The Nobody Equation: Chpater 2

Chapter 2

    The rain was coming down pretty hard. Frankly, it sounded like someone was throwing rocks against the windows and on our roof. The wind was rough too, I’m pretty sure our one of our patio chairs was taking a swan dive into the swimming pool. I could see that happen because there was a bright flash of lightning just as the end passed the diving board. Man, it was gonna suck fishing out all the stuff that’ll probably fall in there in the morning.
    I was watching all of this go on from the attic, converted into a bedroom for Dana. Because of the storm, she was nervous to sleep alone so I volunteered to bunk with her for the night. I didn’t mind. It was a cozy kind of place, with fuzzy rugs and wind chimes and things. It’s funny actually; if you add a disco ball it would kind of look like a pad from the ‘70s.
    “Thanks for doing this, Jacyn.” Dana whimpered.
    She was sitting on the rug next to me, wrapped up in one of her quilts. Getting off the window seat, I plopped next to her and swung an arm around her shoulders. Another burst of thunder pounded and Dana let out a yelp. Luna, who had been holed up with us, jumped up and rushed over. Her head landed in my sister’s lap and I chuckled.
    “Hey, you’re my baby sis.” I flashed her one of my cheesiest grins. “It’s my job, ain’t it?”
    Dana let out a weak laugh as she saw my face. “Yeah. I guess you’re right…”
    Lightning flashed again as we sat there in silence, just waiting out the storm. I guess we looked like a funny group; a pair of girls in baggy pjs huddled under a blanket with a giant dog trying to crawl up onto our laps. I even bet with the light of Dana’s lamps (a collection of lava, strobe, and LED) we looked even funnier. The thought alone sent me into a fit of laughter.
    “What’s so funny?” I looked at my sister with a smile.
    “Aw, you know…Hey, Dana?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Do you ever wonder what we’re still here?”
    Dana let out a snort. “Where’d that come from? That’s awfully deep for someone like you, sis.”
    “But what do you think?” I prodded. “I mean, with all the crazy stuff that’s happened in the past year, why do you think it happened...And why to us?”
    Dana looked down at her hands, clenched in fists around the frayed edges of the quilt. She didn’t say anything and I knew from the serious look on her face that she was in deep thought. I don’t blame her. I did kind of throw her a hard one.
    “I’m…not sure, Cyn.” She said at last. “Mom and Dad…I’m positive that they had some sort of reason for what they did. Maybe if they come back, we’ll find out. But until then…”
    I couldn’t say much. I already knew what she was going to say. “We wait.” But you know what? I was sick of waiting. I wanted answers, and pretty soon, if I didn’t get any, I was going to go out and find them.
    “Damn,” I sighed. “When did our lives start to become like a video game? Next thing we know, we’ll get attacked by demons, or aliens, or even the Heartless….”
    “Wouldn’t that be funny?” Dana replied dryly. “At least we’d know what to do then.”
    “Yeah, find a Keyblade or run for our lives.”
    The two of us burst into laughter. That was always one of the jokes between us and our friends. All of us are gamers, so we love to make those kinds of jokes all the time. One of my very favorites, a series called Kingdom Hearts, was a source of a lot of my material.
    “Keyblades are cool and all, but I think I like the other Organization weapons better. Like Larxene’s knives and Saix’s claymore. Hell, I’ll even take the book!”
    Dana opened her mouth to say something when a particularly loud burst of thunder, which seemed to shake the house, burst and the lights all flickered off. Dana yelled, I cursed, and Luna started barking like crazy. The next few minutes were chaos as we tried to find some flash lights, which was difficult with the dog weaving between our legs every ten seconds.
    I hit a few random books lying on the floor, and I’m pretty sure Dana walked into her closet door, but we eventually found the spare flash lights we kept in case of emergencies. The house was quiet, a little too quiet, and I started thinking about all of those horror movies I’ve watched. I swear, if anyone came through a door carrying an axe or a gun or something, even I might have a heart attack.
