Disclaimer: Enlightened Life does NOT own Kingdom Hearts.
Oh. My. Gosh. I fail. This chapters actually... just the beginning of the Castle, but I got a little overboard and well you'll have to wait another chapter... xD Sorryy...
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To Unfortunate Events: Can you forgive me for my lack of social skills and time? Dx -Needs to reply to your message- I always remember but then never get around to it. :[
To everyone else: I hope you enjoy this chapter... XD I'm once again, not entirely sure about it.
Chapter 4 – Chaos
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The town was lit with an array of orange light mixed with the shining red of the cobble stoned streets. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Namine couldn't help but feel more or less flustered in the empty town as she was dragged across every brick by a seemingly frightened male Nobody. She also couldn't help but wonder where they were going. Not like anyone else was going to know.
"Roxas?" She asked, just loud enough for him to hear.
"..."
"Roxas..."
"What is it?" Namine found herself speaking louder now, but felt uncomfortable at the sudden tug on her arm. He was moving faster.
"No time to explain. Just keep up with me." He spoked indirectly. Namine was beginning to fluster around him. A Nobody can not feel, but they can think and her mind was telling her that this wasn't the best idea.
"Just explain as briefly as you... can?" She questioned in an almost pleading voice.
"We just aren't safe until we get where we're going. Thats all." Namine looked down to the ground slightly, trying not to fall over at the increasing pace.
"Safe..." She shook her head and looked back up to see that Roxas was guiding her towards a hole in a large brick wall.
'The bricks are much darker then the others ones scattered through the town, it must be older and probably not paid much attention to... then again, who actually inhabits this town?' She asked herself while scanning the surroundings.
"Go in, Namine." Roxas instructed, finally letting go of her hand. She found herself laughing in her mind at the sight of his scarcely rose cheeks.
"What about you?" Namine looked down to the ground again, realizing that she shouldn't care much what he did. Even if he did get her out of that darker world.
"I've got some things to take care of-"
"Oh, like explaining to The Superior while you're not completing your mission?"
Roxas flared his head up quickly at the voice. Namine blinked a few times in shock because what happened next took place in a matter of seconds. She was flabbergasted. Roxas was pushed hard against the wall, his face scraping down it's surface powerfully. Both his arms were locked behind his back in a tight grip, a grip which was held in place by the arm of his attacker. The man was quite tall and slander. His bright red hair was stretched back all in one direction but was indeed quite spiky. His acute green eyes switched back and forth between Roxas and her before grunting loudly and setting one more fierce push into the blondes back.
"Stop it!" Namine found herself pushing her arms back in defense as her body leaned forward to amplify the yell. The man simply ignored her and leaned in closer to Roxas.
"Why did you screw this up, Roxas? You know better..." He slurred the words quietly in his ear making Roxas' eyes widen.
"I did my part of the mission, Axel. Shes just..." He couldn't find the words to describe Namine. He felt a sense of honor towards her, but couldn't let Axel hear that. Axel simply smirked, pushing against Roxas lightly to continue, "Shes just a girl, or a Nobody that was wondering around The Realm Of Darkness."
"Idiot."
Roxas grinned, but Axel was right. He was idiotic to have brought her into Twilight Town. Namine stood a few meters away. She watched the two intently, letting her fists drop in understanding.
"Yep. I'm an idiot, but Mansex doesn't have to know about this." Roxas prompted his words to make them sound more like a favor. Axel sighed in response, letting go of Roxas as he moved back to glare at him.
"Eh? It's X-E-M-N-A-S, Roxas. Got it memorized?" Axel recited with a worried look on his face as he switched his glance to Namine.
"What? Since when do you give a damn about him?" The young Nobody asked, tilting his head.
"I don't," Axel looked back at Roxas with a spark in his eyes, "But the walls have eyes."
Roxas' smiled faded as he took a quick look at Namine. She took one step back in fear and held her sketch book tighter.
