Kh2.9- Chapter One: An Introduction Of Heroines (and Heroes)

[cream_sugar]

Okay, I really want everyone to read this so here a brief overview: This takes place about a month or so after the end of KH2. The story revolves around a group of kids who live on a very isolated world but outside their city is nothing but a wasteland and Heartless.Their government has told them that there is no outside world, but the main character thinks otherwise. Enjoy!

There is an urban legend told in the alleyways of Juno City…about a world that existed long ago…

The people of this world had everything and had nothing. They were at peace and they were at war. They were generous and kind and they were greedy and selfish. Then, an unknown enemy came to this world and attacked the people.

The people used everything they had to protect themselves against the enemy, even weapons of mass destruction that could kill thousands in an instant, but the enemy would only strike back with twice as much force. The enemy began to consume the planet.

Soon the world began to tear apart and the people left as the enemy took over their world and destroyed it completely. The lives that were lost were too terrible to even put in numbers, but what was worse was the people had to leave that beautiful yet terrible world behind.

No one knows for sure if such a world and such a people ever existed. The government denies any evidence of the people, the world, or even the unknown enemy.

But sometimes, the elders look towards the sky and silently, they cry. When they talk in groups, they whisper about the “Old World”. Their sons and daughters shake their heads, sigh “It’s only a fairy tale.” However, when they finished their crying and their whispers, they turn to their grandchildren and smile, as if they are the ones who will lead the great people back to the “Old World”…


To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all heaven in a Rage.
A Dove house fill’d with doves & Pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A dog starv’d at his master’s gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus’d upon the road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fiber from the Brain does tear.
A Skylark wounded in the wing,
A Cherubim does cease to sing.
The Game Cook clip’d & arm’d for fight
Does the Rising Sun afright.
Every Wolf’s & Lion’s howl
Raises from Hell a Human Soul.
The wild deer, wand’ring here & there
Keep the Human Soul from Care.
The Lamb misus’d breed public strife
And yet forgives the Butcher’s knife.
The Bat that flits at close of Eve
Has left the Brain that won’t Believe
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbeliever’s fright.
He who shall hurt the little Wren
Shall never be belov’d by Men.
He who the Ox to wrath has mov’d
Shall never be by Woman lov’d.
The wanton Boy that kills the Fly
Shall feel the Spider’s enmity
He who torments the Chafer’s Sprite
Weaves a Bowen in endless Might
The Caterpillar or the Leaf
Repeats to thee thy Mother’s grief.
Kill not the Moth or the Butterfly,
For the Last Judgment draweth nigh.

Aguries of Innocence by William Blake
-Lines 1-40

CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION OF HEROINES (AND HEROES)

At seven-thirty in the morning, the cluster city of Juno began to wake up. First, electricity followed through the magnets of the subway trains and they began to move to their programmed stops. Public transportation began as people emerged from their homes into their cars on the already hot asphalt pavement streets. With the humid dampness in the air, it would sure be a hot one again today. The streetlights turned off, however the rings of florescent light around the city walls and major streets remained on. These lights were always on 24/7, although no one really understood why. They just knew if they ever went off, something terrible would happen. But usually, no one took much notice of it, even when the lights began to flicker ever so slightly.

As the rest of the city began to rise with the sun, the bells of the St. Peter’s Orphanage and School for Girls, signaled the wake-up call for the girls in their dormitories for breakfast. Girls from as young as four or five up to that of seventeen and eighteen climbed out of their beds into the cafeteria, dressed in a uniform of a black skirt, white blouse, red tie, black stockings, and black shoes, with the red school jacket. Another bell rang at the end of breakfast at 8:05 AM to begin classes.

The teacher began to call role for homeroom. A girl walked in late with a black bag and wearing along with her uniform, black fishnets and dark eyeliner. Her hair was dyed black as well and she stared at the teacher vaguely with her brown eyes. She was from the Slavic sect; her fair skin was proof of that. She wasn’t technically an orphan, as she lived with her grandmother, the Great Physic Madame Radshaik. When the teacher called her name (“Radshaik, Michelle!”) she replied with, “Darkness is eternal,” her usual greeting, or at least until the teacher learned to address her as Mitch. Her bag felt heavier this morning. She reached down and felt something warm and large, Marshmallow, her ferret, no doubt. He probably found her turkey sandwich she would have had for lunch. “Stupid…” she began but thought better of it. The six sense was going off; she grinned. Was it the forces of darkness? She looked over towards a girl in the back.

A girl with fair skin but different shaped eyes was reciting some prayer under her breath. She looked up quickly when the teacher called her for role (“Su, Ling!”), then started to pray again. No one knew what sect she belong to but it wasn’t English, Slavic, or Romantic, but something entirely different. Mitch saw she was playing with her fingers: something was up.

Mitch looked towards the other side of the room where a girl with mousy hair and glasses wrote feverishly in a journal. Lucy Stuart was an orphan in the truest sense unlike Mitch or Ling. She belonged to the English sect and as everyone knew her family was rich but no one knew the reason why she was rich. Rumor was her family founded Juno City. The cheerleaders, grouped in the back, pointed in laugh, probably because they found Lucy lack of mammary glad funny. They stopped at once as soon as Mitch began to stare at them. They knew if they made Mitch mad, they would experience sudden nose bleeds and headaches.
Mitch then turned to the seat a little ways in front of her. It was empty. Of course…

These three girls are indeed involved in this story but the main character is still yet to be introduced. And she was the girl missing.

