ºoº Chasing Light ºoº

"How could that happen ?!"

Quick steps echoed through the catacombs in the castle of oblivion.

The brisk steps stopped suddenly as Kairi hid herself between a hollow in the wall. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead and her breath calmed down minimally.

That was until she heard dull footsteps and a shrill squeal, the grinding of metal.

"Kairi, you can´t hide forever !", the addressed girl desperately grabbed her forehead with her left hand. She wondered, why it has to come this far.

She found, that Sora behaved very strangely shortly before they woke Ventus out of the Awakening Chamber.

But Vanitas managed to sneak into Sora's heart and then control him.

They definitly did not expect that.

Now she is on the run, while the others keep Xehanort and the rest of the dark at bay.

Well, that was the first improvised plan of theirs.

She fervently hoped that the others could escape and devise a strategy against the dark.

"I'm tired of playing hide and seek, Princess!", his voive echoed through the hallways.

Kairi held her breath as Sora, better known now as Vanitas, walked past her.

Instead of the king's pendant, he now had a keyblade she had never seen before.

It looked terrifying, it had the shape of an capricorn and the scary thing - she thought - was the eye, which was slightly below the handle.

She waited until the footsteps became quieter as she came out of her hiding place and breathed in reliev.

Softly, she walked the way back. She could not help Sora at the moment.

As much as she would want it. She knew that she had no chance against him alone and certainly not in the state he was in.

From a distance, she could already see the big white door´s that led upwards and at the same time to the exit of the castle. Her movement to the door was now a little more hasty.

With a shaky hand, she reached the door handle and opened it slowly to avoid noises.

Relieved, she exhaled and smiled. She opened the door even further, but it was slammed shut again.

"Well, where do we want to go?", Kairi stared in shock at the now closed door again, before she turned her head slightly to the left and stared up.

Vanitas had slammed the door with his left hand and was looking at her with a manic grin on his face.

"Tell me, Kairi," he began, taking a step closer to her and she instinctively took a step back.

"Why does the light fear the darkness?"

"I ... I don´t know," she confessed honestly, evoking her own keyblade.

"And here I thought, that all the princesses of light know all the answers. ", He now stood infront of the door and held his left hand theatrically upwards.

"We are not lexicons that you can easily look up," Kairi replied, eagerly thinking on how she got out of this situation.

She was scared, without a doubt. Yet she had to keep a clear mind.

"Tch." , mockingly, he lifted his keyblade in her direction.

"For me you are nothing but pawns, waiting to be checkmated by me." He grinned haughtily at her as she pressed her lips together.

"Now I have a question!", Kairi started.

"Why do you want to get rid of the light?", Vanitas raised her eyebrows.

"Who said something about 'getting rid' of the light? Without light, there is no darkness. Without darkness, no light. It´s like simple mathematics . We only put you to your rightful places ... and that below us. ", Kairi skeptically narrowed her eyes to slits.

"So you will spare us?"

"It all depends on how much you are threats to us, and if I'm honest ...", his mischievous grin widened. "... we actually do not need so much light."

Kairi did not like it at all.

She now wished she had Riku or even Lea on her side.

The only thing she could think of was somehow getting through to Sora, and that sounded easier said than done.

But she had to act, and fast.

The Princess of Light rushed towards Vanitas with her keyblade.

He on the other hand seemed to be surprised by her action and could barely counter her vertical stroke with his sword.

"Sora, can you hear me? You have to fight him, you hear me!"

"Tze!", With a push he flung her away from him.

"Oh, so that's it?", Vanitas smiled sardonically and gestured with his left hand.

"You wanna play that game? Then let´s play ! ", Kairi barely had time to react.

He gave her a strong blow in the gut and with his free hand, he reached out with the keyblade. Ready to stab her with it. This time Kairi was faster.

"Reflega!", The blow bounced off the barrier and catapulted its attacker back.

Kairi herself touched her stomach and spat out some saliva.

"Well, well. Those are not manners of a lady," he chided, while Kairi looked at him hatefully.

"Nobody asked you for your opinion.", She closed her eyes briefly in pain, before she looked up in despair.

"Sora, you have to fight him, I´m begging you, I know you can!", Vanitas sneered.

"You can scream and beg as much as you want, but the Sora you once knew does not exist anymore, so you better make friends with me! We also don´t have to fight against each other, it´s rather the opposite.", Vanitas spread his Arms out, as if he wanted to hug her.

