Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ KHII: Turn Back To Origins ❯ This Is Our Destiny ( Chapter 2 )

‘…Look out!’

“Mm…”

‘…Dearly beloved…’

“Be.. loved?” Materia whined and shifted around in her sleep. She sat up hard against something and something fell onto her head, waking her up. She looked around sleepily, then down into her lap where a small, yellow star-shaped fruit lay. She picked it up and held it for a minute, deducing that she wanted to keep for later. The little girl reached behind her to find her quiver, which appeared on her back in the same fashion Sora and Riku’s swords appeared. She looked in it for a second, then put the fruit in once she was certain there was enough room for it. Putting the quiver back on her back as she stood, Materia looked around to try and find XD, “Dee-aneki?”

There was no answer. Materia rubbed her blurry eyes and looked again. She was standing beneath a large palm tree atop of an elevated piece of land connected to a larger island by a rickety wooden bridge. She looked over the edge of the platform and into the water. There were a few small fish swimming near the base of the platform. Materia smiled for a minute, then stood up. XD was missing and she now took it upon herself to find her… and to investigate this new place. She brushed the sand off her legs and skirt and started towards the bridge. On the main island, a little ways away from her, there was a group of boys playing around at the water’s edge. Materia heard them laughing and turned to recognize a certain brunette and silver-haired boys.

“Rikunii-san! Soranii-san!” She cried. Her heart leapt into her throat as she sprinted down the bridge and across the beach towards them, “Rikunii-san! Soranii-san!” They didn’t respond to her. Instead, they kept playing with their two friends. Materia pouted, then got an idea. She reeled back and leapt at Sora to hug him. She phased clean through him and landed in the sand on her face, “Ugh! ..Huh?!”

She sat up, blue eyes wide and sad. Why did she go through him? She sat in the middle of their circle, watching the ball go over her head. She pouted again and stood up, the ball passing through her stomach. She was very confused, so she stepped out of the circle and watched them from a distance, “Rikunii-san…”

“Kinda sucks doesn’t it? Not being noticed… not existing at all…” Materia jumped in fear and turned around defensively. Behind her was a man with spiky red hair and sky blue eyes, dressed in a black coat and black boots. He put his hands up, “Hey, hey! Slow down there.”

“Wh-who are you!?” She demanded. The man chuckled and scratched his head.

“Me? I’m just another person like you, looking for my friend.” Materia continued to glower at him. Then he smiled softly and sighed, “Alright, alright. My name’s Axel. And you are?”

“…”

“Oh, I see. You don’t trust me. That’s okay, what I came for isn’t here, so I’m outta here.” He flashed Materia a peace sign before turning around to leave, “Good luck finding some way out.”

“Nn..? Wait!” Materia stepped forward a little, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, I know how I’m getting out, but I’m not so sure about you.” He shrugged dismissively, “Course… I’m sure you want to stay and play ball with your imaginary friends here.”

“Imaginary?”

“Yeah, all this here is just an illusion. Your real friends are out somewhere, but feel free to stay.” Materia’s expression grew more and more panicked, “Of course, if we were on better terms, I could give you a hand out of-“

“Materia.”

“Huh?”

“My name’s Materia.”

Axel smiled and chuckled, “Ah, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Materia hung her head, “C’mon. Cheer up.”

“You might be a bad guy..”

“Me? A bad guy? I’m not bad at all. Just looking for someone dear to me.” Materia looked up at him, tears filling her blue eyes, “Eh? What’s this now? Crying?”

“Please, I just want to get out of here. I want to find my friends.” She was now trembling, “Please, help me…”

“Uh.. alright, I will. Just stop crying.” Materia wiped her face then stood tall, “That’s better. Let’s go.” Axel continued walking, leading his new companion up the beach and onto a cliff over looking it. At the end of the path was a cave covered in chalk drawings and unearthened roots from the trees above it. Materia became distracted by a small drawing of two little kids sharing a star. She recognized the shape and pulled her fruit out of her quiver, holding it up to the star in the drawing.

“Sharing a star fruit?” She cooed, turning the fruit in her hand as she pulled away from the drawing. Axel was watching her curiously, then got impatiented. He cleared his throat. Materia stood up, holding the fruit to her chest, and hurried over to the large rock Axel was standing next to. He put his hand on the rock and it dissolved into a void of black and purple.

“Ladies first.” Materia shot him an incredulous look before he shoved her in, “Watch that first step, it’s a doozy.”

*~*Fin*~*

Iris: Lot shorter than I had hoped. But… Axel! Eeeeh! Axel!