Seek the Stars

VIII

Xemnas clutched to Naminé’s hand as they walked along the forest path. His eyes were ever on the boys, Kairi noticed, as she walked on Naminé’s other side. Most often, he stared at Roxas’ back, looking extremely pleased. At the same time, he held tightly to Naminé’s hand and looked extremely pleased, so it was hard to tell just exactly what – or who – pleased him more. Kairi was more surprised to just be walking with the man who had tried to form Kingdom Hearts and died in a battle with Sora and Riku. Though, she wasn’t really sure how a Nobody could ‘die’, just fade, and she hadn’t quite gotten around to asking Axel that one. The only one who didn’t seem perturbed by the whole experience was Kaoru, who walked easily ahead, scouting. Kairi almost envied him, but then, Kaoru had the most reason to stay away from Xemnas. He didn’t tell Kairi why, and Roxas’ face warned her not to ask. She thought about running up ahead and asking anyway, but her heart warned her against it. So she stayed next to Naminé and Xemnas and watched the scenery go by.

She found herself wondering about Sora and Riku, hoping they were okay wherever they were, and hoped they weren’t plotting the murder of her kidnapper. Kairi folded her hands behind her head and thought of home, wondering how much homework she had missed, and if Selphie had even started that science project she’d wanted Kairi’s help on. She missed home and her friends, but she knew her presence here was important. She’d made new friends from old foes and if Axel had never taken her, she never would have known the adventure she was actually allowed to participate in. Naminé slipped her free hand around Kairi’s wrist and gave a little squeeze. Kairi dropped her hand to take Naminé’s in more fully and sighed with a half-hearted smile.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked the Sunrise Town Princess of Heart. Kairi earned a little shrug.

“I don’t know.” Naminé replied. “Go home, I guess.”

“Home?” Xemnas’ voice was rusty, disused. “Where’s home?”

Naminé looked at him and smiled. “You’ll love it. Lots and lots of people, a beach, and all of our friends are there.”

“Friends?”

“Yep. Axel is there, and Demyx. Zexion, Saïx, Xigbar, and Marluxia. We have a lot of friends in the Order and about the town. Rita, she runs the ice cream shop on the boardwalk, would love to have you help her out.”

Xemnas smiled a little. “Ice cream? Even in winter?”

“Winter hardly ever touches Sunrise Town.” Naminé said with a grin.

“Yeah!” Tenkuu put in, smiling. “We don’t build snowmen, just sandmen.”

Xemnas chucked. “Sandmen. I… I’d like to build sandmen.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do when we get back.” Kairi said brightly. “We can build sandmen!”

Roxas looked back at the quartet at the sound of raucous laughter and couldn’t help his smile. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to be nice to him, Kaoru.”

Kaoru’s gold eyes flicked to Roxas. “He resonates too much with the darkness in me. I can barely keep control as it is.”

Roxas sucked in a breath through his teeth. “You need to find something to kill?”

“Unless you’ll let me beat the crap out of you.”

“I won’t let you, but I’ll make you work for it.”

Kaoru grunted. Roxas rolled his eyes. “What’s wrong? You don’t normally get like this. Someone slight you or something?”

“I can be honest with you, right? You won’t go telling anyone what I tell you, will you?”

“Have I ever before?”

Kaoru simply looked at Roxas. The blonde held up his hands in a sign of submission. The silver-haired boy heaved a sigh. “Xemnas is Tainted.”

“Tainted?”

“He has the same… taste… as an Enigma. But it’s subtle. Like the way Marluxia was, when he first arrived.”

Roxas mulled this over for a few minutes. “You don’t think he’s secretly sending Enigma everywhere?”

“No. I think he’s the last of the three. Why else would the Leader send all of us, including Kairi?” Kaoru shook his head. “Something’s going to happen, and I’m going to lose it.”

“We’ll draw you back.” Roxas promised. “We always have.”

“I’m not so sure this time.”

Roxas reached out to grasp Kaoru’s shoulder. “Look, don’t go and start believing that clone crap again. You’re Kaoru, not Riku. You’re the Keyblade Master of Twilight, and I’ll be there with Tenkuu to put you back in your right mind. We also have two Princesses with us. You’ll be fine.”

Kaoru’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Roxas sighed. “You’re our friend.” He said gently. “We don’t leave friends behind.”

“Hey guys!” Naminé yelled. “We’re taking a break!”

“Village is just ahead!” Kaoru yelled back. “We can rest there!"

Roxas looked at his silver-haired friend. “Why don’t you want to rest now?”

“I do. Just not in the open.” Kaoru glanced around them. “I didn’t tell Naminé, but Xemnas didn’t come through alone.”

“What?”

Kaoru looked at the childlike man between the two Princesses. “He either brought something through or it piggy-backed. Personally, I wanna be in an easily defensible position if it comes to hunt.”

