Nemesis

Nemesis (1) Part 1/3
A Short Story by Ellipsis the Great
Summary: They say that if you go to Lethe Mansion, you either end up with amnesia…or you disappear forever…
DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts and everything affiliated with it belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. All I own is the plot…
Rated: M just in case.
Theme: 2. Wedding

“They say that old mansion is haunted.” Pence whispered in an attempted-spooky voice, holding a flashlight up to his face.
“Psh.” Axel snorted.
“Let him tell the story.” Roxas hissed.
“Supposedly,” Pence continued, ignoring them. “A young woman used to live there.”
“Oooh, scary.” Axel said. “A young woman!”
“Shut up, Axel!” Roxas elbowed his boyfriend none-too-gently.
“One day, a young man came and began to court her.” Pence said, still ignoring the squabbling couple. “After a time, they decided to get married. But on their wedding day, the man met another girl and ran away with her, completely forgetting about the young woman. Distraught, the woman hung herself from her balcony.”
“But her spirit lives on.” Axel whispered. Roxas snarled at him.
“But her spirit lives on!” Pence said dramatically, having not heard Axel’s comment.
Axel snickered.
“The family that moved into the house a few years later left after only a week, saying they often saw her angry ghost flitting about, throwing things at the wife and pushing the husband around, once nearly causing him to fall down the stairs.”
Axel, for once, was quiet, his eyebrows arching upward.
“After that, a young man went into the house on a dare. When he came back out, he couldn’t even remember his own name.” Pence said. “There were a few other similar instances, and even a few disappearances. Some say the disappearances are just people who forgot everything and wandered off to who knows where. Others say the ghost killed them as revenge on her lost lover. But it was because of the lost memories that the place became known as Lethe Mansion (2).”
“I always wondered about that.” Hayner said thoughtfully.
“That…has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Axel said. “Don’t tell me people actually believe that bullshit?”
“It’s true!” Pence said.
“It is a really creepy place.” Olette admitted.
“It’s an urban legend.” Axel said. “Got it memorized?”
“No! It really is haunted!” Pence insisted. “You can go look for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
“Maybe I will.” Axel sneered at him.
Roxas rolled his eyes. “Would you mind not being an ass, for once? Honestly…”
Axel smiled at him. “But I’m your ass, Roxie!” He practically sang, making a complete turn around from his formerly disdainful visage.
Another eye roll. “Shove off, you big palooka.”
They all laughed and returned to telling cheesy ghost stories. By the time they were finished, Axel had a severely bruised side and Roxas’ eyes wouldn’t stop rolling.
Then, later that night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Axel peeked his eyes open. Once he was sure they were all definitely sleeping, he carefully extracted himself from Roxas’ arms (the little guy was surprisingly clingy when he was asleep). He changed back into his clothes silently, and nicked Pence’s digital camera off his nightstand. Then, smirking, he left the house.

(PAGEBREAK,Y’KNOW?)

“It’s kinda creepy looking.” Axel muttered to himself as he peered up at the mansion. He lifted the digital camera up and snapped a quick picture before he opened the creaky gates and slipped into the grounds.
The crickets’ chirping grew quieter the closer he got the house, but he pretended not to notice. He could only stare at the rickety door for a moment, but quickly recovered, re-grew his balls, took a picture, and entered the house.
He took more pictures of the inside of the mansion.
“Ghosts. Pshaw.” He said, and though he had been trying to disregard the fear that was roiling around in his gut, he couldn’t quite ignore the huge shiver that went up his back when he heard:
“Sora?”
Shaking just a little, he turned. A small woman looked up at him. She was pretty, with blue eyes not unlike Roxas’ and long blonde hair swept to one side. But she was wearing a rather tattered white dress, and her image was glowing and shifting in an eerie, not-at-all natural way.
“Wh-who are you?” He asked, his throat dry.
Her face scrunched up prettily. “Don’t you remember me, Sora?”
“I-I’m not Sora.” He forced himself to say. In his irrational fear, he was imagining that the shadows were coming alive around him, dancing around him and the girl and watching them with glowing yellow eyes.
“So do you remember me?” She asked, brightening up just a little.
“N-no. I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are.” He said as genuinely as he could manage through the panic that was settling in.
“You’ve forgotten me.” She said, dismayed.
“I never knew you, lady.” He said.
“Why do they always forget?” She asked. “Why? Why, why, WHY?!”
He gasped, and would have screamed if his throat hadn’t closed up so tightly. All that managed to escape was a little squeak as the air around began to whip around her, an ungodly shriek ripping through the house.
“I’ll make you remember me! I’ll MAKE YOU!” She screeched. Blood dripped down onto her dress; bruises appeared around her throat, and with sudden, adrenaline-induced clarity Axel realized that it wasn’t fear that was making it hard to breathe—
There was a rope around his neck!
He managed to choke out a single, desperate yell before the shadows descended and he saw no more.

END PART 1

(1) Nemesis: A spirit of divine punishment in Greek mythology.
(2) Lethe Mansion: From the Lethe River, a river in Greek mythology that was basically supposed to wipe your memories.