Thanks everyone for reading the sixth chapter. I'm hoping that the fighting will start soon, but that all depends on how I work this out and update.
Chapter 7- To the Castle!
"Kairi! Kairi!" she opened her eyes. A tall boy around his late teens or so was looking down at her. He was laughing.
She sat up and looked around at her surroundings with interest. She was sitting in a nice meadow with pretty green grass and lots of interesting flowers growing out of the ground.
Roxas? No…
A white-haired man was standing nearby and watching the two of them. He wore a brown uniform that had they symbol of Destiny placed on his chest.
Turning around, she noticed a different man with blue hair standing even closer. He had a large X-shaped scar on his forehead and was currently donning white robes with the same symbol.
"Come on Kairi! We have to get back to the Palace. My dad would kill us if he found out we were out here without his permission!" he reached his hand out and she grasped it and stood up.
"How come? It's so peaceful and beautiful here!" she twirled around in the grass, letting her servant dress float up in the air above her ankles.
"We're so close to the border between Destiny and Twilight. Obviously we're not on good terms with those people." He grabbed her hand again and started pulling her towards the forest. "We have to get back before dinner. That's pretty far from here judging the distance we have to run."
"Irresponsible, S---," the blue-haired man was running right next to them. "Next time, why don't you find someplace in the Palace to rest?"
What's your name?
"Shut up, Saix! I wanted Kairi to be happy with the place I showed her!" the boy complained.
I met you before…
"Your Highness please, we really need to get back home," the white-haired man was at the boy's left. "Please hurry."
"I'm hurrying, Riku! I'm hurrying!" he started running faster. She kept up with him with every step.
Why are we here?
They entered a small village with cobblestone paths. People stopped what they were doing and looked up from their jobs.
"Good Day, Your Highness!" they shouted as they rushed by.
"Good day to you too!" he shouted over his shoulder.
I don't understand! Who are you?
The Palace of Destiny was right in front of them.
"Good, we could make it in without Dad knowing…uh-oh," he skidded to a stop on the cobblestone path.
Standing in front of them was a tall and muscular man with silver hair and bright orange eyes. He had his arms crossed and was glaring down at them.
"And where have you been?" he asked slowly and dangerously.
It starts with an 'S'…
"I was showing Kairi around the meadow. She really liked it," the boy grinned up at his father.
'S….'
"I told you not to go that far near the border! Our communications with Twilight aren't going very well. If they had taken to chance to capture you—"
"Saix would have fought them off," the boy said proudly. "And Riku would have helped!"
"That's not the point," he sighed. "I don't want you going out that far, even if Kairi asks. Saix, and you too Riku, remember that if he forgets."
"Yes sir," the two nodded and quickly bowed to him.
"Now that's taken care of…" the boy's stomach growled loudly. He put his hand over it sheepishly. "Can we go eat?"
His father rolled his eyes, turned around, and walked back into the Palace gates.
"I wouldn't know. I'm not the one making the meals around here."
"Come on Kairi! I'll ask the cook to make something good!" he pulled her through the gates.
"My Lord! Please don't rush Miss. Kairi!" they could both hear Riku shouting behind them. "You're being too rough with her!"
"Idiots. The whole lot of them, Your Majesty." Saix grumbled as he followed the King back to the Throne Room.
Kairi's eyes blinked open quickly. She sat up and rubbed her eyes slowly, trying to comprehend everything in her dream.
Then she glanced around. Ever since she had came to the Cottage that Never Was, she had always slept in Axel's room. Nothing was really wrong with it…it was just red…and warm.
Luckily the forest had cold nights and mornings so she was comfortable in this room. Where Axel slept while she was in here was a complete mystery, the good thing was that he didn't walk in while she was bathing or changing.
Then something clicked. She remembered what her dream had been all about.
Excited about her new discovery, she jumped out of bed and started dressing at high speeds, not even remotely caring what she put on in her rush.
Getting ready for breakfast was a blur as she finally rushed down the stairs and to the large dining table now set up for 10 people.
"What's the rush Princess?" Luxord was already in the room, having been in charge of setting the table.
"Where's Roxas?" she asked excitedly. At this moment, both Zexion and Roxas appeared at the door. They were both carrying dishes filled with food for this morning's breakfast.
"Hey Kairi, you're up early," Roxas remarked as he set down a large soup bowl in the middle of the table. Zexion raised his eyebrows and placed the basket of biscuits next to the soup bowl. They straightened up and looked at her.
"I remember!" Roxas blinked.
"What?"
"I remember Sora!" Kairi squealed in joy. "The Prince!"
"Well, thank goodness, because today's the fifth day. Sora's supposed to be married today, remember?" Axel appeared at the other entrance to the dining room. He was dressed in very strange attire…
His red hair was spiked up as always, but he was wearing what appeared to be an almost-blood red trench coat, a white shirt with a high collar, and black pants held up by a dark brown belt. The symbol of Radiance was imprinted at the top left of his shirt.
"What are you wearing?" Roxas asked, weirded out by his friend's strange clothing.
"I'm wearing the clothes of my country!" Axel grinned. "Radiance is red if you hadn't noticed yet."