    “The power box must have blown a fuse.” Dana muttered. “I could have sworn I checked those things before the storm started…”
    If this were an anime, I kid you not I would have sweatdropped. If anything could be said for my genius little sister, when it comes to electrical things, she was absolutely hopeless. I didn’t say it, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the fuses might have been blown because of her. Last time she messed with something electrical, my hairdryer was blowing bubbles for a month.
    “Come on,” I sighed. “Let’s go down and take a look.”
    I could hear Dana gulp. “Y-you mean…Down t-there?”
    “We’ll bring Luna. Come on.”
    So after about ten minutes of battering, begging, and arguing we finally made it down to the basement, three floors down. It was kind of hectic, with my sister jumping at every little noise and Luna constantly underfoot but we did have any major incidents.
    Okay, so our basement is pretty big, like big enough to turn into its own room; which is exactly what we did.
    You see, our dad is a gamer and a huge nerd, so when we purchased the house about seven years ago, he decided that the basement would become his quintessential “man cave”. There was shag carpeting, a snack and soda bar (our mom forbad him from drinking ever since an incident when Dana and I were in kindergarten), and LOTS of geek things. Over the years, Dad had acquired multiple gaming systems, pinball machines, and old arcade cabinets. My favorite would be the vintage “Street Fighter” that we restored together. I still hold the top of the leader boards with Chun Li. Oh, and there was also a sound system and a big flat-screen.
    I may as well say it here; our parents are kind of rich. Mom is a journalist for one of the major newspapers, and makes extra money as a photographer on the side. Our dad is a scientist for the university. He specializes in bio-mechanics, nano-science, and astrological phenomena. Now both of those were well-paying occupations on their own, but a good chunk of the money came from our great-aunt. She was a really nice old lady who had married an oil tycoon or something like that. She adored our father, Dana, and I. So when she died, she left a lot of money to us. In fact, that’s how we got Luna.
    Anyway, I’m digressing big time here. So we had made it to the basement, right? The first thing I noticed when I opened the door was that one of the curtains near the bar was fluttering around, and rain was steadily pouring in. I assumed that the window had broken and water had gotten into the nearby circuit-breaker, causing our little black-out. That was, until Luna started growling.
    “L-Luna?” Dana whispered. “What is it girl?”
    The two of us humans jumped when we heard some sort of scuffling sound on the far end of the room. It kind of sounded like claws scratching against some wood or plaster. Immediately I knew that we weren’t alone.
    “H-hello?” I called. “Is…Is anyone there?”
    I was answered by more scuffling and Dana hid behind me. This in turn, caused Luna to go into guard-mode. Her growls turned into snarls and I could see her teeth glinting from our flashlights. Without another warning, Luna shot out from my side and launched herself across the room at whatever was over there. There was a series of screeches, howls, snarls, and hisses as some sort of commotion proceeded in the dark.
    “Luna!” Dana yelled as I rushed to the circuit breaker. A quick adjustment of the fuses and flipping some switches and I got the power back on. The lights flickered for a second before turning back on, alone with all of the arcade machines too.
    At first, Dana and I were too stunned by the monstrous din created by our dad’s old machines, but as soon as I had managed to tune it out, my jaw dropped.
    “What the hell?”
    As silly as it sounds, going on before my very eyes was a regular dog fight. Literally. Luna was occupied in a major battle with this huge, almost hulking dog. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Surely it was all the fluorescent lights making this unknown dog’s fur look blue? I was brought back by Dana’s sudden shout.
    “Luna, stop!” I rushed in and tackled our dog before she ripped out her opponent’s throat. Luna, a bit too into the fighting, struggled and knocked me back. Until then, I never would have thought our dog was strong enough to push me away with enough force to send me skidding into a pinball machine. No wonder the police like using German Sheppards as police dogs…
    “Ow…”
    Mew.
