The Lost Stars: (The Discontinued Stories of Sky Writers in Perspective)

Version 2 Chapter 5

Originally Posted: September 15th, 2013

You returned with whoever it is you went with to a designated meeting spot.

"Today feels perfect for a bonfire." Zack said with a smile on his face. A chill descended upon the night, and the twinkle of starlight promised to reveal itself when night completely descended.

"Don't you guys have school or something in the morning?" Marlene asked.

"We do, but even I have to admit it'd be perfect out for a bonfire." Tifa smiled.

"Then it's settled?" Reno looked around at all the faces of the group, finding no reluctant face. "Awesome." He smirked. "We should go grab marshmallows and other shit to roast."

"I can make a quick run for supplies." Yuffie said. "Leave it to the Great Ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie's dust trail assured she would be back soon, and you could only feel the urge to sweatdrop at it.

"Hmm. She is good for something" Leon's comment brought anyone staring back to life as they laughed at Yuffie's expense. Even Leon cracked a little smirk at his own words.

"Where should we have it though?" Denzel asked.

"I-I know a spot where we could probably go." Hope spoke up quietly. Everyone glanced towards Hope with surprise written across their faces, being that this may have been the first time where he spoke up to the large group. The white haired boy looked down upon all the curious glances turning to him so suddenly.

"We should wait for Yuffie and then head there." Aerith smiled slightly.

"Do we have to wait for her?" Leon grumbled.

"HI-YAH!" Leon suddenly stumbled forwards, a mass of plastic bags with legs behind him had been the cause of his sudden fall.

"Yuffie... Did you get the entire store?" Tifa asked, already regretting that she didn't go and get the things herself.

Cloud sighed and shook his head "I knew this would happen if we sent her."

"Hey! I got some wood that we could use to burn too! What did you all want to have a bonfire with, grass?!" Yuffie crossed her arms, the bags looking like they were weighing down on her fingers.

"I think we just got told." You said.

"Alright kid, lead the way." Zack said as he grinned at Hope. Now this party could really start!

"Right..." Hope said with a small smile. At least it seemed like he was fitting in somewhat with everyone even though in reality he was an outcast among them. Right now though, it didn't feel like that. And that was all the white haired boy could ever ask for. You looked over to see the happy look in the pale haired boy's eyes as he led the large group through the streets of Traverse Town. Truly the night lurked just over the corner, it was sunset now with shades of yellow and orange coloring the world. You didn't know if it was just going to get darker out but it definitely seemed that way right now. The sunset was pretty sure, but that meant...



Everyone in your homes. It's going to be dark out in two hours.



You shivered unwillingly at the memory. No matter how hard you tried to push it out of your mind it always came back to haunt you. The way that the world fell so quickly to hell, a world which before had been so confident and sure in its prowess had fallen so quickly to the foreign invaders. Who's to say that other realms were safe? How could you even be sure that they were? Everyone at Lucere trained to be the hero, how could they even be sure that they were going to make it? How could they be sure they wouldn't get killed or that they wouldn't lose themselves to the darkness in the process?
"Hey, you ok?" Tifa's voice pulled you out of your thoughts. Brown eyes stared at yours in concern, even though you two were strangers she went out of her way to ask you, didn't she?
"I'm just spacing out."
Ahead of you, Denzel seemed to realize that you had fallen behind from the group and turned to look back "She does that a lot." Denzel explained as he dropped back to where the two of you were. "What do you think about anywho? You always look like some serious old lady."
"Denzel!" Tifa shot the boy a glare, but that didn't stop his curious eyes from watching you.
"Stuff." You said. Denzel rolled his eyes slightly before the three of you caught up with the rest of the group. Hope had kept his promise and led all of you to a secret area, it was an underground lake of sorts and in the middle there was an empty plot of land where you guys could definitely have your little bonfire. No one seemed bothered as they all started hopping the gaps between the stones towards where the center of the lake was; not even Hope, Denzel, or Marlene. You were one of the last left though and you looked apprehensively at the rocks that moved from right to left. Of course it was a matter of timing, but you weren't even sure when you could jump over on them. One wrong step and you'd be in the water- which obviously would not be a pleasant experience whatsoever. You doubted that the water was warm... A natural skylight shone from above, filtering light in just so that everyone's eyes could adjust.


