Valiant Hearts II
Chapter IV
The confrontation I fear
Part I
Peaceful Lives..., right?
“Wow, Olette, take it easy on him.” called a guy with black hair and a red long shirt with a Dog Street label over to a girl.
She had middle-long brown hair, falling over her shoulders and bright green eyes. She was wearing an orange top with clover motives and bright yellow shorts as well regular sneakers.
A guy, blond spiky hair, a black shirt with a skull, worn under a gray vest and green military shorts, was lying on the ground and gasping for air. He had now lost the fifth match in a row and had reached his limits.
“It’s not my fault he is so slow!” complained Olette and walked over to where the guy was laying.
“But you fought pretty well Hayner.” said Olette as she handed him a hand.
Pulling up, still heavily breathing, he smiled and almost tripped when he started walking.
In the past few months, he had learned that this one girl was one hell of natural talent on this game. Because Hayner had lost early on last struggle tournament, Olette wanted to participate too. Soon, she had surpassed her mentor, Hayner, by a vast amount. She was superior on speed and skills, and that compensated more than enough for her lack of stamina on that point.
“Pence, I swear, you should be so dratted happy you're not playing sandbag for her, because that’s what I feel like out there. It’s like she’s not human or something.” complained the blonde as he waved around in the direction Olette was standing.
“I heard that, Hayner!” shouted the brunette back and put their struggle bats back to where they did belong.
“I'm gonna get some ice cream.” said Hayner as he ran off.
Pence, the guy with black hair, just stood there and had to suppress the urge to start laughing. That was such a obvious lie. He just didn't want to admit defeat to Olette. It was, in his view, a shame to get beaten in struggle by a girl.
The next tournament was coming up soon, and there were only two days left to practice. They had to take any given chance to get better. However, after facing the fact that Olette had surpassed him, he was all motivated and eager to get better.
“He ran off again? Did he totally forget that we wanted to go to the dusk-quarter to check out those rumors?” asked the girl and sighed.
Hayner wasn't the brightest, but sometimes even she had to wonder about his messy behavior. Pence, was not as bad, but he tended to be somewhat lazy. If Olette wasn't around, they would never even come to the conclusion that summer vacation was almost over and that they had to do their homework.
“Homework sucks. And I bet he ran off on purpose. Would be totally like him.” noted Pence and looked at Olette.
There had been some rumors going around that Seifer had a thing for her, and she turned him down repeatedly. He was afraid to ask when Hayner was around because he and Seifer were like oil and water.
“Say, is it true that you turned down that idiot Seifer?” asked Pence, when they started walking off in the direction of the meeting point.
“Yeah, four times. He is like super persistent. I don't even know what's so super about me that he keeps coming back.” said Olette in an annoying tone.
“I mean. He doesn't ever say what's so nice about me, but just keeps asking me to be his girlfriend. I would rather have Hayner as boyfriend than him. Not like I have a thing for him either, don't worry” said she furthermore.
“Oh no! We totally forgot to buy the tickets. Did you bring the money Pence? And don't tell me you have it Hayner?” said the girl startled.
“Uh... well, that is... I didn't think he would just run off and-” explained the black haired guy.
Olette had to sigh. Hayner was a catastrophe when it came down to money.
“Speaking of the devil, he is coming back. And I can't see any ice cream.” mentioned Pence as casual as possible.
“Hey guys, I got our tickets. We have another hour until the train is leaving.”yelled Hayner when he was still about fifty feet away.
Olette brightened a bit up and waved at him. At least he had still some common sense left.
“So, what are we gonna do until the train leaves? Don't tell me you want to go back to training. One more match and I'm gonna bite the dust.” said Hayner with a questioning look.
“Nah, I demolished you enough for today.” said Olette with a big evil smirk on her face, and all three of them had to laugh.
“But we really could get some ice cream. I got some money left from helping out at the accessory shop. It's my treat, be happy.” grinned the brunette and ran off towards the station.
Olette had already bought the ice cream when Pence and Hayner made it there. There was no one in the whole town that was faster than her.
“Let’s sit in our usual spot with its better view and all.” said Hayner and looked at the station tower.
They always would sit there, looking at the astonishing horizon. It was their spot and no one else ever bothered to go up there.
“Agreed.” said Pence, and Olette didn't mind anyway. She loved the scenery from up there.
Sitting up there was always combined with an amazing view on the town. The roofs of the houses were shining in the sun, bathing the whole town in mild twilight. This was their favorite place to hang out if they weren't at their private meeting point.
“At least we're gonna finish the homework before the tournament. I really don't want to do it afterwards. I'll be totally busted. I heard that Seifer and Rai are participants too. This one is gonna be really hard.” said Olette.
She was hoping not to face Seifer. His repeated attempts to confess and impress her had all failed, and he really got on her nerves. But Olette didn't want to fight Hayner either. He was her friend after all. That left out Rai, and she didn't know anything about his fighting style.
“We're gonna win this one Olette. We'll both make it to the finals, that way we will win anyway and can split the prize between us three.” bragged Hayner.
