Author's Note: Hey guys. Here's the rest of what I already had typed of "A Heart Divided." Thank you to the people who reviewed and thanks to everyone who reads and enjoys this story. It makes me happy to know that people like what I write. Special thanks to Dragginninja. Check out his Nobody's Heartless series. Four stories in all that are crucial to each other's plot lines. Look for his characters, Kirox and Xorik in future chapters of "Her Scars." They will be regulars along with John from my story, "Shattered Hearts." My original character, John, makes a cameo appearance in the tenth chapter of his story, "Nobody's Heartless: Organization Days." Enjoy, friends...
Crystal sat in the bed, alone, and tried to rest. Riku had left her alone a few minutes before. She kept thinking about her Darkness. She couldn't figure out what made it so bad. She also felt awful for what happened with her and Kairi. She couldn't help but blame herself. She almost accidentally created another X-blade right in Riku's own living room! She tried to go to sleep, but was awoken by two people talking in the hallway. She recognized the voices as belonging to Sora and Riku. They seemed to be arguing about something.
"She's too dangerous, Sora, and you know that!" Riku said sternly to his best friend.
"But what do you want us to do, Riku," he said, slightly aggravated. "You gonna kill her?"
"I don't know. If she lets her Darkness get too powerful, then maybe we might have to."
"I can't believe you're even considering this! You of all people have no right to judge her!" Sora said. He was fuming now. Crystal felt touched that someone actually cared about her.
"I know, I know," Riku said as he tried to calm his friend. "And I paid for that mistake. But, even at my darkest, I never had the potential to create the X-blade like she does. She Is Dangerous! She could hurt Kairi, who is your wife and the mother of your children! Alice, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, and Jasmine are at risk as well. Do you want another Keyblade War to happen?"
"No, but she's a human being! She's not just some dark monster like Vanitas was. She has a heart and a soul! She has people who love her. Master Terra, Master Aqua, and that apprentice that Aqua is teaching, they would all miss her if she died and they would never forgive you for killing her. I'm sure she can keep away from Kairi and the others without it ending in her death!"
"I'm not too sure of that, Sora. It's an awfully big risk. It only takes a few minutes of them being around each other. She has to die so we can be sure the danger is gone."
"Well, don't expect me to be the one to end her. You have to do it if it has to be done."
Crystal drew her Keyblade under the covers, out of sight from anyone who might come in the room. Riku walked in and stared at her with despair in his emerald eyes. Sora was behind him. Both had their Keyblades in hand. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Her big, golden eyes welled up with tears as Riku slowly walked toward her, his Way to the Dawn Keyblade raised in his normal fighting stance.
Riku stopped at her bedside and raised his blade, preparing to decapitate her. "Please forgive me, Crystal." He swung the blade, but was surprised when it didn't make contact with her throat; it made contact with her Keyblade. "What the…?"
"I'm sorry, Riku," she said as she pushed him back. She jumped from the bed and slashed at the young Keyblade Master. He dodged the attack and hit her on her stomach with the blunt side of his Keyblade, knocking the breath out of her as she fell to the ground.
"Please, don't make this harder for me than it already is," Riku said. "I don't want to do this!"
"Then don't do it! Please, I don't want to die," Crystal pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just looking out for the rest of the universe."
"I understand, but I also need to look out for myself. I'm sorry," she said as she engaged Riku in a Keyblade duel in the too-small bedroom. He was fast, but she was faster. She deflected every attack he threw at her easily. He was fighting for his life. She took the blunt end of her Keyblade and hit him square on the forehead. The impact knocked him out. She wasn't going to reduce to his level and kill him. "Sora, I'm so sorry, but you have to understand. I had to defend myself."
"It's ok, at least you didn't kill him. I'll take care of him. Just get out of here before he wakes up." Crystal dashed out of the room and through the house. She passed Kairi and the kids in the living room.
"Crystal," Kairi said, "where are you going?"
"I have to get out of here. Riku tried to kill me. He wants me dead because you and I could form something called the X-blade. I had to knock Riku out so I could get away from him."
"Don't worry, I understand. Riku can be irrational at times, but don't hold it against him. He's just afraid. He knows what the Darkness can do. I'm sure it was hard for him to attack you."
"Yeah. I'm sorry our first meeting didn't go so well."