"Come on (Name)!" Marlene yelled encouragingly as she waved her hands from the little island area. Zack, Reno, Cloud, Yuffie, and Tifa were already hard at work ripping open the bags of wood, which were for the bonfire.

"You scared?" Leon's voice came from besides you, you would have thought that he would've been one of the first to leave and make it across to the island, but nope. He was still very much present besides you.
"No..." You argued, though that alone was weak since you didn't even take a step forwards.
"What a pain..." He murmured to himself. He leaned down in front of you. "Come on, get on my back."

"W-WHA-"
"Don't yell my ears off." Leon murmured, clicking his tongue. "Get on." It wasn't harsh, but it also wasn't the kindest words you had ever heard from someone. The gesture itself though... It tempted you...
You looked across at the other shore where everyone had gathered around the fire already, their eyes were turned towards where you stood in amusement. "N-No I'll do it myself." You argued, not wanting to be a burden.
"Suit yourself." He stood up and brushed the invisible dust off his clothes. "Well, you gonna go?"
"Don't rush me!" You snapped, No! What am I doing?! He's actually being nice to me I think! With a determined breath you stepped forwards, the sound of the rock gliding so effortlessly across the water had you stopping for a second. "Can you go first so I can see how to do it...?" You asked Leon, knowing that he was smirking at your pitiful attempt to cross the water.
"Sure." That single word was so laced with amusement you half contemplated just throwing yourself in the water now to spare yourself from the embarrassment. Leon stopped at the edge of the cut off zone, before gracefully jumping onto the moving rock and landing with a thud. "Your turn." He stood in place, as if he were actually waiting for you to jump across, but that was a ridiculous thought right?

"ANYDAY NOW!" Reno's yelling had stopped you just as you were about to leap, and you took a step back just as you thought you were about to lose your balance.
"RENO YOU JERK!" You shook your fist at the redhead. His hyena laugh echoed in the cavern. You huffed and faced Leon again. Straight-faced Leon didn't even bother to give any sort of comment and his eyes caught with yours. You let out a slow sigh.

For a moment your feet were off the ground and you clung to something just as you made it onto the first rock.
"Great technique. Except I can't go with you holding my arm like that."
"Ah!" You let go of his arm quickly. A warm flush made residence on your cheeks and Leon chuckled lightly.
"Just don't fall now, or else I'd have to save you." Leon hopped effortlessly to the next rock.
"Great. Now I've got to get from a moving rock to yet another moving rock! Who thought this would be a good system!?" You whined.
"Oh come on your big baby. You can even cling onto my arm again."
"No one needs you and your stinking arm." You stuck your tongue out at him. Who knew you could ever be so carefree...?

"So what was it like being filthy rich?" Reno asked after you and Leon finally made it over. You had to give it to Leon, somehow he refrained from snapping at you the entire time and you were ashamed to admit that clinging to his arm really helped you balance yourself. He didn't complain the entire time though.
You sat for a second, seriously contemplating the answer to that question. Until now you didn't realize how much you had opened up so naturally to everyone around you the way that you had. Never before would you seriously think over the answer to a question because you wanted others to understand, nor would you have even bothered answering the question in the past.
"It was really" You tried to find the right word, but instead settled on the word "lonely."
"Whatdya mean? Didn't you hang with other rich kids?"
"Not really. I was just never interested in that. So many of them were stuck up and snobby and the ones that weren't never seemed to enjoy being around me." You blew on the heated puff of marshmallow in front of you. Bonfires like this were supposed to be a normal thing for people, right? You didn't notice all the sad looks that people around the fire had sent you while you munched contentedly on the marshmallow.

"Man that sounds boring." Reno said as he laid down. He held the marshmallow above him and twirled the stick. Green eyes stayed fixed on the small white dot of the marshmallow "I know the feeling though." Reno didn't elaborate on the statement further as he bit into his marshmallow.