"Stand by my side and together we will not only control all worlds, oh no, Kingdom Hearts will still be ours and I ... I will become one of the most powerful beings of all worlds." He looked at his hands with euphoria and reached with his right hand out for her.

"And with you by my side, you will make me the most powerful man ever."

"Never! I would rather die! " ,she replied, clenching her hands into fists.

Kairi now knew that she had to completely override her plan, when Vanitas took down his arms and a black shadow covered his face.

"You rather want to pass away? ... Well ...", he looked up and licked his dry lips. Keeping his head up, he looked intently at her with his amber colored eyes. His features were monotonous. Kairi got shivers down her spine at that sight before her.

"... that can be arranged,", he said indifferently and disappeared from her view.

Without much thought, Kairi conjured her shield around her again and as she thought, he was constantly attacking her.

"Reflega! ... Reflega! ... Reflega!", Vanitas hit the barrier again and again, until he saw a gap in her actions.

"Re.-"

"Too slow.", Before the barrier could close completely, Vanitas had already sneaked in and thus overwhelmed the red-haired girl.

Making her fall flat with the back to the ground. Her keyblade clattered over the stony asphalt.

Vanitas quickly sat on her pelvis and prevented her from getting up immediatly.

He rammed his keyblade into the ground, right next to her head.

Her arms were pressed against her body by his legs.

Desperately, she tried to pull her arms up, which unfortunately she did not succeed.

"You can try to free yourself as you please, I guarantee you, you will not succeed," , he assured her in a clear and cool voice.

Kairi, meanwhile, tried to wiggle out of his grip and, as he already predicted, was all in vain.

She just lay still under him and looked at him angrily. She bit her lip slightly.

"I do not hope you'll start crying right now, but I'll give you the last chance to change your mind," he grinned manically again.

"Will you stay by my side or not?"

"Never!", She answered him again and managed - by luck - to free her right arm.

With that, she lunge out with her hand and smacked the Keyblade Carrier right in the face.

Inwardly, Kairi apologized to Sora for punching him in the face.

Vanitas himself was a bit perplexed by the blow, but tightened his grip on her again and pinning her free hand beside her head.

"Any last words ?!", he hissed and Kairi knew, that she probably could not get out of this situation.

In her mind, she went through one plan after another, but it seemed to be pointless.

She could not put any of that into action.

She squeezed her eyes shut, as the first few tears rolled out of the corner of her eye.

"Stop whining! I can´t stand it. ", Vanitas grumbled, while Kairi opened her eyes again and looked at him pitifully.

"Tell me, what are your last words? I'll definitely make sure taht your words will reach Sora or better. I let him see you, how he himself finish you off !" He took the keyblade out of the ground with his free hand and raised it over her chest.

Kairi's tears were now constantly streaming down her cheeks.

"I ..." Kairi began to speak in a fragile voice.

"I would have liked to spend more time with my friends... and share the Paopu fruit on our island with Sora.", Her martyr snorted contemptuously.

"You with your friends."

"Unlike you, I have some!", She countered and fell silent when he scowled at her.

"Ah yeah? Well, then wish them from me lovely greetings ,when you are on the otherside!", he said, and Kairi closed her eyes anxiously.

I'm sorry, Sora! It's all my fault!

Kairi waited for her to feel a stabbing pain or something, but nothing came.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw how Vanitas quarreled with himself.

"You're not going to hurt her!" Vanitas's eyes went blue for a moment, until they returned to the pungent yellow tone.

"You will not stop me," Vanitas replied, retrieving. But he was stopped again by Sora, who was now fighting against it.

"No!", Vanitas now held with both hands his head and buried his fingers into his hair.

"Kairi, take your keyblade and ... ram it into my heart!" He commanded her.

"Wh.-What ?!"

"Do it, Kairi!" Sora croaked in pain, trying to keep the upper hand over his body. The princess of light crawled under him, summoning her sword back into her hand. She knelt in front of him.

"Sora, I don´t know if that's such a good idea." Sora, who now had most of the upper hand over his body again, grabbed her by the upper arms and looked at her intently.

"Look at me, Kai, everything will be fine, trust me." , Kairi vehemently shook her head.

"Kairi, this is not the right time to be stubborn, here." Sora put his hands over Kairi's and helped her get the sword in the right position.

Uncertain about the matter, her hands began to tremble.

"Hey.", She gently raised her head, while Sora smiled at her encouragingly. His fingers caressed her knuckles.