Olette was looking towards the sun when she saw something that attracted her attention. A bright light sparkle could be seen from behind the trees, where the old mansion was.Was she hallucinating? There was no one living there for ages, and the place was locked and deserted.
“Guys, did you see that, over there where the old mansion is. I just saw some odd sparks. Like as…if someone did it” asked Olette and looked at her friends.
“Nope, didn't see a thing. Are you alright? That's not like you, seeing things” blurted Pence.
“Didn't see anythin' either. You're not making this up are you?” the blond guy provoked Olette.
She didn't. That had definitely happened. She would check that out tomorrow, if the guys would be calling her crazy or not.
---Valiant Hearts---
The dusk-quarter was not as lively as the main town, but it was a pretty popular place to hang out.
However, today they weren't here to hang out there. They had to look for those rumors about some wonders. Which was much easier said than done. Hayner kept stalling the group so Olette left on her own to look for the wonders.
“Let’s see... one wonder was the stairs at the train station would count different every time you walk up and down... what?” read Olette from the notes that Pence had made.
With an annoyed look, Olette walked down the stairs once and walked back up, just to come to the conclusion that the stair had exact twenty-seven steps.
Most likely, someone with terrible math knowledge was the root of that rumor.
“That leaves six others.” Olette thought out aloud and looked at the notes.
But wherever she looked, there was at all places a rational explanation for it. The wall that spouts balls was just someone making bubbles; the ghost voice was just Vivi practicing in the underground passage. The doppelganger was just a reflection in a little artificial waterfall in a garden and the living bag was just a dog that was imprisoned in a way over-sized bag, jumping around.
“That leaves only the ghost-train and the girl on the window story. I bet those are bogus too, but I need to look them up anyway. It's probably just some odd fixture in front of the window for the last one, and the ghost-train is just made up.” said the girl to herself.
While on her way to the hill from where people could see the coming trains, she played with a pendant that she was wearing on a necklace. It was an old keepsake, apparently from her grandma, that she must have gotten while she was very little. She had it always with her and felt secure when she had it. It was a little yellow head of a lion, cute and yet somewhat cool. Pence had once asked her to take it off, but she wore it even when she was showering or sleeping. It had immeasurable worth for her, and she would not give it away.
Olette had finally made it up to the hill and was waiting for an eventually appearing ghost train. That must be totally bogus. How would a train without someone to control it move anyway?
The time flew by and there was nothing coming. Olette grew gradually bored of waiting and lay down in the grass. It was still hot out and the girl was already tired of waiting. Whenis this train going to come? Slowly, her mind drifted.
Olette stood on a tower that was almost entirely made of glass, a place she had seen more and more often recently. She was not afraid, not at all. That had been only the first few times been the case. But there was something different compared to visits in the past a significant difference, which changed anything. She was not alone here.
A voice echoed through her head. Something she never had heard before, indefinable and at the same time very clear. As if one couldn’t hear the voice but understand what she is saying.
“You will soon reach the door that will decide your fate. Don't be afraid, don't hesitate, then the door will waver if you doubt yourself. While light is your horse, the darkness is your way. But do not fear that way, because you are the key that will open the door.” clanged through Olette's head.
She was a bit confused. If that was supposed to be some sort of riddle, she really didn't like it. Was it a prophecy? But from whom? This was really messed up. Yet before Olette could ask anything, the sound of a train woke her up.
“What... ah... the train... must have got a heat stroke from lying here all the time…” mumbled the girl as she tried to get up.
Lately, she had been having those weird dreams, dreams of standing on the top of a tower of glass, surrounded by darkness. There was nothing else, nobody else, not one thing beside her. She didn't get the meaning of those dreams, if they really were dreams, that is.
Olette was laying face-down in the grass and had been asleep for over two hours. The big clock on the station showed that it was past eight. She wondered why Hayner and Pence didn't come looking for her. But when she looked around, it struck her with shock. The whole town was frozen. Not in the icy way, but time was standing still.
“Just what is going on?!” asked Olette out aloud.
This was now beyond weird. First that dream, the voice and now the whole town was standing still. That was way out of the normal. And why could she move at all?
Holding her keepsake in her left hand, she started to look around and not only were the people still but, it seemed that the whole town had stopped moving.
For a brief moment, she thought she saw the whole town waver and start moving again. Did that just now really happen? Did she really have a heat stroke? That would certainly explain what just happened. After all, it was ridiculous to think that a whole town just stopped.
Still with a slight headache about the very recent events, the brunette walked back to the station. And there were Hayner and Pence, standing around. Why were they still-?
“Hey, Olette, you're just in time. The train is gonna leave any moment.” shouted Hayner and he, turned around and ran to the station.
What? Just in time? She was two hours past the appointed time and- Her view shifted to the clock. It was about to hit six o' clock.
“What? But.. I was just now on the hill and... I was sure of that...” stammered Olette.
This didn't make any sense, not in the slightest. But she blamed it on the heat stroke. That must be it. She had just misjudged the time, didn't look close enough. There was no way that such an event really could happen... right?
“Olette, we're going to miss the train. Hurry up!” called Pence and he ran after Hayner.
“Heat stroke. Heat stroke. Must be it... that must be it. Yeah...” muttered Olette and she shook her head.