"Hey, whatever. That just means those annoying rich kids missed out." Zack dangled his marshmallow above Reno. Reno, spotting another target, made a small lunge for the marshmallow and missed. Zack only snickered as he pushed the marshmallow into his mouth.
"I can't believe it's been so long since we last did this." Tifa murmured, smiling as she looked around her group of friends. New faces among the group looked just as old friends did while chewing on their marshmallows.
"Oh right! Last time was just after we got into Lucere!" Yuffie exclaimed with a pleased grin.

"Oh I remember that! We did it in the courtyard!"

"Merlin was the one who started the fire, he didn't even care!"

"And then Reno managed to get his hands on a few drinks."

"Oh gosh."

"I didn't spike em, yo!"

"Most of the school came out."

"It was bad."

"It was fun!"

"By the time the school realized the drinks were all spiked it was way too late,"

"It was a Deorcyness prank."

"Anywho most of the school was basically hungover the next day."

Somehow through that chaotic rendition from everyone involved they eventually got the story across.

"What so bad about Deorcyness?" You asked.

"It's school of creeps, jerks, and assholes." Reno explained.

"We're pretty sure they're breeding the next gen of villains." Zack said, nodding solemnly.

"Why would they let a school like that exist?" You asked, Lucere bred defenders and that made sense. Why would someone purposefully create a school for villains out of all things?

"They claim that they're just studying darkness to better understand and prevent it" Tifa explained.

"But they're better at breeding it than anything." Cloud murmured.

"There's a lot of bad blood between Lucere and Deorcyness." Leon's statement wasn't really necessary though.


Darkness huh...?

GET AWAY FROM ME!

No! No! NO! Stop! Right now!



"Hey! What's wrong?" The three of you stood in front of Middangeard, having parted and went your separate ways after the bonfire when the fire went low and curfew hung over everyone's heads. Even if you didn't want to admit it, you had to admit it. Tonight held the title of being the most fun you've ever managed to have, the first time being surrounded by so many people who you could actually call friends.
"O-oh nothing." You shook your head, you were so out of it that you didn't even notice whose voice had spoken to you all of a sudden, for some reason you were half convinced that you imagined it.

"You've been out of it all night." Denzel said.
Marlene's cold hand went to feel your forehead, her lips curled downwards in a slight frown. "Are you ok.. (Name)?"
"Yea- yea I'm fine." You shook your head, as if that would make it seem more like you were completely fine. Though even you knew better to accept the validity of that statement. The floor seem swerved, the shadows seemed alive, and the bugs seemed less annoying and more like possible man-eaters. In the darkness you swore you saw a pair of luminous eyes staring at you from the edge of the forest. The muscle in your chest threatened to beat its way out of your skin. Like a moth to the light the bug took a step closer to you, you wanted to turn to Marlene, to Denzel, or to Hope and to yell; but your body had turned into stone. You couldn't even take a step, not even as it took another step closer, not even as you pleaded with your body to listen to your orders.

The world around turned to dark fog, and your lungs inhaled too much of the dark vapor to escape. Is this how I die...?







"(Name)!!!!!!"

"AH!" You gave a jolt as you heard our name being screamed, but as you looked around at your surroundings you were still in the viscous jelly of black fog earlier. Somehow the fog existed in the phase of matter that rested somewhere between liquid and solid, yet you forced yourself to keep breathing. Breathe. Breathe... Breathe You repeated the command in your brain until your body did it naturally. One leg at a time you rose to your feet, standing tall at the end. Blinking a few times you couldn't help but note that nothing lurked outside the dark bubble encasing you. "Am I insane?" The sound echoed and distorted, the thick air changed to that of a colder air. You found yourself blinking, more because of the oddity of the situation rather than the natural human urge to blink. Once your eyes opened, the setting had taken a drastic shift yet again.