"Namine, I think we should go in there now." Roxas suggested to her with a light smile. Namine tensed down a little and nodded as Roxas began to walk towards her. He suddenly stopped, feeling heat all around the area; One of Axel's Chakrams shot around his body and stabbed into the ground directly in front of him. Roxas groaned at it and Namine backed up again.
"Sorry, Roxas. I have to take you back so you can explain... or lie... what you're doing in Twilight Town and why you're late reporting in." Axel explained, "Got it memorized? I don't want to drag you-"
"Alright," Roxas turned around to face him. A cold look broke towards Axel as he dragged himself towards him, "Namine, just follow the path through the woods and you'll find a deserted mansion. Hang out there for a while, I'll be back."
Namine didn't respond. She looked at both Nobodies sharply before rushing through the hole. She heard another portal open and decided to peer back, seeing both of them disappear in fragments of darkness. Sighing heavily, the petite blonde made her way through the thick timberland.
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Kairi's senses took a longer time to kick in then anyone excepted. She finally felt the cold, concrete floor pressed against her body as shivers were sent through it. Opening her eyes, she could see that she was in a rather large hall. It seemed amusing to her as the room was very wide but contained nothing but her and a bright sphere. She stared at it for a long time before a throbbing pain hit her heart, causing her to grasp her chest tightly. Wincing a couple of times, her eyes felt heavy under the pain and soon couldn't concentrate because of an accumulating light seeping through the gaps in her closed eyelids.
"What is this?" She asked herself, but blankly hoped for a response.
'The beacon of this castle.'
'It protects the world.'
'A place of impeccable kindness and kindling hope.'
'For all from who cherish their light..'
The flashes stopped and Kairi blinked a few times, gapping at the orb. "It talks..?" She asked again to see if any random response came. No luck. Walking over to it, she could feel it's power voiding all around the room; she stopped, feeling nervous about it all of a sudden. Courage seemed to overwhelm her as she placed one hand onto it's surface and shut her eyes softly. For a moment there was no response, though, as she was about to move away her eyes shot open; causing her to stumble onto the ground. A collection of images had been placed into her mind; she found herself tearing apart at the sight as memory after memory shot through her mind, turning her entire mind into an attack.
"No- please... stop- I don't want to- PLEASE! Stop it! I don't want- I don't.... NO! The people!" She found herself yelling an array of words at the stone, her face was filled with a variety of twisted emotions. It was as if she was gazing hate onto it's surface, through her pain. It was unbearable.
"STOP!!!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs, her breath giving way at the very last moment. Kairi's body flopped sideways and she barely caught herself. She was leaning heavily on both arms as her entire being was trying to collapse to one side, she couldn't stop the tears but was somehow stopping the screaming. Her breathing caught up with her again but was very rigid. After sitting there for a few minutes, she gave in, allowing her mind to shut down for a while and pleasant dreams to sooth her.
Although, nothing would ever be able to sooth what she saw.
"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" Kairi couldn't open her eyes to the unrecognizable voice. She felt her body heavily spread over the cold floor again, numbing it quicker. Kairi couldn't really make out the words any better when the voice spoke again, "Hello? Are you alright? … Can you hear me?"
Kairi moaned like a teenager trying to avoid school on a Monday morning. The voice kept speaking to her as the words became clearer and clearer. Soon, Kairi was able to full understand the voice and tried to reply.
"Y-yeah..." She muttered causing a sigh of relief. Opening her azure eyes again, she could make out the image of a small ball dress, mostly fit for royalty. It had many layers; mostly consisting of a dark or lighter purple but taking the shade of pink for a gap in the center where a ruffled under layer was visible. The top part of the dress was embedded with different jewels which moved up the center line and around the edges of the light purple chest area; topping off with a 'vampire' style collar, sticking up around her neck.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright..." The stranger bridged a hand out for her and Kairi nervously took it; slowly being dragged from her numb state.
"Yeah, I don't know what... happened." Kairi lied with a half-heartily smile.
"No-one was supposed to be down here, nor can anyone usually get down here. Especially people who... aren't from this world?" She rattled on while Kairi stared at her with a shocked expression, only just coming to the realization that the stranger was a talking, female, fancy-dressed duck, "Anyways, I heard screaming and had to come on down here. Scared me quite a bit, mind you."
