((Needed to write something down before this idea breaks my head open. Warnings: KINGDOM HEARTS HEAVY))
Even needed a moment to think.
It had happened that morning; the others and himself had peered into the very first cracks of pure darkness. Not the darkness one would find at night, but the very darkness that existed within every living (and non-living) thing. Dark energy and emotion--anger. Hate. All of it, poured into inky blackness and lurking just beyond the mind's reach.
Yet, they had opened the first door, just a crack, and looked within.
And a sample had been collected.
Even's eyes studied the distant horizon, watching the sun dip below the mountains to the east. The sky had already exploded in shades of pink and red, orange and yellow fading behind the water-color clouds.
Yellow.
An unwanted shiver rushed the scientist's spine, momentarily forcing him to grip the railing before him for support. Yellow like the eyes that had stared at him from the darkness. The others had seen nothing; they had only appeared to him. Dilan and Braig had told him that he had been working too long; after all, it had been
he who had found the door in the first place after three sleepless nights and countless pots of black coffee. It had been
he who discovered the sample--a slender whisp of darkness--as it entered the laboratory.
Once the shiver had passed, Even allowed his body to straighten. The sun had set, and now the sky was deep purple in hue. The night was coming on quickly, and with it, more endless questions. What would the sample yeild? What was it? Pure darkness, or something else?
Thinking of the eyes he had seen, he wondered if they had miscalculated. Was it possible that the darkness--the Darkness--was just as alive as any of them?
"Even!" Ienzo shouted from within. The younger member poked his head out of the door, watching for a moment as his fellow apprentince turned on his heels. The small porch creaked under his weight; it was old, and the wood was starting to warp. "Come inside, quickly--Braig believes he has found something in the sample. Xeh--I mean, Ansem believes so as well."
"Very good," Even replied as he started forward, the darkness of night behind him framing his head like a twisted halo.
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It simply wasn't
fair.Arleen watched from behind a bush, her bright eyes watching the building as one of the figures slipped inside and away from her view. With a pouted lip, the girl swiftly shifted behind another shrub, eyes now focused on the bottom-floor windows. Warm light trickled out into the darkening night. Just beyond the glass, other figures moved.
I belong in there, the young woman thought to herself.
I am just as smart as them. I deserve more than being a baker's daughter, barely able to pay for my tuition...I deserve a better life than that, dammit!Grunting, she pulled her hood over her head to hide her eyes and face. Once she was sure she blended with the shadows and night, she took off in the opposite direction--back toward town.
"One day," she hissed, "I'll prove to that stupid King Ansem that I'm better than those idiots. That
I'm good enough to be studying under him..."
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"Two apples. Bread. And eighty money left to our names. Wonderful."
"Hmmmph. You'll have to try harder tomorrow, Myde. This ain't enough to keep a freakin' fly alive."
"
Me?" Myde said, eyes wide with surprise before narrowing to angered slits. "That's stupid! I'm the one doing all of the work!"
The man's compainion snorted running a slender hand through ash-brown hair. "Na-uh. You know what I'm doing when you keep those idiots entertained with that--what the fuck do you call it?"
"Her name is Sandra, and she's a sitar. A
sitar."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The taller, thinner man waved his partner's words away. "I'm the one putting my life on the line, lifting money and jewelry while you just pluck away on that stupid thing. If I got caught, I'd be lucky to escape with just my hands being sliced off. Fuck. I'd probably be put to death."
Myde clicked his tongue, sighing a bit. "We both would be, Lae. We're partners, 'member? You get caught, so do I."
"Yeah, yeah. I've got it memorized. Just shut up and eat, eh?" Lae ran a hand through his hair again.
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The debt collectors were at his door again. Silently, he motioned toward the stairs. Knowing the drill by now, his wife and twin girls disappeared upstairs while he fixed his tie. There was a knife on the counter; he quickly slipped it, blade pointed down, into the side of his boot. It was cold, even though his socks, and made his ankle stiff as he walked to the door.
After taking a deep breath, the man opened his door. "Ah, welcome. Might I help you?"
"Don't get cheeky with us, Orlud." Both men were large. Large did not cover it. Rather, they were bulky, made of constantly strained skin attempting to keep bludging muscles contained. Even the large, tweed jackets they wore failed to hang off of them in any matter that wasn't considered skin tight. Orlud doubted that any garment in existance would ever fit them properly.
With a sweeping bow, Orlud said in his most poliet tone, "I am not being cheeky, my good sir. I might ask you other questions to prod and poke at your slow wit. That, my friend, would be a cheeky manner. However, since I am a gentleman and a fellow of sport, understanding, and a general decent persona, I will instead invite you both in for tea and a chat, if you would be so kind as to follow me into my home." All of this was said with crisp yet welcoming voice tones, as though he was conducting a simple business meeting, with himself being a large company and the two men being individual, smaller compainies he was ready to devour.
This manner of conducting himself had paid off before, and paid off this night as well. Despite being insulted just a moment before, both debt collectors entered the home, shutting the sturdy door behind them.
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The Royal Guards of the kingdom of Radient Garden stood at attention as the King passed them by. Each saluted, clicked his heels, and stood. This had been drilled into each of their heads since their families had sent them, barely seven years in age, to train in the Guards.
Even now, as the King walked with a large mouse with an overly cheery personality, the Guards did not waver.
It was night time, perhaps too late for a stroll through the royal gardens, but it was not the Royal Guards' place to question this. Nor was it up to the men to wonder where such a strange creature had come from, or why this mouse called King Mickey had come to speak with their own king.
It was not their place to think.
Once the kings had passed, the line of guards relaxed in unison, and returned to what they had been doing before hand. Each turned to face the small holding cell behind them. It was only a box made of stone, with a single window only large enough for a plate of gruel to be slipped through, and a door made of the same sort of stone the walls were.
One of the guards thrust a sword through the window, chuckling as the prisoner inside cried out in pain. The guard in question sliced the sword downward as far as it could go without snapping off, then drew it back. Further glee flooded the man's face as he watched the fresh blood drip from the tip of the metal blade.
From inside of the prison, the prisoner snarled. One pale hand cluched his injured face, the other clawing at the stone door before him. Rage built behind his eyes, building like boiling oil in the depths of his heart.
Isa knew, the moment the door opened--the moment he was taken from this stone hell to be executed, he would kill the guards surrounding him.
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"I am naming your youngest brother as Lord of this land, Lumaria."
Stunned, the oldest son simply stared at his father. "But--" he started, once the feeling had returned to his lips. He quickly regained his compsure, chuckling. He waved his hand in the air. "Father, surely you do not mean that--"
"I do, Lumaria. You are not fit to rule this land, this kingdom, or this castle. You are cruel to anyone not in power..."
The old man's words drifted into a soft buzz as Lumaria lost himself to his own mind. That fool! Who is better to rule than I? I deserve to be king, not that idiot brother of mine...How cursed am I to share the same blood as he? He is stealing what I deserve! Everything had been set--once this fool of a man passes, I was meant to be King! Lord! God!
Damn this old man to Hell and back--This Kingdom will be mine!
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((Okay--about what I just wrote...I've had this idea kicking around in my head for some time. Basically, it's just the backstory behind the Organization. My version, obviously.
Um.
What do you think? Should I continue? Think of this as a first chapter rough draft...or a character introdution, only not really, because the first little section only really dealt with Even and Ienzo...>.> Yeah.))