watch her while you sleep… in case she wakes up or something?”

 

His mother smiled gratefully. “That'll be great. Hey, I can give you guys some money if one of you wants to run out and get some takeout from down the street…”

 

The two boys exchanged a glance, shrugging. “Uh, okay.”

 

“Here, Hayner, why don't you go get it,” Roxas' mother said, handing the money to him, “And Roxas, honey, you stay here and watch her, okay? Wake me up if you need me,” she said, disappearing into her own bedroom.

 

For a moment, they were both silent. “Uh… anything in particular you want me to get?”

 

Roxas shook his head. “Nah, anything works.” Changing his mind, “Well, better not make it anything too spicy,” he amended, “in case our mystery guest wants anything when she wakes up.”

 

Hayner grinned, giving his buddy a thumbs-up, before disappearing out of the front of the apartment. Roxas turned back to the spare room, looking in. She was still asleep, though as he watched, she seemed pretty restless. She twitched once, her head rolling to one side.

 

Roxas only hesitated a moment, before approaching her bedside quietly. Then, suddenly, as he approached, she began murmuring something. Taken aback, he paused, but then moved right up next to her. He couldn't quite hear what she was saying, so he leaned in closer.

 

“Le porte verranno schiuse, apriranno le porte… E'giunta l'ora, su rimembra tu trepida… Cio che hai perduto diventera uno…”

 

Roxas' eyes steadily narrowed throughout all of this. She was… speaking another language? Actually… he got the feeling that something was speaking through her. Like, her lips were moving and sound was coming out, but the words were not meant to be made by the human voice.

 

Shocked at this thought, Roxas pulled back. She made another noise, before twitching again. Even though she was still unconscious, she looked as if she were in pain…small beads of sweat were breaking out on her face, and dimly, Roxas wondered if it was a nightmare, or if she were sick. Reaching out a tentative hand, he placed it against her forehead to check for a fever.

 

Once, when Roxas was a child, he could remember being hit in the face by a flying brick. It had been an accident, and he had been hanging around a construction site where he shouldn't have been, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.

 

It was approximately the same feeling as Roxas felt himself being knocked backwards by some unseen force. He let out a choked and stifled yell as he collapsed, then blacked out on the floor.

 

Roxas didn't know how long he had been like that when he woke up again, his whole body aching. He had felt… something. Horrible. Dark. He groaned once, trying to push himself up off the floor.

 

“A-are you… okay?” The broken question startled him, and Roxas snapped his head up, to see the girl staring at him, with worry in her eyes.

 

Which were both a brilliant shade of red.

 

“Uh… um, I'm fine… you're awake,” he said, stating the obvious, as he tried to clear his still buzzing head. “How about you? You okay?”

 

“I… don't know.” She brought one hand up to her forehead, and made a noise of pain. Roxas took this moment to study her. Her eyes had been strange enough to stop him for a moment, but he now noticed her long silver hair, which was pulled up in a long, but now messy ponytail. She was wearing dark grey pants, a white undershirt with a high collar, and a black jacket that came down to just above her knees, and the sleeves came down to a few inches above her wrist. It looked like it was designed for someone bigger— a guy, maybe. And, her right hand, which was lying limp in her lap— he couldn't exactly tell, but it looked callused. His eyes returned to hers, which were looking back at him. He could feel his face redden as he realized that she had seen him looking her over.

 

“Uh… what's your name?” he asked, desperate to change the subject.

 

“Ari,” she said, closing her eyes as if it were a struggle to remember this. “Uh… do I know you?” she asked suddenly.

 

Roxas was surprised, not so much by the question, but by the fact that, apparently, she had felt the same sense of familiarity with him that he felt with her. “No… I don't think so. But it's weird, I feel like I already know you.”

 

“Yeah… me too… But I can't remember why… I…” Her face twisted up again, and Roxas leaned forward, worried.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” she answered, though she sounded unsure. “It's just… I can't remember… anything.”

 

“Anything?” Roxas was taken aback again. “You mean, why you're hurt… or…”

 

“Anything. At all,” she added, quietly. The room grew awkwardly silent for a moment.