“Weird day, too weird I hope nothing like that happens at the struggle tournament.” were her last comment before she ran after her friends.
She would check the Mansion out tomorrow. The sparks, the dreams, what just had happened, maybe all that was connected together. Olette had to find out.
None of them said particularly much on the train. Olette was exhausted and the others were unusually quiet. The brunette decided to leave them be. Maybe they were also just exhausted. She just let them be and let her thoughts roam free. They would probably think she was overworked or something.
The train made its way slowly over to the main town. There wasn't much left to do today, just finishing the homework. Olette already knew that Hayner would skip that part and vanish to somewhere else, eating ice cream. One day he would explode from all that stuff, that for sure.
Pence would be a help, but his handwriting was at best terrible. So she had to write while Pence was summarizing the information about the wonders.
“We're still missing the seventh wonder. Want to go, check it out now?” asked the black haired guy.
She had planned it for the next day, but they could as well go now. That way, they would have finished the homework and Olette and Hayner could concentrate on the struggle tournament.
“Sure, let's go. The last rumor…the old mansion; the girl on the window, when did that rumor come up anyway? I’ve never heard of it before.” said the brunette.
They were both walking through the market, towards the crack in the big wall which connected the market with the old mansion, and talking about that one particular last rumor.
“Dunno. I just heard it recently. They say you can see a girl standing behind the window although that place has been sealed off. Maybe it's… a ghost!” said Pence trying to scare Olette.
That only earned him a decent glare from the brunette. How old was he, ten? As if ghost stories really would happen. Those were stories for children, to scare them to not to stay up too long.
While Pence continued with his ghost stories, Olette looked around. She wasn't one that would believe ghost stories unless one really would appear before her. The market was full with people that did last minute shopping, and she was happy that her part-time job at the accessory shop was only from morning till after-noon, and that only three days a week. However, there was something that caught her attention.
Two figures in black robes were standing not too far from where the entrance to the old mansion was. Were they outsiders? But what would they want there? Olette looked over at Pence, but although he looked in the exact same direction as she did before, he didn't seem to see those figures. And when Olette looked back, they had... vanished. She looked around in curiosity but they were nowhere to be found. Did they enter the crack and were on their way to the mansion?
“Pence, did you just see those two... guys I think, in black robes? They were standing near the crack in the big wall, looking at it.” asked Olette her friend.
“Nope. Didn't see a thing. You sure you're alright? You’re acting pretty odd today.” replied Pence and he gave her a questioning look.
It was not just her that acted odd. It was the whole world around her. Maybe she really was overworked. But, did she really just imagine those two people?
When they reached the crack, and the short forest behind it, Olette continued to look around. There was no sign at all of those guys. Maybe she should give it a rest. Just checking out the mansion and then leaving it at that. Olette couldn't afford to see things that didn't exist. The struggle tournament was just a blink of an eye away. She had to be in top condition for that.
“Say Olette, I've never bothered before, but what’s this necklace thing that you steadily wear? Some sort of present? I’ve never noticed it before. Is it new?” asked Pence out of the blue.
New? Olette had worn it since before she even knew Hayner and Pence. She didn't even remember from where she got it exactly or when. Olette just... had it. It belonged to her, and she didn’t feel whole without it. How could Pence have never noticed it before?
“I’ve worn this every since I could think of. How did you manage to overlook that?” asked Olette back.
“Beats me, I just never noticed. It's pretty cool. Suits you.” replied Pence and didn't pay any further attention to it.
He had only asked out of curiosity. There wasn't any special meaning to it.
They had reached the mansion gate. It was still locked but it looked different than how it used to look. The garden, once wild and full of flora was pretty worn down. It was as if someone had been detonating bombs there. It looked pretty terrible. Olette wanted to have a closer look and climbed the gate. Once she was through, the full extent of the ravage that had been going on here came into view. This was clearly the work of someone. And it must have happened recently.
“Wow, Olette, come back. I'm never gonna make it over that huge gate. And who knows if there's someone in there.” shouted Pence as he looked around.
This wasn't good, Olette didn't hear a thing. She was completely caught by her discovery. Someone had to live in there! And she would find out who and why. Finally one of the rumors wasn't totally bogus.
Climbing a statue that was standing in the garden, she tried to look into one of the windows of the first floor. If there wasn't anyone in there, she would have to go look from the inside.
But there was someone! A girl with blond hair was sitting on a little chair, apparently drawing. Olette wanted to see more, to get a closer look, but lost her grip and was falling. The statue was about four meters tall and beyond her was just plain stone ground.
Desperately trying to find a halt, she screamed out. Pence had been right. This was really a stupid idea! She was about to hit the ground and...
---Valiant Hearts---
“Axel, are you okay?” Naminè asked.
Just a few minutes ago, one of the Organization XIII members had found them.
“So Axel, you're really going to betray the Organization?” asked a blond man. He had a over-sized guitar-like instrument with him and talked to Axel. He didn't try to ambush them or kill them. Not yet.
