Only two reviews? That hurts a lot.
Don't worry, Naomi won't be the center of attention very often, and the rest of the chapters won't be nearly as long as the first one.
As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated!
Keyblade.
Groaning miserably, Sora's ocean-colored eyes cracked open slowly. A dull pain throbbed in his blue orbs as they adjusted to the dark environment. Weakly pushing himself up, the mysterious dream wouldn't leave the teen's mind, least of all the name attached to the strange key-shaped sword.
K-Keyblade? Sora stared at his hands, trying to make sense of the vision. What was a Keyblade, and why did the term sound so familiar?
Glancing around at his surroundings, Sora shivered when he realized how cold the room was. The cement floor was damp and Sora could make out imprints on his hands. A few feet in front of him, Sora could see thick black bars, confirming what he already knew; he was trapped inside a prison cell. From outside the bars, the brunette could see another cell that appeared to be empty, and a small amount of light coming from a burning torch on the wall. Looking to his right, Sora saw a man who looked to be in his early twenties lying face down, unmoving. At first glance, Sora's heart skipped a beat and he began to panic, but his terror quickly dissolved when he caught the slow rise and fall of the man's chest; he was alive. Unconscious, but alive. The man's head was covered with wild red hair, and his hands were bound behind his back with black cords. He didn't appear to be waking up anytime soon, so introductions would have to come later.
Pulling one knee up to his chest, Sora wrapped his arms around it, trying to preserve his body heat. The last thing he remembered was Xemnas's haunting smile and the darkness overtaking him. Xemnas had told Sora that he knew how the teen had sheltered Ventus's damaged heart years before – but he spoke like Sora was still harboring Ventus.
How's that possible? Sora asked himself. As far as he knew, the older boy had left as soon as his heart had been fully healed. Sora had never heard from Ventus again, so he couldn't be residing in his heart…could he?
Before Sora could wonder about the matter any further, an ominous howling sound entered his ears. Startled and frightened, Sora shot to his feet, glaring murderously as two familiar figures exited the dark corridor. One was Xemnas, wearing his small smirk of triumph. The silverette had his arm wrapped around the waist of a smaller hooded figure, whom Sora could immediately tell was a woman. The figure wore a cloak similar to Xemnas's, but it had more of the appearance of a dress; it flowed at the hem and ended just above the woman's ankles. The dress was jet-black and seemed to match Xemnas's coat perfectly above the waist, chains and all, but faded to a dark sapphire blue at the waist and below. Black flats covered the woman's feet and her hands were dressed by the same ebony leather gloves that Xemnas wore; her fingers were interlocked with his free hand.
Sora scrutinized the hooded woman; he had seen her before, he knew it. But he couldn't imagine where or when.
"Wow, time certainly flies. Hard to believe this is the same boy I met twelve years ago."
Her voice rang a bell, too. Sora wanted to ask who she was, but his breath was caught in his throat. Seeing the boy's confused face, Xemnas chuckled quietly and released his partner's hand.
"Tell me, Sora, do you recognize her?"
The boy clenched his fists at the older man, growling almost inaudibly. He knew the older man was taunting him, and hated that he seemed to be reading his mind. Not waiting for an answer, Xemnas turned to the woman again.
"Go on, my dear. Lower your hood so that you and Sora may have a proper reunion."
Smiling wickedly, Sora watched Xemnas's companion raise grasp her hood and slowly push it off of her head. When the shadows were lifted from her face, she nearly laughed at Sora's gasp of horror and shock.
"N-no! Y-you're…!"
~.~.~.~.~
"Ungh…"
Riku slowly opened his eyes after an eternity in the dark oblivion. His head was pounding and he felt queasy. As his vision came into focus, Riku discovered that he was sitting against a gray stone wall in what appeared to be a sick, twisted version of a doctor's examination room – there was a large examination table in the middle of the room with thick leather straps hanging from the side. There were many cabinets and containers containing needles, scalpels, and other sorts of equipment that Riku didn't dare imagine. Looking down, the silver-haired teen saw that his arms were bound tightly with dark, shadowy ropes.
No…where am I? Whipping his head in all directions, Riku searched the room for any signs of life. Nothing, he was alone. For now, at least. Closing his eyes, Riku sighed deeply and closed his aquamarine eyes, trying hard to push away the countless horror stories he'd heard over the years about all the torturous experiments Xehanort and his organization had performed on people and their hearts.
Okay, calm down, Riku, he ordered himself, almost keeping the panic at bay, just get out of these ropes and find a way out of here. With that, Riku struggled and pulled against the dark ropes holding him prisoner, but they wouldn't budge. Now he could feel the panic rising and fought even harder against the ropes. Riku was so focused on escaping his bonds and fleeing that he failed to notice his captor exit a dark corridor and approach his immobilized form. It wasn't until Ansem chuckled tauntingly that Riku ceased his struggles, suddenly frozen in terror.
