Org. XIV (story)

Aleri and Vita were now sitting on the beach, staring at the horizon.

"The sun's still setting..." Aleri said. "...I always noticed that it never finishes setting around here. Coming here from somewhere else, though, it turns to night without any warning. Strange... It makes me wonder why we're on a beach. At night, a beach is really cold, what with the ocean winds."

"Well, your friends seem to be used to a colder climate." Vita suggested.

Aleri shrugged. "Well, not exactly a winter wonderland, but they live in a wor... town that isn't as hot as this one." He sighed, casting his gaze down at the sand beneath his feet. "...Me, on the other hand... I'm actually from around here. I lived here a while back, but I... moved away."

Vita seemed to empathize with him. "It must've been hard, saying goodbye to your friends." Her tone was rather subdued.

He was silent for a moment. The former resident of Twilight Town then looked back to the setting sun. "...I didn't even get to say farewell. I got to see them again, but they forgot about me. I've even forgotten most of them myself..."

"...I'm sure you'll be fine." She smiled. "Afterall, you've made new friends, right? Thalia and Lance, Maya, and Dante... And now you're friends with Hayner. Pence, Olette... And me, too. We're all friends now. So make sure you come back and vist once in a while, alright?"

Aleri returned the smile. "...Yeah. I promise I will."

Vita closed her eyes, and there was silence for a while.

...

"...You know, I never did catch your name, did I? What's your name?"

"I'm Aleri Kinsetsu."

"Nice to meet you... Aleri!"

Lance and Thalia stood up, Lance put a hand on Vita's shoulder giving a friendly squeeze, "We'll be back for sure. I'm not one to let a promise to a friend fail out."

Thalia smiled, looking the happiest she'd been since Lance had given her his family hierloom, "Yeah, and I won't let him forget either..." She playfully jumped onto Lance's back rubbing her knuckles into his scalp, "He can be a bit hard headed sometimes... but he's got a big heart." She grinned from where she was now latched to his back but no longer tormenting him with her fist.

Lance groaned complaining under his breath about abuse for a moment before grinning wide, "We've got to go for now... But, we'll visit again the next time we have the chance. It's a promise! That way I won't forget!"

Maya rolled her eyes as she walked up to the group, she tugged on Thalia's arm to get her attention, "Umm... Maya thinks we should go..."

Down the beach, a large brontosaurus made out of sand had become an attraction of the local children. One in fact was still clinging to Maya's arm asking her to come play more.

Thalia laughed, "We're just saying goodbye. You better go take down your sculpture alright?"

Maya smiled at the destruction that Thalia had just allowed her to cause and walked back towards her sculpture ushering the kids away before staging a demolition and farewell ceremony for the enormous sculpture.

Vita stood up and nodded. "Alright, so it's a promise. I'll see you all soon! I'm sure you'll have time to visit in the summer." She extended her hand.

Lance gave her a firm handshake then knelt as Thalia did the same, "For sure. Bye, Vita." Thalia gave a warm smile as she beckoned for Maya to follow the two as they headed away from the beach, "Aleri, you staying longer? I'll cover for you if Xeromus has any issues alright?"

The trio left with bright smiles, at the top of hill and out of sight, Lance opened a DC to bring the trio home. Maya ran in ahead of him as he let Thalia down off of his back.

"So, I guess Operation Vacation Day was a success, huh?" Lance gave Thalia a playful smile.

Thalia feigned dissappointment with a small barely managable frown, "It wasn't all that great..."

Lance laughed playfully jabbing her in the side, Thalia giggled at the sudden touch and her smile returned, "I knew it. You know, you're a horrid liar." He slung his arm around her shoulders feeling at peace.

Thalia nodded, "And you're a lughead, so I guess that makes us even."

Lance pulled her close with a playful grin, looking down into her eyes to emphasize how short she was compared to him, "I wouldn't say even really." He smirked.

Thalia groaned and rolled her eyes but smiled none the less pleased, "Whatever."

Lance unfurled thier hug keeping thier hands locked, "C'mon, Shorty." He smiled devilishly at the old nickname given to her by her father, "Let's go home." Together, the two walked through the portal.