The teacher looked up from her roster and saw that “she” was missing. Usually when “she” disappeared, the other three of her entourage were gone as well. Mitch was the only one who usually went alone.

“Well?” she asked, flashing her spectacles, “Has anyone seen Miss Porter?”

“She wasn’t at breakfast,” replied one of the cheerleaders, trying to suppress a giggle.

“So then she’s ill?” the teacher looked around and her eyes landed on Mitch, “Well Miss Radshaik?”

“The forces of darkness aren’t talking, so it’s safe to say she still on this side,” Mitch replied. The teacher ignored this comment.

“Ling! Check Miss Porter’s dormitories, will you?”

Ling stopped playing with her fingers and left the classroom. Lucy mouthed to Mitch, “She’s gone out again?”

Mitch shrugged. The senses only told her so much. Instead, she pulled out a CD player, plugged the earpiece in her head and turned up the volume on max to a song called “Call Me When Your Sober”.

Ling returned ten minutes later. “She’s not there ma’am. Nor is Tai.”

“That Grace Porter!” fumed the teacher and went to her phone, dialing the headmistress number. “One of these days, that girl is going to get it!”
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The girl in question, Grace Porter, raised her head above the edge of the plateau. She pulled herself over and stood up. She brushed the red dust off her black pants and straightened her black leather jacket, pushing her black braided hair back. A small robot gleaned in stainless silver with blue markings, floated besides her.

“Gracey! Gracey! Are you sure we should do this? I mean we’re not even suppose to be out here,” said the robot, his circuits shaking.

Grace turned back to him with a smile, her cornflower eyes gleaming. “If we don’t get caught, then no one has to know we were out here. Besides, what’s there to worry about?”
“But what about the Heartless?” the robot followed close behind her.

“There’s no Heartless. They won’t show up in a place like this,” Grace walked forward, spotting something gleaming in the distance.

“That’s what you said last time, and the time before that, and even the time before THAT! And guess what? Everytime, they’ve shown up!” yelled the robot. “Gracey?”

The girl had run ahead of him, leaving him behind. The wind picked up, howling like a ferocious monster and he screamed, “GRACEY!” shooting towards her like a bullet. Grace turned to see what he was crying about when he flew right into her jacket.

“Aww, I’m sorry,” she said affectionately, petting his head gently, “Are you okay?”

“F-fine,” he stammered, still shaky, “J-just p-peachy.”

Grace turned her attention to object in front of her. It was a large as a house and was once white but now by wind and time, had rusted and blackened with dirt and dust. She touched the surface. “Weird…what do you think it is, Tai?” asked Grace.

The robot analyzed the surface with his sensors. “Seems to be titanium with some sort of heat resistant coating.”

“There’s a door here…maybe…it’ll…open!” She knocked her arm against the door and it jolted open. Old fumes of petroleum and death reeked out. “Egh…what do you think it is?”

“Hmm…my library isn’t recognizing any of this,” replied the robot. “There’s a lot of Carbon Monoxide though, not enough to kill but if we stay here long enough you might get sick.” The robot then turned back to her, “Gracey? Are you sure we should do this? I know you’re fascinated with the outside world but…”

“We’ll be in and out in fifteen minutes,” Grace stepped into the door. She looked around. It reminded her almost like the inside of a subway train compartment, with seats, but they seemed to be made out of the same material as chairs. “Seems like some sort of transportation vehicle but what’s it doing out here? Turn on your flashlight,” Grace added to Tai. One his small compartments of his head opened up and the light beamed across the room.

The beam fell on a rotting corpse.

“Now we know what smells,” complemented Tai, as Grace found something near the skeleton that peaked her interest. It was a black rectangular box, only unlike a box, it was very heavy. It opened strangely, popping up from the top. The girl stared at it with wonder. While the outside was smooth it was still rough, but the top portion of the box was very smooth and she could somewhat see her reflection. As for the bottom portion, there were letter keys, almost like…

“…a computer?” she lifted it up, “What a strange computer. The keys are attached to the software component. Either way…” she noticed the small ports and unlit LEDs, “…it’s some sort of machine. Wonder if it works? There should be a power switch here somewhere. Is this it?” Grace flipped a small button that looked important in the back.

The machine began to hum and the smooth portion of the machine flashed. “The screen?” Grace asked herself as it flashed again and words in white with a black background appeared. “It’s in an English sect. ‘Error… Detected…Please…install…Operating System’.” She read the words with her finger at the screen. “Operating System?”

Tai meanwhile had hovered into the back of the transportation vehicle. “Why do I always get dragged into these things? She never listens to me anyway, but yet I somehow get pulled along. One of these days, I’m gonna be like, ‘I told you so!’ or something rather. That is…as long as a Heartless doesn’t rip my circuits out before that.” Something from above him growled. He looked up and saw a dark creature hanging from the ceiling, its yellow pupil less eyes staring at him. “Why can’t she ever be right about them?” The creature pounced. “HEARTLESS!”

