Okay, short one this time! But a good one, I think. Time to introduce our favorite villains. I still remember the first time I played Kingdom Hearts. When that first scene came up with all the Disney villains-Jafar, Maleficent, Hook, Oogie-Boogie, Hades, etc-I remember I was actually a little freaked out! I know that Disney villains are always defeated at the end of the movie, and their evil plans are thwarted. But something about them all joining up and plotting together was just creepy to me… :)
Anyway, here's the new stuff!
Standard Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts never belonged to me, never has, never will. (sniff-sniff)
Beyond the Door
"Maleficent, enough! Bring him in!"
Cursed man-if you could dignify the shell he was with such a term. She let a displeased frown darken her bone-pale face.
"Did you not assure me the boy had enough strength to travel the corridors of darkness on his own?" Her voice was low for a woman. It would have been almost sultry if it weren't as cold as the stone walls around her.
He has that power, and more," came the growled reply from the shadows. "But he cannot yet control it himself and my grip on his consciousness was broken when a certain Darkside knocked him from the path. Did you not assure me you had the Heartless well under your control?"
"Sarcasm does not become you, Ansem," she replied, her yellow-eyed gaze flicking sharply in the direction of the voice. That gaze returned quickly to the circle of yellowish-green flame hovering before her and the image contained within. "Perhaps I only want to see for myself what strength of darkness he possesses."
"Now is not the time for that. His heart and mind are in turmoil right now; darkness is flooding through him faster than he can hope to keep hold of. It will consume him utterly if this continues."
She did not miss the knife-edged threat that lay within the measured calm of those words. A faint smile curved her wine-dark lips.
"Isn't that what we want?"
"Power means nothing if it cannot be controlled. Bring him in."
A fierce-looking crow perched on her black-robed shoulder ruffled its feathers and rasped softly. One sharp, pale hand came up and brushed its breast feathers. As if obeying a command, the crow took off, flapping noisily away through the darkness.
"Remember, Ansem, that I am doing you a favor in this." She had a dagger of her own concealed under the silky tones. "I could let him drift in the darkness between worlds for years if I so chose."
His answer came as a derisive chuckle.
"You could no more do that than I could walk to the moon!" he snorted. "Don't play games with me, Maleficent. True, you are the only one who has the ability to pull him across worlds now, but without me Riku's true potential with the power you desire so badly will go unfulfilled!"
"And you could no more forego that than I could sit down to tea with that Keyblade brat," she said, a dangerous light flashing in her eyes.
"Well then, perhaps you are right," she went on in a low, cold voice. "Perhaps it is time, as you said, to show him what lies beyond the door to darkness."
She raised her staff and pointed it at the circle of flames. Slowly at first, then faster, she traced along the rim of the circle; the flames bent and followed her movement. Smaller and smaller she drew the circle, and as she did so, the image within grew larger. Just as the edge of the green flames touched the figure within, she slammed the butt of her staff on the stone floor.
Poisonous green flame exploded from the ground before her, tinged with yellow and black. The magical fire raged for perhaps the span of a drawn breath before flickering out. The stone room was pitch black now, but Maleficent could clearly see what the fire had left behind: the quivering, hunched form of that silver-haired boy who had caught her attention all those years ago, finally laying before her. Finally.
Draped in the shadows of her lair in Hollow Bastion, Maleficent smiled, the satisfied smile of a predator that was yet hungry for more.
OOOOOOoooohhh, that was so much fun to write. :D The next chapter will be a real chapter, back to Riku and all that goodness. ;) Not sure when it'll actually be up…I'll try to make it soon, of course. Thanks for reading!