“I can't agree with what the superior is doing with that girl. Even for the plan, it's not worth killing one of our own kind. And she is special too. So get the hell out of here, before I actually kick your ass, Demyx.” warned the redhead the chaser of the Organization
“Wow, wow. Calm down. I'm not going to attack you. That's Xigbar's job. I'm just the messenger” replied the strange man as he drew a little piece of paper from this robe.
“Lets see... ah here. 'Axel. This is Xigbar. You have the choice to save your miserable ass. Kill the girl and pledge with that your loyalty to the Organization If you refuse, we will take the girl by force and kill you. You have two days to think it over' is what he is saying. I'm gonna take my leave now before you lose it. Your face looks like you're about to bite me. See ya, or not’” read the man the paper and vanished into the dark, seconds before Axel's flaming chakrams hit the spot where Demyx had been standing.
Naminè had found him after that, standing in the entry hall. She had observed the whole scene from behind the window on the first floor.
“That asshole Xigbar, that’s one of his poor plans. As if he would spare me. Best joke ever.” the former guard swore.
“But yeah, I'm fine Naminè. But this is gonna be a real pain in the ass. Xigbar will probably send someone after you while I hold him off. But the paths are blocked. I have no idea how we're going to get out of this.” the man shrugged and turned around
That was really bad. How would they get out of there? Unless some miracle happened, this would be pretty bad.
“I'm sure we'll be fine. Don't give up, Axel” encouraged Naminè. “I'm sure it will.”
---Valiant Hearts---
“Ahhhh... huh?!” screamed Olette.
She was in her bed, at home. How? What just happened? She... fell from the statue, right and should have hit the ground. Was that all a dream? And why did all those weird things happen just before the important struggle tournament?
It was completely beyond her. There are weird things happening to her.
Taking her keepsake, she looked closely at it. What should she do? There must be some reason why all that stuff happened
“What should I do?” she asked the pendant.
Every time she had worries or problems she couldn't talk about with Hayner or Pence, she would ask the keepsake. Sometimes, she just stumbled across the answer when doing it.
And for a moment, she believed to see the pendant shining oddly, as if answering. Rubbing her eyes, sure she that was just sleepy; she gave it another close look seemed normal. Did she lose her mind? Maybe she was just nervous because of the upcoming tournament. Yeah, that must be it.
“I bet it's all gonna be okay. I'm making a much bigger deal out of all this than I should.” the girl sighed.
A bit later, Olette met Hayner and Pence at the sandlot. There was only one day left to train. They would definitely make it to the finals. It was a promise.
When the brunette was still around thirty feet away, Hayner pointed at her and called her a sleepyhead. Apparently it was already an hour past the appointed time.
Did she really oversleep that much? Or did time play a prank on her? Whatever it was, they had get going.
Olette picked up her struggle bat and so did Hayner.
Pence was playing the judge and took his safety margin. Olette used to send Hayner flying across the field sometimes. He had been once hit by a Hayner bullet and that was more than enough.
“We'll do a three minute round. Testing your stamina. That’s your only weak point. Give it your best shot, Olette” Hayner explained and took a few steps back.
Pence counted to three and the match began.
First move was made by Olette. She rushed at Hayner, hitting him hard in the stomach, followed by two horizontal hits at the legs and finished with a spin-hit on the chest area which pretty much ribbed Hayner of his breath.
Olette was too fast for anyone to block her attacks and was not weak either. But her big weak point was that she was always going all-out. She would get tired halfway through the match, which was usually enough time for her to collect almost all of the foes spheres.
However, she tried a different approach this time. It was a three minute match, almost double the length of a usual round.
Hayner tried to counter with a three-way combo on the hands and chest area but the brunette was too fast and saw his moves way before he even made his second hit and was behind him.
Taking the bat with both hands, she spun around, hitting Hayner repeatedly with the bat and then finishing with a brutal thrust in the back, which sent Hayner flying to the ground.
“How's that!” shouted the girl and gasping for air.
Struggle was a very exhausting sport, but she was really good. Even Hayner, which was one of the favorites for the finals this year, had no chance against her.
Before he was back on his feet and ready to attack, Olette continued her attack series and this time, Hayner was down to fifteen spheres while Olette had already over two-hundred. This wasn't even funny anymore.
“Ooookay. That's it. Match over!” Pence called out to them.
Three minutes had passed and Olette was showing barely more signs of exhaustion than usual. They took a five minute break to get Hayner back on his feet.
Olette in the meantime had picked up a second struggle bat. She always had the ability to do anything exactly equally good with her right or left hand.
“Wow, you're not gonna use two struggle bats at once, do you?” Hayner asked.
That would mean twice the hits to get and half as much chance to actually win. There wasn't a rule about using more than one bat at a time. People only were prohibited to throw bats or use any weapon other than a struggle bat.
“I just want to try it. Maybe I'll have a bigger chance of beating the champion if I use two at the same time.” she replied.
After the break, Pence called an unlimited practice match. They wouldn't use struggle spheres, just testing out Olette's new fighting style.
“You two ready?” Pence called.
Both gave a nod, and the match started.
It then became suddenly clear that two bats were a huge advantage and disadvantage at once. While Olette couldn't hit as hard with two bats at once compared to when she could only wield one, she could hold much much longer combos. There was an obvious lack of power with only holding each bat in one hand.