Grace heard the robot scream and quickly put away the computer, pulling out her LightLASER. Tai came squealing into the room towards her, the Heartless running behind him. She fired two shots of a bright light projectile, striking the creature in the shoulder and the chest. Tai cowered behind her, as she whispered. “It’s a big one. Wonder how many hearts that beast’s taken?” She fired again as the creature lunged at her and knocked her to the ground. It leaped on top of her but she blasted at its neck and threw it off.

“Let’s go!” she told Tai and she bolted out the door into the outside. She ran a few yards, panting and turned back to look at the transportation vehicle.

“Did you get it?” asked Tai, shivering.

She scanned the ground and saw a dark shadowing moving towards them. “Not quite. Run!” she yelled, running towards the cliff. Grace fired a few more light burst from her LightLASER, but it merely struck the ground. Then her pistol jammed. “Stupid thing!” she waked it hard with her hand.

She was at the edge of the cliff now, and the Heartless was about to emerge out of the ground. “Gracey, move!” shouted Tai and she jumped off the edge onto her sky board. She pulled the sky board away from the edge, just as the Heartless tumbled over the cliff.

“Take that you big bully!” cheered Tai and happily floated over towards Grace as she pulled on her goggles. She took one quick look at the Heartless far down on the ground below before starting up her boosters and zooming away from the cliff and off into the red wasteland.

Grace adjusted the wing of her diver turning left and right. The diver’s sensors picked up a wind coming from behind her, so she reduced the output of its boosters and let the wind take over. Almost like a hover board, the sky diver used the world’s magnetic field to let it float above the ground but not far away to over come the force of gravity. The computer chip inside was constantly readjusting the magnetic output to keep the board stable as any miscalculation could throw off the board completely and send it crashing. Because of the wing added to it, the sky diver could move faster than a standard hover board and was useful for travel across the terrain outside of Juno City. However, since no one had traveled outside the city in the decade that the Heartless had arrived and the computer chip that measured out all the magnetic calculations was expensive, only a few people had a sky diver and even fewer could repair it.

The city walls were now appearing over the horizon as Grace slowed down the sky diver enough so she could stop at the city walls. She jumped off her sky diver and pressed a small button underneath it. In the time it took to take off her goggles, the sky driver folded itself up to resembled that of a rectangular pole. It was no heavier than the books she carried around for school everyday. Sneaking through the blind spots of the video cameras above, she and Tai came to the opening of a storm drain. “Why do we have to go through here?” asked Tai, “It stinks.”

“Sorry, but you were the one who said that the storm drains were the weakest link in the city walls,” said Grace as she climb through the pipe. Tai sighed as he followed behind her, turning on his flashlight. They meandered through the pipe corridors, following a route that only a rat could know until a shaft of sunlight signaled the end of the tunnel.

They came out into a waterway in the South District of the city. South District was the most populated of the city and it was easy to blend in and get lost in the crowd from the eyes of the government. With the shops not yet overwhelmed by morning customers, the shopkeepers began to talk in all sorts of language sects: the English Dialectics, The Romanics, the Slavic, and the mysterious sets of the unknown. Others eyed their competitors with interested, checking prices and good deals.

“Where are we going?” asked Tai, “Don’t tell me we’re going to that guy!”

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Grace.

“One) He shows out of the blue two months ago, Two) He likes fire way too much, Three) He’s emo! Four) He’s scary…”

“He is not emo! Emo went out, oh god, years ago! Besides, he’s the only one who can fix the LASERlight,” she stopped. A group of old women who had been staring at her looked away and began to whisper in undertones. Grace was used to this by now, the elderly staring at her, before whispering to each other. Occasionally, she would get a smile, as well as some that would shake her hand for no apparent reason. Why, though? What was it that made them stare at her like that? Was it her purple eyes perhaps?

Grace and Tai continued to walk through the streets until they came to a shop with a sign hanging above labeled, “Fire Lucky Eight! Juno’s source for Firearms, Explosives, and Knives. We also repair Sky Divers!” In the window was a neat display of empty bomb castings and next to it was a shiny air rifle on display.

Grace opened the door ignoring the mandatory “Minors must be accompanied by an adult” sign and walked inside. The lights above were dimmed down so low that Grace almost needed to squint in order to see. The smell of incense and gunpowder swirled into her nostrils.

A man in his mid-twenties with flaming red hair hid underneath his hat came in from the back room. His suit reminded Grace of a mechanics; he had working on explosives from all the gunpowder on his shirt, especially a large stain underneath his name badge, “Axel”.

“Whatda’ya want this time? I fixed your Sky Diver last week,” he groaned.

Graced tossed him her LASERlight. “It jammed again.”

He examined the firearm closely, talking as he made observations, “Fighting Heartless I see.”

“I can’t help it if they keep on attacking me. This one was a little bit too close to the city. They seem to be getting restless,” said Grace.

The man’s eyes flashed at Grace for a brief second, just before opening up the gun casing. “No kidding. Where’d you go?”

“There was this weird transportation vehicle. I’ve never seen anything like it. I also found this,” Grace opened up her bag and pulled out the computer.

