What Friends Are For [Inoue]

[Nathaniel Williams]

Nathaniel exited the Corridor on top of the curved, spiral hill, taking in the sites of the gloomy world. He had been here before, so he remembered the appearance this world forced on him. Every time he came here, no matter the attire he started with, he ended up with his top hat, which sat awkwardly on his head because his hair stood in several different directions. The only consolation to the messiness he could think of was that it paled in comparison to Sora's spikes. Fangs protruded from his mouth, flecks of red showed up in his eyes, one hand turned into a claw, useless for offense, and one side of his face glowed with bluish markings. Other than being slightly tattered and the addition of his hat, his clothes stayed the same, thankfully. This was demonic enough.

Faded barking started, coming from the little ghost dog at his feet he had ignored moments before. It snarled and yapped at him, but being dead, it couldn't do any more. For good measure, it raced around his ankles a few times before running back to its grave. Nathaniel scowled. How unreasonable. If it just let him converse with it, maybe better terms could have been established. Chuckling, he jumped off the hill. Talking reasonably with an animal, what a joke. Besides, he had never been popular with creatures, dead or alive.

He glanced up at the sky, scouring the blackness for a light, the sign of a gummi ship coming to land. Inoue had been invited here, asked to join him on a tour of this town of frights, a trip to indulge the child. In all honesty, the loyalty he wanted from her passed his desire for a start to his conquest, even if he denied it himself. Human nature gave people the most ridiculous whims, and the one that plagued him now was the one that made people social, the want for a friend. No matter how many times he told himself that he could have no friends, that the loyalty was one way, sometimes the idea that he could honestly laugh popped up.

He smashed the traitorous thought as he destroyed a grave marker with his bo staff, glowering underneath his top hat. No, he made plans to make the universe dark, not to find a new home and have friends. That wasn't the way things worked.

Slowly, he strapped the bo staff to his back again, recovering his calm bit by bit. It had been awhile since he snapped like that. Nathaniel sighed and shut his eyes. He fretted over nothing, feared a possibility he wouldn't let happen. Fine, if that was the case, then this trip would be more than a pleasure visit. He crossed his arms and waited. The scowl might have stayed on, but his mind whirled on plans, not fears that, he ensured himself, would never come to pass.

[Inoue Akemi Atsuko]

Inoue had arrived here in hand, never noticing how different her clothes could change in different worlds. She was new to this, but it never bothered her, not anymore at least. The black dress she was suppost to wear changed into a witches outfit, and along with the beanies hat she was wearing, changed into a witches hat itself. On the side of her, a broom which had conveniently followed her everywhere. She sighned at the fact, but was partly happy with two things: One was that she would meet Nathaniel here, and two was that she still has her headphones, which now had a stride of black and partly white to it. She saw Nathaniel then, which was indeed luck, and waved to him then.

When she started to walk, three small children ran past beside her, the boy in the red devil outfit bumping past her. He gave her an evil glare then, saying, "Watch where you going lady!" He ran with the other two, giggling, still running. Inoue started to half run-walk towards their direction, holding her clentched fist in the air, her teeth cleching also, saying, "Really!? I'll teach you punks not to mess with a V2 Robot like me!" She said, then stopping. After, she evily smiled, then realizied that she'll go after them later then. She walked up to where Nathaniel then, smiling. "Heya Nathaniel, what's up? See, told ya I would meet you here." She said, excited. Inoue was excited about this place already.

[Nathaniel Williams]

Out of his peripheral vision, Nathaniel noticed Inoue waving to him. He turned around and smiled, hoping that the demonic appearance the world forced upon him didn't scare the little girl. Her costume looked rather cute with the broom and the witches hat, such a contrast to his own. He chuckled nervously, hoping that she didn't see his little display he put on moments before. This trip would be unnerving enough for her without his temper tantrum, although he hated thinking of it like that.

She spoke of being a robot, which took him off guard, but it made no difference. Half the beings in this universe weren't human, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she was a, whatever she called herself. V2 or something of the like. He passed it off and walked over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I believed you when you said you would come," he said. "And by the way, you handled those children nicely." He walked a few paces forward and folded his hands behind his back, staring at the huge yellow moon. "This is not my favorite world, but it is one I think will suffice for what we need to accomplish today. Would you like to hear a story, Inoue? I promise you it will be worth your time." He loathed telling it, but if they were to make the progress he anticipated, he saw little choice.

[Inoue Akemi Atsuko]

"Thanks, also, those little punks have no idea who I am whatsoever!" Inoue said, still bubbling with rage inside her. She had no idea how bad her anger was, but Nathaniel said that she handled them nicely. She never got praised before for being mean, but boy did she love doing it. "Thanks Nathaniel, I think I taught those little punks a lesson, but it'd be more better if we pulled abig prank on them." Inoue said, grinning evily. She then heard Nathaniel ask if he could tell her a story, and she nodded softly, saying, "I would indeed love to hear a story, my mother always told me stories either if I was sad or down." She said, smiling.

Inoue then decided to sit down so that she could listen better. Before her bottom could hit the ground though, it was caught by the broom, which meant it was magic. She mouth went straight up shot open, like she was seeing things. She never seen this happen before, but it was probably a dream. Still, she shaked her head a bit, then sat down fully, getting prepared to listen to Nathaniel's story, not noticing the three kids are watching them from afar.