First to hit was his right leg and his left hand. How should he block two bats at once? Next she did a spin, repeatedly hitting his chest area, then using with her right a thrust on the chest while with her left hitting his legs. He immediately lost balance and his defense was wide open. The hits didn't hurt at all, but the speed was even higher than before. Being unstable, she continued the already insane long hit series with a double vertical hit on the chest, followed by a finish of a thrust in the stomach and a final hit on the chest.
Hayner was practically stunned although he didn't feel much pain at all. There was not much power behind those hits, but they came too fast to react and too many at once to block or even counter
Pence called the match off, seeing that Olette was a natural talent at fighting with both hands.
“Holy, Olette, you really are some struggle monster. I've never seen anyone picking up two-bats and even fighting like hat before. Come; help me drag Hayner over there. He is still in Trance from being owned by a girl. Though, he should have gotten used to it already.” laughed Pence.
Olette put the bats away and helped the black haired guy to carry Hayner.
“Did you ever do some sort of... super-secret training Olette? Because even for a natural talent, that just now is pushing the limits of believable” asked Pence as he sat down on a bench.
The brunette shook her head. She never had done any training at that. Maybe a bit playing around, but never really tried with the notion of using it in a struggle match. Olette herself was amazed that she could fight like that. It must be fate.
“Nope. Never. But that’s amazing, don't you think? If I could learn to put a little bit more force in my hits-” Hayner moaned and got back to his senses, directly finishing the sentence. “—you might get disqualified. I didn't even know what was going on after you spinning around with those bats. I thought I was about to bite the dust.” Hayner complained.
All three of them had to laugh. Hayner would always make such comments after he lost a match. But he didn't like Olette less because of it. He really found it a shame to be beaten that badly by a girl.
For that day, they continued the training for quite some time. Four hours had passed since they started and both struggle participants were completely worn out.
“Let’s... stop for today. I'm not sure if I can even eat ice cream at this rate.” Hayner asked the brunette whom was no less exhausted.
“Yeah... okay. I'm in no condition to continue this either. Phew. You really have some incredible stamina Hayner.” Olette replied and sat down.
“Talk about going overboard you two.” said Pence and he stood between them.
“Hey, we're gonna be as much prepared as possible. Or don't you want us to win Pence. Huuh? Huuuuh?” Olette asked and leaned forward towards Pence.
“Wow, hold your horses, of course I want that one of you two win the tournament. But if you beat Hayner anymore, he is going to sleep the whole day tomorrow from exhaustion.” said her friend and she pointed over to Hayner.
“Hey, I can still hear you!” the blond guy complained and came slowly over to where Olette and Pence were standing.
“So, no more training for today?” the black haired guy asked.
“No. Or else I will pass out on the ground” replied Hayner and he put his bat away.
He wanted ice cream now. He really was gonna explode from it one day.
“I'm gonna get some ice cream. Pence, Olette, you coming along?” Hayner asked.
“I'm gonna check something out. You two can go ahead. Laters.” replied Olette and she ran off.
She would take a look at the mansion, again. There was definitely something wrong there. Being left alone, the two guys just walked slowly in direction of where the station was.
The brunette girl had reached the crack in the big wall. Every single muscle was burning from the training. While fighting with two bats was very effective, it put a lot of stress on both body and mind. And the upcoming headache was certainly something she didn't want to think about now.
The forest was empty as ever, and Olette was rather puzzled when she saw the garden of the mansion as green and okay as ever. Did she imagine that it had been downright burned down?
Full of doubt, Olette tried to open the door. It was locked and won't budge a bit, no matter how hard she tried. She didn't dare to climb the statue again, so all she could do was watching the window from the garden.
There wasn't anyone. Was of this was real? Had all of this just been a heat stroke, a piece of her imagination? There wasn't any answer to this, but it irritated Olette to no end that it was this way.
After minutes of watching a empty window, she gave up. For now, she had to concentrate on the struggle tournament. There was no time to be bugged by this.
After Olette turned around and had climbed over the mansion gate, she took a last look at the windows. Nothing. Not in any of them.
“I... no, never mind” said the brunette and left. When she was out of reach, a blond girl was looking through the window, half hidden by the curtain.
The rest of the day continued as normal as the whole forenoon, normal for Olette's standardsat least. They ate ice cream, sat up on the station tower, and talked about nothing and everything. The next day would be chaotic enough for an entire week.
---Valiant Hearts---
“Did she see you?” the man asked and looked outside the window.
There was no one there.
“I don't think so. But I wonder if she knows that we're hiding here” he replied.
It would be better if not. Axel didn't want to drag the townspeople in this dispute. Naminè would rather care for them not to get hurt than worrying about herself.
“Really doubt that. I've told you. This world is artificial and so are the people. I don't know who set this world up and why, but he probably doesn't want outsiders to interfere with his project. So, even if she did see us, it won't matter. Got it memorized?” Axel explained.
The Organization had done some research on this world before. But there wasn't a necessity to tell her all that. The most important fact was, this was the hideout of someone that didn't want something to be found. And it must be something very important.
