The Keyblade War: the Awakening of a Solemn Melody

Mike rolled out onto the ground, his face turning red when he realized he was pretty much the last one out. He got up and brushed himself off, still trying to get use to the travel cloak. He scrunched his nose and looked around, "Yippie, I'm so excited.." he muttered, "So I just walk around wherever?"

 

" But why didn't you just stay behind in your comfortable place at the palace then Dante?"
Phisoxa said cheerfully as left her hood down since the cloak was enough to keep her scent covered since it had a spell cast on it, plus she was a fairly new knight so nobody would know her. She followed Rould as he began to trek down the side of the cliff on a narrow trail that ran through the dark tall grass that covered the hillside that overlooked the civilization. Victor trailed behind the group keeping watch from beneath the hood of his cloak since he would be easily recognized without it.

 

Dante put his hood on and followed the group. "Yeah, I'm wondering why I didn't" Dante said.

 

" We will be here for about a day or so hopefully if everything goes as planned, we will all meet inside the lobby of a inn known as the Raven's roost at the end of the day, it has a neon sign of a red raven. If one of us takes more then 2 hours to get to the inn then we know something's up. Okay, I want everyone to gather each and every detail you can and please stay out of any trouble, if someone bothers you just walk away if a street gang follows you, you'd better run or at least try to get out of sight. We can stay together as a group, but don't stick too close together or it will be obvious somethings up. You are free to wander off on your own or split up with a friend in tow but be warned. "
Rould said as they neared the opening of the wall that surrounded the city, the large black doors stood open, showing how the people of the shadowlands knew how good their defense was. Rould walked in through the doors unnoticed by any of the residents who went inside and outside of the large door on their own business. At first the came to the sight of a large plaza underneath a dark sky. It wasn't as cheery and noisy as the one in Janina though, people kept to themselves, beggars lined the streets, children who wore nothing more then ripped gloomy rags of clothes ran through the streets and dogs yelped, barked, and fought amongst themselves, caged ghastly creatures with glowing eyes growled from the nearby market that was just as chaotic, a woman was sobbing someplace off in the distance and the accents and languages of the people here varied. Unlike the people in Janina, there was great diversity here, it seemed almost as no two people were alike.

 

As Mixt walked the streets he felt something was amiss. This place was very much like a dark Janina but he would have expected more. With vices such as greed and pride he would expect a dark city to have monuments that would put the realm of light to shame. There must be somewhere like that. Maybe he just needed to go farther in. "Phisoxa. You still sure you're good alone? I want to push ahead. No use for all of us to search the same area" He said, not calling Phisoxa by her last name and keeping his talk vauge so that people would suspect anything if the overheard in passing.

 

" Yeah I'm fine as long as nobody gets too suspicious and I keep my eyes to myself, things won't get bad, this is just the poor district I guess, its the outer rim of the city just like Rould showed me on his map, the more important spot is towards the middle.Thats the place we have to worry about since the strongest people thrive there. Maybe me and you should split off from the group, it will make it much more effcient since you and I are not recognizable by anyone here I think."
Phisoxa said looking back as Rould walked lead the others through the crowd in a different direction, Phisoxa broke off from the group by dragging Mixt by the wrist through the crowd and proceeded to walk towards the next district.
" I think Rould is only going to go focus on the outer and middle classed districts first before going in to the bear's den, its best if we get there first since we have a better chance."
Phisoxa said walking past a few men who wore armor, who gave her a short glance but only to look her over and they kept going. As Phisoxa lead Mixt further into the city they went through many districts that got more elaborate then the next, and it seemed the buildings got taller and taller till they were skyscrapers and the streets were lined with tall statues and monuments, till finally they reached the 1st district where only the strongest lived. The mid district consisted of extremely tall buildings that seemed to go on endless into the sky, even above the clouds and large obsidian castle that had almost a wicked appearance to it. Outside men jet black shiny armor walked about and those people who appeared normal sticked to themselves or to their own groups, feverishly avoiding the ones in armor. Nearby it appeared that a woman about Mixt's age had been watching them walk in a top a low roof. Her hair was dark crimson and her eyes were green and her skin was a warm tan color, she wore armor similar to the armored soldiers nearby who were now marching in formation in a large field of stone nearby and shouting and singing almost a dark tune as other soldiers were at work training their physique or relaxing. Nearby a man in a black leather coat who seemed in his older years was heating a large near the training grounds with almost impossibly massive dark fire spell.

 

"Alright. I'm the tag along here. I follow your lead" Mixt said. He remained stoical as to hide his excitement. Janina had been inspiring in some ways but it felt so imprisoning at the same time. Here the only laws were the laws of nature. Obey the strong and do what you need to survive. Anything goes. True to his suspicions this is where the action was at, the downtown area thrived. Who cared about the expense of those on the outskirts. Had they the chance they would just as soon do what the powerful here do. And if not that could very well be the reason why they aren't in a position of power.

 

" Jeez there is many of them and they all seem very experienced, I wonder how we are going to hold up when the time comes."
Phisoxa said walking along, she stopped at a metal railing that separated the public from the training grounds as Phisoxa leaned into it and looked about the vast expanse, nearby a couple of soldiers approached Phisoxa and Mixt.
" Hey what are you two doing here, I thought the law was no women around without any form of identification, we can't have anyone distracting the soldiers from their tasks."
Phisoxa jumped down from the metal rail and looked up at them, the two knights were much taller then most men were back at Janina.
" I'm not a stranger here, I am only here sight see after all I am Xehanort's . . . granddaughter."
The two men seemed shocked and then one of them burst out laughing.
" I had no idea the oldman had a grandchild, but I guess someone at his age would bound to have some kind of family since he never speaks of them, well not many call him by that name because they respect him so I guess you could be his grandchild since you speak so boldly plus . . ."
The man said cupping her cheek gently in his hand.
" You have eyes similar to his, I guess I will leave you alone, but I suggest stay out of trouble, not all soldiers are as merciful when it comes to women around here."
The man said as the two knights shrugged off, Phisoxa put a hand to her cheek and brushed her hand against as if brushing something unseen off her cheek and then she smelled her fingers.
" It smells of darkness, I'm surprised they didn't sense me, I guess their hearts were distracted or blinded by something."

