Hello! This is Mister Mistofelees, the majestic kitty known far and wide among feline companions for being so spectacular.
Okay but no, in all seriousness, thanks for checking out my story. In the third game of this fantabulous series, its been confirmed that Sora and company will be in their early twenties. So, the same will be said for this story as well. That being said, expect the drop of a small swear word here and there every now and then (nothing course or anything). Without further ado, I grant you access to this hopefully delightful story. Be sure to leave a review if you have anything you'd like to say, criticism is welcomed as well (but please don't just be rude).
This story was brought to light thanks to the trailers going about YouTube.
Disclaimer: Nothing in regards to Kingdom Hearts or Disney belong to me in any shape or form. No amount of money is being made off of this fanfiction, I'm merely a girl in love with a videogame.
CHAPTER I: Damned Is The Fool
Maleficent made a guttural noise in the back of her throat before she slammed the book shut with a particularly harsh bang, dust follicles lifted from the cover to greet her and she sneezed a response. Scowling, she waved an open hand to disrupt the spread and growled. Months had passed since the Nobodies had cleared from Castle Oblivion, since she and Pete had taken over the construction for themselves and their twitchy, starving Heartless.
Pete's concerns over how close this place was to the darkness had been right, the Heartless were less inclined to obey when in their prime of power. But then, it was a foolish thing to underestimate the talents of Maleficent. She was a true Mistress of Shadows, the sleeping intent of a ferocious fire-breathing reptile waited just beneath this easy flesh. She would be damned before she allowed the Heartless freedom to ignore her express demands, especially after she had been the one to assist King Mickey in his quest to halt Xemnas. Sickening as it was, she refused to allow His Highness to believe there was an ounce of kindness in her. Taking this castle had benefited her all on her own.
If only she could force a book to reveal answers to her.
Maleficent had scraped through the books in the library she'd found, each one ancient and valued deeply enough to keep around for so long. She had hoped to come across something which she could use to lead her in victory once and for all, but all that the aged crinkling pages offered were useless words of wisdom and the ways of The Great Ones through history. Each scrawled cursive sentence withered her patience further and further, she was beginning to consider brute force as an option (she must've had enough Heartless to crush Mickey and his do-gooder team), but that only surfaced the memory of one particular face in the blasted light.
Sora's gracious blue eyes and unwavering curve of a grin swam into view before her mind's eye, what a wonder he was. And what magnificent power he procured from the use of his Keyblade, beyond anything she'd ever witnessed. Suddenly, Maleficent was gripped with a ferocious burn of hatred and she used the brunt of her arms to shove aside everything sitting on the surface of the desk she stood before. She was beginning to fracture, a tremble quivered through her and she curled her long fingers into shaking fists. She despised Sora and his two dear friends. They didn't belong here, in this universe of magic and battle. They held sound belief that both darkness and light were meant to be balanced, one could not reign supreme over the other; they needed one another in order to sustain. Well, to that, Maleficent scoffed. Ignorant children. Things could not be so easy, not under the sky they all shared.
"Sounds like things ain't goin' so well."
Maleficent raised her head towards the doorway and glowered daggers towards the heavyset figure filling it out. Pete was bearing her a knowing smile, causing the sorceress another boil of outrage to mark it's threat beneath her skin. "Pete," she managed through the rough scrape of her teeth. "What did I tell you about bothering me while I'm studying?"
Pete shrugged indefinitely and scratched absently at the stubbed bridge of his nose. "Just thought you might like to use some company. I can see things ain't so successful here, maybe you should take a break and relax a little bit." He offered her a smile then, one which made a black bolt of fury tear through her in quiet anger. How dare he grin at her like that?! As though they were friends upon an equal level! Pete was her subordinate, a lackey too stupid to think on his own, and the only reason she kept him around was because he'd proven his use in the past a few times.
"You're wasting your time," Maleficent snarled, bending to begin recollecting the items she'd shoved from her desk. "I haven't the patience to entertain you, there's far too many books to consult. Why not make yourself useful and go searching for things in the castle we haven't discovered yet?" She turned and shooed him away with her hands, hoping to deliver a clear message that his presence was not desired. Alas, Pete remained standing in her line of sight, understanding seemed to escape him.