It's my house... Finding strength in the logic that this had to just be some sort of dream, your legs automatically moved and carried you around the rich walls of a mansion that you once dared to call your home. Portraits of older family members hung upon the walls, their refined eyes and features staring out as if they casted judgment on everyone who dared entered the halls. You doubted that you would hold up to their standards.
You began the familiar journey to a place which occupied more than most of your time upon Earth. Nudging the ever closed door, your toes curled at the familiar cold your room always seemed to possess. No warmth would ever touch it, nothing could permeate past the cold and foreboding spirit of a room without any heart. If the room's walls were painted white instead of the 'fabulous' royal purple shade your mother decided upon then one might excuse it for a luxurious room of an asylum. The room told nothing of its inhabitant, the bare walls and room only filled with basic necessity. It'd be impossible to tell the difference between the guest room and your room now. One thing made it different however. No. It wasn't decoration. It wasn't anything elaborate. Nothing personal to distinguish the room as lived in. Simply the thing that distinguished your room from an empty guest room is that the room could hardly be considered empty.

Is that... Me...? You held your breath as you tiptoed closer to the lump in question. You blinked a few times as you hovered over yourself. Same hair color, same face shape, but your doppleganger's expression looked soft peace gained through dreams; your expression only told of confusion. You knew your everyday expressions rarely looked as this one did... No... That's a lie. In class watching those goofballs... Marlene's, Denzel's, and Hope's faces came to mind- they never broke your trust and left your side even once not to mention... Zack, the energetic puppy who's cheer infected everyone around him. Cloud, the soft spoken blond who's quiet and strong aura told of his reliability as a person. Reno, the goofball and flirty Turk in training who managed to keep anything from ever getting serious. Aerith, the kindhearted girl in pink who reminded you of a gentle mother. Tifa, the cool and reliable girl who gave off an older sister vibe. Yuffie, the hyper self proclaimed ninja who welcomed everyone gladly. Leon, he seemed cold and uncaring but you found that wasn't an accurate description of the male who helped you across the rocks. I almost thought I didn't know how to smile... A smile crossed your face for a second at that thought. Even if you'd just met them, you couldn't bring yourself to push them away. You took a step away from the bed, deciding not to see what happens if you woke yourself up. Probably create some paradox and rip some natural timelines, but hey, it probably isn't best to do that.

Further down the empty hallway, you found that your steps made no noise. Sure the floors were kept in prime condition and the carpeting softened the noises, but even on the creakiest floorboards of your home you moved soundlessly. Like I'm a ghost... Pushing the thoughts aside for a moment you wondered where you were now then? Could it be that you simply dreamt up your old home...? Possibly. Definitely a possibility. This had to be one of the rare nights in which no servants scurried around the home. Maybe Pre-Christmas break... You mused. The distinct frost on the windowpanes only served to further prove your point. Though the house itself stayed warm from all the heating at least. Every room in the long hallway released no light, and the lack of sounds told of no inhabitants. Why am I here then...? You didn't want to think that you were the only person in the house at this point. Though your parents had a habit of leaving you alone with servants, but even the servants got off on break so that they could spend some quality time with their own families. You weren't that hopeless that you couldn't function with all of your servants present. But since this looked a lot like the last year that just passed you swore that your parents weren't home... So I'm just wandering the halls of a lonely house I didn't particularly miss; without anything really to see than the house empty.

"It's a target."

Or maybe the house wasn't as empty as you always thought. The door at the end of the hall, a room known by everyone as the private sanctum of your parents still had the lights on. You walked towards the door, forgetting your earlier idea of this being a dream. Things seemed stunningly close to the way it once was at your home, you couldn't imagine having dreamed up all the little details you never took notice of...Something in the pit of your stomach just told you this was real. Impossible, but real.

"Earth...? What can this place have to offer to them though? The people don't believe in magic and there isn't any left."

"There's something special about Earth. And they want it."

"Without magic though, guns won't be able to kill the heartless. It's hopeless"

Heartless... Those little black bugs. This entire time they knew. They knew that Earth would be attacked... And they deemed it so useless that they just didn't bother to tell it to try to save itself. All those people caught by surprise... They could have had a chance

Your fists besides you clenched, nails digging into palms as angry red crescents threatened to draw blood.