[Nathaniel Williams]

Her word ran through his head again and again as he factored in how she would react to his story. The moment where he had been vulnerable no longer affected him, but that didn't keep him from staring at the moon, his brow furrowed. Inoue was much more of a happy-go-lucky child than he had been, or at least he perceived it to be that way. Nathaniel took off his top hat and sighed, running a hand through his hair. Damn it, there was so much to consider. Things wouldn't be so complicated in a minute, at least.

Once Inoue settled herself down, he replaced his top hair, wishing it would sit straight for once in this world. "My dear, I am afraid this is not a story your mother would tell you at night," he said, monotone. Nathaniel sat down across from her, his eyes closed and his arm draped over his leg. "From what I understand, you are fairly young to be traveling the worlds. I had the option to do so as well, in addition to gaining momentous power, but I forgave it. My home world intrigued me more."

He paused. The words were hard to come by, considering he rarely spoke of the matter. "Many Keyblade wielders lived in my world. They traveled, and if they ever bragged about their adventures, then I would inform them that their home world trumped any they would ever see. One man thought it was a challenge and set out to find a more perfect world. He brought back the light of Kingdom Hearts and shared it with the world and its inhabitants, save for me, since I opted not to accept the gift."

Using the word 'gift' to describe the light of Kingdom Hearts invoked a rage inside him, but he contained it, the only sign of his anger the clenching of his fist.

"So, over the next month or so, the world changed into something else entirely, bleached of everything that gave it color, made it unique. One might wonder why Kingdom Hearts, the center of all hearts, the light of lights, would cause this destruction." He opened his eyes, dark fires burning within them, his head tilted so they were barely visible. Every muscle in his body was tense, his jaw clenched. Even the mere thought of the fate of his world aggravated him, let alone a retelling. Nathaniel rolled his shoulders and locked eyes with his friend, waiting for a reaction.

"Would you like to know the answer, Inoue?"

[Inoue Akemi Atsuko]

Inoue gave Nathaniel a glum stare, hoping to be as curious as to know what the answer was. Also, Keyblade Weilders? What were so special about those guys anyways? She was fairly confused, even for someone her age who had been through alot. She fixed her witch hat a bit, then readjusted herself onto her broom, making it more comfty. She looked at Nathaniel, waiting for her to answer. Did Inoue want to know? If she was to cooperate with him, then she should be able to answer the question.

"Yes, I would like to know the answer..." She said, having a somewhat heartless tone. She's never felt like this before though, but it'll have to do for now. Waiting for Nathaniel to respond, she adjusted her headphones a bit, fussing around with them a short while, then stopped. She never understood why they wouldn't stay still in her hair for five seconds. Still, she almost didn't understand half of the things in her life at all, but it didn't matter right now to her, only this does.

[Inoue Akemi Atsuko]

Inoue gave Nathaniel a glum look, thinkign for a second. She did want to know the answer. Also, Keyblade Weilders? Those guys were somewhat special to other people, but not Inoue exactly. She fixed her witches hat a bit, then fussed around with her broom a bit, hoping to be more comfty. After that, she fixed her headphones a bit, then got them to a right angle, which was always perfect to her. She then nodded softly, saying to Nathaniel, "Yes, I would like to know the answer..." Inoue said, having a bit of a heartless tone.

Inoue had never spoken like that before, but its not like it matter to her anymore. She had a sort of messed up life, and maybe if she learned more about this "Kingdom Hearts", maybe she could see what it looked like. She then looked at Nathaniel, waiting for him to answer. If she figured this all out, then maybe she could learn more about it with Nathaniel.

[Nathaniel Williams]

Her answer didn't surprise him at all. Most people, after hearing a story like that, would want to know the ending. She sounded rather dull for his liking, but hopefully that would change momentarily. Nathaniel took in a deep breath and leaned back on his palms, staring up at the sky.

"Kingdom Hearts wants the end of the worlds," he said, trying to keep his tone level and the anger out of it. "The only reason Kingdom Hearts exists is to cause mayhem. In the beginning, the light of Kingdom Hearts filled the worlds, but the people were as bleached as the light, only knowing and feeling one emotion at a time. Then darkness came and broke the light apart, showing the people what they could be. Before it could finish its work, a group of people prevented it from progressing any further, letting light back in and keeping the life darkness could have given others away."

Only then did he realize how perfect having Inoue as an accomplice was and how genius the idea of telling her the story turned out to be. Her exposure to Heartless had to be limited, since she just began traveling the worlds, and the age old story of the light probably never reached her ears until now. He smiled, made bolder by the ideas.

Nathaniel leaned forward again; his wrists were starting to bug him from leaning on them for too long. "So, one might ask oneself, where does the story go from there? It's quite simple, really; the darkness must be brought back and the light vanquished, else all the worlds will die from the destruction of light. That is my objective." He extended a hand to Inoue, imploring her to make her way over. "The darkness is not something to fear, my darling, I have been with it long enough to know that. There is one final question, one I do not know the answer to: will you join me?"

[Inoue Akemi Atsuko]

Kingdom Hearts wanted to end the worlds? That sounded horrible, but not completely. Inoue might be good, but she didn't have to think all that good, and acting bad for once would prove its efforts. She had a choice to make, but had to make it quickly, and fast. Inoue didn't want to make Nathaniel mad, but it doesn't sound so good. Still, good or not, she would give the idea a go.

Inoue stood up from her witches broom, then grabbed Nathaniel's hand, shaking it. "Count me in, I wanna join." she said, smiling. She and Nathaniel would now officially work together. If the darkness was nothing to fear, then bring it on. She wanted to see what this Kingdom Hearts looked like. It might be the journey, and that Inoue might meet new friends and foes, but it would all be worth it with Nathaniel by her side.