"Is that why your hair is red?" Xaldin asked appearing behind Axel with no explanation.
"No, that's because I'm the King's younger brother," the redhead rolled his green eyes.
"And Kairi's the King's oldest daughter," Roxas grinned.
"Kairi's his only daughter. His only child for that matter," Zexion sighed. "There's still more things to bring out."
"Oh right!" the blonde followed the other man out of the room back to the kitchen.
"Okay, now that Kairi remembers what happened to her while she was in Destiny, we should start getting the groups ready to head to Destiny Castle," Axel placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed the Exiles plus Roxas and Kairi standing around the living room.
"Good! I can't wait to get back at them!" Xigbar summoned a gun and started twirling it on his finger.
"Well, the only thing we have to do is take down the Princess and any resistance she puts up. And trust me, that won't be very pretty," Xaldin said, his dark blue eyes scanning the room carefully.
"Nothing's pretty when Larxene is involved," Roxas pointed out.
"True," all the Exiles agreed.
"So what's the game plan?" Luxord asked, twirling a single playing card in his fingers.
"We march into the Palace, break into the King's throne room, deliver Kairi and Roxas and defeat Larxene and whoever stands with her," Axel lifted up a large map and unrolled it on the table.
"That the plans for the Destiny Castle?" Xigbar asked. Axel smirked.
"Yep. Every floor, every room, every secret passage inside and out," he lifted his finger and started tracing a small route from the Palace Gates to the center of the stronghold—the Throne Room.
"So we're actually going to do this," Zexion murmured. It wasn't a question.
"So, I think we should split into three groups. Roxas should stay with Kairi for safety reasons," Axel tapped his fingers on the table.
"So? We'll make the groups now," Xigbar put his feet on the table. Axel set his boot on fire and he slammed it back onto the ground irritably.
"Let's see…" the redhead glanced around the room. "I'll stay with Roxas and Kairi, if Xaldin wants to come, then he could come too. Zexion, you're the head of your group, Luxord and Lexaeus will answer directly to you. Xigbar…I hate to put you in charge…but it's either you or Vexen. You're in charge of looking after Vexen and Demyx."
"How come I wasn't in the choice for leader?" Demyx asked. Every Exile in the room, plus Roxas, rolled their eyes.
"Self-explanatory," Vexen replied quickly. "Though I wonder why I wasn't chosen."
Another eye roll around the room.
"Fine then," the scientists walked into a corner and sulked.
"Xigbar, no harming innocents," Zexion reminded the sharpshooter.
"Why would I bother with those? All they do is run and scream. I want the ACTION! I'm not waiting behind!"
"Then you could lead the first attack. I'll follow behind you and try to get Roxas and Kairi to the throne room in time. They'll be holding the ceremony in there," Axel said calmly.
"And trust me. They'll be plenty of guards," Roxas rolled his eyes at the maniac glint in Xigbar's eye.
"And Zexion will watch our backs, making sure that nobody gets in our way," Axel slammed his fist into the dinner table excitedly, causing it to crack loudly.
"Axel! We just replaced that table!" Vexen snapped.
"Oh," he lifted his fist and inspected the crater in the table. "Well just get Lexaeus to fix it."
"I control Earth, not wood," the large man rumbled, annoyed. "Go buy a new one."
"That table costs us 5,000 munny," Zexion murmured from behind his book.
"5,000!" the roar echoed throughout the forest.
A Few Hours Later…
"Okay, so the Ceremony starts in one hour. At nighttime, no idea why, but that's the way it goes," The Exiles, plus Roxas and Kairi, were crouching in the bushes in front of the large Castle gates. Xaldin was standing in front of a tree behind them, blending perfectly with the darkness.
"The Ceremony starts and night because the Sora was born at night," Zexion explained. "They have the ceremony now because it's the exact time when he turns 21."
"Oh. Well I knew that," Axel looked surprised.
"You did?" Demyx asked aloud. Several people sighed at his question.
"Just shut it Demyx."
"Don't say anything."
"Bite your tongue."
Suddenly, the sound of trumpets interrupted the peaceful, quiet, night air, signaling the start of the Ceremony.
"Okay. Ready to go?" Axel stood up slowly. The Exiles nodded around him. "All right then. Xigbar, Demyx, and Vexen…Good Luck."
"This'll be easy," Xigbar waved his hand with a careless air and made his way towards the Castle Gates, with Demyx happily skipping behind him, and Vexen following slowly, but steadily, muttering curses and equations under his breath.
"Well, it won't be as easy as they think. So everyone else…keep a good eye out," Axel rolled his eyes.
A moment later, yells were heard and the entire Castle could hear Xigbar's maniac laughter.
"All right. They're distracted, time to go," he stood up and gestured for Roxas and Kairi to follow.
Xaldin stepped forward and followed Kairi out of the bushes and up to the gate.
Kairi gulped and stared up at the giant golden gates of Destiny.
She was back.
End of Chapter 7, and yes this story is coming to an end. Three more chapters should do the trick.
Thanks for reading, and review please!
Edited 02/20/08