Axel immediately put the LASERlight down and picked up the computer.

“I’m sure it’s a computer. But there’s a problem with the something system…”

“Operating System,” Axel corrected her, watching the message flash up, “Give me some time and I’ll get it back together.”

“But it’s in American English, I think…”

“All computers are the same. They contain a Hard Drive, a Processor, an Operating System, the software, the RAM, the ROM, and a FILE drive. You don’t need to know the language in order to figure out how to put it back together. Besides, I can understand English, same as you. By the way,” he looked at her with his green eyes, eyeliner marks underneath them, “Shouldn’t you be in school today?”

“There’s nothing going on at school today, except…” She froze, “Oh dang it! Final preparation! Tai! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m not suppose to keep track of your schedule!” he yelled, “I told you! We should’ve gone to school!”

“Sorry! Got to go!” Grace grabbed her bag and ran out the door, Tai speeding behind her.

“Hey! Don’t you want your weapon?” asked Axel.

“I’ll come by for it later!” Grace called and she slammed the door behind her.

Axel sighed and began to take the computer apart. The lights above him began to flicker and suddenly went out.

“Oh boy…” he muttered but couldn’t help but smile. He sort of had a thing for chaos.

Outside in the city, people looked around suddenly as the subway stopped, lights went out, and air conditioning shut off. Then as soon as it stopped it all came back on. Nothing to worry about. The lights were still on.
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Now it is time to introduce another character of significance of this story. Joseph Carter sat at his computer, studying for his AP Computer Science Final. He careful thought about each answer provided on the holographic screen, just before touching the screen to choice his answer. Continuing to stare at the screen, he thought about his weird, yet fascinating conversation he had earlier with his grandfather.

His grandfather, William Carter, was an extraordinary man who helped in founding the last city of mankind. It was thanks to him, that all the people could live conferrable in Juno City. It was William Carter that built the waterways, the train lines, and more importantly the energy plant beneath the city that ran everything. Then William Carter retired and he was sent with most deemed respect by the government to the Elderly Retiree Center in the North End district.

Joseph Carter had visited his grandfather once a day after attending The School of Future Geniuses ever since he had hit the age of thirteen. “Now, Joseph,” he grandfather had said to him, “It’s time to learn the truth. We’ll begin with a story.”

Joseph had laid down his tea cup. Usually, his grandfather would call him Joey or Joe. Never before in his life had his grandfather refer to him as Joseph, not even when he was in trouble.

“Do you know what imperialism is?”

Joey nodded. “That’s when people buy houses to increase their owner ship.”

“Ah…” his grandfather sighed, “That is simply what they have told you. The type of imperialism I’ll referring to is conquering other lands.”

“Conquering…other lands?” he asked, but his grandfather silenced him.

“What I’m telling you is merely fiction. Simply fiction. Do you understand?”

Joey nodded his head but didn’t understand. His grandfather pulled out a book. It was an old book; the pages were stained yellow and it was covered in several layers of dust. When his grandfather opened up the book, Joey found himself staring at a map of colored shapes. “This is a map of countries, that is to say pieces of land that are home to different people. They make up a continent called Europe. These countries however, do not exist.”

“I know what countries are,” remarked Joey, “There used to be dozens of them before the Heartless came.”

“Well then, than I won’t have to explain as much. You see this large country here?” his grandfather pointed on the map. “This is the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Over here, is Germany and right next to it is France.”

“Austria-Hungarian Empire, Germany, France,” he recited. But wait a minute; a thought had suddenly occurred to him. German was one of the English Sects; French was one of the Romantic Sects. Could those languages have some relevance with these countries? But his grandfather had said that the countries did not exist.

His grandfather continued, “At what would be a time so long ago that my grandfather was not even a small boy, strong nationalistic, that is-”

“-extreme patriotism for one’s country-”

“Indeed, nationalistic feelings ran high in both Germany and France. You see, France had lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War and as a result of the war, Germany now had possession of Alasce and Lorraine, two small provinces that were rich in materials for Germany’s factories. This help made Germany one of the leading economic powers in all of Europe. There was competition for colonies, especially in the continent of Africa, which is down here, and the country of India, which isn’t on this map. Anyway, France and Great Britain –this island country over here- were gaining up on Germany in the number of colonies they had. This also led to an increase buildup in their armies. Add the fact that none of the countries really trusted each other and you have a mess on your hands. Germany then signed a treaty with Italy –this one down here, the one touching France- and Austria-Hungary (I’m guessing you know what a treaty is) and Britain and France signed an entente. Sooner or later something was going to give.”

“So then, what caused it to give?” asked Joey, now interested.

“The assassination of Franz Ferdinand.”

“How was killed? Why was he killed?”

“Well it had to do with a conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The countries of Bosnia and Serbia had recently been in a civil war and had been split apart. The Serbians saw Austria-Hungary as an enemy, so on June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip of Serbia shot and killed the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne and his wife while he was visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia,” explained his grandfather.

“1914?” asked Joey.

“Ignore the dates; it’s just to give you an understanding of the time. This is all fiction: remember that. Anyway, the Austrian government used the assassination as an excuse to crush Serbia for good so they sent them an ultimatum; the Serbs agreed but they did not follow all of the conditions. As a result, Austria declared war on Serbia a month later and because of the treaties the other countries had signed, they were thrown into it as well.

