A/N: It's finally up, ladies and gentlemen! Hope you all enjoy! Don't know when I'll get the next chapter up... Hopefully soon...
"Vanitas!" Terra shouted, racing towards him with his Keyblade in hand.
I started towards Vanitas, but at the last second saw Kairi kneeling over Sora. "What happened?"
Kairi had tears in her eyes. "After we cleared our obstacle, we entered this room to find Vanitas waiting for us. Before we could even react, Sora got hurt. He was protecting me…" She was trying her best not to break down and cry. "I've been trying to heal him, but…"
I looked at Sora, who seemed fine. There didn't appear to be a scratch on him. I was confused. "What did Vanitas do?"
Kairi shook her head. "I-I'm not sure… He pointed his Keyblade at Sora during their fight when he caught him off guard and there was this flash. Then, Sora just fell to the ground…"
An explosion caused me to look up at the others who were fighting Vanitas. They weren't doing so well. They all seemed short of breath and tired. From where I was looking, it looked like it was all they could do to keep up with him. "Only one person can possibly beat Vanitas…"
Kairi looked at me. "Who?"
I looked at her, then Sora. "Ventus. We have to get Sora to Ventus." Kairi looked confused. "I'll explain later, okay? Right now, we have to go from here…" I looked around the room, but to my surprise I saw no door. However, I could feel the sleeping presence of Ven somewhere close by. "…there's no door?"
Kairi looked around the room. She must have just noticed it also. "Wait, what?"
"There's no door or any kind of entry way to Ven's room…" I looked up at Vanitas. "I bet he's the reason." I could feel the negative energy flowing from him. "There has to be some way we can bind him down long enough to enter the Chamber of Waking."
Time was of the essence. I knew the others wouldn't be able to hold out long. I don't know where he was getting this power, but Vanitas had to be stopped. And I knew Ventus and Sora were the keys.
Any suggestions? I asked the twins.
You can't fight him head on. That's suicide. You aren't as experienced as the others, Cosmos said. He was even able to take down Sora, who is experienced… Definitely not a good sign…
Is there a way we could overpower the negative energy coming from him?
You could, Chaos began, but the amount of power that would take is far beyond your level.
I looked over at Kairi, who was holding Sora's hand. What about a Princess of Heart?
There was a slight hesitation from both of them. What's wrong? I asked.
Even a Princess of Heart can hold negative feelings, Cosmos said. She bears no darkness within, but that doesn't mean she is always pure of mind.
What about putting a barrier around him?
It's possible… Cosmos finally admitted.
There's just one problem, Chaos announced, there is no way you can get close enough to him for it to work.
Running out of options, and, from the looks things, time, I clinched my fists. There has to be something we can do... Sora was starting to groan, as if he was in pain.
I was lost in thought when something caught my attention. Aqua was hurdling towards me. I was completely off guard. Luckily, at the last second, Kairi noticed and put up a barrier to shield us and to soften Aqua's landing.
"Thanks!" she said. She started back towards Vanitas.
That's when an idea struck. It was a long shot and I knew Cosmos and Chaos wouldn't be too fond of it, but it was the only thing I could think of.
"Aqua!" She stopped and looked back at me. I summoned Cosmos. "Put up your armor, now!" She looked dazed till I held out Cosmos. She hit her shoulder pad then held out her hand and took Cosmos. As she did, she began to radiate light.
"How…?" I couldn't see her expression from behind her helmet, but if I had to guess it was one of surprise.
I summoned Chaos next, and then shouted, "Terra!" He looked over at me, saw Aqua, then hit his shoulder pad with the armor on it. I threw Chaos at him, and, when he grabbed it, he began to radiate with dark energy.
Inside, Chaos and Cosmos were not happy…
The hell are you doing? Chaos asked. He was definitely pissed.
That's pretty risky, you know! Cosmos stated, just as pissed.
Just trust me, okay?