 

“Hey, uh… my name's Roxas,” he said, deciding to keep talking. “You're in Twilight Town— a guy named Seifer found you in the Underground Concourse, hurt, and he brought you up. Then, he and my friend Hayner and I brought you here, to my house. Ummm… My mom took care of you until a doctor came. He just left a little while ago.” Ari was just sitting there, apparently listening even though she wasn't looking at him. “My mom's taking a nap, and Hayner's out getting food.” And you're supposed to be getting washed up, he thought at her, though obviously she didn't hear. At that thought, Roxas felt his face turn red, and he started to cough to give himself a chance to hide it. How were you supposed to ask a strange teenage girl who had no idea where she was or who you were to go take a shower?

 

She didn't seem to notice the coughing fit. After a pause, Ari looked over at him. “And Seifer?”

 

“He left a couple of hours ago… why?” he asked, trying not to frown.

 

She shrugged. “I don't know. I should probably thank him. He saved me, apparently.” She glanced over at Roxas, before giving him a small smile that reminded him of Pence. “You don't like him, do you?”

 

He raised one eyebrow. “How could you tell?”

 

Ari shrugged again. “I guess I'm just that perceptive.” She paused, looking at Roxas again. “And… thank you.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For…” She made a gesture to indicate the whole room. “All this. Taking in some hurt stranger.”

 

Roxas chuckled. “You should really thank my mom.”

 

She smiled in return, even though he could see her already wearing out. “Okay, I'll thank her too.”

 

Suddenly, Roxas could hear the front door swinging open, and Hayner calling out. He smiled apologetically to Ari, saying, “I'll be right back.” He rose from his position next to the bed, going out into the living room. A few moments later, they both appeared at the doorway.

 

“Oh, hey, you're awake!” Hayner said, grinning. It didn't take long to dish out the food, though Ari didn't eat much, or talk much, Roxas thought that she seemed happy. Relieved almost, as if she had escaped something… but she said she couldn't remember anything. What could be so bad that it would haunt someone who couldn't even remember what it was? Or, maybe she hadn't been telling the truth… At any rate, he could tell that Hayner liked her. He had a feeling that she would be getting introduced to their friends very soon.

 

Hayner interrupted Roxas' thoughts again as he jumped off of his seat, continuing to rant. “I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So, if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him.”

 

He began pacing around, with the other four watching him, suspecting that he was being overdramatic on purpose. Nevertheless, he did have a point. He turned to face his friends, pausing for a moment.

 

“See, that's not what really bugs me. What really bugs me is that he's goin' around tellin' everybody we're the thieves!” He made an emphatic gesture with his arm, trying to work off some of the energy that was building up as a result of getting mad. “Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club!” He spun to face Roxas and Ari. “Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? `Cause I haven't.” He turned and kept pacing. “Nuh-uh… Never.” He punched one fist into his palm, contemplating means of revenge. “Now, what to do…”

 

Olette looked as if she were going to say something, but hesitated, glancing over at Roxas, who was lost in thought again— it seemed like that was happening more and more these days. He started, realizing that everyone was watching him again, waiting for a response.

 

“Uh, well…” He paused, unsure of what to say. He quickly made up his mind, though. “We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight.” Roxas rose, scratching his head. “Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs.

 

“Hey,” Pence broke in, chuckling. “That sounds like fun.”

 

Hayner glared a bit. “What about Seifer?”

 

“Ah… first we gotta clear our names, Hayner,” Ari broke in, standing up and stretching. “Don't you think?”

 

“Hm? What's this `we' stuff?” Pence asked, jokingly. “Seifer would never say anything mean about you.” Ari blushed a bright red to match her strange eyes, and glanced away. Olette leaned over and punched Pence in the shoulder, catching him off balance and knocking him off of his seat.

 

“Ow! …Hey…Oh no!” Pence was suddenly rifling through a bunch of stuff on the floor, before failing to find whatever he was looking for, and rushing over to a camera sitting on a box nearby.

 

“What?” “What is it?” “Pence?”

 

He spun to face them. “They're gone! Our — are gone!”

 

“All our — gone?” Hayner demanded.

 

It took everyone a moment to realize that no sound had come out of their mouths where they had meant to say a word… it was as if the word had registered with their brains despite the fact that they hadn't actually heard it. Startled, Pence tried to say the word again. Again, everyone knew what he was saying, even though he… couldn't say it… “Wha?” he finally murmured to himself, baffled.

 

Olette tried too, but found she couldn't. “You can't say — … why not?”

 

Pence glanced around. “I don't know… But you do understand what I'm saying, right? Our — are gone!”