“Maybe she will come again” Naminè said and tried to remember how she looked.
“I guess she will. There is something about her... something that doesn't seem right” the former guard said and turned to the girl.
“I'm going to look around Maybe there is still a path open” Axel said and left.
---Valiant Hearts---
And once again, she was on the tower of glass.
The differences to last time became conspicuous at once. The ground was not longer just plain glass with nothing under it but the unknown. Six huge ornaments, made out of all kinds of different colors were embossed on the ground. Also, she could feel the tension in the air. It was, as if something was trying to consume this place. A feeling one only gets when something really bad is out there.
Olette had to walk around, had to look from a different angle, but the bigger ornaments were definitely the portrait of girls, while the others seemed to be those of some weapons.
There were even as much detail that her eye and hair colors made of different color stained glass.
The first she looked at was located in the center of the tower. Although she had a really serious look about her, she was still really pretty. That girl had reddish hair and blue eyes. The figure located under this one was that of a blade that resembled a over sized key. It was white and pure and crossed over a heart.
The one right of the red haired one was that of another girl, blond and far from looking serious. She was more really bright and calm. The same blue eyes, as the other one though. Maybe those two were related. She was just as pretty, but in a different way. More... graceful the weapon figure below was a different kind of the same art of weapon. It was entirely gray and crossed over a fireball.
The ornament on the left side was an empty field. But why was it empty? It was as if something really important was missing there.
Olette couldn't figure it out, but the figure below showed two of those blades crossed above a shield. One was entirely golden while the other was a wild mixture of gray and golden tunes.
Slightly confused by the sudden appearance of those ornaments, this was the first time she had ever seen them, there was something else there.
The voice she had heard for the first time earlier that day. And she was asking her.
“What is important to you? Friends, power or knowledge? You decide upon your fate. But be ware, one choice is all you have. You can't go back. Now, choose what you want the most.”
Before her appeared three doors, leaving her the choice.
The first door was white, plain and clean, and a emblem of an fireball was embossed in it. Written on the door self were small words, barely readable on it:
This is the door to great knowledge and wisdom. It will bring you control over the elements, a vast force of magic for you to control. But you have to look out that this force will not destroy you.
The second door was red, sparkled with stars and a keyhole in the middle of it. This time, the emblem was two hands, holding each other. Even here was something written:
This is the door to friendship and love. It will give you stronger determination than everyone you know and the power to reach your goal, no matter how far away in the darkness it may be. But you have to look out for the darkness self not to destroy you, and then you will have to walk among her.
Thinking that this all was a little bit creepy, Olette walked down to the last door. The door to knowledge and wisdom wasn't her type of choice. She was smart but not a sage. And the door to friendship was just creepy. To walk among the darkness itself, that was certainly one dangerous path.
The last door was black and orange and beyond that, there was nothing drawn on it or engraved the emblem was two blades, shaped like keys, crossing each other. Again, the text described the door:
This is the door to power and might. It will give you greater strength than anyone else. You will be able to wield any weapon, to fight any enemy, to beat whoever opposes you. But you need to watch out, not to misjudge your power and hurt your allies or even fall to the thirst of even greater power.
There was only this one left. And it didn't sound so bad either. She just would need to watch her own abilities and knows her limits. This seemed to be the easiest of the doors, and also the only one that would suit her. She had always wanted to have more power, to be stronger, to fight even the most powerful opponent in a battle.
Slowly, Olette pushed the door open, and walked through it. A bright, dazzling light blinded her when she had reached the other side, giving her the feeling of being ripped apart.
“Ha... what... is going on... where...” Olette coughed and tried to catch her breath.
Sitting straight upright in her bed, she tried to calm down. What the hell had just happened? The bright light had vanished and for a brief moment, an unbearable pain ran through her body and then suddenly vanished.
Was she... back in her room? Or did she... wake up? Whatever it was, this was not the time for this.
Olette had gone to bed early. She had to catch up on sleep. The last week had been really busy with the preparation for the tournament.
This was the most unsuitable time possible. How was she supposed to rest properly this way? And that was not all. The voice had been talking to her again too.
Was that really just a dream? If so, it was no ordinary one. She could feel the door, the resistance of it to open. Usually, you could not really feel and exactly remember dreams this way.
It was plain dark out. It must be the middle in the night. She just wanted to go back to sleep, wishing for a plain blank dream, uneventful and refreshing.
Olette tried to go back to sleep immediately but failed. It took her another hour to think about that stupid dream of hers until she fell asleep.
She couldn't see that her keepsake was glowing in a timid light, gradually becoming weaker.
---Valiant Hearts---
The next day, the day of the tournament was finally here.
Olette opened her windows, looking at the town. This would be her first time in an official struggle match, and she was very excited. She absolutely had to make it to the finals.
Getting ready for the match, the brunette made herself omelets for breakfast and took her time. She wasn't one to get up early, and tended to be a bit slow in the morning.
Not much later, she met Hayner and Pence at the sandlot, one of them already registered in the tournament and eagerly waiting for his first match, the other cheering. They would be small fry anyway, but Olette wished him good luck before she went for her own registration.
