A Good Other

IX

Ansem had sighed and steered you away from the glass window. Eyes become adjusted to the safe lights, everything appeared to be brighter and the ache in your empty chest felt as if someone was stabbing you with a searing hot knife in your chest. Never had you thought to have felt such pain in your life.

Life.

He steadied you into a seat, in front of a desk filled with old notes and papers written in handwriting and those were printed out. Ansem crouched before you, catching your sight.

"You can't remember anything, anything at all?" You shook your head, every time that you searched your memories for what you had just saw, nothing was brought up from the depths. Only darkness and a sense of pain.

Ansem sighed and found a seat himself, bringing it to sit next to you. "I had hoped that you would remember, [Name]. There are a lot of questions after you and the Professor, Xehanort had disappeared."

Breaths shallow and needless, you decided to stop pretending and felt nothing in the air and locked onto the nothingness in your chest. "What questions?" Looking up to the older man, you found something grim on his face.

The blond man thought in silence, thoughts collecting to form words on his tongue. "Xehanort is a distant relative of mine, thrice removed cousin I've been told." You listened, nothing else being said. "You were on the cusp of unlocking secrets about the Heart alongside of him. Your notes here, so many have attempted to read them but are unable to."

As he spoke, you turned your attention toward the handwritten notes and papers on the desk. Picking up the papers as if they would crumble under your touch, you were surprised. The writing was nothing of the English language; but instead they were in some other language.

You put in some input. "Could it be Al Bhed?"

The Professor turned his attention to you, taking the papers out of your hand. "Al Bhed. I hadn't thought of this, even though you were adopted by Cid himself. Al Bhed is a spoken language now, anything written is lost. Even some of the Al Bhed are unable to write their own language."

You were surprised, Al Bhed was a lost language in writing? You thought and remembered, thus far you only knew of your family being able to speak it. The Doctors in the hospital were shocked in hearing the new language being spoken. Al Bhed was a dying language it appeared.

A hand was laid on your shoulder.

"[Name], I need you to return to the University."

Shocked, you shot out of your seat, legs nearly shaking with lack of strength. "Return? I'm sorry, Ansem, but I can't remember anything. I don't know how to read Al Bhed, less than speak it!"

Looking up, you saw his face, grim and depressed. "You were about to unlock the truth, [Name]. You... you were going to be the last one."

Frowning, you didn't understand what he was meaning by the last one. "Last one?"

You then followed his gaze to the glass. "There were twelve students before you, twelve people in total whom were studying the Heart. In there is a memorial to the others; you personally created it when you had been accepted into the program."

There was silence before you decided to speak. "I need time to think."

Ansem did nothing but agree to time.

You had moved fast from the university, finding the next subway train out of the district and back into the city of Radiant Garden. You were confused and put off by what Ansem professed to you. When his back was turned, you did grab some of the hand written notes in hope perhaps Cid could help you.