Seek the Stars

XI

“See anything interesting?”

Slowly the Nobody turned to look at the speaker, butter yellow eyes focusing on the one behind.

“I received a strange report today,” The one addressed replied in a whisper. “It seems we can no longer afford to watch.”

“What do you mean?”

The Nobody turned slightly and offered the other a glance. Not one to miss the opportunity to look in the Scrying Glass, the second Nobody hurried forward and peered into the lichen-lit waters. What the Nobody saw was destruction and an all-too familiar face.

“So,” the second Nobody hissed, black lacquered nails scraping along the bowl, “he’s helping that bastard.”

“He has ignored, or completely disregarded, the Rules given to us at our birth.” The first Nobody said in that whisper. “Which means to balance the scales, so must we. But we must keep our hands out.”

“Easy enough to do. I’ll summon our emissary, and have him bring the Keyblade Masters to us.”

The First Nobody hummed. “All the children. The Masters, the Creator, and the Princesses. Summon the Seekers as well.”

“What do you need them for?”

Butter yellow eyes glinted in their black backdrop. The second Nobody grinned, sharp teeth revealed in predatory delight.

“Oh.”


Reno rubbed the back of his neck and pulled Elena up with him onto the boulder he stood on. Denzel was only a few feet ahead, crouching on another flat rock and staring at something the two Turks couldn’t see. Once up, Elena crouched and closed her eyes groaning.

“There has to be a better way,” she complained, “to get where we need to be.”

“There are probably hundreds of ways to get to the weak zone.” Reno replied blandly. “But they’re probably filled with Enigma and other nasties and personally, I’ve had enough near-death experiences to last my entire lifetime.”

“Yeah,” Elena heaved a sigh. “I just wish we knew where he was leading us.”

“Leading you to where we want to go.” Denzel said with a slight grin. “but we have to get someone first.”

“And who is this someone?” Reno asked.

Denzel shrugged.

“Great.” Elena groaned. Reno sighed.

“You don’t know who you’re looking for?”

Denzel gave a snicker. “I know who. But I don’t know who. There’s a difference."

“Really? How so?”

Denzel rolled his eyes. “I know the look, what they are. But I don’t know who they are.”

“Okay.” Reno began slowly. “Then how will you know them when you see them?”

“Because I just will.”

And that seemed enough for Denzel. Reno and Elena looked at him and then each other. They sighed collectively and Elena gave a shrug.

“He knows best, I guess.” Elena said.

“I guess.” Replied Reno, shoving his hands in his pockets.

They followed Denzel for miles, encountering only Heartless and one or two Nobodies as they went. Elena and Reno didn’t complain about Denzel’s grueling pace or lack of rest periods, just wanting tog et home as soon as possible. Denzel began to slow around nightfall, but the Turks knew it wasn’t because of exhaustion. It was because something a head was dangerous.

“Maybe it’s the someone he’s looking for.” Reno spat out, swallowing to ease the pain in his throat.

“Maybe.” Elena heaved a deep breath. “Let’s hope he didn’t decide to have us eaten.”

Denzel edged further forward and froze for a moment before he backed up toward Elena and Reno and shook his head. “Not that way. Bad is that way. We’ll go around.”

“Around what?” Reno asked, just a little annoyed.

“Around the Bad.” Denzel replied as though it had been obvious.

Reno heaved a sigh and gave up trying to figure out the obviously insane young man and just followed Elena. Sometimes it was best to just play follow the leader.

They stopped when it became too dark to see and tried to sleep without any protection of light, and when the sun rose Reno decided he couldn’t wait to get back home. The wasteland they were in seemed to have grown and only Denzel seemed unbothered by that fact. They walked – Reno thought he was getting holes in his boots and Elena was complaining about blisters – and they never seemed to be any closer to this Who Denzel was looking for.

“Wait.” Elena paused, head cocked as she listened. “Is that… a chocobo?”

“A chocobo?” Reno questioned. “What the hell would a chocobo be doing out here?”

Denzel just grinned. “Looking.”

The Turks stared at the young man and were positive he’d gone mad when he threw back his head and chortled like one of those giant yellow plague-birds. A call answered him, and up bounded a yellow chocobo, decorated with feathers and bones from its own kind. It came to a hopping halt before Denzel and cooed as it shoved its beak into his hands.

Reno shook his head. “Of course.”

Elena looked confused. “What?”

“That bird is Spot. He belongs to Malchus.”

“Oh.”

Denzel simply grinned. “Now we can leave. Come, we’ll go to that place.”

So the humans and avian continued to walk, continued to follow Denzel until they came to the ruins of what used to be Midgar and Denzel stopped. Reno and Elena glanced at each other and then at the young man before them.

“Denzel?” Elena began.

“We open it here. To go further would bring Them, and we don’t want Them to find us.” Denzel replied, head bowing slightly, as though he were nervous.

And he probably was, Reno thought dryly. “Okay.” The redhead stepped forward, stretching and cracking his knuckles. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“I’ll watch your back,” Elena said. “Denzel, keep an eye out for nasties.”

Denzel nodded and lifted his bangled wrist, the Materia stones flittering with the power they held.

Reno took a breath and closed his eyes, trying to block out all sound and feeling. The danger with opening a door to the Dark Corridors was that you had to be completely focused on the task. There was no room for error or distractions. If you lose concentration for even a moment, you could end up trapped or in a place you never intended to go. And that was damn scary. Which was why most of the Order traveled in pairs.

Reno felt his destination recognize him and ordered the doorway to open. The air before the quartet began to shimmer and then darken, until finally a rift opened, revealing a pitch-black voice with a long purplish road extending into the distance. Swallowing, Reno led the group into the Dark Corridor. They moved in unaccosted, and walked in a tight square, no one talking, not even Spot the Chocobo. Traveling on a Dark Corridor was far faster than a Gummi ship, and far more dangerous. They made it halfway to Sunrise Town when the chirps started up behind them, and the growls before them. Out of the purple light came Heartless and Nobodies, trapping the four. They could fight, and Denzel was certainly prepared to, but Elena grabbed his wrist.

“There are too many!” she said. “And you’re the only one with any weapons!”

Denzel’s eyes darkened, but he understood the blonde woman and he looked helpless for a moment. Elena turned to Reno. “Can you change the path?”

“Don’t you think I’ve been trying?” Reno snapped back. “We’re stuck.”

“So what do we do?!” Elena yelled.

Denzel took hold of Elena’s wrist as Spot grabbed Reno’s ponytail. Without a word, the two jumped off the path with their unwilling passengers and fell in a swift descent. Elena screamed. Reno screamed. A portal opened beneath them and the four landed in a heap of limbs and feathers. Reno jerked his tail from Sport’s mouth and cursed as he helped Elena to her feet, watching Denzel and the damned chocobo easily get to their feet with nary a concussion. Reno heaved a sigh.

“So, Denzel, where are we?” Reno asked, staring around the rocks and assorted debris.

Denzel hummed. “Why don’t we ask them?”

“Them?”

Denzel raised his arm and pointed. Reno and Elena turned toward the indicated direction and froze.

“Well,” Cloud muttered, “seems to be our day for visitors.”