 

All this while, Roxas and Ari had remained silent. Roxas was just as confused as everyone else, but what puzzled him more was Ari's expression… her eyes look slightly glazed, as if she was looking at something only she could see, trying to understand it. He looked back over at his other three friends, and then at the ground, putting two and two together.

 

“Stolen,” Roxas murmured. “And not just the —. The word —! They stole it, too!” From his side, he could see Ari breaking out of her reverie, and nodding.

 

Hayner looked a bit incredulous. “What kind've a thief is that?” Thinking for a moment, he reluctantly admitted, “Seifer could never have pulled that off…”

 

“Yeah,” everyone agreed. Hayner nodded.

 

“All right, time for some recon!” Everyone ran out, with Roxas last.

 

All of a sudden, things began to go… fuzzy… “Huh?” he wondered out loud, disoriented and confused. He grew dizzy, and suddenly passed out.

 

“His heart is returning. Doubtless he'll awaken very soon.”

 

“Nnnh… Huh?” Roxas stood up, brushing himself off. What the heck was that?

 

“Roxas?” He looked up to see Olette and Ari standing there, waiting for him. “C'mon,” Olette said, turning to walk back out to the alleyway. Ari just stood there, with a worried look on her face.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Hm? Oh… yeah, I guess so.” Ari lingered for a moment, but turned and went out too. Roxas glanced down at his hands again, wondering, not for the first time, if there was something wrong with him.

 

He had had those dreams again the night before. About that one boy…

 

Sora…

 

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“Never thought you'd do such a rotten thing…” the storekeeper muttered under his breath.

 

“We didn't steal anything, alright,” Roxas said, growing frustrated.

 

The storekeeper hesitated. “I'd like to believe you… but…” He made a noise of disgust, shaking his head. “Who else would steal that stuff?”

 

“What stuff?” Ari asked, standing next to Roxas at the counter. Hayner stood between and behind the both of them, glaring over their shoulders.

 

The storekeeper glared right back. “As if you didn't know. Hey, I'm not gonna tell you.” Hayner made a disparaging noise, and the keeper gave him a dark look. “Why don't you go ask at the accessory shop? I'm sure she'd love to see you all…” With that he ducked into a back room, leaving the three friends alone at the counter.

 

“Hope Pence and Olette are having better luck than this,” Hayner muttered. He turned to look at the accessory shop across the way, and the woman at the counter. “Roxas, you know her best. Go, on, ask her,” he urged as Roxas balked for a moment. “C'mon, Ari,” he said, “We'll go check with the lady at the candy shop.”

 

Roxas watched his friends depart, before heading over to the accessory shop. The woman looked up from a bracelet she was shining, starting when she saw who it was.

 

“Oh… it's you Roxas…” She sighed, putting the bracelet down. “You know, you used to be one of my favorite customers.”

 

“I'm not a thief!”

 

“Okay…” she said, sounding unsure.

 

“It's no fun having everyone suspecting me, y'know,” he said, a bit more sarcastically than he intended. Then, he sighed. “I'm sorry, I just meant—”

 

“I know,” the woman said, quietly. They exchanged quiet glances for a moment, before, resignedly, she picked up the bracelet and began shining it again. Without looking up, she continued to speak. “You've got to find a way to clear your name.” Roxas shook his head, turning to go. From across the plaza, Pence and Olette were calling out to him, heading his way. He started towards them, when— “Roxas—”

 

He turned back to the woman, raising one eyebrow. Maybe he didn't have the right to look incredulous, but this was just getting ridiculous. She gave him a sad smile.

 

“Please don't let me down.”

 

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“So, did they steal something from you, too?” Hayner asked, trying not to grow annoyed as Ari played with the old lady's cat. The woman smiled at Ari, before nodding.

 

“Oh, my, yes… Something important,” she said, her voice growing cheerless.

 

Hayner sighed. “Well, just so you know, we didn't do it,” he said, a bit despondently. It had been the same all afternoon.

 

The lady paused for a moment, before smiling at them. “I believe you.”

 

It took a moment for it to sink in, but both teenagers looked up at her, shocked, before breaking into huge smiles.

 

“Really?”

 

“Thanks for that, ma'am,” Ari said, chuckling at Hayner. Carefully, she handed the lady's cat back to her. “So, what did they take from you?”

