The Second Secret [259]
Title: The Second Secret
Challenge: #259, say goodbye
Rating: PG-13 for language
Word Count: 600 (MS word counts my section breaks, but I do not.)
Spoilers: For BBS, I suppose
Notes: Conversations on the eve of an ancient war. There have always been light and shadow and twilight; there have always been land and sea and sky.
Here is the second secret of Kingdom Hearts: once the worlds were one.
In the beginning there was only The World, immense and intricate, and the stars in its sky were only stone and fire. On that world lived countless multitudes, powerful and rich. But their strength outmatched their wisdom. They shattered their great world across the sky, and all their names are now forgotten. But the heart of that world was Kingdom Hearts, and Kingdom Hearts does not forget…
O-w
“Ciel… why… don’t you have… a Master’s Mark?”
Ciel laughed. “Gimme a break, Mar! Just cause I can win a sparring match doesn’t mean I’m a keyblade master.”
“Well, then,” Mar panted, “my test next week is going to be really embarrassing. “ Ciel’s eyes widened. “Everyone says I’ll make it, though. Prodigy. Wonderboy. Youngest in a century. One of my teachers asked me why I didn’t go for the Mark last year.” He pointed at Ciel. “And you just put me in the dirt three times in a row. ”
“Oh,” Ciel said. “Um.”
“Come take the test with me, Ciel. I’m serious.”
“I… can’t, Mar. There’s something else I have to do.”
“Tch. It’s Rive, isn’t it? You get so stupid about her.”
“I get pretty stupid about you, too.” Mar’s head snapped up, jolted by a strange sudden hope. Ciel shook his head. “It’s not Rive.”
“The darkness… ? You’re not thinking of going Black Faction…?”
“Of course not! C’mon, Mar, this is me.” Ciel grinned. “How about you come with me instead? Go off and do crazy random stuff. Save the world. Just like when we were kids, right?”
“… and miss the test?”
“Right. Sorry.” The grin slipped away. “I’ll see you after the test, then, Master Mar.”
“Whatever you say. Master Ciel.”
O-w
“Pfft.” Rive pushed her hair back. “You should have heard Mar the last time I visited home. The most unbelievable bigoted White Faction bullshit: ‘What else is darkness, but hate and rage?’ ‘If you keep using the darkness for power, it will destroy you.’ Asshole.”
“But,” Ciel muttered, “it will destroy you.”
“What did you say?” Ciel hadn't meant Rive to hear that, but he didn’t take it back. “Not everyone can be a happy-sappy rich boy with no problems, Ciel. Some people have to live with things we don’t really like.” Shadows swirled around Rive's fists.
“You think I don’t know that? C’mon, Rive, this is me.” Ciel’s eyes went yellow. “Darkness is part of us. But, you can’t win when you fight yourself.” Rive looked guarded, angry. “Just… come with me? I’ll show you. There’s a place in the mountains, the nights are so dark it’s like the end of the world…”
“Take Mar to your secret spot. Apparently you have a lot in common.”
“Aaagh! I love you, Rive!” Just then, for that one moment, he had saved her. Then it was gone: “I love both of you! And you’re both so… aaagh!”
“Go hide in the mountains, Ciel. There’s a war coming, you wouldn’t want to get caught fighting for something.” She turned away, and Ciel stomped off.
O-w
And up in the mountains: “I tried, Master. I wanted to just tell them…”
“I know, Ciel. But your friends must find their own paths away from the factions. One cannot achieve balance while embracing imbalance.”
“I think one of them’s going to do something terrible.”
“Both of them will. It is in the nature of the choices they have made.”
“What can we do, Master?” But she shook her head, and the grey mask of her armor revealed nothing.
Challenge: #259, say goodbye
Rating: PG-13 for language
Word Count: 600 (MS word counts my section breaks, but I do not.)
Spoilers: For BBS, I suppose
Notes: Conversations on the eve of an ancient war. There have always been light and shadow and twilight; there have always been land and sea and sky.
Here is the second secret of Kingdom Hearts: once the worlds were one.
In the beginning there was only The World, immense and intricate, and the stars in its sky were only stone and fire. On that world lived countless multitudes, powerful and rich. But their strength outmatched their wisdom. They shattered their great world across the sky, and all their names are now forgotten. But the heart of that world was Kingdom Hearts, and Kingdom Hearts does not forget…
O-w
“Ciel… why… don’t you have… a Master’s Mark?”
Ciel laughed. “Gimme a break, Mar! Just cause I can win a sparring match doesn’t mean I’m a keyblade master.”
“Well, then,” Mar panted, “my test next week is going to be really embarrassing. “ Ciel’s eyes widened. “Everyone says I’ll make it, though. Prodigy. Wonderboy. Youngest in a century. One of my teachers asked me why I didn’t go for the Mark last year.” He pointed at Ciel. “And you just put me in the dirt three times in a row. ”
“Oh,” Ciel said. “Um.”
“Come take the test with me, Ciel. I’m serious.”
“I… can’t, Mar. There’s something else I have to do.”
“Tch. It’s Rive, isn’t it? You get so stupid about her.”
“I get pretty stupid about you, too.” Mar’s head snapped up, jolted by a strange sudden hope. Ciel shook his head. “It’s not Rive.”
“The darkness… ? You’re not thinking of going Black Faction…?”
“Of course not! C’mon, Mar, this is me.” Ciel grinned. “How about you come with me instead? Go off and do crazy random stuff. Save the world. Just like when we were kids, right?”
“… and miss the test?”
“Right. Sorry.” The grin slipped away. “I’ll see you after the test, then, Master Mar.”
“Whatever you say. Master Ciel.”
O-w
“Pfft.” Rive pushed her hair back. “You should have heard Mar the last time I visited home. The most unbelievable bigoted White Faction bullshit: ‘What else is darkness, but hate and rage?’ ‘If you keep using the darkness for power, it will destroy you.’ Asshole.”
“But,” Ciel muttered, “it will destroy you.”
“What did you say?” Ciel hadn't meant Rive to hear that, but he didn’t take it back. “Not everyone can be a happy-sappy rich boy with no problems, Ciel. Some people have to live with things we don’t really like.” Shadows swirled around Rive's fists.
“You think I don’t know that? C’mon, Rive, this is me.” Ciel’s eyes went yellow. “Darkness is part of us. But, you can’t win when you fight yourself.” Rive looked guarded, angry. “Just… come with me? I’ll show you. There’s a place in the mountains, the nights are so dark it’s like the end of the world…”
“Take Mar to your secret spot. Apparently you have a lot in common.”
“Aaagh! I love you, Rive!” Just then, for that one moment, he had saved her. Then it was gone: “I love both of you! And you’re both so… aaagh!”
“Go hide in the mountains, Ciel. There’s a war coming, you wouldn’t want to get caught fighting for something.” She turned away, and Ciel stomped off.
O-w
And up in the mountains: “I tried, Master. I wanted to just tell them…”
“I know, Ciel. But your friends must find their own paths away from the factions. One cannot achieve balance while embracing imbalance.”
“I think one of them’s going to do something terrible.”
“Both of them will. It is in the nature of the choices they have made.”
“What can we do, Master?” But she shook her head, and the grey mask of her armor revealed nothing.