"I already tried looking for something," he insisted, something Maleficent felt she very much doubted about him. "There's nothin' but stairs and plain ol'bedrooms. I searched through a desk I found, and all I came across was this useless piece of paper!" He crossed his arms and glared towards the wall, obviously sharing a grudge with the desk that had proven utterly boring. However, something about this news caused Maleficent to perk up with interest, her eyes thoughtful.
"This paper you speak of," she began softly. "What was written on it?"
"Absolutely nothin'!" Raved the oversized cat, his gaze shimmered and his foot stomped. "It was just a blank piece of paper all old and wrinkled. It wasn't even good to write on, the stupid thing seemed too delicate to even hold!"
Maleficent wondered if perhaps Pete was only being dramatic. After all, why keep a piece of paper if it was so old? Certainly, it was good to keep stalk for letter writing and list making, but for there to only be a single sheet? Maybe the poor witch was in a state of exhaustion she couldn't erase, one which troubled her with hopes of a long awaited breakthrough from Pete's lack of observation. It could've just truly been a questionably old piece of paper that was never used. Even still, she made her demand. "Take me to it."
Pete was clearly confused by her longing, but he still took her through the twists and turns of the castle until they came upon an abandoned study. There, in a wastebasket beside a rickety old desk, sat a crumpled piece of paper waiting silently. Maleficent reached within and gently undid the crinkled mess, smoothing it out until the paper was semi-flat and she could see the front. There, sketched entirely in black, was a large cube up at the very top of the page, and scrawled beneath it were cursive letters spelled in a language so ancient, it was presumed lost forever. Luckily, the sorceress recognized this tongue and, though it took some sounding out, managed to read the very first line written there. 'Damned is the fool who dare summons this box into the universe.'
"It's a spell," she murmured to herself as she took a long moment to read over the next couple sentences. "For a box that can manipulate the darkness in the hearts of others, how interesting." Suddenly, she felt a surge of outrage spear through her sternum, and she whirled on her subordinate in a flurry of black. "You told me there was nothing written here!" She snarled, her irises shimmered a threatening neon green. "You blatantly lied to me!"
Pete cowered away from her, lifting his hands and lowering his ears as he scrambled to put distance between them. "W-what are'ya talkin' about?!" He stuttered out, body hunched down as a sign to his vulnerability. "Th-there ain't nothin' written there, it's completely blank! Have you lost it?"
Maleficent drew herself upright and lifted the paper towards her eyes, scanning over the illustration repeatedly to make certain she wasn't being foolish. Certainly not, there was definitely words written there, but why couldn't Pete see them? She peered curiously towards the feline above her paper and pondered the situation, then realization dawned on her. The paper was enchanted! Those not gifted in the art of magic and sorcery could not observe what was written here, but Maleficent most definitely could. Her lips curved upward into a large smile, her fingers tightened drastically around the old paper and she turned away, starting for the exit of the study. "I have some translations to see towards," she said without looking back at a dumbstruck Pete. "There will be absolutely no interruptions. Not unless you want to pay a very high fine, am I understood?"
She didn't receive a verbal response, but the chatter of his teeth was certainly confirmation enough. Hear me mouse King, she thought with a dark narrow of her gaze. You and your army of Light will fall.
•¶•
Riku found her in her room, humming distractedly while she fidgeted shakily in making her bed. She, Riku, and Sora had all spent ample time at the Mysterious Tower, with the auburn learning the use of her Keyblade beside Lea (and his natural taste of sarcasm) and Sora did all he was permitted to in assisting the two in learning. Unfortunately, Master Yen Sid limited the brunette to overseeing much of the training considering he wasn't a master himself. As for Riku? He and King Mickey were preparing to descend into the Dark Realm in search of Aqua, and Kairi had become awfully jittery as the days began to approach.
Riku had a few hours before it was officially time to return to the darkness, he felt that he knew the inviting stretch of shadows better than the vibrant glow of light, it scared him more than he liked to admit that he was overly susceptible to giving in. But he owed it to Aqua to remain strong, after the way she'd sacrificed herself to keep the rush of Heartless at bay while Kingdom Hearts was closed, she deserved to be saved.