I stood there, watching and waiting as Terra and Aqua, now in their armor state, battling with Vanitas—lending them my powers seemed to have given them an advantage—while trying to fight off Chaos and Cosmos screaming in my head. Finally, I just shut them out.
We'll talk later! I finally said, closing my mind and heart to them. I had to have my complete concentration on Terra and Aqua for my plan to work. I watched with a careful eye, making sure I could keep up with their Keyblades. What I was planning on doing had to be timed perfectly.
It was definitely a sight to behold. Playing the games, Sora could only be so powerful. But watching these two go against Vanitas I realized that there isn't a limit on power, especially when it comes to the Keyblade.
For what seemed like forever, the three Keyblade wielders kept blocking blow for blow. I was getting impatient. I could tell Sora needed help; his moans were getting worse, which could only mean he was in a lot of pain. Just a little bit longer, Sora.
I continued to keep my focus on Terra and Aqua's fight with Vanitas. Come on… I could hear Kairi talking to Riku now. The king was standing next to me. I had a feeling he knew what it was I was trying to do.
Then it happened, just as I expected. Terra and Aqua, using their Keyblades, had entrapped Vanitas's Keyblade between the two. Now, they were in position to jab Vanitas with my Keyblades, having both blades pointed directly at him.
I put my hands together and began to use the energy I had been focusing to channel to my Keyblades. "Twin Dragon Seal!"
Two dragon heads flew out of my Keyblades, one white and one black, and began to swirl around him. After having completely engulfed him, the two dragon heads, one under Vanitas and one above him, charged towards each other, their mouths open wide, and locked with each other to complete the seal.
Aqua and Terra, who had let go of my Keyblades when I began the seal, were now standing in front of me. They didn't look too pleased.
"What the hell was that?" Terra asked, in a demanding tone. "You could have given us a little warning, you know?"
"Sorry, but I knew there was no way I'd be able to get close enough to him and I figured that you two could. I apologize for deceiving you, but at least it worked."
Aqua sighed. "What's important is that we could stop Vanitas to find Ven." She looked over to Kairi and Sora. "He's still unconscious?" Kairi gave a sad nod. "We need to—"
"Sorry to interrupt," the king interrupted, "but that seal of Xander's is starting to fail."
We all looked up. Sure enough, the seal was starting to break. Gaps could be seen from the swirling energy.
"We have to get to Ven's room, now!" I stated, looking around for the door to the Chamber of Waking. With all the negative energy temporarily confined, I thought finding the door to Ven would be easy. I was wrong. Several doors had appeared within the room. And, judging by the way my seal was holding up, we had less than a minute.
As Riku and Terra grabbed Sora to carry him, Aqua stood by me. "Which one is it?"
I took quick looks at each of the doors. There were seven, each with a different colored symbol. Nothing was sticking out in my mind, though. I tried to remember what all I had seen in that vision.
Damn it… I said, looking up quickly at Vanitas. The seal was about thirty seconds from failing and, with it, our only chance of finding Ven. I looked to Aqua and Terra, hoping for some kind of clue.
That's when I saw it.
I turned and pointed to the door third from the right. "That one!"
We raced to make it to the door. Fifteen seconds… This is gonna be damn close…
The seal was almost broken and the negative energy from Vanitas was starting to spill out. The doors were, one by one, begging to vanish.
Come on! Come on! I kept shouting to myself. We're almost there!
I made it to the door first and, instead of the door opening in any way, I somehow phased through it. I looked back to see Aqua and Kairi, who had been right on my heels, make it through. However, Terra and Riku were still a good ten feet away.
Noticing that they wouldn't make it through in time, they did the only thing that crossed their minds: they threw Sora at me.
"What the—OOF!" I caught Sora, was thrown backwards, and landed on my back. "That smarts…"
"TERRA! KING MICKEY! RIKU!" Kairi shouted. I looked up just in time to see the door seal shut and Vanitas break free.
Oh, crap… Even from in here, it was easy to tell Vanitas was pissed. Good luck, guys…