 

“My —,” the lady said, apparently not realizing that the sound wouldn't come. “My precious —.”

 

Hayner turned to Ari, lowering his voice. “Looks like the culprit is going around stealing —. And not just —, but the word —, too.”

 

“This isn't your average thief,” they heard Pence say. They turned to see Pence, Roxas, and Olette coming up behind them.

 

Olette broke in, glancing at Ari. “I wonder if Seifer would know anything about this. I'm not saying he did it—” she said to halt Ari's inevitable opposition. “I'm just saying he might know something.”

 

“We've gotta talk to him,” Roxas said, reluctantly. “C'mon, to the sandlot.”

 

In the sandlot, they found three of Seifer's flunkies. Rai, a big lunk of a guy, Fuu, a silent but strong girl, and Vivi, some kid who seemed to just follow them around. Vivi suddenly noticed them, and nearly leapt a foot in the air— no small feat for someone only about three feet tall— pointing at them. The other two turned to see the group of five.

 

“Thieves,” Fuu hissed.

 

“That was low, y'know?” Rai said, stepping forward menacingly.

 

Hayner snorted. “Oh yeah?”

 

“Nice comeback there, blondie.” A figure wearing a white trench coat and black beanie began walking towards them. Roxas' eyes narrowed as Seifer walked up, and Hayner fumed.

 

“What'd you say?”

 

Seifer ignored the jibe. “You can give us back the — now.”

 

“Yeah!” Rai said, coming to back Seifer up. “You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?”

 

Seifer now stood in the center of the sandlot, arms crossed. “That was undeniable proof that we totally owned your lame asses.” Roxas frowned at Seifer, wondering if he was always this uncouth. “So… what did you do? Burn it?” Seifer continued taunting. “Not that we need some — to prove that you're losers.”

 

“Replay, maybe?” Fuu suggested, tossing a Struggle bat to Seifer, who deftly caught the blue and yellow, plastic and foam bat. Despite it being made mostly of foam, it was hard foam, and it hurt. Roxas could still remember the bruises from where Seifer had beaten him.

 

Seifer laughed. “Now you're talking.” He held the bat up in a ready position, while Rai, Fuu, and Vivi all stood prepared behind him. Somehow, all three had also managed to get a hold of the bats.

 

The five recoiled slightly, not liking the prospects of a fight. Roxas glanced over at Hayner, the only other one who would really be able to fight; Hayner was putting up his fists. Load of good that'll do in a Struggle fight. Roxas turned to face Seifer's so-called `Disciplinary Committee'.

 

Seifer looked smug. “I guess if you get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let it slide.”

 

Roxas stepped forward at that, riled, but thought better of it. Seifer's gang laughed at him, even harder as he lowered himself to one knee. I'm not going to let my friends get beaten too, he thought, hating Seifer every second.

 

“Roxas!” Hayner cried, unable to believe he would just give in like that. But, before Roxas went all the way down, he noticed a Struggle bat over to his left. In an instant, he decided, and sprung up, surprising Seifer. By the time he had realized what happened, Roxas had grabbed the nearby bat, and was swinging it around in preparation.

 

“Ohh… so that's how you want to play it?” Seifer mused. He waved the other three off, entering a dueling stance.

 

“Roxas!” “Knock `em dead!” “Focus, Roxas!” “Be careful!”

 

Seifer grinned as Roxas' friends cheered him on. “Kneel, loser!” With that, Seifer lunged forward, attacking Roxas head on. He brought his bat up to parry, shuffling backwards. Seifer continued to attack, and Roxas smacked Seifer's bat to the side, stepping around behind him. Seifer immediately spun to face him, attacking again, but again, Roxas only blocked and moved away. He could hear his friends cheering, telling him to attack… and Seifer's gang, cheering on their leader and booing him.

 

Seifer gave him a wicked grin. “Come on… quit playin' around and fight!”

 

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“Seifer's not feelin' so hot, y'know!”

 

“The tournament decides!”

 

Roxas turned back to his friends, grinning. Hayner was laughing his head off, while Olette and Ari were cheering a bit more quietly— heck, Ari almost looked torn, between feeling bad for Seifer, and happy that Roxas had finally beaten him. Pence, meanwhile, had his camera out, and snapped a shot of Roxas with the beaten Seifer behind him.

 

An instant later, a white thing appeared, snatched the camera, and took off.