“Germany began to make plans. Under the Schlieffen plan, Germany would march through Belgium to defeat France,” His grandfather used his finger to show where the countries where, “Then Germany would fight Russia. As long as they didn’t fight two countries on both sides, they would be fine. On August 3, Germany invaded Belgium and Britain soon entered the war. The Germans would soon be blamed for the ones that started the war, as it was the first to invade another country. The war now had its two fighting sides: the Central Powers; Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire; and the Allied Powers; Serbia, Russia, France, and Britain. It was suppose to be a ‘summer war’ and many thought that it would only last a few weeks. How very wrong they were.

“The war was called ‘The Great War’. It would soon be remembered as World War I. On the Western Front between Germany and France, the Schlieffen Plan was working and Germany swept through Belgium all the way to the capital of France, Paris. However, some of the German generals changed the original plans, a costly mistake. Russia then mobilized quicker than the Germans had expected, and soon Germany was fighting on two sides. In September, British and French troops fought the Germans and destroyed any hopes for a quick in the battle of the Marre. Both sides now dug in for a long war, literally, with trench warfare, underground network linked bunkers, communication trenches, and gun emplacements covered the top. In between these trenches was called no man’s land. Sometimes, with a lot of luck, one side would take over a few trenches, but only about once a month. Any other attempts was met with death. It was now at a stalemate. The Germans launched the Battle of Verdun in 1916 against the French that lasted 11 months. The Allies launched the Battle of the Somme which lasted 5 months. Both sides now had access to new warfare: machine guns, poison gas, armored tanks, aircraft, zeppelins, and u-boats, but that still wasn’t enough to turn the tide. And before you knew it, everyone was involved. The Russians tried to combat the Germans with the Battle of Tannerberg, but lost. Bulgaria entered the war with Germany. Italy declared war on Austira-Hungary. Britain attempted to take over the Turkish trenches in the Battle of Gallipoli and the Allies invaded the African and Asian colonies owned by Germany. It was a mess.”

His grandfather stopped, taking a handkerchief out to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then said, “I think we’ll stop there for today.”

“But it was getting good!” whined Joey.

“Here,” his grandfather handed him an old book, “Thought you might like it.”

“Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Strange name; what’s it about?” Joey asked.

“Why don’t you read it and find out.”

Now, having finished his practice exam (his score was 120%), he looked over at the book, sitting on his desk.

There was a knock at his door. “Come in,” he said.

The door to his bedroom creaked open. In stepped a frail girl her hair as white as her skin, her hand against the wall as she walked inside the room. Joey got out of his seat, took her hand and led her over to his bed, where she sat down.

“How was the visit with Grandpa?” the girl asked, her pale eyes not looking at Joey.

“The same as it always is, I guess,” he replied, and her head turned in the direction his voice had come from. He looked at the girl with sadness in his eyes, even though the girl could not see that sadness, nor would she ever will, at least for now.

The girl that now sat on his bed, his little sister Margot, had the disease called blindness. It meant that she could not see and for the time being it was incurable. Blindness was so rare a disease, that only five people in all of Juno City had it. Because of it, people with Blindness couldn’t go to school like everyone else, simply because how could you teach a person who could not see how to read and write? Margot, was lucky though. Their grandfather suggested using the old language of Braille to teach her how to read and write, even though Margot could listen to most books to learn. The results were that Margot was intelligent as any other girl who could see, even though she still had to be led around like a little girl with someone at her side if she ever went out. Margot didn’t mind though. She often said she would rather be in someone’s company than to be alone.

But now Margot’s eyes would soon be developed enough to be fixed. Her blindness would be cured in two weeks time. She would soon be taken to the Revivitor to have her eyes corrected.

“Did he tell you anything interesting?” asked Margot.

“He did tell me about this really cool war between all these countries, but…” he stopped, thinking back to something he thought earlier, “All the countries, had similar names to Language Sects. But Grandpa said that the countries didn’t exist. Do you think he was lying?”

Margot was quiet for a moment. Joey could tell she was thinking.

“I don’t think Grandpa would lie to you. Maybe he meant that they existed at one time,” said Margot.

“Like before the Heartless came,” said Joey thoughtfully, “But the Government says that Juno City is only the real city left and maybe the only one that will be left. It’s the only home humans will ever have. We’re the only ones left. There’s nothing else beyond the city. This is the world. Besides, no one remembers anything from before Juno City was founded, except the elderly and half of them are dead or crazy.”

“But…it’s in human nature to lie. What if the Government is lying to us?” questioned Margot.

“Why would they lie? I mean, if they’re were humans still out there, don’t you think they would’ve contacted us?” asked Joey.

“I guess so,” Margot said quietly. Her hand reached out and touched the book. “What’s this?” she asked.

“Oh, Grandpa gave that to me. It’s called Fahrenheit 451.”

“Fahrenheit 451.” Margot fingers felt around the edges of the book. “Will you read it to me?” she asked, holding out the book.

“All right,” said Joey, turning to the first page, “‘In the Beginning…books bombarded Montag’s shoulders, his arms, his upturned face.’”