"It's ok. I've been through worse. Goodbye, Crystal," Kairi said. She was very friendly to Crystal even though she had just attacked her best friend. Princesses of Heart were supposed to be very kind women, but Crystal didn't know they were that kind.
"Goodbye Kairi. Goodbye kids," she said, addressing Kairi's sweet children.
Bye bye," the said in unison. They were beyond adorable.
Crystal darted from Riku's home and ran down the street to the little stretch of beach she first set foot on when she landed. She threw her Keyblade and it transformed into her sleek, motorcycle-like Keyblade Glider. She summoned her armor and once again took to the stars. She was going to have to start getting used to the cold, loneliness of space.
She had no idea where she was going. She was just looking for somewhere she would be alone, where no one would try to kill her, and where she could think about things. The name of a world kept repeating endlessly through her head, "Keyblade Graveyard." She set her navigation with the name and the coordinates appeared on the little screen. She set a course for the Keyblade Graveyard not knowing what to expect.
Crystal arrived at the Keyblade Graveyard half an hour later. She landed on the barren terrain and took a good look at her surroundings. Hundreds, no, thousands of Keyblades were stuck in the ground, most likely serving as grave markers. Terra told her of the Keyblade War that was fought long ago, but she just realized that this was the place it had happened. There were mesas that had entire chunks blasted away from them. Enormous craters dotted the desolate, unforgiving landscape. She was struck breathless by the thought of how many people must have died there. The Keyblades showed just how many there were, and that was too many to even begin to count. The beautiful young woman's dark heart pained at the thought of all the casualties. They were people like her, Keyblade wielders. They obviously had families, loved ones, Masters, apprentices, and maybe even children. She instantly knew that there had been no survivors, no victor. The only thing that had come out of that war was pain and death.
She wandered around the wasteland that was a gravesite for so many fallen Keyblade wielders. Crystal had no idea where she was going. She started to give up on finding any answers when she felt a strange presence near her. It was familiar, but not someone she knew. It was someone like her, close to the Darkness. She turned to see a tall man wearing a black, hooded trenchcoat. He was leaning against the cliffside, crossing his arms across his chest. "Who are you? Please, I need someone to talk to about something important," she called to the mysterious figure.
"I'm Nobody," the man replied dryly. "I used to be Somebody, but now I'm Nobody."
"Are you a Nobody, or just nobody?" she asked.
"Both," he said. He chuckled a little bit. "My heart was shattered ten years ago, and now, I'm condemned to this form for the rest of my life. I'm a Nobody and nobody."
Crystal was confused by the man's words. "Can you stop speaking in riddles and just give me your name already?" She was getting irritated by him.
He shifted his weight so that he was standing straight up. He removed his hood to reveal his true appearance. He was an older man, about thirty years old. He had long, jet-black hair that came down past his shoulders. His most prominent feature, however, was his amber eyes. They were a darker shade than Crystal's golden eyes. His eyes were closer to red, while hers were closer to yellow. She thought he was attractive, but there was also something off about him that pretty much killed it for her. "Please excuse my manners. My name is John, formerly number XV of Organization XIII. I was a member for all of five minutes before I learned it was just a trick, that their Superior never intended to let me join, and their number II tried to murder me."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You seem like a good person. My name is Crystal. I'm the apprentice of Master Terra, the greatest Keyblade Master who ever lived."
"I know who you are," John plainly stated. "And I know who Terra is. I've watched over you all your life. That's what I am, an observer, a watcher. I watch things happen and learn about the people I watch. I know everything about you, Crystal. I even know what your future holds. I know your whole life, even the day you will die."
John was seriously starting to scare her. "You know my future? How do you know what's going to happen to me if I don't even know?"
"I'm a time traveller. I can go forward and backward as I please. The only condition is that I can't change the fact that I turned into a Nobody. An old friend of mine said it was our 'Blessing and Curse'."
"Well then, if you know what my future holds, then tell me. What's going to happen to me? Will I conquer my Darkness, or will it kill me?"
"I can't tell you. You'll disrupt the flow of time. Things have to play out the way they are meant to. Any knowledge I give you, whether it be good or bad, will change how things turn out and it will have disastrous consequences. I don't want the blood of countless people on my hands."
"So, you can help me, but you won't," she said.