 

"Yeah, I don't think the enchantent was supposed to cover physical touch." Mixt commented quietly as the men walked off. "So who is this Xehanort guy? Surely not a name you pulled out of thin air. I'm suprised they bought it without ID though, you can't be the first person to try and get by by just saying a random important name."

 

" Because my brother's name is Xehanort, my brother is that oldman who was seated at the table near Rould and others during the meeting with emperor before he died. He was the very same guy who was at brunch earlier. He may appear to be old enough to be my grandfather but . . . hes only as old as you are. He would have looked as young too if he hadn't given up his youth in exchange for such extensive knowledge and power. I have a feeling he gave more though, I don't think it would just give it to him in exchange for youth."
Phisoxa said looking around as she looked up but all the sudden someone came dashing out from the shadows. It appeared just to be one person but soon it turned out to be five. Two of them knocked Phisoxa over and pinned her to the ground as the other three surrounded Mixt but didn't even attempt to attack him. A beautiful crimson haired woman came walking out from the shadows, her dark armor glimmering in the moonlight. She was almost as tall as Mixt in height but she seemed as stoned faced as the soldiers from before did.
" My My, look at this, a little mouse trying to sneak into the lion's den. The problem with mice, their movements are not quiet and you, you smell as if Rould has been around you, are you his friend or something."
The female knight said, speaking directly to Mixt.

 

'She speaks of Rould like an enemy, but he is of the darkness too is't he? Did Rould's mask go so far that they didn't know he was on their side? There would be little point in that. So is this a test? In which case what answer is right?' Mixt thought as he stared into her eyes. "Sharp nose. Yes, I'm affiliated with Rould. He found me after the Academy of Light fell." Mixt said in a calm manor as he got a sense of the situation. On instinct, Mixt sent some darkness through his hand. The result was hardly even a spark and Mixt hoped that the crimson haired woman would notice whithout Phisoxa doing the same.

 

" I see, I understand, shall we leave the streets ."
The woman said as her two acomplices picked up Phisoxa, holding her hostage as the other three who were surrounding Mixt disappeared into a black mist. The woman lead Mixt and Phisoxa's captators to the dark castle and they entered in through the side door into the dungeons that seemed deserted since not many criminals lasted before being killed or joining the military. There was large room in the middle of the dungeons where the prision guards would be in privacy and the woman opened the door to it as Phisoxa was thrown to the ground where she lay about the ground at the back of the room. The woman walked over, kneeled over Phisoxa, pinning her to the ground and pulled open Phisoxa's cloak to reveal her badge glimmering in the candlelight.
" Don't think your cloaks hide your scent from me, It may work on weaker hearts, but not mine. And, Ah as I thought, that jerk Nathaniel has taken a liking to a new harlot, sickening."
" Unhand me now !!"
Phisoxa said struggling underneath the older woman's weight.The crimson haired woman cuffed Phisoxa in the cheek to keep her from talking as she continued to be at work searching Phisoxa's pockets and clothes.
" You shall only speak when spoken to, as for you sir what is your name, why is it that you run around with the likes of them."

 

Mike walked at a casual pace, acting as though it were a regular day. He scratched himself a lot though, the traveling cloak made his whole body itch. Allergic reaction maybe? Mike kept his eyes halfway open, exhausted, although he didn't know why. He felt as though somebody was literately breathing on the back of his neck, though he never dared to look back. All of the sudden his neck banged against the front of his traveling cloak, making him stop in his tracks and almost lose balance. He felt something softly whisper in his ear, "Hold still and follow me."

 

"You shall not touch her again" a female voice said to the odler woman, a young woman in a purple uniform came next to the older woman. "My brother would get angry if she has a mark on her, do you want that?" the woman asked the slaver "As for him, why bring him?" she said looking at Mixt.

 

" Its not my fault she wouldn't shut up, plus I can't trust anyone that comes from the other side, and why? did you want me to kill him instead?"
The woman said as she jumped up and sat down at her desk nearby as she took a sip from a bottle of rum and went to work writing something down in a open parchment catalog that glowed warmly under the candlelight.

 

"Him? No, but I just can't understand why a lowly pest like yourself would bring him along" the woman said.

 

" Why I brought him along? Well hes one of my kind, why would I show him hostility? Anyways,Its not like I haven't been told that before you know, its not going to do much, anyways you are free to have her now I don't want to house anymore of her like in my dungeons."
The woman said taking the woman's cruel words almost stoically as she continued to write in her catalog.

 

"We will take her soon, and when our team arrives they will drop of food and supplies for you" the woman said.

 

Mixt held his tongue as the two talked. Although he wanted to stick with Phisoxa a bit longer to see what Xehanort was talking about earlier, he also was okay with pulling a vanishing act and leaving the rest of the group if needed. But for the time being he wanted his options open, and the easiest way to do that was to do and say as little as possible.

 

Phisoxa jumped and summoned her keyblade in one split second, she backed up to back the room in order to get away from them.
" What is this all about, you were already planning to capture me? Why ?"