Roxas turned to the four behind them. “Just a little further! We can rest in the village!”

Though the Princesses exchanged glances and looked at Tenkuu, who shrugged, they didn’t argue and soon were in the village, off their feet and enjoying a snack besides.


Vincent pressed Death Penalty to the Enigma’s head and coldly pulled the trigger. The heavy shotgun round broken through the beast’s skull with ease and Vincent drew back to allow the Emblem Zeroes to feast. He turned slightly to let his crimson gaze rest on the swath of destruction he had wrought and sighed. An Emblem Zero butted its head against his thigh and he stroked its ear absently. Vincent enjoyed working alone, but he had recently taken up a silent partnership with Cait Sith, who bounced along the path they had taken, looking at the destruction. Vincent’s eyes turned to find the diminutive doll and tried hard to remember that it was Reeve in that puppet body. Reeve, who had lost his human body when their world was destroyed.

“Vincent!” Cait Sith called. “Come look!”

Slowly, the immortal man made his way toward his partner, looking down at what the doll was pointing at.

“A village?” Vincent questioned quietly.

Cait Sith clambered onto the back of the Emblem Zero that had followed Vincent and crowed. “That, my friend, is Radiant Garden.”

Vincent frowned. Cait Sith sighed. “Cid is there.”

Those red eyes dulled. “He won’t know me. That Cid is not my Cid.”

“’Course it is. Body is different, but the memories will be there.”

Vincent looked at the doll. “You just want to look.”

“Am I that transparent?”

Vincent shook his head and sighed. There probably wasn’t any harm in going to look, if that indeed was Cait’s idea, but then, they had no idea how they would be accepted considering earlier antics of Kadaj, Loz, Yazu, and Tifa. Besides, Vincent really wanted to see Cid, even if this Cid wasn’t the Cid he had known.

“It’s not like we’d be disobeying orders.” Cait Sith said slyly.

Vincent’s red eyes sharpened. Finally he sighed and nodded, lifting his hood to hide his face. Death Penalty swung up and over his shoulder into the holster on his back and he picked Cait up off the Emblem Zero. It whined at being left behind, but Vincent gave it a few scratches and sighed again. Cait Sith and Vincent moved down to Radiant Garden then, hardly bothering to keep out of sight. While not a Terminal Town like Traverse, strangers weren’t all that uncommon here, but there was a level of scrutiny not felt in other worlds where people lived.

Cait wanted to see everything from the shops to the construction site. Vincent kept quiet and simply observed. They were a strange sight, and more than once became the topic of public discussion. Vincent was more on guard for anyone that might want to harm them, like the young ninja girl that kept popping up here and there. If Vincent wasn’t familiar with Yuffie’s antics, he probably never would have known she was watching. As such, when she scuttled up behind him in an attempt to be a thief, Vincent grabbed her wrist in a firm grip and pulled her before him, inhuman strength lifting her right off the ground. For a moment after their eyes met, Vincent thought he saw recognition if Yuffie’s. Then he felt the impending blow and sidestepped, bringing Yuffie with him so the broadsword’s follow-through wouldn’t snap her in half. He let her go to dodge the head of a spear and ducked low to avoid the swipe of a Keyblade. The immortal heaved a sigh and pulled Death Penalty from her sheath, carefully aiming at a very specific target.

As expected, everyone froze when the barrel stopped at Aerith’s chest.

“What’s going on?” Cait Sith asked. He hopped onto Vincent’s shoulder. “Oh.”

Vincent simply made a grunting noise.

“Okay,” It was Yuffie, hands up in submission. “Okay. Let’s not escalate anything here.”

“We’ll put ours away if you put yours away.” Cait Sith quipped.

Vincent’s eyes rested on the group. He knew some of them, and shivered when he saw the silver-haired boy, and when those weapons were sheathed or disappeared, he slid Death Penalty away.

“Does the little doll talk for you, or do you have a voice?” the brunette boy asked, then blanched as crimson orbs fell on him.

“Who are you?” Aerith asked.

“One who has been forgotten,” Vincent replied. He didn’t miss the looks Sora and the silver-haired boy exchanged.

Cloud shifted. “You have a name?”

“If you remember it.”

Cid snarled. “Look ya bastard. You’re outnumbered. Just answer our goddamned questions.”

“Outnumbered? Really?” Cait Sith giggled. “Looks more like you’re outnumbered.”

Vincent slowly shook his head to keep the mischievous Reeve from doing anything dangerous. Or stupid. “Enough.”

He raised his hands to pull back his hood and saw only Sephiroth’s eyes widen in recognition. Crimson eyes warned him to keep silent and the One-Winged Angel’s lips drew into a thin line. Vincent simply looked at each of the gathered and sighed silently.

“I can’t tell you my name. I can’t tell you where I’m from.” He said slowly. “What I can tell you is that your world is changing. And yours isn’t the only one.”