“Did someone say my name?”

A boy taller than Joey walked into the room. He was wearing a soccer uniform, having just come from practice, a pair of goggles holding back the mess he called hair.

“Oh, hi, Matti!” Margot said cheerfully, “How was practice?”

Montag, or Matti, put his bag down, “The same.” He saw the book. “What’s that?”

“Nothing you would find interesting,” frowned Joey.

“It has my name in it; it has to be interesting,” Matti grinned. Margot gave off a small smile.

Joey rolled his eyes, picking the book back up with a shrug and started to read again. “‘A book landed, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering. In the dim wavering light a page hung open and it was like a snowy feather…’”
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“Where have you been?! You’ve skipped almost three of your periods!” the Headmistress’s voice thundered.

Grace twitted her fingers, not looking at her, Tai sitting on her shoulder. Meanwhile, Mitch, Lucy, and Ling pressed their ears to the office door in the hallway, trying to listen in.

“I just don’t know what to do with you! Out of the four of you, you’re the worst! There is no reason for cutting class! NONE! Especially with finals around the corner! I know you assume that you’ll somehow manage to be in the top three of your class, but still, it’s time you act more grown up! You’ll be fifteen in one week’s time.” The Headmistress fumed, her nostrils flaring. She calmed down and then said in a much quieter tone, her fingers on a large file in front of her, “I have more than enough to see you expelled from the school, but given the circumstances…” She trailed off.

Grace knew what the circumstances were. She was an orphan and there was no where else she could go.

“However, you will be punished. And this I think is perfect for you.”

Grace could only imagine what the Headmistress hand in store. She was looking at her pants.

“You will wear the girl’s skirt uniform for a week. No pants, shorts or anything otherwise except for gym class.”

“But-” Grace tried to say something.

“No buts! It will serve you right!” The Headmistress closed the file as if her word was final. Grace bit her lip.

Mitch smiled a bit from outside the door. She knew it was all an act by Grace, trying to seem like wearing a girl’s skirt was the worst thing that could happen to her. They were all very well aware that there were worse punishments, but this was far from being extreme.

“Now get dress! Visitation will start in fifteen minutes; remember your manners around our guests,” said the Headmistress.

Grace frowned again, but this time it wasn’t an act. She hated visitation.

She simply nodded to the Headmistress and left the room. The Headmistress sighed, as her secretary looked around to see if it was okay to walk in. She gingerly crossed the room with several files in her hand. “Don’t you think she’s getting off a little too easily?”

“There’s no point in suspending her, after all, if what the counsel says will happen in just the next couple of days, I fear for all of us,” the Headmistress then said in a quiet undertone, “You did receive the memo, did you?”

“Oh, yes!” said the secretary, “I’m beginning to make preparations.”

“Good work,” nodded the Headmistress, “But I’m afraid that preparations will not be enough, if I’m to believe the reports we’ve received from…” she looked around cautiously as if someone was listening in on them, “…the outside.”

“Some of them are hard to believe,” admitted the secretary, “You don’t there will be another war, do you?”

“My dear, the war has already began.”
************************************************************************
Grace emerged from the bathroom, wearing the girls skirt uniform. She had borrowed a spare of Ling’s to wear.

“What did you see?” asked Ling, as they started to walk down the hallway.

“Find anything good?” asked Lucy, putting away her diary.

“There was some sort of transportation vehicle in the middle of nowhere. It was bigger than a train,” explained Grace.

“More like a truck,” added Tai.

“A train’s bigger than a truck,” Grace added to him, “Anyway, we something weird inside; a computer but it was really old. It still had the keyboard attached to the hardware component.”

“I think my grandfather told me about something like that. Back before computers went completely wireless, those that were, were called laptops,” explained Ling.

“Laptops?” asked Lucy.

“Yeah,” nodded Ling, “You would sit them on the top of your lap.”

“That’s strange,” complimented Lucy.

“We ran into a Heartless too,” remarked Tai.

Lucy gasped, Ling gave Grace a worried look, and Mitch just raised her eyebrows, interested.

“How big was it?” she asked.

Grace shrugged, “Pretty big.”

“That’s what? The third one this month you fought? They sure are popping up more,” said Lucy.

“They’re getting restless. Something’s happened…or will happen…maybe both,” remarked Mitch.

“What? You have another vision?” asked Grace.

“More like a premonition. But…” Mitch closed her eyes, “I don’t see anything.”

“Have any more dreams?” asked Ling, changing the subject, turning to Grace.

“It’s the same thing every night: knights and giant keys. That’s it,” explained Grace, frowning.

“You sure you haven’t been reading some fantasy-romance novel?” asked Lucy.

Before Grace could reply, the bell rung, signaling the start of visitation. “See you later,” Grace waved to Ling and Mitch, joining Lucy as they walked down the hall.

Visitation was when the orphan girls were summoned to meet with prospective adopters. If foster parents found a name worth looking into, they would meet with the child during visitation. As she was only a week away from turning fifteen, this was Grace last chance to be adopted; after she turned fifteen, visitation for her would end. No one would want to adopt a full-fledged teenager; even if they wanted too, it was against the law.