 

“What the heck was that?” Hayner demanded.

 

“The thief,” Olette and Ari said at the same time, the latter's red eyes seeming to flash once in the light as she turned her head to follow the…thing.

 

Olette, Pence, and Roxas took off after it. Hayner started after them, only to turn back and face Ari, who hadn't moved. In fact, she wasn't even looking after the thief anymore. She was looking back towards Seifer's gang. Seifer had slipped off, and Vivi had likely disappeared during the fight. Rai and Fuu were just staring at them, looking pretty peeved. Not that I can exactly blame them, Hayner thought. Their oh-so-mighty leader had just gotten his butt whooped.

 

Rai cracked his knuckles. “So what do you think, Fuu? Should we, well, y'know…”

 

“Payback?”

 

“Oh yeah…”

 

Fuu held out her struggle bat, pointed straight at Ari, whom Hayner moved to stand in front of. “Hey, leave her out of this, she can't—”

 

“Yes I can,” Ari said quietly. She ducked down, grabbing two of the fallen struggle bats, tossing one to Hayner, who gave her a strange look. She tilted her head and the light seemed to flash off of her eyes again. Somehow, she didn't seem like herself. “Two on two,” she said, almost sounding…eager… She turned to Rai and Fuu. “Sound fair?”

 

“Let's go,” Fuu said, lunging forward.

 

To Hayner's surprise, Ari leapt forward to match her. Fuu was well known as probably the fastest fighter around, if the lightest. But Ari wasn't only keeping up enough to block; she was counterattacking— pushing Fuu back. Hayner only just realized that Rai was about to run him over and leapt out of the way, being forced to concentrate on his own fight instead of Ari. What the heck… he found himself wondering once again. This definitely wasn't the girl he knew.

 

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Roxas knew his two friends weren't as good of runners as he was— Hayner might have been able to keep up, but for some reason he wasn't there. Roxas had already lost his friends while chasing it, and almost lost the thing as it went around a corner; he skidded around it, spotting it disappear through a hole in the outer wall of the city. Roxas paused for half a second, unsure of whether he should follow, but quickly made up his mind.

 

Bursting into the forest that surrounded the city, Roxas spotted the white thing, hovering in midair, dancing around. It seemed to swim through the air, always just on the edge of sight, but never getting too far away. It's like it wants me to follow it…

 

Suddenly Roxas came out into the sunlight, squinting his eyes. For a moment, he couldn't see anything. It was then that he felt the hard plastic in his hand and realized he must have forgotten to drop the Struggle bat… but when his eyes cleared, the strange white creature stood before him, in front of the gates to an old abandoned mansion. He held the bat up, ready to fend it off.

 

We have come for you, my liege.

 

“Huh?” Roxas said, leaning back slightly. The words had just appeared in his head. But, how…?

 

All of a sudden, he realized it had a zipper for a mouth, because it was unzipping. He was staring at a gaping, rather unfriendly looking maw. It leapt at him, and Roxas held up the bat to block it.

 

The thing bounced off, stopping in midair instead of falling to the ground like it should have. It didn't seem to obey the same laws as everything else, slithering through the air to quickly snake behind Roxas, and kick out at him. Crying out, he stumbled forward, before spinning, and lunging at it. It danced out of the way, but with a second shot, he hit it.

 

And the struggle bat bounced off. This happened time and again, with the thing chasing Roxas all over the clearing. It's no use, Roxas thought, gritting his teeth. No matter how hard or how many times he hit the thing, it did nothing. He stared at it, breathing hard, while it lowered itself to the ground, rocking back and forth, its arms weaving through the air. Again it leapt at him, and this time, it seemed to want to grab him instead of attack him. Its long flexible arms twined around his own, as it floated upside down above his head. Struggling, Roxas tried to free himself, but again, nothing would work. The thing suddenly began dragging Roxas, towards the gate, its arms seeming to stretch out impossibly long to continue to weave and tighten around his own arms. Roxas began to yell, trying to fight it off of himself, but its arms just wrapped around the bottom of his face, effectively gagging him. It yanked backwards again, making Roxas stumble, and dropping the bat. He clenched his eyes hard, wrenching forward one more time—

 

There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly, he felt the thing's grip on him disappear. Gasping, he stumbled forward, grabbing the struggle bat and turning around to face it, unwilling to let it get a hold of him again. It was just floating there, almost stationary, seemingly dazed for the moment.

