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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
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Forty - Edge

They helped Tifa with chores after they finished eating, since there was little else they could do right now. Tifa wasn’t about to let them go out on their own and wander the city, and she knew kids well enough that, if the three of them weren’t given something to do, they’d get into trouble sooner or later. So Rinally helped Tifa take care of any customers that came into the bar, while Kaoru and Kai washed dishes or swept the floors or did whatever else it was Tifa came up with. Kaoru didn’t mind it so much. He was used to doing chores, so the routine was familiar and somewhat comforting. Kai, however, didn’t seem to know what to do with himself when he had finished a task Tifa had assigned him, and looked almost a little lost when a dust rag was shoved into his hands. Kaoru thought it was amusing that Kai couldn’t even pretend to be domestic, despite the fact he was trying.
They were just considering what to have for lunch when the front door to the Seventh Heaven opened. The man who entered was tall, dressed in a charcoal-grey suit that was impeccably tailored to his form. Short blonde hair was styled in a no-nonsense business cut and his eyes were unreadable icy chips of blue. Coming in behind him were three men and one woman, all dressed in the same black suit. The redhead and the bald suits took up positions by the door, with the former relaxing back against the wall with his hands shoved into his pockets and the latter standing stiffly with his arms crossed over his chest. The other two, the man with long black hair and almond-shaped eyes with a strange red dot in the center of his forehead and the young woman with her blonde hair cut page-boy style, followed the blonde man closer to where Tifa stood with Rinally.
Tifa suddenly seemed bigger to Kaoru as she shifted her body to put herself between Rin and the blonde man, her eyes narrowed but her face otherwise impassive. Both he and Kai were tense themselves, but they weren’t sure how to react to these people. They were dangerous, that much Kaoru could sense, but just how dangerous, he wasn’t sure.
“Tifa.”
“Rufus.” The name was said almost coldly, though there was a slight hint of respect in the syllables.
Rufus, the blonde man, glanced at Rinally, then turned his head toward Kai and Kaoru. “Denzel came by.” he said as he turned his attention back to Tifa.
Tifa’s eyes seemed to narrow even more. “I don’t see him here.”
“He’s with Marlene.” Rufus’s lips twitched. “Honestly, Tifa, we’ve known each other for how long? Surely you don’t think I’d do anything untoward to your son.”
Tifa’s lips thinned into a line. “Honestly, Rufus, I don’t know what you’d do to get ahead in the game. But we all have a history, and long memories.”
That smile that had begun to form on Rufus’s lips faded. He canted his head, as it to acknowledge that she had won that round of verbal sparring. Then he gestured to a vacant table. “May I sit?”
Tifa folded her arms over her chest. “Depends on how long you intend to stay. If you’ve come just to take a peek at the kids, you’ve had it. Get the hell out. But if you’ve come to be useful, then you can sit.”
Rufus dragged out a chair deliberately slowly, then settled into it with all the air of a mob boss. The two suits with him took up positions behind him. The woman glanced over at Kai and Kaoru and offered them a friendly smile. Rufus folded his hands together and settled his elbows on the table, pointedly looking at the chair opposite him. Gesturing for the boys to come closer, Tifa sat down in the chair across from Rufus, with Kai, Kaoru, and Rin arrayed behind her.
“Denzel came asking some vague questions.” Rufus began, even as the blonde woman began laying a stack of five manila folders on the table between him and Tifa. “Discussing it further with him, we learned of your guests. He was very careful in trying not to reveal too much, but one can read between the lines.”
Tifa didn’t even glance at the folders. “So what is this? Just a field trip to lord your incredible knowledge over us?”
Rufus’s lips twisted into a wolfish smile. “It’s much more than that. I also conferred with Reeve and learned Barret had been by to see him. And I happened to overhear that Marlene managed to get into contact with Vincent. With all those clues, it wasn’t hard to figure out that your group was moving, looking for something. So with Reeve’s help, I managed to dig up a few clues to point your guests in what is, hopefully, the right direction.”
Tifa frowned, but reached for one of the five folders. She pulled it closer and flipped it open. Kaoru peered down at it, seeing photographs of an abandoned town that looked far too well-maintained to be really abandoned. There was a photograph of a mansion, the only building that actually looked like it had sustained damage, and there was a photograph of a mountain at night, glowing brightly with an eerie green light. Kai shifted around from behind Tifa and reached for another folder, opening it to reveal photographs of a light-filled lake surrounded by dark trees.
“Nibelheim, the Cetra Ruins, the Forgotten City, the Northern Crater,” Rufus said, “and Midgar itself. Each place has seen increased activity lately that isn’t what you or I would consider normal. There are always tourists who want to visit these places for one reason or another, and-“
“And normally, you let them, provided they’re supervised and have paid the fees.” Tifa said blandly.
Rufus didn’t acknowledge her verbal barb with a response, save to tilt his head to one side. “As I was saying, there have been increased activity in these places. These are the most recent pictures we’ve been able to take. Reeve and Shelke have confirmed that there’s been skirmishes between whatever’s there and their WRO, but the men aren’t killed or wounded seriously. That isn’t to say there haven’t been disappearances, but since Reeve hasn’t asked for help, I figure those disappearances are being handled.”