Aleri shook hands with her, carefully diverting attention away from the portal the others had left through. "Thanks."

She pulled him into a hug, catching him by surprise.

"Wh... what?"

"Ehh, I felt bad for you, leaving without your friends. And you had to move away, leaving your friends behind... It sucks to be you." Vita said bluntly. "So, I figured you deserved a hug."

"Er, th-thanks." Aleri stuttered.

Maya's voice laughed playfully in Aleri's head, her presence was felt in his shadow, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G... " She continued in her quiet, sing song voice teasing Aleri and knowing full well that he couldn't reach her in his shadow.

"Hmm, that's an interesting way of casting Magic," Archer noted with interest as she sat down and watched the White Mage tend to Sylvia attentively.

Aleri's face turned bright red. Gkgkhk, she's in my shadow?! Ack, I can feel her inside of my Heart! Th-that's just not cool... She can read my emotions like a book from there... An illustrated picture book with vocabulary made for five-year-olds. >_<

"Is something wrong?" Vita asked, noticing the change, grinning at him. "You're awfully flushed."

Darn you to heck, Maya... You just HAD to point out the romantical awkwardness of the situation. "I-it's nothing."

"Weeeeeell... If you say so."

What's with the sudden change in attitude!?

Maya giggled, Aleri could almost feel the devilish smile on her face, "Maya doesn't need to be here to read you. Vita can probably tell too!" She laughed pointing out his awkwardness. Then, the presence dissispated and a soft breeze blew past the two, Maya rematerialized down the beach out of Vita's vision, waved goodbye to Aleri with a teasing smile and dissappeared into a DC that quickly closed behind her.

-Meanwhile-

The young mage shrugged, "I'm a beginner, I need to use incantations to focus my magic effectively. But, it won't be long before I can just use quick casting words. Now, if I do that, they're too dispersed and don't have any healing effect." She turned to Nick who was looking down at his feet, a concerned look had knitted his brows as he concentrated on his shoes, "You're friend should be waking up soon. I'm thinking 100 munny is a reasonable price." She said attentively.

As if on que, Sylvia's eyes began to flutter open as she regained consicousness.

Vita released Aleri from her hug. "Well, I guess you have to go. I'll see you soon!"

Aleri was a little sad to go.

"I hope you find your old friends!"

He returned the smile, and walked away, waving back to her.

Jump, die, stay, run, none of them were good options. Damn it! The hell am I supposed to do now!?
---
Ichiro sat on his makeshift bed and stared at the wall. His brother had pointed a Keyblade at him. Told him to leave. Didn't explain a thing. That wasn't like him. Was it blackmail? ...No, couldn't be. He'd just kill anyone who blackmailed him. Wouldn't he? "I-I...I don't even know any more. I think I was a Nobody for too long..."

It was like waking up from a bad dream, as Sylvia felt herself rouse to consciousness, her eyes glancing up blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling. Her limbs felt stiff, and her whole body throbbed with a dull ache, but she feeled...better somewhat. Her head turned to the side as she caught sight of the three people around her, her eyebrows raising at the stranger that wore a snowy white garb with red edges. "Who're you?" She croaked, blinking in surprise at her hoarse voice, before clearing her throat and glancing over to Nick and Archer. "What the heck happened?"

Running into the depths of the forest.

A glint of gold.

The intense relief of holding her treasure close to her heart...

The rest was a blur, shrouded in darkness and pain.

"You fell into an ambush, that's what," Archer remarked dryly. "What were you thinking, running off like that?"

Nick nodded, "A heartless known as a Parasite Cage attacked you. That's probably why you can't remember, it's toxins may have made you forget. If I hadn't turned back when we realized you were missing..." Nick's look turned momentarily grim but he shook his head and freed himself of that thought, "That doesn't really matter, what does is you're safe now. This girl is a White Mage, she healed you."

"Hey, back off, lady." Sylvia snapped, wincing slightly at the forming headache that was pounding in her skull. "It's not like I walked into one on purpose..."