Visitation was also the time when the other girls who just attended the school could met with their parents or grandparents. Ling’s grandfather had recently been notified that he was too old to care for Ling anymore and had been shipped off to the Elderly Retiree Center. The only time he was allowed to see her was during visitation. Mitch, who lived with her grandmother would spend the hour performing a séance or something rather, talking to spirits or, as Mitch preferred, the realm of Darkness.

Grace checked for her name on the list posted outside the cafeteria to see if anyone had picked out her name. Lucy had already found she had two prospective couples and was already down the hall to meet them. “See anything?” Grace asked Tai.

Tai scanned the list. “Oh! Here’s one!” he pointed to a list next to the one she was looking at.

“Room 14,” she squinted, then read it again to make sure she had the right room.

Room 14 was at the far end of the hallway; here the rooms were hardly used at all except on special occasion. It was empty when Grace and Tai got down there and when Grace sat down at a chair outside the classroom, she wondered if she had gotten the room right.

They waited for almost an hour, but no one showed up. “Maybe it was a typo,” suggested Grace with a sigh. She didn’t feel disappointed; she sort of expected something like this to happen. But all the same, she felt as if maybe if she waited a little longer, someone would show up.

When the bell signaled for the end of visitation, Grace got up out of the seat. Then she heard someone snicker behind her.

“Well girls, would you look at that? Someone feels…rejected,” hissed a girl the same age as Grace with pink bubble gum hair streaked with blonde highlights, her eyes flashing.

Grace turned around and replied in a sarcastic tone, with a small curtsy, “Oh sweet Princess Anemone, your Royal Highness is right…for once.”

Anemone continued to smirk, “No need to act like that. We all know you’re hideous, with those freaks you call friends, and that old fashion toy,” as she said this, Tai began to charge forward as if to hit her, but Grace stopped him, “why would anyone want to adopt you?”

“If I’m so hideous,” remarked Grace, “Then that must make you grotesque.”

The girls in Anemone’s entourage gasped and looked towards their leader, waiting for her next move. The smirk on Anemone’s face disappeared for a brief second but then a grin reemerged. “Even if you think you’re prettier or smarter, there’s one fact that will always remain the same,” her eyes flashed again, “At least I wasn’t abandoned by my mother.”

Anemone arrow had hit its mark. “Shut up,” muttered Grace.

“I’m mean I guess that’s the worst thing that could happen: rejection by your own mother; how sad,” Anemone continued, her assault growing.

“Shut up!” Grace said louder, grabbing the necklace around her neck, her other fist clenched.

“There you go again,” Anemone’s grin grew wider, “Holding on to that necklace as it means something. You mother didn’t want you, just accept that, and no one else will.”

“SHUT UP!” Grace screamed.

“Anemone!” cried someone from behind Grace. It was Anemone’s younger sister, Clarise. Although she shared Anemone’s pale skin and obstruct hair (a shade of key lime green with blonde highlights), her personality couldn’t be more different.

Clarise turned to Grace, “I’m sorry if she said anything that offended you.”

“Clarise, I swear! If we didn’t have the same last name, no one would think we’re related, especially if you’re talking to this Nobody,” fumed Anemone.

Grace didn’t like the stress that was added on to the last word. It sounded as if it was more than just an insult.

The expression of Clarise face changed dramatically. She walked up to Anemone and whispered in her ear, “Father says we’re not suppose to use that word.”

“What Daddy doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Anemone pushed her hair back, “Besides, it’s not like she knows what it means.”

“And what is that suppose to mean?” said someone from behind Anemone’s entourage.

It was Mitch.

“It’s the psycho girl!” cried a cheerleader, before all the girls except Grace, Clarise, and Anemone nearly passed out of a sudden migraine headache.

“Speak of the darkness,” frowned Anemone, “The freaks keep on coming in waves. Talking to Heartless again?”

Mitch started to grin, “Maybe. And if I was, they might have told me that the Heartless would really like to have your heart,” Mitch reached out and lifted Anemone’s chin, “With all that darkness it’s holding, it must be really tasty to them.”

Anemone pushed Mitch’s hand away, the hint of fear in her eyes. “Let’s go,” she said to her entourage and to Clarise, her hand slightly shaking, “We’ll be late to see Daddy.”

Clarise waved goodbye to Grace and Mitch and followed Anemone down the hallway.

Mitch turned to Grace, “I had a premonition that you were in trouble. Looks like I was right. Is something wrong?” she asked, seeing the troubled look on Grace’s face, still holding the necklace. She watched as Grace opened the locket up to look at a faded picture of a beautiful woman: Grace’s mother.

“She called me a nobody,” Grace said slowly, but didn’t see Mitch’s reaction of concern, “But…she said it as if…it meant something else.” She looked up at Mitch, “You don’t know any weird meanings to the word, do you?”

Mitch shrugged. “It’s just a word.” The troubled look still remained on Grace’s face. It was time to change the subject. “Hey, Ling’s grandfather dropped off some food. Better not let it go to waste. And he also brought natural oil,” she added to Tai, who had been resting comfortably on Grace shoulder.

“Natural oil! Oh boy!” he jumped up and Grace smiled.

