Young Writers Society

Kirux thought over the question for a moment before enthusiastically pointing at himself.


"Not yet," I said, "but I will if I need to."

I took a step closer to her, occasionally looking at the pair of scissors to see where it was. The easy answer would be to possess her, but I didn't want to do that unless I absolutely had to.

"I've come to realize that it might not be a good idea to let anyone leave," I informed her. "Say what you will, but I don't entirely trust you right now."

It took Fidel a moment to realize what he meant.

"You mean you made that..." he gestured at the general everything, "thing, happen, appear, whatever?"

xXx

She smirked at him, then slowly, visibly, placed the scissors onto the nearest table.

"Alright," she said, putting her hands up in surrender, "You win. You and I both know I'm not going to win this fight."

He gave an excited nod as his keyblade disappeared from his hand. He wished he could make another corridor, but he was too tired to right now.

Then he paused, trying to think of how he could explain to Fidel that he wanted to go somewhere else.


That hadn't gone as expected.

I leaned up against the doorway, just in case she was still thinking of trying to leave. "That was easier than I thought it would be," I admitted. "I was sure you were going to stab me with those, even though I'm made of metal right now."

Fidel watched Kirux, wanting to see what he wanted to say and trying to think up a plan of his own. The others were somewhere, probably near the castle, but he had no way of knowing where or how to get there.

He supported himself on the wall as the ground lurched beneath him.

It had been too long since he'd used his powers, apparently, and they weren't liking the sudden burst of activity.

It'll pass, he told himself. And it would, in a few minutes time. Like when he knocked himself out with the steam from that elixir last year and didn't use any magic for the full three days of unconsiousness he'd endured.

It would pass.

xXx

Megara rolled her eyes.

"Please, as tempting as it is, I'm not that stupid. If I wasn't dealing with blood loss and severe injury, I wouldn't give up so easily. But I am, and you're about as bad a person as I am, so here we are."

His eyes widened when he saw Fidel falter. His magic must have tired him out, too - Kirux made sure to rush over to his side and support him, even though Fidel was already leaning up against the wall.


I hoped what she said wasn't as true as I was trying to make her believe, but I didn't mention that.

"Smart move," I said. "You are talking to one of the strongest ghosts there ever was, after all - you wouldn't stand a chance against me."

Fidel gratefully accepted Kiruxes help for the moment, but gently nudged him away when he could support himself again, "I'm alright," he said honestly, "just a bit of magic sickness. It's passed now, I'm okay."

There was a pause, then, "Where should we go?"

xXx

She rolled her eyes, "I suppose that's what corrupted you. You can't die, I'm guessing?"

The immortality-corrupted were her least favorite breed. Pretentious, overconfident, a lot like her, really. But at least she had the benefit of a good excuse. She was going to die, they weren't, therefore anything she did was just her taking advantage of her limited time.

Kirux let out a relieved breath of air.

Then he crossed his arms and rested his chin in his hand, thinking of how they could find the others now. He knew that was what they had to do next - he just wasn't sure how they were going to do it.

He looked around the alleyway for something to write on and write with, eventually finding a discarded pipe and a pile of spilled flour on the ground. He moved the flour out with his shoe, making sure it was spread thin enough for him to easily draw things in it.

"Others," he wrote, adding in a drawing of Megara, Skull, the prince and Jacob as stick figures for emphasis.


Was I supposed to lie and say yes to that?

"I can't," I confirmed without missing a single beat. As long as I used my powers when I needed to, Megara would never suspect a thing - especially since I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon.

Fidel nodded, "You think we should find the others?" he guessed confidently.

xXx

She sighed, "That would explain your pretentious nature then."

He wasn't really all that pretentious aside from the singular comment, especially when compared to Megara herself, but insulting him was all she could really do right now. That or attacking him, and they both knew how that would end. As much as she pretended otherwise, she really, really hated knowingly putting herself in pain like that.

There was no one here to expect that of her, so she could be as cowardly as she liked.

He gave a big nod in confirmation, then frowned and drew a question mark in the flour - he hoped Fidel knew how to find them.


"What explains yours, then?" I said - it wasn't my smartest move, but I didn't know how else to reply to that insult. It had the added benefit of supporting my lie that I wasn't able to die. If I was immortal, I would be a lot riskier than I usually was.

Fidel frowned, "I, uh, I don't know what you mean," he admitted, "But, uh, do you know how to find them?"

This town wasn't small judging by the glimpses of it they'd seen out of the castle's windows, there was too much ground to cover, too many places to check if they didn't have an easy way to find the others.

xXx

Megara smiled, "My mortality," she chirped and lifted herself up onto a worktable to sit down. She tucked her good leg up onto the table and let the other one dangle down, which may or may not be what was best for her wound, but she'd lost hope in it being able to heal up enough to not result in a permanent limp at least.

Kirux's frown deepened as his lips shook - he didn't have the slightest idea. He shook his head in denial. If he couldn't find Riku, how could he find them? This task seemed just as impossible as his usual one.


I sat down on a worktable a short distance away from her.

"That explains a lot," I said. "You're only supposed to live once."

Fidel instantly went to comfort Kirux. "It's alright, we'll figure it out..." He trailed off as he spotted someone approaching from the other end of the alley. He stiffened, instantly defensive. He looked for something alive, prepared to use his magic defensively for the second time in his life.

The figure lowered her hood to reveal the face of a kindly woman, "I'm sorry if I startled you," she said to them, "I just couldn't help overhearing, are you trying to find someone?"

xXx

She rolled her eyes and leaned back on her hands, "Yep. And I would very much like to live as annoyingly as possible toward pricks like yourself."

Kirux immediately beamed when he saw the woman's face - she seemed very nice, whoever she was.

He gave an eager nod.

"Yes!" he signed, hoping that she knew what he was saying. "We're looking for our friends. We got separated."


"Right back at you," I said, mirroring her posture. "So, Megara, what do you do for a living? I don't think I ever got the full picture back in the castle - Fidel was too busy panicking over your reputation. Are you an assassin?"

The woman's expression turned puzzled and she turned to Fidel, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know why he's saying, could you translate for me?"

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Well, erm, I don't actually know sign language either," he admitted.

She nodded, "I see...Well, if you could explain to me who, exactly, you're looking for I may be able to help."

Fidel gave her a wary look, "I..."

"Oh!" she seemed to realize his reservations, "Oh my, right, don't trust strangers. Smart boy. I'm Isadora, and I'm actually looking for my son at the moment. My theory is he ran off again with his boyfriend, but I want to make sure before I stop worrying."

Fidel looked at Kirux, trying to get some confirmation on whether or not he should trust her.

xXx

Megara laughed, "Fidel had me mistaken for someone a little more deadly. My job is not something you're allowed to go prying into, love, so drop it."

His frown returned when he realized she couldn't understand him, either, but then an idea struck him.

He turned back to the flour and started drawing and writing with his pipe again.

"We're also looking for a boy and his boyfriend," he wrote. "Maybe they're the same ones! What are their names?"


I gave her a look.

"You didn't deny the killing part," I pointed. "And we're not even from the same world, Megara - what's the harm in sharing?"