Kairi smiled, the duck had a small attitude which made her feel safer.
"Well, thank you for helping me. Can you tell me the way out?" The young Princess asked for a cute tilt of her head.
"No, I don't think I can... you could be a danger to us, so it wouldn't be safe for me to let you wonder into our world. I'll have to talk to the Kin-" She stopped half way and crossed her arms, scanning Kairi's confused being. "You look a mess, you know that?"
Kairi gasped, looking over herself. She felt her face heat up and looked away, ashamed of her poor attire. "Eh... guess this outfit has been through a lot..."
"What do you mean by that?" The duck inquired while giving Kairi shady looks.
"Just that... um... I haven't had chance to clean... up?" She grinned clumsily.
The duck tutted at her and moved her arms to her hips. "Better at least get you cleaned up-" She stopped again, turning from Kairi for a few seconds because twirling her puffy dress back again, "I can't go with you, I have to... be somewhere." She said with a glint in her eyes.
"But, what do I... do?" Kairi's face twisted in pure confusion.
The duck glared at her in frustration. "I'll lead you out of here and then you're on your own to find the Mopping Room."
'Mopping Room? I thought it was me getting cleaned up not the floor...' Kairi thought, while looking over herself again.
"Think you can handle that? And don't you try anything funny; you may not look like a heartless but that doesn't mean you might not be one."
Kairi was taken back by this comment, back to the night she almost lost her heart and gained a Nobody. 'Was that really only a few nights ago...?' She was instantly strapped back from her thoughts as the duck was tapping her heals on the floor. Very loudly. "I think I'll manage."
"Good. Now, follow me."
"Okay..." Kairi felt nervous about leaving the room, but after looking back at the orb in the center all her nerves disappeared and she continued to follow the duck.
"By the way, the name's Daisy. Daisy Duck." She say without looking back.
"My name's Kairi." Kairi spoke her name quietly, with a hint of worry in her voice. The worrying intensified when Daisy stopped for a moment to take in her name and then continued moving. Kairi sighed. Daisy stopped at one edge of the wall, making Kairi glare at her quizzically. The royally dressed duck breathed in hard and pressed a hand against the walls surface, making it ignite with strips of pure light dashing from the stone to it; much like the ones which got Kairi and Sora off the islands.
'Oh my gosh, Sora! I hope he's alright...' She thought.
A large part of the wall revealed itself with light rushing around it's edges. It began to topple backwards slowly while turning into a large flight of stairs. Kairi could marginally make out the top of the stairs moving to the side; creating an exit. She stared the transformation in awe.
"Ready to go?" Daisy finally turned around to address her.
Kairi smiled widely. "Yeah, I think I am."
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Sora's mind was nothing more then a mix of confusion as he slowly rose to his knees. The green was nice and cool under the sunlight but he knew he couldn't stay there. As he groaned at the tension in his legs his ears picked up a strange conversation.
"Donald? Donald, wake up. The King wants to uh.. see us." Peaking out from behind a the shrub, Sora set his eyes upon what appeared to be a Anthropomorphic dog, speaking to a... duck? Rubbing his eyes a few times, the image remained; as did the movement of his jaw.\
"Yeah, yeah, The King wants to see us so what are you dawdling for, huh?" The ducks attitude was unattractive (for lack of better words), but the talking dog simply stared at him, oblivious to what had just happened.
"Ya-yeah! Hey, maybe we're having a day off!" He spoke again, making Sora wonder how exactly how a duck and a dog were so close. He placed a hand on his spiky locks in thought and continued to watch the scene.
'So this is another world... it might be hostile,' he thought while looking at the dog again, 'He might eat me...'
"Stop messing around, Goofy!" Donald yelled loudly causing his words to quack slightly. Sora blinked a few times before giggling at the pair.
'A humanoid dog called Goofy, and a Duck with anger issues. This would make for great TV.'