 

Impossibly, though, he felt the bat in his hand grow heavier. He glanced down, before doing a double-take. What seemed to be… data… swirled around it, and it disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by what appeared to be a giant key…

 

“What… what is this thing?” All of a sudden, Roxas realized it.

 

This is it! This is what he uses… he found himself thinking. But he was given no time to reminisce about dreams, as the thing shook its head and launched itself forward again. The blade in his hand began to shake, pointing itself towards the creature.

 

Roxas didn't need further coaxing. He attacked the creature midair, knocking it backwards— but he could tell, this time, it had hurt it. He didn't stop to let it recover, instead, continuing to attack, until it disappeared in a swirl of light. There was a small explosion, and suddenly, pictures were raining down everywhere. Roxas started forward, but was distracted as the weapon in his hand also disappeared. He stared at his hand for a moment, but then looked around, wondering where it and the creature had went. Wherever they were… they were gone. He looked back to the pictures, bending over to pick one up.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Back in the usual spot, the whole gang was there, except for him. Roxas ducked in, right as Hayner was in the middle of an apparently impressive story.

 

“So she went all berserk and totally beat Fuu to a pulp! Man, when she and Rai ran off, I thought she was gonna cry!” The others chuckled at this, all except for Ari, who smiled uneasily.

 

“Who beat Fuu to a pulp now?” Roxas said, coming in with the pictures in his arms.

 

“The silver-haired demon over there,” Hayner said, leaning back with his arms behind his head. “Hey, you found them!” he exclaimed all of a sudden, leaning forward eagerly.

 

Roxas glanced over at Ari, a bit confused. “You beat Fuu?” He set the photos down on the floor, letting everyone gather around, before sliding over to Ari. “We are talking about Struggle, right? You actually beat her?”

 

She scratched her head, looking a bit sheepish. Quietly, she leaned in to speak so only he could hear. “Well, to be honest, I don't exactly remember. It was kind've this… rush… I didn't even know I could fight,” she said, sounding amazed.

 

To be honest, Roxas had to admit that she didn't strike him as a fighter. She was generally a quiet, good-natured person. Oh, sure, she got sarcastic and witty, but for the most part, she was a kind, peaceful person. She didn't try to act tough or look cool— she wore a simple pair of blue jeans, with holes in the knees, a white sleeveless tee-shirt, and a baggy, grey sweater-jacket that was currently unzipped. She looked pretty typical, except for the silver hair, so long she could sit on it (which consequently had to have more than one tie in it— the current count was two), and the bright red eyes.

 

Although… he could still remember what she had been wearing when she had first shown up. That dark clothing, all roughed and torn up. And the calluses on her right hand. He rubbed his own hand, self conscious. He didn't exactly fight enough to get calluses, but he supposed it could happen… and she had to get those injuries from somewhere, didn't she?

 

And of course, there was the necklace— Ari hadn't seemed to care about anything she had with her when they found her except for a necklace she had been wearing: a chain with a crown on it, solid black. It was odd on her, but they had grown so accustomed to seeing the strange piece of jewelry that it didn't really matter much.

 

That was Ari. Perfectly normal except for a small, little things, that all seemed to add up… What they added up to, he had no clue.

 

But that was from a time that she couldn't remember. People had questioned her over and over again. The only thing Ari could remember was who she was… nothing else. Or, at least, that was what she had told people. Ari had stayed with Roxas and his mother, ever since that night they had brought her in to take care of her. And, because of it, Ari and Roxas had become rather close friends— neither able to shake the feeling that they had already known each other. But as it was, Ari had confided in Roxas that she could remember bits and pieces of things. An island… a couple of people, one with eyes just like Roxas. Stars… a ship. Once, she had even said something about a key and a door. But it had just been something that had popped into her mind, without any explanation as to what it meant. But she told him, she dreamed at night. About strange things. Different people, places… she wondered if they could actually be memories… Sometimes, she told him, she wondered if everything was real, or not. This `dream world' that seemed to be weaving itself in her head, or this one…

 

“Soooo…. Tell us about the picture thief, Roxas.” Hayner's teasing tone brought Roxas back to reality.

 

Would they believe me? “Not much to say,” he said with a shrug. “The pictures were just lying there.” The others deflated— they had been hoping for a good story, probably.