"Don't bother, boy. Even if you did manage to free yourself, there is no possible way to escape this room." Kneeling down, Ansem hauled his captive to his feet and dragged him towards the experimentation table. Before Riku could try to break free of his hold, he found himself thrown violently onto the cold steel. Ansem placed his gloved hand firmly on Riku's chest, preventing the teen from resuming his futile struggles. Ansem looked into space thoughtfully, seeming a little perturbed before turning his golden gaze back to Riku.
"Your darkness has not reached its maximum potential," he stated seriously before walking away from the table and approaching the counter. Riku sat up and tried to get a look at the items Ansem was gathering, but he couldn't lean far enough to see what his captor was doing. Moments later, Ansem approached the table once more and firmly grabbed the boy's upper arm.
Riku silently gasped at the equipment in the older man's hand; a needle with an ominous-looking liquid in the syringe. Riku couldn't quite tell if the liquid was black or purple, but frankly, he didn't care. He didn't want that needle anywhere near him.
"Ugh! Get that thing away from me!" he hissed, not sounding nearly as intimidating as he'd hoped. Riku jerked his arm, hoping to get out of Ansem's grasp, but the silver-haired man only tightened his hold, making the teen wince in pain. Riku lifted his leg and prepared to kick Ansem as hard as he could, but the older man dodged in the nick of time and slammed Riku down hard onto the table, knocking the wind out of him.
Stunned by the sudden blow and fighting to regain his breath, Riku nearly cried out when he felt a sharp pain in his upper arm. Daring to look, Riku felt his stomach drop when he saw Ansem pressing the needle further into his skin, the black-purple liquid quickly draining out of the syringe. As if triggered by the sight, a painful burning sensation spread throughout Riku's body, making the teen squirm in discomfort. Many long seconds later, the burning feeling rushed towards Riku's chest, seeming to settle in his heart.
"W-what'd you do?!" the silverette demanded, managing to sit up and glare dangerously at his captor.
"That's none of your concern," Ansem snapped. His golden eyes flickered to Riku's chest for a split second and a satisfied grin spread across his face. It was faint, but Ansem could clearly see a dark aura surrounding Riku's heart. All it needed now was encouragement. "Would you like to know what has become of your island?"
Riku's eyes widened in horror and he shot upward, nearly colliding with Ansem's head. "If you hurt my family…"
"Hmph." Ansem folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "I would not worry about them now. After all, they no longer have hearts to lose."
"No…you didn't…"
"Oh, yes, Riku." Ansem's grin grew wider and he placed his fingers under Riku's chin, locking the boy's terrified eyes onto his own malicious ones. The aura in Riku's chest grew darker with each passing second. "The moment I found you in the shack, my Heartless and our Organization invaded the Destiny Islands. Every last member of the rebellion has been lost to the-"
"Lord Ansem!"
A man dressed in a black coat rushed out of a dark corridor, stopping to catch his breath. The man had long blonde hair and electric green eyes. Ansem turned from Riku to face the newcomer, not happy about the interruption.
"What is it, Vexen?"
"We…we were…unable to destroy the islands." Vexen stood up, finally regaining his breath.
"What?!"
Vexen flinched, as though he were expecting Ansem to strike him. He quickly regained his composure, but it was hard to miss the quaver in his voice.
"Your Heartless and the Nobodies swarmed the island with us upon your and Lord Xemnas's command," Vexen began. Riku took note of the open corridor behind the blonde man. "But there was something that stopped us. A light that we were unprepared to conquer. Someone on that island was full of the purest light. It was very similar to the lights we encountered in Wonderland and Enchanted Dominion."
Ansem listened to the scientist raptly. "I see. Then the islands must be home to one of the seven princesses of heart. Were you able to capture her?"
"No," Vexen confessed, "she disappeared with that wretched king before we could even approach. We did get a good look at her, however. Long red hair, blue eyes, and a typical school uniform."
Riku's eyes widened like saucers at the description and fear seized his heart.
Kairi!
~.~.~.~.~
"H-how…?"
Sora gawked at the woman standing in front of him. She was as young as he remembered. Long blue hair cascaded down her shoulders, accented by patches of silver. Around her neck was a small chain covered with various sized diamonds, a large sapphire hanging at the base. On the woman's face was a vicious smirk, matching Xemnas's perfectly.
Her most frightening feature was her eyes – fiery amber orbs filled with evil.
"It looks like he remembers me," the woman sneered. She took a step closer to Sora, who backed away in response.
"N-no," Sora stuttered again, feeling his back hit the brick wall. "You…you can't be the woman Riku and I met that day!"
"Oh, but I am," she replied innocently. "Don't you remember? My name is Aqua."
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