    Meow?
    Despite the painful ringing in my head, I turned towards the sounds and found myself face-to-face with a pair of kittens. One had golden fur while the other had black, but both had deep blue eyes. The black kitten, which was slightly smaller than its yellow counterpart, had its nose up against my cheek.
    Wait, where’d these guys come from?
    Another series of snarls brought my attention back to my current problem, which were Luna and the other dog. I looked on in shock as Luna took a swipe at the other dog, creating a slash in its side. The other dog retaliated by clamping its teeth down on the scuff of Luna’s neck.
    I was about to step in again when both dogs suddenly stopped what they were doing. Both started whining and flopped down on the ground and the other dog held its paws up to its ears as if it was in pain.
    “That is enough!” I turned around and saw Dana behind me, a stern frown fixed on her face and a small whistle in her hand. She must have grabbed a dog whistle while I was trying to tackle the two head-on. Man, sometimes I can be a dunce…
    “Cyn, are you okay?” Dana knelt down and began checking my head for bumps or bruises.
    “I think…I’m okay.” I smiled. “I guess it pays to have a thick skull, huh?”
    Dana, not appreciating my humor, just sighed. She opened her mouth to say something else, but instead a small scream came out and she took a swipe at my head. Naturally, I ducked, causing a small, furry bundle to tumble onto my lap.
    “What the…?”
    The small bundle unrolled itself to reveal a long, tube-like body with a small snout and a long tail. Its fur was dark, but there were these odd gray streaks through it. A small scar rendered one of its gold eyes useless. The small creature squeaked at me.
    “What the…It’s a weasel!” I looked up at Dana, who nodded in agreement. That’s when we noticed. We were surrounded.
    There were a multitude of animals around us; dogs, cats, birds, and even rodents. The weasel scurried off my lap and thumped its tail against Dana’s hand. I could have sworn that its face was almost reproachful. But that was the light, right?
    “Wh-where did they all come from?” Dana asked in wonder. I shrugged and looked at the window.
    “They must have come in through the broken glass. Look, see? Some of these guys have scratches.” I looked at my sister. “Dana, go get the first aid kit. We should patch these guys up, then figure out what to do with them.”
    Dana nodded and rushed off to get the first aid kit while I inspected the animals.
    “Now where did…OW!” I pulled my hand back as a silver-furred tomcat took a clawed swipe at my finger. “Now you didn’t have to do that! I just wanted to see if you were hurt!”
    The cat just continued to stare at me with feline anger. Okay, what did I do??
    Ignoring the grumpy cat, I checked out the weird assortment of animals around me. Next to the cat sat the weasel, but sitting next to it was a big rat, with this odd ashy-yellow fur and beady green eyes. Its tail whipped around in a way that reminded me of people who tap their feet when they’re impatient. I decided that I didn’t like the rat because of the way it seemed to be glaring at me.
    Next to the rat were all the other cats in the group. There were the two kittens from before, sitting next to a full-grown cat with this crazy red, and a little shaggy, fur and green eyes. Sitting off slightly away from them was this even bigger cat; I could swear it was a Siberian or something, with rusty brown fur and blue eyes. It just looked at me impassively. Lastly, there was a fluffy Persian that I just had to pick up and get a better look at. No doubt about it, its fur was this rosy pink color.
    “Poor thing.” I cooed. “Did someone dye your fur like this?”
    There was this small, but impossible to ignore, squeaking and a yellow mouse scurried its way up on top of the Persian’s head. But the cat didn’t seem to mind.
    Setting the two down, I looked and spotted a gray owl, it looked like a barn owl to me, and a black hawk perched on the edge of the backboard of a pinball machine.
    Whimpering brought my attention to the dogs, whose numbers had grown while I wasn’t looking. Now instead of Luna and the blue dog (which I had decided looked like a wolfhound), there were two more. The first was a greyhound with white-yellow fur. The other was a Labrador, not a puppy but maybe a few years old, with this light brown fur. The Lab was whimpering at Luna, who despite glaring at the wolfhound, just sat there licking her wounds.