She turned to give Nick a nonplussed look. "Parasite Cage? The heck is that?" She shook her head gingerly. "My head's all jumbled up..." She let out a groan. "Ugh. Thanks for patching me up." She nodded to the Mage, before a panicked look entered her face. "Gah! Is it ok?" She rummaged frantically into her pocket, letting out an audible sigh of relief as her hand closed around the gold pocketwatch. "Thank the stars...", she muttered under her breath. "If I'd lost it...", she frowned darkly. It didn't warrant thinking about. "So...what did this Parasite thing do to me, exactly? I can't remember..."

"From what I can tell, the thing was sucking the life out of you," Archer made a face. "Don't mind me. I've got bad experience with bloodsuckers and lifesuckers. Either way, you're lucky Nick arrived when he did," Archer sighed. "I do have to ask though... you don't know magic, do you? Have you learnt other ways to augment your fighting style?"

Nick nodded, "Well, not the life precisely... but the light from your heart. It was trying to turn you into a heartless. Thankfully, that's been reversed," He explained while paying the young mage for her services.

"The light?" Sylvia looked perturbed at that, a hand reaching up to rest on her chest where her heart resided. "Right, umm..." She drew her attention to Archer's question, her face drawn into a frown. "Nuh uh. I ain't got an interest in magic. It's not my way of fighting. Too much time and energy." She shook her head. "You gotta have a talent for the arts. And I don't." She let out a tired yawn. "My way of fightin's fast and quick. Trickery and deception. Good and all against human opponents, but as for the Heartless..." Her face darkened. "Even I gotta admit it's lacking. Damn, I need to work out how to get past that. I'll never get to beat Lance just relying on Sarah anymore..." She groaned. "But right now I feel like hell. I'm gonna crash at the castle." She looked at the two. "Did you two finish the mission?"

"Yeah, we did," Archer replied, "I blew a hole in them and blasted them to bits," she pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I think you need lessons."

"Huh." Sylvia nodded approvingly. "An explosion, huh? I like the sound of that." Her expression turned into a frown at Archer's following suggestion. ""Depends on what you mean by 'lessons'. Sure, I wouldn't mind picking up a trick or two, 'specially against the Heartless. I ain't gonna study though. Books are not my thing," she grimaced.

"I'm not talking about books," Archer grinned. "I'm talking physical training. Unlocking your inner potential. You don't want Magic? That's fine. My magic isn't for you. But I can teach you to wield a sword and maximise your speed."

Nick laughed, "Sorry to dissapoint Sylvia but even if Archer trains you, there's no way you could best Lance, not for a very long time anyways. I've seen him fight, you have, too. You should know he's a magic practictioner of both Dark and Light magic. And he's not to be taken lightly when it comes to sword play either." Nick didn't want to seem condescending but it was true. Even at full strength, Lance still held his ground against a very capable sword fighter and a pantheon of summonable deities.

"Huh," Sylvia's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "You would do that? Didn't peg you down as a teacher type, somehow...", she shook her head with a grin. "I can 'wield a sword', thanks. But picking up some skills would be pretty useful." She shrugged. "Okay. What's the catch though?"

She shot a dark look at Nick. "Yeah. I know. He and his mutts showed me up quite royally the other day. Doesn't mean I ain't gonna find a way to show him up one of these days," she grinned. "I wouldn't count it as an impossibility yet."

"The catch? Pain. Lots and lots of pain. I'm not an instructor, by any means," Archer said carefully. "All of what I've learnt was fine-tuned through actual combat, dying while using it and refined after I was resummoned. Which means the only way I can teach you is to simulate life and death situations."

Archer turned her attention back to Nick with a grin. "Is he still human though? Can he die if he's struck through the heart?"

"Pfft. I'm used to the hard life. How else did I learn?" Sylvia rolled her eyes with a smirk. "I don't have the faintest idea what you mean by being 'resummoned,' but I'm not gonna bother asking. My head hurts as it is...", she grimaced. "Fine. Sounds like a good deal. I'm not gonna throw some free tips away."

She looked over at Nick. "That's just it. Everyone has their weaknesses. Half the battle is finding 'em, and then milking them for all they're worth. Lance must have his own too. And when I find them...", she grinned. "Then we'll see about evening out the playing field."