She swallowed hard the lump in her throat.

"I can´t suppress him for much longer. Please, do it. " Kairi nodded and took a deep breath.

Sora, on the other hand, opened his arms.

Hesitantly, she pulled her keyblade backwards, before aiming for his heart.

She felt almost no resistance when she hit him, and a bright, shining light enveloped the young man.

She pulled the sword out, when Sora started to scream.

Or ... wait.

Not only Sora screamed, but also Vanitas, whom she saw now as well.

Did her keyblade cause them to split?

Had Sora known this the whole time and asked her to do it, because of that?

Her flow of thought was interrupted, when the radiant light went out and now two people stood in front of her.

Kairi was amazed at the similarities that the two visually shared.

They could practically be twins. Only the hair and eye color were different.

Kairi hurried to Sora's side and looked at him worriedly.

"Sora, are you alright?", The person in charge nodded.

"I´m alright, Kai. I said everything was going to be okay, didn´t I?" , he grinned weakly, and Kairi gave him a hug.

Surprised, Sora scratched his head in embarrassment and returned the hug.

After that, he let go of her and looked at Vanitas.

Vanitas, meanwhile, grabbed his head angrily. The dark aura surrounding him pulsed wildly.

"No, no, no, no, damn it!" Vanitas bellowed and looked over to the couple standing opposite him.

His attention remained on Kairi.

"YOU!" Obsessed, the black-haired man conjured his keyblade out and sprinted toward the princess of light. The latter backed away and before he even reached her, Sora kicked his opponent hard on the chest.

Vanitas was thrown back with force.

His keyblade fizzled on contact with the asphalt and Vanitas stayed on his back. The black aura slowly disappeared around him and his legs began to vanish.

Sora, who had sheltered in front of Kairi, watched the scenario suspiciously and straightened up.

"What happens to him?", The girl wanted to know and raised her hands over her chest.

"I ... I honestly can´t tell you," Sora answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kairi approached him with caution. Sora followed after her.

The redhead knelt beside her enemy, while Sora stopped behind her.

"Watch out, Kairi.",

"It's okay," she reassured him as she touched Vanitas shoulder.

Vanitas - who had previously closed his eyes - now yanked his eyes wide open and stared contemptuously at Kairi.

"How could that be? I was so sure you were his weakness, you're his weakness!"

Sora turned his eyes to the ground.

"No, you're only half right there." Sora said, looking over at Kairi. She looked questioningly up at him.

"She´s also my strength, you've just exploited my fear of losing Kairi, and that has given you the chance, to slip into my heart. That she is also my hope and strength, that of course, you didn´t know." Vanitas snorted contemptuously.

His abdomen had already completely dissolved and he stretched his right arm upwards, almost looking like he reached for the sky.

"Tch. In the end, I just seemed to be selfish and jealous of you. And of you." Vanitas glanced over at Sora.

"Why does the light always get what it wants? Why couldn´t I be born in the light? Questions that no one could or just couldn´t answer to me.", He cynically began to laugh out loud.

Kairi and Sora exchanged questioning looks and compassion.

The black-haired man rolled his eyes, when he saw the piteous eyes on him.

"I don´t want your fucking pity, just piss off and leave me alone."

Vanita's upper body now began to become transparent.

"You can still change yourself!" Kairi objected.

A faint, crooked grin formed on Vanita's lips.

"Nice try, princess. You with your friends, hopes and love," Vanitas started, turning his head to her side.

"Always following the light ...while I chase it.", Vanitas grabbed Kairi's hand and put it on his face.

Sora wanted to protest, but Kairi stopped him with the other hand and turned to Vanitas.

"Maybe I just wanted to follow the light, but you were, how should I say it? Oh, yeah," Vanitas began, closing his eyes.

"Too slow," , after he had finished speaking these words, he laughed hysterically and disappeared into small black particles.

Pityingly Kairi now stared into the emptyness, while Sora sighed audible.

"Let's go, Kairi.", The named nodded and stood up.

With a small smile on her face, she looked at Sora.

He smiled faintly at her and took a step back as she hugged him bumpily.

"I'm just glad that you're yourself again.", She snuggled closer to him.

"Believe me, Kairi, me too, me too.", Kairi chuckled while Sora stroked her hair.

They moved towards the exit, hoping that they would quickly reach the Mysterious Tower.

The fight against the darkness was not over yet.