As they walked by the main office, the Headmistress looked up and watched them as she talked on the phone, “I understand. She seems to be fine, for the moment.” The Headmistress looked at her calendar, “You realize we only have six days left. I’ll be surprise if this all boils over with her unnoticed. The lights are already beginning to flicker. We’re running out of time.”
************************************************************************
The head of the government was the Commander. His word was law and whatever he ordered had to be done immediately or severe punishment would follow. Right now, the Commander was in his study, two guards posted outside the door.

A girl with pink hair, followed by another with green hair walked up to the door. The guard on the right side of the door stopped her. “Sorry miss, but you can’t come in here.”

“Excuse me,” glared Anemone.

“You idiot!” hissed the guard’s partner, “That’s the Commander’s daughter.”

But it was too late; Anemone had already grabbed the guard by his tie and dragged him down so low that they were eye to eye. She had quite a strong arm, thought the guard, almost like the Commander’s. Clarise shook her head.

“Daddy says we’re suppose to see him now. And if we’re even a second late, I’ll tell him why. And I hope he gives you more than a demotion to being a janitor.” And with that, Anemone dropped him; having been held down for so long he toppled over onto the floor. Anemone simply, “Hmph,” and walked over him, proceeding into the study.

The other guard shook his head. Didn’t they prepare these new guards nowadays?

Clarise bowed her head apologetically to both the guards and followed her sister inside the room.

The Commander sat behind his desk, reading a report when his daughters entered the room. He looked up with his gray eyes, like his daughters. He smiled warmly at them and began to speak in of one of the Romantic Language Sects: French.

“How are my two precious angels today?” he asked.

“Oh Daddy…” Anemone smiled brightly. She absolutely adored her father.

“Hello, Father,” Clarise gave a small smile.

“Now, is there anything I can do for the two of you?” asked the Commander.

“Daddy, about my education for next year…can’t I go to the military academy? I will need training eventually if I’m to govern the city,” began Anemone, but her father raised his hand.

“I don’t see a problem with you staying at the Girls’ Academy. Besides, the military academy would be dull for you. You wouldn’t like it, Anemone,” explained the Commander.

“But Daddy! I can’t stand that school. The orphans have no respect for me, especially that Grace Porter! If I had my way, she would’ve been long gone,” frowned Anemone, folding her arms across her chest.

“Ah, but you see Angel, we must all deal with people we do not like and in time comes the opportunity to get back at them,” the Commander placed his arm around his shoulder.

Anemone looked up at her father. “’kay.”

“Well, how about you Pumpkin?” the Commander turned to Clarise. “Is there anything you want?”

“Well,” Clarise looked at her hands, “It would be nice, if you would be at dinner every once and awhile.”

The Commander sighed. It was true he had not been at dinner with the girls for at least a month. “I will try, Pumpkin. But in the next week or so, Daddy will be very busy with his work. However, I promise, after that time, I will see you at dinner. Now,” the Commander glanced at the clock, “I have to get back to work. And you girls need to study. I expect nothing less than top marks on your Finals.”

“We won’t let you down Daddy,” Anemone then reached up and kissed her father on the cheek.

Clarise nodded in agreement and kissed the Commander on the opposite cheek.

When they left the study, Anemone turned to her sister. “I’m glad you actually wish for stuff like that, Clarise. I mean, Daddy really should come home and eat a decent meal. How he can stand eating that cafeteria food from the Mesh Hall is beyond me.”

Clarise couldn’t help but smile. As rude as Anemone was acting, she was giving her a compliment.

Meanwhile, the Commander returned to the report on his desk, the expression in his eyes greatly changed. It was the look of a hawk, searching for its prey. He looked at his calendar. Six more days…it would be six more days before they made their move and he still needed it.

It was referred to several names: the Oracle, the Seer, the Dreamer, the Guide, or the Key. Without it, he held no leverage, nothing to tie them down and to stop them from making their move. For ten years he had been searching and he was no closer to finding it as by the revised profile that had been updated for all these years; a female, still a virgin, of the ages thirteen to sixteen, with a double iris, the markings of those who wield the Key. He might as well be searching for the descendants of the Holy Grail.

The Commander started to chuckle. He had made an allusion to a forbidden book. He looked outside his window, starring at the setting sun.

“This world has been connected…tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed. You understand nothing. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.”
Those words had been engraved into his memory when he was just a boy, when he laid eyes on the man with burning eyes.

“I understand nothing, do I?” he questioned as if the man was standing there in front of him. “We shall see.”

[I]

You know, this wasn't half bad. I'm actually pretty interested in seeing where this story goes. And the extremely long chapter was definitely a treat - you never see anyone putting any effort into having decent length chapters like that anymore. I hope to see an update soon ^.^

[cream_sugar]

Thank You!!!! I've started on Chapter Two already.

[Haku]

I think that it has major potential to becoming a great story, I look forward into reading the next chapter.

[Lectori Salutem]

This is very good, I hope the next chapter is coming soon!

[Haku]

Any indication of when the next chapter is coming out CS?

[cream_sugar]

Soon. It takes me some time to write.

[Haku]

Oh I wasn't rushing or anything I just really wanted to know what happened thats all xD.