Kaoru moved around the table to stand next to Kai, studying the pictures before him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for the ones with the destroyed mansion in the pristine town. He couldn’t see anything in the pictures that might give away clues to what Rufus was talking about. Yet as he looked down at the picture of the ruined city, the one Rufus had identified as Midgar, he felt his heart skip a beat. There was nothing in the image that could elicit such a reaction, but Kaoru somehow inexplicably could feel something about that photo, something that was neither right nor wrong but just was.
Rufus leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “I know how leery you and your people are about outside help, but I think even Cloud would agree with me this time.”
Kaoru looked up from the photograph, suddenly aware that he’d missed something in the conversation while he had been drawn into the still image. Both Tifa and Rufus were glaring at each other, as if both were loathe to admit the other was right. Then Tifa leaned forward and tapped her finger against the table. “I doubt Cloud would agree with you about anything,” she said, “but he’s not here to speak for himself. So what do you want, Rufus? You don’t just give out information like this for free.”
Rufus’s smile didn’t quite reach his icy blue eyes. “What do I want? I want to be kept in the loop. Edge is just as much my city as it is yours.”
“That’s a very polite answer.” Tifa retorted. “And it tells me nothing.”
“I’ll send my people to go check things out, discreetly.” Rufus said. His eyes flicked toward Kaoru, Rin, and Kai. “They bring back anything they find, and you let me speak with those three for a while.”
“And what makes you think we want to talk with you?” Kai said, his deep voice holding a barely disguised growl. “We don’t even know you.”
“And besides,” Rin added, “we can go check out these places ourselves. We don’t need help. Especially from suits.”
Rufus’s eyes landed on Kaoru. “And what’s your opinion?”
Kaoru frowned slightly. “I mean... they’re not wrong. We can go check out these places ourselves. Just... we don’t know where any of these places are, or how to get there. But what I don’t understand is why you’re lying to Tifa.”
Rufus’s brow raised slightly. “What makes you think I’m lying to her?”
Kaoru shrugged. “The way you’re acting. If this was just a friendly chat to exchange information and to talk to us, then why bring the bodyguards inside? Also, these pictures look like they were taken recently, like in the last few hours. So you’ve already been investigating things and you have just as many answers as we do, which is about nothing. And I don’t know why you want to talk to us, anyway. We can’t have much to offer by way of information.”
Now it was Tifa’s turn to lean back in her chair. She crossed her arms over her chest with a smug smile. “Well, Rufus? Is Kaoru right?”
Rufus’s expression didn’t change, but Kaoru was certain he wasn’t pleased with Kaoru’s assessment. He didn’t change his position, but Rufus still seemed to grow a little bit bigger as he locked eyes with Kaoru. This was a dangerous man sitting before him. Dangerous and always thinking one or two steps ahead. “He isn’t wrong.” Rufus finally said. “I’ve been keeping an eye on these places, since the activity there started. However, I haven’t been able to glean anything about our secretive friends. Yet, I have a feeling you, Kaoru, have a pretty good idea of who might be crawling around there.”
Kaoru looked toward Rin and Kai, then back at Rufus. “If I tell you, you’ll take us here?” His finger landed on the photograph of the ruins of Midgar.
Tifa shifted uncomfortably. “Why do you want to go there, Kaoru?”
“Because something’s there. I don’t know what, and I don’t know if it’s good or evil. But I have this feeling that I ought to check it out, one way or another.” He kept staring at Rufus. “Well? Do we have a deal or not?”
Rufus’s lips twitched. He leaned forward then and offered his hand to Kaoru. “We have a deal, young man.”
Kaoru took Rufus’s hand and fought not to wince at the hard grip the blonde man had. They shook hands, sealing their bargain, and Kaoru then picked up the picture of Midgar. “The people we’re fighting, the people Sora is fighting, are called The Brotherhood. As far as we know, they’re led by a man named Ennio. He’s been the one going around manipulating events and people in order to see what a concentrated amount of Darkness can do to someone who’s solely Light-oriented. The Brotherhood can already control the Heartless, using these little black rods, but they want to see if they can control someone who has no darkness whatsoever inside them.”
Rufus frowned. “Other than the Princesses of Heart, I doubt there’s anyone in the known worlds that is completely without darkness inside their hearts.”
Tifa shook her head. “That’s not exactly true. Aerith is like that. I doubt she has a mean bone in her body.”
Rufus conceded her point. “But there’s no one here who is like that. The Brotherhood has no reason to be sniffing around the ruins of an old city.”
Kaoru shook his head. “It isn’t just that. They’re looking for any way to give themselves an advantage. A friend...” He paused, tensed for a second, then relaxed, “a friend of mine works for them. He’s their Keyblade wielder. He told me that a war is coming between Light and Darkness, and the Brotherhood is working against Sora and Riku in order to protect everything Sora and Riku are trying to destroy.”