“You're going to participate too this year?” asked the man at registration.
“Yeah, I'm going to reach the finals for sure.” Olette bragged and looked around
There were a lot of people, lots and lots of people, but they hadn't practiced like slaves to lose.
“Okay, you're in the B block. First match is going to start in about fifteen minutes” replied the man and gave her a piece of paper with her number.
“Number 33, I like the sound of that.” noted Olette and she walked back to where Hayner and Pence were standing.
“Hey, Olette, I just won my first match. The opponent was so weak, I couldn't believe it!” Hayner euphorically said.
“You're just damn strong from training with me all the time, smart ass.” Olette grinned and gave him a smile.
“When’s your match starting?” Pence asked.
“In about fifteen minutes. When’s your next match Hayner?” Olette replied.
Olette couldn't wait and looked around the B block. Hopefully there was someone strong in there. She didn't want to fight a lot of weak opponents. That would just be awful for the others. Not hearing Hayner's answer, her view fell on Seifer and his gang. It seemed that not only Seifer but also Vivi and Rai were participating.
The time flew by, and her first match flew by just as fast as it had come. Her opponent was even slower than Hayner, and she just hit him with one combo, only using one struggle bat, and then just avoiding direct contact. Olette had to preserve some stamina for the final. There was no break after the preliminary rounds.
The next opponent and the three after that were just as weak and Olette started to complain that her matches were far too easy. But the next one was against Rai from Seifer's gang and also the last match before she would reach the finals.
“You're so goin' to lose this one, y'know?” bragged the quite muscular guy. She had to avoid getting hit too much. He was faster, much faster, than Hayner and would most likely just hit as hard as he.
The match was about to start. For this one, Olette already used two bats, which earned her interested looks from the audience. There was rarely ever one that would fight with two bats and in most cases, they were just people that wanted to brag in the early preliminary rounds.
“You two ready? I want to see a fair game” the judge said with a look at the brunette.
Both of them nodded, and the match was running.
With a sudden rush, Olette pushed forwards, quite a bit faster than anticipated and almost lost control. Rai was about to take her head on, and she had no chance of winning in that case. Making a swift turn, she switched to a side position and hit his legs repeatedly before he blocked her attempt and Olette went over to a thrust at his chest, which had a surprising strong effect. Did she grow some muscles over night or something?
However, Rai had lost a lot of his spheres, and Olette already had collected most of them. The match would only take about another minute, so all she had to do in order to win was run. But that was for cowards.
Rushing at him, packed with spheres, she used an old maneuver to rip him off balance and then send him flying with a six-hit combo that ended in a crossed hit on the back area.
Rai almost flew out of the ring and was stunned for a moment. Not even Fuu had nearly as much power as this girl. And she was fast as hell too. Rai had no chance of winning this.
The match was declared over as Rai threw his Bat out of the ring and therefore surrendered.
Olette saw Hayner and Pence cheering for her and gave those two a smile. That had been surprisingly easy, a tad too easy. Where did all this power come from all of a sudden?
“Could it be... that dream wasn't... no, no time for such things. I'm in the finals, yeah!” Olette jubilated and jumped on the spot.
The matches of the C block had yet to end, so there was a break of about ten minutes for her.
“My next opponent is Seifer, while Hayner has to fight against Vivi. I sure hope he makes it to the final. It would be great if we could settle who is better in the final!” Olette said to herself.
But there was now something else that claimed her attention. A guy, dressed in a black robe, was running past the struggle field. Just when Olette was about to ignore it, the very same girl that she had seen on the ornament on the glass tower, with the same weapon, was in close pursuit of the guy in black, accompanied by a woman.
Olette got up and started running after them. They would surely have a explanation for all the weird stuff that had been happening lately. They were quite fast and had quite a margin. She didn't have time for this but wanted to know really badly. She would still be able to make it back in time if she hurried.
“I'll be back in a second” she called over to Hayner and Pence.
That second would be of the long-lasting kind.
---Valiant Hearts---
“Are you sure this world is connected to the home world of the so-called Organization XIII?” asked Yuffie the brown haired woman.
“I'm sure Cid did the calculations properly.” said Aerith as she looked around
It seemed to be underground way. This was perfect. Nobody would see them enter and leave this world.
Kairi was standing not too far away from said gateway, looking around There was nothing suspicious here, and no trace of heartless or nobodies either.
They had found out a lot from the data that Cid had gathered.
Organization XIII, also called Veracious, which was very ironical, considering their nature. They had been collecting hearts all over the worlds, and even worked against the heartless to the hearts faster and more efficient. They had also data on the Keyblade, which stated that it was the most efficient way to gather hearts for 'the plan'.
What that plan was, they didn't know. Cid didn't get anything. But they had learned a lot about their nature.
Nobodies are beings that are created when a strong heart gets engulfed by darkness, or a hearts shard is fused with it. In the first case, the person becomes a heartless and he leaves an empty shell without emotion that is able to move on its own. They even think, plot and pretend to have emotions, to fool others. The second case involved a special process to split a shard of the heart without destroying it. That was all they knew about that. They only knew it was possible to create a Nobody without becoming a heartless.
