Takeo: A Fractured Heart (Wattys 2019)

Chapter 15: Hollow Bastion

Takeo landed the Gummi Ship in a clearing just outside of Hollow Bastion. He had never been here before, but something was making him feel like he had been.

"You know, this whole trip has been-" Takeo stopped, and looked around for his friend that was no longer there. "Oh... right..."

He made his way towards the town, which looked completely destroyed from a quick glance. There was rubble all around the ground, and the town looked almost abandoned.

"What happened here? It feels empty and cold here." Takeo thought to himself. He continued walking until he found a long alleyway. It looked like it was heading in the direction of the giant castle like building in the middle of the city.

The air was cold, and it smelt of nothing but stone. He could hear water running in the distance, but he wasn't sure where exactly it was coming from. His footsteps echoed throughout the empty alleyway, and it made Takeo nervous. He had never been somewhere so quiet and still before, at least, he thought.

Why did he feel like he had been to this world before? As far as he knew, he had always been in Traverse Town, and that's where he was born and grew up. But something about this world seemed so familiar. It worried Takeo a bit, as he looked around and saw broken walls and scorch marks on the ground and buildings.

"Takeo..." a voice whispered from around the corner at the end of the alleyway. It sounded... familiar. Takeo sprinted down to the end of the alleyway, and took a sharp left at the corner. Nobody was there. It was empty just like the rest of the alleyway. Who was calling him, and why?

"Is somebody there? I heard you say my name!" Takeo said. He summoned his Keyblade, and held it behind him, anticipating someone, or something, to jump out at him.

"The castle... The answer is at the castle..." the voice said again. Whose voice was it? It sounded as if it was several voices put together into one, singular voice. A sudden pain shot through Takeo's head, and an image appeared in his mind. It was Otekax, and he was controlling Heartless, sending them after somebody. But who was he pointing at? The image disappeared as quickly as it appeared in his mind, and Takeo dropped to one knee, his hand holding his head.

"What... What was that...?" Takeo asked, standing up and shaking his head. He looked up at the castle in the middle of the city, and he got a strange feeling in his "half-heart". It was a feeling he had never felt before. It wasn't like whenever Otekax appeared, that feeling was nothing but coldness, and fear. This was much different. This made him sad, and angry. Takeo put his hand over his chest, then looked down at the ground.

"I don't know what is going on... I don't know why all of this stuff is happening to me, but it needs to end. If Otekax is in there, he's as good as beaten already." Takeo said. He looked back up to the castle, "Emileigh... Cid... Leon... I'll come back to you guys. I'll tell you all about this place." he said to himself.

After walking for a while, Takeo made it to the base of the castle. He looked at the giant doorway in, and took a deep breath. Just before he took a step in, he heard the sound of dark portals opening up behind him. He turned around, and saw a mix of Heartless Purebloods and Soldiers charging at him.

"Ugh... I don't have time for this!" Takeo yelled, as a beam of Darkness shot out the end of his Keyblade. The shot widened, and took out all of the Heartless that were charging him. Takeo looked down at his Keyblade with a bewildered look. "Guess that's new too." he said, turning back to the doorway, and stepping inside.

The feeling inside this castle was much different than outside. It felt extremely cold, yet Takeo did not react. He simply kept walking down the hallway, as if he had known the layout of this castle his whole life.

Suddenly, Takeo called out in pain once more, falling to one knee. Another image formed in his head. This time, it was of the room he was in now. Takeo stood in the middle of it, and he was joined by two others by the looks of it. Who were these two people, and why were they with Takeo? An even better question, why was Takeo in the castle before to begin with? Had he truly lost so much of his memory after his Heart split into two, that he forgot who people were entirely? The image disappeared once again, and Takeo stood up.

Something off to the right caught his attention. It was a staircase, and it was going up. It seemed as though there was some kind of force urging him to go towards the staircase. Takeo looked around, but saw no other way that led up, so he headed for the staircase.

He was suddenly stopped in his tracks. The air, it went even colder, but Takeo could feel it now. The fear had also come back. Otekax was here.

Takeo turned around, and saw the man standing in his black coat, arms behind his back. He had a smirk on his face, as if he knew something that Takeo didn't.

Takeo did not let the fear get to him, and he groaned in frustration, "Gah, what do you want you creep?! I came here like you said, and I still haven't found any answer like you said I would! What gives?"

Otekax let out a slight laugh, "Boy, you have barely walked two steps inside this castle, yet you are angry that nothing has been revealed to you yet." Otekax pointed to his own head, "Those images you've been seeing? They are not just premontions, or false memories. No, Takeo. They are you're true past. Indeed, you have been here before, we both have really. It's important, to both of us, this castle. What secrets it holds. If only I had the means to extract them."

Takeo groaned in frustration once more, "Do you ever stop talking? I should be beating you to a pulp right now!"

"Yes, you should. But you won't. You are too curious for your own good, Takeo. You wish to know what happened to you, yes? Why you are missing parts of your memory, and why your Heart is fractured. You know this to be true." Otekax said, a smile coming over his face. "So tell me, Takeo, are you going to fight me? Or are you going to look for the answer to the question you so desperately want answered?"

Takeo looked down, then turned his head to the staircase. "And what question would that be?" Takeo asked. As he turned his head, Otekax disappeared into Darkness, and the coldness and fear left the air. Takeo looked back to the staircase, and proceeded to walk up the stairs. He was ready to the learn the truth about himself.