“Sora and Riku are working to protect the worlds from an encroachment of darkness.” spoke Tifa, her face twisted into a confused expression. “If anything, they’re also working to prevent the Light from becoming too dominant.”
“I admit that when it comes to the activities of those two, and those closest to them,” Rufus said, “I don’t have the slightest clue as to what they’re up to. We’ve crossed paths a few times, and from those encounters I can tell those two are the most likely to get themselves involved if they think something is getting out of balance. But what I don’t understand is why this Brotherhood would think Sora is trying to destroy anything.”
“Do bad guys need a logical reason to do evil?” Rinally asked.
The silence that followed was answer enough.
Kaoru looked down at the picture in his hand. “There’s something here. Something that’s neither good nor evil, light or dark. It just is. But the Brotherhood machinations we’ve encountered have all been about keeping their own hands clean. Getting other people to do their dirty work. Each time we’ve encountered them, they’re always giving people the tools to perpetuate darkness, but get nothing in return. Nothing we’ve been able to see.”
Kai let out a rough noise. “Hiromu said he’d collected something from Halloween Town. Said, with what he’d collected, the Brotherhood could create an unbeatable army. Not even Sora would be able to stop them.”
“But why create an army to fight a handful of Keyblade users?” asked the blonde woman from behind Rufus. Her black-haired partner looked at her sharply. Even Rufus twisted to look at her. She flushed slightly, as if she were embarrassed. “Well, it doesn’t make any sense.” she continued.
“What do you mean, Elena?” Rufus asked, his tone gentle yet demanding.
“Well,” Elena stopped to organize her thoughts, “well, it’s like sending the WRO to wrangle a flock of chocobos. You’ll have an entire group of people chasing birds who are faster and stronger, and who don’t exactly like to cooperate.”
“Keyblade wielders aren’t exactly chocobos.” Tifa pointed out.
Elena shook her head. “No, they’re not. But think about it. There’s only a handful of people who can wield the Keyblade, and they’re usually scattered across the worlds. You can’t just snap your fingers and herd them together into one place and not expect a certain amount of resistance if not outright defiance.”
“Maybe the army is the red herring.” suggested Tifa. “Put the army at the doorstep of someone Sora cares about the most, and he’ll have to show up to put a stop to everything. The Keyblade wielders might be stronger than any of us, but they’re still human. They tire. They get hungry and thirsty. Cut those things off with interminable fighting, and they’ll get weak enough to overpower.”
Kaoru stared down at the picture in his hand, half-listening to what Tifa, Rufus, and Elena were saying. Most of it made sense - creating an unbeatable army to combat a seemingly unbeatable Keyblade wielder would not only leave an opening for the Brotherhood to strike at who and where they pleased - but other bits of information didn’t jive well. Kaoru thought back to his first encounter with Ennio on Belle’s world, how he had wanted to use the Beast as an experiment, but instead had used Gaston. Gaston had been mostly darkness with only a touch of light. And then again in Jamestown, when John had taken over by the darkness inside him, it had taken both Kaoru and Thomas to bring John out of the mindless rage the darkness had placed him in. But John hadn’t been steeped in darkness like Gaston had. He’d actually been a champion of the Light, if Kaoru could interpret Pocahontas’s and Thomas’s stories correctly.
That was just what Kaoru himself had encountered. There was no telling what else the Brotherhood had done before Kaoru had gotten involved, and there was no telling what they were doing on other worlds that Kaoru hadn’t gone to.
The other thing that didn’t make sense when taken in context with everything that was being said here was Hiromu. Hiromu had said the Brotherhood needed a Keyblade user and a Princess of Heart, both of which they had, but only one of which was useful to them. Why would they need a Keyblade user and a Princess of Heart if they were trying to make an army that not even Sora, a Keyblade Master, would be able to defeat? Why would the Brotherhood waste time and resources experimenting with those black rods when they knew they could already control the Heartless?
He felt quite convinced that he couldn’t put to voice those questions here, in front of Tifa and Rufus and Elena, not because they wouldn’t be able to think of an answer, but because it involved the Keyblades, the Princesses, Light, and Darkness in an intricate tangle of threads that only someone who was intimately familiar with those four subjects and the Brotherhood would be able to answer.
He stared down at the photograph of Midgar and felt utterly convinced that, one way or another, the answers to those questions would be found there, in the ruins of that city.
“Kaoru?”
He looked up at Tifa, who was watching him with a concerned gaze. She glanced toward Rufus, who was also staring at Kaoru, though his expression was completely unreadable. Kaoru set the photograph on the table and gently pushed it toward Rufus.
“Will you take us there, please?” Kaoru asked, keeping his voice even. “If the Brotherhood is there, then it can’t be for anything good. We need to get there, and we don’t have any time left to waste.”
Rufus’s expression didn’t change. He flicked his eyes from Kaoru to Kai to Rin to Tifa and back to Kaoru again. “Very well. Tifa?”
The brunette woman scowled. “You made a deal with him, Rufus. Don’t ask me for permission.”
Nodding, Rufus looked back at Kaoru. “Midgar’s quite a distance away. I hope none of you get airsick.”
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn