Hearts of Gold: Chapter III
Yay! It's finally here! If you've been waiting, I'm sorry! I've had a BUTT load of stuff to do and not a lot of time to do it, so this is pretty much the only time I've had to myself to just sit and WRITE. Yay again! So anyway, last chapter was pretty short (and a cliffhanger, too) so I decided to try and make this one a tad bit looooonnnnngggggeeeeeerrrrr…. Please, read and review! Also, if anyone has ANY suggestions, please submit your opinions! I LOVE OPINIONS! Just a little warning, though, this chapter was INCREDIBLY hard to write; there is a small amount of cussing (nothing too serious, no F-bombs, lol!) and a LOT of drama and fighting (fight scenes are also INCREDIBLY hard to write! Xc) But anyway, ON WITH CHAPTER III!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS, KINGDOM HEARTS 2, KINGDOM HEARTS: BIRTH BY SLEEP, OR ANYTHING! IF I DID, THE WORLD WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER PLACE! I ONLY OWN MY OC'S!
Hearts of Gold: Chapter III
"That's what I do best; keep your moods under control." Holt face palmed mentally, but she laughed and squeezed him gently before letting her arms drop to her sides. Holt did the same, worrying he had gone too far, but wanting to go farther. Get a hold, man! He scolded himself. Take it slow, let itbuild! Holt was shaken out of his internal lecture when the ground suddenly shook beneath his feet, pitching him to the side. He landed hard on his left shoulder, grunting as a sharp pain ran through his arm. Keniera was off to the side, hanging onto a small tree for dear life. The tremors stopped suddenly, leaving animals scurrying to and fro in the underbrush and the two friends confounded. "What was that?" Keniera asked, breathless. She hesitantly let go of the tree, small white crescent moons embedded in the bark from her fingernails. Holt staggered to his feet, shaking out his arm, which was just bruised, rolling his shoulder and flexing his fingers. "It felt like an earthqua—"Keniera cut off suddenly, looking up into the sky. Holt looked up too, and his blood ran cold.
Long clouds, like black and purple fingers, reached across the sky, breaking it into pale blue shards of painted glass. Keniera took a hesitant step forward, her neck craned back so her face was turned towards the dark omen above them. Almost unnoticed, a Neoshadow Heartless crept up behind her, its antennae twitching excitedly. Another cautiously approached Keniera from the front, but it looked considerably different. This one was a sort of electric blue, and all sharp angles. Its eyes glowed an unnerving red, and darted to and fro, slowly approaching Keniera with every step. Quietly, Holt summoned his Keyblade, Oathkeeper, careful not to startle the creatures; one wrong move, and they would pounce. He advanced toward her slowly, Keyblade at the ready. He was just about in striking distance, when Keniera spoke up. "Holt? What's going on—?" Keniera's voice startled the two monsters, and they leaped at her, claws aimed for her heart. Completely unprepared, she froze. Holt, however, was one step ahead. With a quick swipe of Holt's blade, the Neoshadow dissipated inches from Keniera's back. Holt swung around and was about to slice through the other monster, but Keniera cried out and grabbed his arm mid-swing. Holt stopped. The small, unidentifiable creature was tugging at the leg of Keniera's capris, trying to pull her towards the town. Hesitantly, she let it, grabbing Holt's hand and pulling him along with her. "What is that thing?" Holt whispered into her ear, keeping quiet. For whatever reason, he felt that the creature would try to eavesdrop on their conversation. He mentally shook himself. Why would it do that? It'd probably have no idea what we were saying! She didn't answer for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. They were nearing the edge of the clearing now, the little monster becoming more and more excited as they neared the ridge overlooking the town. "I've seen these before," Keniera finally replied, glancing down at the creature. "I think they're called…" Keniera raised her head and trailed off as Radiant Gardens came into their sight. Her eyes widened, and Holt turned away from her to see what had surprised her. All the breath left his lungs as he gawked at the town beneath them; his home ever since he could remember. Holt felt cold; shocked. Keniera let out a choked sob, ignoring the creature desperately pulling at her pant leg. The two simply stood for a moment, rooted in place at the sight of the carnage below.
Their world was burning.
Black, hungry fire had consumed over half of the town so far, the flames reaching high into the sky and their purple smoke streaking it in wide, nasty smears. They could hear screams; townspeople panicking as Heartless surrounded them at every corner and their world slowly crumbled around them. The strong, acrid smell of smoke reached the two companions, causing Holt's eyes to burn and Keniera to cough loudly. The small monster was absolutely frenzied now, jumping up and down and gesturing wildly to the town below. The two could only watch as the flames ran their course. The fire left nothing in its path; only smoking remnants of foundations gave any sign to homes and shops that once were. Holt watched in utter horror as another building went up in flames. With a start, he could barely make out the large painted sign of the Landan's Flower Shop nailed on its front before black fire ate it up. Keniera must've seen it, too; another sob managed its way from her throat and she placed a hand over her heart. Her sorrow suddenly turned to panic, however, when she saw someone emerging from the burning shop, dragging something (or someone) behind them, a dozen or so Heartless meeting them out front. In a flash, Keniera took off down the hill towards the town in a full sprint, leaving a startled monster and a startled friend behind her. The monster recovered quickly and sank into the ground, becoming a small blue circle that zoomed down the hill after her. Holt blinked a few times as he watched his friend make her way towards the ravaged town. Reality hit him hard, then. Fighting the urge to catch up to her and hold her back, Holt followed his friend into what could've easily been mistaken for Hell.