Kairi had wondered if Sora and Riku, both being prisoner of the darkness, had created their Nobody. They were said to look alike and have a twisted version of their personality, even have the same traits and abilities.
“I bet Aerith's nobody would be 25much like Tifa” said Yuffie and she had a really big smirk on her face.
“That’s really mean Yuffie. Tifa and I may have opposite traits, but that’s exactly the reason we like each other” Aerith said and started to giggle. “Your nobody would probably be like Leon”
Yuffie's jaw dropped. “Whaaat? How could you say such a thing?” she said.
The thought of that alone gave her goose bumps.
Kairi had to suppress the urge to laugh, because they were both right. What would her Nobody look like? Would she also be able to use a Keyblade? That would only be logical, if they had the same abilities as their originals. That could be the reason the Organization wanted her to accomplish their plan. But what was this plan anyway? What could they use all those hearts for? It was a twist of fate that eliminating the heartless was helping the nobodies.
“Kairi, I fear we have a problem. The portal refuses to close. Can you try to seal it with your Keyblade?” Aerith called Kairi back into reality.
That had never happened before. Why maintain the gateway itself for so long? Usually it should have been closed minutes ago.
With a shrug, the redhead directed Oathkeeper at the portal, trying to close it.
But nothing happened and that was certainly not good. If someone would see the portal, or worse, walk through it would violate the world order. It was always a great help if one or two people of the group from Hollow Bastion came along, but it also violated the world order, so they had to keep their numbers small.
In the beginning, Tifa had wanted to come along as well, but there was also the risk that the Organization would attack Hollow Bastion. Aerith had a little argument with Tifa but talked her down in the end. She convinced Leon that it was a better idea if she also accompanied Kairi instead of just Yuffie. That was enough to put Tifa at least a bit at ease but she was still grumpy. However, they also needed powerful people to fight back if the Organization would attack their world.
“Yuffie, will you stay on guard? I'm going with Kairi to look for clues on the Organization I'll call you over the communicator that Cid gave us before we leftif anything happens.” asked Aerith the ninja girl.
“It's called WIC, for heavens sake. Wireless world independent communicator. Remember it.” said Yuffie sarcastically as she pointed at Kairi. “You say something too.”
But Kairi decided not to answer and dismissed the Keyblade, which returned to the shape of a key ring pendant.
“We'll go look around. Don't sleep on guard Yuffie!” reminded Kairi the black haired girl.
“I'm not Leon!” she yelled and made a sulking face. Why did she of all people have to stay guard? Sure, Aerith was much closer to Kairi than Yuffie, but it was her job to gather information.
It had already been ten minutes since Kairi and Aerith had left to check out the Town. Yuffie was bored to no end. There was nothing here to guard. The portal would most likely fall down any second. But the moment she decided to walk off, something put her on alert.
There was someone of the Organization XIII, a guy with spiky hair and wearing a black robe. She had noticed him when he had observed her from the other side of the hallway, from behind a corner.
Yuffie immediately called Leon over the communicator while chasing the unknown.
“Aerith, we have a problem. The Organization is here too. He saw the portal that refuses to close and is running south from where the gateway is. I'm following him over the roofs. Yuffie out.”
Kairi had heard it all. They were here. That must mean they were on a hot trace. Without any further words, the Keyblader ran off and Aerith followed her closely.
---Valiant Hearts---
Today was some sort of festival in the town, so he could easily go around and look for other ways to leave this world, and that’s when he saw her.
The girl he had saved on Naminè's wish. Why was she here? And on top of that, there was another woman with her, and that was not good. She looked rather nice, but appearance was something that could fool just about anyone.
Avoiding being seen, he made it safe into the underground passage those two had just left. They would meet the other townsfolk if they continued to go in that direction, but that didn't matter anymore. Only one girl had been left alone to guard the portal the Keyblader was using. For some reason, it was still open but that didn't matter either. He saw his chance to not only save Naminè but his own ass too. It was just a stupid coincidence that this black haired girl noticed him and was now in pursuit. She must been one of those people from Hollow Bastion. However, she wouldn't just listen to him when he tried to explain what he wanted. Not after the Organization had tried to kill them.
“That's so very uncool. Now I'm officially in deep shit” Axel stated.
He didn't know yet just how deep really.
---Valiant Hearts---
“Everything ready for the assault?” Xigbar asked.
“Yeah sure, oh great Xigbar. We worked like slaves to get it ready in time. But why are we gonna attack him now anyway? Isn't the time we stated still a day off?” a blond man asked.
“That’s the big idea. Do you really think just because I ordered you to tell him so I would keep it that way? We're supposed to kill him, whether he kills the girl or not. Axel will not get out of this alive.” explained a very annoyed Xigbar.
Saïx had his face hidden under his hood, posing the threat of the unknown to Axel if he put up too much of a fight. He wouldn't have to interfere in the fight. Not if Xigbar had it all planned out. He could assassinate Axel without giving him the chance to fight back. “We're moving out. Operation Cold Flames starts now.” the man with the eye-patch ordered. “I always wanted to say that” he added with a smirk.
They were on the way to the mansion just in time.
End of Chapter IV – Part IV
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