Suddenly, Sora felt light. His giggling stopped immediately at the sensation as he tried his best not to panic; soon realizing what was happened. He pointed his chocolate spikes downwards and stared at the ground. His eyes grew wide.
'I'm... floating?'
He was only getting higher into the air. The teen began to flush madly as his hair became more visible over the top of the grove. In a frenzy, he started to swerve his body back down to the ground, but the pressure only accelerated his rising. The ground now seemed like a distance memory as Sora rose further. He shot a glance straight forward to see Donald Duck staring him right in the face. Goofy burst out laughing.
"That sure is one funny face!" He snorted, toppling to the floor.
Sora looked back at Donald, but soon felt fear overwhelm him. Something wasn't-
"THUNDER!" He roared, hurtling a bolt towards the hovering boy. Sora barely dodged by repelling his body, but dodged it anyway. Donald continued to assault him with his strange attacks; not even tiring out.
"Why are you attacking me?!" Sora growled, rising even further into the blue sky.
Donald didn't answer. Instead, his eyes glinted as he continued his attacks. Sora found himself jumping from place to place in the Worlds air. The smell of freshly cut grass lingering between the moving particles. He found it peaceful, even with the constant strikes of thunder moving closer to him. In one hard push, he launched himself, quickly avoiding a sharp strike.
"Donald! What'cha doing that for!" Goofy bawled at Donald, making Sora blink a few times.
"Because hes a Heartless!" Donald replied. Sora chuckled madly at the thought, but stopped as his feet made contact with the castle's roof. "THUNDER!"
Sora gapped at the ground in shock as Donald sent a line of thunderbolts tackling the roof center. The young brunette was exhausted from his gliding but began to run across the surface. Not fast enough. A bolt struck him hard in the back. He could hardly see as he winced in pain but as if by instruct, the Keyblade materialized in his hand and he sluggishly deflected all the other attacks. Donald didn't cease. He continued to throw more at the Keyblade bearer. Sora managed to deflect all the other attacks while still belting around the rooftop. He eventually came to a small outer platform with a door... and a cannon, although the cannon was extremely dusty; probably not been used in years. Sora gave one quick look at the ground to see Goofy trying to hold the angered duck back before retreating into the castles building.
"Donald! He had a weapon! Ya' can't just go on fighting every fella' you see!" Goofy said, trying to reason.
"I don't care! Let me at him!"
"No! We have to go see The King. He'll sure know what to do." Goofy wondered for a moment, "Gee.. you wouldn't wanna miss you date-"
Goofy shot back to earth but soon regreted it; Donald had taken the opportunity and begun to chase after Sora.
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Kairi escaped through the overly-sized hallways of the castle. Taking extra care to notice the many large pictures hanging from the walls, she could make out that most of the residents of this world were animals. Talking animals. She mentally noted that the most common animal featured in the works was a mouse. He may not have been fully human, but he did indeed look quite majestic in the several pictures. She stopped at the last one of the hall, taking in all details. Leaning forward to examine it's features closely, she stumbled back, confused by her sudden art expertise.
'I've never been into art... I can't draw stick people to save my life.' She thought, cocking her head daintily.
Leaning in again, she opened her eyes wide in shock at the object which the mouse was leaning on proudly. It was a Keyblade. Kairi scrutinized the image harshly, practically touching it with her head as she leaned closer and closer. It was indeed, a Keyblade.
She backed away quickly, realizing how awkward the position looked. 'How is that possible...'
Kairi rubbed her head a little in thought before continuing down another hall. Groaning in desperation, she started to inspect every door. They were all normal sized for an animal castle, but something was strange about them either way. Kairi placed her hand on a door nob and instantly felt a lightness fall upon her. She withdrew almost instantly and tried another; it felt the same.
'It's as if lights just surging throughout this castle.' She caught the thought and proceeded.