 

“Great. How do we prove we weren't the ones who took `em?” Hayner grumbled. He picked up one of the pictures, trying to distract himself. “Hey look, it's Roxas and Ari…”

 

Olette poked Roxas in the ribs. “You look happy, Roxas.”

 

“Do not,” Roxas said automatically, before turning to look at Ari. He realized she was blushing just as bad as he was. Luckily, Pence started talking again.

 

“So, like, anybody else notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas?”

 

For a moment, everyone paused, before taking up pictures and looking at them. Olette looked thoughtful as she looked over the one in her hand. “So that's why everyone thought it was us.”

 

Hayner looked taken aback. “Ohh… You mean…”

 

“Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?” Ari interrupted, raising one eyebrow and grinning.

 

“Are they really all of me?” Roxas asked, slightly weirded out.

 

“Yep.” Pence held out the picture in his hand. “See?” It was the lady from the candy shop, standing next to Roxas, her cat rubbing against his arm.

 

Olette held out hers. “Look!” It was Seifer's picture, with the triumphant teen standing over top of Roxas' prone form.

 

“Right,” Pence said, holding out another one— four of them in front of the abandoned mansion. Ari reached for it, interested. “That was taken the day before you showed up, now that I think of it.” Ari handed it back, smiling. “See, Roxas, every single one,” Pence finished, handing him the picture.

 

Roxas took it, wondering…

 

Why are all the pictures of me, of all people?

 

“Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something?” Pence suddenly asked, getting laughs from the other three. Roxas just froze, disturbed. That creature was trying to drag me somewhere…

 

“C'mon, get serious,” Hayner said, still chuckling. “Why would anyone wanna steal a bonehead like Roxas?”

 

Discomfort momentarily forgotten, Roxas turned to face his best friend. “Oh thanks,” he said sarcastically. But all five kids broke into laughter. The pictures were quickly divvied up so they could each go return some— Seifers' were all given to Ari, to which she rolled her eyes, but accepted them. As they were splitting them up, the train bell rang to announce an incoming train, also signaling that it was six o'clock, and the room around them began to shake as it passed over the track above. Finally, everyone left, leaving Roxas alone in the room. For a moment, he paused, feeling like something should happen. But… nothing did, so slowly, he walked outside.

 

As he got outside, the sun blinded him, giving him a sudden case of déjà vu from the afternoon. He remembered the creature, holding his arms out, trying to stifle him… Roxas shuddered, putting a hand up to block the sun, clenching his eyes shut.

 

Suddenly, he got a strange sense, as if he wasn't entirely there, but… somewhere else, too.

 

He heard a voice drifting to him, taking him by surprise. “Where… am I?”

 

“Who's there?” he demanded, spinning around.

 

“Who're you?” the voice asked back.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

“Who's there?”

 

“Who're you?”

 

For some reason, both voices were familiar. They… they even sounded similar… But then, it seemed to take a new form. A mechanical voice started speaking : “Restoration at 12%.”

 

A hooded figure seemed to step forward, towards a bright display of computer screens. A man in red… he said something… the man in the black robe…

 

What was it about him?

 

“But… why would the Nobodies steal photographs?”

 

“Both are nothing but data to them.”

 

Ari let out a half-scream, leaning forward and clutching her head. For a moment she stayed like that, rocking back and forth, trying to will the memories of those… those… visions… away. It was like her dreams…

 

She had told Roxas about the dreams. She had heard that talking about them helped. But she didn't tell him how disturbing they were. And talking wasn't helping that any.

 

She had delivered the pictures to Seifer, in the Underground Concourse. He hadn't seemed particularly happy or glad either way, and she had quickly left since Fuu was doing nothing but shadowing her with a dark glare on her face. Leaning against a wall, she wondered what was happening to her… The dreams were bad enough, but when she was starting to get these… visions… even when awake.

 

And, in a way, it wasn't like the dreams.

 

This felt more… more like she was seeing something, not remembering it.

 

But those dreams couldn't be memories. They felt unfamiliar, disjointed… a world apart from herself. They couldn't be memories.

 

Her head hanging, Ari silently decided not to tell Roxas about this. She didn't know how he took her dreams— if she started habitually blacking out in midday—

 

—like how I can't remember the fight with Fuu?—

 

—what would he think?

 

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Due to the massive length of the Prologue, it is being split up into sections, for ease of reading. Because I love you that much. :)