    “Cyn! I’ve got the first aid kit!” Dana came rushing out the door, kit in hand, and I nodded.
    “Okay, good. Let’s take care of the dogs first. It looks like Luna and her new friend did a number on each other.” I replied sarcastically.

    *Third person perspective*

    “I don’t need your help, girl.” Saix growled.
    “Oh, stop acting like a spoiled pup,” Saix turned his glare to the female dog he had gotten into a fight with. “My Masters know what they are doing….”
    “I didn’t ask you, mutt.” He snarled. The dog, Luna, just huffed.
    “‘Mutt’ he says. Very funny coming from the blue-furred freak that got his pelt handed to him…”
    “But they won’t hurt us?” Demyx asked. “Even I can’t run away in a place like this…” He glanced around at the blaring lights and loud noises of the basement room. Even if the two girls weren’t there, he wouldn’t know how to get out without hands.
    “My Masters are good people.” Luna turned her attention back to everyone else. She didn’t know where they came from, but she did know one thing. “You’re in good hands. I’d stake my teeth on it.”
    “A sound bet, I assume.” Luxord said. “But of course you realize that there is always the possibility of a bluff.”
    “Right.” Larxene fixed the dog with a pointed stare. “How can we trust you?”
    Luna let out a wolfish chuckle. “I would think, Little Mouse, that if you were in any real danger, you would be one of the first to go. Lucky for you, you guys found your way into an animal friendly environment. Any other place would probably call the exterminator, or Animal Control. My Masters won’t hurt you. If you hurt them, however,” Her eyes turned serious. “I will not hesitate in ripping you to pieces…”
    “I will not be threatened.” Siax growled, bearing his teeth until a red tail swiped across his muzzle.
    “Lay off, Saix.” Axel sighed. “Picking fights will probably get us kicked out of here, and I don’t know about you, but I think I’d prefer somewhere dry instead of out there…”
    “What were all of you even doing out there anyway?” Luna asked. “Don’t you know not to hang out in weather like that, especially with young ones?” She nodded to the younger members, like Roxas and Xion. “One of you could get sick and die in a storm like that….”
    Luckily, the Nobodies were saved from answering by the two human girls standing up. The one with the multi-colored hair whistled and gestured to Luna.
    “Come on, Lu.” She said. “It’s late, and I’m wiped….Hey, Sis, think you’d be up to sleeping in the living room tonight?”
    “Why?” the brunette asked.
    “With all these extra guests, I think it might be easier to keep them in the living room tonight, and I’d rather sleep downstairs with them than go traipsing back up stairs.” The girl turned to the Nobodies. “What do you say? Would you rather sleep inside where it’s warm, or out in the cold?”
    “Man, Jacyn, no wonder people think you’re crazy.” The sister sighed with a smirk. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who talks to animals the way you do.”
    “Hey!” Axel chuckled. “I don’t think any of us are complaining.”
    “Flamilocks is right,” Xigbar scurried up the girl’s arm to her shoulder. “I don’t mind a warm spot to catch a few Z’s. I’m in.”
    “Me too! Me too!” Demyx jumped up happily. “Anywhere but outside!”
    “I’m tired, so I’m fine with that.” Xion agreed and Roxas nodded.
    As more and more members agreed, Saix looked warily at Xemnas.
    “What do you think, Xemnas?” the blue dog asked quietly.
    “For now, finding a way to regain our normal forms takes top priority.” The silver feline ordered. “However, in this current form, that dog has a point. Until we can return to normal, we have no other choice but to seek out available shelter. So for now, we stay here.”
    Saix nodded, although he hated this even more. To be stuck as a dog was one thing, but it was another matter entirely to have to keep up some degrading charade. He only hoped that he could keep it up and not go berserk on anyone.