"Oh, I want to help you, believe me," he said. "I was the one who called you here from the void of space."
"Why did you want me to come here if you didn't tell me anything?"
John held up his right hand and a blue energy sword that was pulsing with raw power appeared in his hand. "So I can test your ability," he said, drawing his other sword and wielding both in a reverse grip. "Think fast, beautiful."
John charged at Crystal faster than anything she'd ever seen before. It was almost as if he was slowing down time around her. She raised her Keyblade at just the right moment to deflect John's white-hot blades. She could feel the heat radiating from the powerful Nobody's swords. He kept attacking her and she defended every blow. She was getting nowhere with this. He would eventually wear her down and finish her off. She had to think of something. Terra had only taught her basic magic since he wasn't very proficient with magic in the first place. She tried to cast Stopra on John, but he remained unaffected by it. He combined his swords at their handles into a dual-bladed weapon so he could unleash a graceful, deadly flurry on Crystal. It took everything she had to deflect all of them. One slash made it through her guard and cut her left side at her waist. She wanted to scream in pain, but kept her composure and concentrated on deflecting the blows. She didn't know if she was bleeding, but that didn't matter. She cast Cura on herself to heal the small wound.
All hope seemed lost for her until she got an idea. She remembered a decently powerful move her Master had taught her. She charged the static electricity in the air and made a ring of Thundara around her. She jumped forward and unleashed Thunder Surge on John and he was stunned from the sudden jolt. She took advantage of this to get in a few good slashes with her Keyblade and he fell at her feet. "You're good, I'll give you that. Your style reminds me so much of your Master," he said, admitting defeat.
"You know Master?" she asked with shock in her voice.
"Not really know, but I did fight him once to test his strength. It was just a few weeks ago for me, but I had gone back into the past twenty years to test him in his prime. I also tested Master Aqua and Ventus."
"I enjoyed fighting you," she said respectfully. John didn't seem like a bad guy to her. "But I need to ask you something. I know you probably won't tell me, but will I control my Darkness or will it destroy me? Please, I came all this way looking for answers."
"I really wish I could say, Crystal. But I can't tell you. I can say this, though. Remember who your friends are. Your true friends will be the thing you need the most in the coming weeks. Be ready for anything." John's voice held some dark emotions because he knew exactly what was coming her way. He knew her fate, but was bound to never reveal what the future held.
"Thank you, John," she said. The beautiful, dark angel felt a bond between them form deep in her dark heart.
John was shocked when Crystal suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a friendly embrace. "What are you doing?"
"Giving you a hug," she said. "We are friends, right?" She smiled at him and all the pieces of his shattered heart melted.
"I guess so," he said, his cheeks even redder than his eyes.
"We are," she said. "I guess I have to be going now, though."
"Where are you going?" he said.
"I don't know. Maybe Radiant Garden," she said. "That's the first place I appeared in the Realm of Light. That place has to hold some significance."
"Well, I wish you the best, Crystal," John said. "I really hope you find what you're looking for."
"I do too," she said. "John, if you can't say anything else, just tell me this. Will I ever see you again?" She prayed he would say yes. Her big, golden eyes opened wide in anticipation of what he would say.
"Don't worry, I'll be a big part of your future," he said. He kept his voice normal, not showing any emotions. She couldn't tell if what he said was a good thing or a bad thing.
Kevin was starting to get fed up with not knowing where to find Crystal. He was also getting worried about her. "I've got to find Crystal. Even if it kills me, I'll find her," he said. He didn't know what world to go to next. He told himself that the next world he passed, he'd land and look for her.
Just then, he saw something dart across from him. It looked just like a Keyblade Glider. "Crystal?" he called out, knowing that his voice wouldn't reach her. He turned toward the direction of the Glider and chased it to its destination.
When he got closer, he saw that it was Crystal's Keyblade Glider. She was going to Radiant Garden. They both descended into the atmosphere and landed at the Rising Falls in front of Hollow Bastion castle. "Crystal!" he yelled to his best friend.
She dismissed her Keyblade Armor and turned to see Kevin. "Kevin, is that really you?" Her face lit up with joy and she ran over to her dearest and closest friend. "What are you doing here?"
"I've been looking for you for two days, Crystal," he said. "Master Terra sent me after you. He wants me to bring you home. Please come home with me! Our Masters are so worried about you."