She decided to take peaks through the doors. Most of the rooms were the same; tightly color coded bedrooms with some kind of framed art hanging upon the wall. Most of which were again of the mouse. She casually stepped out of the room and sighed. She was lost. Nervously, she put a hand to her radiant hair and swept it behind her ears to stop it sticking to the sweat forming around her face. Opening her azure eyes, she noticed a slit in the hallway. Upon further investigation, she found no door but a flight of brightly colored stairs with light resonating from the bottom. She decided to take the chance and tackle the awkwardly welcoming entrance. The stairs seemed to last for quite some time and Kairi could feel her body shaking violently as she slowly caressed the handle bar. Her senses abruptly stopped as she swore she heard the sound of electrical sparks before rushing down the stairs to meet the cause.
"Huh..."
Kairi's eyes glistened in awe at the room. It was very spacious with lots of different platforms. The walls were a navy blue color but the lights (like the stairs) were patterned around the edges in a spectrum. With lots of different colored cogs spinning rapidly. Kairi's envision of the room was suddenly cut off by a squeaky but clear yelling.
"Dale! We gotta' put that thing there!"
"Darn it, Chip, why you got to be so loud?"
"Because we have to move it! The King wants these done, pronto!"
Kairi heard a small chipmunked sigh and giggled as the bickering continued. Though, it didn't take long for them to notice her ever growing laughter. The bickering swiftly stopped and Kairi rushed her hands over her mouth to stop the laughing. Then she heard the voices again, but much lower, and more secretive.
"Is she supposed to be down here?"
"We oughta' tell King Mickey..."
'King Mickey?' Kairi asked her mind while looking back at the images in her memory.
"Well, we can't have her getting in our way down here, can we?"
"Let's send her somewhere else!"
'God... these voices act like I'm not even here...' She thought again angrily, tensing her eyes in search of the owners.
"Um... hi there?"
'I mean, this world looks nice but seriously everyone's so rude...'
"Yo?"
'And now people hide while they talk about me god-OW!" Kairi crashed back to reality, seeing a small cog rolling away slowly before placing her hand to her head in pain. "Ow..."
"Well serves you right for ignoring us!"
Kairi finally realized that she had completely zoned out. Looking down, she set her eyes upon two chipmunks wearing light and dark overalls. Both of which
bore yellow gears with red insignias in the shape of a mouses head in the center. Kairi eyed them questionably before finally answering. "Hello."
"About time..." One of them muttered.
The other one brushed him slightly in irritation before turning his attention back to Kairi.
"Don't mind him, he's just being a grump today," The chipmunk smiled, "I'm Dale."
"I'm Chip." The second chipmunk stepped forward. He was obviously the uptight one of the pair.
"Welcome to Disney Castle!" They both said simultaneously.
Kairi shined a smile for a moment. "Thanks... I think," she paused, "Oh, I'm Kairi."
"And you're lost if you ended up down here." Chip snickered.
"Hehe... yep." Kairi couldn't help but smile in their presense. They were adorable.
"What were you looking for?" Dale asked sheepishly.
Kairi's eyes widened quickly, trying to recall the room name.
She quickly remembered Daisy's words. 'I'll lead you out of here and then you're on your own to find the Mopping Room.'
"The Mopping Room." Kairi beamed, but both chipmunks looked at her strangely. She frowned. "No?"
"It's just up those stairs-" Dale began.
"-You can't miss it." Chip finished; both still looking at her as if she was insane.
"... Thanks." She said nervously before wondering past them, while staring at the strange machines. Pausing for a second, she wheeled around to face them. "What is this room?"
"The Gummi-Hanger." Chip beamed proudly.
"And those are Gummi Ships." Dale frowned, while looking at a small piece of paper.
"But none of them are finished because Dale's so lazy." Chip muttered under his breath, making Dale obviously nervous. Chip looked at him sympathetically before pride took over again, "Well you are!"
"Um, I think I'll go," Kairi looked at the two, frowning a little, "If that's alright..."
"Sure! Just come back and see us soon!" Both chipmunks grinned at her.
"Will do. See you soon!" Kairi took of for the second set of stairs and was soon out of sight.
Well that was utterly different to write... even though it may not appear that way.. xD Major inspiration block struck me down hard recently. Hope it wasn't all.. too bad.
Please review. :]