The toe of his shoe gently kicked open her door, it slowly swung open with a creak and Kairi spun around with an audible gasp of surprise. The tension in her shoulders receded when she found it was only her friend and she smiled anxiously towards the silver haired boy. "Riku," she greeted softly. "I, ah, I didn't know you were still here. I thought you were leaving today. Er, night." She sent a look out her window and frowned, still unused to the fact that daylight appeared nonexistent in this particular world. Riku knew she used to love the starlight, the curved smirk of a crescent moon, but he wondered how much she missed the sunlight.
He entered wearily, his smile was small and cautious and his wrists were crossed casually behind his back. "I am," he confirmed for her. "But I've got a few hours before it's time. Mickey is back at the Disney Castle attending personal matters before he's ready to leave. Plus, I don't think the Queen is in good spirits about this either. He's probably-"
"Woah woah woah," she interrupted, her obviously fake grin vanishing instantly. "What do you mean either? I'm-I am perfectly fine-"
"Kairi," Riku exhaled, sliding his gaze towards the neatly cared for bed. "You've never been this clean about anything, don't you remember that Sora and I have been in your bedroom before?"
Kairi followed his line of vision, observing the meticulous care she had offered to the bedsheets, realizing how uncharacteristically careful she had been. She grimaced and sank slowly on the edge of the mattress, absently rubbing her hand against the smooth comforter, avoiding his gaze it seemed. "Well, you know," she mumbled to herself. "This isn't my home, might as well be polite." Her bottom lip pulled itself between her teeth and she bit down hard enough to make the soft pink flesh turn white. Riku scratched at the back of his neck as he made a slow approach, gazing up towards the ceiling as he considered something he could say to her.
"It's going to be okay," he finally decided, never particularly talented at speaking behind his words. He knew what he was there for, Kairi needed his reassurance and he wouldn't leave without granting it to her. "You should know that. The King wouldn't ask me to come along if he thought I'd be in danger, you just gotta have faith."
Kairi's eyes sliced over to his and the boy tensed, realizing he might've said the wrong thing. "I do have faith," she said defensively, pulling her legs up on the bed. "All I've done is have faith for you guys, you and Sora. But that doesn't mean I don't worry about you guys, and you have to understand Riku. You're going into the Realm of Darkness!"
"It's not like I'm new to darkness Kairi," he chuckled, hoping it would earn him a smile somewhere. Instead, she stared towards him with shadowed blue eyes owlish and bemused, chest rising and falling while the muscles in her jaw worked. Riku sighed and let himself sit against her bed, scooting close to her and lightly reaching out to touch the tips of his fingers to her ankle. "I have to do this," he murmured, refusing to meet her gaze. He hoped she would sense the aching truth there, the pleading undertone that just needed her to understand and be without him for awhile. She wouldn't be alone, Sora was there to keep her out of harm's way and, based on the intensity of their relationship (of course he'd noticed), he guessed that wouldn't be so terrible for her. But he needed to go after Aqua, he hadn't a choice but to search for her in the Dark Realm because he owed it to her to put forth the attempt.
Kairi shifted in discomfort, she let her hands rub softly over her pink skirt and slipped her eyes away towards the wall. "I know you do," she finally relented. Delicately, she leaned forward and touched his hand with hers, and somehow managed to dredge up her own version of a smile again. Riku was so proud of her, she'd grown so much from that innocent girl he used to stare after on their beach paradise; she was so determined and cared fiercely for the ones she adored most. She didn't think herself above sacrifice, and being a Princess of Heart meant little in the eyes of her values. She was a warrior, she always had been, and she deserved that recognition.
Riku turned up his palm and squeezed her fingers, wishing he could somehow flood his strength into her veins just to reassure himself that she was going to be alright when he returned to her. "I'll be back," he swore, and God did he mean it. He couldn't stand being separated from his friends anymore, not when they were finally all together like this. He would come back, then he, Sora, and Kairi - the most powerful trio in the universe - would kick Xehanort where they knew it hurt most..