"I can't come home yet," she said. "I have to find some answers about my Darkness. I was sent to the Realm of Light for a reason."
"What do you mean 'sent to the Realm of Light?'" he asked. She had never told him that she was born in the Realm of Darkness.
"I never told you the truth about where I'm from, did I?" she said sorrowfully, realizing that she never told him about that part of her life. She took in a deep breath to gather the strength to reveal her origins to Kevin. "I wasn't born in the Realm of Light, Kevin. I'm from the Realm of Darkness. That's why my eyes are yellow, my heart is pure Darkness. I never knew a family. The closest thing to a family I had was a group of Neoshadows that I would run around with. They protected me from that really big Darkside."
"Crystal," he said, astonished at the revelation, "I had no idea that you were from the Realm of Darkness. I had no idea that you were that dark." He didn't know how to react. He had always been told that people from the Darkness were nothing but evil, but this was Crystal! He'd known her for so long and she never showed any signs of being evil. She was his best friend and he loved her so much.
Crystal saw that he wasn't going to say anything else. Her heart pained and her eyes welled up with tears. "Kevin," she said through her tears, "I don't blame you if you hate me. I'll be going now." She started to turn to run away, but she found she couldn't move. Kevin had teleported to her and had his arms around her waist. "Kevin what are you doing?"
"I'm not going to let you run away again," he said, tears of his own flowing from his sky-blue eyes. "I lost you once, and I'm not going to lose you again! You're the best friend I've ever had and these past few days without you have been absolute misery."
"I thought you'd hate me if I told you I was from the Darkness," she said. "Master Aqua always taught you that Darkness was something that needed to be destroyed."
"I don't care what Aqua says. No matter how dark you are, you don't deserve to be destroyed. I would never do that to you," he said, pouring all the love in his heart out.
"Oh, Kevin," she said, returning his embrace. She cried into his long, shaggy, blond hair.
"Now, let's go home," he said. He looked at her, but she wasn't happy anymore. Her beautiful smile had curled down to a frown. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go home yet. I still have work to do here. I felt the sudden urge to come here. I feel like there could be answers to the questions I've been asking."
"But, I have orders to bring you home," he said. "I can't go home without you."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not coming home. I don't care what Master says. I need answers that he won't give me!" she said.
"I'll come with you, then," Kevin said.
"I have to do this alone," Crystal said. "I'm sorry."
"You apologize too much," he said jokingly. "You sure you can do this alone?" he asked.
Just when he asked, though, a Neoshadow Heartless appeared behind Crystal and pulled its sharp claws back for a swipe. It smelled her strong Darkness and was going to try to steal her heart. "Crystal!" he yelled as he pushed her out of the way. The Neoshadow's claw dug into Kevin's chest.
"Kevin, No!" she screamed in horror as her best friend's heart was taken. The Heartless absorbed Kevin's heart and she knew that somewhere, a new Heartless was created. "I'm gonna kill you, you abomination!" she screamed as she swung her Keyblade at the Neoshadow. Her wickedly sharp blade made contact with the Heartless' throat and its head was violently disconnected with its body. The bloody remains of the Heartless disappeared in a puff of black smoke. She turned to see Kevin's body slowly disappearing. "Kevin!" she yelled as she ran to him. She tried to grab him, but as soon as she made contact with her best friend, he disappeared into millions of little orbs of Light. "Kevin…why did you do that," she whispered through her tears as she soaked in what she had just seen. Kevin, her best friend, had just sacrificed himself to save her. If he hadn't jumped between her and the Heartless, she would have been the one to lose her heart. Kevin had a strong heart and will. Crystal just knew that he would create a Nobody. "Looks like I'm looking for you, now," she said. Determination to find her best friend made her heart gain a little more light, but it was still dark as night.
Author's Note: Hey guys, what do you think? I liked adding the little cameo with John from "Shattered Hearts." John may also make a cameo in "Hearts of the Olympians." Next chapter will have a little bit more of Kevin than this one did. It will show him dealing with turning into a Nobody. Remember to check out Dragginninja's stories and look for John in "Organization Days." His characters, Xorik and Kirox, will also be appearing in the next chapter of "Her Scars" as Vanitas' friends from Twilight Town. Until next time, friends...