Mrs. Landan was beating the Heartless away from her unconscious husband with a broom, to little avail. Tears streaked down her soot-stained face as a Soldier Heartless leaped onto his back, its clawed hands tearing through her husband's favorite shirt like wet paper. Screaming incoherently, she swung her broom towards its head, screaming louder as it passed easily through the demon. Throwing the broom to the scorched cobblestones, she attacked the Heartless with her hands, grabbing and scratching the wretched thing anywhere she could; its arms, its legs, its godforsaken eyes. She hated those emotionless, yellow eyes; she wanted to tear them out, to burn them in the black fire that destroyed her home, to watch the suffering in them just as it was watching the suffering in hers. She lunged for those eyes, fingernails at the ready and tackled it; knocking them both to the ground and off her husband's back. Her hands, formed into claws streaked with ash and soot, dug into its flesh; black ichor welling up from crescent-shaped wounds in its body. Its skin was cold, colder than ice and she went at it with everything she had. Mrs. Landan failed to notice other Heartless creeping up behind her, stalking her silently, and waiting for just the right moment to… Keniera came up behind them and started frantically swinging at them with her Keyblade, trying to pull their attention away from Mrs. Landan and her husband, who was looking about as bad as it could get. As they were caught off guard, she managed to dispel three of the Soldiers and two Neoshadows before the other five or six could strike back. Mrs. Landan was still on the ground with what was probably the unluckiest Heartless in the world, desperately clawing at it, and the others directed their attention away from her and her husband to focus on the new prey; the Keyblade Wielder.
Holt sprinted into the middle of the square, panting heavily. He doubled over and rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. The harsh, biting sting of smoke filled his lungs with each breath he managed to drag in and his eyes watered almost uncontrollably. He looked up, still bent double and searched the square fruitlessly; his eyes traveling to every corner, every storefront, everywhere. Keniera had disappeared. Damn, he thought, lost her. He scolded himself mentally, cursing his hesitation on the hill. You just let her waltz right in, didn't you? He asked himself. Let your friend-who-you-wish-was-more-than-a-friend make her way to certain doom, that's the way to show how you feel! Idiot! The monster had managed to keep up with her, darting around behind her like a second shadow as she plunged into the burning town, but Holt hadn't been fast enough. He'd lost sight of her as soon as she entered the thick cloud of smoke surrounding the town. He straightened up, coughing up a lungful of smoke. Holt had almost turned around to search somewhere else, when something caught the corner of his eye. What the…? An old man dressed in a white shirt with a black and red cloak stood on top of the Square Fountain, seemingly peaceful despite the hellish nightmare surrounding him. He stood hunched over, his hands folded neatly behind his back as he calmly observed the chaos ensuing around him. The man was bald, with a small white beard sprouting from his chin. As the old man's gaze traveled around the square, he caught sight of Holt. Their eyes locked, and Holt started, taking a hasty step forward. His eyes… Gold, like two silver coins… A memory hit Holt head-on:
Holt had been mentoring some younger trainees when a dark corridor had opened up in the middle of the clearing and a strange man dropped a body near the Ledge, paying absolutely no attention to the shocked children and mentor just a few feet away. He had carelessly dropped the body, wrapped in a white sheet, at his feet and pulled it open just enough for a face to show. It was a girl, just about Holt's age, if not a bit younger. Her blue eyes had been open but unseeing and her mouth formed incoherent words, just barely audible. Brunette hair framed a thin, malnourished face, and an aura of darkness had surrounded her, tingeing the air around her with a sick, grey glow. He had kneeled next to the girl, whispering something to her while pulling a black ring from her right pinkie finger.
The man had straightened up, summoned another dark portal, and disappeared without another word. After he had left, everyone had stayed rooted to the spot where they stood, none too sure on how to react. Eventually the girl, Keniera, had whimpered in her stupor and alerted Holt, who had temporarily forgotten her presence. He had scooped her up and taken her to the hospital with his curious students trailing dazedly behind him. Afterwards, no one could remember exactly what the man looked like; the only feature anyone could really remember were his eyes, glowing gold like a coin…
Anger and confusion bubbled up inside him, threatening to rip him open at any minute. "It was you," he whispered. "You brought her here. You just left her! She's miserable, not knowing who she is, because of you! BECAUSE YOU TOOK HER MEMORIES! SHE HAD NOTHING! SHE WORRIED AND WORRIED ABOUT WHY SOMEONE WOULD JUST ABANDON HER, JUST GIVE HER UP AND IT WAS ALL YOU!" Holt was screaming now, and the old man looked amused. Even though he was too far away for Holt to have possibly heard him, the old man's voice reached Holt's ears, raspy and hoarse, as if unused for years. "Ah, not so, lad. But my suspicions have been confirmed, Keniera is here! Don't blame me; It was not I who abandoned the girl here," a wicked smile pulled at the man's mouth, revealing nastily pointed teeth. "But I can assure you, you won't have to worry about her for long, my boy. If she's not dead already, she will be when I catch her!" The man laughed, the sound like nails being dragged down a chalkboard. Holt was fuming, fire burning down every vein. "YOU BASTARD!" He screamed, and summoned his Keyblade. "YOU WON'T TOUCH HER!" Holt failed to see a masked man enter the square behind him through a portal, a deadly-looking Keyblade at his side. Holt charged at the old man, yelling as he approached and lunged, aiming for the old man's heart. The old man smiled, and the fight began.
_Yay! So there's Chapter III! *applause* As always, please READ AND REVIEW!
